Duxwing

I'm guessing bricks. -Duxwing

For scieeeence! -Duxwing

26 = 4! + √4 + 4 - 4

24 = 4*4 + 4+4 EDIT: Yes Chris, I did. Thanks!

21 = 4! - √4 - 4/4 22 = 4*4 + 4 + √4 -Duxwing

19 = 4! - 4 - 4/4 -Duxwing

Dear Add-On Developers, I want to copy edit your READMEs, front pages, or other user-seen writings because good spelling, grammar, and style polishes your work and enhances users' experience, and because I love language and learning. If you would like me to copy edit your writing, then please either send me a private message or below post what you want copy edited, why you want it copy edited, and how you want it copy edited. For examples and references see: -"First Flight" by KSK -"Clean Slate" by The Jedi Master -README of Ferram Aerospace Research by ferram4 -Duxwing

Booyah! -Duxwing

I see great Laythe applications for the RAPIER: reducing craft size by reducing the number of necessary engines and fuel tank types decreases payload mass and thereby greatly increases tug dV. -Duxwing

Because the aliens have created a cloaking field just under Mongolia, beneath which the filming is performed and Elvis lives. -Duxwing

It almost makes you miss the days when the US and USSR were racing to space. -Duxwing

I would choose only one thing: power in the sense of being "all powerful". All else follows. -Duxwing

Finishing long stories seems to be difficult for you; shorter ones might be easier to finish. -A portrait of a Kerbanaut --Samuel Kerman, who was raised on a farm and despite his father's advice to keep his eyes to the ground upward gazed, yearning to venture the stars -A detailed mission --Deafen readers with the roar of SRBs, exhilarate them with the stomach-dropping jolt of decoupling, and awe them with the mighty size of Kerbin -A comedy of manners at KSC --A bureaucrat must hide an affair from visitors during a meeting--while his mistress hides under his desk! -A tragedy on a Laythe base --A Kerbanaut slowly loses his mind with loneliness. Just before he kills himself, he cries for help via radio, and due to the great distance, the life-saving reply is too late. -Duxwing

A chemist meets a priest who, zealous, attempts to convert him, "He cannot be seen. He cannot be touched. He cannot be smelt. He cannot be tasted--" Baffled, the chemist interrupts, "--You worship Helium?" --- A chemist meets a children's poet who, eager, hands him his latest work, "Ba ba black, sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full--" Baffled the chemist asks, "--are the bags full of wool, or Barium?" --- A chemist becomes poor. Desperate, he enters his laboratory and works and toils until he emerges, bearing beautiful jewels and shining metal for cheap sale. His greedy customers daily buy him out until the police arrive, "You fraud! Ruby, gold, and diamond? More like glass, pyrite, and cubic zirconium!" -Duxwing

I do: I put three hyphens "---" atop and below each passage of copy edited text. Aww, thanks. As the number of my copy edits, so the friendliness thereof. -Duxwing

