Posted by: Asagiri_Haur
In: /r/IAMA

What is says in the title.

I am ARR Warbirds Championship Winning Pilot Daryl Haur, taking a break from test flights for next season.

Ask me (Almost) Anything.

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________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

Press release here:
http://www.sjgames.com/general/press_re ... 50723.html

Get the books while you still can...
--
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'm currently on the road, using an old laptop that I haven't updated in a few years. A few upgrades were no-brainers (Firefox 3 -> Firefox 39, VLC 1.1.5 -> VLC 2.2.1, etc.), but I don't have a decent replacement for Notepad. The program I do have on here is so old, it has a Y2K compliance statement. What do I want to replace it with?

I don't need anything fancy, but there are a few things that I've grown accustomed to having in that old text editor:

• ability to read and write Unix-formatted text files
  
• ability to use regular expressions in search and replace
  
• ability to use any installed monospaced font
  
• ability to set the number of columns between tabs
  

This is ... not completely unexpected, but not particularly welcome, either:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ot ... -1.3164998]Ottawa Folklore Centre closes after 38 years, files for bankruptcy, owner says

The Ottawa Folklore Centre was one of the best (if not the best) music store in Ottawa, as opposed to just a record store or just an instrument store. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Miles]Lynn Miles and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alanis_Morissette]Alanis Morissette both got their starts there, to name two.

And now it's gone...
--
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

That's the title of evolutiontheorist's post, where she provides quite a bit of data, stats, and citations to back it up.

--The Twisted One.
"If you
wish to converse with me, define your
terms."

--Voltaire

MARCH 5, 2015
AVALON SPACEPORT, MELBOURNE, EARTH
As the cargo hatch slid closed, Chris scribbled his signature on the paperwork, removed one of the carbon copies, and handed it over to the truck driver. “And that should do it,” he commented with a smile.
The driver, who had to be in his early twenties at best, nodded slightly, before looking back over the ship in front of him again with a slightly awed expression. “So, this is gonna fly all the way to Jupiter?” the boy asked, his voice an entertaining mix of wonder and disbelief at the concept.
“She makes that run at least two to three times a month,” the Void Eagles captain confirmed, resting a hand against a landing strut. He decided not to confuse the kid by trying to explain that the current relative positions of both planets meant that the trip was actually quicker and easier than it often was. Even a lot of people living in space had a hard time understanding how planetary orbits reshaped their maps, after all. “We could make the whole trip in one go, honestly, but I’ve got some other deliveries to make along the way, so...”
Considering that for a moment, the youth scratched at his neck. “Huh. That’s wild,” he said at last. “Um… good flight, I guess,” he added, before turning and walking back towards his truck, pausing for a moment to give a curious glance at the bulky astromech droid rolling down the ships boarding ramp. He paused, turning his head towards the human, the large blue optic that served as his ‘face’ regarding him blankly. At that, the man jumped slightly and sped up, nearly jogging towards his own vehicle.
Watching him leave, Chris frowned slightly. “Hmm. He’s a little jumpy, isn’t he?”
Rolling off the ramp, the droid made his way over to his captain, chirping cheerfully.
Shrugging, Chris conceded the point. “Okay Tee, I’ll pay that. Hell, If Jack keeps him on as a driver, I guess he’ll get that.” He gave T7-01 an affectionate pat on the head as he walked past him to check the seals on the cargo hatch. “You’ve never been one to shy away from making new friends, after all.”
the droid replied, before his optic glowed brighter, and a tiny holographic figure appeared in the air in front of it. A blue haired girl in what appeared to be her late teens, clad in worn spacers coveralls and an old leather jacket.
“Personally, I think you enjoy messing with the ‘Danes,” Kitbash mused. “I mean, it’s not exactly muggle-baiting, but still, you definitely like having them off-balance.”
