> > Wolf "or wait, maybe we're talking about some sort of invisible Deus ex machina, God in
> > the machine" spirit
>
> Nonononono, "deus ex machina" means "God *out of* the machine".
>
> The deus ex machina is the bit at the end of a bad play where God (or a god) descends from the ceiling via a clever winch mechanism and solves everyone's problems for them, because the playwright hasn't a clue how to do a real ending.
>
> Paul

Totally cool explanation Paul. :-) I was aware that the literal meaning of the phrase was "God *from* the machine," but ignorant of its background significance... to me, "God in the computer" or "God from the computer" were equivalent (and skewed by my reading of William Gibson's work, where AI takes on the form of Haitian Voodoo deities inside the Internet... but I digress).

Hmm, I like this literary concept, spanking brand-new to me. Nay, I *love* this deus ex machina concept...
"a person or thing (as in fiction or drama) that either appears or is introduced suddenly and unexpectedly by the author (typically in desperation), and provides a contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty."

Definitely acounts for the joyous plot eccentricities in the various Rinkforum story lines, no? :-) :-)

Wolf "hums along merrily" spirit