*pushes thin-rimmed glasses onto long, bent nose and perches on the edge of a stool, notebook on fingertips* *licks thumb and with it flips the notebook's yellow pages, sighing in his black turtleneck, beret, and jeans* Monsieur, zee copy edeet. --- Lodan watched the the little airplane swoop onto the runway: the rear undercarriage delicately skimmed the tarmac, settling with a faint puff while the nose wheel smoothly and precisely dipped onto the centerline. After a leisurely roll-out, the pilot cut the engines--hardly had they fallen to whine when a fuel cart smartly raced behind one wing. Two kerbals leapt off and chocked the aircraft wheels. The fueling point cover flipped open, and the cart driver plugged an earthing wire and unreeled the fuel hose. The rear door of the aircraft hissed open, and onto the runway unfolded a complicated staircase. A darkly clad kerbal strode down and stood beside them ere a second, dressed in a grey suit, appeared in the doorway and gingerly descended. Lodan gulped when he recognised his shock of black wavy hair and jutting chin: Lodan straightened his tie and briskly strode, already greeting, “President Obrick - this is an unexpected honor sir.†Obrick examined the bowing kerbal, analyzing his unassuming suit and slightly balding head. Not much to this one, he thought, looks like a typical payroll watcher. He glanced down. Hmmm. Not afraid to get his shoes... boots dirty though and too busy for spit and polish . Lodan straightened up, sharp grey eyes from a lined face steadily returning Obrick’s gaze. Much better. Not too overawed and not letting his mouth run away with him either. The steps clattered when another kerbal hurried down them, clutching a briefcase in each hand. Obrick dipped his head politely. “Pleased to meet you, Director Lodan. He is Sambus, my aide.†Sambus shook his hand, “Great to be here, Director. Please - just call me Sam.†“Pleased to meet you, Sam,†said Lodan. His nose twitched at the sudden pungent smell of aviation fuel, “Our ground crew will have your aircraft turned around within the half hour, Mr President. Shall we visit the main building?†Obrick nodded. Lodan led them across the tarmac towards a small electric cart whereupon fluttered two small pennants:the familiar Kerbin flag and a stylised design of Kerbol rising over the horizon with six smaller stars scattered across the sky. A shiver ran down Sam's back when he saw that the white, gleaming door bore three stenciled letters: KSA. Lodan opened the door and gestured for Obrick and Sam to enter. He surreptitiously checked Obrick's seatbelt, handed Sam the two briefcases, and climbed into the front seat. The cart rocked on its suspension when Obrick's bodyguard swung himself onto the bench. Lodan through the windscreen stared straight ahead while buckling in and gripping the steering wheel. The purr of the motor shifted up a tone, and he wheeled the cart around. Sam stared through his window while the cart steadily rolled. Against the distant skyline boldly stood a skeleton of girders whereover lowly stooped a crane, a spiderweb of struts precariously suspended from one end. The cart drove around a bend, shifting Sam's view: the spider web flattened into a great latticework bowl. A team of kerbals over it swarmed like tiny green ants, some hauling struts, others hanging over the edges of the bowl and working a patchwork of large square panels. The cart suddenly halted! Sam lurched sideways in his seat: spinning orange lights luminously streaking the window while a large tractor rumbled before them, towing a flatbed trailer of cable drums whereupon in bright yellow hats sat two kerbals who at him waved while they passed. Sam blinked and groaned. Through his shifting eyelids he glimpsed a pair of excavators that so pecked at the ground as to carve a ragged trench that stretched to an elegant, cream coloured building: two gracefully curved wings, swept from an imposing main entrance, their roofs studded at regular intervals with domed skylights, large arched windows of slightly darker stone. “Hmmm,†said Obrick, “It's certainly eye-catching, but it's a little too... angular for my taste.†“It is a bit minimal looking,†said Sam, “although I think it goes rather well with whatever they're building out over there.†He waved vaguely towards the rear window. “It'll probably look better with grass.†The cart stopped, and Lodan hopped down to open the passenger door. Obrick climbed out, impassively beholding the expanse of churned mud that between the road and building entrance lay. Like stepping stones before him stretched concrete slabs that bore a walkway of wooden planks--generously decorated with muddy bootprints. Several workers were emphatically gesturing to a pit near the front entrance, although Obrick couldn't hear them over the the excavators that behind him roared and whined. Lodan dipped his head. “I'm afraid it's a little rough and ready Mr President,†he said, “We weren't really expecting visitors for several weeks yet, let alone one of the Twelve Pillars†The cart springs creaked when Obrick's bodyguard climbed out. Next Sam jumped down, wincing when the mud spattered over his shoes. “Please tell me the inside is finished,†he muttered. Lodan coughed. “Mostly,†he said, “We're still furnishing the north wing and equipping the south one. Anyway - welcome to the Kerbin Space Agency. Please mind your step on the walkway Mr...†“Harsen sir.†Lodan winced, “Mind the foundations...