Goldengirl

Goodbye Miramor! It was always a pleasure to see you around. Hopefully you'll return one day with a taste for animated, isometric games.

That's not really an issue. After a certain point, it will hold itself up, unless it gets hit by space debris and loses structural stability. The concept is simple to grasp, though hard to implement. Imagine yourself spinning around very fast with a length of rope that has a counterweight at the end, though that technically isn't necessary. As you spin, if you're going fast enough, the rope will pull out straight and level; as soon as you slow down, the rope falls back down. That's the basic idea behind a space elevator. The term 'elevator' is also misleading. It's not a giant Tower of Babel or anything like that. Rather, it would be a series of cables made of a very strong metal, probably nanocarbon. These cables would extend from the Equator far, far up into space to the point where they serve as their own counterweight to keep themselves taut. Thus, they don't need to be attached to anything.

The obvious problem with a space elevator (besides building the thing) is how to keep it from collapsing. Space debris is the great danger that no one really likes to talk about, because it pokes holes (in more than one way) in all sorts of great schemes. High speed flying trash from the astronauts of yesteryear may destroy the space elevator and create more trash. This compounds until you have the Kessler Syndrome and there's so much space debris it's unfeasible to enter space. Fortunately, magnets, lasers, nets, and all other sorts of odd mechanisms are being developed by NASA, Japan, and other entities to deal with the problem. Nothing is fool-safe, though. Another idea that has been floated around is setting up a space station on the Moon. A space elevator is probably a prerequisite to that, though, or to any serious staffed exploration of space. There are lots of issues with setting up a space station anywhere long term, though. Radiation, terraforming, energy, heat, long-term effects of zero gravity, and many hypothetical questions about health such as how sex and pregnancy would work (rather important for any attempts at colonization). Good luck getting someone up after them, though!

Not what I meant to say at all, though I still think it makes sense.

I don't want to commit to any RPG, unfortunately. I'm all down for an RP, but I was hoping that was all that would emerge from this discussion of what RP we should have next. That said, the concept itself sounds interesting, and I could even see a controlled RP working under the premise of having someone dictate the events of each island, so that there's someone leading the RP in that sense bit by bit. I'd do this, though just the RP part. My schedule just doesn't have the predictability or the flexibility for a cooperative RPG.

I've been dying to see OTR, being a Kerouac fanboy myself, but I've not had any chance. I've also heard that, regrettably, it's not that great of a movie, according to the critics. They've been wrong before, though. Films I've seen this past year: 21 Jump Street - Lighthearted, humorous, probably wouldn't watch it again. The Avengers - This was a good action movie that got around the problems of cliche plot and long exposition by having that in its prequel movies. Thus, it escaped the trappings of most superhero movies. Chernobyl Diaries - Generic horror. Meh. Men in Black 3 - This was a decent franchise, and the 60's novelty was cool for a little, but not that cool. Especially with the sci-fi lite apporach to time travel. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - Someone played this when we had nothing better to do. Decent action, terrible plot. The Watch - Funny, but not that funny. It would have been better without the marriage drama and the aliens. The Dark Knight Rises - This would have made a lot more sense if I had seen Batman Begins right beforehand, but I didn't. It was good, but the Dark Knight was still far better. Pitch Perfect - Funny and musical. Very funny, in fact, and one of my favorites from the year. Cloud Atlas - Rarely do I say this, but I liked the movie far more than the book. Things were different, sure, but I felt like a lot more was done to tie everything together meaningfully. The Hobbit - Holy hell, I can't imagine the extended edition of this. Great movie, but it took a while to get moving. Les Miserables - Some of the changes they made didn't make much sense to me, but I love all the hints to things they put in to the film that would only make sense if you'd seen the book. The very ending was a bit problematic for me, as they sing about peace while standing at a giant barricade with guns and swords in hand, but everything prior was amazing.

Anyone got any resolutions they want to share? I want to write something every day.

So, having an overlapping world of some sort while having individual and (mostly) independent story lines? Sounds kinda like an RP version of Mote and the AIMhack stuff. Sounds fun. That also takes the pressure off of Iffy, or any particular GM, to manage the story and keep the RP going.

Plato suddenly makes perfect sense to me.

Cheers to frisbees! I play on a club team for Ultimate, so I always appreciate a good disc. That and a good pair of socks. Hope you all have a good time this year!

First of all, I'd like to remind everyone in this discussion to be civil and polite. The flame went out on the gun rights issue, which got pretty heated, but I'd also like to apply this to the discussion of mental illness. Terms like "nuts" "crazy" etc. aren't specific (mental illness is a big category encompassing such different behavioral trends as schizophrenia, depression, ADD, autism, and hypochondria - just among those there are a lot of differences) and carry a heavy negative connotation. For my sake, at the very least, can we avoid using terms like that? You're thinking of abnormality. There's a correlation between mental illness and abnormality, but it's not a causation. Some people are just abnormal, and there is no illness behind that. It's been a while since my intro to psych class, but in general a mental illness is a mental condition that impairs or prevents ones daily functioning and also poses some risk of harm to one's own self or others.

Ah, but in the shortening breaths and the faltering hearts, we all face the apocalypse - alone! Once, I was a vegetarian. My biggest problem with it was that I never really felt like I was full - fruits and vegetables never filled me up like meat could. Nuts and rice got me halfway there, but I still could always go for more. So I was running on half-full for a year before I gave in to try cajun cuisine. I've considered going back to vegetarianism, but if anything my hunger has only grown since I've gotten more athletic, so it's unlikely to happen.

