star trek - What would the replicator do if Picard ordered "Hot. Earl Grey. Tea."?

Is a particular sequence required for detailed replicator requests?

To elaborate, is there a reason Captain Picard orders his tea, "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot." aka "Noun. Descriptor. Descriptor." and not "Descriptor. Descriptor. Noun." or "Descriptor. Noun. Descriptor." (in the event he forgot a descriptor)? Would ordering it as "Hot. Earl Grey. Tea." or even the non-statement "Hot Earl Grey tea." produce a warm (hot), smoky (gray-ish) gas with the odor of tea? I assume his ordering sequence is an acquired background affectation, but I'd like confirmation.

Note: I'm using "descriptor" instead of "adjective" to avoid minutia/debate about classification.

Answer

An answer might come from a broader realization that the computer rarely stumbles over anything but a lack of information.

For example, Scotty somewhat infamously asks the Holodeck to produce an image of the bridge of his old Enterprise. The exchange is as follows:

Computer: "Please enter program."

Scotty: "The android at the bar said ya' could show me ma' old ship. Lemme see it."

Computer: "Insufficient data. Please specify parameters."

Scotty: "The Enterprise! Show me the bridge of the Enterprise, ya' chatterin' piece of..."

Computer: "There have been five Federation ships with that name. Please specify by registry number."

Scotty: "NCC-1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D."

Computer: "Program complete. Enter when ready."

The computer is not able to tell Captain Scott which ship he wants to see; however, it is able to parse out the colorful language without mistaking it for a command it isn't aware of. It also permits him to draw out the lengthy "no bloody A... B... C... or D.", so we know the computer can also continue to incorporate the continued dialog of the user; it isn't bound by the parameters of pre-defined functions and it isn't just looking for keywords - it comprehends your English and derives a meaning from it.

There are other times when it does similar tasks; most notably, it allows a user to compound queries by saying "and" or "now" to extend the nature of the original request. It maintains context for the requests, and allows for indefinite articles to be used to reference points of data. From the episode Transfigurations:

DATA: Computer, run transformational matrix calculations. Match navigational referents to known stars in this sector.

COMPUTER: Information on this sector is incomplete. No correlation.

LAFORGE: I'm not giving up yet. Not after coming so close to cracking this thing. You know, that might be flight path information from John's ship, but without a frame of reference, I can't determine its origin points.

DATA: Computer, assume those paths are course corrections and derive gravitational values for stellar objects near those flight paths.

DATA: Most of these are ordinary G-type stars. This would appear to be a neutron star, possibly a pulsar.

LAFORGE: Which means that this might be a rotational time reference.

DATA: Computer, assume these symbols are pulsars. Translate associated values into standard temporal notations. Computer, is there a pulsar with a rotational period of one point five two four four seconds within sensor range?

COMPUTER: Affirmative.

LAFORGE: Bingo! Now, Computer, overlay navigational chart using referenced pulsars and project a flight path back to its origin.

COMPUTER: Flight path originated at bearing zero zero three, mark zero one five. Distance, two point three parsecs.

Finally, let's assume that in all cases when an entity with computer access addresses the computer, the universal translator is at work. This would mean that the computer accounts for word order, syntax, inflection, and so on. In English, one can structure a sentence in a variety of ways: "I'd like a taco." "A taco, please." "I could sure go for a taco right about now." The computer never really seems to trip over the structure of a person's sentence - the meaning is typically always inferred, and if the user needs to narrow down the selection through a series of continued decisions (such as Tom Paris attempting to order tomato soup), the computer guides them down that path.

TLDR -- the computer constantly demonstrates the ability to encapsulate an entire conversation within the context of queried results from the database, and also demonstrates its capacity to filter verbal garbage out while also comprehending the user's intent. As long as Captain Picard doesn't low-talk and horribly mangle his request by intentionally obfuscating the meaning, he can ask for tea in any number of ways.

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.

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?

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