†Harsen stepped onto the walkway, flitting from plank to plank and seemingly unaware when several of them alarmingly wallowed underfoot. Obrick and Sam cautiously followed him, carefully taking the path’s middle. Lodan crossed his fingers behind his back and set off after them. When they approached the group of kerbals near the entrance, one casually glanced around at the sound of footsteps. His eyes widened, and he frantically elbowed one of his companions in the ribs. By the time Obrick stepped off the walkway, a ragged honour guard was ready to greet him. “Mr. President!†“Welcome to the Kerbin Space Agency Mr President!†Sam smiled to himself when Obrick strode over to the line of kerbals. “Thank you...†Obrick peered at the name plate attached to one battered yellow hard hat. “Ms Fercan. It's all most impressive I have to say.†Fercan beamed. “It'll be a lot more impressive once we get the dish working Mr President.†Obrick nodded and pointed towards the hole. “That's all for the dish, then, I presume. What have you got there - power, servo feeds, and main co-ax?†Another kerbal burst out laughing at the expression on Fercan's face. “Uhh no co-ax Mr. President: the dish handles primary signal processing, and the data is piped back here for analysis.†“I'd like to see that,†said Obrick, leaning over the hole. “How accurate is your pointing?†“Too early to tell yet sir - we havn't tried moving it yet. We were getting around eight mdeg in testing, and we're not expecting that in practice - probably more like ten to eleven.†Obrick whistled. “Still impressive for such a huge dish as that one,†he said. “I'd love to see those bearings but... ah Director Lodan.†He reached out to shake Fercan's hand. “I have to go I fear but good luck with the cabling and please - let me know how the pointing does work out in practice.†“I'd be honoured Mr President!†Leading his guests into the main building, Lodan glanced at Obrick from the corner of his eye. “I'm flattered Mr President,†he said, “I expected my report to be less thoroughly read, and I'm fairly sure that I included nothing about the finer points of control or rf feeds.†Obrick shrugged. “I like to keep up. Besides, knowing about the latest space news is the only way to get an intelligent conversation out of half the office staff these days. Which reminds me - any news from the latest KIS flight?†Sam's head snapped round, and Lodan was looking apologetic. “Nothing since the last KBS broadcast I'm afraid,†he said, “We had rather hoped to use the Muna 2 flight to test the antenna, and the KIS were quicker off the mark than we expected. The last we heard, they'd mid-course corrected.†Obrick nodded. “Encouraging, but that doesn't mean too much,†he said, “The Rockomax flight looked good too-until they had their thruster problem.†“That's what I'm worried about,†said Sam, “KIS were so quick to launch mostly because they pulled the Kerbin 2 probe from their museum and used it as the core of Muna 2. “Kerbin 2?†said Lodan, “Wasn't that the one they brought back from orbit?†“Yes,†said Sam glumly, “who knows what condition it was in.†He shivered and looked around at the plain white walls. Apart from a row of doors there was very little to see. The overhead strip lights cast a stark and pallid brilliance. Their footsteps echoed on the polished concrete floor. Lodan's office door was indistinguishable from all the rest, at least to Sam's eyes. Inside, the office was surprisingly modest: a large, plain, piled desk divided split the room, and one on side a large globe and an eclectic collection of cardboard boxes, desk toys and assorted pens served as decor. A drift of paper clips spilled over one corner and onto the floor, and the opposite wall was entirely devoted to shelving that all sizes of files already cluttered. The other side of the room was more homely. A coffee table stood before an electric fire that cheerly glowed beneath a little mantelpiece. Four chairs surrounded a table - also stacked high with files. A jug of water and a state-of-the-art coffee pot in one corner sat on their own table. Obrick by the window stood, gazing over the grounds and towards the antenna dish while Lodan fussed, clearing papers, making coffee, and rummaging through various boxes. The director of the Kerbin Space Agency gets one perk, he thought, this view must be the best in the building. Crockery rattled and Lodan satisfiedly grunted when he unearthed three mugs from the cavernous drawers of his desk. “I apologise Mr President,†he said ruefully, “I haven't had much of a chance to square everything away. May I pour you some coffee?†Obrick, Lodan, and Sam sat before the fire. Harsen accepted a mug of coffee and insisted on guarding the door. Lodan blew on his drink and cautiously sipped, perching himself on the edge of his chair. “So if I may ask Mr President,†he said, “what brings you out to the KSA? Our reports were...†“Commendably thorough,†said Obrick. “and I understand that your last budget report found it's way onto a memo of best practice from the Finance Committee. The chairman of the Committee is rumored to smile when a KSA report arrives - I have my doubts. Relax Director, I'm not here to cross-examine.†Lodan's shoulders relaxed and he sat back in his chair as Obrick continued. “However, as you'll appreciate, so the recent KSA budget requests have been... substantial, and I therefore wanted to quietly discuss future plans.†Lodan sipped, “We appreciate that, Mr President, and rest assured that we anticipate no more upcoming large capital expenditures. We will have ongoing expenses: staff costs, updating the library--†Sam leaned forward. “--a library?†“Yes,†said Lodan, “The KSA seeks and answers questions, some as obvious as you might expect--basic aeronautical research--whereas others less so:†he bit his lip, “Which questions are answered?" Lodan raised an eyebrow. “We trust the Finance Committee will agree that we should have no particular interest in duplicating well established results. However, spaceflight on any meaningful scale is going to involve a whole host of rather disparate engineering and scientific disciplines. So much so, that we decided that the most efficient way to access the information we need is to build our own library.