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Yeah I definitely don\'t want to be tied down with a 2 year contract. Just bleh. I checked my phone usage last night and apparently I used 25 minutes of talk only 2 days into my cycle :l Yesterday I made a lot more phonecalls than usual for work, but that\'s still concerning. I wish there was a way for me to see previous months usage...I know I don\'t talk much. I\'m sure 95% of those 25 minutes are actually just 23 separate 20 second phone calls, which I would tie directly to work yesterday. Just need to keep thinking things out. I\'m in no rush. Currently, I believe I\'m locked in a contract with Verizon on my current phone. I\'m not sure how much longer the contract lasts, but I think several months. Which I guess is why I\'m becoming more concerned with a carrier than a phone at this point. I\'m dying for that Galaxy Nexus, I just hope by the time I get it they fix a lot of the issue\'s it\'s been having. Specifically the dropped calls. I\'m sure the reported short battery life is affiliated with 4g/LTE usage (which my town has no coverage of, so I\'d turn it off) Edit: I need to check my plan. Somehow my minutes are at 44 now, I didn\'t make a phone call at all, so something is up. I\'m not saying there\'s a glitch, but that I don\'t understand some aspect of my current plan (It\'s under my father)

Alright a bit of an update I spose. My sister is now happy with her phone, so that\'s settled. I think I\'m going to stick with planning on buying the Galaxy Nexus, so for now I\'m just researching the cheapest carrier to use. Verizon\'s plans confuse me so I\'ve been looking at T-Mobile, and they seem to have decent price. I\'m looking at Unlimited Text + Web (Up to 5Gb) and 100 Minutes of Talk for $30 a month, no contract. Personally, I don\'t think I need much Web at all, I\'m in WiFi like all the time. 100 minutes of talk might be cutting it close, but I\'ll have to check how much I actually talk. I don\'t think it\'s much.

Cheapest is actually somewhat ambiguous -- you\'ll want to look at both phones and plans before buying. My suggestions are based at least partly on my use-cases. (Talk is unimportant, text sees moderate use, data regularly breaks 1 GB and consistently staying below 2 requires some effort. And yes, this means I\'ve toyed with the idea of Sprint as a choice for the next phone.)

Wow, when you talk, you can hear it! wow... i could just amagine it: Me: Hi! im new! TROLL: UIAYUIAAUAOIYIAYAI SPEAKERS: WTF

It appears my greetings thread has attracted many people to talk about Latin, Romans, Life of Brian (which is understandable because it\'s the Life of Brian) and Cats. Personally I have 2 roaming my house, bringing home dead or alive (mostly alive) mice, or even the occasional bird. A few times a rabbit somehow. :>

it just hit me... The KSP as we all know, Just how well known is it ? i have been thinking and i want to collect all signs of how well known Ksp is to the internet on this thread. to create a Relatively Correct image on Ksp and how well known it is. So lets all work together to collect information things like: news articles, Famous persons playing or talk about Ksp, Statistics, Gamplay or lets-plays, or generally positive things said about Ksp outside this forum. I start YogscastSips 150\'000 Sub Robbaz, 200\'000 Sub http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBkROtajijc And my last one is the Rock Paper Shotgun Article http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/12/02/kerbal-space-program-aims-for-the-stars/* Hope you gyes can find more to add :/

Thanks for the advice. First off the aspect, not much I can do about that actually. That is because I actually run UXGA CRT monitors. 1600x1200 resolution per monitor. Since KSP runs fullscreen on one, the game only plays that resolution, and that is what fraps records it at. When I put it all into the one movie, standard .wmv that vegas puts at for 720 is when the bars show up. You can see how much so if you check out that last eve online vid I did where it has the black bars underneath. I will see what I can do, might be able to get windowed mode set up so it more closely matches. As for my voice, it is actually the part I have the most trouble with. I also need to get a new microphone as well, clear up some of the crackling. A wire broke in my headset, so am stuck with backup. I will play around with the audio balance some more see if I can get that cleaned up, I hope to do another project to really help with precision controls. So accurate landings and orbits. Nice channel you have as well. Clear and articulate talk, excellent intros. I would love to spend the time and do up an intro myself, but between ksp, eve online and other rl hobbies, don\'t have the time to do up one. I really need to fix the landing vid, for some reason it is cut off, not sure what happened there.

During its main release, most of 2001\'s ticket sales were by those taking LSD and other hallucinogens because the stargate scene made the trip all the better. That even helped the movie do an extended limited release. Most people who watched the movie sober were wondering what the hell they watched by the end. This was mosty helped by the fact the book was practically released the same time as the movie. Both the book and movie were made simultaneously, with Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick putting their heads together on bits of the story. Since people weren\'t able to read the book before the movie, it left them feeling rather high and dry at the end of the movie. Hence the movie didn\'t do so well during its main release except to the acid-tripper crowd. It wasn\'t until later after people could read the book and make sense out of most of what was going on, that the movie started to become truly appreciated. The special effects were a great leap forward from everything else made at the time. It wouldn\'t be for almost another decade before they made another leap on the screen with Battlestar Galactica. (And then those other movies a little later that people talk a bit about, Star Wars and Star Trek:The Motion Picture). The soundtrack was a true treat, as well. One has to wonder how many thought The Blue Danube was a fitting piece of music for a space setting before 2001 came out. The book is an excellent read. It is a mind expansion of its own, but you don\'t need to BYO acid. Once you read the book the movie should become better for you.

