Friends, a dark movement is afoot to erase from our shared world the nation of Bongolesia.
While it is true this small African nation has seen its share of misfortunes and misrule, surely it does not deserve to be totally forgotten and deleted from the Wiki Encyclopedia of the telephonic differencing engine network.
Please, go now, and avert this travesty of pseudo-intellectual prejudice against the fun-loving peoples of the world.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Poll Results for August, and a new Poll
Well, I see that we are all quite Conservative in our naming conventions here at the journal. Red Planet, that old stand-by, has won out in a massive landslide victory over the other options. I think it ahd something to do with Her Majesty using the phrase herself a time or two in official releases to the Press.
Well, this month, I pose a similar query, and no help from Her Majesty is forthcoming, I assure you! To date, my information does not include any reference by Her Majesty to the planet Venus, so we'll have no pro-royal bias on this poll! Not that I am one of your screaming anarchist anti-monarchist types! Far from it! Queen and Country, by jingo!
The recent storm activity in the Atlantic has kept us all busy around the manse, but our friend Gustav has cleared off, leaving us unscathed in his passing. Best of wishes and our prayers to those who were caught in his path. All that remains to do around here is keep a watchful eye on Hannah and Ike, who seems likely to come in as well.
Well, this month, I pose a similar query, and no help from Her Majesty is forthcoming, I assure you! To date, my information does not include any reference by Her Majesty to the planet Venus, so we'll have no pro-royal bias on this poll! Not that I am one of your screaming anarchist anti-monarchist types! Far from it! Queen and Country, by jingo!
The recent storm activity in the Atlantic has kept us all busy around the manse, but our friend Gustav has cleared off, leaving us unscathed in his passing. Best of wishes and our prayers to those who were caught in his path. All that remains to do around here is keep a watchful eye on Hannah and Ike, who seems likely to come in as well.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
An Interesting Article for your Perusal
A Brief Discussion of the Possibility and Difficulties of Æther Travel
A Paper by F. Robert Goslingen, FRS
Published in the Royal Society Annotations
May, 1859
Briefly defined, the luminiferous æther is a special medium for the transference and propagation of electromagnetic light waves. It exists beyond the shell of our planetary atmosphere; indeed, it fills the gaps between all planetary atmospheric shells. Through it, the light waves produced by our sun – and, indeed, all other light-giving celestial objects – travels as sound waves through our own air.
The æther, to use the more common term today, was first proposed by Thomas Young in 1803. His book, Experiments and Calculations Relative to Physical Optics, contended that light was a wave, and not a particle as proposed by Sir Isaac Newton. A Frenchman named Augustin-Jean Fresnel carried on Young’s work in the 1820s. Physical scientists at that time were aware that all waveforms required a medium through which to travel, and so the idea of the æther was born. This idea was further strengthened by Maxwell’s work which indicated in 1834 that light was an electromagnetic wave rather than a mechanical wave. As electric charges can not exist in vacuum, there must be some medium through which the light travels.
This new medium, æther, is unlike any other known to Man. It acts as a liquid for planets and other celestial bodies moving in their stately courses, and as a solid for the fast-moving light waves. George Gabriel Stokes, FRS, and Lucasian chair in Physics at Cambridge since 1849, describes it as “a substance similar to pine tar, in that it resists fast moving bodies more urgently than a slowly moving object.”
Thus, it seems that the æther can only be passed through by solid objects, like a ship, when traveling at velocities less than that of light. And yet, to influence the æther as a medium for the purpose of generating thrust, some form of electromagnetic force seems necessary. With such a form of thrust, a vessel would move at a useful speed by pushing against the suddenly solidifying æther to the rear of the vessel while keeping the æther ahead of the vehicle liquid. I believe that I have discovered a means by which to generate exactly that sort of thrust…
A Paper by F. Robert Goslingen, FRS
Published in the Royal Society Annotations
May, 1859
Briefly defined, the luminiferous æther is a special medium for the transference and propagation of electromagnetic light waves. It exists beyond the shell of our planetary atmosphere; indeed, it fills the gaps between all planetary atmospheric shells. Through it, the light waves produced by our sun – and, indeed, all other light-giving celestial objects – travels as sound waves through our own air.
