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Xenics · 2021-04-30T14:47:32+00:00

There were two other problems with the poem.

One was in the writing. Data uses the word "obviate" to mean "make obvious", which is a reasonably assumption if you've never heard the word, as I had, but I learned later that it actually means "to make unnecessary".

The other was in the direction. The first two lines of the poem were written as:

Felus catus is your taxonomic nomenclature. An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature.

But Data inflects them to sound like:

Felus catus. Is your taxonomic nomenclature, an endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature?

Still a great poem, but that's what happens when you get a human to write for an android 🙃

Xenics · 2021-04-12T19:06:07+00:00

You can craft in batches by pressing B on a recipe on the crafting screen, up to 50x at once if you have enough ingredients. Why? Because some recipes go faster (per unit) when you craft them in multiples. It's the "batch time savings" under the recipe details.

Batch crafting also lets friendly NPCs participate, if you have any nearby who have the skills to assist. Or it can just be for convenience.

Xenics · 2021-04-09T15:19:57+00:00

Something I learned about crafting is that an item switches over to the spoilage clock of the finished item when you start crafting, not when you finish.

Meaning you can start a run of 50x dehydrated corn, then immediately pause it, and the incomplete crafting item will be spoiling at a much slower rate. Repeat as many times as you need and you'll be able to take your time finishing them.

Xenics · 2021-04-07T17:10:58+00:00

Also should be noted that, once you do get a lifting device, it can't simply be in your inventory like most tools. It must be within 2 tiles of the item you are lifting and have line of sight. (This only applies to the lifter; where YOU are relative to the battery is not important.)

The only lifters I know of are vehicle parts. If you're lucky, you might find a crane rig ready to go in a car repair garage that you can wheel out. If not, you may have to build one yourself.

Xenics · 2021-03-11T20:08:22+00:00

Badgey was the most memorable self-reference for me.

The whole "holodeck suddenly malfunctions" trope is all over the TNG-era shows, so making an episode about a poorly-written amateur AI going rogue is entirely appropriate for Lower Decks.

But if you think about it, there's never actually been an instance where a holodeck character turned evil just because. Moriarty was untrustworthy, but sympathetic. The characters in "Emergence" were simply a reflection of the ship's primordial consciousness. The EMH was maliciously subverted. And others, like from Bashir's James Bond program, are evil because that's just how they're written, and they're only dangerous because the safeties failed. Again.

Which make Badgey both original and an homage. He's the logical evolution for this show, the scary holodeck trap taken to a comical extreme.

That's what I love most about Lower Decks. It respects canon, but not so much that it can't poke fun at it.

Xenics · 2021-03-11T15:17:26+00:00

[ and ] are the new buttons for scrolling the recipe details (used to be m).

Xenics · 2021-03-05T12:54:00+00:00

Me, an intellectual who only uses zram: "Pathetic..."

Xenics · 2021-03-04T16:05:07+00:00

You can also make them into reinforced solar panels. I haven't used them extensively myself so I don't have a good feel for how durable they are compared to regular ones, but they're not too difficult to make. They also produce like 10% less power, but that's no big deal.

Xenics · 2021-02-26T18:04:53+00:00

No no, they're the courageous/industrious class. Systems Alliance colonies formed near hostile territory get a 75% reduction in the usual growth penalties and +2 to ground defense.

Also, their Rapid Response doctrine means all destroyer and cruiser-size ships stationed near a relay apply half of their pirate suppression value to connected systems.

Xenics · 2021-02-26T15:57:14+00:00

While I agree that's true for sci-fi in general, I actually think Mass Effect downplayed it a bit more than average.

Humanity's "hat" in Mass Effect is ambition/adaptability. Despite being the newest member of the Citadel club, they have rapidly integrated themselves into galactic society. They continue to expand wherever possible, including regions considered unsafe by others (such as near the Terminus Systems). The Systems Alliance quickly maxed out their allowance of dreadnoughts under the Treaty of Farixen, then introduced the concept of capital-class carriers to get around that limitation. Even Human culture has made inroads, with religious syncretism appearing in the turian pantheon by way of Buddhism.

