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Posted by: masterofm Oct 3 2008, 01:17 AM

So I was driving down the highway and in front of me I saw a car with a license plate that said

<3UBRBTL (for those of you who are unfamiliar with <3 it is a heart)

I read it as - I Love UBeR BTLs (Better Then Life)

It made me smile on the inside. Has anyone else had an experience like that?

Posted by: HappyDaze Oct 3 2008, 01:19 AM

No.

You are utterly alone in the world.

That is all.

Posted by: Ancient History Oct 3 2008, 01:26 AM

Every day, little buddy.

Posted by: Dr. Funkenstein Oct 3 2008, 01:27 AM

You need to go back on your medication. Immediately. And if you're not on medication, go rob a pharmacy and get on some.

That said, yes, I've had Shadowrun moments creep into my daily observations before. I can't even begin to mention the number of times I've tried to give stats to characters in movies while I'm watching them, then immediately mentally slapping myself for doing so instead of paying attention.

Posted by: faultline Oct 3 2008, 11:40 AM

Well, truth be told the other day I was at work doing a whole lot of nothing during a slow period, and actually was wishing I had a comlink and AR capabilities.

Posted by: Wesley Street Oct 3 2008, 12:32 PM

First thing I think of when I wake up and half my thoughts while driving to work. But I'm also a GM and I'm desperately trying to keep up with writing new adventures for my weekly group.

Posted by: nezumi Oct 3 2008, 01:41 PM

I've had Shadowrun moments regarding who might be following/spying on me, and the best way to off annoying co-workers without alerting the authorities. I've had more problem with GTA, since it's more visual. There are a couple times I'd see a white dude in a grey hoody skulking around and I'd almost swerve over to hit him and collect all his drug money.

Posted by: ravensmuse Oct 3 2008, 03:20 PM

+ When you try to convince your girlfriend (currently debating buying lizards) to let you name them Dunkelzahn, Lofwyr, Celedyr, and Hestaby
+When you wish that you could do your job in virtual reality so that you'll get all of those cool icons instead of boring worksheets
+...and realize that your job'll probably enforce a reality filter so that you're still looking at sheafs of paper
+You http://xkcd.com/337/ any time you're standing somewhere waiting for something (post office, mall, girlfriend at mall...)
+You spent a half an hour looking through XKCD strips to find that one comic

Posted by: Stahlseele Oct 3 2008, 03:22 PM

especially after an all too long game when i am tired and have too much caffeine in my blood . .
my mother once had one of those little glowy things set up in the hallway, without telling me . . so i opened up the door, and see some red dots on the wall creeping into my general direction . . i hit the floor x.x
other time i actually asked my buddy who offered to drive us home why the other cars had better stats than his . .

Posted by: Fyndhal Oct 3 2008, 04:09 PM

See, I read that as "Love Urban Battle." Just as geeky, completely different. Viva la difference! And, yes, I realize the letters don't actually fit for that...dyslexia for the win!

Posted by: Chrysalis Oct 3 2008, 04:43 PM

It's all Geek to me.

*giggles*

Posted by: Backgammon Oct 3 2008, 04:45 PM

See, I read your post, chuckled, and went to take a shower. As I was idly lathering, I was wondering what exactly a Universal Brotherhooder BTL was. Then I realised you meant uber BTL, not UBer BTL.

So yeah, I have meta-shadowrun obsession.

Posted by: Wesley Street Oct 3 2008, 05:35 PM

In what part of the world can have a Greater Than character in a license plate? Where I live you can only have letters and numbers.

Posted by: masterofm Oct 3 2008, 08:03 PM

You can have personalized license plates I think you can get in any part of the U.S. The only difference is it costs more money so a lot of people don't do it. Also I think people who live in more urban areas have personalized license plates, and you have to look for it. When you are driving how often do you look at people license plates, unless you are stuck in some shitty traffic and have nothing better to do? I think that is the clincher right there.

For what I have seen though CA, and MA are the two states that I have seen have more then letters and numbers. Remember it wasn't this < plus 3 it was an actual drawing of a heart but since the internet only allows me to do <3 instead of actually drawing out a heart... well you know...

Posted by: crash2029 Oct 3 2008, 08:38 PM

Yesterday me and my best friend were talking about crosswalks.

Me: "I always go out of my way to use crosswalks."
Him: "What if you need to cross the street and the nearest crosswalk is almost a mile away?"
Me: "What city were you in that had a crosswalk a mile away?"
Him: "Redmond."
Me: "Well that dooesn't count, you were in the Barrens."
Him: *pointed look*
Me: "Oh, right."

Posted by: Cantankerous Oct 3 2008, 08:43 PM

The only real SR moment (We've had so many D&D nerd moments over the years it doesn't near thinking about) that we had was with my ex-wife, who wasn't even one of the Players, but who often watched us at it, when seeing a Dale Earnhardt crash who quipped: "Damn, ten dice at least and still a rule of 1s."

Isshia

Posted by: Nigel Oct 3 2008, 09:13 PM

I'm actually excited about the possibility of moving to Seattle - for the Awakening, which happens soon. That is a real reason.

My friends and I loosely stat each other, ourselves, and random people who we think of up.

Posted by: Alex Oct 4 2008, 12:46 AM

Less like application of SR in the real world, more SR-like. I find that my mind spends its free time figuring out where all the security camera are, how I could get into an area unseen, how to disable large equipment, etc. I worked with a former Special Forces guy and he did this all the time - which is to be expected. I have no military background and find that I still do this all the time.

Posted by: GreyBrother Oct 4 2008, 01:22 AM

So you are an secret special forces guy who's waitin for his mental command.

I think thats a perfectly sane and reasonable explanation.

Posted by: toturi Oct 4 2008, 02:10 AM

I do that too. And when I go shopping with my girlfriend, I keep an eye on the windows and mirrors, looking for tails. "That creep in the yellow shirt has been following us around for the last 4 shops. You must look great today dear." "No, I wasn't paying attention to the girl in the red spaghetti top with nice boobs and great ass... oops"

I also tend to take notice of bulges in people's pockets(no, they are not really happy to see me), which hand they use to write(gun hand), etc. I can tell accurately which pocket they are going to reach into to get their car keys and which hand they are going to use - freaks out the girlfriend, I can tell you.

Posted by: kanislatrans Oct 4 2008, 02:54 AM

So,does Shadowrun make us paranoid or give us a heightened awareness of the world we live in?

Its good to know that I'm not the only one who does this stuff!

Yesterday I was working on a refrigerator at a large trucking company warehouse and ran a mental assessment of the security. A couple of chipheads with survival knives could take this place. no maglocks or scanners anywhere, cameras set at bad angles, no armed guards at all.

Um, ok, maybe I take it a little further than most...

Posted by: Rad Oct 4 2008, 07:01 AM

I did this anyway before I started playing shadowrun--though I think I've stepped it up since--I just have better resources/contacts in game than IRL.

I have taken to saying "frag" and "fragging" so much my 58-year-old business partner has picked it up. It was a proud moment, I can tell you.

Posted by: knasser Oct 4 2008, 09:06 AM

I'm guilty of checking out the security of places and the "choreographing fight scenes." I actually regard that as a virtue and it amazes me that some people don't think like that. I remember in Nottingham people being asked to leave a bank just as I'd walked in and I asked what was going on. One of the other customers said: "I think it's a bomb scare." By about the end of that sentence I was down the other end of the street and still accelerating. How people could still be standing outside a glass-fronted building wondering if there was a bomb in there is utterly beyond me. Though I suppose I should envy their ignorance in a way.

Posted by: Rad Oct 4 2008, 11:29 AM

Yeah, it's a basic self-defense/preservation skill many people seem to lack. About a week ago I was helping a friend pick up her pieces at the Cuesta ceramics lab, when she thought she detected a gas leak in the massive gas-fired kiln there.

While she went inside to discuss it with the teacher, I put as much distance and as many heavy cement buildings between me and the ceramics lab as possible. I don't quite understand it, we've both seen footage of a gas explosion, and I know she isn't stupid--but oh well.

It's just less competition for survival, I guess. Like the people who are so amazed that I can walk a few blocks with out the aid of a motor-vehicle.

