Book 2 – Text Updates 040

[DoctorJest]

I smiled, but the joke was spread out more as I'm better at turning words into mental images than most people are; so as the text progressed, I built a mental playground.

Same here. It really did remind me of the early days of Book One when it was such a contrast that everything was so, as Parson put it "cute and precious". Dwagons, Spidews, the child-sized people. All those things.

[fjolnir]

They're still cute and precious when scaled to parson's size, the issue is we've been seeing them scaled to one another and not as much to parson.

[joosy]

Everything is cute and precious until it rips your face off or bleeds you dry while living in your basement with free rent and board.. .. oh wait.. I am personalizing that a little too much..

[teratorn]

Everything is cute and precious until it rips your face off or bleeds you dry while living in your basement with free rent and board.. ..

So true, so true...

[the_tick_rules]

Everything is cute and precious until it rips your face off or bleeds you dry while living in your basement with free rent and board.. .. oh wait.. I am personalizing that a little too much..

Unless you are raising gwiffons down there or something.

[gameboy1234]

Three things: Isaac is supposed to be referential to at least 2 different Isaacs, Isaac Newton and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISAAC_(cipher)
It seems that the entire might of the MK is weak compared to the rest of the world which seems strange considering how overpowering magic is on Erf
The charlie=apple reference can easily be lost but it's basically that the Great Minds Think Alike, while Charlie:

Ohh, it has the Charlie signature rainbow effect too. Nice catch.

And Parson seems to be the master of "lateral thinking" on Erfworld. (That is, thinking differently.) I'd guess Charlie is #2 in that department.

[gameboy1234]

The theory of relativity, equal and opposite reactions.

Galileo gave us relativity mk. 1. Einstein gave us relativity mk. 2. And yeah, I think 99% of participants figured this one out.

Further physics trivia:

Sir Issac Newton is closely associated with classical physics (without relativity or quantum mechanics). Another feature of classical physics is mechanics, the study of simple machines. These include the inclined plane, the spring, the lever. And that's what the Erf version has built his playground out of. (Actually simple machines like these were known in ancient times, though they're still part of classical physics.)

My guess is Rob is remembering his general ed. physics class here.


Also, not too sure about relativity mk 1 by Galileo. Pretty sure Einstein spotted the errors in Mercury's orbit and figured out that time dilation was the culprit. I don't think there's any "relativity" before that insight by him.

[Althernai]

Also, not too sure about relativity mk 1 by Galileo.

Galileo was the first to say that the laws of physics are the same in all inertial frames. He didn't know about the constancy of the speed of light in all frames and thus the need for Lorentz transformations to make this work (it would be another three centuries before people thought of this) and he didn't have the math to formulate the idea rigorously (that wouldn't come until Newton), so he stated it in the form of a thought experiment. He argued that if you have a ship at rest and you do some measurements below the deck, you will get the same results as if the ship was moving at a constant speed (you need to be below the deck to avoid the open air). Special relativity kept the idea of the laws of physics being the same in all inertial frames, but it replaced the simple velocity addition used to switch between frames with Lorentz transformations. General relativity went further: it says that the laws of physics are the same in all frames of reference, whether inertial or not.

Aside: the complexity of the theory grows exponentially along the way. Galilean (or Newtonian, if you prefer) relativity can be mastered by most children in middle school. Special relativity is harder, but not by much: it can be at least partly understood by bright high school students and most undergraduates. General relativity is a royal pain in the neck. The math required is way above the other two and while most physicists have done it at one point or another, I don't think most would be able to solve a problem involving it without refreshing their memory from a book first (I certainly would not).

[Octavian]

I just like that Issac's title is Headmaster.

It makes me smile.

[Jallorn]

My theory now is that we're seeing yet another Xanatos Pileup. I think the GMTTA have their own conspiracy to oust Charlie, while the Predictamancers and Hippiemancers have a conspiracy to bring peace to Erfworld.

But Isaac's work, his search for reliable facts, did move slowly forward. Was that any different from the schemes of Predictamancers? He hoped so, but he didn't trust his own judgment of it.

He speaks of the Predictamancers' schemes as separate from any he's involved in. I think that the GMTTA found out about the Perfect Warlord spell and tried to make it work to their advantage, so Parson us the result of the Xanatos Pileup, and, coincidentally, is a completely unpredictable variable. In fact, I'm willing to bet that the Predictamancer wants to tell Parson just that, that he can't be predicted. Probably with some relation to quantum physics though, so more of a "We can predict multiple possibilities, but we can never be sure until it comes to pass," essentially. Don't really know enough about Predictamancy though to say.

[mortissimus]

Who's the guy pushing the swing? Looks like Supreme Court justice Scalia.

Let's bloody well HOPE not!

The guy pushing the woman on the swing (Jean Grey?) is clearly a judge.

I thought it was friar Tuck... he always struck me as the brain of the Sherwood gang.

[Dr Pepper]

The guy pushing the woman on the swing (Jean Grey?) is clearly a judge.

I thought it was friar Tuck... he always struck me as the brain of the Sherwood gang.

Of course he was. He was the one sitting and eating while everyone else was working or fighting.

[Oberon]

Of course he was. He was the one sitting and eating while everyone else was working or fighting.

Slight correction here:
He was the one sitting and drinking while everyone else was working or fighting.

[the_tick_rules]

Is the temple inside the MK? Seems only way they can act in any way that can really do anything.

[FriarTuck]

Am I the only one waiting with baited breath for Parson to figure out that spells are NOT arbitrary in Erfworld? The G-Strings... THIS MAGIC SYSTEM IS SO ABUSABLE! I WANT TO PLAY!

[teratorn]

Of course he was. He was the one sitting and eating while everyone else was working or fighting.

Sort of what Stanley is doing for this fight...

[drachefly]

Am I the only one waiting with baited breath for Parson to figure out that spells are NOT arbitrary in Erfworld? The G-Strings... THIS MAGIC SYSTEM IS SO ABUSABLE! I WANT TO PLAY!

Actually, it seems like it's usable, and it is presently marginally utilized.

[KiltedNinja]

So.....

Charlie = Mac...

Parson = PC...? (Player Character)

[Pax]

So.....

Charlie = Mac...

Parson = PC...? (Player Character)

No, Parson = Linux. Open source.

[Carne]

Or Parson=cheese. Or is that getting too far into shipping territory?

Hey, Charlie's a girl's name too.

Hmmm. Has that idea been entertained on these forums before? The big twist when Charlie finally shows up is that he's a she! And an Archon to boot!

Actually, that makes far too much sense for a post which started as a dubious pun...