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Poll

And our MOMENT OF THE WEEK is...?

The morning after: "How are you feeling?" "B-better."
- 0 (0%)
I'm really sorry about last night (wasn't your fault)
- 0 (0%)
Probably for the best, anyway.
- 0 (0%)
It just... it wasn't meant to be.
- 0 (0%)
TEH KISSES! UMF MMF MOOB
- 12 (17.1%)
Now my head feels like I was usin' it to pound nails. What's with those two?
- 0 (0%)
Redeye Hanners and de-rezzing Station!
- 6 (8.6%)
Really interesting weather pattern...
- 0 (0%)
Burned out several processor banks...
- 0 (0%)
I was wondering why there wasn't any hot water for my shower.
- 2 (2.9%)
Is Marigold awake? We should start packing... She was in the shower when I got up.
- 0 (0%)
MAKEOUTS! eeeeEEEEE
- 21 (30%)
We didn't mean to barge in! No Holographic sock on the door!
- 1 (1.4%)
So... are you a WOMAN OF THE WORLD now? ("We didn't-- we just kissed a bunch!")
- 2 (2.9%)
Hannelore... "I was just curious!"
- 1 (1.4%)
(I... I might've touched his wiener.) GASP "...not quite woman of the world... Kuiper Belt Object?"
- 13 (18.6%)
You're welcome to visit again any time. Thank you for taking care of my daughter.
- 0 (0%)
Marigold/Francis KISSES!
- 4 (5.7%)
Another Hugging Hannelore! ("Bye dad. I love you." "I love you too, Hannelore.")
- 2 (2.9%)
Handshake between Marty & Lt. Potter
- 0 (0%)
I'd hug you too, Station... (Actually, I've modified a security droid...)
- 1 (1.4%)
I'm not any happier about this than you are. (Oh, shut up and hug her already.)
- 5 (7.1%)

Total Members Voted: 66


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Author Topic: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth  (Read 58805 times)

Border Reiver

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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #100 on: 10 Apr 2012, 08:45 »

And we still need 10.21 Giga-watts of power.
Not to mention some gigagrammes of mass, gigajoules of energy, gigalitres of volume and other tautologies...

I had to google Richard Marx, and I have no idea what the reference is, so... Moob?

The movie Back to the Future - although my memory was faulty - the flux capacitor only required 1.21 Gigagwatts of power to function...
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Method of Madness

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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #101 on: 10 Apr 2012, 09:26 »

I remember being so disappointed when I found out that he was just mispronouncing "giga-" rather than using a fictional prefix that would mean significantly more.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #102 on: 10 Apr 2012, 09:54 »

Oh, he mispronounces it in the original, too? I thought it was a goof in the French dub.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #103 on: 10 Apr 2012, 09:55 »

Actually, he was pronouncing it correctly - it's only when the word "gigabyte" entered common parlance that a mispronunciation stuck, and is now standard. 
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #104 on: 10 Apr 2012, 10:08 »

Possible Teh Funny ending:

HEC's little all-nighter causes Station to "short out", causing Hannerdad to get angry at Station - and "fire" him.

Hanners offers to take him down to Earth in the old "robot boyfriend" chassis, which Hannerdad accepts.

They return to earth - and hilarity ensues.
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pendrake

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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #105 on: 10 Apr 2012, 10:35 »

For comic #2162...

1. Jeph's semi-animated GIF strips always make me think we should be inching closer towards an animated series.  Even if not, it is always great to see the effort he puts into such strips, always a good laugh.

2. Ah OCD-frazzled Hannelore...it has been a while since we saw this side of her.  I also chuckled at "low-res" & "cannot display image" Station.

3. While obviously the characters we have met upon Station (including Station) are unlikely to become mainstream (or even "regular") characters, I also doubt we have seen the last of them once the QC-popular trio return to terra-firma.  It definitely will be interesting to see how they each visit Northampton in the future.

