Charles Stone

So true. As a proud member of the software engineering community, I feel the onus is on me to mention that we have zero cool sounding injuries, nor do we have an Injured Reserve tyepe system in place. Not to mention our 'Career ending' injuries are limited almost exclusively to age. Heck here in the States we cant even unionize and go on strike (which would almost certainly involve getting out of my chair and walking about, so I'm in no way implying I would want to, although I could get to carry a sign...). As an extra special bonus, we have to negotiate time and a half for OT, and if we don't that gets billed separately and doesn't necessarily accumulate Paid Time Off. You will never hear “...and in other news sexy programmer Charles Stone long time starting Research and Development Team Lead for CIBER, had to go on the IR for a potentially career ending typing related injury. Fans had this reaction:...” Surely there are others that have similar rants about their paying gigs ya?

I too am willing to take a wait and see approach. They have to know they are being watched. I guess the pressure of Enterprise got them addicted to trying to explain without re-writting our history. Casting will be interesting...

You ceratinly nailed two of my favorites. The guy who does the 'Vash The Stampedes' voice is in a new serious called 'Bleech' if you're intersted. I think the kid who voiced the boy on that Tri-Gun sand train thing is in there as well. Bleech even does the Tri Gun random act of superb quality drawings with a healthy does of my gosh I could draw better than that.

Welcome! I too am very new to the whole on line sim life. It certainly is addicting. People here are great and quite a few of them could be professional writers I have my suspicions... One fact that has struck me from your post is how facinating it is to see a story evolve after the BEGIN SIM message. With little more than 'so we arrived at the star base' all the characters seem to take over and with Ouija like precision write the next chapter. The hardest thing Ive run into so far, is how to best help move the story. If you are playing the CMO, and you find a body, a decision must be made as to whether you can save them, they die, they have a disease etc. Anywho, glad you are enjoying yourself!

You have my absolute best wishes for the quick and successful surgery and recovery of your daughter.

Groovy, welcome! Good people here, should be a blast for you. The Redstar on Saturdays is a good way to chat with people you may not normally get to if you are interested.

Im rather envious of you that get the cool dreams. Im always in control of mine, so much so that I cant remember the last nitemare I had, nor the last cool original one for that matter. Most of mine involve fixing code or programming something new that I kick around in my head. Marsh, that is funny. Perhaps the jolly Ho Ho Ho is really Oh No No No

