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It’s a Start

Mythusmage Today Posted on by

In a post on Futurism we learn that the U.S. military has developed software that can edit code, in effect giving us a way to automate the editing of software. At present it only works with Java, but in time I expect it will work for other languages.

What this means is that human coders will find their work being edited and corrected, which is going to tick some people off. Later I expect we will see programs that can take what one wants to see done and see that it is done properly. Software bugs could become extinct. The dark ages of computer software are coming to an end.

Beringia

Mythusmage Today Posted on by

The Land

Beringia, according to what I’ve learned online, is the land that connects Asia and North America. The fact that Beringia is currently partly flooded doesn’t change that fact to my mind, and its existence means that Eurasia and North America—with the addition of Africa and South America—makes up the super continent we’ll call Trans Earth.

In terms of physical geography Beringia is sited entirely on the North America Plate, with the western edge being the Chersky Range which borders the Eurasian Plate—that’s right, Russia still has territory in North America.

History

During the Cretaceous—you can search for that—there were times when Beringia was dry land, allowing the migration of the tyrannasaurids and others between Eurasia and North America. In more recent times animals such as the equids were able to use the same land for the same purpose. This on at least two occasions included two different types of primate, both a type of great ape.

The Apes in Question

One of them we know as Humans, who are a type of great ape for all that we are also members of the genus Homo. The other are the animal we know as Bigfoot, or Sasquatch if you prefer.

As far as I can tell, the Sasquatch is descended from a common ancestor with the African Gorilla, and which may be known to us as Gigantopithecus. We don’t have much in the way of evidence, but it is possible the animal may have extended into what is now Northern China. He was said to be some 8 feet tall if not taller, and to weigh as much as 800 pounds. There is some debate over whether the animal was arboreal or terrestrial, but at that size and the climate he dwelt in I lean towards him as a terrestrial ape. Which means he was a biped.

Bigfoot and Beringia

Apparently bands of Gigantopithecus migrated north and west into Northwestern Eurasia. Crossing the Chersky Range they found themselves in Western Beringia, though during which times is not known. What is evidently apparent is that when Beringia was dry land from west to east it was what amounted to arid grassland, or tundra. Really fuck all to climb and clamber about for an 800 pound primate. Which means that the most likely course of evolution for the ancestor of the Bigfoot was as an erect bipedal ape. When they got past Beringia and into the rest of North America what they found meant that remaining terrestrial and bipedal was the way to go.

The Next Time

In my next post I’ll be taking a look at the Sasquatch Genome Project by Dr. Melba Ketchum. I have disagreements with her methods, her presentation, and her conclusions, but she at least has had a look. See you later.

I Have a Question

Mythusmage Today Posted on by

In this video I watched at the Nat Geo site four bigfoot are said to show up late in the footage. Three of them subsequently disappear. The comments published appear to be selected to reinforce the prejudice of the article accompanying the video in question. In each case the impression I get is that the commentator is commenting on the footage, but not on the file itself. Why not examine the file? Check the file out. Has it been altered? Where? When? How? 

Say What?

Mythusmage Today Posted on by

I’m reading through the latest issue of Skeptic when I run across the article Virtuous Reality by  Douglas J. Navarick—no link. In it I read these lines in my physical copy, “But in purely materialistic scientific terms, could there be any difference in moral content between the actions of the terrorists and the tectonic movement of plates—his emphasis? They are both processes of nature and presumed to be to be governed by laws in their respective geological and psychological domains. The brain is a physical system no less than a planet.”

I have to ask, Mr. Navarick, do you think about the things you do think about?

There is a vital difference between tectonic plates and human beings, plates can’t think. We can. We can have motives and intentions. We can come up with reasons, we can rationalize. A thing or any animal without a functioning brain can’t have intentions. Any animal with a functioning brain can. And when that animal has brains enough to understand how their actions can help or harm another then the action in question becomes a matter of morality. In as much as Navarick’s example terrorists are human beings with functioning brains and who are capable of understanding that what they propose to do will harm other human beings to the terrorists’ benefit—my emphasis, then it is a moral act and an act of evil.

The thing we need to remember is that an act requires intention. Tectonic plates can’t act, we can. The fall of an avalanche or the breaking of a wave just happens, there can be no thought behind them. Sorry Mr. Navarick, but I can’t accept the rest of your argument because your basic foundation is so flawed it renders the rest of your article senseless and useless.Humans are capable of doing things for a reason, and until you accept that fact you have nothing of value to add to this discussion on the nature of evil.

Combat in Dangerous Journeys

Mythusmage Today Posted on by

Introduction

Before I do anything else I must first confess that I’ve decided to remove the chapter on combat in DJ. Instead, the rules on fighting in DJ are being included in the chapter on encounters, which chapter will include mechanics on violent and non-violent ones.

And Now.

D&D’s Role in DJ Fighting

Much of DJ’s mechanics on fighting—especially in the rules on the number of attacks—originally came from D&D, and those were of Gary’s doing. I don’t think that Gary really understood how fast 3 seconds goes by. Then you add the “beat” which takes 0.1 seconds. A tad slower than the blink of an eye, but just a tad.

So I’ve decided to just get rid of the mechanics on the number of attacks a Persona gets based on skill. Instead all Personas get the same number of attacks regardless of skill, and based on the initiative roll, Attribute Speed, and weapon speed. Though the roll can vary according injury or to drugs and magick be there such that allows for the hastening or slowing of the Persona.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU

It means that you can ignore the rules for the number of attacks based on your Persona’s skill with a weapon or fighting style. Though I may devise quirks that allows the HP more attacks or fewer depending on which quirk the player takes. Just remember that 0.1 seconds really won’t allow your HP to take multiple actions, unless you’re playing a superpower DJ guide.