No matter how much you want to get along with others, and regardless of how patient and relaxed you are, you are going to meet people who will want to wreck your day. That may not be a problem if it’s just a chance encounter, but what if they’re a colleague, or they’re in your family?
If that’s the case for you, then the following suggestions might help you keep your cool, so you retain the upper hand:
As someone that’s “good with computers” like they say on the show, I’ve been watching Person Of Interest with my geek goggles on. What I saw was so deliciously satisfying that I felt the need to check on the Internet to see if others had noticed how accurate this show actually was. Surprisingly, I didn’t find many posts, there were some, sure, but I was sad it wasn’t praised more. So, I put together a list of the things I noticed were true or really close to the truth.[Geekmode == ON]
Here we go :
1. The most impressive fact is how Person Of Interest predicted the Wikileaks scandal one year before it happened. In 1x22,
Reese was sent by the Machine to protect NSA agent Henry Peck who wanted to
reveal to a journalist how his agency was conducting illegal surveillance on a
massive scale. In 2013, Edward Snowden did exactly that.
2. The show once mentioned a dangerous virus called Stuxnet whose source code was
in the laptop that Reese and Kara were sent to retrieve in Ordos by the CIA
(1x20).
In the real
world, Stuxnet really exists and is indeed a very dangerous virus. In 2010, Stuxnet reportedly ruined almost one-fifth of Iran's nuclear
centrifuges.
3. In Person Of Interest, they like to show real code without explaining it. It’s just for fun, they know the general
audience won’t care because most people don’t understand it but they also know that geeks
notice these things. For example, they showed Finch casually manipulating the real source code of the Stuxnet virus in 4x05:
4. Speaking of
Finch, you know how one of his aliases is Harold Whistler, right? We know that
he chooses his aliases based on bird names but this one in particular can also
be explained by Harold’s past. More specifically his teenage years, back when
he used public phones to call people in other countries for
free (3x11).
Btw, the guy on the phone is definitely not French, horrible accent ^^
In the
real world, the first hackers were called phreakers, they did exactly what
Harold did using… whistles. The blue whistle Harold uses in this scene is the
actual model the phreakers used in the 70s, crazy right? It’s in fact a toy that
was found in Cap’nCrunch boxes of cereals back in the day. That particular
whistle produced a sound that matched with phone operators’ systems and
provided to the phreaker a free international line. So, Harold is indeed a
Whistler and a good one at that.
5. Still about young Harold, when
he built his first computer in 1980, he hacked the ARPAnet (the ancestor of the
Internet) which is why he has been wanted by the FBI for treason
ever since (screenshot from 3x12).
In the real
world, in 1980, someone introduced a virus in the ARPAnet which temporarily
halted its functions, they still don’t know who the hacker was.
6. Once again, about Harold, his struggle to accept his creation is already a real life issue.
Scientists and engineers are indeed working on building AIs and are facing ethical and
moral issues similar to Harold’s. The possibility of a benevolent AI is also mentioned as the only way to avoid a Samaritan-like AI in this very interesting TED talk:
7. In 5x01, Harold and Root stole
a truck of Playstation 3’s to rebuild the Machine. I remember smiling at that
at first, then I thought about it and figured it would probably work. Of
course, in the show, they left out a lot of parameters that would have been
needed to make it work and building it should’ve taken at least a day or so but
I won’t blame them for that, an episode only lasts 45 minutes after all.
In the real world, the US Air Force actually built a similar
supercomputer called « the Condor Cluster » using 1,760
Playstation 3’s. Well done POI, very well done !
8. This one is about Root and is
more of a fun fact than technical stuff but still. When Root first appeared on
the show, she was this anonymous and mysterious hacker who had managed to break
into Harold’s system, which is huge considering how much of « a private
person he is ».
So, what is
all the fuss about ? Well, when you use a computer, you have a username,
right ? All Linux systems have a default user which is called
« Root ». So, the root user, also called « superuser » or
« poweruser » has full access to everything in the machine.
Basically, Root likes to be called a Superuser in her daily life. Now, thanks to
my job, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t see root…
Yep, this is me becoming root ;)
9. Other fun fact, in
Linux systems, the « admin » user is like a common user, the root
account is the only one who can modifiy the system. Just like Harold is
« admin » to the Machine, she is Root to everyone (except Harold, I
can understand why he always calls her Ms Groves, it must be frustrating for
him to be constantly reminded that she bested him). She’s a hacker so the way I see it,
when people call her by that name, they literally recognize her talent (even
though they don’t know it), saying she’s so good she can access anyone’s
system. Considering how the show ended, I’d say that her name is more than ever
accurate… Love you Root, you classy, sassy, badass cinnamon roll.
10. Now, this
cool trick that we use at work with my colleagues of the IT department: neodym
magnets taken from (old) hard drives are some of of strongest magnets you can
find. They’re so strong we use them to
fix screwdrivers to the wall but they can also mess with electronic devices.
This trick was used by Root in 5x07 to open doors which had an electronic lock.
Root, you badass geek, forever in my heart.
I’m choosing to stop here because there are just too many awesome accurate tech stuff in this amazing show to count!
If some people want to add to the list, or discuss it, I’d love to know your thoughts! [Geekmode == OFF]
Person B knowing they’re undoubtedly about to die within the next few seconds, likely from the gaping wound they’re bleeding out from. Instead of calling for help, they phone Person A and carry on a casual conversation as if nothing is wrong, making sure to mention how much they love them before their time runs out.
poi fandom laughs in the distance right before crying
The volume is turned way down. Like the sound on an old tape. The voices are there. You just have to listen. — Genrika Zhirova
She has an Axis II personality disorder, which means technically, she’s a sociopath, incapable of caring for others. But the thing about Shaw is, she does care, enough to save my life. —Root
