Landgrab

A Tumblr I use for aggregation, and perhaps posting somethings on occasion.

[bronzite]

Pretty great Sci-Fi short.

[bronzite]

On Why Ships Named Enterprise Are So Expensive To Insure

I never really thought about it before, but if Starfleet wanted to turn the USS Enterprise into a museum ship, they only had one choice.  

* NCC-1701 is destroyed at the Genesis planet in 2285.  

* NCC-1701-A is decommissioned in 2293, and is the only candidate.  

* NCC-1701-B goes missing with all hands in 2329.  

* NCC-1701-C is destroyed at Narendra III in 2344.  

* NCC-1701-D is written off in 2371 at Veridian III.  

* NCC-1701-E is still in active service as of 2379 (the latest year that Star Trek has appeared on film.)

So while serving on the USS Enterprise appears to be a great career move, it is important to remember that you're playing a life-or-death game of musical chairs, and you don't want to be on the ship when the music stops.

(and yes, I know I’m being a bit disingenuous by using non-canon sources for the fate of the -B, and then not accepting STO or ST:Countdown as regards the -E, but I have to draw the line somewhere.)

[bronzite]

Alas!  awarningtothenexttengenerationsthatsomefavorscomewithtoohighaprice.tumblr.com is not a valid blog.

[eccentric-nucleus-deactivated20]

there is no programming language that liberates you from needing to precisely articulate what you are doing

[bronzite]

Attraction is like an arrow in flight: it is easier to see flying between two other people than to see coming end-on at you.

[bronzite]

If you can keep your head when all others are losing theirs, it's just possible you haven't grasped the situation.

Jean Kerr, Please Don't Eat the Daisies, 1957

[persephonemuse]

[bronzite]

Friend: Saturday somebody is having a Federation Day party.

Me: What's that?

Friend: It is a party for the founding of the United Federation of Planets.

Me: But the Federation was founded on October 11th.

Friend: ....Saturday is October 11th.

Me: Ooooh. Right.

[bronzite]

As I brushed my teeth, my girlfriend whispered "I love you" in my ear.  I was halfway through turning around when I realized I should've been able to see her in the mirror.

[bronzite]

And at the 53rd door, the avatar of the Domain Naming System did appear before the novice. 'What do you seek?' asked the Domain Naming System. Overcome with presumptuous greed, the novice asked of the avatar, 'I wish to know all; the roads to all places, the true names of all daemons. I wish to know the secret places where two are one, and where one is many. I wish to perceive the universe as a whole, unfettered by the blinds of this mortal form, and learn all that is learnable.' 'OPCODE=RESPONSE,' replied the Domain Naming System, and the novice's buffers were filled with all that was, and is, and will be.

A parable on the expansion of DNS, chapters 1035, 1101, 1183, 1348, 1876, 1982, 1995, 1996, 2065, 2136, 2181, 2137, 2308, 2535, 2673, 2845, 3425, 3658, 4033, 4034, 4035, 4343, 5936, 5966, 6604.

[bronzite]

Revenge might give you a warm feeling, but unless it delivers some lasting results you might as well have a nice cup of mocha instead.

Traviss, Karen (2011-10-25). Halo: Glasslands (Kindle Locations 767-768). Macmillan. Kindle Edition. 

[bronzite]

The essential problem with our beliefs is that we tend to fall in love with them. They become a part of who we are, and we defend them in the face of all contrary evidence. They become the rock upon which we base our identity. I cannot help but think how much less damage would be done were we to view them rather as pliable clay, tentative conclusions subject to revision when more evidence arrives on the scene.

McDevitt, Jack (2011-11-01). Firebird (An Alex Benedict Novel) (Kindle Locations 3297-3299). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition. 

[bronzite]

Sometimes the fluffy bunny of incredulity zooms round the bend so rapidly that the greyhound of language is left, agog, in the starting cage.

Mitchell, David (2008-11-13). Cloud Atlas: A Novel (p. 168). Random House, Inc.. Kindle Edition. 

[bronzite]

But when the battle's won, and the rush and worry's done and I've got some time to wonder why I'm here When I weigh the life that's mine against the one I left behind What the hell, I guess I'll stick another year

Leslie Fish, "Bones", Solar Sailors (1977)

[bronzite]

Intelligence and compassion are the heart of what it means to be human. Help others where you can. That is clear enough. But a Creator may well want us to open our eyes, as well. If there is a judgment, God may not be particularly interested in how many hymns we sang or what prayers we memorized. I suspect He may instead look at us and say, “I gave you a brain, and you never used it. I gave you the stars, and you never looked.”

McDevitt, Jack (2011-11-01). Firebird (An Alex Benedict Novel) (Kindle Locations 5026-5029). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition. 

[bronzite]

As far as I’m concerned, quantum physics could have been written by a hack.

Scalzi, John (2012-06-05). Redshirts: A Novel with Three Codas (p. 139). Tom Doherty Associates. Kindle Edition. 

[bronzite]

There is a kind of archeology of the mind in which we unearth old injuries and resentments, pore over them, and keep them close to our hearts.

McDevitt, Jack (1995-12-01). The Engines of God (Hutch) (p. 195). Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition.