RL Skills and Knowledge

[Mr. Mask]

Generally, it is helpful when writing to know about the subject you're writing about. If you have sword fights in your stories, it's handy to know about swords or to speak to someone who does know.

I'm curious as to what skills and knowledge we have available, in this community. It would be good if we could tell each other what we know, and ask each other questions.



For my part, I know a bit about close quarters fighting, a little about guns, some about warfare and history (ancient and medieval, mostly), and some about injury. I learnt all this by talking to people who know much more than I do.

 

[Neirai the Forgiven]

Thumbs up for this thread. Right now I'm 2 minutes from leaving for work, though.

 

[Mr. Mask]

Just want to mention that we don't need to share unusual knowledge (like halberd techniques). We could also share fairly basic knowledge. If you majored in biology, or have an interest in architecture and read some books on it, that can be very useful information.

 

[Patriot]

I have a degree in wizardry. . .that is computer science (aka programming). To the common masses it often seems like wizardry (or so they tell me).

 

[Wolfeman]

I can google just about any piece of information needed and believe everything printed in the wiki. Is that useful?

 

[Mr. Mask]

Coding is definitely viable. While most stories won't go into detail on how something is coded, a writer might need to consider things like what is possible with coding, and how long it takes to code something.
And yes, it does seem like wizardry .


@Wolfe: Have you read up especially much on any subject? Just having someone who has read up a lot of bits of varied stuff is handy, of course.

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

@Wolfe: Have you read up especially much on any subject? Just having someone who has read up a lot of bits of varied stuff is handy, of course.

Wolfe left out his adept "being difficult" skill . He is just joshing you Mr. Mask.

 

[Patriot]

Coding is definitely viable. While most stories won't go into detail on how something is coded, a writer might need to consider things like what is possible with coding, and how long it takes to code something.
And yes, it does seem like wizardry .

I WISH writers would consider these things. I can't tell you how many times I've yelled at the TV in annoyance because some script writer needed computer hacking/programming to be some mystical gimmick. And then they throw in various technical jargon in no meaningful order. Arg! I'm getting worked up just thinking about it.

This has brought up another fairly well known subject to myself (This is the other thing I get so annoyed at screenwriters for. They consider me as ignorant as they are.), airplanes. I built composite airplanes (2 & 4 seat high performance kits) for 4 years at a municipal airport. Not to mention my love obsession with everything flight related since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. In fact, the plan was to get my degree and enter the military to fly. God had other plans.

 

[Wolfeman]

Wolfe left out his adept "being difficult" skill . He is just joshing you Mr. Mask.

Oh yeah. I can devil's advocate just about any position you want me to. And even tho I'm only 42, I have grumpy old man down pretty pat. (quite honestly, I am a bit more negative than I'd like to be but that doesn't mean I"m wrong about Warhouse being a horrible map in it's current configuration and use)


Realistically, I'm generally a jack of all trades. I have very high comprehension and retention so I remember pretty much everything I've ever read/done and can understand/figure out things faster and better than most people. My IQ in 8th grade was 3 points shy of Einstein's but my work ethic and people skills have doomed me to being a really smart person who does nothing but irritate and anger those around him.

 

[Mr. Mask]

Wolfe left out his adept "being difficult" skill . He is just joshing you Mr. Mask.

Just Mask is fine. For some reason, I rarely detect sarcasm .

I WISH writers would consider these things. I can't tell you how many times I've yelled at the TV in annoyance because some script writer needed computer hacking/programming to be some mystical gimmick. And then they throw in various technical jargon in no meaningful order. Arg! I'm getting worked up just thinking about it.

I very much agree with your sentiment... this gets me a lot with a lot of topics in media (particular fighting). Even though I don't know coding very well, it's easy to tell they've turned it into weird magic mumbo-jumbo, in a lot of cases.

I built composite airplanes (2 & 4 seat high performance kits) for 4 years at a municipal airport. Not to mention my love obsession with everything flight related since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. In fact, the plan was to get my degree and enter the military to fly. God had other plans.

That is rare and useful knowledge. I guess you know a lot about history relating to planes, also?

Realistically, I'm generally a jack of all trades. I have very high comprehension and retention so I remember pretty much everything I've ever read/done and can understand/figure out things faster and better than most people. My IQ in 8th grade was 3 points shy of Einstein's but my work ethic and people skills have doomed me to being a really smart person who does nothing but irritate and anger those around him.

Jacks of all trades are good for discussions (I am attempting to become one myself). Not sure what you mean with Einstein's IQ, though--I don't think IQ tests existed around his time.



Starting a discussion can be tricky, if no one has anything they want to ask about right now. If there's anything someone is considering for future-reference in a story, or is just curious about, it's good to ask at the time. Subjects which no one specializes in could still be brought up--someone might know a good site for finding out the information, or we could just discuss and look up the subject for our own education.

 

[Patriot]

That is rare and useful knowledge. I guess you know a lot about history relating to planes, also?

A fair amount, but history is easy to look (and therefore less needed) up as opposed to experiential knowledge.

 

[Wolfeman]

Jacks of all trades are good for discussions (I am attempting to become one myself). Not sure what you mean with Einstein's IQ, though--I don't think IQ tests existed around his time.

