Search found 126 matches

by Kingmaker
Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:53 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: News Thread
Replies: 557
Views: 280619

Re: News Thread

Police uprising/strike in Ecuador . Soldiers in Ecuador have rescued President Rafael Correa from a police hospital after a day of protests by security forces angry at benefit cuts. Mr Correa was rescued after soldiers opened fired on dissident police. Moments after being freed he appeared on the b...
by Kingmaker
Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:38 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: News Thread
Replies: 557
Views: 280619

Re: News Thread

Insurers have drawn up plans for the world’s first private navy Uh... private navies are nothing new. Sure, they've been out of style for a few centuries, but they've cropped up wherever a group of people with a lot money has needed a navy and a/the state has failed to oblige. You know, just like o...
by Kingmaker
Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:43 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: The Book Thread
Replies: 203
Views: 162466

Re: The Book Thread

Oh I dunno, I think if you can make it through Lord of the Rings, you can make it through Anathem. But that's just me, maybe. Oh, don't get me wrong, I loved Anthem. But a lot of people complained about how it contained Stephenson's writing vices in spades. I don't think any reasonably intelligent ...
by Kingmaker
Sat Sep 25, 2010 4:18 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Weird Dreams
Replies: 94
Views: 92481

Re: Weird Dreams

Had a dream where I was in Office Depot with a 15% coupon. The Operative from Serenity was there on sales staff, trying to get me to buy something, but everything was too expensive until he spontaneously offered me a wii for $70. Then I woke up and was really excited for the minute it took me to rea...
by Kingmaker
Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:46 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Birthday thread
Replies: 528
Views: 314780

Re: Birthday thread

Happy birthday, Siege. Belatedly.
by Kingmaker
Thu Sep 23, 2010 3:12 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: The Book Thread
Replies: 203
Views: 162466

Re: The Book Thread

I'd recommend staying away from Anathem if you've never read anything by Neal Stephenson, on account of it being very thick and frequently opaque. It doesn't help that the book is written in what is essentially a constructed dialect of english. For starters I would recommend the Diamond Age, which, ...
by Kingmaker
Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:44 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Know Your Roots - SCII
Replies: 33
Views: 20013

Re: Know Your Roots - SCII

Recently finished the campaign, and I'm not quite sure I agree that the ending was neatly wrapped up. Aside from some remaining ambiguities with Kerrigan, the Terran civil war still needs to be resolved, and I still want to know what the rest of the protoss are doing. More importantly, SCII gives me...
by Kingmaker
Thu Aug 19, 2010 6:52 am
Forum: Arcane Steel
Topic: The Culture Forge
Replies: 15
Views: 19360

Re: The Culture Forge

The Holy Fire A small group of young men and women coalesced as soon as they noticed the white and red clad woman walking through the market. Karisa smiled as she looked back at the growing group. In five years she had never failed to attract eager students with the distinctive garb of those who fo...
by Kingmaker
Fri Aug 13, 2010 7:38 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Know Your Roots - SCII
Replies: 33
Views: 20013

Re: Know Your Roots - SCII

Damn. If nothing else, Blizzard knows how to make a video game trailer. I mean, I could believe that was the trailer for some kickass sci-fi film epic. Other developers should pay attention to this. Don't give us non-gameplay trailers full of action shit that we'll never get to do. You want a traile...
by Kingmaker
Sun Jun 27, 2010 7:07 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Official Movie Review Thread
Replies: 730
Views: 417584

Re: Official Movie Review Thread

I watched an anime film called Sword of the Stranger recently. It wasn't any particular brilliant piece of storytelling, being about a boy and his dog and his ronin and the evil chinamen Asian Americans trying to sacrifice him in a quest for immortality, but it was quite well done. It has some of th...
by Kingmaker
Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:05 pm
Forum: Worldbuilding General Topics
Topic: Universe Concept: X999
Replies: 19
Views: 10598

Re: Universe Concept: X999

This sounds pretty cool. I particularly like the contrast in tone between the first and second pieces.

For some reason I’m reminded of Hellboy. Maybe because of the aquaman guy. Also, John Dies At the End. Awesome.

edit: so would TVTropes qualify as a Blue Tendency? :P
by Kingmaker
Fri Apr 30, 2010 5:14 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: What color are you?
Replies: 13
Views: 9894

Re: What color are you?

