robkelk Wrote:A handheld scanner? Not very much, I'd say. But there are more powerful scanners in the labs.

That gives me a few thoughts about sensors, which I'll post in their own thread so as not to derail this one.

But not as a director:
http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/entertainmen ... T00003.htm

He's had experience in this part of the industry before, in Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi. Now to see how well he does in Kaze tachinu ("Wind arose")...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

I know that Doug's not really grabbing from recent stuff, but I ran into these two today, and Doug powers for them just hit me and I wanted to share.
- Kelly Clarkson: Stronger (What doesn't kill you makes you) - inverts wound penalties, disabling effects, and other debuffs for the duration of the song.  Additionally, while the song plays, can't be knocked out or otherwise rendered ineffective by anything short of actual death.  Carries with it a sort of combat euphoria - he wont' stop dodging or anything, but he's also not going to be paying a whole lot of attention to any additional injuries he takes - after all, they're only making him stronger.  Something of a last-ditch song, with a pretty serious downside risk, but if he's in bad enough shape that he's considering using it, it'll make him a heck of a fighter while the music plays (with a good chance of him just dropping when the song stops).  Possible side effects of hampering his teamwork and/or extending a weaker form of the effect to any allies he might have (or even to everyone in the area).

- Pitbull/Christina Aguilera: Feel This Moment: Accelerates time for Doug so that the entire song plays out over literally, a moment.  In that time, he's basically unable to move, as his mind is assaulted by something like a watered-down version of omniscience.  The song also boosts his already impressive intellect - but not enough to actually handle the influx of data.  At best, the end fo the song leaves him mentally half wiped-out, with a few useful insights or scraps of pertinent information that he managed to identify and hang on to while he was under, along with some jagged shards of images and datapoints in no particular order and with no particular frame of reference.  At worst, it leaves him entirely wiped out, and the jagged shards are all he gets.  For obvious reasons he doesn't enjoy the process, and may have concerns about how it fits in with the divinities.

Sadly, both songs were made *less* cool by their respective music videos.  Ah, well.

Remember way back, when 2012 was still in the future, the Slapstick Effect ruled Fenspace weaponry, and nobody had heard of the Boskone War, the Whole Fenspace Catalog, or the Tannhauser Gate?

I do...

This is a thread for ideas that fit better into those "kinder, gentler" days than they do in modern Fenspace.

Kicking it off:

http://docs.google.com/document/d/11bj ... NXJ8o/edit
A little bittersweet, but still some interesting reading.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/04/tor-bo ... year-later

To sum it up, they've seen no difference in piracy rates going DRM free, nor any drop in sales.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

The king of stop-motion has come to his last stop...
http://www.imdb.com/news/ni53030384/?ref_=hm_nw_tp_t1
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

And thus, we set off on a new Journey with Shinji Ikari. Starting with some bad parenting...

Jan' 2023.

Quote:“This is really an alien piece of metal?”

Shinji held it between his fingers, angling it to catch the overhead lights. It was the size of an AA-battery, shinning with a polished brass lustre. It really didn't seem like all that much - little more than any other random chunk of alloy.

“That’s cut from a block ten-thousand years old. We don’t really know how it works, but we know that it does.”

He looked up at Jet, who's expression told him she was dead serious. It seemed impossible....

Really. Shouldn't alien metal be more exotic somehow? It was nothing more than an unusually heavy chunk of brass.

“I’ve heard that before,” he said flatly. “Is it safe?”

“We wouldn’t give it to you if we hadn’t tested it. That’s why the Judy was built - to make sure it was safe.”

The Judy itself was sitting on the bench with most of its fairing removed - a few final checks and changes before he finally left. Shinji glanced back at it over his shoulder.

“I’ve heard that before,” he repeated.

“And you really can’t tell anyone about it, because you’ll drop us in one hell of a massive shitstorm.”

He felt a little chill go through his body. Memories of a single arrogant police officer came back, drawing a bolt of anger that he crushed in his hand. “It’s not illegal, is it?”

“No." Jet shook her head. "You don’t need to worry about being arrested for it or anything like that. But the Feddies declared the whole area around where we found it a special zone of research and classified the existance of the ruined gate. If people find we have it, it isn’t going to be hard for them to figure out where it came from. ”

"They're trying to keep it for themselves then?"

“If you’re being cynical about it.” Jet shrugged it off. “The reason they gave me was that they just didn’t want their research into the planet’s terraforming to be ripped up by a full-blown gold-rush. Which knowing the Feddies is probably true.”

"I'm not sure," he muttered to himself. “If you’re worried about people finding out, then why’d you do it in the first place? The easiest way to get away with things like this is to not do them in the first place.”

It was always easier to stand up to the puppet, than the walking miniature Evangelion.

“Because it’s going to get out sooner or later when some other poor idiot blows it up and we want to be in at the start when it does, rather than being ten years behind trying to catch up.”

Her tone hardened for a moment. Shinji said nothing, sensing the frustration simmering beneath.

“Look. If you’re that worried about it, then we can take the batteries out and replace them with standard waved-Lithium. But if you keep ‘em, you have to keep quiet about them. "

“I’ve always tried to be honest,” he said, keeping his voice low.

Jet just smiled back at him. “Sometimes you need to be a little sneaky and dishonest to get ahead. When the whole universe is smarter, richer and more influential than you - it's all you can do to try stack the deck in your favour.”

He frowned at her. “That sounds pretty unscrupulous."

“That doesn’t make it wrong. And doesn't mean I don't have scruples either. It's just a matter of finding the right balance really."

"So what if I told someone then?" he asked, his voice still mild. Inside, he was thrilled.

"I'd be disappointed. And you'd be causing a lot of problems for us."

A sly smirk crawled across his lips. He knew he had her on that one. "But if it stacks the deck in my favour?"

The puppet took a single breath, settling back against the workbench. It creaked under her weight.

"Well Shinji, that's a decision you have to make for yourself. What sort of person you are will be determined by where you draw the line."

Again, the smile didn't go away. It seemed so unnatural - clear sign that she was speaking remotely rather than in person.

"And where do I draw the line?" he asked.

Jet shrugged."That's for you to figure out."

Anyone played this yet? I managed to get up to level 8. I probably will end up getting up two level 10 possibly when I play again next weekend.  What surprises me is the game developers deem a P-38 to be worth more than a F4U Corsair or a F6F Hellcat.  What finally allowed me to advance rapidly is I finally wised up and realized that being aggressive and at the same cautious is the key. Get one good pass at an opponent and then break. Sitting behind someone's 6 is all well and good, but it sets you up on being shot in turn. It used to be I'd go through 6 aircraft in one mission. Now I can go through the entire fight without being shot down. Dinged maybe, but that's about it.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

Well, I was on my way to the local game store after work, planning to reserve a few NIS PS3 games, when the guy in front of me stopped suddenly.  Naturally, I did the same.
The kid behind me, driving his mom's car, was a bit too busy looking at some bikes in a parking lot.
Upside is, I'm not hurt!  Downside is, my rear bumper is cosmetically scuffed up (and internally ruined, from absorbing a 20-30mph collision), and I now have a hole in the shape of a trailer hitch in my front bumper... and my radiator.  Car is being towed, family is scooting me around, and insurance is being pushed to cough up money.  So far, I have every hope that I'll come out of this financially unscathed.  I have a claim number, and go into the collision specialists tomorrow to get them on the case/rental transportation arranged.