†Obrick glanced at Sam. “That seems logical Director, although it doesn't explain the extra construction work going on outside.†Lodan coughed. “Forgive me Mr President,†he said “but could I be so bold as to suggest that we dispense with some of the formalities?†Obrick dipped his head. “By all means Lodan,†he said. “Thank you Mr President. The dish was my idea. In fact all three of them were.†Sam frowned. “Three dishes?†he said, “I only saw one.†Lodan walked over to his desk and returned with his globe under one arm. He put it down on the table and spun it round. “We are here,†he said to Sam, prodding a finger at the Koluclaw mountains. “KSA headquarters, research facilities and tracking site Alpha. In the foothills so we get some elevation without having to haul all the building supplies halfway up a mountain. Also we're roughly equidistant from from Barkton and Foxham, which are of course the launch sites for the KIS and Rockomax respectively.†He spun the globe again. “However we are also building tracking sites Beta and Gamma here... and here. Not particularly original names I must admit but they'll do for now.†“Kerbin wide coverage,†said Obrick. “Exactly,†said Lodan. “We see Alpha, Beta and Gamma as the anchors of a global tracking network. By themselves they should be suitable for interplanetary or perhaps Minmus bound spacecraft. Full coverage for Münar or Kerbin orbital operations will require more tracking stations of course.†Sam studied the globe. “Well KIS and Rockomax have at least one site each,†he said, “Plus I'm fairly sure that KIS have a secondary site in Wakira and Rockomax probably have a second site too. That's not a bad start.†“Provided that they both decide to cooperate,†said Obrick. Lodan shrugged. “I'd be surprised if they turn down a free expansion to their systems,†he said. “The difficult bit is going to be getting three sets of equipment working well together but we're working on a set of common data and communication protocols to get around that.†Obrick nodded slowly. Looks like you could do with a few more psychology books in that library Director Lodan. Still - it's a good idea in principle. “So the KSA end up paying for a piece of global infrastructure for anyone to use,†he said. “That would seem to overstep your mandate Director.†The corner of Lodan's eye twitched, “I know our mandate, Mr President,†he replied, “and we’ve met it: we identified a problem that would greatly hinder spaceflight, and we devised a solution to that problem.†“And then you implemented that solution?†Lodan smiled, “Yes I did. Two main players exist in the spaceflight business. In the long run the Twelve Pillars are right; in the short run, their competition will be disastrous.†Sam sucked air through his teeth with sharp, sudden hiss. Obrick kept his face carefully impassive. I was right about you, Lodan. “Go on,†he quietly said. “Rockomax and the KIS†said Lodan, “are building their launch infrastructure from scratch and mostly duplicating each other's work. However unavoidable some duplication is - they will not share manufacturing or testing facilities.†He gestured at the globe. “it can be extremely wasteful. Necessity will eventually drive both companies and any newcomers to develop their own Kerbin-wide communication networks.†Lodan swigged, “By acting now Mr President,†he said, “we can prevent this replication; however unfairly any new companies will thereby gain a global network, it will aid established companies and newcomers alike.†“It also would significantly increase crew safety,†said Sam, “At least one Pillar would greatly favour that benefit.†Obrick sighed, “Very well. Construction of Alpha, Beta and Gamma stations is approved. Full expansion of the KSA mandate will require authorisation from the Twelve Pillars, and as Sam has pointed out, they already show some support.†Lodan tilted his head, a triumphant smile hidden like a blanketed star, “Thank you, Mr. President.†Obrick sucked that star into the black hole of his glare, “I strongly advise against any further unplanned expansions of that mandate, Director Lodan.†Lodan bowed his head. “Yes, Mr. President.†--- Letter from The Editor: Yay! Your writing is developing. Watching and participating in this process makes me feel warm and soft and melty inside! Advice 1 'As' means not 'when' or 'while'. 'When' means that something(s) happen(s) at the same time as another, and 'while' means that something(s) happen(s) during another, use 'while'; e.g., "While my parents smooched beneath the blooming apple tree, I through its sunny canopy clambered, a hefty water balloon swinging from my fist." "When the gigantic truck squashed the tiny baby, I laughed at the comedy and cried at the tragedy." 2 Realistic diction can be concise and beautiful; e.g., "The sun was shining, and it was good" (The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway, if memory serves); whereas due to the foibles of spoken language it should only be fully realistic in transcripts. Therefore make your bureaucrats articulate despite real ones' stammering, stumbling, and using buzzwords that warrant a buzzsaw. 3 Was the construction site supposed to be beautiful, or dreary? It seemed to be both. 4 Say "before" instead of "in front of". 5 Use connotation to stimulate readers' unconscious; e.g., the duckling is 'ugly' not 'hideous' and someone who lacks a home can be 'a homeless person' or 'a bum'. -Duxwing

