Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis wrote: A rose by any other name I replied: ...is the sexual organ of a thorny shrub ;-) (I wish I could remember where I first heard that...) Travis responded: lol Well if you remember, enlighten me as to the origins of it!! -Travis was it a witty biology teacher? Edmunds Something in the back of my brain is telling me it was a Heinlein character, maybe Jubal Harshaw or one of the other Old Man characters. I'm almost positive it was from some work of fiction, I think I remember reading it in the form of a conversation. But I could be wrong :-) Reggie Bautista Maybe Alberto Knows Maru ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Matt Grimaldi [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2003 11:41 PM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Reggie Bautista wrote: Matt wrote: -- Matt ...who wonders whether the monkeys' script revisions for Hamlet were any good... Is this possible? Hamlet was perfect, after all ;-) Reggie Bautista The question is not whether it's possible, but rather, exactly how improbable is it? :-) -- Matt Well, I guess with a sufficiently hot cup of tea... :-) Reggie Bautista ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Reggie Bautista wrote: Matt wrote: -- Matt ...who wonders whether the monkeys' script revisions for Hamlet were any good... Is this possible? Hamlet was perfect, after all ;-) Reggie Bautista The question is not whether it's possible, but rather, exactly how improbable is it? :-) -- Matt ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Matt wrote: -- Matt ...who wonders whether the monkeys' script revisions for Hamlet were any good... Is this possible? Hamlet was perfect, after all ;-) Reggie Bautista _ Tired of slow downloads? Compare online deals from your local high-speed providers now. https://broadband.msn.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: A rose by any other name ...is the sexual organ of a thorny shrub ;-) (I wish I could remember where I first heard that...) Reggie Bautista _ Get dial-up Internet access now with our best offer: 6 months @$9.95/month! http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
In a message dated 12/22/2003 8:27:57 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Matt wrote: -- Matt ...who wonders whether the monkeys' script revisions for Hamlet were any good... Is this possible? Hamlet was perfect, after all ;-) Reggie Bautista ::Picks up script at random:: The playdough's the thing, where we may catch the Conga line of the king. Hmm... It all depends on what you're looking for. Vilyehm Teighlore ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 12:37 PM 12/18/03, Julia Thompson wrote: Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 00:21:04 -0600 -- Ronn! :) who seldom hears Mr. Blankenship except from students or from people who are trying to sell him something . . . lol Well I figured Ronn was a little too informal. Also figured a Beserker would be right up your alley seeing as how it's old school sci-fi. As for me trying to sell you something...wanna buy my marble collection? -Travis trying to lose his marbles Edmunds. Well, we tend toward the informal here, and it's actually Ronn!, not Ronn. :) (Took me awhile to get that, myself.) While Greg Bear got it right the first time . . . In general, look how folks refer to themselves and how other people refer to them, and take that as your lead for what to call someone. Julia and you *really* don't have to call me Mrs. Thompson here Has anybody _ever_ called you Mrs. Thompson here? -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 10:02 AM Subject: Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. At 12:37 PM 12/18/03, Julia Thompson wrote: Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 00:21:04 -0600 -- Ronn! :) who seldom hears Mr. Blankenship except from students or from people who are trying to sell him something . . . lol Well I figured Ronn was a little too informal. Also figured a Beserker would be right up your alley seeing as how it's old school sci-fi. As for me trying to sell you something...wanna buy my marble collection? -Travis trying to lose his marbles Edmunds. Well, we tend toward the informal here, and it's actually Ronn!, not Ronn. :) (Took me awhile to get that, myself.) While Greg Bear got it right the first time . . . In general, look how folks refer to themselves and how other people refer to them, and take that as your lead for what to call someone. Julia and you *really* don't have to call me Mrs. Thompson here Has anybody _ever_ called you Mrs. Thompson here? Well.there was the time the guy with the bowler and cane popped his head into her upstairs bedroom window, just after Julia destroyed an android sent to kidnap her, and said Mrs. ThompsonYou're needed! But that was a while back. xponent The Power Of Pop Culture Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Ronn!Blankenship wrote: At 12:37 PM 12/18/03, Julia Thompson wrote: Julia and you *really* don't have to call me Mrs. Thompson here Has anybody _ever_ called you Mrs. Thompson here? No, but there's a first time for everything. :) Plus which, *you* had already gotten Mr. Blankenship in the thread, I figured I ought to act pre-emptively. Julia p.s. just read Rob's post on the subject, and his is a lot funnier than mine... ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 12:02 PM Subject: Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Julia p.s. just read Rob's post on the subject, and his is a lot funnier than mine... LOL And I was a bit worried that no one would get the reference. G xponent Cue The Theme Music Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 12:22 PM 12/21/03, Robert Seeberger wrote: - Original Message - From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 12:02 PM Subject: Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Julia p.s. just read Rob's post on the subject, and his is a lot funnier than mine... LOL And I was a bit worried that no one would get the reference. G Why? Did you think it lacked a-peel? -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 12:25 PM Subject: Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. At 12:22 PM 12/21/03, Robert Seeberger wrote: - Original Message - From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 12:02 PM Subject: Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Julia p.s. just read Rob's post on the subject, and his is a lot funnier than mine... LOL And I was a bit worried that no one would get the reference. G Why? Did you think it lacked a-peel? Certainly! But I can stand in inSteed. G xponent Avengence Is Mine Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2003 12:02:59 -0600 Ronn!Blankenship wrote: Has anybody _ever_ called you Mrs. Thompson here? No, but there's a first time for everything. :) Plus which, *you* had already gotten Mr. Blankenship in the thread, I figured I ought to act pre-emptively. Julia A pre-emptive strike against formality...now that has possibilities.lol -Travis dadaism anybody? Edmunds _ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
David Hobby asked: If we involve time travel and other near-infinite improbabilities, why not count the Heart of Gold? Not sure what book it's from. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. A must read Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Alberto Monteiro [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 19:43:13 + Just go on the capabilities of that ship within it's own Universe, and apply it to our simulation. Some ships would quite simply have no chance against others. Star Trek Universe starships would take most anything we could throw at them based on what they can do within that Universe. If it's tough it's tough. The Star Trek ships can't even block attacks by other things from the Star Trek Universe! They would be easily blasted by anything. Alberto Monteiro I'm not talking about Federation/Starfleet ships. I mean ships in general from that Universe. Think about the dinosaur ship from Voyager. Or the Edo Guardian, as I have already mentioned. Many, many ships... _ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Damon Agretto wrote: Heh, again I would pick the Zentraedi Nupetiet-vernitz from Macross. The Heavy P-beam cannon would do the job. And if that didn't do it, then the hundreds (possibly thousands) of Regults and fighters will do it... Damon. Hey! I was going to mention SDF-1, or rather, whatever SDF-1 was before it crashed on Earth and started the Robotech series. And why hasn't anyone mentioned the Death Star (with the exhaust port designed and shielded properly). In all honesty, there's so much we don't know about the conditions of space combat and the capabilities of the opposing force that much of this discussion is meaningless. Also, many of these comparisons are between universes with different physics. For example, Star Trek space combat (borrowing from 19th cent. naval tradition) doesn't involve small fighter craft at all, while Star Wars space combat (borrowing from 20th cent. naval tradition) is almost all about fighter craft. We don't know if shields are even possible, what kinds of weapons are available (and what speeds do they travel at, by the way?). What speeds the ships are capable of, and so on. For all we know, the most effective weapon could be the wake from a bussard ramship... -- Matt ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
