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WadeFKnight

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About WadeFKnight

  • Rank
    Mr. Tricorder
  • Birthday 01/19/1987

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    York, PA
  • Interests
    Star Trek, music, driving, the great outdoors.
  1. <This space intentionally left blank>
  2. Wade stood outside of the forcefield the enclosed the Juno’s captain, examining a PADD of data collected from the now destroyed ship. Indeed, the more of the information he digested the more the circumstances surrounding the cargo transport’s untimely destruction the more questions seemed to be unanswered. Interrogations was one thing Wade was not accustomed to. There was a good reason why he had chosen the field he had. EPS grids and isolinear chips didn’t lie, or get smart, or do bad things. But given the circumstances, he was probably the most informed on the Juno’s condition before it’s demise. As such he was inherently the most qualified to be a part of the investigation. Nodding to the security officer stationed next to the brig, Wade waited for the forcefield to be lowered and stepped in after him. “Captain Angstrom, is it?” Wade said, looking down at the captain’s name on the PADD. The freighter captain nodded, eyes downcast, focusing on his hands propped up by elbows on knees. “I’m Wade Knight, I was in charge of the engineering team sent to help with incident on your ship.” The captain looked up, quirking a brow. “Engineering? I would have expected someone from security to be questioning me,” the captain asked, leaving an implied question. “Someone from security will be joining us momentarily, I’m sure. I’m just here to get an idea of the technical situation,” Wade replied, facing the captain and holding his PADD under his arm. “Am I being charged with something?” The captain asked, obviously attempting to conceal his concern with a veil of arrogance. The captain sat upright in his bunk, leaning his back against the wall. “We are not here to prosecute you, captain. The federation’s law is not the supreme law of the galaxy, and I am not a lawyer. We’re just looking for the truth,” Wade replied matter-of-factly. “If I’m not being charged how can you hold me here?” Wade looked over the captain, trying not to let his facial expression change. Looking back down at his PADD, he replied cooly, “As I said, I’m not a lawyer.” Clearing his throat, Wade walked across the small holding cell to stand against the far wall. “The shipment of triceron you took on, who authorized it?” “I thought we were going to discuss the technicalities, Mr. Knight?” The captain asked, looking back down to his hands. Wade recognized the captain’s diversion, and took it as it were. The strategy that he and Shamor had discussed before the interrogation began didn’t really require Wade to get any real answers or solid evidence. At least not initially. It was fairly apparent that captain of the Juno was not keen on being cooperative at this point, and it was going to take a little bit more than simple questioning to get the answers they needed. “You’re absolutely right, I apologize,” Wade answered, tucking his PADD back under his arm. “Why don’t you tell me how your ship fell into such ill repair, captain?” “Lack of resources,” the captain replied curtly, not going into any further detail. “I see. I can understand that. I had a friend who worked on a cargo vessel myself. The Prescott. Have you heard of it?” The captain shook his head again in response and Wade nodded. “Can’t see how you would have. Almost had me mucking around in the underdecks of that scowl. I can understand how difficult it is to maintain such a vessel with limited income.” Wade said with an encouraging tone. “That said, it does seem that your chief engineer was no where to be found when the proverbial crap hit the fan.” Again the captain simply nodded. Wade sat back in his chair, heaving a sigh that was meant to sound forlorn. “I assure you that things are going to be much easier, Captain, if you cooperate and answer my questions in as much detail as possible. Wade turned as the sound of an opening door came from behind him and Shamor entered. “Well, here’s your security officer, now. Now the real questions start,” Wade said, nodding to the security officer stationed inside the brig with him to let Shamor in. The Zemun sent Angstrom a glare in which most cases meant that he would be in the deepest of trouble if things didn’t go as intended. “Trying to be scary, too bad it doesn’t scare me” the captain said snidely. “If I were to scare you, there’d be a mess to clean up off the floor. I’m to assume that you’ve been less than cooperative in this session.” The captain simply scoffed at Shamor. “In the event you’re wondering why you’re detained here rather in a normal room I will tell you. Your ship had the equivalent of a 6000 gigaton warhead with all that Triceron on board. If the cargo went critical and detonated in a populated area the damage would be severe. This brings forth an interesting question,” Shamor paused, slamming a PADD on a bench making Wade jump slightly. “Why the hell would you do something so stupid!?” Angstrom thought for a moment, estimating the seriousness of Shamor’s bravado before fixing his eyes on Jon and speaking through gritted teeth. “If you’re not going to charge me I suggest you let me leave right now.” Taking a deep breath, Jon picked up the PADD, still miraculously working after its earlier treatment, and began reading off the list of charges. “Careful on what you wish for, you just might get it.” Picking up the PADD he begins to read off the list of charges. “Hauling hazardous cargo with an expired license. Evading designated security checkpoints and patrols. Reckless endangerment of ship and crew. Obstruction of a relief operation. Three counts of belligerence towards a Star Fleet Officer. And last but not least, utilizing a ship that was not fit for hazardous transport. These alone can put you away for a good long time.” Standing upright from his perch against the wall, Wade raised an eyebrow. “I thought he only had two counts of belligerence?” Shamor didn’t turn to reply to Wade inquiry, “I added the third one. Suffice it to say that the walls have eyes and ears.” The captain of the Juno sat quietly, apparently contemplating the caliber of the two men sharing his cell. “Now that I have your attention I suggest you make like a stool pigeon and start singing. Otherwise these charges will stick to you like a Ferengi clings to gold pressed latinum.” “Look friend,” Wade finally spoke up, coming to stand nearer to the freighter captain. “I,” he said, pausing to correct himself, “We can make this go a lot smoother for you. But only if you cooperate with us. Either way: you can tell us now, or you could spend the next couple of months with a Federation quorum. Its up to you.”