...dreaming "...Supreme fighter pilot ace of the world, here is your foamy beverage." said the fourth hottest woman of the top ten generally known and agreed upon by all sentient life from mold spores on up to, well, Charles himself (being the very pinnacle of evolution...*ahem*), established at the counsel Venustas of 2421 by a representative of every specie's race and gender."Thank you 4 of 10" turns back to the interviewer from Galactic Hot Pilots magazine. "So as I was saying, the difference between God and a fighter pilot, is that God doesn't think He is a fighter pilot!" Charles says to great effect. Wiping tears from her eyes trying to regain her composure, the interviewer continues, "In addition to being the greatest pilot around, how are you able to find time to still take on spec ops covert work for the 139th Marine battalion?" "Well, that's actually a secret I cant share. What I can share are some of the little funny cross-overs I have had where my excellence in piloting bump into my allegiance to the Corps. For example before I came to the 139th, I was flying back in the day on Terra and it was one of those air fields that had military fighters on one side and civvies on the other, with the control tower in the middle. I was radioed by the tower asking me what time my arrival was estimated." "I asked the tower who wants to know? Which somewhat put them off, and the reply was 'What difference does it make?'" "It makes a lot of difference" I replied, "If you are a civilian, it is 3 o'clock. If are in the Federation air force, it is 1500 hours. If you are in the Space Navy, it is 6 bells. If you are Army, the big hand is on the 12 and the little hand is on the 3. If you are a Marine, it's Thursday afternoon and 120 minutes to "Happy Hour". "That was of course before I became so magnificent..." ...dream world swirls, starts to spin... Gone is 4 of 10 and the interviewer. Gone also is the existence of the the Galactic Hot Pilots magazine and any article of Charles. Still further gone is all of his non-odor related rank, including the Ensign rank he must have dreamt he graduated the Academy with, the blasted pip also took two shiny gold attaboy stars from his wall with it (good riddance, grumble grumble), God still doesn't think He is a Fighter pilot but thats about where the similarities end between the dream and the reality now rearing its head... "Dr. Stone?" said a decidedly not hot, non-female voice uncomfortably close to his face. Peeking out Charles sees that it is his old pal Eric. ...not dreaming "Getoffmenow" slurred Charles in what he was pretty sure was a coherent sentence easily understood by all. "Dr. Stone, are you back in the real world?" said the voice now identified as Eric "You are an Engineer, what would you know of the real world? Your day consists of a series of cause and effects. Like 'Problem: Evidence of hydraulic leak on port landing gear, Solution: evidence removed.' Or 'Problem: Dead bugs on windshield Solution: Live bugs on order.' Then there is my favorite one so far, 'Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. Solution: Thats what they're there for.'" said a scornfully awake Charles pushing his pal off him. Eric smiles knowing that Charles just doesn't adjust to things like Thursdays very well. "You were having 'The Dream' again weren't you? 'Oh supreme bestest guy in the world here are your slippers." mimes Eric in a Charles-like or 'Charleese' voice. "Foamy beverage." corrects Charles "What?" "Its a foamy beverage not my slippers. Those are brought by Nurse Tidesdale... Wait, what do you want? Why are you in my room?" Charles corrects sternly, sits up and pulls the blanket up to cover...well he's not sure what hes trying to cover. "Do you know what day it is?" inquires Eric. "Yes.....No....Maybe...Wait, what difference does it make?" "Actually, it makes no difference whatsoever, since the only answer %100 correct is Today. No I'm here because it is getting dangerously close to Valentines day. The ol' V Day, and like every year in the past, you have no V-tine, which makes it a V-problem, and we should go and V-fix you up with Dan's sister." each instance of 'V' was accompanied by those annoying finger motions usually used to make air-quotes to punctuate when he is mis-quoting someone. Charles has had about all he can of this and spits "V-get-the-heck-out-of-my-room-do-let-the-door-swoosh-you-on-the-butt-on-your-way-out-and-don't-set-me-up." "Au contraire monfrair, that simply is not an option I'm able to wrap my simple little cause/effect mind around. Besides the last time V-day <insert those annoying finger gestures here> rolled around, you were deep in med school and didn't have time for anything besides studying. What was that valentine you sent out thinking you were so cool, because you had mastered the art of phraseograms? Hmm, oh ya "I want 2B the 1 4 U" or some such pathetic saying. This of course was before your self professed 'mastery' turned into a clever excuse for lazy writing and lax spelling/grammar." spouted Eric. "Look, man the last letter I got from a girl was something to the effect of 'Aliens are coming to abduct all the good looking and sexy people. You will be safe, I'm just emailing to say goodbye.' Not much room there for mis-interpretation." "Cupid people do Cupid things (to turn a phrase), don't ya know? Perhaps this year will be different. Lets go out." "Look Eric, I still maintain that it is a mistake to think that you can solve any of life's major problems with either Chocolate or a potato." said Charles, contemplating for the umpteenth time how his life must be a dream life, but wondered whose its was and if they were enjoying it. "You are unbelievably annoying, do you know that?" Eric smiles at that and says helpfully "Well, then I'll bring my annoyance down to a more believable level. Now lets go." Tosses Charles his favorite Vulcan robe, in quiet acquiescence to Charles' somewhat eclectic tastes in clothes, and overall disdain for others opinions of fashion. "You know Eric, I don't think Valentines Day is the best day to pick up a woman." said Charles pulling on his Vulcan robe. "I mean I think its great to give a card or something, and can imagine it would be fun to plan something spectacular if you are already in a relationship, but come on, about a week before valentines day immediately to try and start a relationship of any kind? Seems kind of not my thing you know?" "Charles, I think you have it wrong. I think we had the true spirit of Valentines Day way back in grade school. Remember how we used to have to invite every kid to our birthday parties and bring in Valentines Day cards for everyone?" "Ya of course I do. That weird kid always used to show up and pick his nose, and follow my Mom around. I hated that stuff." "You hated that stuff?" "Yes." "No you didn't. You didn't because you also got to invite the cutest girls over as well. The ones you would never talk to in a million years, well on those days you could under the comfortable layer of abstraction of I invited everyone. If you think about it, and to put it in a more fiscally responsible way you may better understand, the price of inviting Holly Hotty with no serious risk, was inviting Marty Mom follower. Not a bad bargain if you ask me." "Ah, Eric, I'm pretty sure it is supposed to be for Husbands and Wives and Boyfriends and Girlfriends." "Really? So you no longer enjoy a day or two out of the year where you can just ask anyone out or show some of your feelings and not fear a serious rejection? You have nothing more to gain by bringing in Valentine cards for all your co-workers in your Sick Bay, including Nurse Tidesdale? No interest in telling her how you think she is in the top 3 women in the known universe on the one day that if she doesn't share any of your feelings you and she can chalk it up to it was just a Valentines Day card, but if she feels any of the same things, perhaps it will serve as an icebreaker?" Eric continues, handing Charles his belt, "How many times have you heard any guy or girl complain that they got a Valentines Day card? You can give me three nuggies for every one of those and I will give you one nuggy for every person who complained or felt bad silently or outspokenly that they didn't get one, and I bet you loose all your hair befor I do." Charles sighs. "Enough already, lets go to the card store."

