So, I am moving. The place I'm moving to has wireless internet that I can use, but I have a lot of wired devices.

Well, turns out there's things for that. I'm currently looking at this one, which looks like it will suit my needs and has a good reputation overall. But I thought I'd see if anyone else had advice or suggestions.

-Morgan.

Yes, I broke down and bought an army. Russian, Late War, Engineer-Sappers an entire battalion of them and I've got a legal 1000-point army of them. 180 points of that is an attached flame-thrower sections. I still need to make four more bases of Pioneer MG teams & eight bases of Faustnika for my other "free" company weapon choices along with do I want to add anti-tank rifles, mortars, or Maksium HMGs to them.

All that's left to do, besides contemplating those choices, is painting all of that infantry and contemplating what else to add: T34, M4A2, SU82/100, Spetznaz, Katyusha.....

Occasionally when one is using Google Street View, one can go inside a place by clicking on the double-arrow superimposed on the image.

Try http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=5 ... 92862&z=17]this one, for an atypical example.

(Spotted on http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/14 ... de_tardis/]The Register. If you find anything that's interactive, please post it...)
--
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

Or. I got bored and had an evil idea.

--------
To: [List.Jaguar.Contacts.giftlist]
From: Jet.Jaguar@Frigga.Fen

Subj: T'is the season

-----

Hi all.

Little early for gifts I know but it's the last transport of the year leaving so it's as good a time as any.
Because on that transport is a crate, packed with bottles of something I've been working on for the last few
months.

To be taken in extreme moderation. I figure full disclosure is at hand, considering....

It starts with a bottle pure malt alcohol, a generous quantity of well-roasted Klatchian coffee, some guarana leaves
and a few other herbs and spices for flavour. These are then pressure-macerated for about a month or so together,
until the flavours have well and truly finished their infusion.

Before being filtered, bottled, labelled, then shipped..

Now, this stuff's not for the faint of heart. In the bottle, it's about 75% ABV.

So, there's a proper way to drink it.

Out of the bottle, it's extremely bitter. There's no added sugars so it needs to be taken like Absinthe for the best
effect. Add sugar and dilute with iced-water to taste. Then very carefully take a sip and enjoy the ride.

Or leave it on the shelf. The label looks good.

Happy 25th.

-Jet

P.S. Yes, I do eat my own dogfood. One small bite at a time.

Attachments: Card_Frigga_2023.Jpeg
-----------------

It's perfectly safe. Honest.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