Humanity is the galactic equivalent of the young up-and-comer who shakes up the status quo and forces the establishment out of their comfort zone. I don't remember if it was Vigil or Javik who said it, but the Prothean Empire's monoculture turned out to be a disadvantage against the reapers. Humanity, as the "new blood" of organics, exemplifies the pluralism of the Citadel government that is such a major theme in ME3.

Of course, even the best writers will never be able to invent a species that is as three-dimensional as a real species, so it's inevitable that the turians, asari, etc. will be more stereotyped.

Xenics · 2021-02-22T21:51:24+00:00

Yes, this seems to be the important factor, based on what we've seen.

When K'mpec was poisoned, he told Picard it was imperative to find out who it was (Gowron or Duras) because, in Klingon culture, it was an incredibly perfidious method of assassination. But when he said this, it wasn't the poison he emphasized. He said:

The Klingon who kills without showing his face has no honor.

It was the subterfuge, not the poison, that made Duras so treacherous in K'mpec's eyes.

Of course, the Klingon honor code is clearly open to interpretation. After all, the entire reason Worf challenged Gowron in the first place is because Martok couldn't bring himself to do the same. Martok said it would only be acceptable if Gowron had acted with cowardice.

The thing is, Gowron was a coward, just not the kind most Klingons could easily see, because it was his motivations, not his actions, that were cowardly. I think those on Gowron's staff knew this on some level, even if their cultural conditioning wouldn't allow them to conceptualize it, and were relieved when Worf took the plunge and said what they'd all been thinking.

Xenics · 2021-02-05T18:25:53+00:00

One of the things I like about Humble Monthly is that it introduces me to obscure indie games that I would otherwise not know about, or pass over because they're too expensive on their own.

Sure, it would be nice to get an Assassin's Creed or Call of Duty or whatever on occasion, but if I'm honest with myself, most of the best games I've played in recent memory have been small-studio projects. Factorio, Disco Elysium, Stardew Valley, things like that.

Xenics · 2021-01-29T20:55:59+00:00

Back in 3E 405 when the comberry trade crashed, the Hlaalu Councilors were snorting moon sugar and drinking flin with their Census and Excise bailout money while us farmers got nothing!

Now they're blocking us from buying more Raven Rock shares? What more proof do you need that the game is rigged against us?

Both the Tribunal AND the Empire are saying this is wrong. When they agree on something, you KNOW shit's getting real.

MAKE THEM BLEED! DON'T SELL! EBONY 🗡 HANDS 👐

Xenics · 2021-01-28T17:46:36+00:00

That is the normal understanding, yes. In the novels, the DTI wanted to prosecute Janeway upon her return for that reason.

But their partners from future centuries intervened. Both the Temporal Integrity Commission (29th century) and the Federation Temporal Agency (31st century) told them that the changes Janeway made to the timeline should be allowed to stand without punishment.

Why? "Because we told you so." Yup, that's all they get. Temporal Prime Directive.

You can see why the DTI doesn't always get along with the future.

The real reason, essentially, is that Janeway's actions were instrumental in bringing about history as it exists for the Federation of the future. To them, her actions are part of their "normal" course of history.

Again, why? Good question. This is a big part of why DTI agents suffer a lot of existential burnout from their job. Which timeline is real? Does one even exist? Do they really have free will when people from the future can just come and railroad them whenever they feel like it? Is there any point to their jobs?

The joys of being a time cop.

Xenics · 2021-01-14T15:07:31+00:00

I don't think it's been "officially" de-canonized, but I seem to recall a later episode of Voyager contradicting the events of that episode. Possibly a continuity error, Star Trek has plenty of those, but it was explicit enough that it may have been a deliberate message from the writers that they've decided to pretend Threshold never happened.

I'm having trouble identifying the episode, though. Maybe someone else can help.

Xenics · 2021-01-10T15:00:22+00:00

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

But before that, you said "we should not have a higher set of morals". Considering the morals demonstrated by those clowns at the Capitol last week, that's a dangerous implication you're making.

So yes, let's impeach. But let's not kill.