4. @Jabberwocky... Your linguistic flexibility embiggens the spirit of even the smallest man :wink: .
« Last Edit: 10 Apr 2012, 10:47 by pendrake »
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #106 on: 10 Apr 2012, 11:45 »

They're in the Moob for Lub... "Simply because you're near me/Funny but when you're near me/We're in the Moob for Lub."

You win 0.6 internets.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #107 on: 10 Apr 2012, 11:56 »

Basic theory:

Normal computer trying to find a solution to a complex problem has to try solution version 1 and record result, try solution version 2, record result, check if result is better than version 1, etc.

A quantum computer can compute all solutions of stated problem simultaneously and work out which is the best solution.

Discussion:

One of the things problems that lends itself well to quantum computing is efficient directions.  If you want to find the shortest route through a complex system (i.e. one where there is no obvious solution) a quantum computer should be able to solve that problem extremely quickly.

After people have speculated that the above was one of the applications of quantum computing, it was discovered that plants are quantum computers and do solve that problem.  The problem that plant cells solve is that of the most efficient route to get quanta of light to the active part of a chloroplast to convert that light into energy.  Through this natural application of quantum computing the efficiency of plants in converting light to energy is a lot higher than one would expect from chance because the quanta of light are directed along a route that means they are very unlikely to be absorbed by other parts of the cell.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #108 on: 10 Apr 2012, 12:06 »

I call that either Lt. Potter or station comes down with the rest. Personally potter's too interesting and clicky with Marten to leave it at that.

Also I don't think Hannelore and her dad are finished talking just yet there still seems to be something up in the air that they need to talk about.

Lastly I don't think Faye and Angus are going to or should move in. Not only would I miss Marten and Faye being together all the time which is where this comic started to begin with. I just don't think Faye is ready to take that kind of step yet.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #109 on: 10 Apr 2012, 12:30 »

Waitaminnit, WAITAMINNIT.
How /why does Hanners spend all night watching something that rotates out of view every 90 minutes or so? Take naps, young lady.
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pwhodges

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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #110 on: 10 Apr 2012, 12:32 »

Fascination to watch how it had changed each time they orbited over it, or near enough to see.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #111 on: 10 Apr 2012, 12:33 »

Station thought it was interesting and moved himself into geosynchronous orbit, duh.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #112 on: 10 Apr 2012, 12:45 »

Station thought it was interesting and moved himself into geosynchronous orbit, duh.
uh…
Holy shit no. Never mind the energy costs; have you any idea what sort of a cluster-fuck that would kick off at NORAD? Not to mention the Chinese and their anti-sat missiles or the need to pass a habitable volume full of squishy meatlings through the VABs whilst keeping the windows open.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #113 on: 10 Apr 2012, 13:05 »

I have no idea what you're talking about, which probably indicates that I have no idea what I'm talking about either.
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Quote from: snalin
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #114 on: 10 Apr 2012, 13:22 »

Basic theory:

Normal computer trying to find a solution to a complex problem has to try solution version 1 and record result, try solution version 2, record result, check if result is better than version 1, etc.

A quantum computer can compute all solutions of stated problem simultaneously and work out which is the best solution.

...not really... well... sort of.  What you're describing sounds more like a nondeterministic computer than a quantum computer, and there are places they overlap (factorization being the big one), but there are things each can do that the other can't.  The problem is that while the quantum computer does consider them all at once, it "works out" the solution in a very clumsy way.  There's some speedup in pathfinding, but it's really not that great - in other problems it does better.

And "plants use the basic principles of quantum computing" is a soundbite.  They do so in about the same way an LED uses the basic principles of the computer in front of you.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #115 on: 10 Apr 2012, 13:36 »

Waitaminnit, WAITAMINNIT.
How /why does Hanners spend all night watching something that rotates out of view every 90 minutes or so? Take naps, young lady.

Well spotted! Also, after that 90 minutes or so when Earth will be in the middle of the window again, they won't be seeing the same part of the Earth as they did during the previous lap.

