http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/23 ... _dementia/]According to The Register, "Python wordsmith Terry Jones has announced he has been afflicted with primary progressive aphasia". He's retiring, effective immediately.

Not a good way for a writer to go...
--
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

...really, just for two or three days in San Francisco area.  My folks are doing a bit of back and forth between San Antonio, Mountain View, and Tampa.  I'll be accompanying my mom to and from Cali, and my brother will be going with her on the San Antonio to Tampa and back trip.
So don't wait around for me.  If you guys are gonna get started, now is as good a time as any!

And it doesn't pretend to be neutral, either.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

It occurred to me that we needed to pin a link to the wiki at the top of the board, for the convenience of new folks, which we still get every once in a while.

So, New Folks, there is a single centralized resource which catalogues much, although perhaps not all, of Fenspace's important people, places and things -- and more importantly, many of the stories that helped shape it into what it is.  Gentlemen, behold!  I give you... the FenWiki.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

If I'm reading http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/20 ... _know_how/]this article correctly, Pluto is emitting x-rays.

Yes, the Pluto that's out in the Kuiper Belt. The one that had no magnetic field.
--
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

Hello,
(Hello)
(Hello)
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone at home?

Sorry folks, just couldn't help myself, though I must admit that at this time, I am feeling quite comfortably numb.  I have learned that the world damn-near ended, that this isn't quite the Earth I once knew, and I am somehow just fine with that.

So, who all is here?  Who's shown up on your door steps so far?

Call me Ben.  I'm in an old complex down here in Texas and I got Tenchi and his Harem - the OVA versions.  (OVA 3 to be precise, so Noike is here.  No Noboyuki or Katsuhito/Yosho, though.  Which is kind of a pity.)

I happened to turn up an old /tg/ thread archived from 2013, and noticed a character that just screamed of Fenspace.


>System: Shadowrun
>Concept: Ex-russian go-fast Gunbunny/Smuggler
>stats: load every skill point into Pilot (ground and aircraft), Assault rifles, Etiquette: Street and Mechanics. Knowledge skills are mostly smuggling-oriented with some gambling thrown in for good measure.

This is her Sukhoi. There are many like it, but this one is hers. She bought it from the state when she resigned from the air force. It was due for retirement to pay for new aircraft and tanks anyway, and she saved it from the scrapheap, or worse, being sold to some eastern european pig-farmer state.
Now, she flies for fun and for pleasure. She keeps it on her farm, where she tills the earth and grows a variety of crops of varying legalities to help pay for the fuel, using her Sukhoi to deliver some of the less-legal products.
Her favorite pastime is setting off east german speed cameras. It's expensive and dangerous, but there's nothing like getting mailed a shot of your afterburners, with an estimated speed in mach numbers.
This is her sukhoi. There are many like it, but this one is hers.
Sauce: http://warosu.org/tg/thread/25870940#p25874228
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

More to the point, how common is it for these five symbols to show up correctly?
¤ ? P ? ?
From left to right, they should be a circle with four ears, a sort of lazy S with a zigzag coming off the top loop, a cursive p, a semicircle with two legs, and a circle with a triangle inside. They're all standard unicode items, but I'm not sure how common actually having them in an installed font is since I specifically included them in the custom font I use for everything.

I'm trying to decide whether to use them as currency symbols for (form left to right) Galactics, Stellars, Planetaries, Bel, and Ding, or just stick with G, S, p, B, & d for a space opera-ish thing.
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

...a little something I just stumbled over on Tumblr:

Hearing The Call to Adventure when you’re over 40.


dreadpiratekhan:

Quote:bluestockingt:

Quote:There’s a seriously delightful conversation in one of the LARP fb
groups about adventuring over 40. Many of us aren’t 20 anymore, and it
seems silly to have our characters not be our own age (or close to it).
But they’re still starting characters (as it’s a new campaign), which
implies they chose this path recently.

That thread is mostly joking around, but I kind of love the idea of
hearing The Call when you’re not a teenager, and starting your in-game
adventuring life later as some kind of mid-life crisis, religious
epiphany, empty nest reaction, etc.
Which got me to some ficlets, and here’s the result.

—

“Well, your mother always wanted to be an adventurer - she was a hell of
an archer when we were your age - but we got pregnant, and your
grandmother needed some help, so we put that life off for a while. But
now that you’re off at university, it seems like a good time to pick up
the bow again, and go fight evil.“ 

—

“There was just something missing, y'know? I mean, I liked being a
toymaker, but one day I realized - I really wanted to put on some plate
mail, and go fight demons. So here I am, livin’ the dream.“ 

— 

“Sometimes, relationships don’t work out. She got the business, I get to
start the life of adventure I’ve always wanted. Did you know I minored
in alchemy? It’s good to get back into it again.”

—

“Your Aunt Maribel and I had always talked about doing this, when we
were girls, but it just never seemed like the right time. But now that
Uncle Haro has passed…Mari just wants to get out there and do it. I
can’t let her go alone, can I? Someone has to watch her flank on the
line, and remind her to keep her shield up.“

—

“What can I say? Sometimes you fall in love with a mage. When you do,
you grab your hammer and you go where he goes. Someone has to keep cute
Dukes from flirting with him. Back off, gentry! He’s all mine.”
“Kevin, you’re being ridiculous. I’m not going to fall in love with some Duke.”
“Whatever. I’m not taking any chances. It took me this long to find you, and I’m not letting you go without me.”

—

“I’m your Dad. If you’re going to go and fight evil, I’m going with you, ‘cause I support your choices.”