I like to copy edit (correct spelling, grammar, and style) and your story needed some corrections. Below is my edited version: Advice: 1 Wordiness. Readers can intuit or derive meaning: you need not, for example, expound how a beep precedes Mission Control's messages. 2 Consistent style. You chose to zoom out (great!) from Newney to the Kerbin system; therefore begin with just a Kerbanaut. 3 Simplicity of opening. Beginning the story with a meaningless action (entering the ascent capsule) complicates your exposition. 4 Emotion. Your characters feel: show it! If you can, provide them with 5 "As" is a logical operator that can be used in the operations "so ... as ..." "as ... so ..." and "as ... as ..." "such ... as ..." and "as ... such ...", which respectively describe the intent or effect of an action, a relationship between two phenomena or variables, compare two things, . It is not a substitute for "while," which is a preposition that describes simultaneous events, or "when," which is a preposition that connects two parts of two actions. Below is an example for each aforementioned kind of sentence: - "I so run as I speak: quickly." - "In a sealed vessel, as the temperature, so the pressure." - "I was as strong as an ox." - "I know such cars as this one." - "As the worst, such was he." - "While you sleep, I wait." - "We will ride when the sun rises." -Duxwing

Or simply package."have the humans working along side them, getting paid the same amount they do". An AI is like an absurdly diligent infant: beware what is put in its head. -Duxwing

