Xavier Onassiss

Things can always get worse. (Yeah, I looked....)

I went to the Cranky thread today, and then realized... "I got nuthin!"

But I wish the educated newsies writing these articles would stop saying it requires no fuel.   Electric motors required no fuel too if you want to go there.  

 

The concept does require energy, so it is like an electric motor in that regard.  What it doesn't need is reaction mass.   

Yeah, reading the linked article was painful. I only got as far as "propulsionless engine" before ROFLMAO.

I'm just gonna leave this here.

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/rumored-emdrive-paper-suggests-the-controversial-thruster-actually-works/

Wait for the test results on the EM drive. If it works, the stars will be attainable w/o FTL. It'll be slow but inevitable.

Yeah it says that the producers of nuBattlestar had better consultants who understood that Space =/= atmosphere. The last time I saw something like that was for Babylon 5. Of course, they had Harlan Ellison consulting on the Tech etc.

I'm not sure whether the creators of Star Wars really didn't understand the difference so much as they just didn't care. The space dogfight sequences in Star Wars were based on air battles from old WW2 movies, in some cases following them very closely. Whether the film makers understood physics or not, they certainly understood their source material.

I think that Katie's Starbuck would give both Luke and Anakin a run for their money. The Force not withstanding. She actually understands that she's fighting in space and uses that to great effect. While Luke and Anakin both fly like they are always in Atmosphere. Probably because they learned to fly in Atmosphere.

That says more about the writers than the characters, IMHO.

Propably my oldest idea are "The Aldar" and thier "Aldar Way".

 

I noticed one particular pattern in science fiction with precursor civilisations: They all become peacefull in the end. They loose thier warrior nature completely. And that in the end destorys them when weaker, but younger races attack them. They are to passive about defending thier space.

Ancients from Stargate, Iconians from GalCiv, the Solon from Hegemonia - they are all eventually get overrun by weaker but more numerous and warrior-like enemies. The idea is propably that without that, they blow themself up long before they reach that point. And if they do, they will eventually fall.

 

I don't see this pattern at all: there are too many counter-examples.

Larry Niven's Pak Protectors: more than a little war-like.

Traveller's Ancients: destroyed themselves in a civil war. Not peaceful.

Babylon 5's elder races, the Shadows and the Vorlons: most definitely Not peaceful.

Alastair Reynold's Inhibitors from the Revelation Space series: Extremely far from peaceful.

Stephen Baxter's Xeelee from Vacuum Diagrams and other novels in the Xeelee Sequence: You're joking right?

H.P. Lovecraft's... oh never mind. You get the point.

This poll isn't complete w/o Spaceman Spiff.

And Ralph Phillips.

So I've got this bottle of Power-Ade Zero and it's this funky neon blue color. And I can hardly suppress the evil, horrible urge to (very thoroughly!) wash out a Windex bottle and fill it up with the stuff, take it down to the river walk where all the kids play Pokemon Go and chug it!

"Don't worry, folks, I'm hazmat certified!"

I was originally thinking of the Starbuck from the original 1978 series as played by Dirk Benedick.

Also which Buck Rogers: the one from the 1939 serial (Buster Crabbe) or the 1979 TV show? (Gil Hamilton)

And another thing...

Katie Sackhoff's Starbuck FTW!

I can't get this song out of my head....

GM: (describing The Temple of High Light in L5R) "You see some monks working on a mandala like the ones in Tibet." <looks around table to see if *anyone* knows what he's talking about.>

Me: <nodding enthusiastically> "Yeah, I learned all about Tibet from Groupon."

Other players: <looking back and forth in confusion> "What?"

Awesome Gamer Fiancee: <glowering in disapproval> "I can't take you anywhere."

GM: <buries face in hands with cosmic sadness> "Why me?"

"Stop chewing on my pants!"

 

 

Me, to my cat, as I was getting dressed.

 

Rags and I have a lot of conversations like that.

Discussing my work schedule with a co-worker. It's total chaos this week; I've been given a LOT of leeway on how early to show up and how much overtime to put in. As a result, I'm kind of a wreck, and it's starting to show.

Co-worker: "How long are you staying on tonight?"

Myself: "Until I can't stand it any more, I guess."

Co-worker: "So... forever, then?"

Myself:    

This post makes me extremely happy.  Good on you XO!  Nice to see that someone can win at this game. 

It's not really "winning" so much as leveling up.

A very wise man once told me "Getting married isn't the finish line; it's the starting line."

Having figured that out, I think we've got a shot at this.

