Techwright

(Note: The short story mentioned has the potential to generate some political talk. This posting is not an invitation to bring political talk into the discussion in violation of the forum rules. Keep it classy. Thank you!) As I write this, most of the world has already crossed over to the date February 4, 2025. We here on the North American east coast will mark the date soon. This puts us exactly a year and a half from August 4, 2026. If you're wondering why I bring up that date, it is the iconic date in Ray Bradbury's popular 5-page short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" (later incorporated into The Martian Chronicles). If you've not read it, check the link. It shouldn't take long to read it. You now have a year and a half to prepare. 😉 Sci-Fi, whether for fun or a more serious consideration, occasionally gives us dates to look forward to, then to compare what the writer(s) created against the reality: 1984, Back To The Future II, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and any number of forward-looking magazines from 1930s to the 1960s all predicting the year 2000, to name a few. So what does Bradbury, in this short story published 75 years ago (a lifetime!), get right? Voice clocks/calendars - though more common for bedside clocks and clocks for the blind, we do now have talking clocks, as well as devices with hourly and calendar reminders, such as the story's clock calling out the breakfast hour and important events, though I've yet to hear of a modern talking clock being used in that fashion. The Internet of Things (IOT) - Bradbury describes multiple devices that have programmable, automated functionality. While we do not have the mechanical elements of this in place, we do have the programmable elements, and the interconnection of devices. Autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners - Think "Roomba". Bradbury's versions appear as electronic mice that store in the wall, They also collectively have the ability to move heavy objects, and to smell decay. Last I knew, Roomba could not do either. Automated/timed lawn sprinklers - We've had mechanical sprinklers for decades now, but the ones described are in the ground and scheduled to a specific time. Home A.I. - Bradbury predicted home A.I. in function simiar to our modern Alexa and how it could read poetry and other works or interact with things like the blinds of a home. We actually have "smart" blinds under the IOT that Alexa and devices like it can be programmed to open/close on demand. It's not really average suburbia yet, like Bradbury implies, but it does exist. Voice-activated Home locks and security - Bradbury's version even recognizes the ailing family dog's voice and lets it in. While ours does exist it's again, still more of a luxury thing. Video Walls - The nursery of Bradbury's future home has glass covered walls that play childrens' video content. I actually thought for a moment that Bradbury had predicted liquid crystal displays as there's a reference to the show characters "cavorting in crystal substance", but I now believe this is just an alternate way of referring to the glass surface. So close. Smart Beds - Bradbury's house has timed, self-heating beds for comfort in a cooler night. Modern IOT beds can do this, but also handle a variety of other adjustments, learning what best helps the sleeper. Off-the-grid power (implied) - While not specifically mentioned, the "soft rains" home is functioning while literally everything else around it has been turned to ash, meaning there's no functioning power grid. This implies a localized power source like the modern Powerwall, the Tesla home battery and solar paneled roof system that can run the home independent of the grid. There's likely some details I missed. Really, though, even if he interprets a few advances in terms of equipment from 1950, this is an extraordinary insight into what a child born in 1950 could expect in 2026...hopefully without the nuclear results.

Interesting. I didn't acquire the game through Steam. I don't recall how, but it may have been by CDs. Assuming I can find the source, can a non-Steam setup also work?

The "Behind Bars" Gang? 😉

Question: What, to you, is the value of the Empathy power set, its "place" if you will, in the modern Homecoming environment? When City of Heroes first came out, the Empathy power set made perfect sense. It was the age of the MMO trinity: tanking-healing-dps. Players were not very skilled at the game yet, and a healer had constant, vital work. This continued throughout the first run of CoH, though gradually we began to loosen our grip on a trinity approach to teaming. Fast forward to today, and I'm not seeing all that much in the way of Empathic healing. Perhaps I'm just playing on the wrong PUGs. People are so often in "steam roller" mode now and its rare that I've observed a team without a healer going through a team wipe, or a team that at least feels like they need a healer. Most just shrug off damage or have a rez handy. If they kill ya, walk it off. We even have temporary powers that can heal or rez, perhaps not as powerfully as an empath, but sufficient for the team's need. I can see niche use of empathy when fighting high end stuff at maximum settings, but the everyday ordinary missions and TFs don't seem to need the services of an empath. Hence my question. I should point out that I'm not down on Empathy. I've nothing against it. It's just that the last few times I took my level 50 empath out for a night on the town, he ended up focusing on his other power set with little-to-nothing available for the empathy power set to do. I like the character, and I'm hoping by hearing multiple opinions and their details that I might find a place for him that makes sense and makes him worth playing again.

