The Spacecraft We Could Have Had

A well constructed discussion of where the space program could be right now with current technology, if we'd made more optimal choices.

Courtesy of Ashley R Pollard.

Map of FWL Military Organization

Made this ages ago.

The old HM:FWL book doesn't just have a map, and doesn't just list regimental deployments for summer 3025, it also has a list* of which provinces and worlds organize their military the way Marik does, or Oriente does, or Andurien does.

Seems like a pretty reliable way to start picking out smaller provinces.

*I forget which page, sorry. It's a purple(?) box in the bottom right corner of a right-hand page. [Next Day Edit: it's page 84, which also says

Across the Free Worlds, many minor variations of the three primary hierarchies exist, due to local government edicts and traditional grants and dignitaries. Below is the military organization used by each state. However, few states, especially the smaller ones, adopt the exact pattern set by their larger cousins. Note that one world is even listed twice.

Courtesy of Reddit user wycca. /Edit]

[Edit, May 15: somehow missed the Stewart Dragoons' Home Guards regiment on Stewart and Juggernaut regiment on Payvand. Now added. /Edit]

Star Trek Episode Roller

White Noise
- Engine Hum
- Bridge Noise

Songs
- Star Trekkin'
- Banned from Argo
- "I Hate You"
- Picard Song
- at the Hothberry
- Tik Tok
- Home ^{[via here]}
- Starships ^{[via here]}

Sketches
- Nimoy vs Quinto
- Voyager Auditions
- Last Voyage

Shatner
- Sha7ner
- Eat Fry Love
- Rocket Man
- Alexander

I think I found this via Popfiend, years ago

In a perfect world, I could dissect all seven or eight hundred episodes to find the Star Trekkiest distribution of Starfleet missions, antagonists, motivations and NPC strategies. Such volume and detail is a sure recipe for burnout, though.

Each new Trek series self-selects what its writers thought was Trekkiest about the previous series, right? So maybe I can approximate the results of all that research by sampling episodes at random and taking different elements from each?

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There's a few other series I could mix in. Babylon 5, Farscape, Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, Shakespeare... and heck, if even Doctor Who borrows from Battlestar Galactica...

But at some point we stray from the themes and structures essential to Star Trek. Like, your average episode of Firefly has a fistfight, a gunfight, a word fight, some kind of spaceship thing, and involves a moral or ethical dilemma. Not too different from Star Trek TOS. Except TOS also adds a good dose of scientific method to everything - whether the problem at hand is mechanical, social or philosophical, the crew feels it out systematically.

The Orville Episode 12 - Fools Rush In

We still rely on the magic of editing; still start each episode a little stilted; and my delivery is still a little disjointed; but not as much as when we started.  On a good day - like I think we had for this recording - we cover everything we wanted to say without having to hold too closely to our prepared agenda. We could undoubtedly polish the product more with scripted repartee and rehearsed personalities; but for me, the point (when feasible) is to engage with the ideas as we're recording and choose my words as I go. When I can do that well then everything else follows naturally.

...before decrying Ready Player One, I should probably consider what (if anything) distinguishes it from "The Ultimate Showdown" and "We Come Together."

...and closing with "faithful listeners?" Yeesh. This is why we need a formal sign off.

I can't find that map of the east coast and I don't remember what it was measuring. Not simple poverty, teen birth rates, brain drain or gun violence - these aren't great for South Carolina, but they're more in line with regional trends than whatever I'm remembering.

Kelly Grayson (Adrianne Palicki) has so much empathy it's a crime, and the crew ignore a thousand years of sociological studies.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 11 - These Dimensions

Kirk-era Star Trek carried an almost Darwinian imperative for humanity to test itself against the greatest challenges available. The Next Generation refined that philosophy from a cosmic manifest destiny into a constant personal improvement. The Orville primarily casts such striving as a source of social capital.

It's an interesting inversion of the Next Generation episode "Tapestry." Star Trek doesn't often address career issues or office politics, and I'm glad we get some depth to Yaphit's perspective and get to see how the Captain and Executive Officer handle disagreement.