I've mentioned Awesome Gamer Girl occasionally on the forum, starting when we met back in late 2012. (I think?)

It's my great pleasure to announce that she's now Awesome Gamer Fiancee, and she'll become my Awesome Gamer Spouse on June 18th.

Also, I've been at my new job for a year as of May 30th. We've just replaced both of our old clunker cars, and finally finished laminating all the floors.

The master bath is getting a complete remodel in July....

Bo Diddley had him a rockin' big time
But he never made a solitary dime
Ya'll might laugh but it just ain't funny
Whatever happened to Bo Diddley's money ?

The record man gave him a rag-top car
Said, "Bo, you gonna be a rock 'n roll star
He didn't know he doing anything wrong
When he signed away all of his songs

Whatever happened to Bo Diddley's money?
Whatever happened to Bo Diddley's money?
Round the world in a station wagon
Workin' the road till his tail was a draggin'
Rockin' and a puffin' and makin' 'em dance
But never once seeing that cash advance

Whatever happened to Bo Diddley's money?
Whatever happened to Bo Diddley's money?
Whatever happened to Bo Diddley's money?
Whatever happened to Bo Diddley's money?

Call the FBI, call the IRS, call the BMI, call Leonard Chess
You know, Bo Diddley never saw enough
From "I'm a Man" and "Who Do You Love ?"
They just ain't cheatin' some rock 'n roll singer
Remember Bo Diddley is a gun slinger

Pay Bo Diddley
Pay Bo Diddley
Pay Bo Diddley
Pay Bo Diddley

That's right
Pay Bo Diddley
and Pay Little Richard, too
While you're at it

Pay Bo Diddley, and Little Richard, too

I had a rather... disturbing epiphany.

Squids have got tentacles, but actually, octopi only have eightacles.

I should have realized this many years ago.

Major (or is it Minor?) Transformation attack: gives the target a physical disad: severe allergy to clothing. (Very Common, since it affects all their clothes, and Total, since it's severe enough to make them immediately disrobe.)

Probably kinda expensive in terms of character points.

The moonlight it was dancing
On the waves, out on the sea
The stars of heaven hovered
In a shimmering galaxy

A voice from down the ages
So in haunting in its song
These ancient stones will tell us
Our love must make us strong

The breeze it wrapped around me
As I stood there on the shore
And listened to this voice
Like I never heard before

Our battles they may find us
No choice may ours to be
But hold the banner proudly
The truth will set us free

My mind was called across the years
Of rages and of strife
Of all the human misery
And all the waste of life

We wondered where our God was
In the face of so much pain
I looked up to the stars above
To find you once again

We traveled the wide oceans
Heard many call your name
With sword and gun and hatred
It all seemed much the same

Some used your name for glory
Some used it for their gain
Yet when liberty lay wanting
No lives were lost in vain

Is it not our place to wonder
As the sky does weep with tears
And all the living creatures
Look on with mortal fear

It is ours to hold the banner
It is ours to hold it long
It is ours to carry forward
Our love must make us strong

And as the warm wind carried
Its song into the night
I closed my eyes and tarried
Until the morning light

As the last star it shimmered
And the new sun's day gave birth
It was in this magic moment
Came this prayer for mother earth

[Reprise:]
The moonlight it was dancing
On the waves, out on the sea
The stars of heaven hovered
In a shimmering galaxy

A voice from down the ages
So in haunting in its song
The ancient stones will tell us
Our love will make us strong
 

This has been all over the internet lately.

http://latining.tumblr.com/post/141567276944/tabletop-gaming-has-a-white-male-terrorism-problem

No bias!

If anyone's biased about Terracide, it's me! But the man asked for a quick review, so I posted one.

There's a longer, unbiased review here.

What about Fires of Heaven or Terracide? It seems that Fires of Heaven, based on the store description, is closer to what I am envisioning. Any quick reviews of those products?

Quick reviews:

Fires of Heaven: Classic Space Opera done right.

Terracide: New Space Opera done right.

I made the alien species for the Terracide setting as alien as I could manage. None of them are playable as PCs at all. None of them breath oxygen. Only one of them uses a spoken language humans can understand. (But it can't be reproduced by human vocal chords.) All of them have psychologies different enough that humans have trouble understanding their motives and morals. For example: The Celestial Guard fought a "war" with the Titans for half a century only to discover the Titans thought it was some sort of game. And the Titans didn't consider the Guard vessels opponents so much as playing pieces used to keep score. Nobody knows what an actual war with the Titans looks like, and they really don't want to....