If you use Eudora for your email, you are likely aware of the problem of using the websearch function therein which results in an error message announcing the
failure to reach jump.eudora.com.

I have found a simple solution to this problem:

In your hosts file add the following line anywhere within it:

google.com jump.eudora.com

This will automatically redirect the search directly to google, -without- any attempt to actually reach jump.eudora.com.

Took too much money out of my account yesterday, and as such my subscription just got canceled. So, uh... You guys won't see me in Paragon until Wednesday

Wave Shots: Take your standard Jello Shot, Add 1 Microchip, and 1 gram of Handwavium. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Note: a Fen can either retrieve the Microchip
for later use, or consume said chip with the Shot. (Not recommended for Nonbiomodded Fen.)

Shotwaving: The process of Handwaving large quantities of identical items.

I just happened to be perusing Google for some info about the flags that have flown over Texas. I wanted to find something to use as a war banner for the
Roughriders. Well, I found one alright, and the Gunner's Mate in me approves heartily.

Behold, the Gonzales Banner of 1835.

The story goes that during the Texas Revolution, the Texans took back the town of Gonzales with ease. The Mexicans had to pull out so quickly that they left a
cannon behind. So, they asked for it back. Being Texans, they sent that banner up in response.

While the Republic of Texas flag would be flown as the traditional ensign of the Roughriders, they'll use the Gonzales Banner when flying into battle. It
sends a pretty clear message, I think: "You want a piece of this? Come and get it then!" *wicked grin*

What is an enemy? What is a friend? Is it a distinction made by rules and laws? Do the rulers and officers and commanders
determine for us who we are allowed to trust? Is it only once they cross to our side of the line that they are allowed to be seen as people worthy of trust,
camradrie, or love? Or is it that connection, that looking at them in the eye and knowing a sense of mutual respect, that you would rather talk with, fight
with, live with this person than a total stranger, that defines what it means to truly say you know them? We learned that men cannot be judged by the color of
their skin, but by the strength of their character. Is this only applicable if the man in question is human? Or are these Traditionalists, Rikti though they
may be, the first chance to look beyond the inhuman features of a faceless enemy and find a person that may become a friend?

- Incandescent, head of the Vanguard Herald Division, addressing the UN Oversight Committee regarding opening peace talks
with the Rikti Traditionalist Faction.

Riot Force Reports:

The Ties That Bind

Prologue

The conference room was in utter uproar, as the most influential men and women in Vanguard abruptly had to deal with an event that had been thought utterly preposterous only hours before.

"We need to start screening all registered heroes currently working for us," Borea said. "There has to be some sort of way we can determine if there are any more. We have to contain this breach now."

"What about the infiltrator? If she got as deep in as
she did, we don't know what's jeopardized," Gaussian said. "The Rikti could know anything. Our access codes, our transmission frequencies.
We need to rotate every classified frequency and procedure she had access to."

"Do we really know if she's jeopardized
anything?" Serpent Drummer said, frowning from his position. "She turned herself in, and from what she told us, she was infiltrating us to get
information on Hro'Dtohz. If anything, that makes her almost as much of an ally as the Traditionalists. She even sees the war as pointless in the face of
this intelligence."

"In the face of intelligence on Nemesis, which seems
to indicate he incited the Rikti War. While I agree it's proven, how do we know this isn't an elaborate plot by Nemesis with the assistance of the
Restructurists? He's tried replacing their leaders before. What if he's succeeded this time?" Levantera scowled. "We don't know that
she's telling the truth. All we do know is that she's not in telepathic contact with the rest of the Rikti, from what the Psi Division is
saying."

"We need more information. If we could interrogate
her…." Gaussian began, before a cool voice cut him off.

"No," the Dark Watcher said quietly, managing to
still the chaos despite barely being audible. "We're not touching her."

"Why not?" Gaussian frowned. "Don't give
me any of your usual mysterious bullshit, Watcher. This is a serious matter of security! We've had a Rikti in our ranks for almost a month, with full
access to our facilities, and we didn't even know it!"

"No, you didn't know it,"
the Watcher said. "I've been observing Miss W'tin for some time, waiting for the moment to intervene to prevent this from going bad for all
concerned. Us, the Rikti, and especially the young archer."

"With all due respect, Watcher, you've known about
a catastrophic breach of security for months and kept quiet without consulting anyone here?" Levantera said, a touch of shock creeping into her
voice.

"No. I explained my case to the Lady Grey, and she
agreed with my reasoning. Now, you all need to calm down. We can question her, yes, but there will be no interrogation. I also need to prepare some
eventualities in case events get out of hand. And I imagine you'll want to rotate those frequencies anyway, Gaussian, so I'll leave that to you.
Serpent Drummer, get this information to our Traditionalist allies. I'd suggest bringing along some people to help calm them down, for obvious reasons.
We're going to have to handle this very carefully if we don't want it to turn into a disaster, so everyone on your toes. Get going." With that,
the Dark Watcher opened a portal to his side, stepping through it to an unknown location, leaving the remaining members of the upper ranks of Vanguard
staring after him before grudgingly going to their tasks.

***

The Watcher stepped into a classically decorated office,
stepping up behind a large armchair sitting in front of a small fireplace.

"You are sure about this?" the Lady Grey asked
simply.

The Watcher nodded. "I think she's the break
we've been waiting for. A Restructurist who isn't fanatically devoted to Hro'Dtohz. If she comes around…it's a step towards ending this war,
once and for all."

