• Announcements

    • Robin

      Welcome!   03/05/2016

      Welcome, everyone, to the new 910CMX Community Forums. I'm still working on getting them running, so things may change.  If you're a 910 Comic creator and need your forum recreated, let me know and I'll get on it right away.  I'll do my best to make this new place as fun as the last one!

Zorua

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content count

    464

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    8

Posts posted by Zorua

  3. Posted

    "I before E, except after C" ...unless you're planning a feisty heist on your weird beige foreign neighbor. 

    Also, 'read' and 'lead' rhyme, and so do 'read' and 'lead'. But 'read' doesn't rhyme with 'lead', nor does 'read' with 'lead'.

    And "Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a valid sentence. And don't even get me started on the entirely valid (if wordy) sentence that contains the word 'and' about twenty-three consecutive times. 

    English is weird. 

  7. Posted

    I got a comment on my Powers story. Man, is it a wall of text. Very few capitals, next to no punctuation, and no paragraph breaks. 

    I still read it through, parsing it in Notepad and doing some touch-ups. I wanted to reply and not look like the Wall of Poorly-Punctuated Text scared me off. 

  8. Posted

    2 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

    Um, that makes no sense to me.  Whatever velocity you are trying to reach, it costs more to reach it if you are fighting both inertia and gravity than if you are fighting inertia alone.  You can figure out what direction you need to be pointed in, and arrange the gravity blockers and your thrust to best achieve it.

    Treat it as if you're already in space, and you know that at a certain point, a rocket is going to turn on pointing a certain direction, with a certain amount of thrust, and figure out what you need to do to accomodate and/or counteract that.  But you're not comparing that situation to not having to fight that rocket at all -- you're comparing to having it running, working against you, the whole trip!

    Picture a rocket launch from the surface of a planet, but with a separate rocket engine glued to the top of the rocket, pointing straight up.  There's some mechanism which will always keep it pointing straight up.  Will it take just as much fuel to reach orbit with that engine firing as it would without?  Launching with gravity in effect is the same as having that engine constantly firing downward.  Launching without gravity is turning that engine off.

    Yes, you still have to figure out how to get to orbital velocity, but that's just a matter of figuring out what direction and rate to fire engines to achieve it.  Orbit is basically just constantly falling at an angle that matches the curve of the orbit.  As was pointed out, it should be possible to overshoot the target height while gravity is blocked, then make use of gravity to gain acceleration to help achieve orbital velocity while burning even less fuel.

    I know how orbit works. Thing I was saying is if the line blockers are ground-based (and how big they are may enforce that), and they have a maximum effective range, gravity will kick in once the rocket leaves that range. Like in your example, getting to 30,000 feet and then firing that downwards rocket. 

    Which might not be a factor for different reasons entirely...

     

    6 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

    A valid point. So, firing at 30,000 feet would be a waste of everything, really.

    How about this: ignite the rocket at ground level and hold it, like with the Saturn V's hold-down clamps. Release it once it's built up X amount of thrust, and simultaneously block the gravity lines, allowing it to ascend without gravity holding it down. Let it go up Y number of feet, gradually letting gravity lines reattach during ascent, and have it pitch over to gain angular momentum once all the lines are unblocked. Would that work?

    Holding it in place until it built up enough thrust sounds like flooring it in a car with the back wheels suspended in the air. The Mythbusters tested that one (the "hit the ground running" idiom), and it didn't work.

    I think only a few seconds of restraint is enough to get the engines flooring it before releasing the clamps. Not too significant a difference. 

    The thing is, if you have the tech to turn gravity off, why bother with conventional fuel? You are not limited by weight here. Therefore the size of the craft and how much fuel it can carry is irrelevant. No matter how large a line blocker is, and how big the ship would have to be to carry one, it can weigh pretty much nothing. 

    And the line blockers affect all four fundamental forces, giving you inexhaustible resources (strong nuclear force) to build with (think the replicators from Star Trek, and inexhaustible energy (weak nuclear force, electromagnetic) to power it all. 

    At that point, I think cost is irrelevant once you have the first few blockers built. Just 3D print the whole rest of the thing, turn gravity off, 3D print some plasma in controlled directions, and you'll be in space in no time, and then you can worry about orbit at your leisure (it's not like you're gonna fall back down if you take too long, right?). The only cost is paying people at that point. 

    Now, if this novel is set early enough to where they haven't figured that out yet, all this about cost and fuel and momentum is still valid. 