Never bring a knife to a gun fight, you'll lose. Melee weapons just aren't as fatal as guns are. And I'd arguably say that guns and crossbows require the exact same amount of skill. You load in a bolt or bullet, aim, and press a trigger - the same basic mechanics are all still there. The same could even really be said of a bow. Notch in an arrow, pull back, aim, release. It just requires more muscle power, whereas the others have the machine do the work for you, more and more.

So, uh... Is this still happening?

I can think of one last issue that I'd like to raise, that has been hinted at in this topic, and that's systematic violence in schools. Sure, these huge flashpoints of violence are startling and tragic, but the tragedy that gets blinded by these flashpoints is the background radiation of violence that permeates the school system. Bullying, emotional and physical, abuse, trauma, conflict. These are issues that rarely get any public attention until it's too late and someone has killed themselves, others, or both. Moreover, the message I got growing up in a post-Columbine world is that people who are bullied incessantly are going to be the ones committing the next school shooting. It was a view that was shared throughout the student body, which I've only recently become more critical of in my reflections. I think it gives an undercurrent of fear of potential ramifications to bullying, thus stigmatizing the victim, because as far as I can see it certainly doesn't actually prevent bullying. That said, I've never really seen any of the stereotypical "physical" bullying that is mentioned from time to time. I'm tempted to say that systematic violence has more long term effects than do these school shootings scenarios, but I can't really measure that at all. Rather, I'll just say that both are serious and both have long term detrimental effects on society.

Are we dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants? Or are we giants standing on the shoulders of other giants? I tend to hold the second view. It's a remarkable view from the top, even if we're so high up that our vision gets obscured.

Generalities like that are, well, tricky. Corrupt governments can bring themselves down (Nixon), they can be voted out of office, popular protests can bring about their demise (Tunisia), or violence may be necessary (Syria). It all depends on the political culture. That said, the political culture of the United States is one with high amounts of deference (at least nominally) to democracy. Concerning people who complain about the politicization of this event... Yes, it's a tragedy. But things like this (unfortunately) happen too often, in countries life Afghanistan, China, the United States, and Norway. I can't pretend that I'm particularly grief stricken or emotionally handicapped, though I know that many are. Moreover, though, I feel like it's a sly political agenda to try to silence discussions of gun control, mental health systems, etc. because they're "disrespectful" to the deceased. What could be more respectful than to make sure they died for some cause, to make sure others don't suffer the same fate? If now isn't the time to discuss gun control or whatever controversial measure we might muster up, when would be? Those who don't want to change the system we have in place have this brilliant maneuver where they silence the debate just as it is raised, supposedly in honor of the deceased. This has the effect of silencing opposition and forcing tacit consent, until the pain of the memories fade and the system continues running along in the background. Now is the time to have these discussions. As Lyndon B. Johnson said of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 after Kennedy's assassination, "No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long." There is no more eloquent way to honor the fallen of yesterday's shooting than to attempt to prevent whatever systemic causes led to their deaths from recurring.

Well, the tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the spam of mods and posters, doesn't it? It really doesn't seem like there's enough tea in the harbor lately...

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/12/2012121481220620325.html http://abcnews.go.com/US/newtown-shooting-residents-shocked-mass-killing-adorable-town/story?id=17976401 Two separate instances of mass school violence occurred today (that I'm aware of), completely unrelated to each other. One was a shooting in Connecticut at an elementary school, the other was a stabbing at a primary school. The total casualties for each are in the twenties. Both attackers have been accused of mental illness. First of all, let me say that there can be nothing but mourning for both incidents. These are great tragedies, only magnified by the fact that many of the victims were so young. However, these incidents also bring up a few topics. Violence against children, weapons control, security and risk are obvious ones. All of these, I think, are appropriate for this topic. What I want to talk about, though, is the media's immediate insistence on labeling both of these individuals as "deranged," "insane," etc. I can think of a few ramifications of this, such as discrimination against people who are mentally ill most prominently. This is essentially a dehumanizing effect, calling people who do things like this insane and justifying hatred against them as a result of their actions and supposed mental status. When "insanity" isn't even a medical term anymore, what are the broader cultural effects that this has on society? I'm curious to know what the varied minds and backgrounds of Spiderweb come up with concerning this question.

It depends on how liquid your money reserves are, I would guess. If you invest all your dough in long term bonds, then you might be able to wait out the time period for both your investment and your fruitcake to mature!

There is some evidence to support the theory that there was research done. In G2, the loyalist camp beyond the initial Drypeak Vale has teachers who will instruct the PC in how to Shape a drayk. It's not the best evidence, but it does indicate that some research may have still been going on with the drayk stock.

My only question is why you'd drink a bottle of dough. That's like pouring money down the drain.

As far as the G4 drayk boat goes, it's worth remembering that that particular living craft was under the control of the Rebellion. Therefore, its being barred is irrelevant. In G4 at the Illya Safehouse, the PC encounters some Rebel roamers that are there for defense. The dialogue box makes some comment along the lines of them being heavily modified dogs. 'At some point, the Shapers decided that the only way to improve a dog was to let it spit acid. Or explode.' something along those lines. It's more direct than just saying that roamers look like dogs, and actually asserts that they are the base material.

Niemand: 98.6% bad. But oh, that 1.4%...

I second that. End of semester has understandably drawn me away from Spiderweb and given me less time to think of witty things to say when I am on here. In the aggregate, since this happens to a number of us, it means that there's less conversation at all and thus harder to spam in general. It's easier to generate a lot of conversation with a hundred people than it is with ten, and therefore the withdrawal of the college posters due to finals makes it harder on everyone. Fortunately there are intrepid posters like mosquito-slayer to pick up our slack... Fortunately? And please! I am the rightful custodian of the more optimal spammer quote.