Continuing…
Sadly, probably *not* an orbiter with a Phalanx system in the cargo bay. Exactly what would be changed/added is a little vague.
Continuing…
Sadly, probably *not* an orbiter with a Phalanx system in the cargo bay. Exactly what would be changed/added is a little vague.
A few days ago I asked if people were having trouble accessing the other website, http://aerospaceprojectsreview.com. The responses were roughly split between “no problem” and “forbidden.” I’ve gotten a response from the tech support at the web host… the security software loaded onto the site that is designed to protect the site from malicious attacks needed to be reset for some reason, and in the meantime it’s become overly enthusiastic in blocking people. Resetting has been initiated, but it will apparently take 24 to 48 hours to fully take effect.
So if you’ve had issues accessing the page or one of the sub-pages, take a moment in a day or two to see if you can now access it. Let me know when things work or, come Wednesday or so, if you’re still having issues.
This is *not* the sort of thing I needed now. If someone goes to a website and the thing won’t load up, chances are fair they’ll never go back. Sales of USBP22 and USTP09, released after the site started blocking an unknown but non-trivial number of people, are substantially reduced from hat they should have been. This added stress and lessened finances right now is *not* friggen helpful.
Start your Christmas shopping early by buying my stuff:
Things have been different out here recently. Today this involved events that caused an uproar among the cats; as a result, Fingers freaked the fark out and wound up in hiding. It took me about an hour to find her; rather than trying to pry her out I just left the house and did some stuff for few hours. When I came back, she was like this:
Continuing…
A “Block II” orbiter would not be an entirely new design, but would incorporate a bunch of improvements to the existing design… better systems, newer computers, higher thrust engines, lighter materials, etc. Also would likely use liquid or otherwise improved boosters. Given that Rockwell was the prime contractor for the Orbiter, it’s unsurprising that they would be interested in a new production run of the Orbiter. if the Orbiter was put into another production run, almost certainly Rockwell would get paid to do it. But if the Shuttle was replaced with an all-new “Shuttle II,” then Rockwell could potentially lose to Boeing or Lockheed or McDonnell-Douglas or Grumman or Northrop.
Stupidity has them. *THIS* guy came that close to finding it out.
Hangfires are fun. Less fun: putting your face in front of them.
Since I released US Bomber Projects #22, I’ve had a *few* reports of issues with the APR website. It seems to spool up just fine for me, but others seem to get 403 and 404 errors. Additionally, sales of USBP22 and USTP09 have been abysmal, and I guess I’d kinda rather it was due to website troubles rather than disinterest.
So… if you have a spare moment, take a look at these links:
http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/
http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/drawndoc.htm
http://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/blog
If you encounter trouble with any of them, please comment and let me know what issue you encounter.
If you’re like me, your first thought on reading that headline is “Walter Who???” So I looked him up on Wikipedia and, much to my surprise, he actually has a *few* science fiction titles under his belt. However, the great bulk of his writing is crime fiction. Maybe he was supposed to write Dixon Hill holodeck scenarios or something.
His trouble sounds, at first glance, like the sort of nonsense we’ve come to roll our eyes at… he was called up by HR and told that his repeated use of the “N-Word” in the workplace was a firable offence. But he claims that he did not use it to refer to other people there, but instead while describing what he said were autobiographical tales of Los Angeles cops using that word on *him.* At that level, it certainly sounds like he is in the “if this was a rational world” clear. But there are other factors to consider. Look at his Wikipedia writeup. It certainly *seems* like he may have a bit of an obsession on the subject of race; while he’s publishing books, getting paid for movie rights and working on Star Trek, he’s doubtless also complaining about how he’s oppressed by white privilege at the same time I can’t find a publisher to even look at my work and I’m pulling books off my shelf to sell. My sympathy for him declines somewhat. So it may well be that what annoyed whoever it was ho snitched on him to HR wasn’t his use of the “N-Word,” but his incessant, nonstop harping on on the subject
What’s better: when called on the phone by HR, he promptly quit. Didn’t fight it. Now, if *I* was working on a Star Trek series that I truly believed in and someone tried farkin’ with my job there, I’d fight it tooth and nail. This guy? “Meh, I’m out.” Says much about not only his devotion to crafting quality Star Trek, but also about everyone else there as well if he is the kind of guy they bring in to write.
Even betterer:
Mosley ended his op-ed by saying, “The worst thing you can do to citizens of a democratic nation is to silence them.” He elaborated, “And the easiest way to silence a woman or a man is to threaten his or her livelihood. Let’s not accept the McCarthyism of secret condemnation. Instead let’s delve a little deeper, limiting the power that can be exerted over our citizens, their attempts to express their hearts and horrors, and their desire to speak their truths. Only this can open the dialogue of change.”
BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! yeah, good luck with that, bucko. Your pals are trying to “cancel” Dave Chappelle for saying things that hurt their feelings. The outrage mafia is taking down comedians for stuff they did *years* ago. Entire fire departments are getting shut down because one volunteer had gone to a few Proud Boy meetings. So don’t act shocked when you get a call from HR for saying The Naughty Word repeatedly in the workplace.
And this pretty much defines the problem with Star Trek today:
It’s worth noting that Discovery has a particularly inclusive writers room that includes three African American scribes, two Asian American writers, a Native American and Latinx woman, among others.
Inclusivity in modern Star Trek covers ethnicity, but not, it seems, a diversity of *quality* science fiction authoring experience.
Behold Philco-Ford Corporation’s conception of the fantastic futuristic year 1999AD. The date isn’t given, but it’s for the Corps 75th anniversary, so circa 1967.
There is, unsurprisingly, a mix of “not even close” and “well, kinda.” Your average Dad will have spent ten years in college majoring in astrophysics and minoring in biology, and as a hobby he will genetically engineer floral abominations. In 1999, your average housewife will buy clothes and other useless crap on the computer that is connected to a wide interlinked network of other computers including various online retailers. The household computer will also have cameras all over so that the whole place is under surveillance. Banking and something akin to emails (though, oddly, handwritten) are also done on the household computer. But where this, as with many predictions, gets it wrong is the assumption that different functions will be carried out by different machines, rather than one single device that can pretty much do everything. The household sickbay is… bizarre. The remote control for the TV is *hilariously* gigantic, but at least the party where they watch the big-screen 3D TV is so awful (and full of the sort of pretentious pricks that you want to beat to death with a Louisville Slugger) it would make you want to kill yourself. Briefly shown is the Ford “Seattle-ite” concept car from 1962, which was damn near a parody of the big tailfin design ethic that had died out by the time the film was made. It was designed by Alex Tremulis and HAD A NUCLEAR POWERPLANT.
On the whole this thing comes off almost as a tie-in to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The technology seems like it would fit squarely into that world; there’s even an almost visually identical game of computer chess played at one point.
I’ve never seen this before today, but I started having flashbacks to the 70’s when I heard the narrator voice. If you’re old enough, you too will doubtless go ‘hey, wait, I know that voice…”
ᚾᚪᛣᛚᛖᚪᚱ ᚠᚪᛣᚳᛁᚾᚷ ᚪᚪᛏᚩᛗᚩᛒᛁᛚᛖᛋ, ᛒᚪᛒᚤ!