Okay, ruling out natural for non-humans, as you've noted, it really comes down to cunning, creative thinking and speedy adaptation to events and environments. Oh, and no small amount of courage. Keeping a cool head when a monster is trying to kill you can make all the difference. What little I know of DC Comic's Wildcat serves as a pretty good example. I believe he may use a suit with some sort of claws in the gloves, but basically he started out as a great boxer (perhaps they've upgraded him to MMA now?). Captain Kirk is another example when he fights the significantly stronger Gorn (admittedly not the terrifying versions later Treks showed) and despite being hurt and stressed, has the clarity and knowledge to figure out the resources in their environment and fashion a rudimentary lathe cannon from those resources. A natural human will likely also have an excellent memory and be well-versed in several key topics such as engineering and computer technology, to aid in their on-the-spot adaptations to the environment. Think "MacGyver".

Apologies, you lost me there. To whose comment was yours referring? Yes, it was most certainly the German Jew, Dr. Abraham Erskine, who invented the first super soldier serum. But it wasn't perfected until he reached the States and teamed with American Howard Stark, so in a way, an American had a junior-ranked hand in the invention of the serum, at least the stable version. Howard Stark was also responsible for the first safe delivery system. You'll recall from Captain America: Civil War that...

In a sense they gave us that: Kirk running to a key spot on Enterprise B to save the ship, its crew, and the rescued passengers then having his section destroyed and pulled into the Nexus, never to be seen by his friends again. From the perspective of Scott and Chekov, Kirk died valiantly. We just know there was a bit more to go. Actually, I've been saying since Generations came out that they made one serious mistake, which, had they corrected, might have given the needed heroic status to Kirk regardless of the method of his send-off. I'm talking about the civilization he saved. At no part in the final work did we see the billions of people on the nearby inhabited world. They were only casually mentioned: a cold statistic, nothing more. Had they taken even a minute to show us this civilization: children playing, artists creating or performing, lovers strolling in the park...all the best things that connects us emotionally to a civilization, then knowing a legend had to be sacrificed to save them would have seemed a worthy, heroic cause. We did have the Enterprise crew trapped on the planet during its destruction, but the viewership has seen that go wrong before, multiple times, and the crew escape a permanent death. The potency was not as great.

I didn't list rule of 5 and such, but I did compile a starter list a while back (5 years?! ), and the TO, DO, SO stuff it at the top:

The modern art they put in public buildings just gets weirder every year. 🙄

I was unaware of this, possibly because it is an unlisted work on YouTube channel OTOY. For the 30th anniversary of the movie Star Trek: Generations, William Shatner executive produced this short, joined by Robin Curtis (the 2nd actor to play Lt. Saavik, Spock's half-Romulan protege) and Gary Lockwood ("Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell" from season 1 episode 3: "Where No Man Has Gone Before") to give the movie, and both the passing of Kirk, and later, Spock, an alternate ending and a proper send-off. There is also a additional surprise in the new work. Special visual effects were used with legendary voice actor Sam Witwer, better known for his Star Wars characters, providing the body performance for Kirk, and Lawrence Selleck doing the same for Spock. If you're saying "what in space did I just see?" Here's some context: For additional info, see: https://home.otoy.com/unification/

Wondering how that would jive with the ending of Loki, seeing as that canon bit affected the multiverse, was based outside of it, and the results were meant to stabilize the multiverse permanently.

Minor detail: Comic Deadpool is a mutate, not a mutant. Science types messed with Wolverine DNA, injected Wade with the results and... badda-bing, badda-boom... Deadpool was born. So the original take on Deadpool would classify him as Science Origin. Movie Deadpool, though, had most of that happen, but the serum they gave him awoke a latent mutation in him. So Movie Deadpool would be a mutant, as he had it since birth, just dormant. It is in part because of this that I have a long-standing wish that we'd just simplify SO enhancements: drop the complex names and backstories for the enhancements, keep the origin ring around the enhancement, switch to the simple color scheme with a clear, simple icon representing the origin, and a plain-Jane, but crystal-clear title like "Tech: Damage" or "Mutant: Accuracy". Let the player write the story around the enhancement, rather than force a concept on their RP character that isn't consistent with what they've designed.

I'd like to suggest a neck piece. Since we don't have a neck category (which, as I've mentioned elsewhere, we could benefit from) I suppose it would need to go to the shoulder category, like the bowtie or the neck chains currently occupy, or perhaps Head/Detail 2, which handles the lower face and sometimes the neck, such as the Victorian options on the female costumes. I'm suggesting the old movie cowboy/cowgirl neckerchief, specifically worn with the knot over the shoulder line, or to the side of the front. A female version might work well as an option for a 1950s costume:

I suppose the question (and I may have missed the answer) is whether or not the current Captain America and Avengers are answerable to the US government solely, or answer instead to an international oversight committee, of which I suspect Wakanda would insist on being a member. Frankly, I'll be highly annoyed if the MCU writers are vague on this or give the Avengers entirely to MCU America. The Avengers were the "suit of armor around the world" as Tony Stark used to say. Clearly, American Secretary of State Ross was pulling the strings when the Sokovia Accords were active, but they've been repealed in the MCU story. I can see Col. Rhodes being the one Avenger solely answerable to the US president, assuming he's still in the military, and not discharged for injury or court-martialed for disobedience towards Ross in Endgame.