  3. I'm a doctor, not a symbologist!
  4. I tend to do the opposite in my play, actually. While I've probably seen close to 75% of the Star Trek material out there I haven't exactly been meticulous in storing all of the information gleaned from every episode I watch, or spending long hours scrolling through the pages of memory alpha. However, I do like to think that I have a fairly extensive knowledge of the sciences and I'll admit that I do enjoy showcasing that knowledge in my simming and logging. In fact, I've become pretty well renowned on some of my sims as being one to engage in the notorious activity known as technobabble (much to some of my GM's chagrin). What I fail to realize at times is that technical explanations and entertainment don't generally mix, which causes me to go overboard with my detail. The fact of the matter is most people don't find in depth technical explanations entertaining. Sure, among us geeks it's definitely enjoyable to discuss it, but there's a good reason why the non-fiction section at Borders is located in the back of the store. Science doesn't sell. Take the television show Big Bang Theory for example. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's a sitcom about a group of physicists who are stereotypically nerdy. It's a pretty good show, if you want a good laugh, but that's besides the point. Anyway, because they're physicists there is quite a bit of scientific trivia strewn about each episode, most of which any well-to-do geek like myself is pretty household stuff. But for a show about physicists there's very little actual physics involved. The same goes for some other science fiction shows/movies I can name, such as Eureka, Stargate, or the time honored 2001 A Space Odyssey. Anyway, my point is this: There are always going to be inconsistencies between what's written in a science fiction film and what's actually true (or accepted) in reality. Fiction writers aren't physicists (with some few exceptions of course), they're generally at best just enthusiasts. And I highly doubt they have time (or the desire) to go back over every episode and ensure that there's no inconsistencies with what's already been written. However there is one thing that is generally consistent in canon, and that is history or the series of events. If you're going to rely on canon for anything, I say it should be that. The technical stuff you can just handle the way most science fiction TV show writers handle it. Make up something that sounds technical (like the Heisenberg Compensator) and just roll with it.
  5. Go to collegehumor.com and search for "Panda Bully"
  6. I always keep a spare around just in case.
  7. I'd imagine the only real predatorial threat in panda territory is the leopard, which is nocturnal (and probably can only see in black and white anyway). I'd say that's pretty fair evolutionary cause for having black and white fir. It's pretty interesting to note that the black fur is generally located in areas where there is/may be depth (around the eyes, arms, legs, ears). Since it'd be harder to distinguish shadows on these black areas, it'd be that much more difficult to detect differences in depth. Since depth is what helps us to distinguish shapes (i.e. shadows), I'd say "Yeah, black and white makes a pretty good camouflage against nocturnal predators". -Resident biology buff
  8. The short answer is "No." Our chatroom uses a Javascript, and neither the iPhone nor the iPad support Javascript. Steve Jobs pretty much said that Javascript is completely useless. The slightly longer is answer is "It may be possible." I've heard tell of people hacking their iPads to run Java. The even slightlier longer answer is "Yeah, it could be possible, but why would you want to?" For one, hacking anything made by Apple is usually reserved to the truly devoted, and it's not just because it can be difficult. If you hack your iPhone, and then subsequently brick it, what you have is a $500 shiny paperweight, instead of a $500 shiny paperweight under warranty. Secondly, it may just be because I have chubby baby fingers, but the idea of taking on the task of reading and writing during a sim on such a small platform seems more than daunting--it would probably give me a headache to rival an aneurysm. The only real reason is if you're out on business quite a bit and don't always have access to your desktop. In that case, I say get yourself a netbook. :P
  9. I had this idea this morning to start a facebook event to encourage people to clean their computers, both the dust on the inside, and the viruses and malware on the inside. Help me out by spreading word of this event and inviting all your friends! Together we can save people every where a ton of money and headaches! You can view the event with the link below if you have a Facebook account. Lend a hand! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=110193239006511
  10. It seems to me that it could be a lot worse than it is. The captcha and email authorization cuts down on botting, but what we have here is someone who's willing to put forth the effort of going through all of these security checks to post these links. And I can only assume it's because he/they have found some measure of success here. So the best thing we can do is make sure not to click any links someone suggests to you over PM. Perhaps a membership-wide PM explaining the situation? I also notice that the message someone sends you on this board is copied in the email notification it sends you. In my mind this is only doubling the risk of an accidental click, or someone not getting the full context of the message. Perhaps that option can be disabled by the administrators? I've also discussed this with Kent, but haven't gotten a full answer out of her yet, is there a range of IP's used by these spammers? If so, it may be possible to ban that IP range in it's entirety.