One would have to program the behavior generation system and provide it no failsafe(s). On every CPU cycle checking portions of the AI's code against a fixed (ROM) original and correcting any unintended changes could prevent rampancy. -Duxwing

AI can only do what they've been programmed to do: one would have to be incredibly smart and incredibly stupid to build a self-upgrading, self-aware, world-dominating AI. -Duxwing

My Rules: -What is not reasonable may be corrected at whim -What is remains Game Setup: stock KSP lacks a correct aerodynamic model, and I therefore use FAR and DRE. Coping with this model requires fairings, which I acquire from Procedural Fairings. Unity and the above hate large parts that have single nodes, and I therefore use the Joint Enhancment mod from Ferram. Kerbal Engineer Redux provides data that every rocket scientist has, and the clouds and cities mod makes Kerbin beautiful. Gameplay: I test almost every craft in a sandbox save that I've titled "Simulator" before they launch in my Career save. If a bug or monumentous blunder (e.g., accidentally hitting "Launch") occurs, then I correct it because the end of maintaining overall immersion justifies the means of temporary gamey-ness. I'm considering reverting this rule to account for random part failures, Kerbal error, and political pressure. Craft Building: My aircraft's cockpits can decouple from their fuselages and parachute to Kerbin at zero altitude and zero airspeed. My Kerballed rockets lack escape towers and instead deactivate and decouple all their stages if a lifter failure occurrs (see "Gameplay"). -Duxwing

Move smaller payloads. The LV-1 is an engine "for ants". -Duxwing

Collapse of the vacuum: destroys the universe in milliseconds. -Duxwing

The LV-1 and LV-R provide tremendous payload fractions when with little fuel pushing light payloads, thereby lessening the payload mass of their orbital tug, which therefore can use less fuel and therefore in turn require a lesser lifter; this cascade of lightening greatly reduces mission mass, complexity, and cost. -Duxwing

Dear Ferram, I like to copy edit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copy_editing) and I've noticed that your README could be better written. Would you like me to copy edit it and send you the new version? I rewrote the advice section: -- ROCKETS -- Consider aerodynamic forces lest they sunder your vehicle or render it uncontrollable. General troubleshooting suggestions: -- Research gravity turns. With stock KSP, a gravity turn means "go straight up and then pitch over 45 degrees all at once" whereas with FAR, it means a gentler, smoother turning over: throughout it stay within 5 degrees of the surface prograde marker (slightly more than the size of the circle on the marker). WARNING: Large angles of attack can cause a loss of control in many designs. -- Reduce your TWR. Old stock KSP designs can replace every Mainsail with a Skipper and still fly. Large TWRs tend to cause overspeeding in the lower atmosphere, which can cause aerodynamic forces to overpower control authority. -- Use more serial staging and less parallel staging because with FAR installed, achieving orbit requires less dV and longer rockets usually are more aerodynamically stable. Also, as the mass drains out of the first stage's tanks, so the CoM moves forward, further stabilizing the rocket. -- Make your first stage last until the upper atmosphere; early staging events can suddenly change the launch vehicle's dynamics and, by Murphy's Law, at an inopportune time. -- Add fins to the bottom if you need an extra little bit of control. Their effectiveness will drop near Mach 1 due to transonic effects, but they can help on some troublesome designs. -- ASAS in the atmosphere can cause flexing oscillations that reduce control due to uneven aerodynamic effects. -- Instead of launching entire bases and space station sections, launch them in pieces and assembles them in orbit. -- AIRPLANES AND SPACEPLANES -- Planes have much larger lateral aerodynamic forces on them than have rockets and therefore are more difficult to design in KSP. Let real planes inspire you and while in the SPH remember each planes's purpose, be it subsonic heavy transport, supersonic fighter, or stunt special. General troubleshooting suggestions: -- If the CoL is before the CoM, then increasing the plane's angle of attack (which increases lift) causes the plane to pitch up and thereby gain more lift and therefore pitch up, and so on unto many, many flips. Check where the CoL is located in the editor: in the static analysis tab in the FAR GUI, a negative slope for the moment coefficient (Cm, the yellow line on the graph) indicates a stable plane. -- Aerodynamic forces change with Mach number; a plane that was perfectly stable at subsonic speeds could become unstable at supersonic speeds (or vice versa, depending on the design). Use the static analysis tab in the FAR GUI in the VAB / SPH to determine how its performance changes with Mach number. Consider sweeping angle of attack at all Mach numbers at which you expect to fly. -- The CoM will shift when fuel drains; your plane can become unstable (or too stable to be controlled) if the CoM shifts too much. -- So design your plane's wings that the frontmost lifting surface stalls first, whereafter stall (in order) the canards, main wing, and horizontal tail. The plane therefore will downward pitch if it begins to stall. -- A larger vertical tail (placed further back) will dampen yaw and ease landing. -- Sweeping a supersonic plane's wings proportionally to its speed reduces supersonic drag. -Duxwing