David Hobby wrote: Alberto Monteiro wrote: David Hobby wrote: Comparing starships from different universes is difficult, to say the least. I think it's impossible. Take the most powerful ship, and it loses to Heinlein's Gay Deceiver, who can jump back to a time _before_ the construction of that other ship and blast its factory out of existence. Alberto Monteiro It depends what model of time travel you are using. I like a multiple worlds interpretation, since there are no paradoxes in it. Heinlein's ship goes back, destroys the other ship's factory, and goes forward again. Now it is on a line without the other ship. But from the other ship's point of view, Heinlein's ship goes back and never returns (i.e. disappears). That sounds like a draw, at best. ---David If we involve time travel and other near-infinite improbabilities, why not count the Heart of Gold? Not only could it reduce any opposing ship to never-existence, it can also shape the universe into whatever form you desire. -- Matt ...who wonders whether the monkeys' script revisions for Hamlet were any good... ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Matt Grimaldi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 01:59:46 -0800 And why hasn't anyone mentioned the Death Star (with the exhaust port designed and shielded properly). Haha!!! That's priceless! (All laughing aside though, I wouldn't want it) In all honesty, there's so much we don't know about the conditions of space combat and the capabilities of the opposing force that much of this discussion is meaningless. Also, many of these comparisons are between universes with different physics. True enough. However the whole point is to create scenarios like what we're doing. Simply pretend that we have a magical simulator that can simulate ANYTHING we want. It's so magical that it can blend the physics of different Universes, thus negating that problem in and of itself. For example, Star Trek space combat (borrowing from 19th cent. naval tradition) doesn't involve small fighter craft at all Runabouts, Maquee Raiders, shuttlecraft... Star Wars space combat (borrowing from 20th cent. naval tradition) is almost all about fighter craft. A runabout would flatten as many TIE-fighters as you could possibly send; alternate Universe physics problems or not. We don't know if shields are even possible, what kinds of weapons are available (and what speeds do they travel at, by the way?). What speeds the ships are capable of, and so on. -- Matt Just go on the capabilities of that ship within it's own Universe, and apply it to our simulation. Some ships would quite simply have no chance against others. Star Trek Universe starships would take most anything we could throw at them based on what they can do within that Universe. If it's tough it's tough. -Travis A rose by any other name would smell as sweet _ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Matt Grimaldi wrote: ... It depends what model of time travel you are using. I like a multiple worlds interpretation, since there are no paradoxes in it. Heinlein's ship goes back, destroys the other ship's factory, and goes forward again. Now it is on a line without the other ship. But from the other ship's point of view, Heinlein's ship goes back and never returns (i.e. disappears). That sounds like a draw, at best. ---David If we involve time travel and other near-infinite improbabilities, why not count the Heart of Gold? Not only could it reduce any opposing ship to never-existence, it can also shape the universe into whatever form you desire. -- Matt Not sure what book it's from. I still say that changing the universe should count as a draw. In a multiple worlds interpretation, it's really no better than running away. The only winner is the one that stays and fights! ---David ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Matt Grimaldi wrote: ... For example, Star Trek space combat (borrowing from 19th cent. naval tradition) doesn't involve small fighter craft at all, while Star Wars space combat (borrowing from 20th cent. naval tradition) is almost all about fighter craft. We don't know if shields are even possible, what kinds of weapons are available (and what speeds do they travel at, by the way?). What speeds the ships are capable of, and so on. For all we know, the most effective weapon could be the wake from a bussard ramship... -- Matt If shields are even possible? Don't tell me that you want to only allow starships that use what is accepted as real physics! If so, you might even have to give up your ramships... I can certainly design a good warship under those constraints, but I can't recall any stories that have such ships. (Help?) My guess is that the fairest thing is to get a good sample of stories, and allow any physics that occurs in more than half of them. (With obvious translations, so ansible = subspace radio = backchannel communicator, and so on.) ---David ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: True enough. However the whole point is to create scenarios like what we're doing. Simply pretend that we have a magical simulator that can simulate ANYTHING we want. It's so magical that it can blend the physics of different Universes, thus negating that problem in and of itself. That's the point of Heinlein's _The Number of the Beast_ and its sequels: the Gay Deceiver is not only a time-travelling and a multiverse-crossing machine, but it also moves in and _out_ of Universes with different physical laws, like the Land of Oz, Pellucidar, Lilliput and the world of Arthur's Round Table. Just go on the capabilities of that ship within it's own Universe, and apply it to our simulation. Some ships would quite simply have no chance against others. Star Trek Universe starships would take most anything we could throw at them based on what they can do within that Universe. If it's tough it's tough. The Star Trek ships can't even block attacks by other things from the Star Trek Universe! They would be easily blasted by anything. Ok, maybe we should do this _in a serious way_. Let's take the rules of any RPG, and try to project our favorite races and ships into that RPG. Then it would be easily to simulate the battles. What about using GURPS? They already have ready sets for many of those different universes - including those with Time Travel. Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
On 20 Dec 2003, at 12:25 am, David Hobby wrote:
If shields are even possible? Don't tell me that
you want to only allow starships that use what is accepted
as real physics! If so, you might even have to give up your
ramships...
I can certainly design a good warship under those
constraints, but I can't recall any stories that have such
ships. (Help?)
My guess is that the fairest thing is to get a good
sample of stories, and allow any physics that occurs in more
than half of them. (With obvious translations, so ansible =
subspace radio = backchannel communicator, and so on.)
Given the progression in E E 'Doc' Smith's _Skylark_ series something
around Skylark X would be a multiverse smasher :)
And that series started in 1915 :)
{And then he wrote the Lensman series...}
--
William T Goodall
Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.
- Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949
___
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Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
David Hobby wrote: Comparing starships from different universes is difficult, to say the least. I think it's impossible. Take the most powerful ship, and it loses to Heinlein's Gay Deceiver, who can jump back to a time _before_ the construction of that other ship and blast its factory out of existence. Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Robert Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 18:52:10 -0600 LOL Never mind..I'm brain dead tonight. G Without protonsthere is nothing to attract electrons. xponent Proton Bait Maru rob Don't feel bad. Check out my thoughts on gravity and rejoice in the fact that as big a blunder as you might make, there is always someone who outdoes your worst...lol _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 00:21:04 -0600 At 09:59 PM 12/17/03, David Hobby wrote: Travis Edmunds wrote: How about a Berserker? (Mr. Blankenship should know what that is) Are you saying that it takes one to know one? Er...I don't think so...unless you are a self proclaimed Beserker...? -- Ronn! :) who seldom hears Mr. Blankenship except from students or from people who are trying to sell him something . . . lol Well I figured Ronn was a little too informal. Also figured a Beserker would be right up your alley seeing as how it's old school sci-fi. As for me trying to sell you something...wanna buy my marble collection? -Travis trying to lose his marbles Edmunds. _ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Alberto Monteiro [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 11:13:50 + David Hobby wrote: Comparing starships from different universes is difficult, to say the least. I think it's impossible. Take the most powerful ship, and it loses to Heinlein's Gay Deceiver, who can jump back to a time _before_ the construction of that other ship and blast its factory out of existence. Alberto Monteiro It's not impossible. It is difficult and only accurate in relation to one's conjectures, but impossible is too strong a word. Also if the Gay Deceiver has that ability, it simply must be excluded. It's a matter self moderation really, similar to this list. _ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 00:21:04 -0600 -- Ronn! :) who seldom hears Mr. Blankenship except from students or from people who are trying to sell him something . . . lol Well I figured Ronn was a little too informal. Also figured a Beserker would be right up your alley seeing as how it's old school sci-fi. As for me trying to sell you something...wanna buy my marble collection? -Travis trying to lose his marbles Edmunds. Well, we tend toward the informal here, and it's actually Ronn!, not Ronn. :) (Took me awhile to get that, myself.) In general, look how folks refer to themselves and how other people refer to them, and take that as your lead for what to call someone. Julia and you *really* don't have to call me Mrs. Thompson here ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 12:37:04 -0600 Well, we tend toward the informal here, and it's actually Ronn!, not Ronn. :) (Took me awhile to get that, myself.) In general, look how folks refer to themselves and how other people refer to them, and take that as your lead for what to call someone. Julia and you *really* don't have to call me Mrs. Thompson here Thanks Mrs. Thomps...er I mean Julia... _ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 12:37:04 -0600 Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 00:21:04 -0600 -- Ronn! :) who seldom hears Mr. Blankenship except from students or from people who are trying to sell him something . . . lol Well I figured Ronn was a little too informal. Also figured a Beserker would be right up your alley seeing as how it's old school sci-fi. As for me trying to sell you something...wanna buy my marble collection? -Travis trying to lose his marbles Edmunds. Well, we tend toward the informal here, and it's actually Ronn!, not Ronn. :) (Took me awhile to get that, myself.) In general, look how folks refer to themselves and how other people refer to them, and take that as your lead for what to call someone. Julia and you *really* don't have to call me Mrs. Thompson here How about ListMistress? :-D Jon who will wisely keep his mouth shut about the Babes of Brin-L idea maru Le Blog: http://zarq.livejournal.com _ Worried about inbox overload? Get MSN Extra Storage now! http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Jon Gabriel wrote: From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Formality Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 12:37:04 -0600 Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 00:21:04 -0600 -- Ronn! :) who seldom hears Mr. Blankenship except from students or from people who are trying to sell him something . . . lol Well I figured Ronn was a little too informal. Also figured a Beserker would be right up your alley seeing as how it's old school sci-fi. As for me trying to sell you something...wanna buy my marble collection? -Travis trying to lose his marbles Edmunds. Well, we tend toward the informal here, and it's actually Ronn!, not Ronn. :) (Took me awhile to get that, myself.) In general, look how folks refer to themselves and how other people refer to them, and take that as your lead for what to call someone. Julia and you *really* don't have to call me Mrs. Thompson here How about ListMistress? :-D snort If that's what you want to call me, I won't try to stop you. Jon who will wisely keep his mouth shut about the Babes of Brin-L idea maru Hey, anything that'll make me feel a little better about the current state of my body is *fine* with me. :) BTW, in adding various books about raising twins to my amazon.com wishlist, I ended up with a bunch of baby- and pregnancy-related books in my recommendations, including one titled _From Baby to Bikini_. I have that one now, and am going through it once to figure out where I need to start, and then it's a regimen of ab-toning exercises for me every other day for awhile. (And at some point I really ought to start using the Bowflex again; just doing the arm and shoulder exercises for a month will probably do wonders.) So that's a good thing about amazon.com Julia the weirdest amazon.com recommendation was when the system thought I'd like a quesadilla maker because I'd rated the Medela breastfeeding stool... ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Alberto Monteiro wrote: David Hobby wrote: Comparing starships from different universes is difficult, to say the least. I think it's impossible. Take the most powerful ship, and it loses to Heinlein's Gay Deceiver, who can jump back to a time _before_ the construction of that other ship and blast its factory out of existence. Alberto Monteiro It depends what model of time travel you are using. I like a multiple worlds interpretation, since there are no paradoxes in it. Heinlein's ship goes back, destroys the other ship's factory, and goes forward again. Now it is on a line without the other ship. But from the other ship's point of view, Heinlein's ship goes back and never returns (i.e. disappears). That sounds like a draw, at best. ---David Why exactly SHOULD the entire line with the other ship in it disappear when Heinlein's ship mucks around in its past? ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 09:40 AM 12/14/03, Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 22:34:58 -0600 I (and others) would argue that, depending on the circumstances, most powerful does not necessarily mean able to exert the greatest number of newtons of force of raw strength. (Although apparently that seems to be an interpretation of the question which started this thread.) And though holding up a mountain range (in one of the issues of _Secret Wars_) does indeed require a lot of raw strength, on at least one occasion (Superboy Vol. 1 #58 (July 1957): The 100 New Feats of Superboy ¹) the Silver Age Superboy moved the entire Earth a small distance (then moved it back) and the pre-reboot Mon-El has moved a (smaller?) body a greater distance in order to hide it from space pirates of some sort inside a dark nebula (an issue of LSH sometime in the mid-80s, IIRC). Ah! That's not the basis of the Hulks seemingly infinite capacity to grow ever more powerful. Though a big part of his power is in fact based on strength, there is more to it than that. I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and assume that you are aware of the Hulk shifting or as many like to call it, changing colors. Each shift represents new levels of possible power; similar to Super Saiyans in the DBZ Universe. The Hulk has a healing factor, plus a certain level of invulnerability which increases with his anger level (which is the main component in his Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde transformation), as well as with whatever color he is at the time. That being said, lets take a look at Superman. He is one of the toughest sob's in the comic world. Certainly one of the most powerful. However he has limits. Yes, he is extremely strong/intelligent/fast/invulnerable (and lets not forget those wonderful lasers of his) but the Hulk at his primary level is more than a match for Mr. Kent. Not saying that Superman couldn't defeat the Hulk, but he'd have his hands full with the big green goon. Besides. the Hulk can just keep on shifting, theoretically...to infinity and beyond. As for Superboy and his accomplishments, I shall disregard them due to the time during which they were released. It's very similar to Star Trek TOS compared to Next Gen. Nearly every alien species encountered were these mysterious, uber-advanced, malevolent beings. It's quite simply shows us the mentality of that time, which was more in tune with the imagination of people who were subsequently thinking a certain way due to the society of the time. STTNG however, was based more on hard science, and is/was a reflection of the world view of today. Of course, since I grew up during the Sixties, the Silver Age comics and TOS were the first versions I was introduced to, so I naturally consider those versions canonical and later versions which conflict with them revisionist. ;-) -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 17:28:42 -0600 At 10:40 AM 12/16/03, Travis Edmunds wrote: Also, the planet killer seems to be somewhat of a last ditch effort, to create something so powerful as to be impervious to the Borg and just about anything else (it had a neutronium hull). Forget the neutronium hull. What I want is some of the stuff they used to brace the interior so the neutronium hull wouldn't collapse into a solid sphere under its own weight and self-gravity. Now _that_ has to be strong stuff . . . -- Ronn! :) I'm pretty sure that's a highly improbable scenario. Isn't gravity based on size and not weight? If so, then I should also point out that the planet killer isn't THAT big. So the neutronium may be dense enough to create a few engineering problems, but the gravitational pull would technically be too weak to cause problems, right? -Travis just a thought Edmunds... _ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 17:01:44 -0700 I still think Scarans are superior. They may be a bit slow, but they are stronger and practically bullet-proof. Well I can create Jem' Hadar extremely quickly. Besides they're my favorite color blue... Assuming that the G'ould mothership had the latest (in the SG-1 series) in shield and weapon technology, I would say it would win the battle against the Borg Cube unless the Borg Cube was actually piloted by Borg. Star Trek: TNG early Borg episodes demonstrated that the power of the Borg ship in regeneration and defenses/adaptability relies on the actions of the Borg crew working as a coordinated unit. If the Borg are piloting the Borg Cube, the G'ould Mothership wouldn't stand a chance IMO. Interesting. However lets look at weapons and shielding. How well would the Gouald shielding hold up against a barrage of fire from the Borg? Reciprocate that and think on Borg shielding holding up against the Gouald weapons which are essentially just really big particle weapons. Personally though, I would choose a Leviathan gunship equiped with a peacekeeper defence field. High weapon power, self-repairing (as long as damage isn't too extensive), and can escape quickly if the situation calls for it. How about a Berserker? (Mr. Blankenship should know what that is) If you think Tinman and a Leviathan gunship are too outlandish, how about the Scimitar from Star Trek: Nemesis? It took two Romulan Warbirds and the Enterprise E just to cripple the ship (and the battle resulted in the Romulan Warbirds and the Enterprise E being even more crippled than the Scimitar, only an internal attack on the Scimitar resulted in its destruction). Nothing is too outlandish, as long as it adheres to some unwritten, unofficial rules. As long as we're talking about starships, it makes no sense to say something like Q could take em all.lol But even sentient creatures like the Crystaline Entity are valid. Let me pose a scenario. Lets say you colonize a system (this is a conglomeration of any and all fictional Universes that you can dream up). You have ten million drones working for you, just to begin some rudimentary industry, whatever. Anyway you have the Edo Guardian orbiting your planet (looks like a phased cloke, could possibly be inter-dimensional). Suddenly you detect a Borg tactical cube on an intercept course with your planet. You have the Edo Guardian protecting you, but are you afraid? Do you have faith in the ability of the Edo Guardian to protect you and your planet. If not then what other singular craft or in some cases entity would you want for defensive purposes? _ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 06:59:28 -0600 Of course, since I grew up during the Sixties, the Silver Age comics and TOS were the first versions I was introduced to, so I naturally consider those versions canonical and later versions which conflict with them revisionist. ;-) -- Ronn! :) Interesting insight; quite understandable. -Travis _ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] snip Forget the neutronium hull. What I want is some of the stuff they used to brace the interior so the neutronium hull wouldn't collapse into a solid sphere under its own weight and self-gravity. Now _that_ has to be strong stuff . . . -- Ronn! :) I'm pretty sure that's a highly improbable scenario. Isn't gravity based on size and not weight? If so, then I should also point out that the planet killer isn't THAT big. So the neutronium may be dense enough to create a few engineering problems, but the gravitational pull would technically be too weak to cause problems, right? Nope, mass causes gravity, size doesn't. Admitted, most very large objects also have lots of mass, but a volume of highly dense matter would produce more gravity than an equal volume of low density matter. Technically, though, since it was almost cylindrical (which would act like an arch) and mostly hollow, I imagine that, if the neutronium is strong enough to be impervious to most weapons, it would probably be able to support it's own inward gravity as that gravity shouldn't be that massive. Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
