In case you are not familiar with Alien/Predator lore, here’s some info you definitely need. I’m a HUGE fan of Alien/Predator in their numerous incarnations, so I will be glad to impart what wisdom I have, which is not complete by any standard, so please don’t take my word as final. Nonetheless, here we go:

You are correct, the species seen in the Alien films is indeed called a xenomorph. ‘Xeno’ meaning ‘alien,’ ‘outsider,’ ‘foreigner,’ and ‘morph’ derived from the name of Morpheus, the mythical shapechanger. So essentially, an alien shapechanger, which refers to the fact that it exists in various stages of its life in radically different forms (egg, facehugger, chestburster, ‘Alien’, and sometimes a queen or prætorian (the queen’s guard caste, not unlike drone bees). The ‘morph’ part of their name is also significant in that it refers to their ability to take on aspects of their hosts during incubation, allowing them to be that much more adapted to the host’s natural environment after gestation, which makes them even more formidable. A xenomorph which gestates inside a human will likely be smarter and walk more upright than, for example, a xenomorph which gestates inside a dog, which would have the same general physiognomy shared by all xenomorphs, but might differ slightly in appearance and run on all fours or make greater and better use of its tail.

The Predator species are usually just called ‘aliens’ or ‘hunters’ by humans. And often ‘ugly motherfuckers,’ as it turns out. They are known as a Yautja in their own tongue. There is one book, Predator: Forever Midnight which refers to the creatures by the name ‘Hish-qu-Ten’, but this name, and in fact the entire book, is widely ignored because of the many errors contained within (the biggest being the fact that, in this book, the Predators do not have a code of honor by which they regulate their hunts, which was a lynchpin of all three Predator movies released so far, and seems to me to be pretty inseparable from the whole concept of the Yautja).

By your reasoning, the name of the Predalien should be “Xenautja” or “Yautjamorph,” or “Xen-qu-Ten” or “Hish-qu-morph” if you want to consider Predator: Forever Midnight as a valid source of info. But honestly, no one calls them that. According to what I’ve read, the Predalien (a xenomorph which has gested inside, and thereby acquired some characteristics, of a Yautja) first appeared in the 1995 Dark Horse comic Alien versus Predator: War. I own that series, but I have never read it (shame on me).

The first time I know of for sure that the Predalien made an appearance is in the ASTOUNDING Alien versus Predator PC game from 1999. In the Predator missions, the Yautja learn that one of their own has been captured by humans and used to breed a Predalien. This is an extreme violation of the Yautja hunting code which dictates that if a hunter does not kill his prey, his life if forfeit. Capture is not an option. If you remember, Dutch wasn’t going to kill the Yautja at the end of Predator; he chose to show human mercy and spare his enemy once he saw the alien was no longer a threat. But that’s not the way Yautja do things. The Predator nuked the entire area to kill himself rather than be captured.

By capturing a Yautja without killing him, keeping him alive to be experimented on, then purposefully creating a corruption of the Yautja in the form of a Predalien, the humans have earned the wrath of the Predators. In the game, your mission is to destroy both the human station and the Predalien. Although I believe the creature was referred to as a Predalien in the game manual and in on-screen instructions, I’m fairly certain it was only ever called a ‘hybrid’ in-game. I could be wrong, but I don’t think the term ‘Predalien’ has ever been the official name in the context of the story. I think its just a very convenient and descriptive term used among fans of the crossovers.

AvP Trivia: At the end of Predator 2, released in 1990, a xenomorph skull can be seen in the ship’s trophy room. Although most people point to this as the first connection between the two franchises, the first time we got to see Yautja and xenomorphs together was actually in a number of Aliens versus Predator stories by Dark Horse Comics, first released in November 1989. Both the filmmakers and the team that produced the comics have made it clear that each was completely unaware of the other’s activities in combining the two franchises.

“Predalien” is fucking stupid.

“Alien” means foreign, so the term itself is a matter of perspective. It’s not aliens and predators, it’s xenomorphs and predators (until we find out whatever the future scientific community decided to call it, we’ll have to settle on the term “predator”). Predalien might as well be call AlienAlien.

Predomorph? Xenator? Xenomorphator? Whatever. They’re all stupid, but they’re better than Predalien.

“We’ve succeeded in combining tigers with lions. What shall we call this new beast? How about Tinimal, cause it’s half tiger, half animal.”

Fucking stupid.

Okay, I’ll get around to the computer stuff – and yes, for some reason I’ve not been able to figure out (or really devote much more than a passing glance’s worth of attention) the web server is about 40 minutes off.

BTW, Chris, delete one of my posts again and you’ll log on to see that you’re the administrator of The Sci-Little-Pony-Guys website.

I’m bashing Microsoft because this “news” piece was posted on MSN, which is owned and operated by Microsoft. Also, I’d bet good money that this is one of those cases where the products featured “just happen” to have preloaded drivers in place for on future versions of Windows. Hardware companies pay Microsoft to package the drivers as part of the standard Windows installation. So you’re getting tons of unnecessary drivers and other software on your PC just so MS can collect some cash from these companies.