I think all the science talk has robbed people here of a sense of humour.

Fox\'ll cancel Mythbusters if you talk like that. :3

Not how to talk like Yoda, that is. 'On it, I can get. Firefox, I use.'

Yeah im in blender. But, most of that tech talk you used there made no scene to me.

Chapter 4 PART ONE A loud, sharp buzzing sound screeched in Koen\'s ears, rudely awakening him from his sleep. He wriggled around in his bed for a few minutes, reluctant to get up, and to start the mission. He is a pilot, not a biologist, why does he need to tag along? He finally got out of bed and stumbled to a coffee machine in his room. No sugar, no milk. He chugged his coffee quickly, and put on pants, a simple, white shirt, and shoes. He then made his way sluggishly to whatever briefing hall or rec room he had to go to. Koen waited for the black coffee to sink in. Koen entered a long corridor, with large windows on each side, leading out onto the planet. He slowed down a little, pausing to look out. It was around 9 AM, and the local sun illuminated the planet enough for Koen to see the sharp, rocky peaks and hills. He also slowed down for another reason. Adder was standing still at the opposite of the transperant corridor. She had turned slightly and was looking out onto the planet. Koen became suspicious. He squinted his eyes, and slowly walked forward, and stood next to her. 'Hi,' He said hesitantly. Folding his arms. 'Good morning,' Adder replied. She still avoided eye contact. 'Your mission leaves at 9:45, so I would start to get ready,' She said in a condescending, snappy atitude. 'What?' Koen asked, not sure whether to be frightened or offended. 'I had to slow down mining activity for the past three years, just so an un-needed aide team could be shipped out to investigate aliens,' Adder replied, now glaring at Koen. Without saying anything, Koen quickly brushed past Adder and entered the corridor leading to the briefing hall. What the hell?... he murmured to himself. He pressed on walking, slightly nervous now because of that encounter. After a short while of walking, he found himself in the briefing hall. Koen scanned the room, and found he was probably late, as most of the group had already entered. Then, all eyes were on him, and he embarrasedly pushed further in. Behind him marched in Adder, glaring forward, not really looking at anything. Everyone sat down. Kerman was standing at the front with Beirson. She began to address the group. 'I hope you have all gotten a good night of rest, because in approximately forty minutes I and five other people will be going out for a brief exploration of this alien building. I want us to be gone for no more than two and a half hours, and I want us to arrive back unharmed. All but Adder , Beirson, and Astrid will be going, I feel it would be wise to have two people and my robot on stand-by at the base if anything does go wrong,' Koen raised his hand. 'Why am I going, I am just a pilot?' 'Well, don\'t you want to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event? Anyone can explore. I\'ll bring Adder and Beirson next time, if they\'d like,' 'Yes, of course. Sorry captain,' 'That\'s fine Koen. Now, that\'s a word for all of you. You can be a biologist, virologist, sociologist, or a cook, but you can still explore and contribute to the team. I hope to get all eight of you to the site in the next two days, perhaps less. Now onto the details,' Kerman clicked a button on the remote in her hand. A high-quality holograph image of Trecnotor\'s surface was projected from the interface behind her. The image showed the gray, rocky surface, as well as the arsenic soaked Trecnot seas. A small, blinking dot a few inches from the seas represented the base. About an inch south of the base was a solid green question mark. The bright green was in stark contrast to the dark, sharp surroundings. 'That green question mark represents the alien building. I\'ve been researching pictures that you all have taken over the past four years. I see you have yet to go inside, which is was not a bad decision. Without protection, who knows what could have been lurking inside. Hostile life, traps, disease, you name it,' Kerman said. 'This morning, I retrieved two boxes of Kerbal Military-grade weaponry and space-suits, fitted with small cameras. They are in the boxes right behind me. You can get changed in your rooms when the presentation is concluded, which should be shortly,' She said, while tilting her head to look at a clock on the wall. 9:12 AM. 'Now, I cannot stress enough the importance of staying together. You\'ve all seen horror films where a group gets separated, lost, and slaughtered by the antagonists. While our mission may not be a Kerbywood film, it certainly applies,' Kerman smiled, as everyone else laughed. 'At most, we can be 150 feet apart. Feel free to idle in a large room, but we will all stay in one area,' Pause. 