keithcurtis

Re: How to cram crew members into your spacecraft

Fair enough - I have friends who also suffer "airplane anxiety" - they manage to fly, though I know they don't like it (one always goes to the airport an hour in advance, so she can have a couple of drinks to help her relax). I was just a bit surprised by the vehemence of your reaction.

 

I don't much care being jammed into economy for 26 hours either (that's what it usually takes to get to New Zealand from here), but for me, restricting my world to the size of the space I can reach by land or sea transport would be intolerable. Diff'rent strokes, I guess.

 

cheers, Mark

For me it's the noise and the cramped conditions. A few hours is OK, but my last couple of flights to and from China or Australia were near interminable. Business class would be nicer, but I'm a member of the economy tribe. I don't really mind the flying part, unless there's substantial turbulence.

Keith "I gets the airsick bad, then" Curtis

Re: How to cram crew members into your spacecraft

It looks like two across instead of three across, plus room for a complete set of stairs in between each row. Looks like less density by far, to me. The "Economy Seating With Even Rows Raised" looks like a possibly more workable idea.

Keith "always forgets how much he hates air travel until after he gets on the plane" Curtis

Re: Help - I need a base

That Mr. Curtis is quite the busy guy!

I try to be.

Keith "leaving a silver bullet" Curtis

Re: Airlocks are for losers

Except you still have to contain enough actual air to support an intelligent organism. A hollow human sized organism would sacrifice too much function for that to be possible.

Since the quote originally referred to maximizing the surface area for the purpose of photosynthesis, I had assumed we were speaking of a decidedly non-human physiology. I was merely pointing out that in contrast to the statement I originally referenced, increasing size does not automatically increase surface area relative to the organism.

Keith "nothing more" Curtis

Re: Airlocks are for losers

Only if you are solid and compact. If you are hollow or spread out that doesn't apply.

Since those equalities can exist regardless of size, I figured them to be superfluous.

Keith "Simplest terms" Curtis

Re: Airlocks are for losers

Modification 1: Be freaking huge. The bigger you are' date=' the more oxygen you can hold and the more surface area you can use to photosynthesise.[/quote']

 

Other way around. You want to be small if you are trying to maximize surface area for a given mass. Surface area goes up as the square of the size, but the volume goes up by the cube.

 

If creature A is twice as big as Creature B, then it has 4 times the surface area, but 8 times the mass. Hence it has half as much (photosynthetic) surface area per volume (biomass).

 

As for holding your breath, that depends on a lot more than size. Some creatures are just more efficient. I weigh more than a sea otter, but it can hold it's breath many, many times longer.

 

Keith "I'd just form a spore casing and wait." Curtis

Re: Is the Hero the Ultimate System?

It's the ultimate system only if you never change it or play another. I look at it as the penultimate system. I will continually modify it to meet my needs. Or maybe some day I'll start playing something new penultimate system.

"Ultimate" implies you think there will never be a reason to change.

Keith "I'd like Hero, but with about 90% less stuff in it" Curtis

Re: Lost cities under Russian lake...

Seeing as there is no cultural continuity between modern Iraq and the region of Mesopotamia in ancient times, I have no trouble using both terms. "Ancient Iraq" might be an acceptable term, like "Ancient Greece", which bears no cultural resemblance to Modern Greece.

Keith "That which we call a rose..." Curtis

Re: Planetary Magnetic Field Question

Which provides a nice justification for Savage Earth furry mutants' date=' assuming you use comic-book radiation and not the real thing.[/quote']

 

Nah, I use another explanation entirely.

 

Keith "I'm thinking of maintaining a polar magnetic axis" Curtis

Re: Stegosaur at Angkor Wat?

It's George.

Keith "Obscure reference" Curtis

Re: How Fast Do Rogue Planets Move?

Spoilers ahead!

The book is far different from the movie. In the book, there are two planets, not a planet and star. Bronson Alpha is a gas giant, roughly the size of Neptune. Bronson Beta is a terrestrial planet/satellite. They were torn from their original orbit presumably by the close passage of another star. The original inhabitants of Bronson Beta saw their doom for centuries, but earth had no such luck. Putting aside the amazing coincidence of these planets coming to our solar system (the characters often ponder if it is divinely-directed, a la the Flood), the motions are fairly well described.

