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13 JAN 2005
Back to school and all's well. Got quite a bit more compyart for you, as you can see up in the link list, and some photochopping as well. Another chapter in Denoument too, which I've had for a while but just haven't put up. I'll try to be more diligent on the updates and such, but we've heard all that before.
30 JAN 2005
Well, got another chapter done. I've also come up with some new WarShip designs for a friend; I'll put them up once they're finalized.
11 APR 2005
Sorry for the inexcusable delay in updating; there's just
been so much going on... and quite a bit of thought. It all started once I
started observing how the Reavers have been reacting in NationStates, and it got
me to thinking... I've imagined them incorrectly. I've always viewed them
from the outside, as a propagandist, as a pubescent lad making up bad guys, mere
foils, for his Super Space Federation. The name, the Reaver Biological
Collective, is the tagline of propagandists--like Reagan calling the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics the "Evil Empire." The flag, and the insignias,
all of them describe the Reavers accurately, but only because the term
Reaver itself is an external add-on by WZ propagandists who needed to vilify
the sudden enemy.
Also, from the same source, I've realized that the Reavers
really are two-dimensional, they're Heinlein's Pseudo-Arachnids or Babylon 5's
Shadows. At least in those examples, the Evil Alien Menace were just
motivators to action, Hitchcockian MacGuffins that weren't actually the
point of the story. No, in my middle school imaginings, the Reavers were
just bad reptilians that fell from the skies to rape and pillage and murder so
the heroic Weirdtroopers could stop them in dashing military SF style...
...but now I realize that it's different from all that.
The Reavers have their own culture, their own internal consistency that I never
let show through because I never thought too deeply on it. They flesh
themselves out, really, and it's all based on the basic concepts: that The
Ancient One birthed the species; the Ancient One does not die and rules
eternally; the basics of Reaver physiology. From that, their goals,
ideals, opinions, and tactics extend. They are militaristic, yes, but only
resort to militarism when they're assured of winning and there are very little
in the way of bad consequences. Generally, they're far more
insidious than I've been giving them credit for, and that insidiousness is the
insidiousness of the Federation rather than the wholly Machiavellian light I've
been casting the Mind Empress in...
The Reavers are, essentially, the vesh pij verr.
That is what they call themselves, "the family of us." With that mindset,
their imperialist expansion is actually a duty to their environment
because they can, with their neurotransmitter control, provide the "happiness"
that so many other cultures are looking for. The Federation expands
because it wants to bring justice and socialism and democracy to the galaxy, as
does the Zone; the rayverr are the same. They want to, quite
literally, adopt everyone into their huge family. That is
indicative of a far deeper, far broader extroverted love that I never saw before
I tried to get into their heads.
Likewise, the Zone bothers me now for several reasons.
While it's still better than the Federation, I think it needs some work,
especially in the economics department. And the name, unfortunately, has
to go... it is simply not serious enough for what I want to write. A lot
of it will look a lot like the Federated Segments, extrapolated... but I fear I
will have to rebuild it and the universe from the ground up. Some things
will stay, as I'm still attached to them; a lot will change. That will be
one and the same with the site redesign over the summer; and I may have to
pretty much restart my novel (sigh) or just start a different one.
With the Reavers and the Zone both being changed to their core, and made more
realistic, the tensions and motivations of the universe changes.
On the other hand, I've been reading around the internet
concerning spacedy wargames and whatnot... and I have ideas. Nothing for
my own accord, really, but just things I can incorporate into things like
Battlespace and Crimson Skies and whatnot. 3D == good.
07 MAY 2005
I wrote a rant concerning what assholes some science fiction
fans have become. All of you who like to read about me bitching, it's in
the update links.
Update concerning the summer once I know what
the hell is going on.
WELCOME
11 SEP 05
Four years. That's all the mention I'll make of it.
I've put up a new rant, Tim on Moral Relativism, to go with my new Rant of the Week standard. I'm thinking about the new Zone and will put fingers to keyboard on it... eventually. I promise you guys so much yet deliver so little...
Once I figure out how to do a guestbook, I'll put that on too.
