I enjoy the Weekly Wringer, but I think 40 minutes is pushing it. Last week it was 47 minutes. I think 25-30 minutes is about where I'm ready to call it quits. And for a long time, that's where it hung out.

Anyway, as for this week's question, I think I'd want a replicator from Star Trek. Not just from the movies, but the show as well. I have the strangest tastes in food. A lot of timesI'd have to travel to get the things I want. Where I live is not a versatile food community.

Sure, you can get bbq (which I do like), pitiful excuses for "Chinese" buffets with pizza and hamburgers or fast food. That's about it. And I don't live in a small town. It's just that where I live is not adventurous when it comes to food. Places that try to do different things don't make it. No ethnic markets. Nothing.

What if I want tofu padh Thai? Or udon? Dango? Ostrich burger? Kolduny? I'd have to travel to Atlanta, most likely.

There's a lot of gadgets I'd love to have, but then getting to the why part kinda breaks down a lot of them.

Personal shield. As seen in Dune, or the ones used by the Borg in various Star Trek media. Would be great to have, if I got into lots of gun or knife fights. If I had one, I might start thinking I could finally be the vigilante I always wanted to be, and there's always a catch. So this is a gadget for a pretty specific range of uses, and they all end in important people getting hurt. And by important, I mean me.

Whatever flying gizmo the Baron from Dune had. That would make life easier. Until you get sucked into a passing jet engine. And there's too many kids out there with paintball guns, and I know what I would do if I saw someone flying around.

A gadget that could get me in a lot of trouble, but one I could consistently find good usage for would probably be a time machine. Specifically the one from the movie Primer, if anyone has seen that.

If not, it was very limited. You could only go back to a point in time where you physically turned the machine on. Turn it on Monday morning, and whenever you wanted to use it, that's when you'd go back to. So none of that can you kill your own grandfather, or can you be your own grandfather nonsense. Also, it was pretty hard to use. You had to stay in the thing for as long as it was on. If it's been a week that it's been running, you have to live in the thing for a week to get back out of it.

This would be a drag, but would prevent abuse. Most movies and shows dealing with time travel make it too easy to use, so you don't put too much thought into the consequences. If you can just hop in your Delorean or righteous phone booth (What's a phone booth, these days?) any time you want to, of course you're gonna do it too much, and hijinks ensue. If you don't want to use the thing unless you really have to, that'll be useful for redoing important life events and decisions. Almost like the device at the end of Galaxy Quest, but with an arbitrarily longer time of effect, rather than just 13 seconds.

Back to Primer, they still manage to get themselves in trouble, but this is a device I could justify using, without too much freedom, and without too much concern for the consequences.

It's tricky to pick devices from science fiction, because most of the time the story is about humans either abusing those devices, or trying to deal with unforseen problems. I wouldn't want too powerful of a time machine, but I'd want a time machine over anything else that comes to mind, so Primer box for me.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390384/

Also, if you haven't seen the movie, I recommend it. It'll probably make your head hurt, though.

My gadget pick would have to be the TARDIS from Dr. Who.  I know Doctor Who is a TV show!  But, there was a 1965 movie called Dr. Who and the Daleks starring Peter Cushing.  I only pick the movie version to meet this weeks requirements.  To put DRASTIC's fears to rest, I have no interest in going very far back in time!  My fiancé lives in Japan.  There was not enough time to get married before I had to transfer back to the states.  So, I would just use it to travel to her and spend alot of time with her and neither of us would have to miss work or use vacation time.  Or maybe go forward a day or two and get the lottery numbers.

The term "gadget" is kind of ambiguous, but implies something relatively small. So I'll refrain from choosing a warp drive or a galaxy-class LCARS computer system or holodeck. Even a transporter system or a stargate is pushing it size-wise as a "gadget."

For true, handheld gadget size, the seemingly obvious choice would be a lightsaber. But, although infinitely cool, I just don't see a lot of practical, day-to-day use for one. I mean really... what would you actually do with a lightsaber in this day and age assuming they were legal and readily available? It is a WEAPON afterall! After going through all the redtape of getting a permit to own and carry one, and the requisite training classes, what would you do with it other than walk around with one hanging from your belt? It would be a lot like having a carry permit for a handgun - you can carry a gun (in some states) but how often do you actually get to USE it? The same problem applies to phasers/disruptors/blasters/etc.

