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Myrmidont's Blog

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Brushing some things up and scattering Fusion Bugs around. Really, I love 'em. Cute little things. Might get some Spiren with coilguns going soon - who doesn't love a hyperdexterous cyborg monkey with a huge gun?

(QKE474)

Entry 9/11/2010

Notes on FTL drives

Note: Most forms of Faster Than Light travel can be used as a form of 'time machine', and violate causality. Any ship which violates causality would thus subject its crew to the Chronology Protection Conjecture or Novikov self-consistency principle, whichever happens to be real. Drives which violate causality are marked as "CVC".

Casimir Vacuum Drive
Using the Scharnhorst Effect, the 'vacuum state energy' of the space surrounding the ship is lowered dramatically, causing the speed of light to increase around the ship.
Pro's: If you can use this vacuum state energy, you can tap it as a power source: no need for fuel or dangerous reactors. Does not violate causality.
Con's: You can still hit things like interstellar dust and asteroids (not to mention big things like planets and suns). Under certain conditions, CVC.

Wormhole drive
Creates a wormhole and a 'tunnel' of space-time between two points that is shorter than the 'real' distance between the two.
Pro's: Could be made into a time machine. Other ships could use the wormhole, even if they themselves don't have a wormhole drive.
Con's: CVC.

Negative Mass Drive
The drive somehow removes the ship's mass, allowing a finite amount of energy (the energy required to power the Negative Mass machine) to accelerate it past light speed.
Pro's:
Con's: CVC.

Alternate Reality Drive
The drive transfers the ship to another universe for the duration of the trip where the laws of physics are slightly different.
Pro's: Not actually in this universe. Can go right through objects in 'real' space. No time dialation.
Con's: CVC.

Alcubierre Drive
Space around the ship is warped such that space in front of the ship is 'compressed' and space behind it is 'extended'.
Pro's: No time dialation.
Con's: Ship still physical. Objects ahead of ship "jump" closer when they enter space time bubble.

Quantum Entanglement
Not really a drive, but a way of sending information faster than light.

Uncertainty Principal
Under certain circumstances, individual photons can reach FTL speeds, but not in bulk.

So. I'm back. Might be getting a solar system of my own, you know, plenty of space to kick a ball around, have a barbeque, plot domination of nearby systems, launch star-destroying superweapons, you know - all the usual.

Read a lot of science fiction since I was last here - shelves and shelves of it. Most of Neal Asher's books, a lot of Iain M. Banks's Culture universe novels, a fair bit of Niven, Hamilton and Zhan to round it out. I love the Lifeline Bookfest. Ahem.

I tried to claim the Riv home system for myself, but of course it's a community system so I can't protect it. Instead I'm going to start from scratch on the other side of the Galaxiki, if my request is granted. It'll be something new, and something old, too. Ultra-high and dirt-low at the same time. Might even introduce some psychic aliens, stellar flora and crashed wrecks by the dozen.

Oh, and Riv Kill-Teams are still the baddest boys (and girls) on the block :P

Entry 18/6/2008

More apologies on my part. Exams are just dragging on and on. In fact, I have one later today. There was another query for a Riv Kill-Team to assassinate some government officials. If the person who sent me the message reads the thing I wrote in their page, and responds appropriately that'll increase their chances of being accepted. Also I need to finish the Iron Fist story, or at least post the first one.

Entry 6/6/2008

Sorry I've been out of it for a bit - exams and all that. If you're looking for my scathing review of Scientology materials, then it's the next post down.

Entry 9/5/2008

Long post. I have recently finished an extensive research of Scientology information available over the internet via Torrent-ed texts, documents available on WikiLeaks, and the personal blogs of ex-members (not being able to find the blogs of any current members). I haven't reviewed the blogs of people critiquing Scientology without first-hand experience to try and avoid bias. I also listened to several recordings of parts of Hubbard's lectures. Notes as follows:

The Books:

I read past the bits I didn't understand and didn't "drop my body". Strike one against the warnings not to read. If I die suddenly from losing my Thetan or something, I'll let you know.