The planets arrive from the southern (and fairly unwatched, in the early 20th century) skies, roughly 90° from the ecliptic. They pass through the solar system on a parabolic(?) course, whipping around the sun. Thus they pass by the earth twice, at six month intervals. On the first passage, Bronson Alpha destroys the Moon. Whether this was a direct impact or if it is torn apart by tidal forces is unspecified. Earth is devastated, of course and civilization collapses. It is on the second pass that the end comes. A few hastily-constructed rockets brave the passage between Earth and Bronson Beta, which has been thawing all this time. Bronson Alpha impacts the earth with a glancing blow, which of course destroys it utterly. The gravitational forces of the masses in question cause Bronson Alpha to continue out into space, while Bronson Beta takes an eccentric orbit about the sun, canted 90° to the ecliptic while varying in distance from the sun somewhat between the distances described by Venus and Mars.

Unlikely premise in the extreme, but again, the characters note this in the book, some becoming extremely religious. It's a great read, and probably my first experience with an Apocalyptic novel.

Keith "Recommends the sequel, too" Curtis

Given:

The earth, through means irrelevant to the question, has had its axis of rotation changed. The new Equator is roughly the old 100°W meridian, and the new poles are the equatorial Atlantic between S. America and Africa, and the Equatorial Pacific, around the Marshall Islands. I have a good enough grasp of general climate theory to make a new climate map that doesn't suspend disbelief to the layman observer. However, I do not have a sufficient grasp to know what would be the effect on the magnetic field.

Right now, my assumption is that the planet was re-oriented as a whole, that the core moved along with it. This does not have to be so. I know that the magnetic North (and I presume the overall magnetic field) wanders over the passage of time. If the magnetic axis roughly matches the rotational axis, as it does now, I assume that the effect on my climatic assumptions would be minimal. However, assuming that the magnetic field moved along with the earth, and that magnetic north is now equatorial, rotating every 24 hours, what might be some observed phenomena? Would this seriously impact the livability of life on earth? Is it even possible?

Please note, I'm not looking for ecological consequences. This was an apocalypse, and its effect on species and life around the world has been dealt with. I'm looking for the long-term effects on the nature of earth's surface environment. Would there be equatorial auroras? High radiation areas? Would solar flares and winds be more of a hazard? Greater temperature fluctuations? Would there be effects on the compass, beyond pointing to a fixed spot on the equator? Would this be advantageous or disadvantageous to navigation?

Any ideas?

Keith "sprucing up the Savage Earth" Curtis

Re: How Fast Do Rogue Planets Move?

Cancer, have you ever tried to work out the feasibility of the Bronson Bodies from When Worlds Collide?

Keith "I must have read that book a dozen times" Curtis

Re: Catgirls (and Catboys) for Fantasy

'Tain't much, but here's the Savage Earth entry.

Keith "meow-meow-meow-meow" Curtis

Re: Valdorian Age map

It was sent to Hero Games. I don't know if it was ever posted.

Keith "mapper" Curtis

Re: PA Hero: Kamandi's World

Kamandi was a MAJOR inspiration for the Savage Earth and would make an amazingly good RPG setting. The series suffered a bit after Kirby left, but the basic premise was fantastic.

Kamandi was the last true human being on the planet. There were humans, but they had digressed to Planet of the Apes level intelligence. There were nations of talking animals, mutants, robots, aliens, everything. The series was basically a voyage of discovery of the young boy (born the grandson of OMAC in Command-D (Kamandi)). He made his way through a mutated landscape with his companions, a dog, some atomic-powered mutants, an alien, and a girl working her way towards sapience.

Some of the concepts were re-worked into one of the phases of the Superboy (Kon-El) comic.

I have an almost complete collection.

Keith "fanboy" Curtis

Re: Mounted Combat, and a Question of Historical Accuracy

Can the style be simulated with a custom Martial Art?

Keith "?" Curtis

Re: Mega Fantasy City Map - My latest project

In particular, I love the integration with the OS spell checker. As a bona-fide geek, I have to add a lot of words. It's nice not to have to add them with every app.

I do like Firefox's better handling of WYSIWYG editing fields, but Safari's resizable ones are a beautiful thing.