They didn't. But his IQ has been estimated to be between 160 and 180. I like 170 cause it right in the middle. In 8th grade mine was 167. I have an amazing ability to quickly understand just about anything. I taught myself assembly language in 7th grade. And have taught myself numerous other things I found interesting (I made a triangle with two right angles and only 3 lines in HS geometry which caused the teacher to kick me out after I gloated about it.)

I am slightly OCD as well (anyone who's seen anything I build in a minecraft server will tell you this is true.

However, my poor social skills and lazy streak have seen me pretty much squander these amazing gifts God has given me. God has blessed me in every area of my life (and still does every day), yet I live an average life. Drive and determination are far more important than talent.

 

[Mr. Mask]

With history, I generally find it difficult getting the information I want. Maybe I don't look in the right places, though.


Also, that's an impressive IQ . Wish I could pick things up quickly as you do (I am bad at focusing).



Hmm... as something to discuss: How about a story with air-pirates? Where one of the forms of combat is for smaller planes to board larger ones?

This is on the fantasy side, I realize, but how possible could it be for boarding planes mid-flight with other planes?

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

Hmm... as something to discuss: How about a story with air-pirates? Where one of the forms of combat is for smaller planes to board larger ones?

This is on the fantasy side, I realize, but how possible could it be for boarding planes mid-flight with other planes?

I looked something similar up long ago for one of my TF2 maps cp Hot Rocket which had a runway on top of an airship. Apparently while they fantasized about runway airships they never actually made one. They did have ones with "trapeze" arrangements that allowed airplanes to "land" by attaching to the bottom of airships though. Wiki

If I were to think about an air pirate situation I would probably think of it in terms of two ships in a Douglas Fairbanks picture. The pirate airship would attempt to disable the other's engine (ship equivalent is a mast/sail/rudder) by cannon or some other lighter means for airships. Then they would approach along side attaching mooring lines to cross over.

 

[Patriot]

I made a triangle with two right angles and only 3 lines in HS geometry which caused the teacher to kick me out after I gloated about it.

Please expound, because I'm pretty sure this is impossible since the sum of the angles in a triangle equal 180.

Hmm... as something to discuss: How about a story with air-pirates? Where one of the forms of combat is for smaller planes to board larger ones?

This is on the fantasy side, I realize, but how possible could it be for boarding planes mid-flight with other planes?

Depends on the speed of the aircraft. In terms of an airship, they should be moving slow enough and aren't dependent upon flight surfaces working properly to stay aloft. If you are talking about two jets interacting (i.e. the movies Cliffhanger & Air Force One) you are looking at an extremely delicate operation which has rather drastic windspeeds between the two aircraft. Turbulence would cause all sorts of issues. Not to mention, variances in air currents/pressure make it impossible to hold an airplane completely static in reference to another aircraft. Examine closeup videos of aircraft in formation and you will see them constantly adjusting as they move about. Being directly behind another aircraft is generally not advisable as the prop/jet wash tends to create a large amount of turbulence directly behind. Attaching on to the other aircraft via some kind of hardpoint would have to take into account the flight surfaces on both aircraft to ensure that they don't lose lift.

Aircraft can piggyback (the shuttle for instance or the X1) but I don't know of any instance where an aircraft was retrieved inflight other than the instance Gerbil mentioned.

EDIT: I take that partially back. I recalled a "Wings" episode (too bad Discovery is all "reality" TV now) where the US did in fact launch and retrieve a small fighter from a bomber (albeit with much danger to both). I present to you the XF-85 Goblin

 

[Wolfeman]

Please expound, because I'm pretty sure this is impossible since the sum of the angles in a triangle equal 180.

In Euclidean geometry (normal) you are correct. However when we step outside that box it's possible to make parallel lines intersect or even curve away from each other. If we use the surface of a globe as our plane, when you draw a line perpendicular from the equator (one side of the triangle) towards the north pole and then move over and draw a second line also perpendicular to the equator towards the north pole, the lines meet at the north pole and form a triangle with 2 90 degree angles. The lines are straight within the plane of existence (the surface of the globe) but not in 3d space.

Very short explanation.

 

[Patriot]

In Euclidean geometry (normal) you are correct. However when we step outside that box it's possible to make parallel lines intersect or even curve away from each other. If we use the surface of a globe as our plane, when you draw a line perpendicular from the equator (one side of the triangle) towards the north pole and then move over and draw a second line also perpendicular to the equator towards the north pole, the lines meet at the north pole and form a triangle with 2 90 degree angles. The lines are straight within the plane of existence (the surface of the globe) but not in 3d space.

Very short explanation.

I reject your answer and will continue to live in my comfortable Euclidean world. =D

 

[Mr. Mask]

Hmm... interesting stuff. It might need to be a world with lower gravity, so that it could have slower and larger planes, maybe? You might also get more possibilities for blimps, in that kind of environment.

The fact the Goblin had positive results is very exciting with possibilities--except, planes mostly seem to have moved away from WW2's large, fighting planes, and more to small planes which pass by each other before you can get a look at them. You couldn't really defend a bomber with planes, these days (the jets would be too fast--needing something more like laser-defence than dog-fighting).

 

[Wolfeman]

Heard a story about a world war I pilot landing his plane on a blimp to fix his guns then taking off again to go kill more enemy. Not sure if it's true or not. I've never been able to find anything about it.

 

[Patriot]

Hmm... interesting stuff. It might need to be a world with lower gravity, so that it could have slower and larger planes, maybe? You might also get more possibilities for blimps, in that kind of environment.

Or a thicker atmosphere.