timeline oddities

[Norgarth]

I was looking at the Timeline on the wiki and noticed a few oddities.
1 involves Rockhounds, Inc:
Winter 2007/08: Rockhounds, Inc. orbits their first Space Rock
Summer 2008: Space Rock #7 is returned to the Belt to become the core of Seijutaigakure no Sato.
They mined out 6 asteroids in roughly as many months? Isn't that a little fast?
The other oddity is the backstory of the Pinafore;
Horatio Caine of the Miami-Dade PD's CSI team tracks down Colombian drug mogul Gervasio Faustino de Leon to his yacht, the Pinnafarina, in drydock. Exciting gun battles take place within, and the druglord's Ferrari crashes through the vehicle bay doors, leading to a car chase, exploding Italian coachwork near the airport, and Major Arrest #65 or so for Horatio.
I thought we were avoiding using TV characters as real people?__________________
666-HELL The phone number of the Beast
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

[M Fnord]

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They mined out 6 asteroids in roughly as many months? Isn't that a little fast?

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A bit. Particularly since the stated size of the asteroids mined is around 5-7km across. We've gone over this one before (down in the Finance in Fenspace thread) but haven't come to a satisfactory resolution yet.

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I thought we were avoiding using TV characters as real people?

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We are. It's just that Horatio Caine, Supercop! cannot be contained by mere "rules." ---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Norgarth]

under 'places in Fenspace: Mars'; shouldn't there be a convention center mentioned for Phobos?__________________
666-HELL The phone number of the Beast
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

[robkelk]

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under 'places in Fenspace: Mars'; shouldn't there be a convention center mentioned for Phobos?

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I thought that was a temporary deal - a conversion of warehouse space for the SOS-Con...

-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
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

[Kokuten]

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It's just that Horatio Caine, Supercop! cannot be contained by mere "rules."

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You took your sunglasses off and put them back on when you said that, right?Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Ebony]

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You took your sunglasses off and put them back on when you said that, right?

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And stood with his arms akimbo, yes. Take three drinks. You know what? He probably didn't look at you when he was speaking either. Finish the whole bottle.Ebony the Black Dragon
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Foxboy]

I'd spelled the name differently, and someone "corrected" it.
However, this is Caine's ONLY Fenspace appearance, as secondary to the actual action.
Also, this was prior to everything OTHER than the "Canon Area of Doubt" about Haruhi
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[robkelk]

Well, it wouldn't be too difficult to change the name again... "Horatio Kane", maybe?

-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
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

[Ebony]

Make Horatio a nickname. He actually hates the show, but he's a senior officer in the Miami PD with red hair and the guys won't let up about it.Ebony the Black Dragon
Senior Editor, Living Room Games
http://www.lrgames.com
Ebony the Black Dragon
http://ebony14.livejournal.com

"Good night, and may the Good Lord take a Viking to you."

[Foxboy]

So mote it be. I'm good with it. The only unalterable detail is the fact that de Leon got caught by SOME "supercop!" and the Pinnafarina was sold later at DEA auction to the future Joseph Corcoran.

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Senior Detective Robert Kane examined the ground for random trace evidence. Ever since the Goop hit, everything had become a potential murder weapon.... even moreso than human ingenuity had allowed for in hte centuries previously.
"Horatio!" One of his subordinates called.
Robert despised the show that had saddled him with that nickname. He knelt and picked up the shell casing he found with his evidence tweezers. Focused on his task he spoke without turning his head. "You know I hate that nickname, Mendoza." He stood slowly, and made sure that there were no more casings that he or his techs hadn't found. "Regardless of the hypercompetent reputation I get with that name, I still sometimes need weeks to catch crooks, and not every case ends with something exploding by the airport."
He lifted his head and pulled his sunglasses off as he ppered at the manufacturer's marks on the casing. "However, it appears that de Leon's boys are back in Miami."
Mendoza shifted uncomfortably. "I'll make sure we're stocked with catgirl restraints," he said. After all, suicide was technically a crime and as police it was their duty to prevent crimes where possible.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[Epsilon]

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They mined out 6 asteroids in roughly as many months? Isn't that a little fast?

