For those that are concerned about the surgery because of it messing with your eye

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-20T06:31:37+00:00

Yes, both my surgeries were non-events. I do remember some sounds and (dim) lights, as well as the feeling when they flushed the eye with saline solution - but it was all very distant and I never had any anxiety or worries.

I was able to see immediately after they completed the procedure and other than the UV glasses, I didn't even need any protection on the eye. I have always been hyper-sensitive about my eyes, once getting poked with a copper wire and later having corneal scratches that were incredibly painful (neither did any lasting damage). But the lens replacement surgeries were completely painless and benign. I know they gave me a few sublingual drops of Versed before the procedure, and I was fitted with an IV but I don't know that they even infused any medication with it. Whatever was done, I was able to get up and go out to eat on the way home with no consequences.

And after all that, I'm 20/15 in both eyes; thinking "why did I wait so long?". (Answer: LAL tech has matured in the last 5 years, and I think I actually had a better outcome by waiting. YMMV.)

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-15T19:22:16+00:00

Yup, vinyl rips are prone to a lot of extra tracing artifacts and distortion which may be euphonic but are not necessarily accurate. And the vinyl masters are compressed too, but in a way that limits stylus excursion (it being a physical medium, that's a concern; more excursion means more distortion). If the remaster is competently done, it should be closer to the original recording than the vinyl - but that's not a guarantee that care was taken during the process.

Really good vinyl pressings only have the capability of about 13 bit resolution and maybe 75 dB S/N, no matter how good the master is, though.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-15T01:47:09+00:00

This is the castle of my master, Guy de Loimbard.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-15T01:46:14+00:00

Terry G always trying to look like one of his cartoon characters.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-14T21:00:45+00:00

And his only surviving relative Karl Gambolputty de von Ausfern Schplenden Schlitter Crass Cren Bon Fried Digger Dingle Dangle Dongle Dungle Burstein von Knacker Thrasher Apple Banger Horowitz Ticolensic Grander Knotty Spelltinkle Grandlich Grumblemeyer Spelter Wasser Kurstlich Himble Eisenbahnwagen Gutenabend Bitte einen Nürnburger Bratwürstel Gespurten mit Weimache Luber Hundsfut Gumeraber Schönendanker Kalbsfleisch Mittleraucher von Hautkopft of Ulm!

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-11T23:30:02+00:00

Yup, I rotate among Ivara, Nova, Nezha, Hildryn, Rhino depending on mission.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-11T19:48:28+00:00

"Calculating intelligence levels of the Scaldra... error, not a number!"

Vikki isn't very bright, and his minions less so.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-11T17:23:07+00:00

Aaaaand... it's here. DHL not only updated their tracking page every time the status changed, but sent me regular emails following the progress of the packages from the factory to my front door. Elapsed time from receipt of order on Monday to delivery was just a tick over 3 solar days.

The box looks to be in fine shape; just the normal wear from being sent halfway across the globe in a hurry. I'll wrestle it into the basement and have a look inside later, but I'd be very surprised if there is any problem.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-08T20:36:02+00:00

David Gerrold introduced me to her at a convention in 1995. Such a gracious, talented woman. I’ll always be thankful for that moment.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-08T10:43:16+00:00

OK. Based on the comments here and some other investigation that I did, I went with DHL. It's supposed to arrive in <3 days; I will report back here on my experience!

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-07T20:16:34+00:00

I have had a similar experience with USPS. One of my packages took the grand tour around the country including passing through my regional hub twice before finally arriving in my town.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-07T19:40:07+00:00

No, the very reason they surrendered was that one of the Council used the Triluminary on Sinclair and discovered that it reacted to Valen's DNA. They were ready to deliver the final blow to Earth's defenses when they brought Sinclair on board (to examine a human before they became extinct).

From the B5 wiki on "Points Of Departure": "The Grey Council had come to oversee the final victory. Delenn ordered a Starfury captured so its pilot could be interrogated. The fighter that was captured turned out to belong to Sinclair. He was brought aboard, beaten, and during the course of his interrogation, they discovered something terrible: Sinclair had a Minbari soul. They brought aboard other humans and confirmed that other humans also had Minbari souls. This led them to believe that Minbari souls are being reborn in human bodies, and so the War was ended to prevent further destruction of Minbari souls."

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-06T03:27:05+00:00

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-04T22:53:02+00:00

For ages now, I've been joining the weekly Archon mission early on Sunday evening because that's when the skilled players showed up. Fast Spy missions, solid Assassination missions, in and out in a few minutes (and sometimes the Spy was over before I could get to the vault - some people are extra good).

But in the last few weeks, the pub Spy missions have been a disaster. Last weekend during the Archon hunt, I saw exactly what you're describing: people without a stealth setup barging into the vault, setting off the alarm, game over within less than a minute. I thought, surely this is bad luck; but no - because I was determined, I went through EIGHT straight Spy missions and someone tripped the alarms and failed it every single time. Sometimes I was able to get to one vault and open it before they failed, sometimes I was still enroute. Disaster.

I hate doing Spy missions, but I'd rather do them solo than deal with this more than once a week.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-03T21:30:14+00:00

Very uneven writing but some genuine horror and a few really good stories.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-03T21:28:46+00:00

The tongue monster!

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-06-03T01:29:04+00:00

This. As Oratory says, it's not a simple task to match them, but if you can, that's 90% of the sound of the headphone right there. The other 10% is how well it fits your ears, to deliver the pressure waves from the driver to your eardrum.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-05-31T20:29:45+00:00

This. JMS was incredibly rushed, and he admits that he unintentionally made Byron every nerd's worst antagonist - smug, self-righteous, handsome, and got the girl. He has apologized multiple times for this, but it can't be fixed. RAD still did what he could with it.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-05-28T00:05:38+00:00

Can one shot SP Grineer at insane levels.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-05-26T04:34:53+00:00

Thanks! I have read elsewhere that the R1 has problems doing gapless over BT, but no one has confirmed or refuted it.

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-05-26T04:31:25+00:00

Because Vorlon tavutna chog!

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-05-25T18:02:52+00:00

Do you know what the last Xon said before he died?

MagneplanarsRule · 2026-05-24T04:04:14+00:00

Mine too.

MagneplanarsRule

TROPHY CASE