Posted by: TKDNinjaInBlack Oct 4 2008, 09:21 PM

yeah, likewise when people thought I was psychotic for riding my bike 20 miles round trip to work during the summer or walking home 7 miles from a party when I was too drunk to drive. People can't seem to comprehend expending effort to survive. Survival loosely exaggerated as we all well know that in this day and age, even the dumbest and most inept will survive and social darwinism and natural selection have been halted by society.

I also find myself surveying all of my surroundings. I remember that it takes a threshold of 3 to see small items and 4 to see micro items, and I'll look around scenes till I deem that in RL I have achieved a threshold of 4 on my perception test. Don't want to miss those coins people leave on the ground...

Oh yeah, and I have actually toyed with the idea of moving to Seattle more or less out of what i have read from the SR fiction... I'd say that qualifies me to be an uber SR geek.

Posted by: hobgoblin Oct 4 2008, 11:37 PM

heh, i know that feel, only i want VR!

Posted by: Red_Cap Oct 5 2008, 01:16 AM

I was stripping and cleaning my M4 yesterday (yes, I am in the Army) and I tried to figure out where the best place for the smartlink's camera would be.

Posted by: Aaron Oct 5 2008, 02:14 AM

Did you find a good one?

Posted by: Aaron Oct 5 2008, 02:15 AM

... when you call picking up your friend at work an "extraction."

... when you refuse to buy a med kit from the pharmacy unless it's Rating 6.

... when something goes horribly wrong and you think, "okay, now it's a shadowrun." [This one's from my girl.]

Posted by: fistandantilus4.0 Oct 5 2008, 08:37 PM

My wife and I play "The World is becoming Shadowrun" when we watch or read the news, figuring out which news item is a SR-esque conspiracy (or should be). Sometimes we have to go really out of our way to make it fit, but it's scary how many things need no tqeaking out all to fit right in the SR universe. The recent focus on Georgia, while Obama was out on vacation and McCain was around, so that the news could waggle their fingers at Obama was one example. Sure that may not be exactly how it went, but it makes for a great example of SR politics.

Posted by: Red_Cap Oct 5 2008, 08:52 PM

Yeah, the bayonet lug. I mean, why bother? They don't even issue us damn bayonets any more.

In any case, I came up with another. I'm currently deployed to Iraq and I was talking to a Kurdish Iraqi Army the other day (who spoke surprisingly good English, by the way), and kept thinking to myself, "This fragger is working for Aden, I know it."

Posted by: fistandantilus4.0 Oct 5 2008, 09:19 PM

Posted by: crash2029 Oct 5 2008, 11:42 PM

How about when I called to have someone pick me up and errantly remarked that "the LZ is green."

Or maybe when I looked at the massive amount of housecleaning I had to do and wished for a hearth spirit.

Referring to almost any new movie as "Shadowrun with ..."

Calling UAV's, Roombas, and industrial robots "drones."

Posted by: Zombayz Oct 6 2008, 12:16 AM

I'm a bad one for casing places out. Cameras, security, mirrors, ways to ignore or avoid them, all that fun stuff.
In addition: Carrying a knife everywhere I go
Knowing how to make a small gun from some wood, a knife, five nails, and a rubber band
Being able to walk into a room full of boobytraps(some hardcore paintballing), and either avoid/disarm/set off prematurely/etc every single one without the guy in the next room noticing.

And my ultimate accomplishment: Being with people in an open field, leave without anyone noticing, and come back without anyone noticing.

Posted by: Fortune Oct 6 2008, 01:52 AM

Does fantasizing about hot elves while making out count?

Posted by: ArkonC Oct 6 2008, 02:14 AM

Are you implying some people don't do this?

Posted by: TKDNinjaInBlack Oct 6 2008, 02:44 AM

After seeing some particularly disturbing sexual acts on the internet, wondering what it would be like if those involved trolls and dwarves instead...

Posted by: wind_in_the_stones Oct 6 2008, 04:34 AM

But where did these "interests" and skills come from? Did you first do them in your SR games?

Posted by: darthmord Oct 6 2008, 01:57 PM

Given that I carry a gun with me pretty much where ever I go...

I always position myself in places where my back is up against the wall / in a corner. That way, no one can sneak up on me.

I also survery the area to determine the best / safest ingress/egress routes along with secondary & tertiary ones.

I pay attention to door & people placement as well as security systems. One place I worked at had a laptop stolen from the 3rd floor one weekend. Happened during my shift while working on the 2nd floor. The police wanted to talk with me (duh). I explained to them the ease of access to the facility to one that did NOT have an access card. In fact, the place could be entered by someone waving a legal notepad or flyswatter between the doors. Gotta love motion sensors. The police officer sarcastically thanked me for making his job that much easier.

It's not that I am an expert on B&E, it's just that I pay attention more than the average bear. Because of this, I see things everyone else ignores. Drives my kids nuts (especially when it comes to Sense Motives, hehe). Has driven my wife to pay more attention and ask me for help in developing those skills. It's kind of funny in that a boot camp saying is so very pertinent... 'Attention to detail, Recruit!'

As for stats, we've both got healthy Firearms skills with specialization in Pistols.

My best accomplishment in Stealth... walking across a woman's yard (trick-or-treating) while she was looking right at me and I still startled her when I said "Trick-or-Treat". She apparently did NOT see me walk up.

Posted by: Wesley Street Oct 6 2008, 02:26 PM

All of that pretending to be a ninja as a child has translated well into adulthood. I often startle people at the office by sneaking up on them accidentally.

Posted by: ImmoralSalvage Oct 6 2008, 03:45 PM

Yesterday I was talking with a friend of mine. I said that when the awakening comes, and I turn into a troll. I want to hide in his attic so that I don’t have to go to one of the camps. The only condition he came up with was I had to keep a diary. So that when he sold me out he could sell it, and make a profit.

Posted by: nezumi Oct 6 2008, 04:27 PM

Sometimes I imagine upping my accidental dismemberment insurance and sawing off my left arm so I can afford a cyberarm.

Posted by: BookWyrm Oct 6 2008, 05:47 PM

You know you're an SR geek when.....

you mentally figure how many d6's you'll need to make your train on time.
you mentally picture the tallest person you know as a Troll.
you mentally picture the skinniest girl you know as a hot bisexual elf.
you keep bugging the guy at GameStop for when the new commlinks will arrive.
you keep checking the company's business profile to see if they got bought out by a Dragon yet.
you look at R/C commericals & wonder where you could mount a pistol on it.
you watch Ghost In The Shell & wonder where the heck are the elves?.
you support Native American rights....just in case.

Posted by: psychophipps Oct 6 2008, 05:53 PM

All of your characters have SOTA weapons and augmentations but live in a dumpster.

Posted by: dog_xinu Oct 6 2008, 06:19 PM

when you sit at a live football game (for me it was a college game) and wondered why they couldnt put up an AR in the arena so you could see little tags coming off the players, telling you whom is whom, basic stats, etc.. seeing where the line of scrimmage is, where the "first down line" is, etc. And as I sit here wondering where it all is.. the geek came out in me, and was designing the sensors arrays including placement, where to place the RFID-isq tags on the players/ball, and how it would be easy to put a LCD type film over your glasses (sunglasses in my case) where that info could be displayed. (this was the conversation I had with myself last sat).

at work I wish we had RFID tags on our badges so I could track down co-workers and see "what zone they are in" to see if it is safe to track them down or not.

Posted by: Kairo Oct 6 2008, 06:53 PM

All the time chummer. All the time.

Posted by: TKDNinjaInBlack Oct 6 2008, 07:40 PM

I actually earned the nickname "ninja" (hence TKD Ninja In Black with TKD for TaeKwonDo) because I took my ninja fantasies from my childhood a bit too far. In college I created a game with all of my dormmates (roommates and neighbors) called "ninja attack." Assuming you weren't seen before you jumped out and hit someone (in a vital would-be knife or blade kill zone) you scored a point. If you were seen, no good. We kept tally for a couple of months but everybody stopped playing because I was winning by 4 times as many points as everyone else combined. Seems nobody else had the conviction to climb trees and wait for opponents walking through the quad and jump down right behind them. Now it makes sense why I always failed a class or two a semester...

Posted by: mrslamm0 Oct 6 2008, 08:11 PM

Every day I think of something shadowrunish to the point ive been tempted to try to throw together a ghetto Shadowrun LARP

Posted by: Whipstitch Oct 7 2008, 06:03 AM

You know you're an SR geek when you're involved in a nasty accident, and one of your first coherent thoughts upon waking up in the hospital is that a cyberskull would have really prevented a lot of drama and medical bills.