—

“Er…Mom’s heading off to check out some evil gate she heard about.
Someone needs to go with her, ok? I squired for her last time, but I
just can’t right now. It’s your turn. Make sure she does her exercises,
ok? Her back is going to be horrid if she doesn’t.“

“Fine. I’ll handle the evil gate with Mom. But the next time she heads
into the swamps to fight some lizard thing, you’re doing it. I freaking
hate swamps.”

—

“His husband left him for an elf. He’s got some anger issues that he’s
working through, ok? Better that he work through it on some bad guys.”

—

“What was that?”“Undead again.”“Oh, for the love of..look.
They’re a freaking plague, and it’s getting worse. If we don’t want to
keep dealing with this, we’re just going to have to go to the source.”“But….the carrots…!”“Hang
the damned carrots. I’ll hire that nice boy down the street to take
care of our field while we’re gone. Clean yourself up and grab your holy
symbol. We’re not putting up with this for one more week.”

—

“Well, I always wanted to see the world. I got a small inheritance
recently, and thought, why the heck not? No time like the present,
right?”

—

“If that Sorcerer thinks he can just waltz in here and take over this town, he’s got another think coming!”“Doris, calm down. We’ll write to the King, and…”“I WILL NOT CALM DOWN. Sally, I swear, you drive me nuts sometimes.”“I’m just saying - there’s diplomatic solutions to this.”“The hell with diplomatic solutions! I WILL END HIM. ”“Fiiiiiine. Do it your way. End him with fire.”“Thank you!” *smooches* “Love you. Back when I’m back. He has NO IDEA who is coming for him.”

—

“What can I say? Adventuring pays the bills. I have a family to support, and turnip farming doesn’t make money like it used to.”

—

“Hey Phineas - for guys’ night, I have a thought. Rather than just going
down to the pub like we usually do…I found a gate. No idea where it
leads. Let’s go check it out. Could be fun, right?”“A gate?”“Yeah!”“This is a terrible idea. I’m in.”

—

“Um….well, this is awkward. You know that Goddess who spoke to me last spring?”“Oh yeah! Your whole conversion thing. Nice to see you found faith. It’s been good for you, I think.”“Well, she has something she wants me to take care of.”“What, like…a message delivered or something?”“Noooooooo?”“Seriously? You’re a florist. What does she want you to do?”“Well, now when I sing, things blow up. That’s good, right?”“This can’t end well.”

—

“We left for THREE WEEKS, and Barbarians razed our village. I swear, do I
have to do everything myself? I JUST RE-DID THE ROOF, YOU JERKS.”

—

“He doesn’t think our family is good enough for him? I’ll show him who
is good enough for him! My little girl is going to live in a castle,
even if I have to conquer it myself!”“I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way.”“We’ll
see what he has to say when I walk into Summertide with a demon’s head
on a spike! Who’s good enough now, you two-bit merchant?!?”

—

“Your Aunt recently found out that Throgg the Destroyer is that brat she
couldn’t stand at the Academy. She’s not taking it well, so we’re going
to be off on a trip for a while…”

—

“So….funny story. You know that favor I owe the Countess? From like 20
years ago? She finally called it in. She remembered that I’m really good
with Ancient Runes, and apparently there’s something she needs checked
out.”

—

“I thought you said this adventuring thing was just a hobby, Brianna. Something we did on the weekends.”“Well, but…y'know…I really like it. I think I could be good at it. I’m getting better with the spear, you know?”“I don’t even know you anymore!”“Can’t you just be supportive?”“Well, but where does it end? First hobgoblins, now orcs…what’s next?”“I heard about this cursed tomb…”“Absolutely not. I draw the line at tombs. NO TOMBS.”

—

“I told you not to date that vampire. Didn’t I tell you? I told you!”“Let me live, Sergio.”“Let me unlive, you mean.”“Ok, that’s just rude.”

—

“Oh, sure - one good healing spell, and you think you can conquer the world.”“I can! I have the knees of a teenager again!”

—

“Grandpa, you’re embarrassing me.”“What, I can’t visit my grandson while he’s adventuring?”“Well, I love having you here, and everyone knows you’re a good healer, but…”“I’ll be fine. I like it here. I think I’ll stay.”

—

“C'mon, let’s do it. We’ve always wanted to.”“But…we don’t know what we’re doing.”“We do! We’ve each read The Book, what….15 times? I know you basically have it committed to memory.”“I don’t think ‘To Catch a Rogue Lord’ was really meant as an instruction manual.”“C'mon…how hard can it be? You’ve seen the adventurers who come through here.”“Excellent point. I’ll get my herbs.”

—

“Honey? There’s a kid at the door. He says you’re the Chosen One.”“Arrrrgh. We talked about this! Come back later!”“He says the stars are aligned?”“Not doing it! Tell him to go away.”“Oh, and the seal broke. The seal broke, Stephen. It sounds important.”“But…”“I’ll pack you a lunch.”

“Call Sharon. She and her stupid birthmark are coming with me.”“I thought you said that translation of the prophecy was incorrect? Something about a miss-translation of verb.”“…well, at least if we fail, I won’t have to listen to Karl talking at Guild Meetings about how he was right.”

these are perfect and everything is perfect and nothing hurts

According to The Register, AdBlock Plus is now brokering ads: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/09/13 ... ocked_ads/

Nowadays, an effective ad-blocker is part of an effective anti-virus suite, because of the non-zero number of ads that automatically deliver malware to computers. If a company is brokering ads, then the company has a financial interest in being not an effective ad-blocker.

Any suggestions for a replacement for ABP? I'm running the most recent version of FireFox.
--
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