Selective Genius

HERAKLES: To the Unknown; A JNSQ Exploration mission log. KSC has had tremendous successes over the past decades,sending landers and orbiters almost all the celestial bodies in Kerbol system. In the recent years, there has been tremendous push for crewed missions beyond LKO. Several architectures have been designed for our return to Mun and Minmus, and Duna-Ike exploration. Some are practical, some are in the realms of fantasy. But all of them suffer from one major roadblock: Cost. HERAKLES aims to overcome this constraint through reusability and increased reliability, as opposed to competing mission architectures. What is HERAKLES? HERAKLES is a multipurpose reusable space vehicle concept which can be used for regular payload delivery to and from the surface of Mun and Minmus. It started out as a study to develop reusable upper stages to deliver payloads to GTO and Trans Munar Orbits but soon evolved into a complete Kerbin system exploration package. It has the potential to land a significant payload to the Mun's surface and return back to Low-Kerbin Orbit for refueling and inspections. Why is it necessary? With the recent advent of reusable 2 stage boosters to launch payloads to LKO, it started making less sense for the upper stages to be expendable. Reusablity coupled with rapid turnaround and Munar ISRU would dramatically reduce expenditure for missions beyond LKO. On validation of the Herakles Upper Stage in Kerbin's sphere of influence, this has the potential to become the space transportation vehicle of choice for Duna exploration and within the Jool system. With much more flexibility and less complexities involved as opposed to competing designs, HERAKLES promises a safe, reliable and cost-effective alternative to the present trend of space exploration. ****** "That was.. alright, I suppose." Mortimer took off his glasses. "But do you think it's enough to fire everyone's imagination? I mean, most folks out there who would rather support researching and utilizing 'Reliable and proven' technology. How you gonna convince them?" "Well, that's the exact reason I have used 'reusable' and 'reusability' 5 times in this little presentation." Linus replied. "You have got your priorities right! Your proposal is accepted!" With the sound of the gravel and chuckles all around the auditorium, the HERAKLES was formally adapted by KSC as one of the competing architecture for Duna exploration.

Ah well, that would have been in a real bad taste if that happened. I mean it would not have been cool and the worst part is that this possibility did not come to my mind. I seriously dodged a bullet there. Yeah, HR is waiting for a chance to pounce on me. I recently had a disciplinary hearing because they suspected I stole some hydrogen peroxide from the inventory (I was planning to, I won't lie) and I was saved by the Head of my Department who vouched for me. It later turned out it was the janitor who took it and did not tell anyone. They only found about it when that stuff scorched that poor guy's forearm. Sadly, no. But I try my best.

I was not intending to ask her out, I just wanted to scare her silly. And then as a last ditch effort to extract a draw from the jaws of defeat I asked her out for the evening hoping that she would get awkward and I wont feel that bitter about my humiliation. I never thought she would agree to it! But I am not mad about the accidental date. I am pretty excited. Best case scenario: both of us will have fun. Worst case scenario: She will punch me in the face, lightly. its a win-win!

I dunno how I should put it. But 2 of my friends are about to leave work, because they found permanent government jobs. They seemed happy and hopeful for their future. I was happy too for their sake, but I was a little sad too. I know I am being selfish, but I can't help it. We talked about our time together, I bawled my eyes out like a man. It's like The Office (US) Season 7 Finale. But instead of Michael leaving, it's Jim and Dwight who leave. Michael is still at Scranton. I am a bit sad, yes but very happy too I guess. I think the shock of the news destroyed a couple of my brain cells because I tried to prank my senior. She entered my lab at the exact moment I was about to get out. So, she ended up smacking the door on my face, by mistake. I stumbled and then fell down on the floor, supposedly unconscious(it was an act). She was scared and tried to wake me up, I did not respond. (I was LOLing internally). And then she rolled me on my back and then tried doing CPR. IT WAS PAINFUL. Her small hands were like freaking JACKHAMMERS! She was not using her palms to apply pressure, instead she was using the hard bone at the wrist. I tried to keep my screams quiet but finally I just HAD to 'wake up'. She did not stop however. Kept going at it for a full 5 seconds and then she asked me if I was okay. I said yes. She asked what day it is and before I could answer, she splashed my face with water. And then laughed for the next 10 minutes. Yeah, she realized I was pranking her. Apparently my poker face broke for a second while I was laying on the floor and she noticed it. The negative side of this prank debacle: My chest hurts. The positive side of this prank debacle: I have a date for the evening. So, I guess it was a mixed day for me.....