Actually, I'm lying. I didn't think that all. My first thoughts were more along the lines of "WTF!?" and "She can't have said perforating head injury, I'd be a fraggin' vegetable if there was an exit wound."

On a lighter note, man, does it feels good to be posting again. I've had a rough summer and the stupid car accident kind of killed my first attempt at a long running campaign as a GM.

Posted by: Red_Cap Oct 7 2008, 09:56 AM

Well, I for one am glad to see you came through with your sense of humor apparently intact.

Oh, and I actually ran a Google search looking for Ares Macrotechnology last week. I didn't really think I'd get any non-SR returns (which I didn't, by the way), but it was fun hoping.

Posted by: masterofm Oct 7 2008, 05:08 PM

Medicine... it's a crazy thing. One day we will be like SR considering we can pretty much bring people back from the dead.

Posted by: hobgoblin Oct 7 2008, 05:38 PM

well the medical definition of death keeps changing imo. i guess thats why i liked how cp2020 had x stages of "death", each a bit harder to bring someone back from then the previous.

technically, as long as we can keep the nerve cells from running out of oxygen, a person will "live".

Posted by: Alex Oct 7 2008, 10:00 PM

http://www.aztech.com/ apparently exists - although not the blood magic variety.

Posted by: Red_Cap Oct 7 2008, 10:14 PM

Well, that just takes all the fun out of booing them.

Posted by: Nath Oct 7 2008, 10:23 PM

We had a thread on that topic for some years on a French forum. I think the worst that happened to me, by far, was going through a whole document only to realize at the end that I typed for every sum it mentioned the yen sign [¥] instead of the euro [€]. Really, alt-0165 is so much more obvious than altgr-e...

Posted by: nezumi Oct 8 2008, 01:12 PM

Like they'd advertise their use of blood magic right there on their web site...

Posted by: ImmoralSalvage Oct 8 2008, 03:51 PM

yeah aztech isn't the only mega-corp running around right now http://www.novatechweb.com/, and http://www.neonet.biz/ are both around as well.

Posted by: Dingus_McGee Oct 8 2008, 04:17 PM

Totally. Been playing the game since late 2nd Edition, and I watch the news all the time going "Yup, about time THAT happened!" The recent US/global credit crunch being the latest YIKES moment.

I also treated my local bar here in Lakewood, Washington (South of Tacoma) like a runner bar, and operated as a small-time fixer for my friends. Helped 'em get jobs, helped 'em get some fancy clothes or swag when necessary, listened to problems/rumors, passed along hot gossip, and pretty much cemented myself into the establishment in the course of a year. Almost never asked for anything except the odd small favor or a pint o' beer once in a while. ^_^

Sucks I have to leave town for a couple of years to work overseas, but then again, Tokyo IS my old neighborhood. I should be on a plane out of Japan around Christmas 2011, headed back to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. ^_^

Look out 6th World, here we come!!

Posted by: Stahlseele Oct 8 2008, 04:32 PM

better not take a plane with the flight number 1118, even if the year does not fit.
i think we had a list of those corp names somehwere around a german board i frequent from time to time.
there were a few others allready present . .

Posted by: Blade Oct 8 2008, 04:42 PM

There's a bar in Paris where you can ask for M. Johnson to be shown the tables where Shadowrun players are. You can also order a Shadowrun there. It's not in the menu, but it's very good, especially after a Guiness.

Posted by: Alex Oct 8 2008, 06:07 PM

That is awesome! I don't speak French but now I have to go to Paris.

Posted by: hobgoblin Oct 8 2008, 06:27 PM

unless dingus turn out to be the mage fending the dragon off (if i got the hint right )

Posted by: lunchbox311 Oct 8 2008, 07:45 PM

Ares does exist... As a weapon manufacturer. So basically Ares Arms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARES_Incorporated

Posted by: Fortune Oct 8 2008, 07:51 PM

He still dies.

It is rumored that the 'mage' in question was one of the IE downtime hunters, and the actual target of the Dragon's wrath.

Posted by: Zombayz Oct 8 2008, 08:28 PM

A variety of places. Shadowrun only helped push it further. Recently, I've been sitting with my back against the wall, looking at all the ways out, and carrying ten throwing knives.

And Bookwyrm.... I've done the one with the Troll and the Elf. Doesn't help that one of the hot bi chicks I know has pointy ears, or that my tallest player played a Giant.

Posted by: Nigel Oct 8 2008, 08:41 PM

I don't know the history of Knight Errant, but...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight%27s_Armament_Company

Posted by: Frosty Medic Oct 20 2008, 01:59 PM

"The Diary of Anne Tank."

Posted by: DocTaotsu Oct 21 2008, 03:04 AM

Not a day goes by that I don't wish I had AR, optical magnification, and a datajack.

Posted by: kanislatrans Oct 21 2008, 03:40 AM

and not a day goes by that I don't wish I had a Defiance Ex Shocker.

Dealing with the public tends to bring out the sadistic side in me...

Posted by: The Exiled V.2.0 Oct 21 2008, 04:01 AM

Working for a large Japanacorp, I take the opposite side a little bit. I wonder who the Johnson in the company would be, why does this facility have such penetrable security, and why the heck should we worry about acquisitioning this company when we can smash them to pieces in 2-4 runs?

Posted by: Heath Robinson Oct 21 2008, 07:00 AM

I know the feeling. I'm waiting for cybereyes and good biosculpting as well.

Posted by: DocTaotsu Oct 21 2008, 07:04 AM

And freeze foam, i could certainly use several barrels of freeze foam.

If I absolutely have to wear glasses by damn I want to be able to see in the dark and watch porn on them.

Oh and cerebral boosters, that would be fucking awesome.

I could definitely give simsense a miss though... call me old fashion but I don't really want to have people cramming emotions down my brain stem.

Posted by: masterofm Oct 21 2008, 07:24 AM

Yeah if your Bill Gates. I swear if you modeled a Johnson after that man it would be the ultimate Johnson. He would have you go on a run, and then betray you. If you live from being betrayed he would just incorporate you into his corporate structure by blackmailing you then eventually disposing of you when he saw fit.

Mr. G: "We are moving towards synergy in the upwards revenue stream dynamics to create a positive condensing flow aura."

Shadowrunner: "What the drek does that even mean." *shadowrunner takes a bullet to the brainpan*

"It means your worth more dead to me then alive." says Mr. G (and his glasses have to reflect in that odd way like that crazy killer in SIN CITY)

Posted by: The Exiled V.2.0 Oct 21 2008, 09:00 AM

That's an excellent idea.
As a matter of fact, make him a Johnson that only appears as an AR hologram in monochrome based on that character.
It'd be a great one to upset the players.

Posted by: Wesley Street Oct 21 2008, 02:36 PM

I wouldn't mind leaning back in an easy chair, donning some shades and waving my hands around in the air to build a website. No datajacks for me though, that would squick me out. I'd be picking at it or sticking my finger in the hole.

Posted by: Alex Oct 21 2008, 04:03 PM

I suppose that looking at my baby daughter's ear and thinking, "Hey her ear is pointed. Is she a spike baby elf?" qualifies does it not?

On the personal side, I wouldn't mind the datajack and would love to have AR and VR. (Unless I Awaken of course.)

Posted by: Heath Robinson Oct 21 2008, 05:36 PM

I read you on Cerebral Boosters. Attention Coprocessors, Math SPUs, Orientation Systems and Synaptic Boosters would be cool as well.

AR is, as always, totally awesome.

Y'know, I wouldn't have much of a problem with simsense. I'm not exactly into new fangled stuff but I wouldn't mind having feeling-on-demand. What I'm surprised is that someone has apparently not managed to appropriately tie some kind of simsense mood track set into software to help social bunnies with their jobs. As a quick houserule, that could be necessary for getting the bonus dice from empathy software.

Posted by: tete Oct 21 2008, 06:56 PM

When you compare your SR map to a RL map and wonder in what year the city will move the road.

Posted by: hobgoblin Oct 21 2008, 08:07 PM

BULLDREK BINGO!!!

sorry, i could not help myself

Posted by: Jackstand Oct 22 2008, 01:04 AM

I have a friend, whom I've known for ten years, since high school, and I have never once heard him swear, using regular profanities. He always uses "Frag" and "Drek."