Glancing over at her, Chris couldn't suppress a grin. "You might have a point there," he admitted. "There's just something oddly amusing about being the odd one." Considering that for a moment, he chuckled softly. "I gotta wonder, when did this become normal for me?" he asked, more to himself than his crew. Checking the seals one last time, he folded up the paperwork and put them in his pocket. "So,more importantly, how's the flight plan look?"
Pulling a notepad out of thin air, the Void Eagles AI pretended to study it. "All plotted and arranged," she confirmed, adjusting her glasses. "Even if we left tonight, we'd get to Jupiter with about twelve hours to spare. That said," she added, looking back up at him, "while you were loading, I got an email from the Roughriders. Gina wants to know if we have time for some courier work."
Her avatar vanished from view, replaced by the email in question. Chris leaned in for a closer look, considering locations and flight times, then nodded. “Yeah, we can do that. Send off the usual deal.”
Replacing the email, Kitbash gave a sketchy salute. “Aye-aye Captain.” Pausing, she glanced to her left, then raised one eyebrow. “By the by, incoming rabbit.”
Chris gave her a confused look, before turning to see a familiar bunnygirl approaching the Void Eagle. Brown hair, five and a half feet tall, a body that did impressive things to the Liberion Army Air Corps uniform jacket she was wearing, and a distinct lack of pants (Although it seemed she was showing some mercy on the delicate nature of Earthers and wearing a bikini bottom as opposed to showing off her underwear). “Well now, ain’t this a welcome sight!” she laughed. “Long time no see Skipper.”
Grinning, Chris stepped forward and shook the womans hand, suppressing the urge to wince as, as always, she made a challenge of it. “Shirley Yeager,” he said in a tone of profound satisfaction. “It’s been too damn long. Last I heard, you were up in Canberra. Something about helping to draft flight regulations?”
Releasing the handshake, Shirley nodded. “Yer federal government’s started working out the rules and regs to cover ‘single person experimental extra small air vehicles,’” she explained, making the classic quotation gesture with her hands. At her friends mildly confused look, she snickered. “Jetpacks, rocketboots, that dumbass that tried flying over the Harbor bridge in a homemade Iron Man suit back in January, ya get me?”
T7 noted.
Shirley shrugged apologetically. “Sorry Seven, still don’t got the ears for binary,” she admitted.
“He was complimenting you,” Kitbash assured her, although she looked somewhat skeptical. “Which I should point out, means everyone here knows each other except…” Her voice trailed off and she gave the two physical humanoids a significant look.
“Right. Sorry. Dumb. Kit, this is Shirley Yeager, formerly of Great Justice and the Space Patrol,” her captain said, gesturing towards the woman, who smirked and bowed slightly. “Teeseven and I worked with her a few times back during the Boskone War. Shirley, this is my daughter Arturia Wood, AI of the Void Eagle.”
“Call me Kitbash,” she offered. “Arturia’s just for the paperwork.”
Grinning, the bunnygirl nodded. “Pleasure to meet ya Kitbash.” Looking back at Chris, she smirked. “So, ya ended up a papa after all.”
“And as I always claimed would be the case, she’s just as bad as me,” he replied with a grin, ignoring the glare Kitbash gave him. Shirley snorted, reaching over and giving T7 a friendly pat on the head. “Anyway, yeah, last I heard you were in Canberra. Or is that all finished?”
“Gawd, I wish,” the girl moaned, shoulders and ears slumping dramatically. “Freaking REMFs. No idea how a plane works, let along anything ‘waved up. Nah, I’m down here on a side project,” she said, cheering back up instantly. “Little somethin’ me and a few buddies have been working on for, oh, year or so.” Her grin became a smirk as she leaned in closer, pressing against him. “And, knowing ya the way I do, I gotta say, I think you’d find it utterly fascinating,” she purred. “Care to follow me into a dark and mysterious hanger?”
Considering his friend for a long moment, and pretending to ignore the suddenly dubious glare his daughter was giving Shirley (Not that different from when some catgirls he knew got affectionate actually), Chris returned the bunnygirls smirk with one of his own. “Why Agent Cottontail, you remain as tempting as ever… lead the way.”
The old nickname got a laugh out of the woman, utterly ruining the mock-sultry stance she’d taken, and she backed up, spun on the spot, gesturing for them to follow. Human and droid glanced at each other, the human chuckled, and then the pair followed, Kitbashs avatar continuing to float in front of T7, still looking suspicious.