One more time: Station is spinning, and the view from the window is in the direction of the axis of rotation. That axis of rotation will not change its direction (relative to the distant stars) unless a massive torque is continuously applied to it. That would be such an obvious waste of energy that they won't do it. Therefore the axis points down towards the Earth at most once per lap. They can see the Earth from the opposite window, when the axis of rotation is pointing directly away from Earth, though. Say, the axis of rotation is pointing towards Alpha Centauri. They will see straight down towards the Earth, when Earth is between the station and Alfa Centauri. They will see Earth from the other side when the station is between the Earth and Alfa Centauri. Both of those occur at a single point in each lap, and that only if Alfa Centauri is in the plane of the orbit. At other points of their orbit they will see parts of the Earth from a corner of one of the windows. You can replace Alpha Centauri with a star of your choice. Most likely a smart choice was made initially and they are sticking to it.
« Last Edit: 10 Apr 2012, 14:20 by Skewbrow »
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #116 on: 10 Apr 2012, 13:38 »

Housing reshuffling has been mined in the past as a source of creative disruption. That said, it seems there's already enough unresolved stuff going back on earth to fill out a good couple of months of QC at least.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #117 on: 10 Apr 2012, 13:41 »

Waitaminnit, WAITAMINNIT.
How /why does Hanners spend all night watching something that rotates out of view every 90 minutes or so? Take naps, young lady.

Well spotted! Also, after that 90 minutes or so when Earth will be in the middle of the window again, they won't be seeing the same part of the Earth as they did during the previous lap.

Ah well you know sometimes old friends get a little (or a lot) crazy when they see each other again after a long time, though usually it's like cow-tipping or something. I'm sure they talked a lot too and I wouldn't be surprised if Hanners had a bit more to drink.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #118 on: 10 Apr 2012, 13:48 »

Waitaminnit, WAITAMINNIT.
How /why does Hanners spend all night watching something that rotates out of view every 90 minutes or so? Take naps, young lady.

Well spotted! Also, after that 90 minutes or so when Earth will be in the middle of the window again, they won't be seeing the same part of the Earth as they did during the previous lap.
Well that's easy! When the weather system was out of sight, Station simply projected it on the window. From what sources? I dunno. Other Stations!
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pwhodges

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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #119 on: 10 Apr 2012, 14:09 »

From the killer satellites that were Hanners's friends, perhaps...
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #120 on: 10 Apr 2012, 14:22 »

Ok. Problem solved. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #121 on: 10 Apr 2012, 15:03 »

OK. But Hanners still needs to take naps.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #122 on: 10 Apr 2012, 15:08 »

Gover's "database search"

All I can think of is a furry blue monster digging through a chest, looking for something...
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #123 on: 10 Apr 2012, 15:15 »

Maybe she's just not a nap person. And they were probably talking during those 90 minutes intervals.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #124 on: 10 Apr 2012, 16:20 »

Actually, he was pronouncing it correctly - it's only when the word "gigabyte" entered common parlance that a mispronunciation stuck, and is now standard.
According to Wikipedia, the "jigawatt" pronunciation was only ever standardised in American English:

"In English, the initial g of giga can be pronounced /ɡ/ (a hard g as in giggle), or /dʒ/ (a soft g as in giant, which shares its Greek root).

This latter pronunciation was formalized within the United States in the 1960s and 1980s with the issue by the US National Bureau of Standards of pronunciation guides for the metric prefixes. A prominent example is found in the pronunciation of gigawatts in the 1985 movie Back to the Future.

According to the American writer Kevin Self, a German committee member of the International Electrotechnical Commission proposed giga as a prefix for 109 in the 1920s, drawing on a verse by the humorous poet Christian Morgenstern that appeared in the third (1908) edition of Galgenlieder (Gallows Songs). This suggests that a hard German "ɡ" was originally intended as the pronunciation. Self was unable to ascertain at what point the alternative pronunciation came into occasional use, but claimed that as of 1995 it had died out.

In 1998, a poll by the phonetician John C. Wells found that 84% of Britons preferred the pronunciation of gigabyte starting with /ɡɪ/ (as in gig), 9% with /dʒɪ/ (as in jig), 6% with /ɡaɪ/ (guy), and 1% with /dʒaɪ/ (as in giant)."