I would want a replicator (yes, this is also a bit large but hear me out on this). Want to eat some exotic food you've been craving? Need some new clothes? Did your electric razor crap out on you? I could go on and on. You need something - pretty much anything - and you've got it in a matter of seconds. I can't think of a better sci fi gadget to have. Couple it with the abudant and clean power of a Mr. Fusion and the world would be a much happier place!

Cheers Commodore! I don't know why I say cheers when I'm so bloody American... too much sodding BBC America. Anyway, great question for the week, I like the mix of serious and casual questions, keeps it from getting stagnant and preachy. It's like sitting down and having a beer with a couple of your friends, you start talking about politics and philosophy, questioning your purpose in life and existance of concepts like love and beauty, then someone asks what movie star you'd most like to bone. Classy.

Anyway, for the question, what sci-fi device would I most like to have. Well I'm not too sure really, something like the Tardis would be pretty handy, you can go anywhere or do anything, you wouldn't need a place to live it's a full house and more, but I'm pretty sure I'd get myself killed eventually using it. Plus being human kinda puts a damper on things, the entire span of space and history and only a short lifetime to experience it all. So I'd probably want something that enriches my life and gives me special powers. An Nth metal harness would be a good start, pretty simple but it lets you fly, gives you superhuman strength and a healing factor, all around good abilities to have. Or you could go for a Green Lantern ring, gives you flight, protection, the ability to travel in space and create constructs of anything you can imagine. Or maybe a Guyver suit, not as flashy but anything that lets you shoot lazer beams from your chest is tits in my book (heh). The problem with these things though, they don't let you live longer, and if I had the ability to travel at will and live in any environment I'd want more time to take it all in.

And yet I can't really think of any sci-fi gadget that would give me God-like powers off the top of my head. Maybe something like nanobots or a super suit. But then again, what about stuff like space ships, giant mecha or robot love slaves!? Sure super powers would be nice, but what about a simple, programmable fembot like a Replicant from Bladerunner? Or take it a step further, putting your mind in a super robot body like Ghost in the Shell? Or how about a kickass spaceship, I mean if you had the Enterprise wouldn't you necessarily have all the little things inside of it, like the holodeck, tricorders and phasers? And yeah giant robots, I'd probably go with Lazengann from the anime (which had 2 movie adaptations!) Tegen Toppa Gurren Lagann, cause all giant robots need tails. Don't disagree, that only proves you do not understand the awesome power of a tail. Christopher Walken knows http://youtu.be/TcrYQtb3OzM.

For now I'll go with the Green Lantern ring since it is the most versatile, and technically I could make nanobots out of constructs to extend my life... probably. That way I could fly and still have a tail!

Like Yawaru, I think having a Tardis would be really cool, but in the long run something more practical would be better. I would like a replicator, getting anything I want is also really cool. But if I had a Tardis I could probably find the thing I wanted anyway, and I could go anywhere. Hmmmm...............

Wait. Could I pick the replicator and have it make me a Tardis? If so I'd want a replicator. If not I'd have to go with a Tardis.

I guess a McGuffin wouldn't be considered a gadget. That light cycle generating bar thing from Tron would be my choice. Being able to generate a light cycle whenever you want would be rather handy. Also you could play a fun game of snake with cops if needed. 

Would magic items count? That's sci-fi, a lot of the time. Trying to think about life extension, apart from going the Mr. Freeze route, which I don't know anybody would be in favor of, the only thing I can think of is the grail from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Although it apparently didn't work, because his dad drank from it, then died off-screen before the fourth movie. I blame the fourth movie for having even darker powers than those of a magic cup capable of granting eternal life.

Also, with the mentions of the Tardis, I feel bad for not thinking of the sonic screwdriver. It basically solves any problem you're facing, and you'd blend right in at geek conventions. It can be kinda twitchy, though.

That's the reason I didn't pick the Tardis. If you could have one that worked, okay, but about half the episodes of Dr. Who were about the damn thing malfunctioning in some way.

The power of the Grail only worked within the confines of the building. The reason the knight didn't die was because he stayed within the influence of the Grail itself. It had healing powers, but only there. That's why the ground broke open when they tried to take it away from the building.