Hey, guys and gals.
I kept putting it on the backburner, but I finally got some time to read Undocumented Features. Problem, though.
I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by the sheer SIZE of it, so I can't tell whether or not the reading order is what it seems to be.
Is it as straightforward as it seems, starting with Core, then going through to Golden Age, Exile, and Future Imperfect in the order listed on the webpages?

Name: Christopher Wood
Gender: Male
Birthday: June 22, 1983
Citizenship: Australia
Residence: Bendigo, Australia.
If he’d been American instead of Australian, the Great Wave Scare would likely have chased Chris off-planet and made him one of the First Fen… or, more likely, gotten him killed, as the mods he’d made to his car were still far from spaceworthy the first time he took it for a flight.
Instead, he was able to take his time, collecting and growing several variants of handwavium, selling both them and ‘waved gear as a side business. Like several other Australians, he did this openly and legally, even filing the details on his annual tax returns. However, he never dived heavily into the project, and while this meant he never invented his own, easily identifiable strains or Wavetech breakthroughs, it also meant he never had any serious mad science moments that would have overcome even the Australian authorities patience, or at least given him a biomod.
By 2011, his semi-regular trips into orbit in his car had given him the confidence to start on a much larger, more ambitious project - his own scratch built ship. Initially, he was hampered by the fact that he wasn't really a designer, and he didn't just want a box with engines on it. And on top of that, he didn't want to just steal a ship design someone else had come up with.
And that was when Bioware began revealing art for their upcoming Star Wars MMO, and Chris realized he’d struck gold. Most of the Fen involved in ship-building were up in space, the majority of those were stuck using whatever scrap they could get their hands on, and not many of them actually had time to pay much attention to current fandom developments planetside. With a bit of work, he might be able to operate in space with something actually unique.
Then his father, supportive but not really understanding a lot of the appeal, made a suggestion that had so much potential, but threatened disaster if it went wrong. After a lot of careful consideration, he took a deep breath, crossed his fingers, and approached Bioware.
The project ran into delays, and there were a number of complications, practical and legal, but in December 2011, he launched the XS Freighter Void Eagle, built under license from the ‘Corellian Engineering Corporation’ (ie, Bioware and Lucasfilm), as part of the promotional events leading up to the games release. He also had a contract with Lucasfilm regarding his help with future promotional events, a newly awakened Old Republic era Astromech Droid as his co-pilot/engineer, and a rather sizeable loan to his name. Early on at least, space would not be the freedom from Earthly concerns many claimed it to be.
Exploiting the publicity the Eagle’s launch had earned him, Chris established Void Eagle Shipping, and over the next year or so, managed to get some regular routes and customers, and managed to get a decent distance ahead of the minimum repayments on his loan. By the time his 15 minutes of fame had faded to a memory, he had a decent reputation, and was making satisfying progress on repaying that loan. He was never going to be a BNF, but he was doing alright.
And then the Boskonians came along and made life even more interesting for everyone. Chris came out of that mess with some new skills he’d never imagined he’d need, some unpleasant memories and stories he won’t share, an impressively larger social circle, and a reputation as an honest, moral freighter captain that could be trusted to get the job done. While still not a BNF, he does a lot of work for them, and is on a first name basis with a few.
Oh, and somewhere along the line, an AI appeared in the Void Eagles computer. She’s a good kid, but he really didn’t plan on being a dad...
***
Description:
Caucasian male in his early 30s, still somewhat overweight despite his fenspace years, although there’s a bit more muscle under it than there used to be. Brown hair, kept very short when possible, but he’s got a bad habit of putting off haircuts and letting a mop develop. Often looks like he needs a shave.
***
Notable Mundane Abilities:
I think I know what this does - Worked as a laborer before launching the Void Eagle. Is not very creative with power tools and construction equipment, but knows how to use them and can work out what needs doing relatively quickly, especially with instructions.
Fully licensed - Holds a mundane pilots license. He got it while preparing to build his ship, and used it to help establish his good reputation planetside. It, along with his behaviour in their airspace, helped the Void Eagle remain relatively welcome even in countries that are cautious of Fen ships.
Punch, kick, shoot - Learnt how to fight during the Boskone War, thanks to several pirate run-ins. Doesn’t think he’s that good at it, but he survived without permanent damage, so he’s doing something right. Is now trying to get out of the habit of carrying a gun at all times
Basic wavetech - Experimented with the goo a lot back in his pre-space days. Never developed anything mindblowing, but he developed a good understanding of several strains and could mod some items with relatively consistent quirks. One of his most popular products was ‘waved childrens toys. Nothing too fancy, but safe basic interactions sold well there.
***
Quirks:
Pass me the safety glasses - Has always been rather safety conscious, and has only gotten more so since getting off world.
Glass of water thanks - Doesn’t drink alcohol.
I’m a legitimate businessman. Really - Despite his choice of ship, he is most definitely not a Smuggler, and tries to abide by local laws whenever possible. States this on his company website, but still has to deal with people that won’t believe it quite a bit.
Not one of us - Being based planetside, still holding his Australian citizenship and not signing up with any of the factions has rubbed some Fen the wrong way. Chris alternates between finding it amusing and annoying, depending on how much of a jerk the Fen wants to be about it.
Thanks, but I’ll pass on the Mexican - Not biomodded at all, and is somewhat paranoid about doing so. Not out of prejudice, but his years of working with Handwavium have convinced him it has a sense of either irony or ‘humor’. He’s been a long time fan of genderswaps and Furries, and has his suspicions of what will happen when his turn comes. He’d rather put it off until necessary.
Captain Jack Sparrow can go Hang - Has never been a fan of pirates, real or fictional, and the Boskone War didn’t help that much. His encounters with the ‘Good Space Pirate’ factions in Fenspace are usually frosty at best, even if he’ll admit they mean well.

Recently someone was getting "harrassed" on Twitter by a notorious Far-Left poster. (So far left, Bernie Sanders looks like Ronald Reagan)
So, this fellow who RP Tweets as Dr. Evil turned her Narrative back on her. He thought on it a bit and formulated his law.:

Quote:Evils Law: Ideologues are unable to defend against their own ideology [without] a defense they have previously dismissed.

I don't know how many of you follow Space Battles and Sufficient Velocity, but I've taken the plung and started a quest thread on the latter: "So You Want To Fight A Dragon With Your Bare Hands"

http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/t ... nds.20449/

It's exactly what it says on the tin.

(I didn't think to mention it here before, so the chargen vote just ended with picking a non-alchemist version of Armstrong from FMA as the PC, voting is now on which dragon you're fighting.)
--
"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