'This concludes the briefing for today. We will leave in about 31 minutes. Go get changed,' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After they got changed, the six person group were now outside, full dressed with their military-grade space-suits. Kerman and Koen had equipped plasma-bullet firing Kerbal Military A-Class rifles. It can incinerate anything from living tissue to walls of lead. The plasma can burn sulphuric acid and instantly vaporize water. When wielding it, a kerbonian is a walking death machine. However, the one downside is that the gun could actually melt if fired in rapid succession. Cooldown is a must, making the rifle rather ineffective in large battles. The group walked on, recording with their cameras, through the gray fog and over the rocks and mini-ridges. They stayed clear of the eccentric and possibly violent quickslithers. Like all animals smaller than them, the quickslithers minded themselves and were probably terrified by the tiny, green beings. However, there is a possibility that some horrible, 90 meter tall creature could be stalking the kerbonians right now. But then again, what if their menace is an insectile, or even a microbe? The suits apparently keep out everything. Kerman lead the group, with her rifle stationed on her back. Behind her was Koen, then Kettinger, then Dentaug. Behind him was Hescen, and finally Hueston. Hueston began small talk. 'You\'d think with this thick, black atmosphere, these rocks should be totally eroded and plain, right?' 'They aren\'t, for some odd reason, we still don\'t know why,' Hescen responded. 'Does anyone know how old this planet is, or how old the system is?' Kettinger asked. Koen nodded his head, wanting to ask the same thing. 'I think, like, five or so billion years old, a little older than Kerbin,' Deantaug entered the conversation. 'I wonder what\'s halting the erosion,' Hueston pondered. 'Maybe the atmosphere is not as thick as we think,' Hescen added, looking up at the black sky, only dimly lit by the sun. Suddenly, Kerman interupted them all, and pointed at a gray structure in the distance. 'Sorry to interupt, but that\'s the building, right?' 'Right,' answered Hescen. They continued towards the monolith. The base group had never been closer than 9km, so the journey was a raw experience to all. The whole group turned on their helmet cams, as they got closer and became awed. Finally, after a few minutes they were close enough to see it. It was a dark, gray building with slightly curving corners, almost like a pyramid with the top cut off. Narrow, triangular openings existed on the faces of the building, and progressively got small as they went up the building. It was obviously ancient, as it had cracks and holes throughout its exterior. 'Oh, my god,' Hescen quietly said, as she gawked at the monolith. 'It\'s huge!' Exclaimed Koen. The monolith extended 100 meters into the air, as big as a kerball field. No doorways seem to existed. 'We will have to get in through one of those triangles,' Kerman stated, as she too slipped into awe. The monolith had a slight aura of wonder surrounding it. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One by one, the group entered the alien building through a triangle entrance near the base of the structure. The inside was completely hollow, with very little light leaking through the openings. The group had to turn on flashflights built in their helmets just to see where their feet were going. As they panned around, they saw that the inards of the monolith was blank; no writing, no artwork, no signs of civilization other than the fact the monolith existed in the first place. 'I hope you are all recording this,' Kerman whispered, while scanning the whole building. 'Of course,' Koen responded, doing the same thing as Kerman. After walking around for a few minutes, the group began to notice how empty the monolith was. Suddenly, however, Hueston noticed a near-perfect, metallic circular hole in one of the corners of the building. 'Hey! Over there!' He exclaimed. The group followed him over, and then stood still, encircled over the hole. They could not see the bottom, and it seemed like it was the edge of hell, leading down into nothing. Kerman took out a pale, green-colored rod from her suit. She cracked it, to where it turned bright green. She threw it down. After three seconds it hit a surface, and could be easily seen by the group. 'Barely anything, we could jump it if we wanted,' Kettinger said. 'But since we want to get back up, we\'ll lower a rope down, and climb back up,' He continued, looking at Kerman. 'Sounds good, you have rope?' She asked. 'Yes,' 'Ok, then lower it. You will go first, then Koen, Hescen, Deantaug, Hueston, and then I,' One by one, the group filtered down into unknown depths. Kerman looked around one last time before lowering herself down. Below, it was dark and musty, but it felt smooth. The floors seemed metal, as did the walls. Hescen turned on her flashlight, after having to turn it off for the descent. The whole group was awestruck by what they saw, and what was created. To be continued... 20 June 2012: Because of the 20,000 character limit, I will probably be adding a new reply for every one or two chapters. Sorry for any inconvenience. I plan on putting future chapters on a PDF file and attaching it here. I have also added some of my artwork . Make sure to scroll to see the whole artwork. Thanks! 22 June 2012: Chapter 4 PART TWO PDF File below 22 June 2012: Here\'s more art! Try scrolling left and right for the character artwork to see all of the characters...