Posted by: TKDNinjaInBlack Oct 22 2008, 03:45 AM

Or likewise try to figure out when they will tear down the current buildings and put up ones that are worthy of cyberpunk fashion in your local downtown...

Posted by: Thal'aen Oct 22 2008, 05:13 PM

Don't forget http://arestechnology.net/ as well. I can just see them merging with the aforementioned http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARES_Incorporated to form Macrotech, bringing the Firearms/Defense Contractor/Telecommunications & Infrastructure Management all under the same roof. Scary thought, that one...

Posted by: hobgoblin Oct 22 2008, 05:14 PM

then they buy blackwater or something similar...

Posted by: Wesley Street Oct 22 2008, 06:04 PM

Scary that I'm not the only one who does this. I also wonder when the rich suburbs I grew up in are going to start throwing up barb-wired walls with semi-auto toting private security firms patrolling the perimeter. Or when my local police force will become IPD Inc.

Posted by: dog_xinu Oct 22 2008, 07:48 PM

several of these rich suburbs are putting up walls, electrified fences, armed guards, etc. I havent seen barbwire yet but that is just coming. It is hear already... just have to look. Now is it at the SR level? not even close. Now most of these guards carry guns, they are not allowed to shoot unless they are shot at or the bad guy is trying to harm someone.

as for cops becoming incorp... it just just time.. here in GA, most cops work a second/third job in uniform privately patrolling a business (like movie theatre lobby) or playing traffic cop for a church or sitting in their squad car in a construction zone with their lights on. they have taken the steps in that direction...

Posted by: hobgoblin Oct 22 2008, 07:57 PM

on the topic of rent-a-cop's, here in norway there have recently been a bunch of noise in the press about there being more "mall security" then cops, and that cops quit as they find their workday and pay is better at said security firms.

hell, there was a story maybe a year ago about a person being slammed to be pavement and put into a questionable grappling hold that could have choked him. again it was security, not cops, and it was done because the person walked out of a store without paying for a 2$ salad.

Posted by: nezumi Oct 22 2008, 08:35 PM

I changed residences so when FDC finally expands to include most of Maryland, I won't be caught under that umbrella.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 10 2011, 05:51 AM

...when you resurrect a thread in hopes of more cool SR geek stories ^_^

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 10 2011, 07:37 AM

...then there's http://www.thyssenkrupp.com/.

Posted by: CanRay Apr 10 2011, 07:40 AM

When you've continued to look for a game since 1992, despite everything working hard against the chances of playing...

Posted by: Tyro Apr 10 2011, 07:44 AM

My first thought was "ohcrapohcrapohcrap"

My second thought was "that guys's kinda young - might be a dragon in disguise"

Posted by: Tiralee Apr 10 2011, 08:36 AM

Hmm, how about watching Slayers: TRY and listening to the dumb, weepy "gold Dragon-blooded" character go on and on and saying to the lovely, "Just slap a trank patch on her"...
...and having the lovely agree.

-Tir

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 10 2011, 08:06 PM

...when you refer to your notebook computer as your "deck" and a wireless phone as a "commlink".

...when (like several mentioned here) find that shadowspeak has become a part of your normal vocabulary.

...when (even more serious) you find that UK shadowspeak has become a part of your normal vocabulary.

...when you live In Portland (OR) and find yourself occasionally looking at tall slender people to see if they have pointed ears.

...when you refer to Portland's West Hills as "Royal Hill" (the West Hills are the "high rent" district in RL).

...when you call any large city a "Metroplex" (I've even done that on news forums)

...when, as it is now 2011, you look at current events and wonder if the original authors at FASA knew more than we think they did.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 10 2011, 08:40 PM

What's UK shadowspeak like?

Posted by: ggodo Apr 10 2011, 09:08 PM

So glad I'm not the only person checking hipster ears.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 10 2011, 11:13 PM

I've done all of these and more than a few of the others mentioned in this thread.

Recently got a cell phone and it HAS been named my commlink and has been called such more than once in the 2 weeks I've had it.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 10 2011, 11:13 PM

What rating?

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 10 2011, 11:29 PM

Oh the lowest possible I assure you. Maybe one level above lowest. It's a Walmart tracfone. The 'nicer" of the walmart tracfones but yeah. lol

Posted by: Tyro Apr 10 2011, 11:42 PM

*wince*

I use a Samsung Seek with Boost Mobile, so probably 3ish.

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 10 2011, 11:44 PM

...there is a small dictionary of UK Shadowspeak in the old London Sourcebook along with a small translation table between UCAS and "King's English".

For example:

Baldric: Orc (Derogatory)
Box (v.): Geek
(the) Box: (n.): the Telly or a Computer
Ken: Corporate Wageslave (Derogatory)
Pixie: Elf (Derogatory)
Sep: UCAS Citizen (Derogatory)
Squid: Troll (Derogatory)
Swiss: Expensive

The Polish Shadowrun Wiki site has a fairly large lexicon of Shadowspeak including slang from other nations.

http://pl.shadowrun.wikia.com/wiki/Slang


...yeah I'm an SR geek I guess.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 10 2011, 11:45 PM

Intersting. I only get about half the references, I'm afraid

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 10 2011, 11:46 PM

Mine is a Samsung! lol It rings when someone calls and it holds the grand whopping 13 phone numbers I need it to. And it has a tip calculator (( Not that I need it, but it's nifty)). I don't need bells and whistles on my phone. I have an Ipad.

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 11 2011, 12:36 AM

...yeah I've had a fair amount of exposure to things British.

I learned "Queen's "English and studied British culture when I was young as my mum was looking to emigrate to the UK to get my brothers out of the Vietnam draft (Canada was not as a safe a bet). My teacher's in school hated it at first but eventually realised my English was more "proper" than what the rest of the kids were using. Never did well in spelling bees though (words like "paediatric" and "programme" just aren't spelled the same way here). Unfortunately the economy in the UK at the time made it very difficult for a single mom with a fairly mundane job & 3 teenagers to qualify for entry other than as tourists.

I also had a flat mate who was from the UK when I was in college.

The last major campaign I GM'd was set in the UK and Europe. Had a lot of fun with the NPC personalities, and news stories on "Beeb" (BBC). I found it so easy to fall into a "natural" rather than theatrical accent with the proper inflections it became scary to the players.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 11 2011, 12:42 AM

I'm very poor and don't have a working laptop or ipad. Web access is EXTREMELY handy when you need a bus schedule

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 11 2011, 12:45 AM

I want a cyber commlink,with SIM module built in, cybereyes, and cyberears. I don't want to frak with AR gloves, glasses, and ear buds.


I got a Nook Color... which I then proceeded to rip out the stock OS and put in Cyanogen Mod 7 (Android 2.3) and have the CPU overclocked to 1100 MHz. Turns a nice little E-Reader into a nifty little tablet.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 11 2011, 02:23 AM

Do you know of a good alternative OS for a Samsung Seek which works with Boost Mobile as a provider?

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 11 2011, 02:58 AM

Unlocking your phone and changing the OS SHOULDN'T* affect who your provider is. I'll have to do research, but the site I went to get info on changing out my OS is http://forum.xda-developers.com/index.php. They helped me out quite a bit.


* == like Pepsi, I have a nice little tablet, but my phone is a dumb phone. I just don't have the need for a phone that does everything. That being said, I don't know if "jail-breaking" your phone will affect your carrier service.

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 11 2011, 03:03 AM

...down here in Portland it is the same. Tri Met stopped posting schedules at corner bus stops and only puts up the stop ID number which can be called in or texted to their "Transit Tracker". A real pain for those who don't have wireless or cell phones.

I am considering suggesting that they offer a low cost mobile device that is "hardwired" to only receive their online schedule and "Transit Tracker" service. For a one time purchase of say 50$, I'd get one for it would make commuting so much easier and save me an extra monthly bill as I have little other use for wireless/cell phone service.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 11 2011, 03:05 AM

It has it. I just won't use it. I'm pretty poor too. I used a tax return to buy my Ipad.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 11 2011, 03:07 AM

Just note that doing such to a nook or your electronics runs a high risk of "Bricking" them. I.E. making them break and being as useful as.. a brick. Even if you do it 100% Right.

Be careful and be wiling to lose the entire thing, on the whims of the universe if you try this route.