Maybe I'm resiliant to such things. To all appearances, the texts contain excersises/thought excersises that have no purpose and could not in any way improve a person's thought/spiritual processes, except the eye ones. This concurs with excerpts from the Malleus Maleficarum (another once-banned work, also known as the "Witch Hunter's Manual". Perhaps they knew something about Thetans back then?):

"There is a great power in the eyes, and this appears even in natural things."

- page 49 of the translated Malleus Maleficarum pdf file.

A number of the works contain handwritten notes by Hubbard himself, though I can't vouch for how genuine the writings are. I attempted some of the directions, but I didn't note any psycho/metapsycho/paraphysiopsycho-logical changes. Maybe it's because I didn't sign the contract saying that I agree with the Church of Scientology and think that psychology's a lie. The directions are also contradictory: While many spiritual systems have a system of dualty, you really need to think about both at once (for example, being both a creator and a destroyer, or both a predator and prey in the same moment). The works I reviewed outline things in a sequence (and thus only the later instructions stuck in my head - is this supposed to happen?) and in general were disjointed and poorly explained. If one wishes to reach a high Operating Thetan Level, surely it couldn't hurt to know why or how something is beneficial to your progress.

The Recordings:

While I only had access to fragments of the full speeches, I have this to say: It sounds like he's making it up as he goes along. I've done my share of presentations, and I've sat through many, many lectures on various topics by various people. I know roughly how authoritative they are in their fields. Thus, I think I have an idea of when someone's bullshetting (to borrow a Riv curse). It almost sounds like he's trying out topics/imagery on his audience (a method called "cold-reading", used by false mediums/psychics) to see their reactions and adjusting his speech to play more favourably to their interests. I also like the racist tones that underscore the subject matter, though I suspect this is more of a reflection of the habits of society as a whole at the time than anything specific to him.

Blogs:

I have found this site an excellent source of information on Scientology (new window). Read it and draw your own conclusions. A word of warning: it' a bit long, don't expect to read it in 5 minutes.

Conclusion:

It smells like a pyramidal profit-based scheme to me. There is no explanation of any "Creator" or "Why things exist". It focuses on pre-humanity (so "pre-human", in fact, these thetans were walking around on earth before the surface cooled. I think even before that (ie: before earth congealed out of debris orbiting the sun) if Hubard's timeline is correct), and how humans are screwed up, but not Who or What created the Thetans, nor Why. There is no explanation. There is no meaning to the works that I can discern.

If you're looking for a cult or religion to join, I can give you a list of organisations that give tangiable benefits to both members and the less fortunate, without the Non-Disclosure Agreements or fruitless excersises. Hell, after reading this (no pun intended), Satanism looks like it gives an appealing sense of belonging and spiritual fullness.

Oh, and I think I (my Myrmidont persona) might be declared a "Suppressive Person" (SP) if a Clear or an OP ever comes across this. So if you're a Scientologist, you'd better not associate with me/read this/visit this site until you clear it with a Clear.

Entry 29/4/2008

I see databit's changed his avatar. Son? Young brother? Nephew? Or a younger self? Curious.

I note that physicsguy it back (for now), so maybe we'll see a resurgence of the old guard returning, and get the whippersnappers off each other's throats (a joke, because I'm a "whippersnapper" in terms of being on this site). I ph34r* that glencoe will not rest until he has "won" a war. Nobody wins wars around here. Except Iron Fist, haha. The story is continuing, and I'm doing my best not to turn it into some kind of Epic Tale.

OMG best IDEA EVA!!!11!oneoneone**. GALAXIKI NOVELS! Or eBooks, or, or...something! They could call it...Galaxiki Quest! lol. Galaxy Quest was a pretty funny movie.

Anyways, for standard units of measurement I would like to suggest we use SI units (kilograms, meters, liters etc). And lots of scientific notation. So a cubic meter is 1x10^3L, and three hundred kilometers is 3x10^5m. Just to mess with people.

*fear, intentionally misspelled to emphasise my stark terror at such prospects.

**Yeah, I'm in a rather strange mood today. I really don't type like this much. I suspect it's due to the sudden, severe cold weather and lack of sleep.