Chapter 1 The three, small, green Kerbonians drifted slowly in space, aboard their Deep Space Vehicle I (DSV-I). They slept quietly in stasis, dreaming long dreams of their past. The Kerbonians had been sleeping in stasis for about 3 and a half years. A huge stretch of time, but only lasting seconds for the sleeping beauties. They were 1.13 x 1016km from home, which equates to about 1,200 light-years from the Kerbol system. If traveling at light speed, a technology first used in 2067, the kerbonians would have been a-okay, but their planet would have changed dramatically in the 1,200 years. By the time they got back, their loved ones and relatives would have been ancient history, as well as their governments, home nations, cities, and lives. That\'s why they travel incredibly faster than light, and incredibly faster than a lightning bolt, or a Kerbi Industries laser aimed at the Mun. The DSV-I uses superheated plasma engines, running at 9700 degrees celsius, backed with boron coated, titanium shells. Within the ship, tachyon producers help the ship zap through the void of space. Tachyons are mysterious, faster than light, and able to propel a starship through space, and yet, even today at 2129, physicists, scientists, and engineers still do not know what tachyons truly are, or why they are. Now, focusing on the inhabitants of DSV-I. Captain Ana Kerman, Pilot Simon Koenschluster, and Medic William Kettinger. All asleep, all dreaming. Kerman was dreaming of her college days at KUES, the parties, the fun, and the sleepless studying sessions. Koenschluster 'Koen' was dreaming deeply of a nightmare, in fact, of drifting into space endlessly. He was becoming restless in his stasis pod, fearing for his life. Kettinger was back on Kerbin, sitting in a field, looking up at the blue sky, with puffy white clouds everywhere. All the Kerbonians were single; un-married, un-fertilized. A theory exists that these people do better in high-stress, possibly dangerous situations. A single Kerbonian does not have to worry about hungry mouths or lonely spouses at home, and thus may be calmer in dire situations. They may be more alert, and think of their own safety and self-preservation, opposed to that of any family. Suddenly, in the stasis quarters, everything decided to turn on; lights flickered on, beeps began to beep, computers went on. Then, a bulky, square-shaped hunk of metal arose from the floor. A screen light up over the center of the being, and wheels popped up from under it. Green text flashed over the screen. The text was AS-TI: AUTOMATED STEWARDESS- TRANSTELLAR IDENTITY. She was the robot on board. Astrid, as the crew called her, was not an android, or a cyborg, but a safe, kind, metal machine who oversees the crew\'s missions. A voice came from her. 'I am awake,'. Astrid wheeled over to the stasis pod of Kerman, a bright green, blonde haired woman. Astrid produced a boxy arm and several black fingers. After a few clicking of buttons, the stasis field collapsed, and Kerman awoke. Astrid repeated the process for Koen and Kettinger, waking them from the three year dormancy. The first response of a Kerbonian (and a thing called a \'human\') awakening from a three-year stasis is to blink rapidly and collect your probably racing thoughts. Maybe then one will vomit, or maybe they will sweat profusely, or perhaps they would cough for a while. The point is, is that beings react strongly to years of sleeping in a tube, under a time-freezing field. Depending on the Kerbonian, and the time of stasis, recovery can last anywhere from fifteen minutes to four hours. 1,200 light-years and 360 kerbin days makes for about an hour recovery time. By the time Kerman, Kettinger, and Koen recover, they will be descending onto their mission: the planet Trecnotor III. A foggy, dark planet, which barely hosts life; microbial at best. It is rocky, and very hard to walk on, with a rugged landscape, and unpredictable, violent weather. Seas of mercury-pinched water exist sporadically in the north, and primitive lichen thrive on the banks of said seas. 40km away from the 'Trecnot Seas' exist the mining and research facility IMRF-102. Five Kerbonians live and work there now, in a outpost built like a bunker, to shield them from the deadly environs of Trecnotor III. The facility, inhabitants, and research equipment are funded and overseen by the Kerbin Space Program, a government agency. However all mining interests and doings are strictly controlled by the mining monoply Kerbi Industries, a private corporation. It is a strange partnership, but the KSP keeps the Kerbi Industry from exploiting the planet, and the Kerbonians themselves. After vomiting a little, and sweating, Kerman gathered herself and looked out a window onto Trecnotor, in low orbit. A grey and dark-blue mass, drifting around it\'s parent sun, a red dwarf. Kerman knew that past all the dense, poisonous clouds existed the facility, and five other Kerbonians. She pursed her lips, not sure whether to be frightened at the hostile planet, or worried about their mission. Their mission in question was to aide in research of a possible civilization, hidden somewhere on the planet. Mysterious and odd transmissions have been received by the IMRF ground crew, and they are too frightened to investigate alone. What will exist? 17 June 2012: This is my first Kerbin-themed story on this forum. I hope everyone likes it, and please offer critique and input. Was it boring? Was it exciting!? Please feel free to tell me. I got inspiration from this years 'Prometheus' by Ridley Scott, and 2009\'s 'Moon' directed by Duncan Jones. More chapters will come, and this first chapter is a sort-of pilot. Chapter 2 The DSV-I began its descent upon the planet. The green astronauts were already feeling well enough to operate their vehicle. Koen jumped in his piloting seat and put on a baseball cap, fitting over his big, green head. 'Entering upper exosphere, about now,' He said, pushing the throttle forwards. The dark blob-planet got bigger, and the crew saw clouds whirling around quickly. Koen darted his eyes over the various computer screens and gauges on his piloting interface. 'I\'m gonna throttle down a little, we\'re running a little low on fuel,' He murmured to himself. Kerman and Kittinger trusted him enough to let him do whatever he wanted, on his own. At 24, he was the youngest on the team. Kittinger was 25, and Kerman was 28. Kerman leaned over Koen as he continued to throttle forwards, plunging the crew deeper into the dark, unknown planet. She was slightly nervous, not being out this far from home, and never to a planet this mysterious. 