And everyone is talking about redoing the nook color. Do NOT think that B&N Hasn't seen it. They're going to be putting out something ASAP to cut that off.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 11 2011, 03:24 AM

What's wrong with redoing something's color?

If it's that risky, screw it; I can't afford a new phone.

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 11 2011, 05:22 AM

...ctd.

...when you are heading to the corner convenience mart and say your off to the Stuffer Shack to get a couple Nukit Burritos and a six pack of Spud Lite.

...when you royally screw something important up and wish you had Karma Pool to burn for that automatic success.

...when you assess the skill level of others using rating points.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 11 2011, 05:25 AM

Crash to desktop?

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 11 2011, 05:59 AM

No no the "Nook Color" (( as a version of the Nook B&N's ebook reader)) is the one that people have been hacking to turn into a cheep tablet PC. A "wanna be Ipad"

The "Way" to hack it can be found online.

I was saying, be careful. Even if you follow the steps, step by step 100% correctly, the thing just breaks a percentage of the time.

And you end up with a dead peice of electronics that does absolutely nothing.

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 11 2011, 06:29 AM

...just trying to get the original train of thought back on the rails again.

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 11 2011, 10:21 AM

There is nothing "Cheap" about a Nook Color. I just didn't want to spend hundreds more for an iPad that doesn't have expansion capabilities. What's the size of the SD card in your iPad Pepsi? Oh, wait, I forgot, like a Shadowrun Mega, Apple wants you to buy their next iteration of their device. I can expand my tablet. I got a 16 GB card and if I want to, in the future, I can get a 32 GB card.

Pepsi... you're stuck with whatever overpriced gizmo Apple says is good for you... just like a Shadowrun Mega selling to wageslaves.

You're also wrong about bricking the device. The modders have thrown almost everything at it and it did not brick. Also, B&N hasn't done anything to stop the modders. They like the fact that the Nook Color is getting so much free press.

B&N are not like the Megas in Shadowrun. They are not out to screw the little man over.

Posted by: Inncubi Apr 11 2011, 04:53 PM

Well, I can say that where I live its actually safer to drive drunk, even very drunk, than walk 7 miles at night while drunk. The first can end up in a crash, which is survivable with your safety belt on. The second... a couple knife wounds to the belly and bleed on the ground. I know which chances I'd take in my case, with the same argument that you espouse.

As a caveat: If I'm driving, I'm not drinking.

Back to topic: I check for exits, sit with my back to walls in restaurants and always check for cameras and their blindspots.

Usually I can concoct a half-decent plan in how to break in, break out, fortify or escape a building. Any building.
Extra points for me, when they're over 10 stories high.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 11 2011, 05:52 PM

Mine? is 64gb... so... 4 times the size of your getto one. And it does alot of stuff yours doesn't and can't. It's good if you're cheep and want to risk throwing money down the drain and want to feel all superior and pirate stuff. But if yours glitches at all. You can't do anything about it. As you've 'broken' it just to get it to work the way you're using it. ____ANYTHING____ Happens to yours and you're out all the money you've put into it. Mine? If anything happens, I can get it fixed. There's constant support for it and it's an excellent product.
"
Yours... is a poor lame nock off that you've jurry rigged to get to work in a rough approximation. If that's good for you. Great.

I prefer the real thing.

And I'm not wrong about Bricking the device. I've seen about three forums threads (( All on RPG forums that is pretty telling)) about that exact thing. Sometimes it simply doesn't work. So you're out a few hundred bucks in total, Instead of saving a few hundred, in buying a real tablet.

But hey, what ever floats your boat. If you want to buy an ereader and try and jury rig it to be a cheep tablet that's about a fourth as useful for about half the price... go ahead. I'm one of those people that pay for quality and my stuff works, right, every time.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 11 2011, 06:09 PM

I'm not THAT bad, but I get nervous if I sit with my back to a door in a public place or a place unfamiliar to me.

Posted by: Doc Chase Apr 11 2011, 06:11 PM

The lovely girl I'm with always takes the door that faces the exits, so I've taken to reading her facial cues as she tends to be more perceptive than I am.

Posted by: nezumi Apr 11 2011, 06:15 PM

Smart fellow. I realize my wife is a better shot than I am, and I'm more likely to shrug off injuries than her, so ... I guess that's where I'm cut out to be.

I also search for security cameras, exits and 'authorized personnel only' areas, which is a good habit for GMs, but a bad habit for players. (Don't search them out - keep your head down so you're less likely to be caught by those cameras.)

Posted by: Doc Chase Apr 11 2011, 06:31 PM

I wear fedoras. When questioned, people remember the hat and not the face under it.

Posted by: ggodo Apr 11 2011, 07:20 PM

Sounds like your team needs a decent hacker.

Posted by: Whipstitch Apr 11 2011, 07:25 PM

Yeesh.

Posted by: KarmaInferno Apr 11 2011, 07:57 PM

I'm not gettin a tablet until I find one that can run regular commercial software without any special hacks*, has a massive battery life, and is light enough to carry around on a daily basis. Ideally I can plug in a keyboard and play WoW on it too. A swappable battery would be acceptable in lieu of massive battery life.

That pretty much rules out anything iPhone/iPad or Android.

Yes, I plan on also using it when I go out to conventions to play Shadowrun Missions. PDFs for the game books and a spreadsheet for character sheet.





-k

* - As I use engineering software, and those engineering software companies have no apparent interest at all in developing for anything except Windows, this would have to mean either a Windows platform or a MacOS platform with Windows dual-boot.

Posted by: KarmaInferno Apr 11 2011, 08:14 PM

I think, like many hacker-types, Kitsune would prefer to fix his own problems, than be beholden to someone else to fix it for him. There is a strong self-sufficiency ethic in many folks who hack and tweak this kinda thing.

It's a difference in philosophy. You can take the "everything included" package where you don't have to worry to much about the mechancs under the hood, it just works, and you have tech support for problems. But you are stuck with whatever the official formats and such are, and are dependent on others.

Or you can do it yourself, get as much or little customization as you want, but have to accept that you're probably on your own without a warranty.

Some guys buy cars and don't want to think about how they run, just take it in for service when they need it. Other guys like to get their hands dirty and customize and fix the car themselves.

It's all up to preference. Neither view is correct or incorrect.




-k

Posted by: ggodo Apr 11 2011, 08:41 PM

I can relate to that, I'm an Engineering student, whose school filled the Engineering labs with Macs, that all boot Windows without all the necessary drivers to render anything. It's really an interesting frustration point for many of us students. I also want to know where the last batch of computers went, because those worked much better.

Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 11 2011, 08:44 PM

Your basic problem will be that Windows and battery life do not make for a good combo. Even less so when third party software gets involved.

Still, Acer have this coming out soon: http://www.netbooknews.com/23337/acer-iconia-w500-amd-fusion-also-up-for-pre-order-549-shipping-april-15/

Posted by: crash2029 Apr 11 2011, 10:25 PM

A couple of years ago I was in a pre-surgery consultation for some cranial surgery to remove a tumor. As my family was sitting there aghast at the notion of me going under the knife I quipped that maybe they could put a datajack in there while they had me open. My family pretty much simultaneously rolled their eyes and groaned. The doc just looked puzzled.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 11 2011, 10:26 PM

Awesome ^_^

Posted by: Bigity Apr 12 2011, 12:17 AM

If you can't crack lame SR jokes when you are about to have your skull opened, then you just ain't SR geeky enough.

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 12 2011, 02:25 AM

...slammin'

Posted by: CanRay Apr 12 2011, 02:40 AM

Sounds like the perfect time for jokes to me.

Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 12 2011, 10:10 AM

Yep, an inability to crack jokes in such times may suggest a problem imo.

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 12 2011, 06:55 PM

First off, I do NOT pirate. I would like you to apologize to me about this. You have no right to say that without knowing anything about me.

Second, I know enough that if something happens I can fix it.

Third, I can buy a Nook and then in a few more years buy a new one AND STILL HAVE MONEY LEFT OVER!


The real thing... that's a laugh. The real thing is anything that works. Like a Shadowrunner, I take the hardware and make it work for me, rather than being a wageslave and buying overpriced items from some Megacorp who thinks that they know better than me what I need. Apple is a cult and like any cult, they have their... fans.


You got your information about Nooks being bricked on a RPG forum... Yup, those guys really know tech!