Entry 25/4/2008

Today is ANZAC day here in Australia and also over in New Zealand, so I was up early for the dawn ceremony in the city. The ANZAC spirit seems alive and well, though one annoying building next to the shrine didn't turn its lights off like the others *frown*.

There has been an inquiry as to whether Riv Kill-teams can be used by other races. The answer: Yes, but it's hideously expensive. Iron Fist will have the fight of his life coming up, should glencoe accept the price he must pay. I already have some cool ideas for the fight between the craftiest, bloodiest dictator and the best assassins the Galaxiki can offer.

Also in the works: some kind of galactic standards. We need to sort out measurement units (time, mass, distance etc.), as well as other things like starship capabilities, population, etc. I say this after reading the "unedited" version of the Ilanay planetary description: Sure, my Riv have sweet-as ships, but they don't have anything that's crazy like this.

Riv Ships: Laser beam weapons (see THEL for an example of real-life lasers). Range: Several thousand km's, losing coherancy as they go. Really sweet targetting computers (what good would they be without them?). Superconductor armor that loses strength as it warms up: quite possible, given that us mere humans can make superconductors that need liquid nitrogen cooling.

Ilanay ships: "radiation weapons that fry everything within half a light year and are impossible to block" and "giant roots" that can "throw ships into stars".

Although, techincally speaking, a laser is a radiation weapon...but you can block it, either with mirrored surfaces, superconductors, lots of armor, fictional energy/psychic shields or dispersive particle clouds.

Entry 14/4/2008

It occurs to me that this site is really not suited to inter-user warfare. Sure, it makes for some interesting and drastic changes, but the problem is now the scale of battles. Sure, tonnes and tonnes of starships makes for a cool and epic battle, but this site is supposed to be based off fact.

I think I will have to move on from the Riv and start another lot somewhere else. Of course, I need to remember the Sangeeli, so maybe I should concentrate on them. I really need to get a good image of them, because it would save so much time on describing them. EDIT: I have made one, check it out on the site!

I have more thoughts on the Knowledge Base wiki, but time is pressing right now so I'll leave those thoughts for another time.

Entry 10/4/2008

Looks like another war is brewing. I have pleaded for the Riv to remain neutral, mostly because I've got lots of assignments on my plate ATM and can't update the pages.

If anyone wants to add stuff to the Sangeeli, I've included notes on their Talk page.

Remember to use the Talk page!

Entry 7/4/2008

It's been almost a month since I've posted here. I've had uni, and it's same as always.

Also, I've just been to Supanova Brisbane, and it was an absolute blast! Even though the queue to get in was huge, it was the most entertaining queue I've ever stood in (and let me tell you, I've stood in my share of queues). Geeks, gamers, nerds, fangirls(and boys), cosplayers and all manner of introverts united for the best weekend I've had in a while. Walking around without a lightsaber or oversized sword makes you feel almost out of place.

I even got Jewel Saite's autograph (<3) (or Kalee from Serenity as she is also known), and saw Nalini Krishan, who played Barriss Offee (a Jedi Knight) in Star Wars Episode 2. A bunch of Trekkies and other Star Wars guys (the 501st Battlation I think) were also there.

One last word: "Think of the catgirls" is a common nerd exclaimation. At Supernova, it's hard not to think of them, they're everywhere!

Entry 8/3/2008

Resolution?

I think *touch wood* the rampant deletion is going to stop. I shall prep the cache data for reposting, so maybe things are going to turn out ok.

I will keep the previous entries purely as a record of what went on.

In the future, galaxikian, heed the lesson: War, certainly, but only a limited war. Unlimited war just sucks.

elzilcho, you are forgiven.

Entry 7/3/2008

The Roa system has been vandalized AGAIN, and a story posted on the system Pyrth (NKA944) about the Ganite/Riv/Umbran "defeat".

If you are new, it is more polite if you ASK permission to invade. You should also show that you have GOOD REASON to remove written entries. GOOD REASON is pretty much limited to RULES violations. I have not violated any rules in my posting.

If you are are perpetrator, you are violating Galaxiki rules by deleting quality content without consulting the person who put it there. You are also being obnoxious, if this is some form of perceived retaliation.