  11. As a security minded individual, and one who's tried and tested many an exploit in an attempt to better secure my beloved computer, I think this is pretty good opportunity to post some internet do's and don'ts for those of you who may be gray in some of these areas. A lot of this is common sense, but I usually pass this information along to just about every who I find has viruses/malware of some sort when I'm working on their computers. So here it is Do's 1: Password. I can't tell you how important it is to have a strong password, especially for websites where your personal information is stored, such as Facebook, or your local bank's website. Usually, if someone is attempting to access your personal data that is password protected they will use what's called a brute force attack, which will cycle through random combinations of letters and numbers until it finds the right one. These brute force attacks generally start with lower case words and get more complex as it continues. I forget the exact numbers, but if you have a simple set of words for a password like "thisisapassword" it will only take an attacker a few minutes to succeed in getting your password with a brute force attack. However, if you use something with a mix of lower and upper case letters, numbers, and symbols in a 15 character password it would take a brute force attack several millennia to crack. Remember, passwords are like underwear, you should change them often. 2: Use real time scanning anti-virus protection and a firewall. Contrary to popular belief virus scanners are not perfect protection, and internet security is not all about firewalls, but they do definitely decrease the risk of infection by a very large value. I personally use McAfee, since I got it for free with my ISP, but there are several free anti-virus programs out there like "avast!" and "AVG". They're easy to set up and don't really bother you too much. 3: Keep up to date on current attack strategies! I know this may be boring for some of you, or you might not have to time to keep to date, but it wouldn't hurt to ask one of your geek friends who works in IT and plays WoW religiously what the hackers are doing now adays. For instance, one of the new emerging strategies that's starting to show up is what's called ransomware. It's basically a really well designed program that looks like your average antivirus software. It will basically lock down your computer and won't allow you to use it until you pony up a large some of money to purchase this fake software. These sorts of attacks could be easily avoided with one simple policy: 4. BE CYNICAL! That's right. I know cynicism is usually considered a character flaw, but on the internet a healthy dose of mistrust is an excellent strategy for keeping yourself safe. Basically, if it looks even a tiny bit shady, it probably is. 5. If you think you might have been infected with a virus disconnect your computer from the internet immediately! Viruses have a really mean tendency of inviting their buddies over to your computer for a big 'ol virus party. They also will send information to the attacker, such as sites you've visited, personal setting on your computer, and/or other personal information. So, if you even suspect that something weird is happening and your computer might have a virus or two, turn off your router/modem and seek some help. Dont's: 1: Never, ever, ever download a file that ends in .exe, .bat, .dll, or .sys. There are a number more, but these are the file extensions most commonly used in viruses. If you're in doubt, the best thing you can do is google the filename of the file the internet is telling you to download. If the words virus and "my computer went ballistic" appear in the common results, don't download it. The only addon's you should need for your browser for regular view are java (java.sun.com) and shockwave flash (adobe.com/products/shockwaveplayer/). If something says "you must install such and such in order to view this page" don't believe them! It's lies! 2: Store your passwords in your browser. Just don't, ever. 3: Along the same lines, never, ever store your credit card information on a website. This is a really bad plan. 4: Post an abundance of personal information to your Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or otherwise hip social networking/forum site. While this usually isn't a major security risk, since the stalker population isn't really as great as the media would have you think, it's still not a very good idea to post your name, address, phone number, and blood type where everyone can see it. 5: Kent will like this one. Don't use Internet Explorer! Especially 6. One of the hacker community's biggest tools now adays is what's called a cross-site script attack. The details are boring, but basically it's a piece of code written into a website than can be used to access data to your computer and in rare cases grant authorized access to your system. And Internet Explorer just isn't up to par. Get a real browser. 6: Use Peer 2 Peer download software. Examples include Limewire, Bittorrent, Bearshare, or Morpheus. Not only do files downloaded from these services contain many an unwanted program, but it also leaves a hole in your internet connection that hackers can use to gain access to your computer. Plus it's illegal. 7: One last thing, don't use Chat Roulette unless you want to see genitalia. Fair warning. I'm sure I've missed some important rules, but these are the best for minimizing the risk to your little world in a box, as well as the risk to the real world (identity theft, stalkers, being scarred for life (seriously, don't use chat roulette)). If anyone else can think of anything I missed feel free to add to the list. And if you have any questions or computer issues that need fixing, feel free to drop me a message. I love being geeky.
  12. ColinXHoward: another spammer. Just a friendly reminder, don't click any links or download files recommended by people you don't know. When in doubt, click X <_<
  13. A very old man is sitting on a park bench and just as another man is passing by he suddenly yells out "4-1-3.. DONE!" The other man looks down at the old man and says "Man, you look tired. What have you been doing?" The old man replies "I just gone done reciting the entire decimal equivalent of pi, backwards"
  14. I just felt like sounding smart