"You speak of objectives, but that is not why you
argued this case so strongly to us before," she pointed out.

The Watcher smiled ever so slightly. "No, it
wasn't. There's more to this than war and politics. What happens next….well, things will get ugly. But I'm going to do my damnedest to give those
two kids a chance to figure this out on their own. If it helps save the world….that's a bonus."

"You're sentimental behind your detachment as
always, Devon. But we agree with your decision. Carry it out, and be careful. We would prefer not to see unwarranted damage befall anyone in this
pursuit."

"As you say, Lady Grey," he said respectfully,
before vanishing into the shadows again.
---
"Oh, silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond. Heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way. Lay
waste."

Fen refer to the events jokingly as Operations Digital Sheild and Digital Storm.

In the early days of Fenspace, a group of scriptkiddies decided to have a contest to see who could be the first to 'hack' Fenspace. Unfortunately for
them, they thought the rumored Fen AIs were no better than the stuff being developed on Earth. The first few days (Digital Sheild) consisted of the Fen AIs
stonewalling all hacking attempts while subtly tracing the sources. As more and more hackers joined the 'contest' to show off their 'leet
skillz', the AIs kept adding to their target list and cooking up surprises. Finally the decided to go on the offensive (Digital Storm). This was a much
quicker 'operation'. In a few short hours each of the hackers were given a lesson on cybercombat.

Of course, the anti-wave crowd immediately jumped on this 'unprovoked attack on today's youth' as yet another example of the evils of handwavium.
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

"I'm a little confused on this whole good/bad thing, Egon."

"Imagine every particle in your body spontaneously exploding outward at the speed of light."

"Okay, that would be bad."

So.

Good news: I'm taking a week's vacation in sunny Florida. My parents bought a condo in Venice, FL, and I'll be enjoying their hospitality on the
beach.

Yes, I do mean ON the beach.

Bad news: The laptop I'm taking with me can't run CoX, so, no ninja for a week.

Good news: My job is secure despite the fact that we're losing the account I have been servicing since starting there.

Bad news: they're restricting internet access. Severely. To the point where I may not be able to get, well, anywhere, including my email, from the office.

Meh.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

The "old-timers" around here no doubt remember the New Year's Challenge stories I post every first-week-of-the-year, and the more recent omake that have started to show up around this time of year. Well, this year's omake challenge http://groups.google.ca/group/rec.arts. ... 597f64da13]has been posted, but I'm not quite sure what to do with it...

Quote:Okay, basic 3 anime character teams allowed, standard character rules apply here (i.e. NO BANNED CHARACTERS!)

During some experiments with the master device, I summoned Mirror-Lina and Mirror-Naga and the mirror itself as a third character/item in an attempt to see if summoning items would take up a slot for the upcoming New Year's Challenge. It did, which prevented me from summoning of the random civilians from that particular OAV story. My one regret is that I didn't unsummon the item and put my device in lockdown mode. After I left and went clothes shopping with the two ladies to find them outfits they felt comfortable in, my Challenge Lab video recorded a visitor, one who stepped out of a grandfather clock that appeared in my lab all of the sudden. The audio recorders picked up the following:

"Oh my, the havoc I could wreak with this device. Finally, I could once-and-for-all end that pitiful rival of mine, The Doctor... wait, no, that would only birth The Valeyard, I bet. Something more sinister, more devious, more... masterful... heh-heh. But first, a distraction for this poor fellow should he return too early..."

Upon my return after the shopping trip and dinner (the mirror ladies had the appetite of the regulars, so I was gone a while), I saw what had happened, and immediately unsummoned the mirror wherever it was, however I had not stopped the devious Gallifreyan from causing some chaos. Just like in the OAV, getting rid of the mirror did not get rid of the mirrored people. This time, The Master has let loose 3 individuals in your city, mirror-Chuck Norris, mirror-Bruce Lee, and mirror Mahatma Gandhi. You and your team are to deal with the mirror rampagers, my hands are full with Mirror-Lina and Mirror-Naga.

Deadline will be the end of November when I post the NYC official entry info.

Just a little idea I've had kicking around the back of my brain for the last few weeks. It's not really complete, but there's enough here to get
the idea across.

(reprinted from my blog)

Oh ye who love the rock, I beseech you...

...explain to me the need for concerts to be played so damn LOUD?

So, last night A* and I went to the local Uni's bar, where they had David Usher playing, with Crash Parallel covering.

Note: Tickets said 8PM on them. Apparently, that was the 'doors open' time, as the bloody show didn't start for an HOUR AND A HALF. *$(*@#&!!

The Crash Parallel lead singer was getting off a cold, so his voice was off. They were still good enough that I picked up their CD from the swag dude, anyway.
But to make up for the fact that his voice was off, the bloody sound guy turned up the effects and volume. And then didn't turn them down for David Usher.

I don't get it. I enjoy *music*. I like hearing it, being able to appreciate the guitar, the base, the drums, the accompanyment, and the singer. I do not
enjoy having to plug my ears to drown out a substantial amount of the meaningless, ear splitting, discordant NOISE being pumped out of the speakers because of
the insistance that I not only must hear the music, I must feel it in my cellular structure.

I wish someone would explain it to me. What's the point of having it that loud?

I swear to Fnord, next concert, I'm going to steal some of those yellow foam earplugs from work and wear them. I'll have a better time.