I'm pretty sure that's a highly improbable scenario. Isn't gravity based on size and not weight? If so, then I should also point out that the planet killer isn't THAT big. So the neutronium may be dense enough to create a few engineering problems, but the gravitational pull would technically be too weak to cause problems, right? I retract my gravity statement.lol. _ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: Lets take a look at starships. I'll just throw a couple into the mix to start things off. -A Borg cube (standard) vs -A Goauld mothership (Stargate) - The enhanced Streaker at the end of Heaven's Reach!!! Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 9:52 AM Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 17:28:42 -0600 At 10:40 AM 12/16/03, Travis Edmunds wrote: Also, the planet killer seems to be somewhat of a last ditch effort, to create something so powerful as to be impervious to the Borg and just about anything else (it had a neutronium hull). Forget the neutronium hull. What I want is some of the stuff they used to brace the interior so the neutronium hull wouldn't collapse into a solid sphere under its own weight and self-gravity. Now _that_ has to be strong stuff . . . -- Ronn! :) I'm pretty sure that's a highly improbable scenario. Isn't gravity based on size and not weight? Gravity is based on mass. F=gm1m2/r^2 Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 10:48 AM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. From: Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] snip Forget the neutronium hull. What I want is some of the stuff they used to brace the interior so the neutronium hull wouldn't collapse into a solid sphere under its own weight and self-gravity. Now _that_ has to be strong stuff . . . -- Ronn! :) I'm pretty sure that's a highly improbable scenario. Isn't gravity based on size and not weight? If so, then I should also point out that the planet killer isn't THAT big. So the neutronium may be dense enough to create a few engineering problems, but the gravitational pull would technically be too weak to cause problems, right? Nope, mass causes gravity, size doesn't. Admitted, most very large objects also have lots of mass, but a volume of highly dense matter would produce more gravity than an equal volume of low density matter. Technically, though, since it was almost cylindrical (which would act like an arch) and mostly hollow, I imagine that, if the neutronium is strong enough to be impervious to most weapons, it would probably be able to support it's own inward gravity as that gravity shouldn't be that massive. Lets see, the densities we would be talking about are around 3*10^14 g/cc. The mass of the sun is 2 x 10^33 g. So, the mass of the sun would be packed into a sphere of about 6*10^18 cc. or 6*10^12 m or 6*10^3 km. This would require a sphere roughly 10 km in radius. But, the radius is, roughly 7* smaller than the sun's, so the force of gravity would be close to 5 billion times as strong as that found on the surface of the sun. The weapon is a cone, not a sphere, but the force of gravity would be huge. If desired, I could probably calculate the maximum force, given the dimensions...and the free time to write the program. :-) Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message - From: Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 10:48 AM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. snip Nope, mass causes gravity, size doesn't. Admitted, most very large objects also have lots of mass, but a volume of highly dense matter would produce more gravity than an equal volume of low density matter. Technically, though, since it was almost cylindrical (which would act like an arch) and mostly hollow, I imagine that, if the neutronium is strong enough to be impervious to most weapons, it would probably be able to support it's own inward gravity as that gravity shouldn't be that massive. Lets see, the densities we would be talking about are around 3*10^14 g/cc. 300 Billion Kilograms per cubic centimeter? We aren't talking about a black hole are we? Is density that high even possible? I mean, there has to be a finite limit of how many protons and neutrons that you can pack into such a small space. If 6.02*10^23 protons only wieghs1 kilogram (IIRC), and neutrons weigh roughly the same as protons, that would require about 1.8*10^38 protons or nuetrons packed into a single cubic centimeter. Assuming a spherical model for protons and neutrons and perfect packing of protons and nuetrons (assuming no empty space at all, which would be impossible with a spherical model): 1.8*10^38*(3/4)*pi*r^3=1cm^3 4.24*10^38*r^3=cm^3 r^3=2.36*10^-39cm^3 r=1.33*10-13 cm That would mean the radius of a proton/neutron would have to be less than 1.33*10^-13 cm. Is that right? Michael Harney - No Room For Electrons Maru [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 3:40 PM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. 300 Billion Kilograms per cubic centimeter? We aren't talking about a black hole are we? Is density that high even possible? I mean, there has to be a finite limit of how many protons and neutrons that you can pack into such a small space. Right, but there are no protons. To quote the website I obtained the density from http://www.astro.umd.edu/~miller/nstar.html its energetically favored to have protons and electrons combine and form neutrons and neutrinos. If 6.02*10^23 protons only wieghs1 kilogram (IIRC), and neutrons weigh roughly the same as protons, that would require about 1.8*10^38 protons or nuetrons packed into a single cubic centimeter. Assuming a spherical model for protons and neutrons and perfect packing of protons and nuetrons (assuming no empty space at all, which would be impossible with a spherical model): 1.8*10^38*(3/4)*pi*r^3=1cm^3 4.24*10^38*r^3=cm^3 r^3=2.36*10^-39cm^3 r=1.33*10-13 cm That would mean the radius of a proton/neutron would have to be less than 1.33*10^-13 cm. Is that right? Its actually the neutron degeneracy that keeps things from getting denser. Higher densities are thought possible in a quark/gluon soup. Remember, neutrons are really not solid spheres. Quarks, electrons, and gluons are point like (as far as we can tell now). Dan M. ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 4:10 PM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Its actually the neutron degeneracy that keeps things from getting denser. Higher densities are thought possible in a quark/gluon soup. Remember, neutrons are really not solid spheres. Quarks, electrons, and gluons are point like (as far as we can tell now). Say..wouldn't a neutron star pretty much be like a gigantic atom? (Minus protons of course) With an electron shell? I think that last year I posted an article about the discovery of a Quark Star. IIRC, it was more or less a neutron star that had collapsed into a sphere of mostly strange quarks. xponent Weird Questions Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
LOL Never mind..I'm brain dead tonight. G Without protonsthere is nothing to attract electrons. xponent Proton Bait Maru rob - Original Message - From: Robert Seeberger [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 6:20 PM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. - Original Message - From: Dan Minette [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 4:10 PM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Its actually the neutron degeneracy that keeps things from getting denser. Higher densities are thought possible in a quark/gluon soup. Remember, neutrons are really not solid spheres. Quarks, electrons, and gluons are point like (as far as we can tell now). Say..wouldn't a neutron star pretty much be like a gigantic atom? (Minus protons of course) With an electron shell? I think that last year I posted an article about the discovery of a Quark Star. IIRC, it was more or less a neutron star that had collapsed into a sphere of mostly strange quarks. xponent Weird Questions Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Robert Seeberger wrote: Say..wouldn't a neutron star pretty much be like a gigantic atom? (Minus protons of course) With an electron shell? A neutron star _is_ a gigantic atom, with a core of neutrons that don't collapse more because they must obey the same exclusion principle that creates shells of barions in the nuclei of normal atoms with an external layer of protons and - maybe - electrons. Ok, maybe it's not a gigantic atom: it's a gigantic ion, surrounded by atoms and electrons. Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: How about a Berserker? (Mr. Blankenship should know what that is) If you think Tinman and a Leviathan gunship are too outlandish, how about the Scimitar from Star Trek: Nemesis? It took two Romulan Warbirds and the Enterprise E just to cripple the ship (and the battle resulted in the Romulan Warbirds and the Enterprise E being even more crippled than the Scimitar, only an internal attack on the Scimitar resulted in its destruction). Nothing is too outlandish, as long as it adheres to some unwritten, unofficial rules. As long as we're talking about starships, it makes no sense to say something like Q could take em all.lol But even sentient creatures like the Crystaline Entity are valid. Let me pose a scenario. Lets say you colonize a system (this is a conglomeration of any and all fictional Universes that you can dream up). You have ten million drones working for you, just to begin some rudimentary industry, whatever. Anyway you have the Edo Guardian orbiting your planet (looks like a phased cloke, could possibly be inter-dimensional). Suddenly you detect a Borg tactical cube on an intercept course with your planet. You have the Edo Guardian protecting you, but are you afraid? Do you have faith in the ability of the Edo Guardian to protect you and your planet. If not then what other singular craft or in some cases entity would you want for defensive purposes? This is interesting. The best starship for offense might well not be best for defending a planet. For offense, you might want to impose some size limitations. I can probably produce stories that have STARS being moved--a star would make a pretty good weapon. Certainly the _Cities in Flight_ series by James Blish has a planet, piloted as a starship and used as a weapon. Comparing starships from different universes is difficult, to say the least. I would probably go with Sleeper Service, featured in _Excession_ by Ian Banks. Dimensions in the tens of kilometers, with many thousands of full-sized starships in its bays. Crew optional, since it's run by a superhuman AI. I guess the ships have shields, since force fields are used a lot in the Culture. They also have matter transmission and antimatter, which already gives one pretty powerful weapons. These seem to be fairly standard, so I assume they are all admissible. The weapon that you might not allow is 'gridfire', which remotely induces the vacuum in a location to manifest large amounts of energy. ---David ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 10:48 AM 12/17/03, Michael Harney wrote: From: Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] snip Forget the neutronium hull. What I want is some of the stuff they used to brace the interior so the neutronium hull wouldn't collapse into a solid sphere under its own weight and self-gravity. Now _that_ has to be strong stuff . . . -- Ronn! :) I'm pretty sure that's a highly improbable scenario. Isn't gravity based on size and not weight? If so, then I should also point out that the planet killer isn't THAT big. So the neutronium may be dense enough to create a few engineering problems, but the gravitational pull would technically be too weak to cause problems, right? Nope, mass causes gravity, size doesn't. Admitted, most very large objects also have lots of mass, but a volume of highly dense matter would produce more gravity than an equal volume of low density matter. Technically, though, since it was almost cylindrical (which would act like an arch) and mostly hollow, I imagine that, if the neutronium is strong enough to be impervious to most weapons, it would probably be able to support it's own inward gravity as that gravity shouldn't be that massive. Neutron stars aren't hollow. And any deviation from a perfect spherical shape is likely to be measures in millimeters. IOW, neutronium is not strong enough to support itself against its own weight due to its self-gravity, so the existence of the planet-killer implies requires the existence of something stronger to support it. -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 09:59 PM 12/17/03, David Hobby wrote: Travis Edmunds wrote: How about a Berserker? (Mr. Blankenship should know what that is) Are you saying that it takes one to know one? -- Ronn! :) who seldom hears Mr. Blankenship except from students or from people who are trying to sell him something . . . ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 14:38:42 -0800 There was a Star Trek TNG book that explained the cigar shaped planet killer in the original series, as being a sentient Borg Killer robot - a million of them would be handy Or does the initial requirements of thie thread require that a species fall within a strict carbon-based biological basis? The Borg Killer was searching for its mate. Does this count? Nerd From Hell The book is titled Vendetta. The planet killer encountered in TOS was an automated prototype of the one encountered in Vendetta. The purpose of the planet killer was to essentially fight the borg. And you know it's funny, because last night me and a friend were discussing that book. Initially we were thinking that the planet killer was created by the Preservers. But taking into account the relative age of the Borg, and the estimated age of the Preservers themselves, it is quite an impossibility that it was created by them. Especially when considering that the Preservers either transcended (a cliche that bothers me) or moved on to another Galaxy, OR perhaps moved on to extra-dimensional wanderings, hundreds of millions if not billions of years before the Borg even thought of those big nasty cubes. Besides, the planet killer wasn't as advanced as authentic Preserver technology, which for all intents and purposes is undectable, either by energy signatures etc... Anyway, the agreed upon plausibility was that the race that was wiped out by the Borg, and that Guinan is a member of, were the architects of the planet killer. We know for a fact that Guinan was on Earth (I think it was the 1800's??) which makes her a minimum of 400 years old. An individual of a species who lives that long, implies advanced biological evolution, which in turn implies advanced age of that species, which also implies advanced technological capacity. A notion that is backed up in the movie Generations, when that crazy scientist (who is also a member of that doomed race) knows how to cause a star to go nova, which subsequently changes the course of an unpredictable spacial anomoly (the Nexus). Also, the planet killer seems to be somewhat of a last ditch effort, to create something so powerful as to be impervious to the Borg and just about anything else (it had a neutronium hull). One more thing about the planet killer. It wasn't a robot, and it wasn't sentient per se. Although it did have the collective consciousness of the species who created it embedded into the ship itself, it still needed someone to captain the ship so to speak. As for my original thoughts in this thread, I have made a descision. I would pick the Jem'Hadar. Too many reasons to get into here, but they far exceeded the positive attributes of the other two candidates. _ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/photospgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
snip Initially we were thinking that the planet killer was created by the Preservers. But taking into account the relative age of the Borg, and the estimated age of the Preservers themselves, it is quite an impossibility that it was created by them. Especially when considering that the Preservers either transcended (a cliche that bothers me) or moved on to another Galaxy, OR perhaps moved on to extra-dimensional wanderings, hundreds of millions if not billions of years before the Borg even thought of those big nasty cubes. IIRC, The planet killer came from beyond this galaxy border, passing through the Great Barrier, did it not? snip Also, the planet killer seems to be somewhat of a last ditch effort, to create something so powerful as to be impervious to the Borg and just about anything else (it had a neutronium hull). One more thing about the planet killer. It wasn't a robot, and it wasn't sentient per se. Although it did have the collective consciousness of the species who created it embedded into the ship itself, it still needed someone to captain the ship so to speak. As for my original thoughts in this thread, I have made a descision. I would pick the Jem'Hadar. Too many reasons to get into here, but they far exceeded the positive attributes of the other two candidates. If we limit the selections to Star Trek aliens, I would not have made the choice of Jem' Hadar, largely because in the show, they always seemed to lose, often because of their dependency to the white (is this correct?) or they were outsmarted. In the ST realm, there was the salt-sucking doppleganger, The Horta (my favorite), Khan's legion of supermen, the Borg (of course), Data and Lor, the lizardman Kirk fought (I think it was Arena episode or something like that), and many others... Moving to the SW realm, how about a million Jedi? Heinlein's world - Starship Troopers... Of course... Harry Harrison - Any citizen from Deathworld... I'll have to break out my Barlow's Guide for some more ideas Nerd From Hell _ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/photospgmarket=en-caRU=ht tp%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgm arket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 12:20:53 -0800 IIRC, The planet killer came from beyond this galaxy border, passing through the Great Barrier, did it not? Yes. However it was established in the book, that it was built outside the Galactic rim to essentially hide it. When it was ready for action, the plan was to take it into the Galaxy and FIGHT. And of course, after much consideration the most plausible scenario is that Guinan's people built it. If we limit the selections to Star Trek aliens, I would not have made the choice of Jem' Hadar, largely because in the show, they always seemed to lose, often because of their dependency to the white (is this correct?) or they were outsmarted. Well, yes. They do have a built in addiction to the ketracel white (a tactic of the Founders to keep them completely loyal) but I don't think that's the reason the Dominion lost the war for the Alpha quadrant, so much as it was the fact that the Federatioin/Klingons/Romulans kicked their collective butt. In the ST realm, there was the salt-sucking doppleganger, The Horta (my favorite), Khan's legion of supermen, the Borg (of course), Data and Lor, the lizardman Kirk fought (I think it was Arena episode or something like that), and many others... I wasn't completely limiting myself to the Star Trek realm (Note my use of Jaffa from Stargate). However the fact that two of my prime choices were from Star Trek simply reflects my stipulations. I was using ONLY biological species (no cyborgsBorg, and no artificial lifeformsrobots/androids/Data Lor). I was also limiting myself to believeable and not too outlandish species (note my omissions of species such as the Q). Besides, using the likes of Kahn's supermen or the lizardman/men (Gorn) presented too many problems. I factored MANY things into my final decision. Moving to the SW realm, how about a million Jedi? Again too outlandish. Heinlein's world - Starship Troopers... Of course... Too outlandish Harry Harrison - Any citizen from Deathworld... Anyway, seeing as how I've made my mind up about the Jem'Hadar, would anyone care to move on? Lets take a look at starships. I'll just throw a couple into the mix to start things off. -A Borg cube (standard) vs -A Goauld mothership (Stargate) Discuss.. _ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: Anyway, the agreed upon plausibility was that the race that was wiped out by the Borg, and that Guinan is a member of, were the architects of the planet killer. We know for a fact that Guinan was on Earth (I think it was the 1800's??) which makes her a minimum of 400 years old. Certainly no later than 1910. :) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 10:40 AM 12/16/03, Travis Edmunds wrote: Also, the planet killer seems to be somewhat of a last ditch effort, to create something so powerful as to be impervious to the Borg and just about anything else (it had a neutronium hull). Forget the neutronium hull. What I want is some of the stuff they used to brace the interior so the neutronium hull wouldn't collapse into a solid sphere under its own weight and self-gravity. Now _that_ has to be strong stuff . . . -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 02:20 PM 12/16/03, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In the ST realm, there was the salt-sucking doppleganger, The Horta (my favorite), Khan's legion of supermen, the Borg (of course), Data and Lor, the lizardman Kirk fought (I think it was Arena episode or something like that), An adaptation of a story by Frederic Brown to the ST universe. -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] Anyway, seeing as how I've made my mind up about the Jem'Hadar, would anyone care to move on? I still think Scarans are superior. They may be a bit slow, but they are stronger and practically bullet-proof. Lets take a look at starships. I'll just throw a couple into the mix to start things off. -A Borg cube (standard) vs -A Goauld mothership (Stargate) Discuss.. Assuming that the G'ould mothership had the latest (in the SG-1 series) in shield and weapon technology, I would say it would win the battle against the Borg Cube unless the Borg Cube was actually piloted by Borg. Star Trek: TNG early Borg episodes demonstrated that the power of the Borg ship in regeneration and defenses/adaptability relies on the actions of the Borg crew working as a coordinated unit. If the Borg are piloting the Borg Cube, the G'ould Mothership wouldn't stand a chance IMO. Personally though, I would choose a Leviathan gunship equiped with a peacekeeper defence field. High weapon power, self-repairing (as long as damage isn't too extensive), and can escape quickly if the situation calls for it. If I had to pick from Star Trek though, I would pick Tinman. Now *that* was a powerful ship. If you think Tinman and a Leviathan gunship are too outlandish, how about the Scimitar from Star Trek: Nemesis? It took two Romulan Warbirds and the Enterprise E just to cripple the ship (and the battle resulted in the Romulan Warbirds and the Enterprise E being even more crippled than the Scimitar, only an internal attack on the Scimitar resulted in its destruction). Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Heh, again I would pick the Zentraedi Nupetiet-vernitz from Macross. The Heavy P-beam cannon would do the job. And if that didn't do it, then the hundreds (possibly thousands) of Regults and fighters will do it... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] snip If you think Tinman and a Leviathan gunship are too outlandish, how about the Scimitar from Star Trek: Nemesis? snip I almost forgot about Babylon 5 universe. How about the Vorlon planet killer? Hyperspace capable, able to singlehandedly destroy a planet, virtually indestructable... Now *that* is outlandish. How about a more realistic ship. The Excaliber maybe? Tinman, Leviathan gunships, and vorlon and shadow ships out of consideration, my vote would still be for the Scimitar, though it's hard to compare technology from different series. Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
