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Mechanics of Reveal

This fascinating series is a combination of historical seafaring, swashbuckling adventure, and high technological science-fiction. Join us in a discussion!
Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by kaid   » Tue Feb 24, 2015 3:56 pm

kaid
Lieutenant Commander

Posts: 108
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 12:08 pm

I think vampires will be involved. /ducks and hides.
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by Keith_w   » Tue Feb 24, 2015 7:02 pm

Keith_w
Commodore

Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:10 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

kaid wrote:I think vampires will be involved. /ducks and hides.

Ok, back into the dark with you. :mrgreen:
--
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by Undercover Fat Kid   » Tue Feb 24, 2015 8:27 pm

Undercover Fat Kid
Commander

Posts: 207
Joined: Sat Oct 12, 2013 11:20 pm

As long as the vampire in question doesn't shimmer, we'll be all set. Or as I've been known to do. When I get stuck on the plot, I just throw in a ninja!
.
.
Death is as a feather,
Duty is as a mountain
This life is a dream
From which we all
Must wake
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by SWM   » Tue Feb 24, 2015 11:27 pm

SWM
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Location: U.S. east coast

I'm going to be radical.

I predict that the Big Reveal will be sudden, unexpected, and not under the control of Merlin or the inner circle.
:D
--------------------------------------------
Librarian: The Original Search Engine
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by Kakai   » Wed Feb 25, 2015 6:05 am

Kakai
Commander

Posts: 162
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:46 am

SWM wrote:I'm going to be radical.

I predict that the Big Reveal will be sudden, unexpected, and not under the control of Merlin or the inner circle.
:D


Suddenly, a spaceship crashes in the middle of Siddar City? :lol:
-----------
When in mortal danger, when beset by doubt,
Run in little circles, wave your arms and shout.

- Ciaphas Cain
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by Hildum   » Wed Feb 25, 2015 9:06 pm

Hildum
Captain (Junior Grade)

Posts: 252
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2011 11:15 pm

The recon skimmer has a minor system failure due to being a bit past the manufacturer's warranty period?

Ten years is more than enough time for a poorly maintained building to decay to the point it is better to tear it down rather than repair it. After 1,000 years, it would take a skilled archeologist and quite specialized equipment to determine that a building had been there at all. And that is for something with relatively massive and durable components.

Plastics age and get brittle, and similar things happen to metals.

For electronics things get out of calibration as they age, or simply no longer function - electrolytic capacitors dry out, stored charges leak in PROM and flash memory devices, etc. Lifetimes under the best of circumstances for electronic components is short.
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by n7axw   » Thu Feb 26, 2015 2:21 pm

n7axw
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Hildum wrote:The recon skimmer has a minor system failure due to being a bit past the manufacturer's warranty period?

Ten years is more than enough time for a poorly maintained building to decay to the point it is better to tear it down rather than repair it. After 1,000 years, it would take a skilled archeologist and quite specialized equipment to determine that a building had been there at all. And that is for something with relatively massive and durable components.

Plastics age and get brittle, and similar things happen to metals.

For electronics things get out of calibration as they age, or simply no longer function - electrolytic capacitors dry out, stored charges leak in PROM and flash memory devices, etc. Lifetimes under the best of circumstances for electronic components is short.


For current tech in our own timeline, yes, you're right. For Terran Federation tech plus handwavium...who knows :?: :?: :?:

Don
When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by Starsaber   » Thu Feb 26, 2015 5:14 pm

Starsaber
Captain (Junior Grade)

Posts: 255
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:40 am

Hildum wrote:The recon skimmer has a minor system failure due to being a bit past the manufacturer's warranty period?

Ten years is more than enough time for a poorly maintained building to decay to the point it is better to tear it down rather than repair it. After 1,000 years, it would take a skilled archeologist and quite specialized equipment to determine that a building had been there at all. And that is for something with relatively massive and durable components.

Plastics age and get brittle, and similar things happen to metals.

For electronics things get out of calibration as they age, or simply no longer function - electrolytic capacitors dry out, stored charges leak in PROM and flash memory devices, etc. Lifetimes under the best of circumstances for electronic components is short.


We have ample evidence of OWL directing SNARCs and their remotes. I imagine there are similar automated systems in the cave to handle maintenance. I doubt it'll be something like that, but how about a bird strike or something?
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by captinjoehenry   » Fri Mar 20, 2015 6:55 pm

captinjoehenry
Lieutenant Commander

Posts: 147
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:36 pm

Starsaber wrote:
Hildum wrote:The recon skimmer has a minor system failure due to being a bit past the manufacturer's warranty period?

Ten years is more than enough time for a poorly maintained building to decay to the point it is better to tear it down rather than repair it. After 1,000 years, it would take a skilled archeologist and quite specialized equipment to determine that a building had been there at all. And that is for something with relatively massive and durable components.

Plastics age and get brittle, and similar things happen to metals.

For electronics things get out of calibration as they age, or simply no longer function - electrolytic capacitors dry out, stored charges leak in PROM and flash memory devices, etc. Lifetimes under the best of circumstances for electronic components is short.


We have ample evidence of OWL directing SNARCs and their remotes. I imagine there are similar automated systems in the cave to handle maintenance. I doubt it'll be something like that, but how about a bird strike or something?


Boom! OWL don't tells that was the recon skimmer... CRAP that was the recon skimmer looks out at massive crator out side Sidar XD
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Re: Mechanics of Reveal
Post by AirTech   » Sun Mar 22, 2015 7:38 am

AirTech
Captain of the List

Posts: 476
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Location: Deeeep South (Australia) (most of the time...)

Hildum wrote:The recon skimmer has a minor system failure due to being a bit past the manufacturer's warranty period?

Ten years is more than enough time for a poorly maintained building to decay to the point it is better to tear it down rather than repair it. After 1,000 years, it would take a skilled archeologist and quite specialized equipment to determine that a building had been there at all. And that is for something with relatively massive and durable components.

Plastics age and get brittle, and similar things happen to metals.

For electronics things get out of calibration as they age, or simply no longer function - electrolytic capacitors dry out, stored charges leak in PROM and flash memory devices, etc. Lifetimes under the best of circumstances for electronic components is short.


There are different grades of electronics, domestic, commercial, industrial, military and space, each with different design criteria and life's.
Typical industrial hardware is designed for a 20 year service life, industrial safety equipment for at least 50 year life (and some for 100 years), space hardware has typically got a 250 year design life under ambient conditions (to ensure you get a 20 year life in space). Some hardware launched in the 70's is still functioning within design parameters (Voyager for example).

With dry nitrogen storage to prevent corrosion a carbon crystal (diamond) substrate semiconductor should certainly be functional. The keys to long life are conservative design, cool operation,the absence of mechanical wear and avoiding edibles / degradables like rubber.
Some metals recrystallize and creep with time like tin and need to be avoided for long life. (The European RoHS Directive has a significant fatality count because of tin replacing lead containing solders (ask Toyota about their RoHS compliant throttle sensor assemblies)).
So if you know long service life is important (like the Gbabba) then you can design for a couple of centuries in service easily, and storage life of much longer is certainly possible.
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