Blue You value knowledge, logic, and deceit. You love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At your best, you are brilliant and progressive. At your worst, you are treacherous and cold. Your symbol is a water droplet. Your enemies are green and red. Again. Whenever I take this I get ...
by Kingmaker
Sun Apr 25, 2010 4:35 am
Forum: Arcane Steel
Topic: Eidolons
Replies: 2
Views: 6281

Re: Eidolons

“Look, I understand your anger, Mr. Lenclare, but a deal is a deal. I might have encouraged you a bit, but you signed that contract of your own free will and you must abide by it”. Croeszan felt a slight twinge of nerves and did his best to ignore the pair of shotguns pointed at his head. He could ...
by Kingmaker
Sun Apr 25, 2010 4:32 am
Forum: Arcane Steel
Topic: Eidolons
Replies: 2
Views: 6281

Eidolons

Eidolon is a classification for the various lesser divinities that remain after the destruction of the Archons. They vary wildly in power, from genuinely godlike to not notably distinct from human, but all possess the same basic nature and are subject to the same limitations. Eidolons are typically ...
by Kingmaker
Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:08 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Best names in fiction
Replies: 4
Views: 5989

Re: Best names in fiction

Isaac dan Der Grimnebulin, from Perdido Street Station. This name encapsulates everything about the character, and it sounds awesome, too.

Jacuzzi Splot, from Baccano! That is all.
by Kingmaker
Tue Apr 13, 2010 6:28 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: facebook essay
Replies: 5
Views: 6354

Re: facebook essay

Hmmm, well I'm afraid that the Philippines really is SOL, Shroomy. You see, during the 19th century, the various Great Powers gathered up all of Earth's money, and then they spent it all during the 20th century. The current economic crisis being caused by the fact that there is no more money left it...
by Kingmaker
Fri Apr 09, 2010 6:12 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: THE MUZEEK THREAD!
Replies: 137
Views: 129157

Re: THE MUZEEK THREAD!

Just found this:


And something a bit tamer involving an english sheep pig:
by Kingmaker
Tue Apr 06, 2010 5:28 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: News Thread
Replies: 557
Views: 280619

Re: News Thread

What I'm more interested in is the fact that the video was given to WikiLeaks (the only member of the wikipedia family I approve of) by someone in the U.S. Military. Kinda makes you wonder if this will have the same effect as Walter Cronkite declaring the Vietnam War as unwinnable. I doubt it. Mayb...
by Kingmaker
Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:02 am
Forum: Arcane Steel
Topic: The Minor Powers
Replies: 17
Views: 16048

Re: The Minor Powers

The Grand Order of the Knights of Magnus Population: 30 million (20% abhuman, 5% soulforged) Capital: Luminatum The Grand Order of the Knights of Magnus is a heavily industrialized minor power and one of the nations along the borders of the Sinkhole (the world’s most prominent geostigmata). It was ...
by Kingmaker
Fri Mar 19, 2010 3:07 am
Forum: Arcane Steel
Topic: Human Variations
Replies: 17
Views: 15251

Re: Human Variations

What I wrote instead of studying for midsems. Hivers Hivers are humans that live in a symbiotic relationship with a one of a particular subspecies of arcane insects. These subspecies are usually related to some mundane group of insect species. The creation of a hiver is almost always involuntary, be...
by Kingmaker
Tue Mar 16, 2010 11:32 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Good Fiction that You Hate
Replies: 44
Views: 25947

Re: Good Fiction that You Hate

One entire genre of speculative fiction that I hate as a general rule is alternate history. Part of it is that a lot of alternate history is utterly implausible, or the ramifications of the PoD aren't well considered. Then there's the fact that a lot of alt-hist is basically wanking one group or ano...
by Kingmaker
Tue Mar 16, 2010 12:18 am
Forum: Literature & RPGs
Topic: A Day of Wrath - A Tale of Science and Magic
Replies: 17
Views: 10553

Re: A Day of Wrath - A Tale of Science and Magic

Okay, time to break this down. The iron battleship floated on the azure-blue ocean, propellers giving it great speed as its nuclear reactor burnt, providing it power. Ahead of it was a distant shore-line, a beach with high cliffs on either side of it, looming menacingly. General Davian wondered what...
by Kingmaker
Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:38 pm
Forum: Worldbuilding General Topics
Topic: Let's Design an Underground City
Replies: 19
Views: 10167

Re: Let's Design an Underground City

Yes. Grow lights are designed to emit an electromagnetic spectrum appropriate for photosynthesis. Ideally the city would use LED lights, which are less power-hungry and produce less heat. This raises the issue of waste heat removal. Two million people are going to generate a lot of heat just by bei...
by Kingmaker
Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:12 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: News Thread
Replies: 557
Views: 280619

Re: News Thread

So this is how human foie gras is going to get started.
You can't let all that food go completely to waste.
by Kingmaker
Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:54 am
Forum: Worldbuilding General Topics
Topic: Let's Design an Underground City
Replies: 19
Views: 10167

Re: Let's Design an Underground City

OMG teh Satan! :twisted: You could simply ship in the foostuffs and suppliers from above ground, but it certainly would help if the city was somewhat self-sufficient. Perhaps the use of extensive hydroponics can be adapted in the lower levels? I'm not sure about the actual feasibility of a self-suff...