As always with English, there is no correct answer...
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #125 on: 10 Apr 2012, 18:50 »

Huh. I may be the only United Statesian male of my age to say this, but I've never seen any of the BTTF movies in their entirety, and was not even aware of the soft-g pronunciation, let alone its level of acceptability. Every one I know uses the hard-g pronunciation for "giga-" (as in "4-gig thumb drive).

Had I heard Doc Brown with his soft-g, I might have wondered whether that was sufficient to make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs ...

(I don't go to the movies for the scientific rigor, you see ... )
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #126 on: 10 Apr 2012, 19:03 »

I just now noticed that Lt. Potter is wearing a row of medals or some such on her jumpsuit in today's strip (2162).

There's something wrong with that, but I don't know what.

EDIT: Oh, now I know... it's the same issue we've had since the flight suit showed up with Lt. Potter - insignias and markings are supposed to be velcro'ed or sewn on.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #127 on: 10 Apr 2012, 19:18 »

I call that either Lt. Potter or station comes down with the rest. Personally potter's too interesting and clicky with Marten to leave it at that.

Lastly I don't think Faye and Angus are going to or should move in. Not only would I miss Marten and Faye being together all the time which is where this comic started to begin with. I just don't think Faye is ready to take that kind of step yet.

Or perhaps Faye will move in with Angus, and Lt. Potter will move into Faye's old room. Padma comes back and meets up with Marten. Meanwhile Lt. Potter goes out, hooks up with Elliot, they walk into the apartment to find Padma and Marten making out. Hilarious awkwardness ensues...

Oh its a ship of titanic proportions...   :psyduck:
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #128 on: 10 Apr 2012, 19:41 »

Sink it. 


Now. 
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #129 on: 10 Apr 2012, 19:50 »

Sink it. 


Now.


Wait lets at least do it in 3D, I hear we can make more money that way.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #130 on: 10 Apr 2012, 20:05 »

I remember being so disappointed when I found out that he was just mispronouncing "giga-" rather than using a fictional prefix that would mean significantly more.

Well, technically, he wasn't mispronouncing it. "Giga-" and "Jiga-" are both acceptable prefixes, but the former is used WAY MORE than the latter. According to the producer, he misheard the scientific advisor and thus used "jiga", so it's really by chance that it's still right.

EDIT: Probably should have read further down the thread, Akima already went into greater detail about this .-.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #131 on: 10 Apr 2012, 20:07 »

That's not "someone", that's half the sky!
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #132 on: 10 Apr 2012, 20:25 »

Sink it. 


Now.

Iceberg!! Right ahead!!!!
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pendrake

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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #133 on: 10 Apr 2012, 22:04 »

Someone mention a movie of titanic money-grubbing proportions in 3-D...?

Titanic SUPER 3D

8-)
« Last Edit: 11 Apr 2012, 00:56 by pendrake »
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #134 on: 10 Apr 2012, 23:32 »

Sink it. 


Now.

Iceberg!! Right ahead!!!!

Iceberg:  'Oh no, not again!!'




Marten with friends in the Military - an interesting thought.

Station:  "AN INT-ER-EST-ING GAME HAN-NA-LORE.  THE ON-LY WIN-NING MOVE APP-EARS TO BE NOT TO PLAY"   :-D
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #135 on: 11 Apr 2012, 00:10 »

Waitaminnit, WAITAMINNIT.
How /why does Hanners spend all night watching something that rotates out of view every 90 minutes or so? Take naps, young lady.

Well spotted! Also, after that 90 minutes or so when Earth will be in the middle of the window again, they won't be seeing the same part of the Earth as they did during the previous lap.


Ah, but you're assuming that Station is not in a geostationary orbit! 
« Last Edit: 11 Apr 2012, 00:23 by no one special »
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #136 on: 11 Apr 2012, 01:06 »

Its very, very, very unlikely that station is in geosync.

Geosync orbit, about 30,000 km above ground, is much more expensive to reach than the low orbits of about 400 km above ground usually used for all reallife space stations (such as the ISS).
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #137 on: 11 Apr 2012, 02:13 »

Waitaminnit, WAITAMINNIT.
How /why does Hanners spend all night watching something that rotates out of view every 90 minutes or so? Take naps, young lady.