So Henry Jones died, just as any person would.

Well that's easy, the hoverboard from Back to the Future(2?) Not only would it be handy for my daily commute but also, you could use it as a dolly or whatever you need.  Need to move that heavy ass bookcase but are too puny and sad to do so by yourself? no problem! Yes that's what I want... or if you consider the Matrix a gadget.......

I find the Weekly Wringers by Commodore really insightful and amusing, dry humor so to speak. And the fact it feeds up my nerdiness, really is a big plus for me.

I better look back on the old Weekly Wringers, and great job Commodore!

First off, thanks to the Commodore for putting out the Weekly Wringer every week.  The show asks questions that are fun to contemplate and discuss with friends.  I really appreciate the effort in promoting topics you enjoy or find interesting.  A positive atmosphere from internet content is welcome.  The length has been increasing, but I’m down with that because more show means more goodness.

As far as the topic, I almost went with the underwater breathing thing from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace only to return to my first thought, the HOVERBOARD from Back to the Future 2.  I remember kids at school swore this was real and some of those liars even claimed they knew someone who owned one.  Jet skis rock pretty hard, but a goddamn hoverboard torches the mighty jet ski for the champion of aimless transport in the kingdom of awesome.  Put me down after Mr. Kettlemann as the number two vote for the hoverboard.

Honorable mention goes to the breast enhancement necklaces from Dude, Where's My Car?  You all got dumber for thinking about that movie.

So many gadgets to choose from. So many fun things that could be done with them. A replicator would be a great choice assuming I could use it to make all the other gadgets I want, so put that on my list. The Predator technology would be really awesome. You've got nearly perfect invisibility, a plasma cannon that aims where ever you look, retractable claws that don't require a healing factor, helmet with multiple spectrums of vision, audio recorder and playback, and some weird liquid that instantly heals all your wounds. Plus all the other weapons are extremely awesome too. It is a variety of gadgets though, so maybe not right for this discussion.

Maybe something more practical, like a teleporter. Save a butt load on gas and go anywhere you want instantly and safely. A mind control device would certainly have some practical uses, but I would probably do some seriously bad things with it and get myself in a whole heap of trouble and wind up some kind of super villian, which would be bad because I'm normally a really nice guy.

I think I would have to go with the flashy thing from MIB. It would have some of the same advantages as a mind control device, but isn't so powerful that I would push my luck with it. Boss pisses you off so you yell, scream, cuss, and punch him a couple times and flashy thing him. Then tell him that his injuries were from a mugger that was about to kill him for his wallet and you just saved his life and is giving you a raise for doing so. Get pulled over for speeding? Make the cop forget why he pulled you over and remind him he's actually looking for the jerk that lives down the street from you. Get in an argument with your wife? Not if she can't remember what she was mad about. Get shot down by that cutie at the bar? Remind her that you were actually very charming and that she was about to invite you to her place for a threesome with her twin sister and hot mom. It would have a lot of practical uses and some awesome advantages, but wouldn't make me think I could get away with anything or give me the power to rain death on all who oppose me.

Well, my obvious choice of a hoverboard from BTTF Pt2/3 has already been mentioned, so I'd probably go with the Active/Adaptive Camoflauge/Cloak from Ghost In the shell: Stand Alone Complex.

Why? Simple, it's basically a personal version of the damned Romulan Cloaking Device we often saw in Star Trek! That's the only way to explain it!

Sure, there's a lot of illegal things one can do with it, but in a hostile environment (boy, didn't highschool count as one of those?) it'd be pretty much the ONLY way to avoid having to deal with jerks around the place (or attack from a extremely-well hidden place if you're a soldier, or even just playing paintball)!

Can I say Gundam hum..... Come on Riding around in a Gundam would kickass. If I can't pick that though I'd go with the saffwepon from StarGate.

This doesn't count, as it isn't from a movie, which just begs the question, Why hasn't somebody made a Portal movie?

Or at least a movie with a gadget very similar to a Portal gun?

Or maybe they have, but I'm about as likely to watch Jumper as apparently the rest of the movie going public was. Just have to assume that wasn't the same technology.