  9. Posted

    In trying to look at cost and such, we're overlooking one crucial detail: acceleration. When you launch a rocket from the ground and get it to, say, 30,000 feet, it spends all that time burning the engines and accelerating. So when it's at 30,000 feet it's already going at a significant velocity and has significant horizontal thrust already, giving a good start to a stable orbit. If you started at 30,000 feet, though, it's velocity at 30,000 feet is: 0. Meaning it has to make up for lost time by burning the engines, getting the rocket up to the velocity and acceleration it should already be at that altitude, and then trying to get to orbital velocity. So you're going to need the same amount of fuel just to get it to the right velocity, in addition to the line blockers.

    But since the line blockers are out of range at this point, they can't keep gravity from affecting the rocket. This adds the wrinkle of a deadline to the launch: the rocket has to reach sufficient velocity to stay in orbit before the gravity of Earth causes the rocket to crash. And since the rocket lacks that initial thrust that in ground-based launch would have given it, and since it lacks a stable platform to start from zero at, this basically means that as soon as the engines ignite, the rocket is going to start falling, giving a bit more work for the engines to do before the rocket gets to orbital velocity and altitudes.

    Now, whether or not the fuel consumed in overcoming the downloads acceleration is balanced by the fuel saved by starting in the thinner atmosphere is a topic for people for people who are way better at math than I am.

    Having a line blocker on the ship might lessen the worries about falling, but the fuel is still needed to reach orbital velocity, so depending on how big the blockers are, that might not be feasible (too large,  and we're gonna need a bigger fuel tank).

    And we'll I can't calculate the thrust versus atmospheric friction issue, I can calculate this much: we have to spend the same amount of money on the fuel, in addition to the cost of the line blockers.

    It would not be cheaper.

     

  10. Posted

    Here's four pieces of music that make me cry for one reason or another:

    1) Emotion (Pokemon Black and White, 2010)

    2) Forbidden Friendship (How to Train You Dragon, 2010)

    3) Married Life (Up, 2009)

    4) Requiem for the Brigadier General (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, 2009)

  11. Posted

    That reminds me of one of the Achievement Hunter's Let's Plays. They were playing Quiplash, where you have to answer questions they give you and hope it's funnier than the other guy's answer. 

    One question they got was "What is the most annoying way to spell Mississippi?"

    One of them (I think Ryan) answered "Correctly".

    (the answer Jeremy gave won't get past the site's censors. suffice to say, it involves seeing people next Tuesday)

    Me, I don't know if it's funnier to interpret that as spelling Mississippi correctly, or spelling Mississippi C-O-R-R-E-C-T-L-Y. 

  12. Posted

    6 hours ago, mlooney said:

    I'm not sure which is worse, getting a bruise on my leg that I have know freaking idea where it came from, or whacking your knee hard enough that it's raised a bump and I know is going to make a massive bruise "real soon now"

     

    4 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

    I'd give the edge to the whacked knee in the pain expectation department.

    Agreed. I don't call shins and toes "natural furniture detectors" for nothing. 

  13. Posted

    So far the job is okay. Started off small. Still learning stuff. Not nearly as bad as I'd feared, once I got some sleep and thought for a bit. I mean, ultimately my job will be posting pictures and words online, which I do here for fun anyway over on the strip slay thread. I guess it was just the suddenness, getting the offer suddenly instead of planning for it. 

    Sleep is the next annoying thing,  though. I'm not used to having deadlines on when I NEED to be awake, so not getting to sleep easily is kind of problematic. I partly blame my phone.

    Maybe this goes in the "medication" thread 'cause it's medical-related, but anyone got advice on going to sleep easier? Besides melatonin supplements and putting the phone away. 

    ProfessorTomoe reacted to this

  14. Posted

    You know what I hate?

     

    Being told that I have to go to said dress shop for something about computers--not really a big deal, as I'd gone there to fix lightbulbs with my grandpa before--only to get a job offer for "Web Manager", "Social Media Manager", and if I'm interpreting her long-term goals correctly, "ASSISTANT Manager."

    That punched-in-the-gut feeling that I'm way in over my head.

    Accepting because I need the push--I sure as f[tweet] wasn't getting a job by my own efforts--despite knowing I'm probably not cut out for it.

    Not getting to eat lunch before said bombshell.

    A WiFi signal that makes it take ten minutes to load one page.

    A damaged laptop that makes it a risk to take the computer closer to the router, a lot of effort for just one page. And for some reason, the power cord is becoming finicky. If I unplug it to get closer, it'll take more effort to get it to recognize that it's plugged in. Too much effort to post two f[tweet]ing forum posts. (you know what? I'm doing it. I'm mad. F[tweet] it. I'm not even gonna edit this anymore. I'm done for today.)