Today was a special primary in New Jersey to fill the seat left open when Senator Frank Lautenberg died some weeks back, and as I voted -- using an electronic booth -- a disturbing thought came to me.
It's already been shown that the NSA is, contrary to their earlier denials, is able to basically tap any data stream they care to.  They're basically in the classic man-in-the-middle position, having expended a great deal of  money and effort to put themselves there for all communications going through the United States.
It's only principle -- and discretion -- that keeps them from altering those data streams.
But consider how many elections are being handled electronically these days.
What happens if the NSA decides their mandate is best served by manipulating those bitstreams to make sure politicians that weren't hostile to them were elected?  Would we ever be able to tell?
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Starling was on top of it : she was cosplaying Section 9’s Togusa, albeit gender-swapped ; and he was a man--a fictional man--of alert action. That and she really craved that lifetime free ConClave membership!  
She sidled up to Wandblume ; conversationally mentioned : “There’s a Love Faction Weld poking about the Whoopee Widget booth.”
Carmine. Carmine surrounded by the coolest yet most fluster inducing assemblage of toys : Death Star Ben Wa sets--both Death Stars! ; gold boarding torpedo personal massagers ;  Agonizer nipple clamps  ; Gigeresque Kegel exercisers : it was a panoply of Geekgasms.
Indeed, there was a very well executed Cutie Honey with the heart-choker sigil of a Love-Weld  poking through a barrel of paraphernalia.
Van Loan couldn’t help himself. “Well, Carmine’s certainly a growing concern.” He gingerly picked up a stainless steel whatsit. “This is Cronenberg enough that I don’t want to know what or where it’s for!” He returned the object with the delicacy of a demolitions expert.
Wandblume chimed in. “Ah, that’s a...”
“La la la, I’m not engaging my aural units! Anyway, we’re here for her, and certainly not for anything priapic or vulvar!” He actually made the point with a waggling rod of pink rubber simulacrum. He tossed the sinlinder at its place in the display, misjudging its  elastic potential. It bounced, fairly leaping into the cardiac-cutout of the rather startled Cutie Honey.
“And it’s in the bunker.” Wandblume’s wry golf-commentator exposition continued as she walked over to pluck, as primly as was possible--not that possible--the offending random rocket from the Love-Weld’s impressive décolletage. “That’s a two schwing penalty for Dr. D.” She lobbed the faux wang into the barrel of its brethren ; winked at the befuddled, pneumatic senshi.
“And we haven’t even be introduced yet! Ramona Wandblume, and that’s,” She poked a thumb back over her shoulder, “the guy you’re going to veld me to.”
Van Loan assessed the still stupefied senshi that Wandblume hand led back to him. “Is she going to be...viable?”
“She’ll be fine, won’t you, honey?”
The Weld nodded, scantly.
“See? She’s conscious, responsive and tractable!”
The Weld squeaked : “Tract-a-what?”
“Willing, Süße...Sweetness. You are?”
The nod was a little stronger. The deer was almost clear of the headlights.  
“Right!” enthused Shego. All we need now...” She actuated her well nigh invisible throat mike : “Irae, expedite wedding party retrieval!”  
The crystalline gloomy Welsh response sounded almost instantly in her ear bud :  
“Cake, Mum.” Wandblume was almost certain that was Slanglish for ‘On it.’ Almost.
Van Loan went from mildly embarrassed to roundly rocked in record time. “Holy Tesla’s coils! Ramona, are you going to kidnap your parents?!”
“No, doof, our parents plus any target of opportunity immediate family members as my girls can grab. You do want our volks here for the wedding?”
***
The frilly black UD4L dropship deployed a frilly black line down which rappelled (repelled?) a frilly black figure. Pitchy touched ground ; unclipped from the line ; unslung her Einheit, Sichel Mond ; proceeded up to the front door of the neat, night shrouded Bavarian A-frame. Behind her, the angular assortment of intakes, airfoils and a slowly yawning rear cargo ramp, settled gracefully onto the end of the metaled driveway. Pitchy reached up on black frilly tiptoes, and pressed the doorbell. The girl, classically Bavarian right down to the golden pig tails, who answered the door was almost exactly the same height and age as Pitchy. "Ja?" She eyed Pitchy with obvious little-girl distaste before being startled by being addressed not by the little-girl-goth but rather by the excellent Frankfurt German of her scythe.
Leaving the door wide open, the girl ran back into the house. “Mutter, there’s a talking axe with a creepy little girl at the door!”
***
One intervening ocean over to the west, and six hours day-wards, a troop variant ornithopter  whirred to a dragonfly landing in the sizable riverside backyard of a Colonial Georgian perched in the nominal countryside south of the sleepy federal capital of Canada.
“Honey, our son’s getting married!” The svelte sixty-something brunette yelled down the basement stairs. The sound of power tools ceased abruptly replaced with a manly baritone bellow.  
“What was that, dear? You couldn’t have said my worthless kid’s getting hitched? To what? A life-sized replica of Mr. Splack?”
“It’s Spock, dear ; and I’m pretty sure it’s to a girl!” She turned to Dies Irae who was desperately trying to keep her cool : it was patently obvious exactly where her Mistress’ fiancé  got his operatic penchant from : genetics.
Dies Irae, sometimes Penelope Winterbottom, replied with the almost Swiftian, "She's very she, sir!"
“I must be having a stroke! This can’t be happening!”
“No dear, you sound fine ; and yes, dear, it is!”
“The engagement can’t last!”
“About that, darling!” Penny wasn’t really surprised to see a sly little grin tug at the wife’s lip. “They....”
“They who!?”
“Two pretty girls, sweetie, with orders to...escort us immediately....”
“Kidnap?!” A very impressive solid tread sounded down in the gloom at the bottom of the stairs. “I don’t care how pretty or how good the news, I’m not letting anybody....” A robust hulk of a man, bearing only a mild mead-gut and wielding a cordless drill with a truly daunting drill bit, blustered out of the basement.
“...Really pretty!”
Mrs. Van Loan thumped him across the back of the head, and Penny’s self-control fractured into shivers of most goth-less giggling. Both parents stopped, stared at Penelope Winterbottom.
“Sorry,” she gasped between giggles, “You two are exactly like your son’s relationship!” She mostly recovered her sangfroid. “You’ve got to pack!  We’ve only got another twenty minutes before NORAD  scrambles!”
“What the blazes does that even...”
“Pack fast, Babe : the Indians are inbound!” She grabbed her hubby’s hand ; led the charge to the master bedroom’s walk-in closet.
Nocturne Raven mused : “That was duck soup. Wonder how Pitchy’s doing?”
***
Two frilly black figures loaded four squirming frilly black sacks into the back of one frilly black UD4L.
 