I suspect you may be the person who put up the childish writeup of the gas giant in the Quirixion system that I removed. If so, you had a fair warning posted on the system's page to change, alter, clean up or defend your addition: one full week. You have given me no similar advice, or chance to appologise or explain.

The gloves are off now.

I will find you.

Later that day...

The perpetrator is elzilcho. How do I know? Well, the person that deleted Roa/the Riv also put a message in the Pyrth system. The only user to have modified both systems is...elzilcho. Not a smart cookie. Note: elzilcho has also modified the Quirixion system. Not sure if his motive was based on my removal of the offending text or not.

Honestly, I'm disappointed that such a proliferously contributing galaxikian did such a thing. I am hoping this can be resolved in a way that does not require bans or the loss of my work from the system. I could just post my stuff back up, but he'd just delete it again.

On another note, since I found him, I don't have to buy a solar system for anyone :P.

Also on the 6/3/2008

I found out today that Gary Gygax has died. I could have added this below, but my anger would have sullied the dignity such an ocassion requires.

Rest in peace, godbless, and may your dice keep rolling the 20's.

I'd spend a minute silent, but the vast majority of my minutes are silent, so it wouldn't be a fitting guesture.

Entry 6/3/2008

Mood: ANGRY.

SOMEONE HAS VANDALIZED THE ROA SYSTEM, DESTROYING HOURS OF WORK AND EFFORT. THE CULPRIT HAS ALSO WIPED THE TALK PAGE.

I AM ISSUING A REWARD FOR THE PERSON WHO REVEALS THEM TO ME.

REWARD: ONE GIFT OR DEDICATED STELLAR SYSTEM.

REWARDEE'S CHOICE OF STAR SYSTEM.

I have noted that the following Users have modified the Roa system. These are people I believe DID NOT commit the crime:

databit

elzilcho

anarchon

ignion

Later that night:

I have fortunately been able to fully repair the damage. While I've lost my anger, I won't take back my promise of reward for those notifying me of who was responsible. Oh, and I uploaded a pic of me. Staring angrily at whoever dares mess with the Riv.

Entry 25/2/2008

Back to Uni tomorrow. Will probably be on more frequently then. Too sunburnt to say much else. I have skin like a Riv :P.

Entry 19/2/2008

Started work on the Sangeeli. Water-based craft makes it interesting, and I implanted my first bits of Databit's code into the Galaxiki.

Entry 11/2/2008

Sorry for the long absence, but I've been off work and playing Call of Duty 4 on my laptop instead of surfing the net. Anyway.

Looks like another in-character thread might go up - this one based on trading information. I'll have to finish off the Roa system sometime this week, and get on to a new one. I'm currently debating whether to populate a pulsar I found, or a "non-goldilocks" planet close to Roa.

Entry 29/1/2008

Oh well, I felt much better after that last rant. Appologies for that.

4 days to go until the deadline.

Entry 26/1/2008

Following my latest rant, I've found some of the worst offenders. No surprises, most are privately owned systems.

Mentions copyrighted material:

Mentions Earth:

JamiesStar (TCH384)
Starbison (VDH421)
Quirixion (WCH420)*

Mentions humans:

ZetaCentauri (TCE222)*
KoronaPrimus (SEF241)
Agile (MJE321)
Tooma (NJJ246)
RedBall (PFB308)
Tula (REA171)
Quirixion (WCH420)*
CostaDelSol (SAD254)*
...the list goes on...

*Public System

There are a lot more systems that mention humans, but I do recognise that my search also pulled up references to humanoids. The systems I've listed do, actually, refer to humans.

The issue (for now...) is not what to do with privately owned systems, but what to do with the public ones. Is it my right to dispense justice on their works? I would only have a third-hand knowledge of what they are trying to get across, and most are not intentional; describing things like "They're a bit taller than humans...". These cases could have been sorted out by the author with only a little extra thought. Some cases would involve me taking a metaphorical chainsaw to their text, and having to come up with alternative histories and locations. The internal mail system isn't up yet, and nobody checks the Talk page (except for me, apparently) or writes down what changes they've made or why so things are a little frustrating at the moment.

