Skip to main content

stargate - What Was the Purpose of Different Point of Origin Symbols?


The stargate point of origin symbol has been asked about several times. While some of the questions may seem to overlap, each one points to a different issue with the point of origin symbol. This one item seems to have been the source of several technical flaws in the Stargate series.


While previous questions asked about it being coordinates or what Earth's point of origin was, what the symbol actually does when used in dialing, and about the meaning of the symbol itself, this is about something different.


Each stargate in the Milky Way galaxy has a different point of origin symbol. (See the first link above to see a number of them.) What is the purpose of having a different symbol for the stargate on every different planet when the gates can easily be relocated and will work just as well, even when they're moved to another planet or even taken out of the galaxy (as they were for the McKay/Carter bridge)?



Answer



I believe this was touched on in one of the comments on the other questions you've linked to.


While a gate address corresponds to a location in space, the point of origin is a unique gate identifier, kind of like an IP address or serial number within the gate network.


Gate address



(I just sketched the above using MS Word so excuse the use of numerals instead of glyphs)


The tech-savvy may even think of the point of origin as the physical device address (MAC), which does not change, and the gate address as the routing address, which depends on the gate's location within the network.


Such a physical device identifier may be useful for:



  • Identifying trusted gates within the system and block gates that may have fallen into enemy hands (a function that SGC does not know about; they instead use the gate address for blocking, which can be spoofed by moving the gate).

  • May be used by gates to auto-dial and handshake with each other for regular updates (as mentioned in the SG-1 episode Avenger 2.0), while avoiding gates outside the network.

  • To visually identify a destination in case travelers arrive at the wrong destination with limited equipment.

  • To identify the original planet of a gate that has been moved from its original location.


P.S. Why does it have to be entered manually? This is one question I cannot answer. If it is meant to be an end-of-line character, it can be sent by the gate automatically when the user hits the DHD "send" (red) button. The user doesn't even need to know the point of origin glyph of his embarking address. If he has used at least one gate in the past, he will know the point of origin by eliminating the other glyphs already known to him.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more