Request cup set. I certify that I am over 18 and over the age of majority in the country where I reside. And by the way, just for the sake of my curiosity, what are those cups made up of?

A little bird entered my room through the window early in the morning. And promptly flew face first into the blades of the ceiling fan. It got severed from its neck. The head collided with a wall, and the body crashed on my table. I asked my roomie for her sewing kit. When she asked why, I showed her the bird pieces and told her that this is an excellent chance to try taxidermy. She refused. I told her that maybe I could stitch its head back on and give it a proper burial. She refused and warned me that if I did not throw that birdpieces out of 'her' flat in the next 10 seconds I would be sleeping on the floor for the next 2 weeks. I took the bird outside and buried it. And as soon as I turned my back I spied a cat rushing to the spot and scratching on the burial spot. That cat extracted the corpse and promptly ate it ((I thought cats don't feed on animals they have not hunted?). So much for a proper burial.

Wow, that was *deep*.....

So we do the right thing even though we suffer for it?

I decided to read a epic over the last week. It is supposed to be a scripture detailing the Righteous Way (Dharma) and how to walk that path. But I was left with more questions about Dharma than I had before reading it. The characters whose storylines impacted me the most were the Hero and the Anti-Hero Anti-hero: Born to an unwed princess and abandoned, set adrift in a river, with a hope that he dies. Rescued by a low caste, childless family and raised as their own. The baby grows up to be a skilled charioteer and to the anger of the high warrior caste, more skilled than them in archery despite being only 12-13 years old. Since lower caste is not allowed to bear weapons, he is accused of 'stealing' knowledge. He was ridiculed and bullied all his childhood and finally had enough. He left the country and through several hardships, earned the knowledge he so desperately sought. He returned the greatest archer in the world and a legitimately strong warrior, perhaps one of the strongest. Hero: Born legitimately to the same princess, he and his four brothers struggled earlier in his life. But since he was raised as a higher caste warrior, he got the favor of everyone around him. He got the best education and the favor of his teacher who taught him archery, among other weapons. He was taught by Gods just so he could be the greatest archer in the world. He did not earn any of it, he was just pushed because he was born to a higher caste and had a moderate amount of talent. He also becomes 'The greatest archer in the world'. The Hero and Anti-hero develop a bitter rivalry over the years. In the climactic battle, these two characters are about to fight each other in a battle, not knowing that they are half brothers. Their mother approaches the Anti-hero and tells him that she is his real mother and begs him to switch sides and fight for the 'good guys', the same people who ridiculed him because of his low birth. Our enraged anti-hero refuses to switch sides, but promises his real mother that he will only kill the Hero and none of the other four brothers. In battle, the Anti-hero defeated all the brothers except the Hero but did not kill anyone of them, despite having ample opportunities to do so. When finally, the Hero and the Anti Hero fight one on one, the Hero gets his butt kicked all over the battlefield. The Hero, the Chosen One, Dharma's warrior was losing to a 'low caste goon'. However the Hero gets a lucky chance when the Anti-Hero's chariot gets stuck in the ground and he had to put his weapons down to take the wheel out. Attacking an unarmed person is against Dharma, but still the so called Hero had to resort to immoral ways and cheating to win the battle and kill his opponent. And the Anti-hero, who fought on the side of the villains, maintained his Dharma and did not kill anyone he promised not to kill. And yet we hail the Hero and the Anti-hero is forgotten. Is this what happens to people who truly follow the Righteous way? This kid, who earned every bit of his strength through sheer freaking will and hard work loses his life to a cheap shot by an entitled brat who got everything handed over to him by the Gods? Did I mention that the Hero literally had ONE OF THE TWO STRONGEST GODS on his side and STILL got kicked all over the place? What is the point of being nice, really? I am sorry for the rant..

If a CPU works for games, how do I make sure that it would work well for CFD application?

Hi! I need a computer which is good for playing KSP (and hopefully other high end games) and has a high processing power (for my CFD work). What would you guys suggest ? My budget is $1500. As a benchmark, my workstation at my lab is a 24GB, 4 quad core Intel Xeon machine.

My guess is that her wife is trying to get some extra monies and some publicity by raking up the stakes.. Quite a few karborundum-diggers out there... but that's juuust my personal opinion!

Ocean and mist on the surface of the Mun: What?

When you are excited about the sequel but still sad because your potato computer might not be able to run it and you can't justify spending 60$ on a game to yourself...