'Good. You\'re doing fine,' She complimented. They were going faster now, entering the thin part of the atmosphere. It also started getting a little darker, and a little bumpier. 'Time to buckle up!' Kettinger alerted, and Koen fastened his seat belt, and Kerman sat in her command chair, viewing the two others before her. She was fully seated, and she found solace observing her crew, and employees, busily working away, and dragging the DSV-I into the depths of darkness. As they plummeted into the atmosphere, the darkness adopted a dark-blue tint, and the crew saw puffs of thin, wavy clouds. It was quite a scary experience, everything going dark, almost to a complete blackness. The lights went on in the ship, and the outside only got darker. Kerman, and the rest of her crew, felt somewhat safer, like the lights were protecting them from the danger outside. Koen then pushed a button on his interface, and a holographic representation of the planet\'s topography flashed over the large window that lead out onto the darkness. Trecnotor was virtually an endless mountain range, with jagged peaks and steep volcanoes reaching up and stabbing the toxic sky. Only near the Trecnot Seas were there any valleys or flat lands. IMRF-102, commonly called 'Base' was situated in a plain. 'Altitude?' Kerman asked, gripping her seat handles. She flashed her eyes over to Astrid, the hunk of metal. She was sitting stationary, with her glowing green eyes. Astrid was buckled against the wall, so when the ship for some reason goes vertical, Astrid does not wheel away and into the pilot, or out the window. A funny sight, it was, a robot restrained. ' 61,000 meters,' Koen answered, beginning to thrust back, as to level out the ship. The atmosphere became thicker, but it was also getting lighter as the star began to lighten up that side of the planet. A common Trecnot day lasts 22 hours, with 11 hours of weak sunshine, and 11 more hours of night as black as pitch. In just a few minutes, the lights inside were turned off, and the red dwarf star colored the clouds an orange, like the orange and pink found at twilight. The ground below became visible, as the ship passed the 55,000 meter mark. Gray, rocky, boring, words to describe when viewing from above. On the surface it is a different, and much wilder, story. One cannot see from the air, but on the surface exist long, snake-like creatures that occupy the ground and soil, feeding on mercury and iron. The strange snakes have been known to bite and nip at the Kerbonians, and some bites lead to mercury poisoning. Other than that, the snakes, dubbed the 'Quickslithers' are generally peaceful. The quickslithers are one of the few animals on the baren wasteland, save for native lichen and microbial lifeforms. Not many animals like jagged environments or air composed of 59% argon, 29% fluorine, 10% nitrogen, and 2% oxygen. The ship dipped below 40,000 meters, and the surface became more and more clear to the eyes of the Kerbonians. Faint red lights also began to get visible. They were lights of the antennae jutting out from the base. 'IMRF-102 is visible,' Koen stated, and continuing with an altitude announcement. ' 35,000 meters, estimated arrival time in six minutes,'. The minutes passed, and soon the crew were only about 500 meters from the surface, clearly seeing the base bathed in a light, orange blanket of sunshine. The base was divided in three sections with corridors linking them. The largest building was the power station, which operated by extracting and using uranium and plutonium deposits deep under the surface. Solar power and hydroelectricity was obviously not an option, however the Kerbonians still got water from underground rivers. The water was only tainted with mercury, and that was easily cleaned out in the second building, which was the Purifying Complex. The final building was the building that the kerbonians met, slept, and eat in. A cafeteria, laboratory, clinic, briefing hall, and bedrooms existed there. Plus, a rec hall was built in a few years ago, to prevent boredom-induced death. Kerpool and miniature kobol could be played here, but most of the time the kerbonians brought their own games and activities. As they landed on the landing pad at the base, Astrid wheeled towards a set of lockers, opening them, and revealing three, orange space suits, along with three helmets. The three Kerbonians got up from their seats and proceeded to put on their suits. They had to get naked, but they have done so numerous times, so to them, getting naked in front of your comrades is like riding a bike. After stripping their clothes off, they put on an inner, dark-blue colored suit and black gloves. After that, they were ready to fit themselves into the bulky outer shell. They were now ready to brave the surface of Trecnotor III. Hopefully someone was already outside waiting to rendevous with them and take them inside. That kerbonian was Doctor Kate Hescen. She was standing by the main, airlock doors to the living complex. Hescen could not see very much past the apparent storm that was blowing by. She could see the giant mass that was DSV-I, standing silently at the launch pad about 100 meters away. They must still be on board. Hescen thought. She folded her arms behind her back, and waited. After a few minutes she saw three, pudgy, orange figures jump from the ship. She then saw a metal block with green eyes being lowered from the ship. They seemed uncomfortable in the storm, moving against the blowing wind, dragging along the metal being. Hescen knew it was a robot, but she questioned as to why the aide crew was bringing along a robot. Do the aides need an aide? After a few moments, Kerman was face to face with Hescen. 'Good morning, Ms. Kerman,' Hescen greeted. She unlocked the doors, and they slid open, leading into a decontamination and airlock room. The crew and Hescen piled into the room. The crew was sweaty, after struggling through the storm. Astrid was not even affected by the fiercely blowing winds and freezing cold spikes of air. In the airlock, while being sprayed by a strong, gaseous dis-infectant, Kerman introduced her and her crew. 'I am Captain Ana Kerman. This is Pilot Simon Koen' She pointed to him. He smiled, glad she did not include his whole name. 