Talk:Interocitor

Spelling

Do we have a source for the spelling of "interocitor"/"interociter"? For that matter, do we have any published sources for any of this article's information? We should cite them. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 01:41, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

In the movie, do they look at a catalog page discussing the gadget?

Alternatively, short of having access to the actual script, the closed captions/subtitles would probably be the closest thing to an authoritative source.

Atlant 13:11, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestion, Atlant; I should have thought of checking that first. The only text in the catalog that's shown in the MST3K version is most of the cover and title pages ("ELECTRONICS SERVICE: UNIT NO. 16", according to Joe) and a page headed "BEAD CONDENSER / (When ordering ask for AB-619)" with otherwise illegibly tiny print. They don't start talking about interocitors until they're flipping the pages out of our view. I recall the uncut TIE having substantial material before the catalog arrives, but don't recall if there was anything cut from the ordering and assembly scenes. Two other zeros: the packing crates are stencilled "DR. CAL MEACHAM / RYBERG ELECTRONICS CORP. / LOS ANGELES, CALIF.", and the diagram that Cal points to when answering Joe's question ("Goofy Clown Face" in the MST3K version) has no words, only circuitry. (I hadn't noticed this before, but the diagram inexplicably includes two dice — a three and a four, with a resistor between them. This must be the craps filter.) ~ Jeff Q (talk) 13:36, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I have the original movie (as well as the MST3K version); I'll watch it soon. :-)

Atlant 14:14, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Is it not in the book? I read it several years ago but now cannot remember whether the device is mentioned by name.207.221.248.253 (talk) 21:15, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

I can't lay my hands on the original pulp story right now, but the following is from the 1952 This Island Earth book (towards the end of Chapter 1) :

He came to an inner dividing cover at the center of the catalogue. For the first time, the center cover announced, Electronic Service - Unit 16 offers a complete line of interocitor components. In the following pages you will find complete descriptions of components which reflect the most modern engineering advances known to interocitor engineers.

"Ever hear of an interocitor?"

"Sounds like something a surgeon would use to remove gallstones."

"Maybe we should order a kit of parts and build one up," said Cal whimsically. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.205.198.107 (talk) 11:03, 25 May 2016 (UTC)

Interoscitor

I've seen various spellings for this all over the net, and spent some time thinking about how the word may have been arrived at.

I would surmise that the writers came up with their various inscrutible technobabble by messing around with various terms of electronic jargon prevalent at the time. It seems reasonable to assume that the word was born as a mashing together of the terms "integrator" and "oscillator". Hence, absent an authoritative reference from an original copy of the script, I propose a more correct spelling to be "Interoscitor" (adding an 's' before the 'c').

Ewhac 18:35, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Fiction warning

This article is written as if the Interocitor were real, with the only nod to its fictional nature being implicit in the interocitor's including in an SF film. (This is not an acceptable POV, as non-fictional elements can also be featured in a fictional work.) This is made even worse by the original research in attempting to synthesize more information from the dialog and events in the film that actually exists there. Some egregious examples:

• The article claims an interocitor "can serve many purposes", including "Interocitor incorporating a planetary generator", "Interocitor with volterator", "Interocitor incorporating an electron sorter", and "Astroscope". Based on the dialog, these are merely alternate pages with the Electronic Service catalog, explaining nothing about what an interocitor does. It's as if one can infer that a telescope can be used to weigh samples just because both the scope and a balance appear in an Edmund Scientifics catalog.
• Need I even comment about "Hot chocolate maker (uncorroborated)"? This is pure fancruft.
• I certainly don't recall seeing anything in the film that would indicate that the interocitor uses 120V, 60Hz AC power. I suspect the authors are merely assuming this based on modern U.S. household power supplies, which are a subset of the many power options available to a laboratory or engineering facility, even in the real world.

Most of the paragraph on the production of images is pure conjecture. Much of the remaining "explanatory" text is simply uncredited, verbatim quotes from the dialog. This is not how one writes an encyclopedia article. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 11:11, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

The Interocitor is now firmly placed in the realm of fiction, according to the understandable (if boring) guidelines of Wikipedia.

The reference to "hot chocolate maker (uncorrorborated)" is admittedly a frivolous conceit, but not without source. In the film Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, an Interocitor is found in Tom Servo's bedroom where he announces, "I've been using it to make hot chocolate."

Ewhac 00:06, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Oh, yeah, I remember that now. I made the mistake of racking my brain trying to think of how the only meaningful source for information on an interocitor might include hot chocolate preparation, when the statement instead came from a one-liner of a show whose motto is "just repeat to yourself, it's just a show". This is extreme fan-geek territory. Wikipedia is a serious encyclopedia. People who find it so boring they must interpret jokes as serious source material would be better off spending time contributing to fan websites, where they encourage such whimsy. I'll see what I can do about making a proper article out of this mess. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 00:32, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Far be it for me to incur the wrath of Wikipedia. The version of the article as of this writing should at least be presentable.

Ewhac 01:16, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Only Wikipedia...

Haha, I'm so glad this article exists...--Xiaphias 10:39, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Other Appearances

An interociter is mentioned in one of the Ciaphas Cain novels by Sandy Mitchel - Can anyone remember which novel? If no-one can I'll have to go and read them all.Azezel (talk) 22:55, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

A Big "I" Or Not A Big "I"?

Hello! Hmm. Is this device a one of a kind machine on Earth, or not? It it is the only one of it's kind on Planet Earth, then should it not be spelled with a capital letter "I" all the time, rather than just when the writer feels like it? Because it's the primitive Earthling version of something that would be higher tech on the alien world, so it would be unique, rather than a copy of something plentiful on another world. Then again it has been so long since I've seen it, that after reading all of this material in this article, I'm doubting my own memories. I remember "correcting" it the last time I was here, only to see that someone else undid what I did. So I came to this page to see why. Then I see that no one seems to agree on the spelling! - Leo Star Dragon 1. 70.129.174.192 (talk) 13:01, 3 July 2010 (UTC)

usage

i think i saw this word scrawled on a public bathroom stall door, misspelled? is that notable? also, why is this not a featured article? 2602:304:CFD0:6350:25B5:E5A2:8110:235A (talk) 06:58, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

Continuation of deletionism with personal grudge

So, I've just noticed that my addition about 13_Sentinels:_Aegis_Rim were also promptly deleted from here by User:MrOllie, one of the users who made it their personal mission. Beforehand, User:Sciencefish put "+Citation needed" tag on it even though no such "citations" seems to be needed for any other entry in that list. Well, here's the damn citation straight from the writer & director: "A 1955 American science fiction movie about two scientists being recruited to help defend an alien planet. The movie begins with one of the scientists receiving the instructions and parts to build a device called an “interocitor”, and by completing it he proves to the aliens that he is worthy of recruitment. Though no obvious influences from the film are immediately apparent, Kamitani has said that the “innerocitor” nanomachines in 13 Sentinels are named after the interocitor device.". Previously they used some kind of faux justifications but this is straight-up vandalism here due, to what I can only assume, irritation with being called out for using Wikipedia as a personal ego-booster via feeling of authority ("the porter syndrome", as it was known in Soviet Union and in Russian wiki now ) with no attempt to uphold its purpose of providing relevant information on subjects. — Preceding unsigned comment added by DamnedFoX (talk • contribs) 08:31, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

I've added more citations needed for this section. Note that just because an entry doesn't have a citation doesn't mean that you should perpetuate that. All entries should have citations WP:CITE. Likewise have a look at how to insert a citation correctly: WP:CITEWEB and you can use {{cite web}} from the toolbar. Sciencefish (talk) 10:27, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

References