Eventually, though, some method of dealing with Private Systems must be worked out...It's really interrupts the suspension of disbeleif when you hear "humans from a planet called Earth from a distant galaxy colonised this planet..." when you try so hard not to let comparisions like that creep into your own work. I could flat out say "The Riv look like humans with two thumbs, different skin and all-black eyes", but that's against the rules. So far, there's nothing in place to report Rules offenders.

PS: I've decided to give whoever did Quirixion a second chance of one week to fix it up. The rules-breaking is blatant and negligent if I've ever seen it. If he (and only a rather immature he could have done this) responds by vandalising my systems I will have no choice but to contact Jos. Anyone visiting the system can't miss the notice I've put up. Perhaps the Riv and Ganites will put an end to the JK Monarchy: it is clearly a tyranny, by any standard, and their race is certainly an abomination against nature.

Entry 25/1/2008

It seems the entry I did yesterday didn't save. Bugger. I had a whole list of things...oh well.

Tonight I'll be re-jigging the Rai and Talan pages in order to neaten them up. I sort of spew ideas out: lots of content but all in a big mess. Seems the Riv may have a potential ally in the Ganites, so maybe we'll stand a chance against the Xar/Glix and the Dacor, if and/or when they spread. At least that negates the threat of the Ganite fleet at Clarion (QBH176). So now I'll have to work out where the Riv will let them set up an embassy. Have to try and balance transport and politics, since Rai is harder to get to from out-system than Ren, even though Ren is a marginal location at best. Perhaps one of the other planet's moons has the Governing Council's seat of power: I can imagine they might want it out of the way for security reasons. Maybe thet innermost gas giant's moons, as it would be a suitably picturesque location. Hmm.

Anyway, part of what I'd written yesterday was on how people value systems. Basically, I thought that a dead-end white dwarf on the far galactic rim shouldn't cost the same as a main sequence yellow dwarf with 24 planets, 1000 moons and more than one planet capable of supporting life. I understand that if stars without planets were a lot cheaper, people could just buy a ton of them, locking them away from the community. With 2179 members last time I checked, and about 2400 community-editable systems, there should be just over one system per person. From my own roamings, it looks like there's about one life-supporting system for every other 30 or so. Thus, there are only about 80 community-editable stars that are capable of supporting life, unless my calculations are off by a lot. Incidentally, there are some statistics I'd really like to see, perhaps in a "Statistics" page or featured every 6 months or so in the Blog. I'd love to know exactly how many systems and planets there are in the Galaxiki considered suitable for life, as well as how many are free for community.

Back on topic.

Speculative work (and science fiction of course) suggests other life-forming chemical systems (such as Silicon and liquid Helium II). Therefore, this would add these other two "Goldilocks Zones", so a well-planeted system might be capable of supporting three (!) different life types, and the chances of other star systems supporting life would also increase. Thus, these previously "dead" systems would be "worth" more than before, because then people would recognise value in systems where they might not have seen it before. Think about it: if you came across a system that had not "Goldilocks Zone" planets, and then came across the same system but marked as "The 13th planet is capable of supporting liquid helium II-based life...", which would you rather? Granted, you'd need to be more inventive in your descriptions and maybe some standards need to be introduced, but I'd rather take the second one.

Alternatively, systems that are more customizable than others would have an increased value: so far the only measure of this is more planets, because you can write more things about them. This leads me back to community-created interplanetary bodies, which might only be placeable in systems with lower numbers of planets (specify item type: (Artificial or Natural), Specify orbit distance (pick from a pre-set or enter your own)). Maybe a maximum orbiting bodies figure (say, twenty-five or thirty) for systems. That way, it may be possible to have a very elaborate species/culture living in artificial and altered planetoid habitats, in a system that was, on release to community, entirely empty.

Lastly, for now, I'm going to bring up bought or gift systems. I find that, while it's a wonderful idea for generating income, it removes them from the community pool. Imagine if Wikipedia decided to sell it's articles, and the buyers could lock and stop editing them, with no consequence for false or out of date information. In particular I am riled by one privately owned system that had ridiculous planetary names: famous brands, if I recall. I will look for it again to add here.