'This is Medic William Kettinger. And this is Astrid, our robot,' Kerman concluded. Hescen gazed at the robot for a moment, when a voice was heard: DECON IS COMPLETE. Another door behind them opened, and led to a white-washed corridor, with sky-blue linoleum floors. The group walked the halls, until coming the square, carpeted briefing room. Hescen began to talk. 'The other four are sleeping, and will be awake in about fifteen minutes. After that, they will come here and I will introduce them, and you can start briefing,' She said. 'I assume you don\'t need ANY sleep what-so-ever after three years,' She joked. 'I was exhausted just from traveling through that storm,' Koen said. Chapter 3 The group traveled through the clean and organized complex, passing through white corridors, and looking through windows onto the various rooms and facilities of the base. After a few minutes, they reached the briefing hall, which was composed of two rows of chairs, on a black carpet. A wide open space with a flat-screen interface stood, all in front of the chairs. The five filed in one-by-one, into the empty room. Kerman walked around for a moment, reviewing the room, and looking at the interface. Kettinger and Koen started for the coffee machine behind the chairs. Kerman then decided she was in for some caffeine as well. Kerman liked her coffee sweet, with milk and sugar. She hated black coffee, and could not stand the bitterness. Koen seemed the exact opposite, prefering plain, searing hot, black coffee. After they got coffee, the three Kerbonians leaned on a table near the interface, sipping their coffee and waiting for the base crew to slug in and get their coffee. Four more kerbonians were stationed here, plus Hescen, who was already in the room, sitting in a chair quietly; no coffee. The first kerbonian to enter the room was a tall, light green kerbonian with pale brown hair. He was immediately followed by an equally tall woman, with jet black hair, with a fine cut fringe. It curved from her chin, and narrowed up to her scalp. The next two to enter were men. Average height, they both were. One had dark red hair with thin-rimmed glasses on, and the other had a shaved head. The group was sluggish, obviously, and they all lined up and slowly got their coffee. After drinking it, and half-asleep at the same time, the group slowly awakened and found their seats. Then, all eyes were on Kerman. 'Good morning, everyone. I am Captain Ana Kerman, and my crew and I came here to aide IMRF-102 in the investigation of intelligent lifeforms. Correct?' She asked. 'That is correct, captain.' Hescen replied. Her group looked at her, and then back to Kerman. 'My crew,' Pointing to Koen and Kettinger. 'Pilot Simon Koen, and Medic William Kettinger will also be aiding you alongside me,' She said. 'Now I want to know all of you. How about you, ma\'am, in the front?' Kerman addressed the tall, black haired woman. 'Catherine Adder. I am the Kerbi Industries mining chief. I am in charge of all mining activity on Trecnotor III, and therefore in charge of half of the base\'s assets,' Adder said bluntly. Oh, a corporate pig... Kerman thought. She then pointed to the shaven man. 'Val Hueston,' He said in a raspy voice. 'Sociologist and Bioanthropologist. I observe whatever intelligent life exists on this rock,'. Kerman automatically assumed he was a miner by the way he looked. She then moved onto the tall, brown-haired man. 'Maximillien Deantaug,' Pronouncing it Deen-TAO. 'Virologist, and I know a little geology, but not much,'. Kerman moved on to the man with glasses. 'Rhett Beirson, Captain of the IMRF-102, I oversee all mining and research activities, and my job is to ensure maximum safety,'. Kerman heard him well, and she moved on Hescen herself. Kerman had already introduced herself, but she barely knew what kind of doctor she was. 'Katherine Hescen, medical doctor and PhD on the base, but call me Kate' she said, glaring at Adder. Simple, and to the point. The two Catherines (and Katherine) seemed to be the bosses of the base. All in all; three women, and five men. Eight in total, in a complex fit enough for fifty. 'Well, it is nice to get to know you all,' Kerman said, with her arms behind her back. 'I want a field mission to the investigation site tomorrow morning. I want Hueston, Deantaug, Hescen, and Kettinger to be alongsid me. Clear?' She stated. The group murmered in response. Seeing the briefing was finished, the group stood up and mingled for a few moments. Adder smothered the captain, towering over him. Either she was manipulating him, or trying to suck up to him. Hescen, Deantaug, and Huesten coalesced. Koen and Kettinger talked by themselves, in a corner behind the interface. Kerman decided to talk to Hescen and her friends. She made her way over. 'So, where exactly is this site, and what exactly is it? I want to know exactly why I was flown trillions of kilometers from home,' Kerman asked. 'The site is an ancient, alien building of some sort, about 23km away. We\'ve studied it over the past four years, since 2125, and then we sent for you, hoping you\'d possibly bring more expertise, and...' She paused and pursed her lips, 'firepower,'. Kerman raised her eyebrows, not knowing what agenda could be possibly behind this missions. 'Is this a research mission, or a combat mission?' Kerman asked. Hescen adopted a poker-face. Not blinking, not sweating, not avoiding eye contact. Hescen began to talk. 'Safety is priority captain,' She stated. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day and night passed. Lunch was odd, as the three DSV-1 crew sat alone, and talked amongst themselves, avoiding socialization from the somewhat strange base crew. Kerman visited the rec hall for a few minutes, and observed the kerbonians playing pool, video-games, and cards. Surprisingly, Adder, the tall miner executive, sat drawing with crayons and markers. Kerman could not really see what was being drawn. As the night wound down, the group resigned to their bedrooms. Kerman fell asleep almost immediately, even after sleeping for years. However, she, and the rest of the group knew to save up all the energy they could for the daunting mission the next day. They had to brave the violent world, and investigate a completely alien building. 20 June 2012: I hope this story is very enjoyable. Again, please tell me what you think, and tell me of any possible suggestions to make my story more exciting. Thanks!