Cloaking tech is nice, but nobody ever explains well enough how it wouldn't work both ways. Because it would. You see when light enters your eyes, after bouncing off objects. If you're in a region where light is bent around it, so no light hits you, bounces off, and enters the eyes of your opponents, rendering you invisible, then no light bouncing off them enters your eyes, in the bent region, making you blind to everything, not just one small region.

And even if it weren't impossible to use, I can only think of using it to get in trouble with. There's not a lot of ways I can use a cloaking device to make my life easier apart from sneaking into girls locker rooms, and what's the point; I have the internet. Can you people see me? Ha! Cloaking device!

This is almost as good a wrong answer as Zoc with a lightsaber, but not quite. It just isn't useful on a day to day basis. That's the point of making things gadgets; you need them so often and they're so helpful that you make them small and easy to use.

I still say time machine. It's like a convenient save point just before a big boss battle. IN REAL LIFE. Screw it up? Go back and do it over. As many times as you need to. Like Groundhog Day. Eventually you'll figure out the perfect way to handle a given situation.

You get to write the perfect ending to your own life, one problem at a time.

I didn't get a chance to comment on last week's wringer but you have brought insight on piracy for me Commodore. Thank you! And yes, I agree, it's very illegal and I certainly do not condone it. If I want to enjoy a product of some sorts, I should at least pay the people who created it. It can take a lot of work to create a video game.

 Anywho, on to my favorite gadget! I've read past comments to see what people have said, and they're all such good choices. The hoverboard from BttF, lightsabers (although not practical in daily life), time machines, hell, even the Holy Grail. These were some of the first gadgets that came to my mind. But I think I've thought of one that I would really like to have. A power scouter. Y'know, like the one from the Dragonball Z franchise. Yeah, I know it's anime but it's still sci-fi and it was used in some DBZ films. But in case if that doesn't count because of it's anime genre, I'll say the scouter-like device that (Some of you are probably gonna hate me for saying this) Aki Ross used in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which is a Sci-fi flick, right?

 Anyways, that's my choice. A power scouter. I would just have so much fun with it; reading power levels of things like people, or bugs, or pets. And hey, it could have a good use for something! What if you get confronted by some thug when walking home. How do you know if you're powerful enough to defend yourself or if you should just run? A scouter could help in a prediction! Or maybe you're exercising, building muscle mass, and you want to check your progress as to how your strength is growing. Just use a scouter!

 And heck, maybe the scouter could be modified to do other things like, translate a written foreign language into your language. Or maybe solve complicated mathematical problems just by looking at it.

I totally forgot about the Universal Translator.

I could certainly use one of those in some of the trips I'm planning in the next year or so.

Anybody geekier than me, or willing to head over to Memory Alpha know anything about the standard universal translator? Can it handle things like binary, or coded messages that have a definite pattern?

Because one of those would be tremendously useful for both travel, or getting a job at any international company you wanted, but if it can technically break codes, it wouldn't be long before you start getting calls from the NSA. Nice people, I'm sure, but I wouldn't want to get recruited into that job.

Also, I would only tolerate power scouters if they maxed out at 8999. I'd get tired of having to scream it's over 9000 every time I looked at something.

Anyway, shouldn't (again, to Memory Alpha!) a tri-corder be able to discern to some degree how powerful something would be? You can measure muscle density, glucose levels, and brain activity in most living things, there's probably an app to convert measurements to a standardized value.

Throw in a PKE meter app from ghostbusters. If only to bug people by telling them they're haunted.

I think systems that sell old games with digital downloads like Steam or EA's origin will have much older games, so getting some old games like I said I have Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, both of those are available on steam. It isn't that they don't make money, they make plenty of money especially during sales when a whole series is $10. When looking to pirate an old game because you can't find another way, check if it is available from digital download. If you were to only be available on ebay or amazon, noone cares if you pirate it because the copyright holders don't get any money. Although digital download allows ID to make money when I buy DOom in 2011. I wish companies would all sell their older games (1997 or earlier maybe?) on steam (atleast PC games) just to make more money off of the older games without having to do anything. It is dumb not to.

