Profile for Student of Trinity
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | Student of Trinity |
| Member number | 3431 |
| Title | Electric Sheep One |
| Postcount | 3335 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
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| Stuffing into Small Places? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Tuesday, November 20 2007 03:54
Profile
The famous English sense of humour is like the famous Chinese small feet. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| I'm Curious in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Monday, November 19 2007 03:22
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It was once supposed to be about packing stuff into boxes — either Christmas gifts you didn't like, or old things replaced by new gifts, or just leftovers — and giving it to charity. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| RPG Life.. in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Sunday, November 18 2007 12:56
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From what I've heard of the editor, this isn't so entirely wrongheaded. The main thing about wives, after all, is that they have minds of their own. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Call of Cthulhu in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Saturday, November 17 2007 00:03
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In his fridge in R'lyeh dead Cthulhu is going moldy. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| I'm Curious in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, November 16 2007 13:14
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For the benefit of non-Americans: the American Memorial Day is observed in May. It began as a commemoration of soldiers killed in the US Civil War. Remembrance of the dead of later wars was then incorporated. Canada, the UK, and France instead observe November 11, as the anniversary of the end of their first great modern war, World War I. Americans also mark November 11 as Veterans' Day, but it is not the main American remembrance day. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| The next level in RP, personal thoughts. in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, November 16 2007 12:09
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Student of Trinity walked into General. "I've never had time for an RP before, but someone just gave me an idea: we could roleplay ourselves, being here, in this forum!" "How would that work, SoT?" everyone asked. So he gave an example. quote:"So you see," SoT concluded happily, "petering out would be our only hope." -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| For all you physics gurus in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, November 15 2007 20:09
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quote:Right. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| For all you physics gurus in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, November 15 2007 14:23
Profile
For some reason I was thinking that the problem also stipulated an initial velocity. But yes, in general you just find the free trajectory under gravity, so a parabola, and tack your roof to it. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| For all you physics gurus in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, November 15 2007 13:34
Profile
When I first posed this particular problem, I too thought it would be some sort of variational monstrosity. But it's amusingly trivial. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| For all you physics gurus in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, November 15 2007 03:57
Profile
For bonus points, generalize to a non-spherical surface. For maximum bonus, do not assume rotational symmetry about the vertical axis. For the heck of it, find the surface that you are always about to leave but never quite do. For alternative heck, find the surface that launches you the farthest horizontal distance from the point at which you leave it, without ever taking you below ground level, and (of course) for fixed initial height. [ Thursday, November 15, 2007 04:01: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Episode 4: Spiderweb Reloaded. Something like that anyway. in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Thursday, November 15 2007 03:48
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All trowels are now unsellable. As a term of ultimate abuse, 'unsellable trowel' is now redundant. I recommend we adopt instead 'sellable trowel' as the ultimate backhanded compliment: a way of saying, "Amazingly, you are not entirely worthless." -------------------- Listen carefully because some of your options may have changed. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Choosing a side has never been so tough in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, November 14 2007 22:36
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The Trakovite ending is in some ways the most satisfying, in some ways the least. Which is as it should be. Both Rebels and Shapers could conceivably turn into good guys by reforming themselves. They do both have their good points. The question is whether the necessary reforms are really possible for them. Is it possible to be a Shaper without being a tyrant? Shaper ideology might be flexible, but Shaper technology is all about control. Is it possible for Drakons to respect humans and serviles? Drakons were created as a superior race dedicated to the endless and ruthless pursuit of further superiority. And Trakovites could conceivably acquire the power to affect the world decisively. But could they do so without corrupting themselves? In my view, the main things we still don't understand after all these games are just how hard it is to learn shaping, and just how tight is the link between shaping power and megalomania. There have been so many mad or reckless shapers in the games, but it isn't clear how well the games' sample represents either the general population or the population of trained Shapers. From this point of view, I'm slowly coming to see Chapter 3 of G4 as more than a good filler episode. The decisive issue for Rebels, Shapers and Trakovites alike is their relationship to madmen like Monarch. Can they keep future Monarchs in check, or are they themselves simply Monarchs writ large? As I've said before, I hope G5 brings some sort of adequate final treatment of these big questions. Not necessarily a resolution, but something that addresses them. Some dialog lines from Ghaldring that reveal some reflection on his race's origins and long-term goals; something from Khyrryk on the possibility of power without corruption; something from a Shaper honcho that recognizes the high incidence of corruption in Shaper ranks, and doesn't just stonewall about discipline and control. And it would be nice, in the series' last game, to make contact with the Awakened viewpoint that we all met first in Vakkiri. Not necessarily as a playable allegiance with a victory ending. But there should be some recognition of the major role the Awakened played in the first two games, and some discussion of the viability of their position. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Synergy? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, November 14 2007 12:46
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The problem isn't that he's a gun nut. He just needs a better nut gun. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Photo Thread (with an abominable twist) in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Wednesday, November 14 2007 00:32
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I knew I recognized that star-eyed picture. Comparing another member to Leopold II of Belgium is arguably enough to get anyone banned. Doing it to an admin just makes it fast. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Young Geneforgers in Geneforge Series | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Monday, November 12 2007 14:24
Profile
