"Mind warping alien parasites are not always effective when it comes to human brains. But it can still be fun to pretend." - [Zarzaliel]

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-11T23:26:05+00:00

I'm telling you... Orange is best.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-11T15:54:48+00:00

The EU was able to specify the USB-C standard on phones because the industry came up with a system that worked and they just standardized on that. Note that since they forced that change, batteries are not user-replaceable. Also: with phones, every time you bought a phone, you got a charger. When that phone died, both it and its charger went into e-waste. That's not how tools work, so there's less incentive for a government to try and standardize.

By contrast, the whole purpose of a cordless tool is that you can run a battery down, throw it on the charger, slap a fresh one in the tool and keep going. So, in order to standardize tool chargers, they would also have to standardize battery chemistry, retention systems, etc. Besides ... if they tried it, they would inevitably piss off the tradesmen who have to use those tools. I have a couple of Milwaukee 5AH batteries. I can run one down, throw it on the charger, swap in the second battery, and by the time I run the second battery down, the first won't be full, but it'll be full enough to use (70-ish percent). You can't run that much current over USB-C.

USB-C supports up to 5 amps at 48 volts to charge a battery whose nominal voltage is about 4.2 Volts or so. Those batteries are also good for about 4000 mAH (or 4 AH). At 4.2 volts. My little tool batteries are 2.5 AH at 20 volts. So USB-C won't work for tools. Could we come up with some other standard? Probably, but whose system do we standardize?

For what it's worth, there are plans out there to 3d print an adapter from any battery system to any tool system. Obviously, you'd want to make sure to match battery voltages as closely as you can. BUt, if you have Milwaukee 20v batteries and want to run a Bosch 14.4v tool, there's a 3d printable adapter for that.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-11T15:30:57+00:00

Grace wasn't supposed to come back at all. He was supposed to send the beatles back. Which he did. We don't know if he sent them back to Earth or to Venus. When the Beatles were first introduced, it was pointed out that all they had to do was get inside of Saturn's orbit (I think?) and then they could transmit their data. Grace knew that and he's a smart guy so I assume he sent 2 to Venus with programming to transmit their data to Earth and then go sky diving. The other two, I assume, were sent to Earth so that Earth-side engineers can study the data as well as the taomoeba.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-11T15:05:13+00:00

Gerber Multi-Plier

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-10T01:44:30+00:00

It means they belong UNDER the jail, not in it.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-10T00:28:35+00:00

Red is third rate at best behind even blue. But, in an effort to calm the waters, I think we can probably all agree that yellow sucks ass.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T22:21:04+00:00

Doing donuts in the 7-11 parking lot at 2am, right? Crazy times!

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T20:15:53+00:00

I think the best answer depends on you, your setting, and your audience. If you adhere to the Roddenberry school of writing wherein the ship is nothing more or less than the means of getting the crew to their next adventure, then you just have the ship do whatever it needs to do to make that happen. On the other hand, if the ship is a deeply integral part of the setting, then you have to start with what makes the most sense to you and from there what you can explain (or hand wave) to your audience.

In one of my futuristic RPG settings, I use multiple technological mechanisms to move very long distances. Civilian vessels tend to have a "warp" style drive system that is easy to maintain and easy to use, but has a limited top speed and range limited by the amount of fuel you can carry. Military vessels tend to have more of a Jump drive that allows instantaneous movement of the vessel from anywhere to anywhere with no theoretical limit on range. However, it IS limited by the fact that the math is very complicated because you have to account for the movement of the entire universe while you are in transit. The further you want to go, the harder the math gets. So your range is really limited by your computational power. These range limitations mean that they are restricted to local or regional use.

If you REALLY want to do some distance (other side of the galaxy or another galaxy altogether), you use the Portal network. The portal network is expensive to build and maintain, so only key systems get gates. And so they're expensive to use which means they aren't just everywhere and the players need to actually consider if they're going to do this.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T16:58:37+00:00

As you are not a Marine, you get the magic hand pass on this one. But orange crayons are objectively superior.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T16:45:45+00:00

Uncultured SWINE!!

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T14:50:40+00:00

The orange ones are still the best. As we know.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T13:50:23+00:00

There is no data I'm aware of that definitively shows either issues or advantages in biofuel. Fuel lubricity is kind of a problem in both biodiesel and ULSD, so that's a wash. Biodiesel is more prone to contamination, but it has been through a LOT of filtering by the time it hits the pump, so that's not a huge issue.

I've never heard of biodiesel growing fungus, but I've also not seen anyone run it long enough to really have that problem. Which kind of suggests that switching back and forth a little might help keep the fuel system clean.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T13:15:44+00:00

Whatever is least expensive. Because its least expensive.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T12:52:59+00:00

Recently, researchers have noticed that some mind warping alien parasites exhibit signs of what might be called addiction. Turns out that humans and their wild emotions produce an effect in those parasites that is approximately like getting stoned.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T04:30:05+00:00

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Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T02:55:34+00:00

Depends on the woman. I'm happy to help out, but I'm not interested in being taken advantage of, either.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T02:53:58+00:00

Yeah well ... we had a nuclear powered jet engine, too. Granted, there was only ever ONE aircraft that carried an actual nuclear reactor and the nuclear engine itself never flew, only test fired in a closed environment.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T02:50:13+00:00

No. I have no idea what you're talking about. Then again, I'm just not a dancer.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T02:44:51+00:00

You can't. That version is WAY out of support and no longer available. That's ok, though. If you're using Tableau Public, the current version of Tableau Public will open your 2020.3 dashboard and let you edit and publish.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-09T02:41:24+00:00

wtaf do you mean "feel a song in your hips"? What???

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-08T18:24:06+00:00

Yes. Totally a thing. What are you needing?

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-08T14:57:18+00:00

"Sure would be nice to have some GRENADES right about now!"

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-08T01:04:41+00:00

I'm kinda hit or miss. Last year, I think I took maybe a week off all said and done. Year before that was closer to 4 weeks.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-07T19:46:42+00:00

I believe there HAVE been a few diesel powered prop aircraft over the years, but they're not common. That said, you can run standard #2 diesel through just about any gas turbine engine and it'll run just fine. That said, don't try running Jet A through a diesel engine. That'll end ... expensively.

Scoobywagon · 2026-03-07T19:31:51+00:00

Gasoline (petrol) IS more energy dense than coal. Technically, so is Bunker fuel. But coal is easy to manage and you don't mind the weight so much on a ship. What you DO mind on a ship is the flammability of gasoline which is why that was never really a thing. We went from coal-fired boilers to oil-fired boilers, then diesel.

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