NEW ORLEANS RANT UPDATE: I'm not alone in my opinion. Thanks to Karma for finding a link, and a language warning for all you little old spinster ladies whose virgin ears could bleed if you click on this link. Because we all know my site is a must-see for the old prude demographic.
19 SEP 05
Another week, another (slightly late) rant, this time concerning teachers. Don't worry, Kat or Oz, I've got no gripes with you or your kind in general, just some of the seedier examples of those who ply your trade.
Sides, Oz baked me muffins once. All English teachers are given a place in the New World Order on account... the Scientologists worry about psychologists when who they really should be worried about are the English teachers... muahahahaha.
Anyway, personal update: senior design project is aiming for the American Space Prize. We're thinking about using a Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) spaceplane using a liquid oxygen/solid paraffin hybrid engine. I did a consumable cost per flight analysis over the weekend, comparing paraffin to liquid hydrogen, and as it turns out we just saved a whole bunch of money by switching our spaceship insurance to GEICO.
Finally, will be computing more but typing fluff text less because I need to write some programs for orbital mechanics. Yay programming!
28 SEP 05
No rant this week; too busy and thoughts too scattered to come up with a good rant. Instead, go check out the latest additions in the Mecha subfolder of my Compyart gallery. I made a Bradbury-inspired Mechanical Hound which, so far, seems to meet with the approval of all the people I respect when it comes to that sort of thing.
Additionally, I'm making some mIRC of mine available for general use. This one goes in the Remote tab, and this one goes in the Alias tab. They're both automated dice rollers, and they're pretty spiffy; the first can only be called by remote users and the second can only be called by the local user, so take whichever one you'll need: the first is good for bots, the second is good for personal use.
Update on design: our rocket's shifting to hydrogen fuel; now it only weighs a touch over 200,000 lbs on takeoff instead of 1.8 million lbs. Also costs less. I've also remembered that jet engines work on the principle of adding energy through the flow and so they don't have to burn kerosene; hydrogen works just as well as jet fuel as long as the mass burn rate is reduced so we don't melt the turbine. Other than that, both the team and the teachers are happy, so it's all good.
03 OCT 05
Again, no rant--been drawing a blank. I've realized I've been running myself pretty ragged, so I'm going to bed earlier (*gasp!*) and generally being more concientious about getting sleep.
Still, special surprise for all you who actually give a damn about the stuff I write--an overview of the new Zone continuity! Still intergalactic stuff, but I've worked in a lot more room for microcosmic interest and am working out the space opera portions. I've got it all worked out in my head, even why the timescale still seems inordinately silly.
A word out to all my friends (you know who you are): If you guys and gals want a soapbox with free hosting and get a really inspired Rant, send it along and I'll put it up if I like it.
Anyway, this Centipede needs to get himself some food. Yum.
Shine on, you crazy diamonds.
11 OCT 05
People pissed me off.
Therefore, there's a rant.
Let's just say that the Greater Internet Fuckwad theory is proven true and I'm tired of both dealing with it and factoring into it.
In better news, called the Bigelow Aerospace people concerning the senior design project and got told to send in a resume the instant I graduate. Good times, that. Also, the team has ditched the HTO concept for Daedalus and the resulting VTO version has gone below 200,000 pounds on takeoff for the first time since ever. Lighter spaceshippies are better spaceshippies.
Anyway, got places to be and people to throttle. Ciao.
28 DEC 05
Yup, another long delay inbetween updates. No real worries; just have been very busy with senior design stuff. To all you wannabes who read a few Jane's books on aircraft and pretend you're aerospace engineers, I'm going to have to put up the senior design report and such to show you what real aerospace engineering... or not even real aerospace engineering, but a close learning approximation... looks like.
Anyway, I've got an idea or two for some short stories in my head and some time to flesh them out in; I've also got some more Battletech designs I'm going to have to eventually put up and I'll put some thought into the page layout so it will be more snappy. Finally, I may just put down the money to get HeavyMetal Pro just to standardize if nothing else... but that's a very big may.
So, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all those people who look at my site once in a while. I'll try to do what my internet sensei said and make sure this site keeps up on content.