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Suggestion: Most people don't know about Rockhound's "secret weapon". Know by the company as "Agent White" and never talked about outside the company to maintain their leg up on the asteroid mining competition these special microbes are handwaved through a process known only to a single Rockhound sceintist.
The microbe is based off of the experimental "pollution eating" mircobes in production today. The stuff eats mayonaise and in the process produces a power acid that eats away at natural rock, while leaving iron and other salvageable materials unharmed (the acid is also completely ineffective against anything organic, of course).
Rockhounds staff drill into the center of rocks and just plant a huge colony of this bacteria and a supply of mayonaise in the center. The bacteria multiples and consumes the mayonaise, creating the looping curving paths through the rock Rockhounds is famous for. They never put in enough to dissolve the whole rock (since when it runs out of food the bacterium rapidly dies off). Using this method they can hollow out a 5km thick asteroid in a month. Retrofitting the rock with airlocks and doors and other amenities can take up to another week.
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Epsilon

[ECSNorway]

Epsilon: Uhm, no. Given the character I've established for Marsden and the Rockhounds staff, I'd rather push the timeline around.
The actual truth is that they have not "finished" 7 rocks by the time Seijotai is set up. They may have finished three or so by that point; Seijotai itself is one of the completed ones and is kept "off the books" (effort towards it is recorded as part of #7, which is particularly large and keeps running into odd equipment malfunctions...) as part of the agreement with the Karasukage. They simply have several in progress - some being converted to habitats, others simply mined for precious minerals and then returned to the belt.
Plans are in progress for a full-up mining station in the belt itself, but as of the start of OGJ it has simply not been considered economical by Rockhounds' associated 'daneside mining companies to site their equipment and workforce that far out. As the company's clout in the market grows this will change, especially as more people get experienced with orbital work and long-term habitats, but as of SOS-Con those plans are on hold until the resolution of the Boskone Issue.--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Norgarth]

An idea had occured to me while I was at work today. The owners of Babylon.5/crew of The Starhawk/ect got started as asteroid miners inspired by Rockhounds (at least in my head, I don't think I've actually said that in an actual story segment)
It occured to me that Rockhounds could have 'subcontracted' some of the work to prospective miners. The newbies get some experience at mining while there's someone to warn them of potential problems, and Rockhounds gets an expanded workforce to help keep up with all their orders (presumably used on the less valuable asteroids).
Obviously, ECSNorway can veto this idea if he doesn't like it.
***************
ETA: on the subject of Mr Kane, well, it wouldn't be too big a stretch to suggest that 'Horatio Caine' is loosely based on one 'Robert Kane'.__________________
666-HELL The phone number of the Beast
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

[ECSNorway]

Timote: This is in fact exactly what I had in mind.
'daneside provides equipment and the initial trained workforce.
Rockhounds gets things rolling, pulls in rocks, and brokers everything.
Fen who want to try their hands at asteroid mining get training, a place to sell their haul, and a secure habitat to live in while they do it.
Diamondoid construction materials are probably going to be a big initial export to the 'daneside, as well as to other fen. They'll be /expensive/, 'daneside, so you won't see them used to huge extent at first... but you might start seeing it used as reinforcement for structural bits, especially in high-end luxury cars, military vehicles, etc.
Random thought: A supply of diamondoid-and-vacuum-forged-steel statues of Stellvia, mounted on polished asteroid rock, for said station's gift shop to sell to 'daneside tourists... --
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Kokuten]

huh, I just realized another bit of the relationship between Rockhounds and Hephaestus - we're not a competitor so much as we are a contractor.
Hephaestus is a _foundry_, we turn the high-grade asteroid ore that we buy off of Rockhounds into pseudo-finished goods (blocks, beams, ingots, girders), as well as the odd finished product or tool..
Rockhounds: Produces raw ore, asteroid guts, habitable dwellings.
Hephaestus: Produces metal(s) stocks, industrial equipment, one-off custom work, tooling.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[ECSNorway]

Absolutely. Rockhounds has /some/ internal refinery capacity, but as business expands, it's definitely going to be looking to other fen businesses in the field... and, hey, there's Hephestus!
Almost like we actually wanted a working economy.
--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

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Random thought: A supply of diamondoid-and-vacuum-forged-steel statues of Stellvia, mounted on polished asteroid rock, for said station's gift shop to sell to 'daneside tourists...

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Nah - Stellvia Corp. gets a bigger profit from licencing those to the Franklin Mint. (Besides, part of the licence deal was that Noah got one in sterling silver instead of steel.)

-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
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

[ECSNorway]

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Nah - Stellvia Corp. gets a bigger profit from licencing those to the Franklin Mint. (Besides, part of the licence deal was that Noah got one in sterling silver instead of steel.)

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*grin* Sure... but who do you think supplies them the raw materials to work in for these little gimcracks?
These are for the collectors' market, after all, so it's gotta be Genuine Space Stuff. Rockhounds diamondoid and Hephestus granite.--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.