My daughter is now trying Geneforge, at just under age 6, with a fair amount of help from me, including reading all the text. With the game set on easy, and playing a shaper with all AI creations, it's actually quite manageable for a little kid. In a form of role playing that surprised me, my daughter and her friend decided to name several of the creations with their own names and those of family members, having named the shaper with a nickname. But there was no grief when creations died, apparently because they could so easily be recreated. I'm not sure how much of the story and sect politics is going over her head — probably most if not all of it — but my daughter says she really likes the game because she wants to learn how to make new monsters. Anyone else have experience with little kids playing Geneforge, or with playing it at a young age? -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Across the Universe? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Monday, November 12 2007 12:52
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Dark matter is not that bad. It could conceivably remain a scientific mystery, and even if it doesn't its explanation may not convince extreme skeptics on the order of anti-evolutionists. But there is a lot of data available, and limited freedom to tune theories to match it. It is perfectly possible, maybe even likely, that a convincing agreement between theory and observation will eventually nail down dark matter pretty well. [ Monday, November 12, 2007 12:53: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Revised political-geneforge sympathies poll in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Sunday, November 11 2007 22:39
Profile
I'm sure that's true, and I probably wouldn't have thought it all out like that myself if I were in his shoes, with games to put out to pay the mortgage. But that wouldn't stop me from trying to make sense of it all in the last installment, before the series was over. I hope Jeff resolves some of these issues in G5. It's a subtle thing, how seriously to take questions like this. On the one hand it's just a game, and Jeff has a living to make. On the other hand if the Geneforge world were real, and we only knew as much about it as we know from the games, we'd have no basis for conjectures like mine. One could read a fair number of pirate stories, for instance, without ever learning enough about sailing ships to appreciate why certain manoeuvres were impossible. Heck, a lot of pirate stories could be told without even mentioning that the ships needed wind to move. We have no way of knowing how many critical details there are, or even basic principles, that we don't know about the Geneforge world. Somewhere in between, though, are the reasonable expectations of a good story. A big question raised by a story should have some sort of answer within the story, and it shouldn't be a previously unmentioned mechanism introduced abruptly by the author in the last chapter — a machina ex deo. The true level of Shaper collective competence and discipline is a major issue raised by the series so far, with great importance for the main moral themes. The five-game Geneforge arc will surely be a great story even if Jeff ignores this pet point of mine. But I hope he does something with it. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Revised political-geneforge sympathies poll in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Sunday, November 11 2007 00:27
Profile
quote: -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Revised political-geneforge sympathies poll in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Sunday, November 11 2007 00:25
Profile
The atomic bomb analogy is an interesting one. The mere knowledge that it can be done, in practice as well as in theory, is the biggest advantage subsequent bomb-builders have over the Manhattan Project. And the basic theory is well known. But it's still a heck of a job to get enough nearly pure U-235, when natural uranium is mostly U-238. It requires, in fact, a small industry to separate enough of the isotopes for a bomb. That's why a lot of the efforts at preventing nuclear proliferation focus on catching people who are building lots of centrifuges. Suppressing rogue shaping, before it gets to shaping rogues, is probably a similar task. Rare ingredients and huge power sources seem to be needed by all shaping labs. There must be a way of policing this kind of construction. [ Sunday, November 11, 2007 00:27: Message edited by: Student of Trinity ] -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Naming Trakovites in Geneforge 4: Rebellion | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Sunday, November 11 2007 00:07
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According to dubious legend, 'mafia' is an acronym for some Italian slogan. Perhaps this new group could be named in a similar way, from a basic proposition like, "The rebels are kind of vicious, imitating the evil Shapers." -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Chinese Products Fail Again in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Saturday, November 10 2007 23:53
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quote:The female pastor: anchor on the relay team of evil. :rolleyes: -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| You did it for the lulz! in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Saturday, November 10 2007 14:44
Profile
This was really long ago, and I didn't take the shopping cart. But once it appeared in the student residence, I happily took part in the time-trial chariot races around the halls. Standing in the cart and shoving yourself along using the walls, with a sort of flailing breast-stroke, you could get quite a speed. With strength you could also corner really sharply. It was pretty cool, and I don't remember gouging the walls too badly. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Chinese Products Fail Again in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Saturday, November 10 2007 14:36
Profile
It's worth pointing out that in the longer term diversity is a survival asset, and that there is such a thing as overselection. Brutal survival of the fittest is not just cruel, but dumb. You end up sacrificing way too many of the currently poor genes that might save your culture when conditions change next millennium. Worse still, diminishing returns set in, and you sacrifice that future flexibility in order to get only a negligible bit of extra average height and hulkingness — or whatever other trait is the fetish of the day —in your ruling class. This goes for a lot of other selection situations, not just eugenics: hiring workers, rewarding CEOs, choosing R&D strategies, whatever. Overoptimization kills. The wisdom is to recognize when the efficiency of your selection process has hit the limit of your cost-weighted confidence that you are really selecting for the right thing. Then hedge your bets by tolerating mediocrity. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Across the Universe? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, November 9 2007 09:33
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I don't have access to Fertility and Sterility, but there can't have been too many experiments like this actually done in space. Lots of things could go wrong with one experiment. The ISS, which I presume is where this must have been done, is actually pretty bad for science, because gravity is not the only variable that gets changed when you go there. Cells are just too small, for gravity to make a gradient in anything that would be noticeable over the length of a cell. Or so it seems to me, off the cuff. I could be wrong. But I'd bet a beer. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |
| Across the Universe? in General | |
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Electric Sheep One
Member # 3431
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written Friday, November 9 2007 00:59
Profile
Again, though, Mars isn't microgravity. You can tell which way is up. Though I'm surprised, from the point of view of physics, that a blastocyst in fluid would really notice gravity at all. If there have been experiments with mice in space not growing babies, I'd strongly suspect some other explanation, involving a more general response of the mother's body to weightlessness. The gravitational orientation of the fetus itself smells like a red herring to me. A problem with pregnancy is a problem regardless, of course, however complex its cause. And if the problem isn't just about orientation, then it might conceivably (ha) persist into weak gravity as well. But we can probably hope to tweak reproductive biochemistry rather more easily than we can create artificial gravity. -------------------- We're not doing cool. We're doing pretty. Posts: 3335 | Registered: Thursday, September 4 2003 07:00 |