I read somewhere that Asimov had a humans-only universe to sidestep that editorial requirement. Then wrote _The Gods Themselves_ (with aliens) after JWC's death. So the robots would not be considered non-human? I would think the robots might make good soldiers, if it wasn't for that pesky Law of Robotics... But alas... Would the robots be allowed to show wrath upon unfriendly aliens? Nerd from Hell ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
There was a Star Trek TNG book that explained the cigar shaped planet killer in the original series, as being a sentient Borg Killer robot - a million of them would be handy Or does the initial requirements of thie thread require that a species fall within a strict carbon-based biological basis? The Borg Killer was searching for its mate. Does this count? Nerd From Hell ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Matt Grimaldi wrote: -Klingons (Star Trek) -Jem'Hadar (Star Trek) The Caretaker featured in Voyager? Or perhaps any of the other warrier species would do. Then again, Janeway nearly beat or outsmarted all of them so I guess they aren't an obvious choice. ;o) Sonja GCU: Against all odds ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Chad Cooper wrote: But alas... Would the robots be allowed to show wrath upon unfriendly aliens? Yes, and they can be quite ruthless, as we read in the Foundation and Robots trilogy Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: There was a Star Trek TNG book that explained the cigar shaped planet killer in the original series, as being a sentient Borg Killer robot - a million of them would be handy Or does the initial requirements of thie thread require that a species fall within a strict carbon-based biological basis? The Borg Killer was searching for its mate. Does this count? I don't think that it said biological, but it did say ground force. I believe this leaves out a number of large sentient space ships. I also like Matt Grimaldi's suggestion of Pak protectors. ---David And the Episarchs! If they completely destroy the fabric of reality on the entire battlefield, that should count as a draw. : ) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
William Taylor wrote: I want a Hulk/Tick matchup. Unlimited power versus infinitely thick skull. Bzzt! I'm afraid the Tick is not invulnerable, but only nigh-invulnerable. I fear the Tick couldn't make the cut. OTOH, Tick vs. Ambush Bug has real possibilities... :) Jim Ben Edlund is one funny guy Maru ___ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 12/13/2003 9:54:35 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: While sticking to Marvel/DC though, I can say that the Hulk is viewed as being possibly the most powerful being. It is conjectured that he has no limitations, and can quite simply grow ever more powerful. Superman/Spiderman crossover? Bah, humbug. I want a Hulk/Tick matchup. Unlimited power versus infinitely thick skull. The fight itself wouldn't be as interesting as the collateral damage. Vilyehm spoon Teighlore There is no spoon. :) Julia who hasn't seen the 3rd movie yet ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 22:34:58 -0600 I (and others) would argue that, depending on the circumstances, most powerful does not necessarily mean able to exert the greatest number of newtons of force of raw strength. (Although apparently that seems to be an interpretation of the question which started this thread.) And though holding up a mountain range (in one of the issues of _Secret Wars_) does indeed require a lot of raw strength, on at least one occasion (Superboy Vol. 1 #58 (July 1957): The 100 New Feats of Superboy ¹) the Silver Age Superboy moved the entire Earth a small distance (then moved it back) and the pre-reboot Mon-El has moved a (smaller?) body a greater distance in order to hide it from space pirates of some sort inside a dark nebula (an issue of LSH sometime in the mid-80s, IIRC). Ah! That's not the basis of the Hulks seemingly infinite capacity to grow ever more powerful. Though a big part of his power is in fact based on strength, there is more to it than that. I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and assume that you are aware of the Hulk shifting or as many like to call it, changing colors. Each shift represents new levels of possible power; similar to Super Saiyans in the DBZ Universe. The Hulk has a healing factor, plus a certain level of invulnerability which increases with his anger level (which is the main component in his Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde transformation), as well as with whatever color he is at the time. That being said, lets take a look at Superman. He is one of the toughest sob's in the comic world. Certainly one of the most powerful. However he has limits. Yes, he is extremely strong/intelligent/fast/invulnerable (and lets not forget those wonderful lasers of his) but the Hulk at his primary level is more than a match for Mr. Kent. Not saying that Superman couldn't defeat the Hulk, but he'd have his hands full with the big green goon. Besides. the Hulk can just keep on shifting, theoretically...to infinity and beyond. As for Superboy and his accomplishments, I shall disregard them due to the time during which they were released. It's very similar to Star Trek TOS compared to Next Gen. Nearly every alien species encountered were these mysterious, uber-advanced, malevolent beings. It's quite simply shows us the mentality of that time, which was more in tune with the imagination of people who were subsequently thinking a certain way due to the society of the time. STTNG however, was based more on hard science, and is/was a reflection of the world view of today. Just to get an opinion. Who would win? The Hulk vs Juggernaut (X-Men)??? -Travis _ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
The Hulk vs Juggernaut (X-Men)??? Well if Heroclix is any indicator, Juggy gets KO'd when I play more often than any version of the Hulk I play with (and yes, the Hulk gets more powerful the more damage he takes!) Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
David Hobby wrote: Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 09:28:56 -0800 (PST) Heh. How about the Zentraedi from Macross. Nothing like a 40ft tall giant for fun. Arm them with light cannon and heavy machine guns (for 20th/21st C tech) and they can be pretty dangerous. Feeding them is the problem though... Damon :) Yes feeding them would be a problem, thus rendering them impractical. As with most questions, I imagine the reader is supposed to interpret it so that it makes sense. Here's the original: For example, the other day a friend of mine asked me an interesting question. He wanted to know what type of species I would use, if I could magically have one million individuals of that species, as a ground force army. The one stipulation being that my army would have to employ military hardware of today's technology. So you can't use vampires, or episarchs, or Kryptonians, because allowing them makes the question degenerate. Or put it this way--anything can come, but they have to leave their powers with the physics of their home universes. I'm with Damon, it doesn't say anything about the SIZE of the million individuals, at least as long as they can move around on a planet. So bigger is better! Feeding them should not be an issue; one assumes that an army comes with supplies. It could well degenerate into a contest to name bigger species... but I do like the human consciousness in dinosaur bodies things mentioned in Banks's _Feersum Endjinn_, and even in _Kiln People_ there were dittoes of similar sizes. A couple of terminators would be nice and durable. I'd go for any of the later models though. Sonja GCU: Hasta la vista baby ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Alberto Monteiro [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 00:17:06 + In Heinlein's books, humans are always the toughest species in the cosmos. Alberto Monteiro That's the most vain, overzealous, and optimistic cliche in sci-fi. But if they're tough, it's all cool lol _ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/photospgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
BTW to all the new people who have showed up recently: Welcome to our humble chuckwagon. Pull up a seat and place your order. (Ignore the grime on the cooks fingers G) Thanks. How did you folks happen upon our commons? Someone referred me here. _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: David Hobby [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 00:06:56 -0500 As with most questions, I imagine the reader is supposed to interpret it so that it makes sense. Here's the original: So you can't use vampires, or episarchs, or Kryptonians, because allowing them makes the question degenerate. Or put it this way--anything can come, but they have to leave their powers with the physics of their home universes. I'm with Damon, it doesn't say anything about the SIZE of the million individuals, at least as long as they can move around on a planet. So bigger is better! Feeding them should not be an issue; one assumes that an army comes with supplies. It could well degenerate into a contest to name bigger species... but I do like the human consciousness in dinosaur bodies things mentioned in Banks's _Feersum Endjinn_, and even in _Kiln People_ there were dittoes of similar sizes. ---David I see what you're saying. Allow me to define this a little more clearly. Obviously a Kryptonian would be a little more robust than a Klingon lol.I could use various super beings. However, in order to keep things somewhat in line, simply self moderate your own thinking. Don't go too far fetched with it. Anything that's some uber powerful lifeform must be eliminated from your picks. Keep in mind though, that is only the first little scenario on the table. Go where you want with it!!. But first it would be nice to resolve the one million standing army scenario. Another thing to consider is how believeable your picks are. My three aren't too out there, and I had decided that based on my criteria, they were pretty much the top three choices (that I know of) that I could have made. -Travis _ Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/featurespgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Bryon Daly [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 23:57:12 -0500 From the Star Trek world, I'd take the Founders over the