The program merging in Love & Rocket..

[on:]

Shouldn't all these numbers be just ones and zeros? You know, binary?

[Reply #1 on:]

good point. it'd be good if it was in binary, or maybe hexadecimal or octal.

maybe machines in the future work in decimal, to make them think more like humans. of course it wouldn't be very efficient, but possible.

but since humans have 8 fingers in the future, technically numbers 8 and 9 shouldn't exist. at least humans and machines can think in octal then...hmm

[Reply #2 on:]

Machines in the future still think in binary. This has been pointed out quite a few times in the show.

[Reply #3 on:]

The numbers in that scene aren't in binary because it's a reference to The Matrix. In The Matrix title screen, the backround is basically a bunch of random green numbers over a black backround, and that's what I always thought they were referencing here. Still, I'm not 100% positive, so someone else correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, FeralHuman - just because the characters have 8 fingers doesn't mean they use a different numerical system. It's Matt Groening's drawing style, that's all. It in no way changes the way they count in the show.

[Reply #4 on:]

hexadecimal and octal are just more compact ways of displaying binary for humans, the machines are still binary.

hey relax guys, it's just a crazy "what if" idea, everyone knows the 8-digit world exist in many cartoons. but it'd be way easier to work with computers if we had 8 though, or maybe 16.

[Reply #5 on:]

 

Originally posted by Beamer:
The numbers in that scene aren't in binary because it's a reference to The Matrix. In The Matrix title screen, the backround is basically a bunch of random green numbers over a black backround, and that's what I always thought they were referencing here. Still, I'm not 100% positive, so someone else correct me if I'm wrong.

No, you're absolutely correct. The commentary confirms that that shot was a Matrix parody. They had a guy on the episode just for that sequence.

[Reply #6 on:]

Yeah I thought that too, although didn't really take notice of how the lettering is similar to Matrix type stuff as you only really see it for a second or so.

[Reply #7 on:]

Either way, they showed a "2" back in Bender's nightmare, even though Fry claims they don't exist...

[Reply #8 on:]

...in the binary language, that is.
And no, the Matrix thingy is not random numbers- it is weird symbols and only occasional letters and numbers.

[Reply #9 on:]

Aren't a lot of the Matrix symbols japanese?

[Reply #10 on:]

Perhaps- the concept was conceived there, as far as I know.

[Reply #11 on:]

I heard a lot of them were Japanese symbols in mirror...?
I think they would have had some serious copyright issues if they had used symbols with a real similarity to those in the Matrix.

[Reply #12 on:]

 

Originally posted by krisholmes:
Either way, they showed a "2" back in Bender's nightmare, even though Fry claims they don't exist...

Yeah, but that was a nightmare. The digit 2 doesn't exist in binary in real life but that doesn't mean it can't appear in a surreal dream.

[Reply #13 on:]

well, i used to have a forum topic about the 8 fingers octal system... someone could tell me what happened to it, or whatever if they like =)

[Reply #14 on:]

Using "2" in Bender's dream was just a joke... One that only nerdlingers would really appreciate. The concept is basically, "Ha ha, this is funny because it's ubsurd."

And I always thought of the sequence in Love & Rocket to be a Matrix reference, as Sammy X has confimred. I don't think they would have copyright issues by using the same symbols - I mean, if they're only backwards Japanese letters/symbols, as was mentioned before. If I wrote in "cute, backwards letters" on a sign, I would have Futurama suing me. It's just a backwards letter, and you can't copyright that.

It's nice to see that Futurama kind of strayed away from the Matrix references, though. A lot of TV shows parodied it to death, and I think the three stabs at it Futurama took ("A Clone of My Own", "Time Keeps on Skippin'", and "Love & Rocket" ) were all in good taste, and kept the concept from getting stale.

[Reply #15 on:]

^Yeah, but the whole idea of the green symbols coming down the screen was taken from The Matrix, using the same symbols would be a bit too similar and could be enough for the Wachowski brothers to sue (As it is, it "resembles but is legally distinct" ).

For example, the Latin character set has been around for ages but you still have the right to take legal action if someone uses those characters to write something you've already published.

[Reply #16 on:]

 

It's nice to see that Futurama kind of strayed away from the Matrix references, though. A lot of TV shows parodied it to death, and I think the three stabs at it Futurama took ("A Clone of My Own", "Time Keeps on Skippin'", and "Love & Rocket" ) were all in good taste, and kept the concept from getting stale.

I may be dense, but I did not notice any Matrix references in "Time Keeps on Skipping". What exactly did you have in mind?