Netflix's new film, War Machine, in which an alien civilisation that can expend vast amounts of resources creating seemingly autonomous robots with advanced scanning, reasoning, and weaponry and sending them across the vast distances of space in what has to be a somewhat speculative fashion, that civilisation didn't think "Hey, how about we put a grill mesh on top of the heat venting ports with a vibrating mechanism to clear obstructions. You know, just in case."

Or did it? "Denied! That would cost a couple of hundred credits. We're already spending a trillion per robot. This would send us over budget."

When I was in high school and had to write 1500 word essays in end of year exams for History and English, I was always struggling to hit the mark. So much padding.

But when my friends ask me for strategy tips for a computer game, suddenly I can smash out 2500 words in an hour just to cover the first 50 turns.

Maybe Miss Taylor should have been asking me how to get 12 points on the Military legacy path, just saying...

https://ask.metafilter.com/389052/Help-me-not-do-this-work-blather-thing-that-I-hate

I want to buy everyone in the other department mentioned a treat. I feel their pain.