So when Gary returns to Anmar he'll have an unspecified number of SDHC cards. Now, most of these won't be of immediate use but you can be sure that a specification of the interface will be available - and all those chips will act as a sure incentive to find out what's on them.

You can take it for granted that among the contents will be movies. An average movie can be from 1Gb to 5Gb depending on length and bitrate so a single chip will hold many. So, what exactly might he have taken?

I would point out that for a movie to make sense in Palarand it will have to be fairly straightforward. Whenever an Earth person watches a movie they do so against a background where the audience understands many things that aren't explicitly described; it could be no other way, since most movies have to make money and therefore very little is explained unless essential to the plot.

Anything Gary takes either has to be purely educational or to make an important point. Documentaries will be fine, for example almost anything by David Attenborough is going to qualify. Romances might be in, if they are set against a background which the Anmarians would find interesting.

The two examples I have considered - not that I have spent any time on a selection at all - both happened to be war films. The first is the Buster Keaton movies "The General", with a depiction of railroad use during wartime. The second is "Saving Private Ryan", to be shown to the Council of the Two Worlds as a warning against modern warfare.

The last point is that most movies won't be seen for many years and some will never be circulated. Others, however, will probably be widely circulated and give rise to local sayings. I'm not sure "May the Force be with you" would qualify, since there is no way a local would be able to tell fact from fiction in any of the Star Wars movies.

So, what would you send to Anmar? Video only, and mostly movies but I would consider such series as "World at War". And don't just limit yourself to the output of Hollywood.

Penny