MINERVA - read-only archives

I don't think you have any clue what a Thread is in Computer Science. A program, when executed is called a process. Each process has a number of threads, which it has complete control over. A thread is a piece of a program that executes for a while, then stops and lets the next thread execute for a while, and so on. That's how Windows work, multiple threads running at once, almost. Many programs use a few threads and some a few more, very few Win32 programs use only one thread.
My system is a standard 1GB machine and it's running kinda idle right now, yet I have 511 threads running already. That's twice as such as the machine above, and I'm idle, and I'm using no super computer.

What freaks me out is that Adam used the megabyte unit incorrectly, instead of MB he just wrote M. It doesn't make much sense except from formatting. In case it means Megabyte, that computer has just above 1GB memory available. Seeing the Combine Invalid happened somewhere this century, from 2000 to 2009, this isn't terribly much.

She has access to much better data terminals, than this little machine, no doubt. But yeah, your theory is flawed.

Maybe the computer that produced the above output (hereafter referred to as the 'traitor machine' because that's the filename of the page, and I like the sound of it) is the cpu of a combine soldier of some sort, or rather the computer based part of their implants.
Herself has shown her aptitude at subverting combine kit, and what other computer hardware is out there and accessible after the 7 hour war has presumably taken care of most of humanity's machines?
As for it being part of a combine soldiers implant, well, that's just fancy on my part. It could equally be the cpu of one of those hovery robots that takes pictures of you, or even a manhack...

Cheers on the thread tutorial there Sortie, you inspired me to do some reading on that. (and Terrapin; you might want to just give it up. Or better yet, ,, and ).

I started looking at that task manager-like readout again, and of the processes listed, MDWORKER looked potentially meaningful, so I googled it and it's a Mac OS X process. I was assuming all this was unix (like Adam's version of the HEV suit, and black mesa terminals), but I couldn't find any reference to that process with unix, just the Mac OS. I know OS X is unix-based, but perhaps that program is specific to Mac's? So then Minerva would seem to be using a Mac OS? (I also looked up tty and it's a Mac command, er whatever, too.)

I think what we need is someone who can rival Adam's knowledge of Unix (and Macs) to comment on the technical stuff. Anyway, perhaps there's some significance to the fact that it appears to be at least a human-made OS in there? Rather than some combine/alien stuff. I mean I doubt the combine use Unix. Or OS X.

(oh, and Sortie, I've seen MiB/MB shorted to M plenty of times before, that must be used somewhere, perhaps it could give us a clue as to the exact OS? I wouldn't buy that it was a mistake of Adam's.)

Oh, and 'bolide octet' anyone?

Yeah it's quite possible Adam just took the readout from his Mac and added a ROT13 cipher to some of it. (without the cipher we would've noticed iTunes right away, and things wouldn't have seemed nearly so cryptic.) It must be a joke, I can't think of any other reason to use ROT13 here. Heh, well maybe I'd find it funny too if I had ever read a newsgroup in my life, or wherever they did such things. Reminds me of . I just don't seem to be equipped to catch Adam's jokes without some research, rather killing the humor unfortunately. Oh well. (I'm sure if we never figured this out he'd have gotten a good chuckle over watching us try to make sense out of it. Now that I can appreciate.)

Perhaps its a message to those of us who over analyze these things? To, you know, not over analyze things? (on that note, he didn't exactly pick a to use as the main image. I stumbled across that when trying to figure out what bit of land was what country, etc.) Well, he does seem to have put some effort into it, and take it seriously elsewhere though, so I think we can for a bit. As long as we don't go overboard!

Anyway, the rest of it gives me a general bio-mechanical vibe, with medical terms like infarction, thrombus, entoptical phenomena, along with all the computer stuff. Like I said on the blog, I'd say lends credence to the idea that Minerva may be some sort of technologically enhanced human. Or something. Maybe.

Oh mind it's console output, not input. It's the reciever who's biomechanical, and guess who Minerva's favorite combine-enhanced traitor is? Calling this proof for Minerva is a technology-based entity, is just as valid as Minerva using iTunes because the other output said so, but it could be the case.. I dunno.
Judging from the sender of the cryptic message, ttyss000, which is a part of the Mac OS X operative system, it could be Minerva is using an Mac OS X based computer. That would explain why

You know what's even more amusing than watching us overanalyse every bit of information? The fact that we're commenting it's amusing. On the other hand, commenting that commenting it's funny, is even more hilarious, and so on. ;-)

Interesting point about the player not having any free will, it reminds me of the BioShock plot, if you guys ever played it, if not beware of my spoilers! Could Minerva hack the player's brain and take control? If so, is she doing it? Somehow I doubt it, why would the player be using a HEV Suit then? Why haven't she just taken control of all the combines on the island? Probably because the soldiers cannot be converted remotely and requires another operation.
Is the player actually a soldier? I suddently doubt that fact; seeing as the player "wouldn't been a stalker, if it wasn't for [Minerva]", so he'd be a rebel or something?

If Minerva controls the player's free will, why would she feel anything for him? She doesn't need brain control to control the player; knowing he has no choice but to obey: She's the only one not directly wanting to kill him, at least not at this moment. The player is still useful for other tasks.

In conclusion, I think the player has a free will and is just not a mindless soldier doing whatever Minerva wants.


I somehow don't believe Minerva is a computer-based entity, but on the other hand I don't know what she is either. Maybe it's much simpler than we think it is and it's just some human sitting behind a computer, monitoring the player's action and sending messages when required?

Thanks. ;-). I was just looking for proof, I had forgotten where we knew this from. Also in the last quote she says "Our Species", that backs on the theory she's humane, but semihuman is a pretty good theory too, while I cannot imagine anything semihuman that'd make much sense. Perhaps she's just lying; acting like she is an AI?

To be technical, a human can't act like an AI. By definition, you can't really act like something that's better than you are; a chimpanzee can't act like a human - at least, not very well - and a human can't act like an AI.

"Our species" could mean that she was originally human, before becoming what she is now, or that she was created by humans, and thus feels a connection with them. We know that Minerva is partially responsible for the Combine invasion, having helped us discover teleport technology (I'm thinking: research AI gone rampant). She tried to warn us, but failed, and now feels some responsibility to help make things right. Of course, this just happens to mesh with her own agenda, related somehow to the world beyond the portal, and a zealous hatred of the Combine. Really, I think Minerva would rather just forget the whole thing, move on, and let us suffer the mess we created. But whether this is the product of some hard-coded synthetic morality, the need to take a side in a war she started, or a genuine guilty conscience, Minerva is somehow inextricably connected to humanity.

As I said above, I'm really starting to think that Minerva is the product of human science, more specifically, Black Mesa. She seems far to familiar with humanity for this to be a coincidence; she has a level of experience with humans that could only come from a life once lived among them. She even knows our ancient mythology! She uses our information technology with an eerily professional ease, be it computers, radio, or research equipment. My current inclination is to think that she was created by Black Mesa as part of an experiment. Whether she was a means or an end is uncertain, but we know she has deep connections to that place.

Remember: keep it simple! An AI created to help research teleport technology, only to have the inconvenient results ignored by the hairless apes she had to work with, sounds exactly like the way Adam thinks - I think.