Well, obviously, a new suit sells more real world toys. 😉 But internal to the story, I've no idea, though my speculations run rampant. What I can say, however, is that the new suit has a helmet, per Mackie's posting tagged in the OP of this thread. That's a definite improvement in a crucial area that many pointed out at the end of TF&TWS. There's also the rumor, and I stress "rumor", that Sam will, of necessity, get the Super Soldier serum, whether by will or force is unclear. If he gets that, a Vibranium suit might not be as essential. (Though in his shoes I'd take every advantage I can get.)

Hey, sorry for the delayed response. Because of the several days since my report, I honestly do not recall, however, it is highly unlikely. 99.5% of the time I use the mission exit button. I can only recall a single time in the last 6 months that I exited a mission via a door rather than the mission exit button, and that was on an unrelated Praetorian character I play on a secondary account. EDIT: Also, one of the things I experimented with was logging out and back in to see if it would self-correct that way. It did not.

It just proves their elevators don't go to the top floor. Yes, that was a game joke.

I've felt for some time that a good gadget (read "utility belt") power would be an anti-grav grappling "hook"-and-cable system. Essentially better known as a "web swinger", but sidestepping the licensing violation, and adding the anti-grav "hook", so that you don't need a wall nearby to stick a web on. Instead, launch the hook, it reaches into the air, holds at a position you designation (possibly by a second tap) and then tightens the cable and swings you. Two hooks up and running and you'll be doing whatever a spider can. EDIT: Forgot to conclude by noting the game engine and animation development probably would make this an impossible dream.

I don't know how I missed this, but it parallels a thought that's been rattling around in my brain case for a while. A mark/recall, as you call it, would make getting to Adamastor a lot easier, as well as getting around the Shadow Shard and hopping over to Gold side for stuff like doing it's hourly event(s).

Just an update: it took months, but they just announced that they've finally caught the last of the monkeys. No word on the previously-mentioned escaped emus, though. If they're still out there, they're probably frozen popsicles after this week's freakish weather, just like this chap frozen in a pond down near Hilton Head Island on the coast.

No, no, no. Lifts are what people use in shoes for added stature. Just ask @Bionic_Flea. Well, it was in the early days of the original game when NPC opponents were much more aggressive to those using the front two elevator doors. I blame their weakening on years of having to wait while listening to elevator lobby Muzak. It'll sap the fire from anyone, given the chance. It's insidious.

I would add that they need not only to do a hibernation, but also to do what Disney did to Star Wars and section out a Legends category for anything after Enterprise. (Which is hard seeing as Nimoy contributed to the Kelvin timeline movies). I'll be fine with a Legends category for Kelvin timeline and one for Discovery timeline. That way, those who appreciate those works still can. Then begin afresh with a caring team, building upon everything up to Enterprise.

Just a thought, no problem if it's not a cool one. Might it be possible to add an "above and beyond" reward to certain badges? At the moment I'm thinking specifically of the Task Force Commander badge. There's an extra Oroboros flashback task force, the Sister Psyche TF, that can grant the badge in lieu of the Penny Yin TF. But what if one wants to do all of them? What I suggest is something akin to what the Boy Scouts used to have for Eagle Scout: if one continues to earn merit badges, eventually one earns enough for an Eagle with Silver Palms rank. If they continue, eventually they add a Gold Palms, and if I recall correctly a total of 3 Gold Palms were possible. At least that's what I recall when one of my close friends attempted it way too many years ago. So, in game context, might the completion of the Task Force Commander, plus the one extra TF grant a Task Force Commander with Silver Palms? If in the future, any other TFs for that badge are retired to Oroboros, a Gold Palms could be added to cover them. Not saying it has to be palms or even silver. It could be some other object, and metals could be iron, or bronze-silver-gold-platinum, or gemstones, etc.

I really enjoyed this interview with the cast and producers. While it does have those fluff questions like "If they made an action figure of the real you, what accessory would come with it?", it also has some great insight into how the movie was made, like Richard Donner's ("The Goonies") advice to the producers: "When you're casting kids, you don't cast the kid to play a role, you cast the kid because of who they are." They then go on to describe how they cast the role of Neel, the lovable blue alien "elephant" boy, and how the actor changed how they saw the role.