Yeah... as I've said many times before I don't watch too many movies and I haven't had much exposure to sci-fi other than Star Wars and Back to the Future. I watched BttF yesterday so hoverboard came to my mind, but that has been mentioned. Since I don't watch much Sci-Fi stuff all I can do is comment on what other people have said. Teleporters? Yes, that would make life much easier. Time Machine? Hell yeah, I'd love to be able to go to any time I want, fix things I've done, see what happens in some years, etc. Cloack Device? Yes please! While not practical in most situations I would find many uses for it myself... but I shouldn't share them incase any of you are on the other team in a few years ;)

If i had to choose science fiction gadget, my first pick would be the portal gun from portal.  I would spend years messing around with that thing.

But the question was which gadget from a science fiction MOVIE, wasn't it?

I guess I would go with the time machine from the movie Primer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primer_(film)

Yes it's more dangerous than most movie time machines, but I could frickin take over the world with that thing.

Now if I had that, AND the portal gun I would be unstoppable.

I would Love the DC Mini from the anime Movie Paprika. (As long is it doesn't get misused as in the movie.) The DC Mini allows you to record and enter dreams. not only your own dreams, but the dreams of others. I think that'd be anawesome experience.

Sorry I'm late to the party this week guys

First I just want to clarify since it seems like everyone missed my point. I'm not saying we as a whole should accept piracy and start doing. What I am saying is that regardless of what ever else happens, Piracy will continue to happen, and it should be taken into account (ie accept that it will happen). Beyond that I pretty much agree with Commodore.

onto this week

Mikeke, Cudos on Paprika. Now any gadget from any Sci-fi movie... christ...

Well as often is the case with the wringer, I'm going to cheat. I agree with Zoc that to me 'Gadget' would qualify as something extremly portable. Now I say extremly because of this analogy:

How many people would consider a laptop a 'gadget'. I know I dont.

So here's how I cheat, one portable gadget, and one decidedly less so. Reason being is simple. to me Mr. K nailed it in  one. Replicator technology.

Because it's not limited to just food, it's applications are amazing. On a global scale think how that kind of technology could benefit... Just too good to pass up. 

However as much as it's my top pick I can't say it's a gadget.

in terms of portable gadgetry... well this is a tough one... but I think I'll have to go with Personal Cloaking device a-la Predator.

Since this wringer was posted I been trying to think of a gadget I would like but nothing is coming up.

Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet. He... er, it can manufacture materials kind of like a replicator from Star Trek, it can disable weapons, it apparently has Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics (so it won't clobber you if you make a joke about its legs), and it even comes with its own car... thing. Very handy. Just don't expect it to win any foot races.

Holy crap, some of this stuff is real.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19368_6-shockingly-affordable-sci-fi-inve...

They have working universal translators. And not really matter replicators, but years ago I went to a 3d fab lab and it was the size of an office building, and nowadays you can buy your own 3d printer and put it on your desk, and have it make whatever you want. Wouldn't recommend eating the resin, but baby steps. Someday...

Also, Paprika was a weird movie, so for those of you that care, ever seen Brainstorm? Old movie with Christopher Walken before he became, well, the Christopher Walken we know him as today. Thematically similar, and might be worth checking out if Paprika wasn't out there enough for you.

Also, FinalFan777 knows what he's talking about. To him you listen.

(or her, if that's the case)

See, the thing about the universal translator as it stands right now, sure, my cell phone can do it. But you have to speak into it for the translation to occur.

A true universal translator would make the speech of another person sound as the language you speak without a conversion process.

If we're going with The Forbidden Planet, I might as well say, The Forbidden Planet. Spoilerz LOL.

But no, I'm not that stupid... Hmmmm this is a tough one. Some of my favorite gadgets are from sci-fi video games, not sci-fi movies. :( The TARDIS is a good one, and if it came down to it I'd probably choose that. But that's arguably a vehicle. No, when it comes down to it, I want a holodeck. A way to practice anything I want with as much safety as a want, have as much fun as I want anytime I want, and possibly other things. A holodeck would be nice!

I know that I am a little late, but there is a guy selling replica Tom Servo and Crow robots from Mystery Science Theater 3000.  His eBay profile is here:  http://myworld.ebay.com/sledge_riprock/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

I won a Tom Servo for about $250 a few months ago.  Would love to get Crow if I had enough money.  If anyone is interested, the replica is spot-on accurate and incredibly cool looking.

I agree with Mr. K: 40 + minutes is too much. For that long we best get a titty flash or something

I do enjoy your series overall though.