 

I'm working with some data in a spreadsheet in OpenOffice and trying to build a graph.
What I have is three columns: Name, X-coordinate, Y-coordinate.
Clearly the X and Y coordinates are the primary data rows for a point graph.I want each point to be labelled with the Name column.
Any pointers?Thanks!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

A Timeline of Handwavium Law in the United States of America
September 11, 2008: Washington DCIn response to the recent wave of thefts and other scandals, most recently culminating in the theft of the former-Soviet 'Buran' space shuttle prototype, President Bush signed into law a complete prohibition on the use or distribution of the substance known as 'handwavium'. The bill, known as the 'Maintaining America's Technological Security Act', makes it a federal felony to posess or distribute handwavium without proper licensing. The bill contains, however, no regulations on how such licensing is to be granted. . . .
March 14th, 2009: Washington DCPresident Giuliani today signed into law the Blaisdell Act, a comprehensive set of regulations for the safe use of 'handwavium' in research and production. Due to the clear dangers associated with the substance, any facility working with it will need to meet stringent safety standards. Applications from several prominent research institutes are already pending, including MIT, Harvard, and Lawrence Liverpool National Laboratory. . . .
September 15th, 2009: Rochester NYRockhounds, Inc. today became the first corporation licensed to utilize handwavium in commercial production under the Blaisdell Act. Consumers may rest assured that the substance is not utilized in any actual production methodology. Instead, the mining consortium is making use of handwavium-modified vehicles (so-called 'fencraft') and mining equipment in order to extract raw minerals and ore from asteroids. . . .
April 8th, 2010: Helena MTThe Montana State Supreme Court today agreed to hear the case of Carolyn Fischer, former Professor of Biochemistry at Carroll College. Doctor Fischer asserts that her employment with the college was terminated because of discrimination against her due to a handwavium-induced "bio-modification". . . .
July 4th, 2011: Livermore CAResearch scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories announced the successful test of the first operational fusion reactor this morning. The reactor utilized handwavium-based gravity generators to induce fusion, rather than the traditional laser arrangement. Producing three hundred megawatts of power over and above its own functional requirements, it is the most powerful sustained fusion reaction so far produced. . . .
August 1st, 2012: Washington DCThe Land Theft Prevention Act goes into full effect today, prohibiting the removal of large areas of land from their current locations. . . .
October 1st, 2012: Rochester NYCerion Energy Systems announces a patent on a new form of high-density storage battery. At more than ten times the capacity of previous rechargeable systems, the new batteries are expected to revolutionist the electric automobile industry. . . .
November 1st, 2013: Washington DCThe 'Catgirl Protection Act' goes into effect today, adding "nonconsensual Handwavium-induced biomodification" to the list of actions that qualify as assault under Federal law. . . .
January 5th, 2014: Reno NVHandwavium-related technologies took another leap forward today, as Reno-based Migitech Inc announced they had received Federal licensing to go ahead with their new line of NanoForge water filters. Because the production process uses a handwavium-enhanced machine, the company has faced an uphill battle to gain approval under the Blaisdell Act's strict regulations. "NanoForge water is entirely safe," Migitech president Joseph Brown stated. "I've been bathing with, and drinking, nothing but NanoForge water for the past year, and not a single blue hair to be seen." . . . .
April 1, 2014: Cocoa, FLNASA's Handwavium scandal came to an end today as the embattled space agency agreed to privatize their handwavium-enhanced spacecraft operations. A contract was signed with the already-licensed Artemis Foundation to operate and maintain the aging Shuttle fleet on NASA's behalf. . . .
June 8th, 2015: Los Angeles, CAIn a move hailed as ironic and
"deeply amusing" by pundits on both sides of the aisle, a consortium of
eleven coal-mining companies today joined the class-action lawsuit
seeking repeal of the Land Theft Prevention Act, after its provisions
were used by eco-protest groups to have surface mining operations shut
down in several states. Today these corporate miners find themselves
standing alongside the same protestors who shut them down as they throw
their backing behind the pro-Handwavium protest groups. . . .
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