    A forum post  that's pre-typed up and ready to go, but again, the page I want to post it on won't load.

    It's a big post. It would be even more annoying if I tried to put it through on my phone.

    Having something I want to put up now (i.e. said forum post), except I'm being called away to go shopping for groceries, forcing me to wait for an extra three f[tweet]ing hours.

    Being told that I'm going to help them with grocery shopping, only to find out that we're mainly there for new khaki pants for me.

    Being called over to do X only for them to want me to do Y. STOP F[TWEET]ING LYING!

    I got up at midnight because of my erratic sleep schedule. I am TIRED. I am HUNGRY. I just got a MAJOR kick in the pants to do something I do NOT think I'm ready for. I am ready for today to be over and I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT CALLING UBER TOMORROW WHA... (okay, "boss" called and said if Uber doesn't show up, I will be forgiven if I show up an hour later than we agreed. Gives time for a guaranteed ride instead of a possible one)

     

    Oh, and I just learned we've been evicted. THANKS A LOT, NAN, YOU F[TWEET]ING A[TWEET]HOLE! Now we have to go house-hunting and actually put money down.

     

    Can...can I wake up tomorrow and this be a dream? I need the kick in the pants, I really do, but this has been a very stressful day and I'm ready for it to be over.

     

    [edit] Aaaaaaaaaand the cord isn't charging. Yep. Damaged to where I have to finagle it to get it in the right position so it will want to charge and it doesn't want to stay in that position. And it's the cord, not the charger connector port.

    Oh this has been a WONDERFUL day. 

  15. Posted

    (pre-typed three hours ago. I have since moved on to "annoyed")

     

    A friend of the family runs a bridal shop nearby. Mom and my grandma used to work there, and the owner is a friend of the family as a result. She's setting things in motion to expand her business to a global market, having just recently set up the online store. And she needed someone reliable and with ambition to run it. And she thought of me. So she called me in and asked me.

     

    And I hemmed and hawwed about it. I know my own faults all too well. I know I have motivation issues. I know I have self-confidence issues. I know I have issues with talking to strangers over the phone. I know I'm not good with talking to people I don't know in general. I also know I'm painfully used to not having to do much; I've been out of school since 2012, so suddenly being asked to run the online store is a big deal.

     

    But I ultimately decided, 'It's worth a shot.' I decided this might be the thing that helps me out of my issues. So I said yes. I go in for training tomorrow, I'll start with simple jobs of putting pictures and descriptions on the website and Facebook and stuff for the prom rush, and I'll work up from there.

     

     

     

     

     

    ...Oh God, I don't think I can do this. It's like learning how to swim by being thrown in the deep end. Of the ocean. I'm nervous as f[TWEET]! I just know I'm gonna mess up. I don't wanna let her down; she has more faith in me than I do in myself, and I'm afraid I'm gonna let her down. That I'm not...not good enough. Not for this.

     

    Mom just gave me a little pep talk. I don't know if it helped. God, I don't know if I can do this.

     

     

    (three hours later, in the present)

     

    And now I just learned we've been evicted. THANKS A LOT, NAN, YOU F[TWEET]ING A[TWEET]HOLE. Some family YOU are!

  17. Posted

    Debating whether or not to call the power company to report a blackout.

    On the one hand, it's a block-wide outage.

    On the other hand, it's one-thirty in the morning. Nobody's at work, and I doubt their robots will be any help. 

    ...

    I'm gonna call 'em. It's a block-wide black-out and I can at least leave a message. 

    At least the stuff in the fridge won't freeze...

     

    [Edit] Never mind. The robot told me to call the service provider.  Which is closed because it's one-thirty in the morning. This isn't something the robots can handle.  Guess it's waiting 'til morning,  then.

     

    [Edit 2] Double never mind.  Power's back. 

  19. Posted

    First Kenny Baker and now her. It's happening, guys. The original cast is starting to go.

    1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

    Is it bad that I am now wondering whether they'd finished filming whatever scenes they needed her for in the current trilogy?

    That was one of my first thoughts too.

  20. Posted

    9 hours ago, Red Regent said:

    There's a bit of irony to Christmas today; a lot of people have been saying that this year's Christmas season feels "the least Christmas-y ever", and yet this is the year with the most heartfelt greetings and well-wishes of all the ones I've experienced.


    Goes to show you the holiday isn't bound to the day or the reason of celebration but to the people that want to celebrate it.