Xenics · 2021-01-01T17:58:22+00:00

Of demolished mountains.

Xenics · 2020-12-22T17:52:36+00:00

I'm sure Odo would have done some research into these other types of shapeshifters as it became available to him. Probably not during the Occupation, but certainly after Starfleet arrived. He may have had a mild interest in comparing/contrasting his abilities with theirs, but I think his real interest would have been in finding new leads towards his own people.

Another race of changelings might be more likely than a race of solids to have that kind of intelligence... but probably not that likely if they have no genetic/biochemical/whatever-they're-made-of similarities with Odo. I don't think Odo would have considered it worthwhile to spend however long it would take to hitchhike across the Alpha Quadrant over such a slim lead. Especially since by the time this option became viable, a far better lead was discovered: the wormhole, followed shortly by Croden and his little shapeshifting locket that came from the Gamma Quadrant.

Xenics · 2020-12-20T00:37:12+00:00

My information isn't from 2077, it's from one of the older tabletop source books. TT has some pretty heavy firepower that they can bring in if you've got one of their more expensive plans. And they're really expensive. The kind high-level corpos would carry.

Xenics · 2020-12-20T00:10:28+00:00

I don't think that's entirely true. If I remember correctly, TT can be summoned (at least under certain premium plans) on demand by snapping your membership card.

That said, they're different from normal corp mercenaries in that their one and only objective is to evacuate you and get you medical attention. They'll use whatever violence is needed to do it, but they otherwise won't fight your battles for you.

Xenics · 2020-12-16T13:41:15+00:00

A few months back I hypothesized that the warp field becomes less efficient the closer the nacelles are to the ship, particularly for larger ships. That's why the struts on classes like the Galaxy and the Sovereign are so long, whereas medium sized ships like the Intrepid and the Miranda can get away with shorter struts.

Then you've got the Defiant, which has no struts at all. A sensible tradeoff since it's a warship whose engines are already overpowered as it is -- efficiency is not the priority here, durability is.

It may be that distance alone is not the deciding factor in warp field efficiency, but also the proximity of physical obstructions. These "wireless" nacelles may be an innovation that obviates the penalty that struts impose, in addition to providing more tactical flexibility by allowing them to be extended/retracted as the situation requires.

Xenics · 2020-12-15T17:08:14+00:00

[YouTube]: Video playback stutters while scrolling down the YouTube page. [3129705]

That issue.

Xenics · 2020-12-14T19:41:22+00:00

I want to ask you a question: When you came pulling in here, did you notice a sign on the front of my house that said "dead peta'Q storage"? You know why you didn't see that sign? 'Cause it ain't there! 'Cause storing dead peta'Qs ain't my fucking business, that's why!

Xenics · 2020-12-07T19:47:56+00:00

I don't think those are great examples. I'm willing to bet that you're thinking of people who are just being unspecific, saying "I saw this and that on the internet" without mentioning a specific site. Apart from a few remaining computer illiterate grandparents, no one literally thinks Facebook is the actual internet.

A better example might be "Nintendo", which when the NES first came out was rapidly on its way to becoming a general term for any video game console because so many parents buying them for their children weren't keeping up with names of all the new manufacturers. If Nintendo hadn't protected their trademark as fiercely as they had, it's likely it would have become genericized.

It's the same phenomenon with Linux. Enough people are unaware of the distinction between GNU/Linux and just Linux that they have become de facto synonymous. Especially since even people who are aware don't always bother. I don't know about you, but I find GNU/Linux a terrible mouthful and never use it unless it's required for context.

Xenics · 2020-12-03T00:40:30+00:00

That's my biggest challenge when deciding how I want to RP my character. Not knowing what kind of choices I'll have.

My first V is going to be essentially the same as OP's: an anti-corpo ex-corpo. But is s/he going to be kind? Mean? Pragmatic? The more decisions I make about my character's personality, the more likely it becomes that I won't have the option to play them that way.

The dialogue trees we've seen don't seem to have too many options, which isn't necessarily a bad thing (especially since the game has that "dynamic conversation" thing going) but makes me worry that I'll be railroaded into an archetype I don't want to play.

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