Don\'t take my word at face value too But I have worked on radiation hardening of electronics (for CERN, not aerospace) and I doubt that the primitive ICs of an AGC were susceptible to radiation effects. A ionizing radiation particle can cause a 'soft error' in a computer because it is, well, ionizing as I said, and so while traversing the silicon it creates electrical charges of both signs that enter the electric circuit and can disrupt ist operation. But as you can imagine, this is felt much more if the circuit elements are very small: with transistors 65nm wide (or even less!), a modern chip is very susceptible and the problem is now concerning for aircraft computers too; but the comparatively huge features of these early SSI integrated circuits just see a little disturbance in the same event. I\'ve read quite a bit about Apollo computers, and I don\'t remember any talk about radiation issues. Also, most of the problems usually concern the memory banks. Core memory is inherently rad-hard, and that\'s why it was used in the Shuttle even if it was outdated by the time.

Can you give me a link to the mod you talk about? That could be interresting.

Ill make another one: regular soldier. heigh 7 foot ten (hes really big) his eyes are yellow, and he likes to hop and talk alot.

I\'d love a SimEarth2 but I would hate for Maxis to make it, they would only ruin it. They have ruined quite a few franchises (EA). Look at what happened to SimCity and Spore. Back in the day, EA made published lots of good games (Wasteland and Dungeon Keeper to name but two) now they only make/publish drivvel. I have it running perfectly well on Windows7, there\'s a lot of cool mods for SimCity 4 too which are a lot of fun, but you will generaly need the expansion pack. I think simcity 4 + Rush-hour expansion is my favorite SimCity, if only because of the slightly complex transportation system which is fun for a while. Anyway its a long while since I set it up so I\'m unsure of all the fiddling involved to get it running well, but it looks like I had added these to my .exe file : -w -intro:off -r1024x768x16 -CustomResolution:enabled -CPUCount:1 So you might start there with CPUCount:1 ..All this talk of SimEarth.. makes me want to fire up DosBox

I still enjoy discussions about rocketry technology, space, etc. so it doesn\'t matter if you talk about it in here.

My Joe III Mk4 has inspired my current model of KSC2 searcher, Danny-Boy III Mk2! So far due to a malfunctioning malfunction. (I don\'t wanna talk about it...) I had to abort at roughly 200k til KSC2. I\'ll attempt another flight soon.

I\'m going to make this very brief, as myself having three threads in the Welcome Aboard board is probably breaking some rules or another and some mod out there is undoubtedly very, very, angry. Well.......... nice to see everyone again. Ignite A Light/Carol Rawley is back from another long hiatus, and this time I will be staying semi-active. I see the Role-playing board is gone, and there is probably a legitimate reason for that. Some of you may remember me for my role in this, one of the first (If not the first) role-playing boards on these fine forums. A fair amount has changed since I left, that much is obvious. I myself have become a brony and furry.1 If you ever want to talk, hit me up on Steam. Well, now I\'ve made my speech, good rocketing everyone! 1. I will have not tolerate any of this furfag business. Put up or shut up. You have been warned.

I\'ll talk about the version check to n3x15 the next time he\'s on IRC, last time he said it was my project settings, but that was wrong, and careo told me that he has the same problem.

