Last night I thought of what might be a subset of the Pulpers. Specificly, fans of action novel series' like The Destroyer or The Executioner.__________________
666-HELL The phone number of the Beast
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

Today's User Friendly Link of the Dat is the High-Yield Detonation Effects Simulator - in this link, showing a megaton blast centered on my home town.
Hours of fun for the repressed explosives-type pyromaniac... and a useful resource for the gamemaster of any post-holocaust RPG. The satellite image option is handy for player handouts, while the map and hybrid options are useful for the GM.
Edit: Helps if I get the link right...
-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

In case you live under a log:
Wizards of the Coast announces D&D 4th Edition for May 2008.
I'll probably buy it, but I'm a whore for gaming material.
--------------
Epsilon

Giora Epstein, Israeli Air Force, 17 confirmed jet kills
The man took on 11 Mig 21's in the Yom Kippur War alone for 10 minutes. When encounters normally lasts seconds, that's an eternity!
Final Score:
Epstein: 4
Migs: 0
The man is a veritable Rogue Squadron pilot!
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

I'm gonna be moving here in about a month, and I'm taking my laptop along on the road trip. I found this piece of software on a random webtrawl, and I was wondering if any of our IT and security folks had heard of it. Is it worth the time to download and install? Or is it a clever way to compromise exactly what they claim to protect? I've never heard of the company, and I haven't pulled up much on them in Google, so I'm hoping for some input.
The software is found here.
Thanks for your time!
-WFalling out of aeroplanes and hiding out in holes
Waiting for the sunset to come, people going home
Jump out from behind them and shoot them in the head
Now everybody dancing the dance of the deadFalling out of aeroplanes and hiding out in holes

Waiting for the sunset to come, people going home

Jump out from behind them and shoot them in the head

Now everybody dancing the dance of the dead

I'm kinda surprised nobody's mentioned it yet... the fine folks over at Eyrie have put out another chapter set on post-FI Cybertron.
Hie thee hence and check it out.
-Z, Post-reader at Medium
----
If architects built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.
-Z, Post-reader at Medium
----
If architects built buildings the way programmers write programs, the first woodpecker to come along would destroy civilization.

At the moment, I'm working on a Naruto fanfic (and posting it as I write it in Hawk's The Fanfiction Forum, and yes, the article is part of the forum's name). Genre-wise, it's what someone there called a "stealth crack-fic", in that the set-up makes the results pretty much inevitable, everything is logically developed, and the characters are fully fleshed out... but that doesn't make any of it any less absurd (to give you some idea here, at the current point of the story, Naruto is the recognised heir to Sailor Saturn and blushing whenever he looks at Hinata because of a four-hour "Talk" that involved an illustrated copy of the kama sutra, Sasuke is in the hospital after a prozac overdose caused him to activate the Deus Ex Machingan -- and no, I don't mean the Sharingan -- and Sakura is debating whether or not becoming Naruto's sex-slave would make up for how she treated him in the academy... but, then again, I haven't really started on her yet).
The problem is that I need a bit of help in the form of someone to bounce ideas off of and to help me go over and continuity-check and proofread the thing; a beta, basically. Anyone want to volunteer?-- This message brought to you by Ely Lilly, makers of SeraFem: Happy Pills for PMS.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfx8Nc6VKnI
The song is Timewarp from Rocky Horror, the clips are from Star Trek.__________________
666-HELL The phone number of the Beast
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

OOC: Mentioned this guy in passing in the 'Uranium Twinkie' thread, which blossomed wonderfully. Here's a writeup of him, will require a minor stalinization/retcon of the twinkie thread. Submitted for approval, open character.

