So, I'm doing the Academy Event (farming dilithium) on the KDF side. And I have a general observation. 

I think there's something up with tailors in the Trek verse. 

Remember Garak from DS9? How much of a sneaky, charming, back-stabbing bad-ass he was? 

Well, I just watched a Klingon TAILOR pull out pistols (and/or a Batleth) and gun/slice down the Holo-Feddie I'm fighting (several times) ^^;;

Klingon tailors are like Riddick. "I'll kill you with my teacup."

No matter how polite they might be, don't get the idea you can fuck with them. Just. Don't. Seriously. 

That is all.

Well it is. After receiving recommendations that I should be using a 64-bit version of my current OS, amongst other things like have more ram and getting increasingly tired of an intermittent boot issue and a dead SATA port. I went the overkill approach, acquired an OEM Win 7 pro SP1 64-bit key + disk and after browsing an at hand PC mag their recommendation for a CPU & motherboard from The Beastie selection (aka you really want to spend enough dosh for a car on a computer?) and finally installed the larger WD 'Raptor I'd had handy.

Problem 1: things are broken. Blizzard's games work, Steam stuff works, Origin....works. My SSD like boot+data drive setup is partally functional, IE was back, then it broke. My email app isn't working, in fact any local application that uses Windows Live is dead to me. Uncompressing files come out empty. Windows Media Center's dead too, but that's probably down to the fact the TV tuner I've got has some dodgy drivers which won't work with 64-bit, plus it's got some suspiciously bulging capacitors.
Problem 2: I can't re-do the windows install as my keyboard doesn't get detected for some reason
Problem 3: I've still not tracked down all my install disks - not an issue for anything cloud-esc (re: Origin, Stream) just means I'm without office on this system till I find them.
Problem 4: I need a IDE channel, so I can use the RPC-1 DVD-Rom drive, I think I've got an IDE controller in my parts pile, see end of previous sentence.

I'm beginning to think step one should've been do a complete backup & restore to a fresh 64-bit install, which I sort of did with creating a backup on my WHS device and a interim WFST. I just can't get the Windows Home Server to talk to this system and the Windows File & Settings Transfer tool did a half hearted job.

At least I've improved my "Windows Experience Index" or I would have if I'd installed a true SSD or a readyboost device. I'll 3dmark it at some point, should stomp over what'd got previously.

--Rod.H

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/ ... ngton.html
I'm scratching my head on this one. Maybe he doesn't like "Austin City Limits"?
__________________
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 have managed to put together what I think has become my personal favorite jet design. A surprisingly nimble, yet rock stable number I call the Draken. The name was inspired by the Saab Draken because of the double-delta wing shape. (Though this is a twin engine, twin tail jet. So it's kind of like an F-15 Eagle and a Draken combined.)
She's a beauty isn't she? 



Comes standard with Mech-Jeb for auto-piloting (though the plane is super stable even without it. It's just for really long trips). Also has an eject-able cockpit pod with parachutes in case of unrecoverable emergencies. Fly safe!

The only slight problem with the design is that the landing gear makes the Draken sit a bit low in the back. This is not a problem on take-off, and in fact makes take-off a breeze. 

The problem is landing - doing so without dragging the tail into the ground and destroying the jet nozzles in the back was so tricky that I decided to put an extra gear wheel on the tail. It's only needed on landing. On take-off, I stow it before going down the runway so that the Draken is using standard tricycle gear formation. 





The extra air intakes allow superb power to lift ratio - 





They also ram so much air down that I can "air hog" across the very top of the atmosphere. I've recorded a maximum speed of 1573 Meters per second! If I'm not careful, the jet will reach sub-orbital and go right out of the atmosphere!











I did mention that she's nimble, too? How nimble? 

THIS nimble! 

"It's time to buzz the tower, Goose!"











YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAA!!!!!













All in all I'm quite pleased with this. I've designed other planes before, but never quite hit such a "sweet spot" as this one. ^_^

So, yeah, I'm doing a Let's Play.


I've already got a thread at rpg.net, but since this is my main home online, I thought I'd like to bring it up here, and Bob said it was fine.

The actual updates are posted on my livejournal, with a table of contents being here. What I've done so far covers a bit over the first third of the game.

Questions, comments, and opinions as to whether that thing I did in Update 4 was at all comprehensible are not only welcomed, but actively desired.

-Morgan.

Actor Richard Griffiths, best known to American audiences as Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter movies, has passed away due to complications after heart surgery.  Folks in the UK will also know him as the star of the dective show Pie in the Sky and Uncle Monty in Withnail and I.   BBC obit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21973505]here.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Seeking some input here. I've spent my two hours of creative this night troubleshooting why I could no longer use the Poser Pro 2012 Library palette. It appears to come down to Avast's file scan shield not allowing Poser's AIR extension to work correctly. It's not "window blank", it's "the applet crashes, just crashes". I turn off the file scanner or fiddle with the settings, it's fine, turn on scanner, reboot Poser, not working again until I fiddle some more.
This has already progressed into a dealbreaker for me in terms of Avast. Poser Pro's library was working fine until the last Avast update, and as noted, I've lost an entire evening I planned on doing something with Poser instead fighting for reasons why it wouldn't work. And yes, I updated Flash and AIR to no effect.
My two big requirements is that 1) the software be free and 2) it not get in the way of an evening of creation.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

I was poking around on the HP wiki, and I discovered something rather interesting.  Apparently a few years back, Rowling put a quiz up on her website that existed 'in-universe' as an exam given by the Ministry as a sort of basic aptitude test, that anyone could take. 
There's some interesting little bits of worldbuilding hidden in there, like the defeat of an attempt to outlaw 'House-Elf Slavery' in 1973, and all sorts of commonly believed 'facts', only some of which are true.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/cr ... 18499.html

California Creationist Joseph Mastropaolo has put up a $10,000 bond as the prize for anyone willing to take him on and argue, before a judge, that the Book of Genesis is not literal truth. If they can prove it to the judge's satisfaction they'll walk home with the money.

RevDark, California is Calling You.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

I just found out that earlier this month NASA hosted a game jam, basically invited a bunch of indie game developers to come and make games following the theme of space exploration.
This article does a good job of hitting the highlights, and describing some of the games that were made over the course of that weekend.  Some of those look really neat.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.