Old Man

Re: Maximus Decimus Meridus I'd boost some of his skills. Maximus had the unquestioned loyalty of every soldier in the Roman Army, and I don't think you get that with Oratory and KS: Roman Army at only 13-. I'd probably juice his Riding skill as well. And I'd have to add a Psych Lim for some combination of "Protective", "Honorable", and "Repays Debts", given that these are the reason he didn't just give up.

Re: More space news! All these exoplanets and no FTL drive!

Re: Make Your Own Motivational Poster On the contrary, Higgins based his practices exactly on the way people actually talk--but he made the obvious distinction between class-based patterns of speech. Double negatives are a hallmark of lower classes in both England and the U.S. Had he wagered that he could pass off a highborn princess as a Cockney flower girl, he'd have taught the poor rich girl to use them. (In my opinion this would actually have been more difficult.)

Re: I have a dream. (and MAN was it wierd!) I've had those too, and I hate them. Last night I dreamt I was infiltrating some sort of college or military academy. I was assigned to participate in some sort of military reenactment or exercise, so I went into a computer lab where the exercise was to take place. I had no idea what was going on, but on the screen was a kind of map, and my forces--whatever they were--appeared as simple black 'X's toward the bottom edge. I saw that the enemy, whoever it was, would have to take a particular road in order to reach his objective, so I just dragged my 'X's to positions along the road, and left the room. Now while everyone thought I was participating in the exercise, I went in search of my real objective. Part of the campus was either dug into the ground or constructed of earthen bricks, and by pushing on the wall of a particular alcove I found what I was looking for--the loose bricks/earth fell inward, exposing a hidden passageway. I ducked inside and followed it a brief way to its end. It was more earth, but a bright light peeked through a couple of near-pinholes. I was going to have to dig the treasure out, whatever it was. I spent the next half hour or so furtively looking for things I could use as digging tools. Eventually I found a chisel-like tool as well as some other concealable screwdrivers, pens, and whatnot. On the way back to the digging site I stopped in at the computer lab, and was congratulated by the rest of the class on the brilliant ambush I'd executed in the exercise. I still had no idea what they were talking about but apparently I'd completely routed the enemy, whoever they were. I returned to the hidden passage and had to do some quick misdirection, first to distract an elderly faculty member who'd found the passage I'd left open, and again to shake someone who was following me. I finally got into the passage unnoticed and broke away the earth to reveal the treasure. It was almost too bright to look at, but my fingers closed around the jeweled hilt of the Sword of Antioch. No one was going to be able to stop me now.

Re: Musings on Random Musings

Re: I have a dream. (and MAN was it wierd!) So I guess you could call that a recurring dream?

Re: "Neat" Pictures Every bag of concrete I've ever handled has been leaking fine concrete dust like crazy. I assume that the paper becomes more permeable to this dust when soaked.

Re: More space news! As if this landing had an appreciable chance of success to begin with.

Re: The cranky thread I tend to think of cancer as more of a rebellion, or civil war...

Re: More space news! Does it? I wonder if it takes appreciably more fuel than hovering in place immediately prior to landing. I'm not sure if they wait until hover is established before lowering the rope, but I can't watch the vid again here in the office.

Re: More space news! Well, plus they can also explode. Anyway, I speculate that the reason they're not going rockets all the way down is that the propellant necessary would weigh more than the parachute does. At high atmospheric speeds a 'chute is going to produce more drag than the rockets would, anyway. Lots of things about rocket science and interplanetary travel are counterintuitive; I think this is just an unusually extreme example. Still, I can't help thinking there must be a better way. Autorotating propeller? Some kind of balloon? Shrug.

Re: 1st edition Fantasy Hero: other changes in later printings? You lost your throne... to a billing error?

Re: Anyone have pre-made star ships??? If I had a premade starship, would I still be on this godforsaken planet?! Oh, you meant in-game. Never mind.

Re: More space news!

Re: The cranky thread

Re: The cranky thread 430am: Awakened by crying child. 500am: Awakened by crying child. 545am: Awakened by crying child. 630am: Telemarketer call.

Re: Musings on Random Musings Basically.

Re: "Neat" Pictures Don't switch the blade on the guy in shades, oh no.

Re: The cranky thread Well, I can't think of anything you can do that you aren't doing already. It's a bit like the Kobayashi Maru exercise. I hope you're getting some help from your family, though.

Re: The cranky thread Hang in there, Hermit.

Re: "Neat" Pictures I wear my sunglasses at night.

Re: The "Nice Happy" Thread 90 days after taking the exam--which took me 4.5 hypothermic hours to finish--I finally got my CISSP certification. Sheesh. Number 00027187, if anyone cares.

Re: Cyberpunk: how did it change? That was a pretty good club until that big lunatic shot it up with an Uzi.

Re: "Neat" Pictures But I'm not wearing the sunglasses...

Re: Interesting article about Sexism in Geek Communities I think the problem here is that even the label "geek" is a pretty broad brush. I tend to equate "geek" with shyness most of the time, but I've also encountered my fair share of incredibly arrogant, insensitive, smarter-than-thou "geeks" as well.