Quote:WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFERMALAYSIAN PAY-OUT CENTER
Dear Western Union Beneficiary,
Transaction #: WUMT-MY7910****/2013 ( Your Security Code )
UNITED NATIONS PAYMENT NOTIFICATION.
We wish to inform you that the United Nations (UN) has authorized us
to remit to you a total amount of $1,500,000.00 USD (One Million Five
Hundred Thousand United States Dollars). This amount is to be paid to
you because of the fact that you were selected as a beneficiary in the
Last E-mail ballot promotion Held in Malaysia, by United Nations
Poverty Alleviation Program. This Program is inline with the Social
responsibility of the United Nations Organization, which is held once
Every year to change the living status of five (5) lives around the
Globe.
This year, yourself and Four (4) other people were randomly selected.
On behalf of the United Nations Organization, we wish to congratulate
you formally. The funds was paid out to us, by the United Nations,
And they have successfully succeeded in depositing your whole funds
with us Here at Western Union Malaysia. They have now ordered us to
take full Responsibility in the transfer process of your funds and
thus commence the Immediate remittance of your funds to you. Be
strongly informed that because Of our Western Union transfer policy,
your funds will be paid to you via our Western Union Daily Transfer
limit of $7,600.00 USD. This means that you will Continuously receive
a daily amount of $7,600.00 USD from us, and this amount Can be
collected from any of our numerous Western Union outlets in your
Current location.
To begin receiving your daily payment as stated above, we need you to
provide Us with; Your Full Name, Address, and Phone Number. Upon
receipt of the Requested details, your first transaction will be
activated by you, before we can proceed to provide you with the Money
Transfer Control others after 24 hours of Receiving each payment.
For more information on your payment status; E-mail Mrs. Franca Lee:
wunionpayout@mail.mn OR call our 24 hours Helpline @ +601-648-453-21
or 00601-648-453-21 for any inquiries on the above message.
Yours truly,Mr. Jim BurchFor: United Nations/Western Union, Malaysia.

I have to state its not completely my fault... I just wanted to write down a few thoughts on this "virtual pilot" thing... and then I wrote two examples for the technology... and then another Fenspace writer suggested to add something.

The Geth might appear later in Candle in the Dark... not sure about it at the moment.

Yes, I admit it became a little bit longer. Have fun reading! Comments as always welcome!

#############

Virtual Pilots

»Yes, thats my new space fighter... no, it doesn't have a cockpit. Why waste space on cockpit and life support?«
- heard on Jenga in 2027

»Its a full emulation of a catgirl body... okay, with a few shortcuts to reduce the stress of the emulation. I am not sure you will even notice the difference.«
- Cortana, before the first mindstate emulation in 2026

Virtual Pilots were first introduced by Catgirl Industries in 2026. While the company relied mostly on drones of all kinds for their security, they could easily see the advantage of having a pilot for a power armor or space fighter. Unwilling to rethink their whole design philosophy or using dedicated AIs for these weapons, they began to apply a new generation of Mindtech systems on in larger numbers.

The system was originally tested in Jengas virtual cyberspace. While the technology to copy a mind had been available since 2015, it took a decade of dedicated research to learn how to interpret the data, compress it down to a manageable size and finally run it in a computer emulation. The emulation gives the catgirl mind the feeling of a full body and allows her to interact with other Fen in cyberspace or through a holographic interface.

The Virtual Pilot system is just the same technology, downsized enough to be mounted in a drone body. Drones with the Virtual Pilot system do not contain a cockpit systems or even life support. Instead of having room for a biological pilot, they have an extended internal computer system with a virtual reality core.

The catgirl pilot lies down in a cryogenic tube outside the drone and use a Mindtech helmet to upload a copy of herself to the computer system of the drone. While she is away with the drone, the biological body is kept frozen. At the end of the mission the mindstate is transferred back to the original body, which also doubles as a backup should the drone be destroyed.

The first two drone system equipped for Virtual Pilots were the Space Exocomps and the Geth series combat bots.

Space Exocomps

»Nina, please come down here... our fine bumblebees have brought something with them again, might be something from the Boskonian war!«
- Jenga 2026

Base Hull: Spherical custom built hull
Length: 1.8 m
Width: 1.2 m
Height: 1.2 m
Mass: 3.5 tons
Drive Type: Mass Effect field engine
Drive Rating: 0.14c sprint speed, 0.10c cruising speed
Registry Number CI-E, followed by a random 8 digit number
Launched: 2021
Purpose: Station defense, resource acquisition
Primary Crew: Groupmind of 6-12 Exocomp AIs
Secondary Crew: up to two Virtual Pilots (since 2026)

The Space Exocomps began as a modified version of the Veritech Companion Drone program Catgirl Industries had done together with the Roughriders in 2016. Drawing on the experience with this modular drone system the catgirls designed two kinds of drones for their Normandy class patrol ship, the Argus class recon drone and the Oculus class combat drone.