Well spotted! Also, after that 90 minutes or so when Earth will be in the middle of the window again, they won't be seeing the same part of the Earth as they did during the previous lap.


Ah, but you're assuming that Station is not in a geostationary orbit! 

Sigh.

Others have already commented on how much energy they would waste to reach a geosynchronous orbit.
Of course, they might have built the station up there, but all the evidence suggests that they are at a lower orbit:
  • If they were up in geosynchronous orbit, the image of Earth in the window would be much smaller.
  • If they were up in geosynchronous orbit, that window would point towards the Earth once every 24 hours instead of once every 90 minutes (meaning that contrary to what you implied Hanners would not have seen the Southern Pacific ever again during the night).
  • Hanners told a long time ago that at the station they see a sunrise every 2 hours (or was it 90 minutes). Together with music from 2001 (Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss).
« Last Edit: 11 Apr 2012, 05:47 by Skewbrow »
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #138 on: 11 Apr 2012, 03:07 »

Hanners and Marten have those Dora puppy eyes.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #139 on: 11 Apr 2012, 03:11 »

eeeeEEEEE
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #140 on: 11 Apr 2012, 03:21 »

Hanners and Marten have those Dora puppy eyes.
Which one gets to be the flowergirl OHMYGODIHOPEMARTENGETSTOBETHEFLOWRGIRL (sorry)
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #141 on: 11 Apr 2012, 03:29 »

I see that Marigold's glasses have evaporated from the sheer intensity of the makeouts.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #142 on: 11 Apr 2012, 03:35 »

Shower -> Clothes -> Makeouts.  No time for glasses too.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #143 on: 11 Apr 2012, 03:43 »

I like how Hanner's eyes are even more eeeeEEEE than Marten's eyes. Also making out on an office chair is a bit of a balancing act in my experience.

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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #144 on: 11 Apr 2012, 03:58 »

Shower -> Clothes -> Makeouts.  No time for glasses too.

She was wearing them previously, however.
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #145 on: 11 Apr 2012, 04:00 »

Oh yes, so she was.  They fell off; or you're right, and they evaporated.

Also, Hanners has recovered remarkably quickly!
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #146 on: 11 Apr 2012, 04:07 »

I'm tellin' you! it'll all end in tears! I tol' you before but did you listen? did you listen!?

Rambling aside, they're supposed to be packing, presumably to leave. D'you think Marigold will be able to disentangle herself and head on home in a mature manner? It'd be nice to see and I guess she'd have to if there's any hope of them actually getting home this week...

It's just that, thinking back to her crush on Angus and even some of her actions on Station, it doesn't seem to quite fit that she'd handle the aftermath of this all that well...
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #147 on: 11 Apr 2012, 04:47 »

Hoo boy, from pressed up against the wall to entangled on the chair. 

And thanks to these very forums, every time I see Marigold making out, all I can hear is a Richard Marx soundtrack.  :-\
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #148 on: 11 Apr 2012, 05:30 »

WheeeeeeeeeeEEEEE

This comic left me feeling warm and fuzzy :-)

Thank you, Mr. Jaques!
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Re: WCDT: 2161-2165 (9-13 April 2012) QC: Back To Earth
« Reply #149 on: 11 Apr 2012, 05:51 »

Waitaminnit, WAITAMINNIT.
How /why does Hanners spend all night watching something that rotates out of view every 90 minutes or so? Take naps, young lady.

Well spotted! Also, after that 90 minutes or so when Earth will be in the middle of the window again, they won't be seeing the same part of the Earth as they did during the previous lap.



Ah, but you're assuming that Station is not in a geostationary orbit! 


It's been established from hints and outright statements in the comic the station is well below GEO. Hanners, on Earth, points out the station to Sven as a moving point of light (which it wouldn't be, were it in GEO) and, in another conversation, mentions sunrises (and accompanying Strauss music) every couple of hours. Therefore, the station is in LEO.
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