The æther, to use the more common term today, was first proposed by Thomas Young in 1803. His book, Experiments and Calculations Relative to Physical Optics, contended that light was a wave, and not a particle as proposed by Sir Isaac Newton. A Frenchman named Augustin-Jean Fresnel carried on Young’s work in the 1820s. Physical scientists at that time were aware that all waveforms required a medium through which to travel, and so the idea of the æther was born. This idea was further strengthened by Maxwell’s work which indicated in 1834 that light was an electromagnetic wave rather than a mechanical wave. As electric charges can not exist in vacuum, there must be some medium through which the light travels.
This new medium, æther, is unlike any other known to Man. It acts as a liquid for planets and other celestial bodies moving in their stately courses, and as a solid for the fast-moving light waves. George Gabriel Stokes, FRS, and Lucasian chair in Physics at Cambridge since 1849, describes it as “a substance similar to pine tar, in that it resists fast moving bodies more urgently than a slowly moving object.”
Thus, it seems that the æther can only be passed through by solid objects, like a ship, when traveling at velocities less than that of light. And yet, to influence the æther as a medium for the purpose of generating thrust, some form of electromagnetic force seems necessary. With such a form of thrust, a vessel would move at a useful speed by pushing against the suddenly solidifying æther to the rear of the vessel while keeping the æther ahead of the vehicle liquid. I believe that I have discovered a means by which to generate exactly that sort of thrust…
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Parrotfolk Article Added to Archive
I have added the original Parrotfolk article to the archive list of publications on the left hand menu of the journal. This should help you reach it once the articles have cycled off from the main page of the journal.
Please feel free to print, read and enjoy, but remember that I retain the copyright on all of the material I publish via the Internet. If you wish to make changes, include it in your own works, etc., please do the right thing and ask permission first.
I have another short story written that I may publish here as well, but that one I actually have a hope of selling in the future, along with a series of other short tales in a similar vein.
Please feel free to print, read and enjoy, but remember that I retain the copyright on all of the material I publish via the Internet. If you wish to make changes, include it in your own works, etc., please do the right thing and ask permission first.
I have another short story written that I may publish here as well, but that one I actually have a hope of selling in the future, along with a series of other short tales in a similar vein.
A Minor Gex-based quandry
To this point, I had thought that the gex would be in homogenously hued tribal groups, each warband consisting of ten warriors to fall in line with the rules set that we most commonly use.
So, one group would be ten red and orange warriors, one ten dark and light green, ten dark and light blue, and so on.
But now I am reconsidering, especially for the bow-armed gex. It might look better to mix them up.
A quandry, a puzzle, a confused muddle of possibilities now exists where once all was clear. Blast it all!
In regards to progress, a bit has been made today. The first Sentinel (I may re-name them, though it is a very British sounding name, is it not?) has been 'dipped' and now awaits its highlighting, basework and matt finish. A bit more work on the Pappegaivolk has been done, though nothing exciting. I have begun work on the 'ghost gex', those made from modified skink totem bearers into giant club wielders. They will be gray and white, hence the 'ghost' appellation. The sergeant for the Research Platoon is almost finished. And a swarm of snakes just waits for basing and matt finish. Finally, the red and orange "Flammekröte" warband of gex is nearly finished, including their fearsome warchief, Firebelly.
So, one group would be ten red and orange warriors, one ten dark and light green, ten dark and light blue, and so on.
But now I am reconsidering, especially for the bow-armed gex. It might look better to mix them up.
A quandry, a puzzle, a confused muddle of possibilities now exists where once all was clear. Blast it all!
In regards to progress, a bit has been made today. The first Sentinel (I may re-name them, though it is a very British sounding name, is it not?) has been 'dipped' and now awaits its highlighting, basework and matt finish. A bit more work on the Pappegaivolk has been done, though nothing exciting. I have begun work on the 'ghost gex', those made from modified skink totem bearers into giant club wielders. They will be gray and white, hence the 'ghost' appellation. The sergeant for the Research Platoon is almost finished. And a swarm of snakes just waits for basing and matt finish. Finally, the red and orange "Flammekröte" warband of gex is nearly finished, including their fearsome warchief, Firebelly.
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