John Lamar (J Lee) and Ed Mercer (Seth McFarlane) prove themselves as leaders as they explore a piece of two-dimensional sci-fi. Hosts VanVelding and SkilTao discuss the comedic dimensions of the cast.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

Third look at 3025 Lyran 'Mech Production

[TL;DR: Hesperus builds a heavy 100 'Mechs, Coventry builds a light 139 'Mechs, Furillo builds 39, Carlisle and Sudeten make a combined 55, Tharkad makes 55, Twycross makes a heavy 53, Pandora makes 18, and there's another 41 I have yet to account for.]

Basics: The Lyrans build 500 'Mechs/yr, of which 230 are uncommon, including 109 Commandos, 33 Zeuses and 5 Firestarters.

Defiance Industries and Coventry Metal Works - being the Commonwealth's first (HS:LC p122) and second (p165) biggest manufacturers, and each listing their primary products (p136) first - set a precedent for HS:LC's manufacturing page listing everything from biggest to smallest.

Key insight this time around is that many of HS:LC's manufacturers are new, that P1e's manufacturing pages look like they were cut from an early draft of HS:LC, and that the Periphery states build 167 'Mechs/yr.

The Orville Episode 10 - Circ du Fear

This was a fun discussion. "Firestorm" is jam packed with Star Trek references, and it may be the first time the Orville centers an episode on a single character instead of a team-up or ensemble.

Kelly telling Alara that "she made the responsible command decision" is a nice callback (and ironic foreshadowing) that helps distinguish this conflict from her previous one. Alara's self-confidence is hard-won and I'm sure we will never again question it. 

The "plasma storm" is an interesting choice. Sure, the Orville has run into other occasional bits of strange space weather, but for the most part the show seems to favor more realistic astronomy.

Alara (Halston Sage) triumphs over a nightmare of her own making. Hosts SkilTao and VanVelding discuss Halloween episodes, the mystery of rewatchability, and what to do when it's all a dream.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

Second Look at Federated Suns 3025 'Mech Production

[TL;DR?
157 Wolverines and Griffins;
130 Valkyries;
122 Enforcers;
88 Locusts, Phoenix Hawks and Wasps;
64 JagerMechs;
29 Dervishes;
28 Blackjacks;
20 Marauders;
20 Victors;
14 Ostsols;
11 Ostscouts;
7 Javelins;
5 Atlases; and
5 Riflemen.]

This calls up memories and shadows of memories from fourteen or fifteen years ago. I'm sure people were trying to work it out fourteen or fifteen years before that, too.

29 Phoenix Hawks would put the Suns 830 tons shy of a 49 ton national average. That's 17 'Mechs' worth - maybe to make up for saddling Liao and Kurita with 17 Chargers.

Interestingly, when HD:FS (p125) talks about which 'Mechs are most common in lances of different weight, it mentions Shadow Hawks instead of Wolverines. Wonder if that's an error (like the Centurions on Panpour) or deliberate.

The Orville Episode 9 - Sweet Muzak

I like this one despite my staccato delivery.

Mercer's pitch for an informal talk between the two sides was pretty good. I love those little moments in this show.

Somehow missed the Israel/Palestine allegory here, that the way to end the conflict is for people to start intermarrying. I think I saw a New York Times article proposing much the same thing a decade ago.

Darulio (Rob Lowe) learns an important lesson about making everyone around him lose their heads. Hosts VanVelding and SkilTao praise Yaphit and the supporting cast.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

Legacy Antitrust Decrees Ending?

[Unusual post today. I don't plan to make a habit of it. Orville post Thursday, BattleTech post next Sunday.]

Apparently, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has filed to end the Paramount Consent Decrees (and other similar decrees across other industries).

It's disconcerting to see the body responsible for combating anti-competitive practices try to argue that anti-competitive practices will benefit consumers, or to say out one corner of their mouth that the Decrees no longer serve a purpose while admitting from the other corner that these tools could allow the studios to force some theaters out of business.