Just like you don't go to the doctor to get your car fixed, or to your mechanic to get your teeth cleaned (unless of course you have cyberteeth, but then you have a whole different world of problems). You don't go to a RPG forum to get your computer (or tablet) fixed. You go to a tech forum.

Now to correct your misinformed opinion about the Nook being a "cheap Getto tablet". I will assume you have an first gen iPad since you said about having this iPad back a while ago. If you have an iPad 2 then the stats are a little better in your direction.

Nook Color

1. processor: ARM Cortex A8 overclocked to 1.1 GHz with PowerVR SGX 530
2. RAM: 512 MB
3. SD Card slot: Can take upto a 32 GB microSD card
4. Screen Resolution: 1024 x 600 @ 170 ppi
5. Size: 7 inches
6. Operating System: Cyanogen Mod 7 w/ tablet tweaks (Android 2.3.3)

Apple iPad

1. Processor: Apple A4 running at 1 GHz (ARM Cortex A8 with PowerVR SGX 534)
2. RAM: 256 MB
3. SD Card slot: none
4. Screen Resolution: 1024 x 768 at 132 ppi
5. Size: 9.7 inches
6. Operating System: iOS 4.3

Posted by: Tyro Apr 12 2011, 07:54 PM

I can't stand Apple. I actually dislike them more than I dislike Microsoft, which is saying something.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 12 2011, 09:23 PM

Nope. The "you" was figurative and non specific. As in any "you' that getto breaks an Ereader and thinks he has an Ipad. Not 'YOU" in specific, but by the rest of your post, it relates to you too so, nope. Not gonna apologize.



If you say so. I doubt it though. Those things aren't built to be opened up and fixed. They're purposefully built to brick if you do so. And most people wouldn't have a clue anyway. You may? And if so. More power to you, but if you're that skilled and that talented, and that smart, you'd likely know it's smarter to just buy something that works with out having to jurry rig it, and risk it, than going through all the trouble. But to each his own.

Not if you're buying the cheepest one, that off the rack is better than your getto one. Nook Colors are $250. the little Ipad that would still be better starts at 5. If you bought two nook colors you'd pay $500. Your math isn't that great Foxy one.



If you say so, but you also said you don't do it. So is this a figerative rant or a real one? I suspect you likely have neither. The Ipad or the ghetto Ebook one. The Ipad works. So do laptops. So do desk tops. My Desktop is custom. My laptop is not. My Ipad, which I use for different things than I do either the desk or laptop is Apple. The only apple I have. Why is it apple? because the Ipad is the best tablet on the market. It works. Every time. No fuss. No muss and there's 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of people working on aps for it. I don't have to break into it or try and get it to do things it's not supposed to do to get it to work. I tap the button and it works every time just as designed.

It's akin to buying a car.. or searching through a junk yard and building one out of a lawn mower and assorted car parts. Sure, your supped up lawn mower might get you from A to B. Might be cheepr than the car I bought, They both have wheels and roll and run on gas. But they're not quite the same thing. And if your jurry rigged lawn mower breaks, because... it's a jurry rigged lawn mower. You gotta fix it yourself. Instead of taking it some where and having it fixed because it's supposed to work that way.

I'm far from a member of the apple cult. The room I'm in now has 5 PCs (( My Gaming computer, back up desk top, Lap top, wife's computer, and my Ipad)) and only one is apple.. It's apple because it's the best. Just like I own an Ipod as well. Because the Ipod is the best MP3 player. Look around. How many zunes do you see? or off market ones even? 1 in 10? If that?



You mean... .like you're trying to get me to believe you do? By your own logic I shouldn't believe you, because you're on an RPG fourm saying you know your tech. lol Good one. you just insulted and invalidated yourself. Should I stop reading your argument now, based on the fact that even you don't think you know what you're talking about? LOL



And yet... here you are, in spite of your own claims, trying to claim you know better, in the exact same way. In the same post, that you point out it's silly to believe anyone on an RPG Forum talking about tech. Do you realize the irony there?



I do have a G1 Ipad yes. The only thing a ghetto broke nook has the Ipad doesn't is an SD Card slot to take it up to 32 gig. Which I don't need as I already have 64. the Ram is largely irrelevent, in that the Ipad does everything you tell it to instantly. At most, the only delay I ---ever--- see from the Ipad, is when I use an app that's accessing information or update on the internet. ANd your ram won't help you there.

*Shrugs* I like the Ipad. It does what I tell it to. every time. If you like your nook. That's fine, but it's not better. You shouldn't put on airs about it. you still have a jurry rigged wanna be Ipad that's smaller and does less. The fact that you repeatedly crack on people for knowing tech on RPG forums while trying to be a knowing member of same... is funny.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 12 2011, 09:47 PM

That's an impressive bit of trolling.

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 12 2011, 09:50 PM

OK, I'm not going to argue this anymore Pepsi. I just find your tone insulting.

As for the irony about talking tech... no I don't see it as ironic as I have not said how to root a Nook here. In fact when Tyro asked me about an OS for his Seek I referred him to the XDA forum... which is a tech forum. So you can take the attitude and <censored for decorum>.

Posted by: Adarael Apr 12 2011, 10:10 PM

Yeah, can we get back to waggling our SR epeens, rather than our tablet epeens, please? I get enough computer tech epeenage at work, thanks.

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 12 2011, 10:12 PM

Dell Streak 5" < = best blend between Phone and Tablet.
Basically, what i imagine a comlink to be.

Posted by: tete Apr 12 2011, 10:18 PM

If by best you mean most popular you are correct but for what I use them for the itouch (for example) is horrible, because you cant directly mount the drive with samba because its a stupid SSH server rather than a usb hard disk. I like the nook color because I can monitor my servers and reprogram routers while I'm reading my SR books and listening to music. You can do all this with an ipad but it requires some extra hardware to interface with the crazy ipod dongle where as I already have a micro usb to 9 pin serial adapter. I do think the ipad renders my pdfs a bit better but I need to have my device do more than browse books and listen to music.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 12 2011, 10:28 PM

And I find yours insulting so I guess we're on equal footing. Though you're the one dropping into profanity.

Not I.

I'm just pointing out the holes in your argument and the ironic nature that you're rolling your eyes at trusting people talking about the --exact-- subject you are, on a forums board, when you're doing the --exact-- thing and trying to come off as smart and in the know.

I find it funny that you're basically cracking on your self but doing so in such a serious way. It's kinda hard to take you seriously when in the same breath you both try and present yourself as a knowledgeable expert on the subject and discount anyone professing to be such on a RPG forums board as moronic... ON... a RPG forums board.

Don't get me wrong. I joke about myself too. Often. Just rarely do I insult my own intelligence while trying to appear smarter than the person I'm talking to. It's a bit self defeating.

Posted by: nylanfs Apr 12 2011, 11:21 PM

Which engineering software? Solidworks, AutoCAD, ProE(ick) & NX all have native unix ports.

Posted by: ggodo Apr 13 2011, 12:01 AM

Well, someone ought to tell the administration that, I never bothered to check because I can't fix it, and run native windows on my machines. We use all four of those, and all of them are windows. I am now more confused why the Macs boot windows.

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 13 2011, 12:04 AM

IT-Guy:"Because: Yes, WE can!"

Posted by: Whipstitch Apr 13 2011, 01:22 AM

I consider it a lot less self-defeating than harping on the most meaningless part of the conversation imaginable. Beyond that, it's really kind of a stretch to say that people are breaking things by doing everything right. If something doesn't work after you think you've modded it correctly, odds are, you didn't actually mod it correctly. Oh, you may have had a unit that was failing already, I suppose, and thus it'll die on you and you'll rue the day you voided your warranty, but that's a risk a lot of people are willing to take given that it's frankly pretty rare for electronics to fail early if you practice a li'l care.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 13 2011, 03:02 AM

Not so rare when you try and make them do things they're nnot set up to do. *Shrugs* have fun trying. I'll stick with my Tech that already works and I don't have to take such risks with.

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 13 2011, 03:04 AM

tl:dr

Like I said Pepsi, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. You do your thing and I'll do my thing.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 13 2011, 03:08 AM

It's funny you call my replies vitriol, when you were the one that started off by trying to say I was in a cult and then an ignorant wage slave.. then reduced yourself to profanity that you self censored. But hey. maybe if you yell and point and go "LOOK OVER THERE" you can fool people that are just skimming.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 13 2011, 03:11 AM

To be fair, I called it vitriol first, and I'm not even part of the damn argument. I just want it to go away, as does KCKitsune. You're the only one here arguing, Pepsi.