Hi everyone! This is my first post! (and I will do an introduction in the Intro forum eventually). There\'s a bunch of (small) pictures, so I apologize if it lags your browsers! I wish I was able to record a video of this, but I didn\'t actually expect to have a successful flight. I have yet to try again, but I\'ll record it next time. And I\'m not sure if recording will work because the game already sort of lags when the camera is not looking at the ground/Kerbol. A not-so-little back-story (you can skip ahead, I won\'t be offended x]): So, I just started playing this two to three weeks ago (playing the demo), and only this last weekend that I bought KSP (that snap to angle option is a godsend). I do have some physics background, and I love fighter airplane games and some flight simulators, so this prior knowledge and related experience does help me out a whole lot when I was making the, uh, Spacey series. That\'s not to say there were a lot of lost Kerman lives for my trial and error (though I do try to get them to at least land and still be alive), but I learned a lot. Anyway, I wanted to make something that\'s visually and functionally close to the Space Shuttle (the Atlantis, Endeavor, Discovery, those shuttles) with stock parts (actually I\'m not too interested in mods and plugins, so I don\'t have anything other than stock parts...for now). I had to use structural fuselages that are jettisoned at the start of the launch so the space shuttle setup won\'t tip over. Came the birth of Spacey 1. Spacey 1 featured the space shuttle with the avionics package at the nose and 3 LV-T45 Liquid Fuel Engines (mid-size liquid fuel engines) connected by a stack tri-coupler, 7-stack FL-T500 Fuel Tanks (the full-size rocket tank) for launch fuel (as the big orange fuel tank) with 3 RCS thrusters and 2 RCS fuel at the top, and two solid rocket boosters for launching. I do remember seeing someone use the Mk2 or Mk3 fuselages as the big orange fuel tank used in the real space shuttles, but I\'ve already made and done tests with Spacey 1 before I searched for anyone doing anything similar to what I was doing and I didn\'t want to change the overall design (plus, the space shuttle that I found in these forums had problems with achieving an orbit, which is probably because of the Mk2/Mk3 fuselages\' drag). However, I did have to add a rocket engine at the bottom of the 7-stack because it would immediately pitch at launch otherwise. Unfortunately, Spacey 1\'s highest height was 5000m before it starts going haywire (the space shuttle\'s 3 mid-size engine were far too powerful and tended to pitch down a lot, and simply loses control). When I sense it is about to lose control, I just jettison all of the stages and at least be able to land the space shuttle, uh, somewhere. I took this time to practice flight and landing with the space shuttle, but I forgot to put landing gears on it, so I wasn\'t entirely sure what I was going to do when I\'m over land. I always landed on water, though, but at all times it splashed down hard. This is when I learned I needed a canard because I couldn\'t control the shuttle much when it was just gliding. Spacey 2\'s changes from Spacey 1 was the 3 LV-909 Liquid Fuel Engines (small liquid fuel engines) for its main engines, the canards, and the addition of a full-sized tank attached outside of the 7-stack with a liquid fuel engine (I tried all sizes for this but it still ultimately didn\'t work). This time it achieved 10,000m, but it still pitched down considerably after that height. After trying different configurations of engine sizes for the 7-stack\'s engine and the extra outward engine and rolled the shuttle during launch to counteract the pitching (like the real space shuttles!), I managed to get to the 70,000m mark, but still no orbit because the shuttle now uncontrollably pitches up and goes out of control when it escapes the atmosphere (no drag on the wings, so that extra outward engine to help counteract the downward pitch in the atmosphere is now making it pitch up too much). Like Spacey 1, I jettison the 7-stack when I know Spacey 2 is not going to achieve orbit and attempt to land the space shuttle. I try to land on the water because I still don\'t have landing gears (I was just trying to achieve orbit/I keep forgetting until I launch). During these tests is when I learned the dangers of a pair of large canards in the front of the shuttle: when I\'m falling in the atmosphere at a high speed and usually at a steep angle, the shuttle tends to flip around and approach Kerbol backwards, and it likes to stay that way. Anyway, one time, I was able to land on water and keep the cockpit intact (and the Kerbins alive). The wings, the canards, and the engines were stripped off, but the cockpit and the fuselage were fine. So, I figured I needed to jettison the outward engine when it starts to pitch up (cue is the RCSs trying to counteract the upward pitch), add an SAS to get a bit more stability, and have a one-engine setup for the space shuttle itself. We now have Spacey 3: a detachable outward engine, an additional SAS at the top of the 7-stack, a Mk3-to-Mk2 adapter at the back of the space shuttle, and a mid-size liquid fuel engine attached to the adapter. The advantage of the adapter is it holds fuel as well, so I have more fuel while still looking aesthetically nice. After several failed tests, I had one successful full flight, including landing on the runway (failed tests include splashing down too hard, landing on the terrain too hard, flying and crashing backwards, and a stable orbit with no fuel left). With some aggressive controlling, this setup works. Onto the story of Spacey 3. First off, some pictures of Spacey 3 in the VAB (I don\'t have any pictures when it was still sitting in the launch pad). The structural fuselages with the radial decouplers on the wings and the stack decoupler on the extra outward engine are only there to keep the shuttle standing on the launch pad. It\'s detached as soon as the launch starts. This is all stock parts! I attached Spacey 3 if anyone is interested. Also, if you skipped over the back-story, that little outward engine is there to counteract the ship\'s tendency to pitch down. Even with this extra engine, an advanced SAS, and a normal SAS, it still pitches down if left alone, so I hold the pitch-up key pretty much the entire launch. The canards are also there to get better control of the shuttle when gliding, but there is a risk of having the ship flip around and descend backwards when the descend is too fast and too steep (this happened a couple of times in other attempts). The first successful orbital journey of Spacey 3! I rolled right away so I can already start approaching east: SRBs are already gone at this point. I pitched to a 45-degree angle to adjust the trajectory into an orbit and increase the height of the orbit: I forgot to screenshot a picture without the extra outward engine, but I detach it at around 50,000m, where drag on the wings decreases and the outward engine starts to pitch the shuttle up. Without this extra engine and the 7-stack still attached, the shuttle pitches down again when we\'re above the 70,000m mark. There\'s a little bit of fuel left in the 7-stack, so I use that intermittently to adjust the orbit to be more circular, then I detach the 7-stack and start using the shuttle\'s fuel to adjust the orbit. Some nice views during the orbital flight and the orbital map: Time to decay the orbit and land on the runway! I make the necessary adjustments so there is no more orbit and the atmosphere aids in slowing down the shuttle while still keeping a low angle of descent: I used the mountains as a reference, but I realized a little late that I was going to go past the runway (in the image, the space center is behind the shuttle). So I flipped the shuttle around and did a retro-burn to slow down and go descend a little faster. I knew this was a risk since there was the probability of a steep and fast descent, causing the shuttle to stay backwards, but I knew I couldn\'t turn back around if I went past the runway. Whew! The angle of descent and speed are just fine and I was able to flip the shuttle back around and gained flight control. I used up all of the fuel on the shuttle, though, so I can\'t use the engines to do some immediate correction. It was now or never. But as you can see, I\'m not lined up with the runway. A little bit offset. I\'m actually surprised I wasn\'t too far off (and the structural fuselage debris left by the lift off proved to be helpful). Nevertheless, I turned the shuttle slower than a Boeing 747 (I had SAS on. I didn\'t want to risk turning so fast that it will flip and get stuck flying backwards). Now I\'m more or less lined up with the runway. It\'s a little off, but it\'s manageable. At this time, my heart was pumping because previous attempts with landing on land with the landing gear all failed (one time the cockpit survived but not the rest of the shuttle). I mean, I was able to land with space planes, but not with this space shuttle. Whatever the case may be, I had to land this flying brick. And...touchdown! The log/statistics: Yay! I was quite happy and proud that I was able to be pretty damn close to the space center on the return, let alone actually land in it. During all of the Spacey attempts, I\'ve never been that close on the return. I was always short, splashing down in the ocean before the space center. But man, talk about accomplishment! <] I was so happy that I had to post it here. x] And job well done, Matsy Kerman, Genevin Kerman, and Rowin Kerman! Even though all of you were freaking out the entire time like Bill Kerman, you guys have shown bravery!

No worries. Im more curios why everything is not global with the cfg configurable at will? Do you have diff telems for different purposes? Was there a master plan? On a different topic, what is this new sound you talk of in the OP?

I would use WebEx conferencing software to record my screen, but that\'s all hosted at work and I\'d probably get a 'don\'t do that again' talk. There are plenty of other video makers here - I\'m sure the next few weeks are going to be very, very entertaining.