Search found 293 matches

by Gimbal Locke
Wed May 02, 2018 3:58 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Elite: Dangerous - first impressions
Replies: 31
Views: 27437

Re: Elite: Dangerous - first impressions

pleiadian wrote: Wed May 02, 2018 1:00 pm
What I don't know is, if those system locations are procedurally generated, or if they took them off some NASA database.
Both: some tens of thousands are from star catalogues, the other ~400 billion are generated.
by Gimbal Locke
Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:57 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

Disembodied wrote: Fri Feb 16, 2018 9:42 am
A bit more googling … is it Egan's "Dark Integers"?
Yes, it is Greg Egan's "Dark Integers", the preceding story is "Luminous".

Over to Disembodied.
by Gimbal Locke
Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:40 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

Schild's Ladder , Greg Egan Greg Egan is a mathematician, so maths plays an important role in many of his stories. In Schild's ladder, the math is used to do (quantum) physics. However, in the story I am looking for, it is the calculation (i.e.: the construction of the numbers) itself which is dest...
by Gimbal Locke
Thu Feb 15, 2018 3:44 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

The title of the story is a custom data type defined by one of the characters in the story.
by Gimbal Locke
Thu Feb 15, 2018 1:29 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

The author is Australian, he has won among others a Hugo Award, and there are no pictures of him on the internet.

Last year, one of his stories was released as a short film.

Apart from SF, he has also published scientific papers.
by Gimbal Locke
Tue Feb 13, 2018 4:39 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

The story is not your typical military SF, the military only play a marginal role if any. The "fighters", diplomats and explorers are mathematicians. It is more about topics in the philosophy of mathematics, such as platonism (do mathematical entities exist independently?), constructivism ...
by Gimbal Locke
Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:13 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

The short story I am looking for is the successor to another short story by the same author.

In the first story, the "enemy" of the second story is discovered by the humans as a result of doing calculations with very big numbers.
by Gimbal Locke
Sun Feb 11, 2018 11:10 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

lol. I thought "Who's this Gimbal Locke person then?" and it turns out you haven't posted since before I registered. :lol: Nice to meet you, Commander Malacandra! Have been out in the black for quite a while, searching for Raxxla. Back to the subject at hand: calculating the very big numb...
by Gimbal Locke
Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:05 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

Calculating really large numbers can lead to war.

I'm asking for the author and the title of the story.
by Gimbal Locke
Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:22 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee - trilogy: Machineries of Empire.

( :shock: My previous post here was in 2012? Time flies... :o )
by Gimbal Locke
Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:57 pm
Forum: Outworld
Topic: In car Elite
Replies: 7
Views: 8048

Re: In car Elite

I was learning to drive when Arc Elite came out. I quickly decided not to play right before a driving lesson, because I didn't want to be in the my-front-shield-can-easily-sustain-one-or-two-crashes-through-those-slow-ones-in-front-of-me mindset. Just a random thought, brought up by association when...
by Gimbal Locke
Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:33 pm
Forum: Discussion
Topic: [POLL] Strict Mode
Replies: 9
Views: 6572

Re: [POLL] Strict Mode

And does the person who plays in strict mode also play in wireframes?
by Gimbal Locke
Mon May 20, 2013 10:25 pm
Forum: Discussion
Topic: Wiki: Ya reckon it might be time to split the OXP list?
Replies: 17
Views: 7364

Re: Wiki: Ya reckon it might be time to split the OXP list?

I like the current list: every 3 or 4 months, I check if there are updates to the OXPs I have installed by sorting the list on update time -most recent on top- and reading down to where I stopped the previous time. At the same time, I see which new OXPs I have missed on the BB. I like that I only ha...
by Gimbal Locke
Fri May 10, 2013 7:00 pm
Forum: Discussion
Topic: Long Time, No Memory!
Replies: 19
Views: 7257

Re: Long Time, No Memory!

You can cycle through compass targets with \ or # as soon as you arrive in the destination system. The station beacon is a diamond with the letter N. Make sure it is green (if it's red you're flying away from it) and in the middle of your compass. You're on track for the station. Edit: you need to b...
by Gimbal Locke
Sun May 05, 2013 11:01 am
Forum: Outworld
Topic: Science Fiction Trivia
Replies: 7363
Views: 1756232

Re: Science Fiction Trivia

Zieman wrote:
First thing that came to my mind:
EAS Agamemnon - Omega class Destroyer acting as Sheridan's flagship in Earth Alliance civil war 2261 in Babylon 5 (season 4)?
Image

Great mind! Over to you.