Posted by: CanRay Apr 13 2011, 03:11 AM

Children, children, play nice.

Hell, if I'm going to start being called "Grandpa"...

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 13 2011, 03:14 AM

OK.

Whatever Pepsi. I have already backed down. You can continue doing your thing.

Just let it go. I'm sorry that I tried to talk about something other than Shadowrun.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 13 2011, 03:33 AM

What he said. Any further comments on the subject, I will ignore.

Posted by: KarmaInferno Apr 13 2011, 03:36 AM

It would help if folks realized that hacking a new OS onto a piece of hardware is NOT PIRATING.

It's hacking. There is a distinct difference.





-k

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 13 2011, 03:43 AM

I know, but just let this go.

Pepsi is set in his way and that's fine. I'll go my own way... and that should be fine as well.

Posted by: Pepsi Jedi Apr 13 2011, 04:37 AM

Yeah I know. I used the word "Pirate" like three pages back. Once. In reference to general activity. Mostly I've called it hacking or breaking.

I'm aware there's a difference. The misuse of the word, once, doesn't invalidate the rest though.

My main point, being, that if you (( General pronoun, not using it to specify any 'you' in specific here)) buy an Ebook and hack it to do something else. You run a risk, of bricking the device. For a cheaper lessor version of a tablet. So you may lose the $250 entirely and have a paperweight.

That's independent of whom ever does it or anything. Not targeting any other posters at all.

Doing so does void any warrentees it might have and if anything goes wrong with it ever. You're out the entire device, as you've hacked it and voided any protection you may have had.

If that's something you want to do, for a smaller, lesser thing. Have fun. Honestly. I wish you the best. I'll stick with mine, that I know works out of the box.

Posted by: longbowrocks Apr 13 2011, 06:12 AM

You know you are an SR geek when you realize that crash damage in SR4 scales incredibly badly
(body * X) where X is approximately LOG base 3(Speed / 20), and decide to do something about it.

That something is: recognize that you and the target take damage based the body and speed of whoever is performing the crash test, and that it's more efficient to increase body than speed. That done, create a low body, super fast character, with a gigantic pinball for a weapon. Ram the pinball; both you and it take minimal damage due to your low body, but you don't bounce back, and due to that inelastic collision your momentum is now shared. Put the high body pinball on a course for your nearest enemy and run away.
If the pinball has body 20, and you go very very fast, the difference is huge.
EX without pinball:
2000 speed = 5 * body(1) = 5 DV
EX with pinball:
2000 speed (meters per turn) * 1 body (kg) = 2000 kg meters per turn.
2000 / (1 + 20) = 95 meters per turn (speed).
95 speed = 2 * body(20) = 40 DV

Real physics. Fantasy game. Power game.

If you're looking for a story though, one of my professors last week forgot to close an "o" in the word "do", making it look like "d6" on the board. I ended up misunderstanding everything he said for the next few seconds, since none of it made sense in terms of a dice pool.

Posted by: hobgoblin Apr 13 2011, 09:49 AM

SR4 use linear scaled for its ease of use at the table, most likely. Yes it does produce some insane results when pushed, but it is that or doing odd numbered square maths and rounding at the drop of a die.

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 13 2011, 10:41 AM

Again, Pepsi, you've won. I'm sorry for bringing up something real in a Shadowrun forum.

Though for the record, my Nook might be smaller, but it is not lesser.

Posted by: nezumi Apr 13 2011, 01:48 PM

I believe the word you're looking for there is 'beautiful'. Beautiful square-roots when calculating explosive damage, or power of 2 charts calculating program size.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Apr 13 2011, 01:53 PM

Not in my Dictionary it is not...

Posted by: Sixgun_Sage Apr 13 2011, 02:15 PM

You know you are an SR geek when you convert you "pure high fantasy" SO, you are a martial arts geek as well when said SO begins wondering if you are an adept.

Posted by: longbowrocks Apr 13 2011, 04:09 PM

You're already 6,256 posts old! What could we possibly call you but "grandpa"?

Posted by: CanRay Apr 13 2011, 04:09 PM

Post-Whore?

Posted by: longbowrocks Apr 13 2011, 04:12 PM

Oh god, it's already increased by 3. You sell 'em cheap don'cha?

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 13 2011, 04:13 PM

On the right way?

Posted by: Whipstitch Apr 13 2011, 05:01 PM

The thing is though, electronics -are- designed to handle more than what is advertised on the box. They're built with the understanding that someone will be mucking around in some of them-- if not the end user, than the service department. Don't confuse a liability dodge with the notion that cracking that seal must always lead to disaster. There's frankly little reason for a root change to fail aside from being sloppy.

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 13 2011, 05:27 PM

Whipstitch, thank you for coming to my defense. I appreciate it. Now we should get back to talking about Shadowrun because, frankly, talking with Pepsi is like talking to a brick wall.

Pepsi: "Yup, KC, you're a dumbass. You are being a cheap bastard and didn't buy an Apple."
Me: "But I was able, with a little work, get my Nook to be better than your iPad."
Pepsi: "People like you are pirates who steals from everyone because you 'Jail-broke' your Nook."

----------------------------------------------

I know... Pepsi is a perfect example of the common slot in Shadowrun. They buy overpriced things from a Megacorp and never think to modify it. They buy their i<insert product type> and think to themselves: "Golly Gee, I'm the luckiest guy in the world!"

Posted by: Tyro Apr 13 2011, 05:29 PM

Can we please get past Pepsi's trolling and back to geeking out?

You know you're a Shadowrun geek when you not only care about your post count on Dumpshock, you also care about your reputation there, and so make a point of making frequent, good-quality posts over a long period of time.

Posted by: longbowrocks Apr 13 2011, 05:30 PM

It's actually like talking to an aluminum can silly.
PS, love the jailbroken Nook.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 13 2011, 05:31 PM

*sigh*

I tried.

Posted by: nezumi Apr 13 2011, 05:48 PM

Top 25

I've been tempted to start a game here just to pump up my post count.

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 13 2011, 06:02 PM

Hey, Tyro, I did relate it to Shadowrun. Pepsi has shown us what a wageslave would do with computer hardware and I pointed it out.

Posted by: KarmaInferno Apr 13 2011, 06:10 PM

Personally, I don't have a problem with either preference.

Likes and dislikes are subjective.

I get irritated when folks act superior about their particular preference, though, and try to insist that the alternative is somehow "wrong" or "inferior".

Especially when it's entirely a subjective claim and both sides have their advantages and disadvantages.



-k

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 13 2011, 07:00 PM

Oh, I do know that my Nook has disadvantages. The bluetooth range on it sucks donkey balls, though it is getting better. Also the video card is not fully integrated into the OS yet. I know this because I can't use the hardware codecs for playing my movies. The software codecs are plenty fine though.

Posted by: fistandantilus4.0 Apr 13 2011, 07:12 PM

Hi guys. Shadowrun forum. Take it elsewhere please.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 13 2011, 07:13 PM

THANK YOU

I really like this topic; I don't want to see it locked *pleads*

Posted by: longbowrocks Apr 13 2011, 07:52 PM

I'm cool with that. As long as you never use a Mac.

Posted by: longbowrocks Apr 13 2011, 07:54 PM

And to get back on topic: you know you're an SR geek when you have over 13k posts.
Seriously, I thought Stahl and Yera had high counts.

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 13 2011, 08:10 PM

We do, but ours are comparatively new i think ^^

Posted by: ggodo Apr 13 2011, 08:43 PM

I've seen fisty once before, I'm under the impression he's been on Dumpshock since Shadowrun was created.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 13 2011, 08:55 PM

The really high post counts tend to belong to people who play PbP games and to people who have been around for a very long time.

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 13 2011, 08:55 PM

Fisty is probably a Hipster and knew Shadowrun before it became Mainstream *snickers*

i've been around for not quite 3,5 Years and i don't to PbP either ^^
but i post a lot of mindless crap it seems O.o

Posted by: Hound Apr 13 2011, 08:58 PM

I cannot watch action/intrigue/whatever movies without evaluating them in terms of how cool it would be to run a session based on them.