Both drones were completely remote controlled by the AI of the ship over a quantum entanglement link, without enough computer power to develop their own mind. While the original plans of the catgirls were only about using the drones combined with the ships, they quickly recognized their value as space superiority fighters and decided to deploy a couple of them on Jenga and the Little Big Bang labs.

Shortly after the Exocomp upgrade in the early 2020s, the little drones decided to do something to help their 'stupid brothers' and began secretly to modify the systems of the drones. They replaced their central components with a huge version of their own universal tool adapter, which was also capable to to be used for reconnaissance and combat. They also increased the computer capabilities of the new drones, allowing them to contain up to a dozen Exocomp intelligences.

Before the catgirls even noticed, the first members of the Hive were born.

The Hive

The Hive became Catgirl Industries name for all the Exocomps living on their stations. While the small Exocomps sometimes sometimes behave like cats, their larger Exocomps displayed a more bee-like behavior.

Most of the 'bees', or 'bumblebees' as the catgirls call them, tend to stay somewhere on or around their station, but some of them sometimes wander off to patrol the space in the neighborhood. Sometimes they even come back with some unusual material they found on their travel.

The Jenga Space Defense Corps

While the Space Exocomps proved to be skilled in deep space navigation and became fierce fighters when the station was under attack, they still lacked a good tactical sense. In 2026 the catgirls proposed an upgrade to support their bumblebees to protect their shared homes.

Since then all Space Exocomps got a Virtual Pilot module that allow them to carry one or two catgirls as tactical advisors for space combat. While control of the drone is still done by the Exocomps, this shared responsibility has proven to raise the combat capabilities of them quite a lot.

Groups of Space Exocomps can network to form 'tactical data networks' to supply the catgirls on board with all kinds of sensor information, even when being away from their home. A few of them have joined Great Justice fleet exercises from time to time.

Quirks

• Buzzing. All Space Exocomps make a noise like a large bumblebee when moving.
  
• Honey! When finding something interesting on their journeys, they tend to bring it back home. Sometimes its some rare form of asteroid ore, sometimes parts of a shipwreck.
  

• Catgirl Industries is thinking about upgrading all Space Exocomp to a new Mass Effect engine to increase their sublight speed.
  
• Traveling Fen near a Catgirl Industries installation often meet a few Space Exocomps. Sometimes they get an 'offer' for a free field repair for their ships, mostly restricted to surface damage.
  
• As with all Catgirl Industries Exocomps, their registration numbers change from time to time.
  
• As all Exocomps of 2026, Space Exocomps can reconfigure their Universal Tool Adapter to shoot ball-lightning's.
  

• No Touch. Catgirl Industries were unable to give armored body a sense of touch, except for the hands. Catgirls have complained that makes the Geth uncomfortable to inhabit.
  
• Computer Speech. Voice output sounds always like pre-wave computer creation.
  

• They destroyed the 3rd bridge! While the head contains additional sensors, the headlight and a loudspeaker, its not essential to the Geths combat capabilities.
  
• ... with the second shot. The head is very well armored.
  
• Passenger. A Geth can carry the upload of a second catgirl within its virtual reality core, but only one catgirl can access the Action mode at the same time.
  
• The 4th generation mass effect forcefield is the first of its kind that can also block energy weapons.
  

• AI Robot. Doesn't sleep, doesn't eat, doesn't age, potentially immortal.
  
• Sharpshooter. Unsurprisingly to everyone Legion has proven to be an excellent sniper.
  

• Fictional Person. Based closely on a fictional character, which allows strangers to predict his reactions with some accuracy if they've found and reviewed the source material.
  
• Quiet. Legion doesn't like talk much, at least via voice.
  

• That hole! Legion argues that the hole in his armor is not important enough to fix.
  
• What hole? EDI and Shepard persuaded him later to get a replacement armor patch with a specially waved transparent alloy over the hole.
  
• My little friends! When visiting Jenga, Legions enjoys sitting on the ground with a horde of playful Exocomps around him.