Whoa, dumbass. Wow. As the guy on Scrubs said "[dumbass] you better check on the captain of your brainship, because I think he is drunk at the helm" To change the topic again heres a Hitchhikers Guide quote: "So this is it. We're going to die." "Yes...except...No! Wait a minute, what's this switch?" "What? Where?" "No, I was only fooling. We are going to die after all."

Welcome Marsh! Ill have to second Kansas' post, and I think soon you will agree.

You all are correct in that the directions are a bit shall we say 'involved'. In the future I will try to limit it to one of the following: 1. Lather 2. Rinse 3. Repeat (always repeat) ~or~ 1. Load program 2. Perform minor miracle that qualifies one for Sainthood consideration 3. Rest with umbrella drink of your choice while being fanned by giant palm branches held by a Greek god/goddess of your choice and fed grapes ~or~ 1. Steal underpants 2. ... 3. profit ~or~ Wait a minute... This is getting out of hand. It would seem that I am not to be trusted with lists...

Every now and then a message pops up about creating Star Trek Avatars using the SIMS2 BodyBuilder. There are several people that are offering their service to make these for you, but perhaps you want to make it yourself. They are kind of fun if you are artistically inclined. This guide will attempt to give the necessary links to fee software (freeware, not stolen) and a step by step on making your own Star Trek Avatar. I made more of an effort this time to credit the original posters of some of these links. They are the first that I saw them, so if some posted something 'back in the day' sorry. Goal: To create a male human Science officer with a rank of Ensign character set in the Voyager time line. Tools Needed to accomplish this goal (download and install in this order. Do not have the BodyBuilder open when installing the sims2pack file) SIMS2Bodyshop (called BodShop throughout this doc) http://tinyurl.com/6kyb5 PhotoFiltre (unless you have a fancy schmancy photo editor like photoshop) http://www.snapfiles.com/get/photofiltre.html VOY Uniforms (complete list of uniforms and links at end of this doc.) NOTE: this link will take you to the page that has all the different VOY characters. Pick the guy or girl that is wearing the color uniform you want. http://tinyurl.com/yx5cgz Groovy, now we can begin. Open BodShop Click on 'Build Sims" Click on 'Build or Clone Sims' Select the Doc we downloaded or whatever character you need Click on 'Clone Selected sim' (next to trash can on bottom right) Now click on the various character stuff like genetics to make black, white, Asian whatever, and play with the face stuff until you find 'You'. (NOTE if you are creating Andorian for example, you will need to put 'clothes' on them if you want them in Starfleet. This is the last option on the right. Once you have 'You' wearing the uniform of your choice, go back to the face editor to get a close up of 'You'. Rotate the picture how you want usually slightly to the characters left so you can see the insignia better, maybe far enough down to see the Comm badge. On your keyboard press the "Print Screen" button. This will capture the screen for you. Start --> Run mspaint (this will run MSPaint) CTRL + v (paste the pic in paint) Use the select tool to box your characters face and some of the uniform. Your choice how much, try not to get the BodShop in it though Run PhotoFiltre, and select new (accept default pixels size etc) CTRL + v into this window Zoom in on You Groovy, ok here is where we get a bit creative, since you will probably have to adjust the ranks. Simplest is if you need to remove pips, just use the eye dropper tool to grab the collar color near the pip then uses the paint brush to color out the pips you don't get. May have to play with the colors a little to blend. Dosn't have to be perfect, since we wont be zoomed in on the avatar. If you need to add pips grab the yellow and the paint brush and choose the larger circle, then pip your collars needed. If you need to put some black in it, use the next smallest circle and make a circle inside the yellow circle. Play until you got what you need. Then move on to sizing. Select Image – Automatic crop this will get rid of the white space and leave just your picture Right