    Once again, Merry Christmas to all stations. :)

    And the Grinch, with his grinch feet ice-cold in the snow,
    Stood puzzling and puzzling. "How could it be so?

    It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
    It came without packages, boxes, or bags!"

    He puzzled and puzzed till his puzzler was sore.
    Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

    Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
    Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more!

    The Old Hack and HarJIT reacted to this

  22. Posted

    Panel-By-Panel Review! ...mostly because my slow Internet means I'm only staring at the first three panels right now and the rest of the page hasn't loaded. So, let's see how things go.

    (pre-typed yesterday in MS OneNote; the only edit since copy/pasting it here was this sentence)

     

    Panel 1: beat

     

    Panel 2: Sounds promising...

     

    Panel 3: O.O Never mind. ...and the worst thing is, I agree with her.

    Also, the back to the camera pose. Hiding the transition of her facial expression, but there's just enough body language to show how tense she is.

     

    Panel 4: "No one is obligated-" Page needs to load more. *clicks refresh*

    Also there's stress lines.

    *picture turns into the "image not loaded" icon*

    *commentary is suddenly a lot closer to the top of the page*

     

    Commentary: "Eh, ain't I a stink-" LA LA LA NOT FINISHING READING IT UNTIL THE PAGE LOADS PROPERLY MOVING ON

     

    Panel 4: "...genetics alone" FINISH LOADING ALREADY!

     

    Panel 4: COME ON, PAGE! UGH!

     

    There we go.

     

    ...Wow, she is pissed.

     

    Panel 5: And they are stunned. Unsurprisingly.

     

    Basically this whole conversation is "Hey, there's someone you've never met who looks just like you and is probably your sister. You should totally be buddies." "But that means Dad cheated or Mom lied...or both." "But buuuuddieeees!" "NO!"

     

    Susan: "The only family I care about is my mother."

     

    Panel 6: ...GODDAMMIT INTERNET LET ME LOOK AT THE LAST FRIKKIN' PANEL! I saw the word "Then" in a bigger font and italicized. That's not good.

     

    Show of hands: how strained is their friendship going to be after this? ...wait. I mean how many thinks they're not gonna be on speaking terms for a bit? Or something. I dunno. Brain, cooperate here.

    Brain: *shrug*

    Oh you're no help.

     

    Panel 6: *le page didn't load and went to the "image not found" thing*

    *sigh*

    *refresh*

     

    And while we wait for that, let's hear a word from our sponsor. Jim?

     

    Jim: "Potatoes. Potatoes. Potatoes. Potatoes. Everybody eats potatoes."

     

    ...I need to fire my marketing guy.

     

    FINISH LOADING ALREADY!

     

    Show of hands: how many of you find this post hilarious? I'm not editing this (except maybe spelling); these are my reactions and spur-of-the-moment thoughts. Including the absurd. My mind is weird.

     

    Panel 6: "Anyway, I'll meet Diane." ...WELL THAT WAS A TWIST. I'm agreeing with the meddlers here. That was unexpected.

     

    Panel 7: ...oookay.

    ...hmm... She feels strongly about what she said. What did she say?

    "I am certain Diane would agree with me...when I say there is more to family than blood! NO ONE IS OBLIGATED TO ANOTHER BY GENETICS ALONE!"

    Idea. Does she want Diane to drop it? Does she want Diane to stop thinking of this as important since she's not "family"? Susan and Diane weren't raised together, and Susan's words imply that means she doesn't consider her family.

    Or is it something else? 'Obligated'. Is the vampire deal something to do with it? (wow, grammar).

    Or is... Wait, maybe she's going to meet Diane because...of her father? She's not obligated to him either. Not obligated to trust him (or past-him) implicitly, and is going to look into things personally.

    Or, again, does she just wanna yell at Diane? Susan once saw her reflection as that of the Other Woman. Diane has the same face and the right hair color. But then that would be yelling at someone for something that isn't their fault...but Susan's also a teenager, and this is a sensitive and personal matter, so she might not think clearly on that matter.

     

    Wait, I need to read the commentary.

     

    Commentary: ...alright. Sure. I don't really have much to react to here.

     

    Anyway, back to the analysis.

     

    ...actually I'm out of speculations :demonicduck:

    Ser Pentrose and The Old Hack reacted to this

  24. Posted

    In the Pacific Northwest, there's a local food called the Maple Bar. It's a bar donut with maple glaze on top. I prefer them without any kind of filling; they taste better that way, if you ask me.

    Virtually unknown outside the west coast. Which is a shame because they're so good.

    So, imagine how happy I am to know a place that sells them. Yay!