Also, Microsoft is VERY into making questionable deals and product announcements. They’ve bankrupted numerous companies by advertising shit like this, investing heavily in the companies and the development of the products, then pulling out just prior to completion and forcing the company out of business. Then a short while later they will conveniently happen to come out with products that are very similar in intent, but vastly inferior in design, to the original product concept. They’re manipulative, underhanded, and lie to consumers on a regular basis.

Although I don’t like the very concept of Macs, being PCs run by software the average person can’t fix on their own, I have to say that Apple seems to be a MUCH more honest company than Microsoft (even though Steve Jobs is a straight-up loon). I’d rather have DOS based systems, but I consider Microsoft a completely unnecessary evil. Click the pic below to read in more detail how they operate to screw other companies over and deliver high priced, inferior garbage to consumers.

First they’d have you believe that “wireless charging” is some kind of heavenly magical voodoo charm that will forever eliminate the need for power cords. BULLSHIT. A long time ago Tesla, in his mad dash to do just the opposite, essentially proved that broadcast electrical energy is impractical. Its not like these things will be able to charge from just anywhere. Existing laptops will need an add-on adapter to make use of charging pads, so they will become bulkier and less convenient than they are now. New laptops will still need to be charged, and although there may not be any cables plugging into the laptops directly, those pads they charge from certainly won’t be cordless. It’ll be just one more thing you’ll have to plug into the wall and find room for in your house. And suppose they were to eliminate the power cable adapter from laptops altogether. Are people supposed to carry around a laptop AND an recharging pad? Current laptop charges go from the wall outlet to a battery to the PC. All this does is add an extra piece of gimmicky, unnecessary equipment between the outlet and the battery. That’s a step backwards. I’ll gladly keep my easily rolled and very portable power cable.

Behold, the breakthrough new photo paper for those photos nobody prints anymore.

As far as the Zink zero-ink printer, its a little late. Yeah, the idea is cool, but the time has past. The great thing about digital pictures is that you don’t have to print them. People don’t give their friends and family prints anymore, they send them images on email or over the phone. As far as 2×3 inch photo paper with “a crystal substrate sandwiched between its layers”… that just sounds pointless and expensive. Why would anyone buy a photo printer that can’t print standard 3×5 inch pictures and can’t use normal, cheap, readily available paper? My digital camera is far smaller than a 3×5 print, but in order to print 3-inch pictures, a camera will have to be at least a little larger than that in one dimension. So digital cameras get bigger and less convenient, all in the name of having a printer that fits in your pocket. Well, whoop-de-doo. Its a useless little printer that uses special, expensive photo paper that can only print tiny pictures. No thank you.

Rollable display screens. This sounded really cool at first, but then it occurred to me how absolutley useless they would be. Regular laptop displays get hard to read if your angle is even a little off. How much more difficult will it be when there’s a residual curve in the screen from being rolled up all the time? And have you ever creased a sheet of plastic? It doesn’t come out, ever. The first time you drop something significantly heavy on a rolled screen and crease it your display is ruined. According to the article, “tiny screens just don’t cut it when you want to do real work.” But then they go on to tell us that next year Telecom Italia will release a cell phone with a whopping 5-inch, 320×240 pixel monochrome rollable display. A really small, floppy screen. With shitty resolution. And it’s black and white. What’s Italian for “don’t buy this phone”?

Not to mention that these really big flex screens they’re planning are meant to be rolled out on a flat surface. That’s gonna get real hard to look at after a while. There’s a reason monitors and televisions and traffic signs and paintings on walls are displayed parallel to your upright body. There’s a reason ATM and arcade game screens are angled up to match the downward tilt of your head as you use them. It’s because they’re best when you’re looking straight at them. A screen rolled flat on a table or desk will only look good if you’re staring straight down at it, with your face pointing down at an uncomfortable 90º angle from the way you usually hold it. And they’re not going to be much use if you try to hold them upright, because they’re flexible and will just fall down. What you would need is a rigid laptop screen, perhaps attached to the laptop itself with a hinge, which could easily be easily stowed when not in use, and perhaps even be integrated into a hard, impact-resistant plastic shell which would protect both the screen and the keyboard from damage. You know, kind of like the ones we already have right now.

This article goes on and on with one piece of bullshit information after the other. It says that outdated technology “prevents cell phones from transmitting voice calls and data simultaneously.” You’ve got to be kidding me. BULLSHIT. My phone does it all the time. I get text and pics while I’m in the middle of conversations. When the Daylight Savings times laws were altered, did you have to manually update your phone’s software to keep it up to date? Me either. But the clock and calendar on your phone runs accurately, even while you’re on a call. That’s because cellphones pull their time/date info from the phone company’s network WHILE YOU’RE TALKING.

It goes on, but really, I’m done with it. This article is ridiculous. It tries to make things sound amazing and advanced by downplaying the technology we already have and glossing over the grossly obvious flaws of the technology its promoting. MSN sucks for pretending this is journalism. This isn’t a technology update, nor is it news. This a fucking ad.