T-Rex: The number of Spider-men depends on the number of real-life superpower-granting spiders, which I'm pretty sure is zero. The number of Hulks depends on the number of gamma bombs blasts granting superpowers, which, again: zero.

T-Rex: This DOES explain why no Spider-men Hulks have tried to steal my girlfriend!!

T-Rex: But it makes things pretty depressing. Watch an action movie and you can think "That could be me, if my chums and I were ever sent into space to blow up an asteroid." But there's no way I can become Spider-man OR Hulk! Or Flash. Or Green Lantern or even Black Canary.
T-Rex: *sigh*

Utahraptor: You could still become Green Lantern, T-Rex!
T-Rex: Really?!

Utahraptor: Sure! He's given his powers through an alien ring, so really you just need a slightly modified Drake Equation that incorporates the odds of strangers giving you stuff.
T-Rex: And by making myself more charismatic, I increase that chance, which thereby increases my Green Lantern Ring Potential!!

Narrator: SOON:
T-Rex: Oh, will you look at that! NONE of my fingers have rings on them! Gosh, but that's a lot of potential
T-Rex: As much as my personal potential for fighting crime and righting wrongs, I gotta say!

January 6th, 2011: T-Rex's Green Lantern Ring Potential Equation, Featuring Drake:

N = R^* · f_p · n_e · f_l · f_i · f_g · L · C_p

where:

N = the expected number of Green Lantern Power Rings on your fingers

and

R* =	the average rate of star formation per year in our galaxy
fp =	the fraction of those stars that have planets
ne =	the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets
fl =	the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop life at some point
fi =	the fraction of the above that actually go on to develop intelligent life
fg =	the fraction of civilizations that develop Green Lantern technology and that release detectable Green Lantern Corps into space
L =	the length of time for which such Green Lantern Corps survive
Cp =	your personal charisma, ranging from 0 (least charismatic person) to 1 (perfectly charismatic)

For more information on T-Rex's Green Lantern Potential Equation, Featuring Drake, visit Wikipedia's page on the Drake Equation and make the appropriate Drake / T-Rex name substitutions wherever appropriate.

One year ago today: i got a postcard from a reader in antarctica a few years back, it remains a treasured possession and i keep it on my fridge. there's penguins on it! (the postcard)

– Ryan