SQUAD has been phased out it seems. Star Theory will be taking over the reins.. Good bye SQUAD, it has been a nice ride...

"Finished meshing in 420.42 s." The 'Ultimate Question' was answered twice at my workstation just now!

Well, I was in a worse position in school, I could not even keep up with my classmates' conversation. I had no real friends, they only talked to me when they wanted help in maths problems. I was fed up of this! Really fed up! So, I started looking the speaker in a group in his/her eyes. It was unnerving at first, but soon I could look anyone in the eye without flinching, then I participated in an extempore competition. I was very scared, afraid that I would embarrass myself in front of my friends. But then I realized that I have NO friends... I had no obligation to maintain a social status. In other words, I could be shameless I had an on-stage melt down, but my Dad cheered for me heartily! It was the first time I had the guts to speak in front of 100s of people. I joined a public speaking club where I met my FIRST friend. He was an introvert like me and we were coached by a senior student. Soon I started gaining confidence and my English became very fluent. And in my country, unfortunately, the worth of a person depends greatly on how well he/she speak English. Needless to say, I got better at public speaking. The crowning moment was when I was reciting a poem on stage in a inter-school competition. It was a poem about a deity schooling a spoiled prince and threatening him with war and devastation if he does not mend his ways. From what I have been told by others, I sounded like a God (i.e scared the audience) when I recited the deity's lines and a rotten brat when I recited the prince's line. I turned into two different characters, basically. I won the competition and finally one of my shells broke. I can now actively participate in conversations. Although I still run out of topics to talk about and there's this awkward silence. But it's manageable. The last(and the toughest) shell of the cocoon that I have to break is 'Highbrow flirting', and I will then become a social butterfly!!! Its okay to be introverted but remember, connections matter in life. If you dont talk to people, you cant establish connections. TL;DR: Participate in conversations, talk with other introverts. Cast your shame aside, and talk to guys and girls. It will be difficult, and you probably will embarrass yourself in front of those people like I did a lot. But don't be afraid, you have nothing to lose. (Sorry if this sounds harsh.)

Comic strips like this one?: I think it is made in Powerpoint...

Sir, you and I, we could achieve great things if we work together. Terrible, but great. Will .blend files do? I usually model in blender, although I have not done character rigging yet.

Oh now THAT we have been doing after dinner every evening.

Well, if she's the she-mantis, then she enacted her plan yesterday. Too bad I am 'spoilt goods' hehehe! It's not about her being a vampire or a she-mantis, that's silly. My primary concern is about the predatory signals I have been getting off her. Like she's a cat playing with a mouse until it dies and then proceeds to eat it. My common sense blares at me to run away, but I just can't.

I haven't had an opportunity to check yet. Will get back to you soon. EDIT: Yes, she does reflect in the mirrors.

One of my seniors, she is 32, almost 8 years older than me but looks 18. She has all the charm and grace of two Falcon heavy boosters landing in perfect sync. She does not seem to capitalize on her extreme popularity the way I expect someone in her position to do, oddly. However, I always seem to lose my Zen when she's around. It's almost as if violins start playing in the background when she enters my lab. And these are not romantic violins. These are tunes of Vivaldi and Paganini, which is basically Violin heavy metal. Every second she stays in my vicinity, I have this unexplained urge to get ready for combat. She looks at me like I am prey, talks to me like the spider enamoring the fly. Deep in my gut, I always feel that she has figured out 15000 ways to end me right then and there. She loves the fact that I am always on guard around her and enjoys making my day weird. Commandeering my Workbench, lingering around in my close proximity, surprising me from behind by whispering in my ear out of nowhere. Two days ago, I had to put my immediate senior's stamp on one of the indents. I was about to do exactly that but she snatched the stamp from me at the exact last moment, stamped the indent herself and flung the small stamp about 20 feet away where it fell smack dab in a waste paper basket, which was not in her line of sight. She apologized immediately "I am soo sorry!! My hand slipped!! Are you free for lunch, I will make it up for you!" and then she stood me up for lunch. Although we did have dinner together later that evening and the evenings after that but she made it look like I was the one who was desperate to be around her. My (single) colleagues think I am a lucky man, but their shallow eyesight can't see what special kind of evil she possesses, the mind games that she plays. I never thought I would meet a woman so devious that she would eat other evil women in my life for breakfast. She is terrifyingly awesome and awesomely terrifying.

So has SQUAD allowed modders to introduce new 'static' surface features for breaking ground? I wont mind a few ruins at Duna or Laythe...