Keith "also has an ancient, no-longer supported, Explorer on his hard drive for pretty much the same reasons" Curtis

Re: Mega Fantasy City Map - My latest project

Art Degree from Miskatonic University... played Left Throwback on the football team

Funny, I thought most of those guys met Offensive Ends.

Keith "Ba-DUM-ch-aaaaaarhgh!" Curtis

Re: Mega Fantasy City Map - My latest project

Weird... didn't know Safari really had that functionality.

Since 2003.

The main reason I went to Firefox is that it seems to run faster' date=' and mlb.com (as in baseball) just didn't really know how to play with Safari.[/quote']I've run speed trials and not noticed a clear winner. Some sites work better with some browsers.

 

Keith "thread wandering" Curtis

Re: Mega Fantasy City Map - My latest project

Keith, have you tried Firefox?

 

Tabbed browsing is the bomb...

... and has been in Safari for years and years. I have all of my webcomics in individual subfolders arranged by day so I can tell it to Load Monday, for instance and they all come up in tabs.

I want to like Firefox. I really do. I have tried to make the switch many times. There's always some little nitpicky thing that sends me back to Safari. Usually a page that doesn't render right, or some little bit of interface wonkiness that no plug-in seems to address.

Keith "picky picky picky" Curtis

Re: Mega Fantasy City Map - My latest project

I don't know if you've ever gone that way' date=' Keith, but there's also a nursery on the road out of Kingston (the west end of the ferry going to Edmonds) which has a big sign that says "SAVAGE PLANTS".[/quote']I've been that way many times (Susan's sister lives in Edmonds). I don't know if I've ever taken notice of the sign though.

 

There's enough other academics here that maybe we could set up Yet Another Phony Web University, accept the manuscript and a small tuition check, and then grant Keith a degree and publish it as a doctoral thesis. Then hire him as chair of the art department or something.

 

Hmmmmmmmm.

Only if I get to wear a mortarboard. Everywhere.

 

Good to see Keith "insert witticism here" Curtis back in action on the boards.

 

Thanks, the software problem that the boards had interacting with Safari seems to no longer be an issue. I'll probably be around more often.

 

Keith "This is the only place on the Internet I put these things" Curtis

Re: Disney Princesses

Prince Eric.

 

"Why, Prince Eric, do you really mean it!"

Where is Kidagakash from?

Disney says she's a Princess. Do we know for sure that Li Shang isn't related to the Emperor?

Mulan has the least qualification for princesshood. Li Shang is the son of a general, and Mulan the daughter of a famous war hero. I think she is a princess in marketing purposes only. This bothered my daughter for some time. She used to subscribe to the Disney Princess book club. These are formulaic books wherin a social problem is set up in the first half (sharing, being nice, taking turns, etc). At the key point, the page shows a thoughtful princess and the sentence "What would a princess do?" Erin loves to say that part out loud. On the Mulan books, she said the sentence for a while but one day, said that, "Mulan's not a princess." She thought about it for a while and then said "What would a hero do?"

Keith "Proud, proud papa" Curtis

Re: Mega Fantasy City Map - My latest project

Also - there is already a Savage Worlds published roleplaying game' date=' so there would have to be a name change?[/quote']

 

Don't think that hasn't annoyed me, especially since I "published" first.

Also, there is a Savage Earth TV series (about volcanoes), and some sort of Sci Fi novel called "Savage Earth" which is totally unlike my own creation.

 

There are also several instances of "Savage Realms" as RPG creations out there. I doubt I would have any legal difficulty, but I might consider a name change just to be carve out some identity space.

 

It seems like you'd need to call your game world "Xerquodius Squalazoxes" to be free from ambiguity.

 

Keith "Xerquodius Squalazoxes" Curtis

Re: Disney Princesses

nice artwork! Yours?

Should I feel a little sad that aside from Aladdin' date=' I couldn't tell you anything about the princes involved in the stories of these cuties?[/quote']

Some of them don't even have names. Cinderella married a guy named Charming (which he is called after the fact. He is never referred as "Charming" in the movie or the credits). And Cinderella's prince is simply, "The Prince".

 

 

Keith "Disney's marketing powers matured in subsequent movies - Did you know the Beast is named Adam?" Curtis