Jem'Hadar or the Klingons, any day, for obvious shape-shifting reasons. In some ways I would also. But in the context of my criteria, the Founders are a little too outlandish (shapeshifting is a little too out there for this scenario). Besides, my picks would be easier to control. You have to factor EVERYTHING into the equation. I guess the Q would be ruled out... A army of veiny-brainy's from The Cage might be able to use their illusions to make any opponents kill themselves, make enemy space fleets dive into the sun, etc. They would certainly merit consideration in a different scenario. Can we count the X-Men mutants as a species? Again, it's a little too out there. Vampires would make a pretty tough army, depending on which universe you pull them from. Yes indeed. I can see it nowGeneral Lestat. A million Jedi would be neato, even without light sabers, particularly if we include the force powers seen in the LucasArts Jedi Knight games. Yeah!! Awesome games. How about Dragonball Z Super Saiyans? Seeing as how I'm a comic freak; and DBZ is based originally from comics, I have to say that some of the characters from that Universe are some of the toughest in the comic world. -Travis _ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 23:44:01 -0600 Someone once suggested that Tromites have the potential of being among the most powerful beings around, but the writers never seem to allow the sole surviving representative of that race to cut loose. (Perhaps that's why they made him some sort of monk . . . ?) Can you elaborate a little? I'm a comic freak, yet have never heard of Tromites. While sticking to Marvel/DC though, I can say that the Hulk is viewed as being possibly the most powerful being. It is conjectured that he has no limitations, and can quite simply grow ever more powerful. _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: David Hobby [EMAIL PROTECTED] As with most questions, I imagine the reader is supposed to interpret it so that it makes sense. Here's the original: For example, the other day a friend of mine asked me an interesting question. He wanted to know what type of species I would use, if I could magically have one million individuals of that species, as a ground force army. The one stipulation being that my army would have to employ military hardware of today's technology. So you can't use vampires, or episarchs, or Kryptonians, because allowing them makes the question degenerate. Or put it this way--anything can come, but they have to leave their powers with the physics of their home universes. I don't think that is neccessary, each of the species you suggested as being super-powered has a weekness to them. Vampires are burned by UV light and sunlight, and are vulnerable to garlic, silver, holy icons, etc. Episiarchs (which I thought of suggesting, but changed my mind) are unpredictable and are dangerous to allies without the technology to distract them when you don't want them reaping havoc on the laws of physics (as was mentioned in _Startide Rising_). Kryponians are vulnerable to certain forms of radiation that humans are not vulnerable to. Additionally, Kryponians are only powerful because of the yellow sun of earth if the battle is on a planet other than earth, kryptonians may only be as good as humans, or possibly even worse. I'm with Damon, it doesn't say anything about the SIZE of the million individuals, at least as long as they can move around on a planet. So bigger is better! Feeding them should not be an issue; one assumes that an army comes with supplies. It could well degenerate into a contest to name bigger species... but I do like the human consciousness in dinosaur bodies things mentioned in Banks's _Feersum Endjinn_, and even in _Kiln People_ there were dittoes of similar sizes. Not necessarily, bigger may just make them bigger targets and would limit the technology that they could use in a battle. They would not be able to use planes (bombers, fighters, etc.), they would be difficult to transport, etc., so they would be at a serious tactical disadvantage. Me, I think I would go for an army of Scarans (from Farscape). Sure, I'd need to keep nurseries of Birds of Paradise flowers, but that's well within today's technology. Michael Harney [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
I'd vote for the Tandu, wookiees, and the Minbari myself. Jim ___ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web! ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 11:10 AM 12/13/03, Travis Edmunds wrote: From: Ronn!Blankenship [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 23:44:01 -0600 Someone once suggested that Tromites have the potential of being among the most powerful beings around, but the writers never seem to allow the sole surviving representative of that race to cut loose. (Perhaps that's why they made him some sort of monk . . . ?) Can you elaborate a little? I'm a comic freak, yet have never heard of Tromites. http://members.shaw.ca/legion_roll_call/legionnaires/element_lad/ While sticking to Marvel/DC though, I can say that the Hulk is viewed as being possibly the most powerful being. It is conjectured that he has no limitations, and can quite simply grow ever more powerful. I (and others) would argue that, depending on the circumstances, most powerful does not necessarily mean able to exert the greatest number of newtons of force of raw strength. (Although apparently that seems to be an interpretation of the question which started this thread.) And though holding up a mountain range (in one of the issues of _Secret Wars_) does indeed require a lot of raw strength, on at least one occasion (Superboy Vol. 1 #58 (July 1957): The 100 New Feats of Superboy ¹) the Silver Age Superboy moved the entire Earth a small distance (then moved it back) and the pre-reboot Mon-El has moved a (smaller?) body a greater distance in order to hide it from space pirates of some sort inside a dark nebula (an issue of LSH sometime in the mid-80s, IIRC). _ ¹Certainly someone can tell me (without looking it up) why moving the Earth was feat #99 of the titular 100 feats, and what feat #100 was . . . -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
In a message dated 12/13/2003 9:54:35 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: While sticking to Marvel/DC though, I can say that the Hulk is viewed as being possibly the most powerful being. It is conjectured that he has no limitations, and can quite simply grow ever more powerful. Superman/Spiderman crossover? Bah, humbug. I want a Hulk/Tick matchup. Unlimited power versus infinitely thick skull. The fight itself wouldn't be as interesting as the collateral damage. Vilyehm spoon Teighlore ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 11:05 PM 12/13/03, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 12/13/2003 9:54:35 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: While sticking to Marvel/DC though, I can say that the Hulk is viewed as being possibly the most powerful being. It is conjectured that he has no limitations, and can quite simply grow ever more powerful. Just to be picky, that ¶ was part of Travis's post to which I was responding. Superman/Spiderman crossover? Bah, humbug. I want a Hulk/Tick matchup. Unlimited power versus infinitely thick skull. The fight itself wouldn't be as interesting as the collateral damage. Vilyehm spoon Teighlore Tick? Hulk smash! SPLURT!! O-positive everywhere . . . -- Ronn! :) ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
In a message dated 12/13/2003 10:53:53 PM US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Just to be picky, that ¶ was part of Travis's post to which I was responding. Just to be blunt, I haven't been reading all of the posts. AOL automatically throws out that top line. Superman/Spiderman crossover? Bah, humbug. I want a Hulk/Tick matchup. Unlimited power versus infinitely thick skull. The fight itself wouldn't be as interesting as the collateral damage. Vilyehm spoon Teighlore Tick? Hulk smash! SPLURT!! O-positive everywhere . . . I thought the only superpower the Tick had was being invulnerable to absolutely everything. TNT, atomic bombs, and even Larry from the Animaniacs. Hulk/Mask would be good, too. The comic book--not the movie. Vilyehm ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Heh. How about the Zentraedi from Macross. Nothing like a 40ft tall giant for fun. Arm them with light cannon and heavy machine guns (for 20th/21st C tech) and they can be pretty dangerous. Feeding them is the problem though... Damon :) = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 09:28:56 -0800 (PST) Heh. How about the Zentraedi from Macross. Nothing like a 40ft tall giant for fun. Arm them with light cannon and heavy machine guns (for 20th/21st C tech) and they can be pretty dangerous. Feeding them is the problem though... Damon :) Yes feeding them would be a problem, thus rendering them impractical. _ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/bcommpgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Yes feeding them would be a problem, thus rendering them impractical. yeah but you wouldn't need so many. Laundry day would be a challenge... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Gremlins! Who needs conventional weapons or any sort of strategy?.. Just add water and turn them on your enemy... Nerd From Hell ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
--- Chad Cooper [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Gremlins! Who needs conventional weapons or any sort of strategy?.. Just add water and turn them on your enemy... LOL Think I'll go for Tribbles - they'll 'purr' humans into submission and eat other species into starvation. Romulans ought to be serious candidates - although the Klingons certainly are more enthusiastic. Protected By My Own Personal Miniature Kzinti Maru ;) __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Here's another obscure candidate...the Vorox from the Fading Suns SFRPG. They're big, they're mean, they have 6 arms, they're hairy, they're GREEN. Plus some of them have poison claws. Think Kzinti but less sadistic, more instinctive, more arms, and uber loyal to their chosen group or tribe. Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:21:04 -0800 (PST) Here's another obscure candidate...the Vorox from the Fading Suns SFRPG. They're big, they're mean, they have 6 arms, they're hairy, they're GREEN. Plus some of them have poison claws. Think Kzinti but less sadistic, more instinctive, more arms, and uber loyal to their chosen group or tribe. Damon. Hmm. Never heard of em. Would they be easy to control? Are they as intelligent as my top three picks? Tell you what. Why don't you do a top 3/5/10 whatever. Then we'll finally decide (after a little deliberation) on a #1 pick for each of us. Then well do battle so to speak. _ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Hmm. Never heard of em. Would they be easy to control? Are they as intelligent as my top three picks? Easy to control if they have vested interest to be loyal to you (otherwise no), and about as intelligent as, say, Jem'hadar (or at least no less so). Tell you what. Why don't you do a top 3/5/10 whatever. Then we'll finally decide (after a little deliberation) on a #1 pick for each of us. Then well do battle so to speak. Heh. I'm betting no ST race has been statted out for D20... Damon. = Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. http://www.geocities.com/garrand.geo/index.html Now Building: __ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Damon Agretto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:31:25 -0800 (PST) Easy to control if they have vested interest to be loyal to you (otherwise no), and about as intelligent as, say, Jem'hadar (or at least no less so). Damon. What about hand to hand? Would they come out on top most of the time against my picks? Remember of course that I'm speaking of generic members of these species'. No heroes or demigods. _ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Deborah Harrell Romulans ought to be serious candidates - although the Klingons certainly are more enthusiastic. Romulans would not come close to my top three picks. At least that's my opinion, after a very nerdy breakdown of my candidates' attributes. Well, I'm not familiar with all of your candidates -- but *I* wouldn't want to face what is essentially a bunch of angry, irrational Vulcans across a battlefield. Hmmm...wonder how they'd do against the Tandu? Ooh -- or Klingons with bat'leth (?sp) against ceremonially armed Tandu -- now *that* would be a blood ichor bath... :P My Zimba Is A Cross Between A Miniature Kzin And A Giant Tribble* Maru ;) __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: (...) He wanted to know what type of species I would use, if I could magically have one million individuals of that species, as a ground force army. (...) Finally after much deliberation, I had the field narrowed down to three possible choices: -Klingons (Star Trek) -Jem'Hadar (Star Trek) -Jaffa (Stargate) I would choose: - Humans (any Heinlein Universe) :-) Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Alberto Monteiro [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 23:13:09 + I would choose: - Humans (any Heinlein Universe) :-) Alberto Monteiro Ok, but why? _ MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/viruspgmarket=en-caRU=http%3a%2f%2fjoin.msn.com%2f%3fpage%3dmisc%2fspecialoffers%26pgmarket%3den-ca ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Travis Edmunds wrote: I would choose: - Humans (any Heinlein Universe) :-) Ok, but why? In Heinlein's books, humans are always the toughest species in the cosmos. Alberto Monteiro ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
On 13 Dec 2003, at 12:17 am, Alberto Monteiro wrote: Travis Edmunds wrote: I would choose: - Humans (any Heinlein Universe) :-) Ok, but why? In Heinlein's books, humans are always the toughest species in the cosmos. It was also a notion that Analog editor John W Campbell was keen on with the result that there were a couple of generations of sf where the clever/tough/plucky/lucky humans defeated the aliens against overwhelming odds. I read somewhere that Asimov had a humans-only universe to sidestep that editorial requirement. Then wrote _The Gods Themselves_ (with aliens) after JWC's death. -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone. My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone. - Bjarne Stroustrup ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
William T Goodall wrote: In Heinlein's books, humans are always the toughest species in the cosmos. It was also a notion that Analog editor John W Campbell was keen on with the result that there were a couple of generations of sf where the clever/tough/plucky/lucky humans defeated the aliens against overwhelming odds. I read somewhere that Asimov had a humans-only universe to sidestep that editorial requirement. Then wrote _The Gods Themselves_ (with aliens) after JWC's death. That's also what I remember reading. In fact, it was this very subject that first got me on Brin-L. I read a comment on Hector's web site wondering why Asimov used an all-human Galaxy, and I emailed him that answer. He invited me onto his new David Brin list, and the rest is history. :-) __ Steve Sloan . Huntsville, Alabama = [EMAIL PROTECTED] Brin-L list pages .. http://www.brin-l.org Chmeee's 3D Objects http://www.sloan3d.com/chmeee 3D and Drawing Galleries .. http://www.sloansteady.com Software Science Fiction, Science, and Computer Links Science fiction scans . http://www.sloan3d.com ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
On 13 Dec 2003, at 1:42 am, Steve Sloan II wrote: William T Goodall wrote: I read somewhere that Asimov had a humans-only universe to sidestep that editorial requirement. Then wrote _The Gods Themselves_ (with aliens) after JWC's death. That's also what I remember reading. In fact, it was this very subject that first got me on Brin-L. I read a comment on Hector's web site wondering why Asimov used an all-human Galaxy, and I emailed him that answer. He invited me onto his new David Brin list, and the rest is history. :-) And Campbell's strict, and increasingly cranky, editorial views led hard sf into a ghetto by the late 60's. Meanwhile under Horace Gold's editorship the satirical and left-wing Galaxy published Frederik Pohl, Alfred Bester, Damon Knight, Fritz Leiber, Robert Sheckley... -- William T Goodall Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ Misuse of IMPs leads to strange, difficult-to-diagnose bugs. - Anguish et al. Cocoa Programming ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Jack Tackett - Netwharf [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 3:49 PM Subject: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. hum, no borgs or terminators? then my three would be: 1. Minbari (as long as they don't just go and surrender at the last second :) 2. The Race's little scaly devils from Turtledove's World War Series (need to train them to stay away from ginger and to use their teeth) 3. The Neolithic giants from Farmer's Riverworld series. My picks: 1) Humans (In most universes we succeed over brute force tactics with wit and intuition. Niven may be right about Teela Brown G) 2) Bacteria (From Bears Blood Music) 3) Dragaerans (From Steven Brust, all the good qualities of humans but stronger, longer lived, and are sorcerous) BTW to all the new people who have showed up recently: Welcome to our humble chuckwagon. Pull up a seat and place your order. (Ignore the grime on the cooks fingers G) How did you folks happen upon our commons? xponent Red Carpet Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
If you want to eliminate homo sapiens, I'd use H. B. Piper's Fuzzies. Whaa? I hear you ask. We'd evolve into something else. William Taylor ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
Robert Seeberger wrote: Welcome to our humble chuckwagon. Pull up a seat and place your order. (Ignore the grime on the cooks fingers G) Can I order a meal I get to finish in total peace? :) I can ignore an awful lot of grime for that Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
At 01:35 PM 12/12/2003 -03-30, you wrote: This should bring out the inherent nerd in all of us. Lets utilize our collective knowledge of our favorite fictional Universes, to map out intricate fictional scenarios of our own. For example, the other day a friend of mine asked me an interesting question. He wanted to know what type of species I would use, if I could magically have one million individuals of that species, as a ground force army. The one stipulation being that my army would have to employ military hardware of today's technology. Of course, one of my prime choices (Volunteers/Agents from the Earth Final Conflict Universe) weren't allowed due to the scrills/skrills on their arms, which, as you may know are symbiotic organisms that feed off a person in exchange for the ability to discharge blasts of energy. So called built in weapons and their users were to be omitted from my picks. Finally after much deliberation, I had the field narrowed down to three possible choices: -Klingons (Star Trek) -Jem'Hadar (Star Trek) -Jaffa (Stargate) I still haven't decided on the winner. There are so many things to take into consideration. And lets not forget, that I aim to pick the best possible army. Which have the most strength's, the most weaknesses? I would appreciate some input. What species would you pick? What would you base your decision on? Do you have any choices that I may have initially overlooked? Last but not least, do you have any scenarios of your own? We haven't even touched starships yet... -Travis Bah to all of the above. For my money, the Dorsai win hands down. For further details see any of the Childe Cycle novels by Gordon Dickson: Tactics of Mistake; The Chantry Guild; Soldier, Ask Not; Necromancer; Dorsai; The Final Encyclopedia. ...The weapons of war came to their hands like tame dogs. john ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
- Original Message - From: Julia Thompson [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Killer Bs Discussion [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 9:30 PM Subject: Re: Outlandish but exceedingly fun. Robert Seeberger wrote: Welcome to our humble chuckwagon. Pull up a seat and place your order. (Ignore the grime on the cooks fingers G) Can I order a meal I get to finish in total peace? :) I can ignore an awful lot of grime for that SureG.and ol' uncle Rob can make faces-that-entertain at diaper fillers for 45 minutes or so at the drop of a hat, and do so effectively after 25 years of practice! G (Well, I'd help if I could G) xponent Uncle 12 Times Going on 13, Soon To Be A Great Uncle Maru rob ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Outlandish but exceedingly fun.
From: Travis Edmunds [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Klingons (Star Trek) -Jem'Hadar (Star Trek) -Jaffa (Stargate) From the Star Trek world, I'd take the Founders over the Jem'Hadar or the Klingons, any day, for obvious shape-shifting reasons. I guess the Q would be ruled out... A army of veiny-brainy's from The Cage might be able to use their illusions to make any opponents kill themselves, make enemy space fleets dive into the sun, etc. Can we count the X-Men mutants as a species? Vampires would make a pretty tough army, depending on which universe you pull them from. A million Jedi would be neato, even without light sabers, particularly if we include the force powers seen in the LucasArts Jedi Knight games. How about Dragonball Z Super Saiyans? From the DD world: - mind flayers - yikes! - Red dragons (or would they not count as a *ground* force?) - Storm Giants From the comics: - While both Superman and the Martian Manhunter are heroes, IIRC, they are both just sole representatives of their races, so presumably the rest of their race would have equal powers. So could we pick Superman's race, or MMH's? -bryon _ Get holiday tips for festive fun. http://special.msn.com/network/happyholidays.armx ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