EDIT: Found it. It's ZetaCentauri (TCE222). Planets named after the Microsoft Office suit of programs...

Also, a Community Sponsored Message: the Search function seems to be case-specific. o_o

Entry 22/1/2008

Ignion read my homepage! Woo! Cookie for Ignion!

Ahem.

I decoded some more of databit's code. The implications of certain messages on a planetary and interplanetary context are alarming, to say the least. If the Ganites work it out...

Anyways, it looks like I'll be starting the "In-Character" thread sooner rather than later. And then I'll have to generate the "Meta-" thread, for discussion about the "in-character" thread...maybe. Still trying to decide what the setting will be: Pub, some street or club on a Crossroads world, General Assembly or some other place. At the moment I'm leaning towards using Leth's Hab-dome on Ren 9 (ninth moon of Ren), in the Roa system. At least the idea's out there, breeding like a virus in the dark reaches of the interblag.

Another idea might be to conduct an "active user" census, over say, a month, to determine just who exactly is here. And give them all a free system, ha ha. Wish the message system was up and running, but good things come to those who wait.

Entry 17/1/2008:

The Riv are coming together, and I have managed to crack databit's ancient code. And no, I won't tell you what any of his writings mean, nor shall I give you my handy decoding spreadsheet. I have, however, found a rather strange system: QHD832. It's a Black Hole with a planet that doesn't seem to exist. What's more, this non-existant planet can sustain life! Very odd, and I suspect it's a glitch in the system generation software, but cool nonetheless. If I ever buy a star, I'd go for black hole with life-supporting planets. It would give any inhabitants a very interesting outlook on life...

I'm also thinking of creating an in-character thread for people to introduce their species - like a cross between the Mos Eisley cantina and The Outpost (which is a hilarious book, by the way) or the Draco Tavern (by Niven, also very good). If anyone's interested it'll be in the Science Fiction forum when I get around to it.

P.S. If anyone wants to talk, I can be reached here.

And if Jos happens to read this, the widgets don't seem to be working on homepages for some reason. I suspect it's the html-java interface the homepages use, that might be blocking iframes. : \

P.P.S: Edited twice in the same day, coz I'm bored. Here is a couple of things I think would be cool. I'll probably drop them into the forum for discussion on the weekend.

1. Inter-stellar bodies. By Inter-stellar, I mean like halfway between stars. I picture things like starship wreckage, dust clouds that are mined for fuel, sites of interstellar battles, deep space listening posts, etc.
2. Inter-planetary bodies. Stuff like Dyson spheres, ringworlds, or secret bases hidden at the lagrange points of planetary orbits. The Riv have clouds of energy satellites around their sun, and some collection points that are cities in their own right, deserving descriptions and stories. I guess I could just enter them in the planet or sun's description (like I have been doing so far), but it feels a bit odd.
3. Stellar coordinates, in description and on map. I know Jos is working on measuring points between stars, but wouldn't it be simpler just to have "Star ABC123, is at Galaxikian standard coordinates 123456, 1324311...."? That way we could measure things ourselves, thanks to Pythagoras. It would also be a good way of setting up a sector or zone system.
4. Some kind of definite FTL explanation. Do ships travelling at FTL speeds have a physical presence while zipping along? Do they go into another dimension? Is it a kind of slow teleport?

Entry 14/1/08:

Howdy again to anyone who saw this. In the interests of keeping things orderly in the Solar System descriptions, please fill out the Talk page in the description when you make changes!

On another note, I'm perfectly willing to assist other users in describing things, working on their home pages, images, etc. I've found a number of community-editable systems with life-supporting planets that haven't even been renamed yet, so if you're looking for a specific type of world/star system to work on I could save you a lot of time. Don't be afraid to ask anything at all! I can be reached via the Forum.

Howdy!

I'm a new user here, so please tell me if I do something wrong. Mostly I'll just be roaming the stars, fixing up spelling and grammar, and maybe inserting a sentence or two about my race (the Riv). If anyone wants to modify the Roa system, please do, but keep in mind I'm a bit attached to them .

I'd like to know more about this galaxy, so feel free to drop me a message on what you're thinking.

PBH986

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