On the flipside, I'd love to see Master Chief in some sports games. Nothing would liven up a baseball game more than beaning a batter with a plasma grenade.
It's free, unless you want to make a ton of moves on a given day. I suggest joining a fast (28 hours max between moves) tournament or ladder and playing a bunch of games while studying the other resources people have mentioned here.
It might be comforting to think that ending all "nonessential" programs would go a long way toward solving all those problems, but it's highly likely they'd still be around after such exploration was dead and cold. It's fine to work on those problems concurrently, but to stop space travel until their fixed is pointless, as there will be another set of problems to deal with after that.
Insightful? More like redundant. This argument comes up everytime there's an article about space exploration. It might carry some weight except for the fact that it's just too convenient. There can ALWAYS be some problem that a segment of the population considers to be more worthwhile than human spaceflight, and there probably always will be, even as we're looking the next earth-bound comet or asteroid in the eye. Get over it already.
My friends and I actually play Dungeons & Dragons over email. The DM handles all the dice rolls and gives descriptions of events, locations, situations, etc. to the players. The players respond by letting the DM know what courses of action their chracter will try to take, perhaps adding actions for different contingencies. We're all low level right now, so combat isn't as complicated as it could be. As a result, the DM can usually run through a few rounds before having to ask the players for input.
I'm currently the DM of two games, both using the Edition 3.5 rules. One is with a bunch of college friends the other with some people I know from a bulletin board. It's better with people you know well because there's enough trust that you can write actions for each others characters. That's important because if nothing else the DM is probably going to have to steer some or all of the characters sometimes, putting words into their mouths and controlling their actions, in order to move the game along.
It does take forever, though, so much patience is in order. We've been playing for a year and we're just now at second level. The previous DM was beginning to flag, so as the new manager I'm hoping to speed things up. Just as shame I'm not as good a writer as he. On the upside, play by email gives you lots of time to plan updates, whether to a dungeon description or a chess move.
My friends and I have played other games over email, including Twilight Imperium and Illuminati. We regularly try online games (such as Euphrat & Tigris over at boardgamegeek.com) which are asynchronous (as opposed to synchronous, or real-time). Those vary in quality. One that I find consistently good is itsyourturn.com, but all the games are limited to two players.
All in all, slow games like these are perfect for me, because my friends are all in different time zones, and I rarely have huge chunks of play time anymore.
A) That doesn't matter in this case. If you can see a camera, it's safe to assume you're being recorded. Camera phones are small and unobstrusive and can easily take pictures without the subject's knowledge. If the government is using small or hidden cameras, that's a separate issue. B) Locker rooms may be public, but the people who disrobe there have a reasonable expectation that pictures of them will not be taken.
A) The goverment cameras aren't operated in a clandestine manner, whereas someone could be using a camera phone while pretending to talk on the phone. B) The government cameras don't go into private places like bathrooms and locker rooms, while the personal cameras can.
Shame on all of us really, for hunting these creatures to near extinction, like the dinosaurs.
Hey, man, it was them or us. After you lose half your family to an iguanadon or an iridescent butterfly, you'll quickly ditch your sentimental way of thinking.
Could cryogenics and this propulsion technology together land humans on other planets?
No, especially if you're aiming for extrasolar planets. Ion engines are good for a small payload that can take its time getting to where it's going. Humans (even those in some kind of imagined stasis) need something with a higher thrust to get where they're going in a reasonable time (ie, before cosmic radiation carves up their DNA, or a micrometeor holes their lifesupport system).
this method of propulsion could be ideal for travel in near-weightless space as it does not require any combustion to occur
What were you trying to say here? That combustion rockets are not a good way to travel through space? Maybe they're not the best, but it's going to be some time before anyone seriously considers getting people to the moon with ion engines.
Can we kill this stupid analogy? This lawsuit may be stupid for a lot of reasons, but the "I can make copyrighted images using such-and-such" isn't one of them.
You can see a picture of the Trojan asteroids here. Jupiter is on the left of the page and revolves counter-clockwise. The trailing Trojans at L5 are 60 degrees behind Jupiter, near the top of the picture and the leading Trojans are, of course, 60 degrees ahead, near the bottom of the page. There are also a smattering of bodies around the L3 point. The Solar-Jovian L3 is closer to Jupiter's orbit than the diagram in the parent post would indicate.
Sometimes, the L4 and L5 Lagrange points of a system are called Trojan points.
Compared to a lot of other science fiction radio programs I've heard it's well-done. Compared to Shakespeare, maybe not. Anyway, it's free and if the acting and specific dialoge isn't Oscar-level, the story is at least somewhat original and interesting.
Slashdot Mirror
On the flipside, I'd love to see Master Chief in some sports games. Nothing would liven up a baseball game more than beaning a batter with a plasma grenade.
I'm with you. It's a fine movie, with some really cool and even moving scenes.
Granted, theirs used force fields, but the characters in Dune used oil lenses in their telescopic devices.
It's free, unless you want to make a ton of moves on a given day. I suggest joining a fast (28 hours max between moves) tournament or ladder and playing a bunch of games while studying the other resources people have mentioned here.
... when I can buy a charcoal black uniform with arachnofiber weave.
Halo is a character?
