There's one more typographic anomaly to be found during the self-destruct sequence. Remember when Ripley was punching NUCLEAR BOLT CODE No 1 into that funny-looking keyboard? Well, it turns out to be a very strange keyboard indeed:
The first key of note is "PRANIC LIFT 777":
Prana is the Sanskrit word for "life force". It's a cosmic energy believed to come from the sun, and to connect the elements of the universe.
We also have "PADME", a possible variant of Padma, Sanskrit for "lotus flower":
...and "LINGHA" (or Lingam), a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva:
Lingha is balanced by "YONI", Sanskrit for "womb":
Yoni is a symbol for the Hindu Divine Mother, an embodiment of Shakti, the concept of divine feminine creative power. This might explain why we also have a "SHAKTI EXCESS" button on the keyboard:
But perhaps the oddest key on the keyboard is this one in the top right hand corner -- "AGARIC FLY":
Now, Agaric Fly -- or Fly Agaric, as it's more commonly known -- is a mushroom and psychoactive fungus known for triggering a hallucinogenic experience. You might think this is an odd thing to be written on the keyboard of an emergency destruction system. You would be correct.
This might also explain why the key to the left of "AGARIC FLY" is labelled, simply, "TRIP":
So why are all of these strange references on the Nostromo's emergency destruct keyboard? Well, according to the Alien Explorations blog, designer Simon Deering needed some complex-sounding labels for the keyboard at short notice. He was reading The Secret Doctrine by Helena Blavatsky, a Russian philosopher and occultist, at the time of filming. Blavatsky's book attempts to explain the origin and evolution of the universe in terms derived from the Hindu concept of cyclical development. Deering found his inspiration in its pages, and the Nostromo's odd keyboard was born.
Alien: 1970s, City, Futura, Helvetica
All of this is fantastic, but especially this:
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Tags: computers, mad science, movies, pranks, religion, space
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Obama Calls For Turret-Mounted Video Cameras On All Police Tanks

In an effort to restore the public's faith in law enforcement, President Obama made an impassioned appeal this week, calling for the installation of turret-mounted video cameras on all police tanks. "This initiative will ensure that police officers across the country will be held accountable for their actions as they pour out of an 18-ton combat vehicle in response to a routine call," said Obama, who announced a detailed plan to allocate funding to equip every single armored personnel carrier, landmine-resistant SWAT van, and battle-ready half-track with an onboard camcorder to monitor police conduct. "If the police are forced to discharge a high-caliber, vehicle-mounted weapon in the line of duty, we'll know why. Furthermore, this policy will discourage the misuse of shell-proof tanks in our communities." The president added that he is hopeful that turret-mounted video cameras would help to reestablish trust between officers equipped with military-grade technology and the populations they are sworn to protect.
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