I'm reluctant to dispute their reasoning without knowing more about the body of antitrust law. Ultimately though they rest their argument on what the grand purpose of antitrust is, and... isn't innovation associated with ecosystems which favor lots of little guys over a handful of monoliths? Ditto, resilience? If lifting the Decrees does turn out to be a mistake, are there provisions to reinstate them, and protect the most vulnerable theaters until that happens?

I don't know. The Department may be right to let the pendulum try to swing somewhere new. I would be more comfortable with it if their press release had been able to cite similar historical examples from comparable industries, and if all the guilds weren't disagreeing with them.

Personal Update

I don't mean to be uncommunicative. A malfunction over the winter holidays has limited my productivity. In theory I'm better off now, but in practice it's a side grade which doesn't address the root problems.

I regret if anyone's been put out. 

Immediate upshots:

• I remain unlikely to record video in my current environs.
• Twitch remains unfeasible for me. 

I appreciate that YouTube allows double-speed playback but I wish it wouldn't keep bumping the quality up to where the video starts getting choppy. I notice the updated Terms of Service include an item about not using third party services to evade YouTube's controls - I assume that's directed at Facebook and the like, yet I can't help thinking how useful it would have been to have a service which allows playback at triple and quadruple speed.

The Orville Episode 8 - Folded Away

I'm pretty happy with this conversation.

Forgot to say that Drogen's actor (Brian Thompson) was in Star Trek Generations, three episodes of Enterprise, two of Deep Space Nine, and one of The Next Generation. The Drogen character probably bears some discussion: on one hand, he isn't directly menacing and can perhaps be read sympathetically; on the other hand, none of the other rooms in his apartment seem to have locking doors or boarded up windows.

I like that the kids' role isn't to make problems but to make problems harder.

I love the aesthetic of the videogame. The simple holograms feel more analogous to Tiger Electronics than to a smart phone.

Dr Claire Finn (Penny Johnson Jerald) shows how hard it is to be a single mom and also kidnapped, while Isaac (Mark Jackson) proves the old adage that it takes a V'ger to raise a child.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 7 - Wesley Get Off the Grass

It's always a little weird to hear Captain Mercer make a monetary quip, but hearing "you look like unemployed back up dancers" followed immediately by "what is money" is an exceptional whiplash. Is the Planetary Union really a post-scarcity society?

How is an economy based on reputation any different from this world governed by social media?

John Lamar (J Lee) gets thrown under the bus and his friends learn to manipulate the court of public opinion. Hosts SkilTao and VanVelding discuss 'government by reddit,' and SkilTao has a theory about Lamar.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 6 - All You Need Is Krill

This episode might be the first time our introductory comparisons start to sound like organic conversation.

I don't mention it in the podcast, but there's a Voyager episode with aliens who have an afterlife as energy beings, and I'm not yet convinced the Krill don't have something like that going on.

Ed Mercer (Seth MacFarlane) and Gordon Malloy (Scott Grimes) dive into Krill culture. Hosts VanVelding and SkilTao talk about using humor as mortar, and SkilTao has a theory about space whales.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 5 - Time Travel and Bullshit

I make two mistakes here. (Well, three if you count trying to record over a really bad connection without a script.) First, I got Charlize Theron mixed up with Tricia Helfer; and second, you can find a moral in the episode, in the contrast between Pria's "don't apologize" platitude and Kelly forcing Ed to apologize. 

"Time Travel and Bullshit" was the name of a peer-review science journal VanVelding and Derek joke about in their TNG podcast. The Orville's solution to time travel paradoxes is growing on me.

Star Trek scripts sometimes lived or died on the performance of their guest actors. Despite questionable temporal mechanics, the "Pria" script succeeds where "If the Stars Should Appear" stumbles, and "The Orville" gets good guests.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.

The Orville Episode 4 - If a Theme Should Appear

Discussion is shorter this time but, I think, on point. Still starts out staccato.

I wonder if Liam Neeson was originally meant to be the villain of the episode, and writing around that created some of the issues we talk about.

"If the Stars Should Appear" wanders from big idea to big idea without digging into them. It also pries at the characters' relationships. Hosts SkilTao and VanVelding discuss missed opportunities and speculate about the season's romantic arcs.

Available in podcast form at anchor.fm.