Hey, can we get a spoiler warning please?
Ach, alright! Tilt one back wi' me, laddie!
It might be comforting to think that ending all "nonessential" programs would go a long way toward solving all those problems, but it's highly likely they'd still be around after such exploration was dead and cold. It's fine to work on those problems concurrently, but to stop space travel until their fixed is pointless, as there will be another set of problems to deal with after that.
Insightful? More like redundant. This argument comes up everytime there's an article about space exploration. It might carry some weight except for the fact that it's just too convenient. There can ALWAYS be some problem that a segment of the population considers to be more worthwhile than human spaceflight, and there probably always will be, even as we're looking the next earth-bound comet or asteroid in the eye. Get over it already.
My friends and I actually play Dungeons & Dragons over email. The DM handles all the dice rolls and gives descriptions of events, locations, situations, etc. to the players. The players respond by letting the DM know what courses of action their chracter will try to take, perhaps adding actions for different contingencies. We're all low level right now, so combat isn't as complicated as it could be. As a result, the DM can usually run through a few rounds before having to ask the players for input.
I'm currently the DM of two games, both using the Edition 3.5 rules. One is with a bunch of college friends the other with some people I know from a bulletin board. It's better with people you know well because there's enough trust that you can write actions for each others characters. That's important because if nothing else the DM is probably going to have to steer some or all of the characters sometimes, putting words into their mouths and controlling their actions, in order to move the game along.
It does take forever, though, so much patience is in order. We've been playing for a year and we're just now at second level. The previous DM was beginning to flag, so as the new manager I'm hoping to speed things up. Just as shame I'm not as good a writer as he. On the upside, play by email gives you lots of time to plan updates, whether to a dungeon description or a chess move.
My friends and I have played other games over email, including Twilight Imperium and Illuminati. We regularly try online games (such as Euphrat & Tigris over at boardgamegeek.com) which are asynchronous (as opposed to synchronous, or real-time). Those vary in quality. One that I find consistently good is itsyourturn.com, but all the games are limited to two players.
All in all, slow games like these are perfect for me, because my friends are all in different time zones, and I rarely have huge chunks of play time anymore.
A) That doesn't matter in this case. If you can see a camera, it's safe to assume you're being recorded. Camera phones are small and unobstrusive and can easily take pictures without the subject's knowledge. If the government is using small or hidden cameras, that's a separate issue.
B) Locker rooms may be public, but the people who disrobe there have a reasonable expectation that pictures of them will not be taken.
I'm guessing that the differences are
A) The goverment cameras aren't operated in a clandestine manner, whereas someone could be using a camera phone while pretending to talk on the phone.
B) The government cameras don't go into private places like bathrooms and locker rooms, while the personal cameras can.
Shame on all of us really, for hunting these creatures to near extinction, like the dinosaurs.
Hey, man, it was them or us. After you lose half your family to an iguanadon or an iridescent butterfly, you'll quickly ditch your sentimental way of thinking.
To paraphrase a Museum of Flight poster about the Blackbird:
At Mach 10, coffee isn't served, it's vaporized.
I hear that in this one you get to play as the guy who loads the jewels in at the top.
I'm not so sure. I think the earth's or at least the sun's escape velocity is faster than you can throw something.
Could cryogenics and this propulsion technology together land humans on other planets?
No, especially if you're aiming for extrasolar planets. Ion engines are good for a small payload that can take its time getting to where it's going. Humans (even those in some kind of imagined stasis) need something with a higher thrust to get where they're going in a reasonable time (ie, before cosmic radiation carves up their DNA, or a micrometeor holes their lifesupport system).
this method of propulsion could be ideal for travel in near-weightless space as it does not require any combustion to occur
What were you trying to say here? That combustion rockets are not a good way to travel through space? Maybe they're not the best, but it's going to be some time before anyone seriously considers getting people to the moon with ion engines.
Can we kill this stupid analogy? This lawsuit may be stupid for a lot of reasons, but the "I can make copyrighted images using such-and-such" isn't one of them.
Somehow, I'm guessing you don't really mean that.
What was November 9th, if not a release date? Perhaps they do have something done for February 9th, and they're releasing it then.
I looked on wikipedia, but was turned off because of the spartan nature of the article.
Not "spartan." "Trojan."
You can see a picture of the Trojan asteroids here. Jupiter is on the left of the page and revolves counter-clockwise. The trailing Trojans at L5 are 60 degrees behind Jupiter, near the top of the picture and the leading Trojans are, of course, 60 degrees ahead, near the bottom of the page. There are also a smattering of bodies around the L3 point. The Solar-Jovian L3 is closer to Jupiter's orbit than the diagram in the parent post would indicate.
Sometimes, the L4 and L5 Lagrange points of a system are called Trojan points.
This site mentions how the prominent asteroids at the Trojan points are named after characters from the Iliad. One group is named after Greeks, the other after Trojans. Each group also has a "spy" in its midst.
Tricky business. How do you know you're not too much of an idiot to realize how much of an idiot you are?
Compared to a lot of other science fiction radio programs I've heard it's well-done. Compared to Shakespeare, maybe not. Anyway, it's free and if the acting and specific dialoge isn't Oscar-level, the story is at least somewhat original and interesting.