Also I apparently zone out for long periods of time, thinking about shadowrun, without realizing it. All the time I'll be hanging with my gf right before bed, talking, and then like, as soon as the conversation lulls my brain is like "Man so what's the deal with Ghostwalker? How could I use him..." It's gotten to the point that she can actually recognize the look on my face when I'm thinking about shadowrun stuff.

Posted by: CanRay Apr 13 2011, 09:06 PM

You just described 90% of the stuff that comes off my keyboard.

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 13 2011, 09:08 PM

I had a moment like that once . . and my girlfriend is a mean one . . Her Comment:"Crash 2.0!" Me:"Gah! Woman! Don't do that to me!"

I still have you beat by sheer quantity ^^

Posted by: Tyro Apr 13 2011, 09:12 PM

That made me lol ^_^

Posted by: CanRay Apr 13 2011, 09:17 PM

I aim for quality.

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 13 2011, 09:20 PM

A day where you made somebody laugh is not a wasted day.

Soo many possible answers ^^

Posted by: nezumi Apr 14 2011, 01:17 PM

Unfortunately, the change to SR4 is playing hell with my post count. Why don't people ask SR3 questions any more?!?

Posted by: Doc Chase Apr 14 2011, 02:23 PM

I have one!

Why are you still playing SR3?

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 14 2011, 02:28 PM

'cause it's clearly superior *sage nod*

Posted by: sabs Apr 14 2011, 02:31 PM

real men play sr1

Posted by: Doc Chase Apr 14 2011, 02:38 PM

My book fell to pieces.

Posted by: CanRay Apr 14 2011, 03:00 PM

Real men repair their book that fell to pieces with the glue made from their dead enemies! Which they had crushed, driven before them, and heard the lamentations of their Significant Others.

Posted by: Doc Chase Apr 14 2011, 03:04 PM

At the time, I was young and foolish (compared to just foolish now) and bought a 2nd ed book to replace it.

Posted by: CanRay Apr 14 2011, 03:10 PM

I have two 1st Edition books. Hardcover and softcover. One is misprinted, however.

Posted by: Bigity Apr 14 2011, 03:25 PM

My paperback one is in tatters. The hardcover is still is really good shape though. They don't make bindings like they used to.

Posted by: Doc Chase Apr 14 2011, 03:26 PM

I bought mine used for five bucks, so it was already on its last legs. All my other ones have been new.

Except for 3rd edition. I appropriated that book from a ne'er-do-well to save it.

Posted by: sabs Apr 14 2011, 03:29 PM

And it's still a damn good read. My Paperback one fell apart, but i still have my hardcover. And I have my grimoire, and many other happy books.

Posted by: nezumi Apr 14 2011, 03:51 PM

I got the SR1 manual as a wedding present

I will of course obtain and use a pdf for any actual gaming, rather than risk it harm. I'll have to obtain a second one though, so I have enough for my two boys (Damien and Lucien).

Posted by: Tyro Apr 14 2011, 08:35 PM

Real men wear pink!

Posted by: CanRay Apr 14 2011, 08:53 PM

In their mohawk.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 14 2011, 08:54 PM

With a purple kilt. Shirtless and commando, of course. It's traditional! *snerk*

Posted by: CanRay Apr 14 2011, 08:55 PM

With Combat Boots with Pink Laces.

Posted by: Tyro Apr 14 2011, 08:59 PM

And black nail polish, and RAINBOW EYESHADOW!!!

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 15 2011, 04:58 AM

...been lurking in the shadows here for about 6 years. Haven't been as active in the last couple since most discussion has moved on to 4th edition and I still am one of those 3rd ed geeks. When there was still support for 3rd, I was a heavy duty participant, cracking the all time top 25 (I believe as high up as 18 or 19) for a while.


Just checked and I'm still hanging in there at #26 but been totally eclipsed by yourself and CanRay.


...and so it goes.

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 15 2011, 11:57 AM

*shrugs* i don't like or play SR4 either, but i got me the books so i can at least try and understand what people are talking about here . .

Posted by: longbowrocks Apr 16 2011, 08:38 AM

That's dedication.

BTW: you know you're an SR geek when one of the faculty at your college is trying to throw out a 1m^3 industrial plant model, and you intervene to make it into an AWESOME setting for the next SR session. Here's to you ggodo, nice catch.

Posted by: fistandantilus4.0 Apr 18 2011, 07:28 PM

I got into SR at SR2, IIRC '96, in high school. I didn't really think I'd been on DS that long until I checked the all time posters a few months back. I mostly come and go in phases (like the moon, one might say...) , mostly dictated by work an kids and wife (not in that order ... wife reads this too.)

I don't think of myself as a Hipster, but ... I hadn't heard that word until a few months ago, I'm not a fan of text messaging, and I absolutely hate Facebook.

I am definitely an SR geek though. My wife and I will occassionally point out news items and say "one step closer to Shadowrun", and my pet bearded dragon is named Lowfyr.

Posted by: Xahn Borealis Apr 18 2011, 08:05 PM

Maybe this is pretty bad....


Rolling Charisma dice in my head during coitus.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Apr 18 2011, 09:20 PM

Yep... That is pretty bad...

Posted by: nezumi Apr 19 2011, 02:03 PM

I feel like by that point you're rolling Agility followed by Body (although maybe I'm doing it wrong?)

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 19 2011, 02:36 PM

Only to dumpshock/the online community.

Posted by: longbowrocks Apr 20 2011, 12:04 AM

You know you're an SR geek when half of your reason for starting a forum war is to learn more about the way Shadowrunners like to play awakened characters.

Posted by: KCKitsune Apr 20 2011, 03:06 AM

As long as you don't have a Critical Glitch, everything should work out just fine. If you Glitch on the other hand...

Posted by: ggodo Apr 20 2011, 06:06 AM

This reminds me of an old joke I heard about sex: Sex is a perfect fusion of all the sciences. Chemistry is required to initiate it, Physics dictate the playbook, and afterward it's all biology.


I'm sure there's a better delivery than that.

Posted by: Stahlseele Apr 20 2011, 06:27 AM

what 4chan cries out during sex.

Posted by: Kyoto Kid Apr 20 2011, 06:58 AM

...got my start with 1st ed. with a my old (ex)college game group. Ahh for those heady days, when Firearms skill let you shoot almost everything except heavy machine guns and Troll portable artillery, or the Skill Web which made it possible (as long as you continued to roll 6s) to make a WMD out of a pressure cooker full of kimchee. The game had a delightful raw "edge" back then which slowly faded over the years until pretty much disappearing with the introduction of the current version.

The first character I ever played was a rigger named Capt. Canucklehead who lasted several sessions before retirement after being arrested by SS authorities. One of our group picked up the original Grimoire where a new archetype, the Physical Adept was introduced (as I recall, Physads were actually presented as an "optional" archetype in the expansion and our GM was intrigued by having someone play one). Well, having a love of martial arts characters, I couldn't resist.

So Enter the Kid.

Yep, KK (the PC) is my longest running (and surviving) SR personality who made it through all three editions, as well as Peackeeper (where she was introduced), both Harlequin campaign arcs, Missing Blood and even being 'ported into a campaign in "that game which shall not be mentioned here" (which she of course blamed Harlequin for). So the Kid's pretty much seen it all. Even wrote up a version of her to test out in 4th ed (as starting character again since the GM had something about me bringing a 360 Karma character into his campaign).

After that pretty much retreated back to 3rd ed.

-----

Yeah, when I read or hear of certain things in the news (don't have a telly) I often have similar thoughts. Particularly over the last year or so. Still wondering when the real drek is going to hit the air circulation unit and, hoping that when I wake up and look in the mirror one morning I don't see pointed ears (considering I live in Portland, TT...er...OR).

Posted by: Xahn Borealis Apr 20 2011, 11:32 AM

I had to spend Edge to make a Long Shot Test.

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Apr 20 2011, 01:09 PM

Horrible Xahn, really horrible...

Posted by: Xahn Borealis Apr 20 2011, 01:47 PM

I am so full of TMI...

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Apr 20 2011, 02:17 PM

Ain't that the truth...

Posted by: Xahn Borealis Apr 20 2011, 03:56 PM

No one mention Black IC. Otherwise I'll have to talk about jacking out....



(I am so, so sorry. )

Posted by: Tymeaus Jalynsfein Apr 20 2011, 04:22 PM

*hangs head* You just had to go there didn't you?

Posted by: Xahn Borealis Apr 20 2011, 04:25 PM

Do you have to ask?