click on the picture and select Image Size Set the Height to be 125, left the Width default to whatever it goes to, make sure the unit of measure is pixels Leave both the Optimize and preserve aspect ratios are selected. Double check that neither the Height nor width is greater than 125 (if either are, uncheck the preserve aspect ratio and manually make them both 125 or less to minimize distortion) File – Save as type a name and location, change the File type to jpeg and click save Choose progress, max out the quality, and make sure the compression button is not checked (checking this will make your picture Black and White) press the preview button, and make sure the file size is less 40kb (usually around 7-10k so you'll be fine) press ok. Uploading your avatar: Follow these steps to upload your new avatar: Click on the MY CONTROLS link found at the top, right hand side of the board. Find the PERSONAL PROFILE section on the left hand side of the page. Click on EDIT AVATAR SETTINGS. Choose your Avatar. Then find YOUR IMAGE AVATARS towards the bottom of the page. You will be able to link to an Avatar already uploaded somewhere online, or you can click on the BROWSE button and upload an Avatar to our server. All images must be less than 40k in size. Click on the UPDATE AVATAR button when you are happy with your choice. Troubleshooting: Question: I can't seem to see my own avatar on my own computer. I could see it fine at school, but here at home is another matter. Answer: Sounds to me like a caching problem. I see the image just fine, so I know the image is there and displaying. So try this from your computer: Open up Internet Explorer Click on TOOLS Click on INTERNET OPTIONS Find the TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES section Clear all temp Internet files and offline files Reboot your computer. Question: What is the largest size Avatar I can have? Answer: We are now limiting all Avatar sizes to 125x125 pixels. If you attempt to upload an image larger than that, the board will say you are not allowed to upload it. Try resizing the image, and then uploading it again. LINKS: SIMS2Bodyshop http://tinyurl.com/6kyb5 PhotoFiltre http://www.snapfiles.com/get/photofiltre.html TOS http://tinyurl.com/y6xmj4 ENTERPISE http://tinyurl.com/d6llj - OR - http://tinyurl.com/y3fq9u Subcommander T'Pol http://tinyurl.com/y5xhys TNG http://tinyurl.com/eha27 DS9 http://tinyurl.com/y8zzsb VOY http://tinyurl.com/yx5cgz Species: Andoran http://tinyurl.com/y87kpn Vulcan (grab from TOS) My thanks to these Contributing Authors: Rear Admiral Randy Calvert Taalix Rokara Charles Stone

You are absolutely correct on both counts Kansas. I guess Im thinking, well first that 'mentoring' was a bad choice of words, and Im certainly not trying to be recalcitrant (<-- just had to put that in there :-)) by suggesting that the information isnt avaiable or fairly easy to find if someone tries on the board. I knew when I used the word the first time that I should have found a weaker synonym... Perhaps I have actually already accomplished what I was trying to do in the first place. That being just to throw the thought out there, and really nothing more. Im pretty outgoing but some others may need a hand extended first is all.

No, noone realyl hangs out here outside of Academies, Sims, or of course the Red Star. Feel free to add me to your MSN if you use that.

I had another thought on this one, what about a mentor type of thing for lack of a better word. True a majority of questions have been asked and answered usually many times, but it is a bit discouraging to get a reply to a question about searching the boards. That type of thing could make a person think twice about posting in the future, or sticking around. Of course, Kansas is very right in saying that the board is very user friendly, Im suggesting more friendly users I guess. Im not suggesting (or volunteering :-)) anything formal, more of a kind of if we see a new member someone make a personal contact besides on the board. Give them a friend right off. A less automated response than Tyana suggested before I think something like that could work and allow people who have time to do it, maybe take some of the load off of the GM's for basic questions. I dont know, just a thought.