Johnathan Mulder
Primary Writer: Open Character
Notable Mundane Attributes:
* I don't want to talk about it: Is aware of the X-Files. Is a closet fan of the X-files. Does not appreciate connection between last name and X-files.
* Here, sit down, let's talk: VERY good at his job, recruiter for BBI, official job title is "Human Resources Coordinator At Large (Detached)"
* I will use my Rabbit Style to defeat you!: Knows a smattering of a few martial arts, has no problem using them to distract/disarm/disable long enough to use his primary athletic talent
* Outta here!: Track and field all through high school, has kept in very good shape. Can sprint for surprisingly long, can 'wolf-lope' all day long if neccesary.
* Tank, I need an exit!: Carries (and keeps charged) a 'waved Satphone, will not hesitate to tap local, 'fen, BBI-local, BBI-fen, or authorities for assistance or rescue.
'Wavium Abilities:
* None: Not Biomodded
Quirks:
* Lightweight: Low alcohol tolerance, little to no experience with alcohol. Fairly stupid when drunk, ex "You're *hic* abshlutley GORGEOUS and vry nice person and got big tits, ma'am, but I'm looking for my Scully, and you're not- *passes out on aforementioned bosom*"
* Nice Kid: While he will fight in self-defence, Johnathon is a Nice Kid from Iowa, and he's not terribly comfortable with anything 'extreme' or 'alternative'. Not a bigot, just not comfortable - very low squick level.
* Corps is mother, Corps is father: An only child, both parents deceased (natural causes), one remaining uncle (Who is a moderately skilled clothier on The Island). Main emotional ties are to BBI-as-organization, and Buckaroo-as-father-figure.
* Personable: Is a genuinely Good person, committed to the goals of the BBI, and to helping those he's brought into the fold. Square Peg for the job's Square Hole.
* Can't keep ahold of it: Johnathon prefers to use a wired or wireless headset for his satphone, as he is on it quite often, but can't keep ahold of one. Cords will get snagged, wireless sets will fall off and get ran over, batteries in wireless sets will mysteriously melt. Noone knows.
Jonathon Mulder is a fourth generation American by way of French ancestors who fled from unknown troubles in Germany (pre-wwI) The family name was originally 'Muller', and was corrupted by the Ellis Island folks. No trace of his French or German ancestry remains, with his dirty-blonde hair, his nondescript hazel eyes, and his well-tanned, strong features, this guy is 100% cornfed Iowa America. Graduating from high school in 2005, John worked as an apprentice to the maintenance team for the local Union organization, and saw the difficulties of the men and women involved in that organization, how tough it was for them to find the 'perfect job', that allowed them to combine their vocation and their avocation.
When he saw an ad for the BBI in an out-of-state newspaper (that someone had used for packaging, for an X-Files DVD he ordered), he decided to give it a shot.
That was the beginning, and he hasn't looked back since. Johnathon currently maintains a permanent address on The Island - actually, his uncle's place, but there is a room for him. Most of his time is spent in hotels or 'roughing it', in the process of his dual job for the BBI.
The first part of this job is Recruiting - Johnathon finds likely candidates for the various branches or specific assignments of the BBI, and does his best to sign them up, usually by just pitching the job in his earnest, straightforward, no-nonsense manner that he learned growing up. Johnathon has developed The Knack for his job, and hardly ever pitches a job to someone that is unsuited or uninterested. His record has given him great leeway in 'fixing the deal', allowing him to customize offers to fit situations.
The second part of the job, and the one that takes up the lion's share of his time, is Support. Johnathon is one of the support agents for the BBI Man-in-the-field, able to provide on short notice or long term, lodging, food, transportation, medical support, or even evac.
Johnathon can be found striding through a marketplace in Cairo or a back alley in Berlin, riding in a cab in the Dullin tunnel in france or the main drag in Brooklyn, hiking through the Bush in Alaska or the river basin of the Zambize. Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

I just realized I hadn't posted this yet. Sorry about that.

As with the story, discussion elsewhere, please...

Legend of Galactic Girls: Concordance


References about Fenspace itself are not detailed here. Please consult the Fenspace Wiki for obscure details about the setting.

Knowledgable readers may have noticed the chapter naming convention I've used for this story: all of the titles are variations of anime titles. The overall
title, Legend of Galactic Girls, plays off of the old series
Legend of Galactic Heroes
.

Prologue

Sangnoir of the Universe

A play off of Stellvia of
the Universe, the translated full name of the anime Stellvia.

"Don't tell me you've heard of me?"

"We've heard of you."

"I asked you not to tell me that."

This is a variation of one of the stock exchanges from the 1960s-era spy spoof Get Smart.

"... when one of our universe's authors combined the concept with quantum mechanics' lack of a privileged frame of reference, he realized that
everyone is fictional in some other reality somewhere."

Specifically Robert A. Heinlein, in his novel The Number of the Beast. (Or, at least,
that's where I first saw the concept.)

Oh, wonderful - not again

See Drunkard's Walk X for the first instance of Doug learning he's a character in a
story.

the International Strike Teams

According to Bob's website, this is the
original name of the International Super Teams from GURPS I.S.T. (You learned it here first:
Noah's a gamer geek.) Noah's checking to make sure Doug really is Doug, and not some other cross-world traveler pretending to be The Loon -- or, worse
yet, the evil-reflection "Prateorian Doug", metahuman enforcer for his homeworld's Music And Film Industry Associations, that may or may not
exist somewhere out there.

Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said, "Huh?"

"Drawing on my fine command of the English language, I said nothing."

- attributed to Robert Benchley

When I regained consciousness,

This is a recurring bit from Dave Broadfoot's stories of his character Sgt. Renfrew of the RCMP,
as told irregularly on the Royal Canadian Air Farce radio show in Canada in
the 1980s.

Mr. Broadfoot told the Renfrew stories as first-person-viewpoint tales. Often, but no more than once per story, "Renfrew" would recount doing
something unbelievably stupid and completely avoidable (like jumping out a window in order to land on his horse without checking that the horse was still
there, or reading a waitress' nametag and asking what the other one's called.) The very next line of the story always began "When I regained
consciousness, ..."

As for how Doug learned about Sgt. Renfrew, perhaps one of his quiet untold stops was in an analogue of 1980s Canada?

That's the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question

A pulp-culture reference that's become mainstream, The $64,000 Question was a television
quiz show in the 1950s.

I thought of Maggie for a moment, and smiled. "When I'm away, I write home every day."

"And the next line," added Noah.

"... And when I'm away, I'll write home every day,

And I'll send all my loving to you."

- From All My Loving, by The
Beatles, written by Lennon/McCartney, copyright 1963 Northern Songs.



-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