Charlie Stross
Am I alone in thinking that Vladimir Putin is clearly a fan of Karl Stromberg's conference table gun from "The Spy Who Loved Me"?
Jul 17, 2023 at 5:48pmWeb
Show threadBashStKidJul 17, 2023
@cstross You’d think the target seat at the end of the table would be reserved for whoever’s last.
“You’re late”
“Bad Moscow traffic”
“No, as in the late General Gerasimov, General”
Show threadSteve BellovinJul 17, 2023
@cstross I always figured it was because he knew of Operation Valkyrie (https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-july-20-1944-plot-to-assassinate-adolf-hitler).
The July 20, 1944, Plot to Assassinate Adolf Hitler | Holocaust Encyclopedia

The July 20, 1944, plot was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Learn more about the July 20 plot, including some of the motivations of the participants.

Holocaust Encyclopedia
Show threadCharlie StrossJul 17, 2023
@SteveBellovin My simpler/not funny preferred explanation: Putin is known to be a cancer survivor—he's immunosuppressed, and the famous long table photos were taken during the height of the 2020/21 waves of the ongoing pandemic, before there were decent treatments
Show threadSteve BellovinJul 17, 2023
@cstross That, too.
Show threadinnerspacegirlJul 17, 2023
@cstross
logical.
Show threadPaul LalondeJul 17, 2023
@cstross @SteveBellovin you take all the fun out of it.
Show threadCount_ZeroOrJul 17, 2023
@cstross Nah, I see it too.
Show threadFeralRobotsJul 17, 2023
@cstross Did the barrel of Stromberg's gun have air ports along most of its length to stop it from slowing down the shell, or am I overthinking a Bond villain's gadget?
Show threadCharlie StrossJul 17, 2023
@FeralRobots You're overthinking it. (Also, it was some sort of spear gun rather than a regular explosive-propelled bullet. Slow, but fires a spear.)
Show threadFeralRobotsJul 17, 2023
@cstross it does make a cooler villain-gun if it's a spear than if it's a bullet.
Show threadJamie ScottJul 17, 2023
@cstross @FeralRobots and now I'm wondering if the bullet Bond fires back up that tube to kill Stromberg would lose a lot of its velocity from the pressure bow wave (and ricochets).
Show threadBen TaylorJul 17, 2023
@cstross I wonder what sort of muzzle velocity you'd get on a standard (magnetised, obvs) NATO round from a railgun that length...
Show threadGregg "Cabe" BondJul 17, 2023
@cstross not many windows in that room by the looks of things, either.
Show threadKit BashirJul 17, 2023
@cstross very not alone