Col. C.E. Harper

I may be sucked into the Mac vortex when I try to replace my laptop sometime next year (read: after I get a real, post-gradschool job. also read: when I have money again). My best friends were taken by the Mac side, leaving me the only PC holdout. The primary cause? Vista, Vista, Vista. I swear that OS is going to be singlehandedly responsible for the downfall of Microsoft at this rate. My preference right now is to get a PC and cough up the extra dough to get the custom install "down"-grade to XP. However, as my friends try to lure me to Macs, they point out the following small tip -- Apparently, you can get two-button mice for the Mac, eliminating the eternal "how do I right-click?!" problem. :-P

They're super powerful, generally super-far away, and very focused. For us to see one nearly directly into the beam is amazingly rare, which is what makes this so exciting. Think about it like someone randomly shining a laser beam into a room with a marble somewhere in it. Most of the time we just see the dim side-on beam, this time we got to actually look right at the "laser" generator.

The Joy Cloud? ::chuckle::

Here is the roster of individuals assembled for the smaller inquiry sessions: Saren (Vulcan, M) - Head of the Federation Political and Anthropological Sciences Institute Harrison (Human, M) - Expert in Xenobiology Skrov (Tellarite, M)- Expert in replicative and invasive biological functions Fleet Admiral Heiran (Grazerite, F) - Head of Starfleet Intelligence T'Kaal (Vulcan, F) - Federation Vice-President, Acting President Admiral Mishra (Human, F) - Starfleet Offensive Research and Development Khren'nos (Ariolan, F) - Expert in exoweaponry and destructive forces General Sands (Human, M) - Head of Starfleet Marine Corps Admiral Ferand'an (Deltan, F) - Starfleet Intelligence - Advanced Tactical Assessment Group Senok (Rigelian, M) - Expert in subspace mechanics Admiral Lahk (Horta, F) - Head of Starfleet's Subspace Physics and Research Division

Neat!! Agincourt's a Prometheus, any chance we can get added to the shiny? :-)

Sim from August 6, 2008 Ag080608.txt

Sim from July 30, 2008 Ag073008.txt

Sim from July 23, 2008. (no sim on July 16) Ag072308.txt

Sim from July 09, 2008 Ag070908.txt

Sim from July 02, 2008 Ag070208.txt

Not your fault. Here, for those who are interested, is the original source of those images in the blog post: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/ESOC/SEMN2VM5NDF_mg_1.html There are many, many more images there, by the way, and they show some of the things Sorehl was talking about re: orbit management.

Wilson. "Mary Sue" as a term originates not from the licensed books of the 70s (which I'd never heard of before, actually) but from the early days of 'zine fan-fiction. Specifically there was this one story, parodying the trend in fic, where a perfect crew member turned up, was loved by all the men, admired by all the women, could drink Scotty under the table, out-logic Spock, advise McCoy on medical decisions, etc, etc, etc. And her name was Mary Sue. The name stuck, and the phenomena crosses all fandoms and genres. Actually, the Mary Sue is pretty classic, and typically the first thing anyone "writes" -- many of us have the sense to never commit it to paper, much less put it out on the web, but how many people didn't imagine going off on adventures with their favorite characters, as kids (or even grownups)?

I have to second (fourth? fifth?) the recommendations for the Rihannsu books. They are just a fantastic read, and so well-meshed with canon. I'd also say Uhura's Song, despite the Mary Sue character (but it's a fun and fallible Mary Sue!). And for accurate characterization, I'd recommend any of Christie Golden's books. She's got the Voyager characters spot-on, and does interesting things with exploring them.

Aha!! See? You folks ( ::glares at Agincourt crew:: ) are no longer allowed to tease me about my paltry streak! Sad, Blu. I know I was bummed when I blew mine (due to catastrophic hard drive failure).

06.25.08 Ag062508.txt

06.18.08 Ag061808.txt

06.11.08 Ag061108.txt

06.04.08 Ag060408.txt

Catch up Part 6 Ag050708.txt Ag051408.txt Ag052108.txt Ag052808.txt

Catch up Part 5 Ag040208.txt Ag040908.txt Ag041608.txt Ag042308.txt Ag043008.txt

Catch up Part 4 Ag030508.txt Ag031208.txt Ag031908.txt Ag032608.txt

Catch up Part 3 (02/06 sim was cancelled) Ag021308.txt Ag022008.txt Ag022708.txt

Catch-up Part 2 Ag010208.txt Ag010908.txt Ag011608.txt Ag012308.txt Ag013008.txt

The super-huge-massively-long catch up process begins - mission summaries to be added. Ag120507.txt Ag121207.txt Ag121907.txt Ag122607.txt

Kitty birthday!! Oh my goodness, someone get the 'nip!