- Location
- USA
To be fair, that's a perfect description of how I drive. Everyone auto-pilots some portion of their life, the only difference is which.
Distance Learning for fun and profit...
- Thread starter mp3.1415player
- Start date
-
- Tags
- worm
- Location
- The deathworld-in-miniature that is Australia
- Pronouns
- They/Them
What were those lines from the stand-up routine...
"Bill! You stole from me! I thought we were friends!?"
"Well Steve, it's more like you knocked over your rich neighbour Xerox's house, then you showed your friend - me - the haul, asked me to look after it while you saw a fence, and I made off with it while you were out. We're both thieves, and at this point I'd thank you to extend me some professional courtesy."
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YuffieK
(Verified Ninja Princess)
Steel Fox's Omake was wonderful. Can I post my own version?
To say that Rebecca Costa-Brown was unhappy would be likening the inside of a blast furnace as 'warm'. Gravtech and the Tinker or Tinkers they obviously had access to needed to be brought under control.
She had exhausted her legal avenues of getting access, none of her normal contacts in Washington would even give her the time of day at the moment. Her slightly less-than-legal efforts had not fared any better. Paul and Kurt had denied her and Doctor Mother, while just as curious, wouldn't stand with her. She would have asked for a Path, but Contessa had been avoiding her in a manner far too reminiscent of a Tom and Jerry cartoon. David had even gotten in on the act once, which had only pissed her off that much more.
"If you want it done right, do it yourself..." she muttered before hitting her office intercom. "Susan, reschedule my appointments. I'm going to be in a private meeting for the rest of the day."
"Yes, Ma'am."
With that, she sealed her office, and in moments had changed into her costume. There were two names she'd managed to pry out regarding her current bugbear. While Gravtech's chief science officer had no family, the CEO, Danny Hebert, had a teenaged daughter.
Or as Rebecca thought of her... leverage.
"Door to Brockton Bay."
*******
"Stage one. More lemonade?"
"Stage one? Stage one of WHAT? Taylor, you're being really weird even for you." Vicky exclaimed. "You're acting like some kind of super spy or something. Are you a super spy?"
Taylor chuckled lightly. "Sorry to disappoint you." Then her voice dropped to a sinister tone, "But if I were a super spy, wouldn't that require me to kill you if you knew about it?" before returning to normal. "My dad just knows some people, who know some people, and from what Amy's said I think they'd be very interested in quietly discussing some things with your mom. Nothing too drast..."
Taylor cut her self off at the sudden appearance of Alexandria over the back yard.
"HOLY SH... erbet!" Vicky cried out and hovering up a little, Amy getting out of her chair in surprise. "Taylor, what did you do?!?"
"This wasn't me! Uh. Hello, Alexandria. This is kind of awkward, I wasn't expecting someone from the Triumverate to show up out of the blue."
Alexandria continued to hover over the three of them. "Misses Dallon, Miss Hebert. I was hoping to have a private discussion with your father. Is he here?"
"No, he's not. What do you need to talk to him about?"
"It seems that Gravtech has been keeping secrets from the Protectorate and the PRT. After all, Tinkers can be quite dangerous without proper oversight." It was not a pleasant smile that grew underneath Alexandria's helmet.
"Gravtech doesn't have any Tinkers there. Dad and Professor Drekin and General Calhoun have already told Armsmaster and Director Renick that."
"And I am disinclined to believe that." Alexandria spoke with outright menace. "Glory Girl, take your sister and leave. This does not concern you."
Glory floated up in front of her. "I'm sorry, but Taylor's our friend, and I don't like you trying to bully her like that."
*******
Taylor was thinking very hard as to how to get out of this situation when Vicky flew up to defend her.
Bless you Vicky, but you don't stand a chance against her.
[Not-Host] requires assistance?
Admin?
High levels of aggression detected from [Host][Stasis]. [Admin] determined unacceptably high risk of injury to [Not-Host]. [Admin] willing to assist.
How can you help?
Temporary proximity disabling of quantum linkages between [Hosts] and [Shards].
You can shut down powers?
Correct.
Can you not hit Amy or Vicky with that?
Exclusion of [Host][Shaper] and [Host][Fragile One] from effect possible. Does [Not-Host] require assistance?
Please!
Acknowledged. [HELPING!]
*******
One moment, Alexandria was staring down Glory Girl twenty feet above Taylor and Amy, the next she fell to ground like a ragdoll, though with the distinct sound of several bones cracking.
"What just happened?" Vicky said as she dropped down beside the iconic heroine. "Shit!, Ames, she's hurt bad!"
Amy rushed over and touched Alexandria's chin. "What the hell? Alexandria's one of the few people my power doesn't work on, except right now it IS, and she's seriously messed up!"
"What's wrong with her?" Taylor asked as she spoke with the 911 operator.
"Beyond the broken bones, which have ruptured both her liver and spleen, she's got stage 4 leukemia and she's not breathing on her own. Vicky, take her helmet off."
"What? But..."
Amy lowered her voice "She said it herself, she came to Taylor's looking for a Tinker. That's against the Rules. Besides, I can't heal her eye with the prosthetic in place."
Vicky nodded and carefully removed the helmet, staring at the face revealed. "Is that..."
"Yeah. Call the PRT, Director Piggot's gonna want to see this herself."
To say that Rebecca Costa-Brown was unhappy would be likening the inside of a blast furnace as 'warm'. Gravtech and the Tinker or Tinkers they obviously had access to needed to be brought under control.
She had exhausted her legal avenues of getting access, none of her normal contacts in Washington would even give her the time of day at the moment. Her slightly less-than-legal efforts had not fared any better. Paul and Kurt had denied her and Doctor Mother, while just as curious, wouldn't stand with her. She would have asked for a Path, but Contessa had been avoiding her in a manner far too reminiscent of a Tom and Jerry cartoon. David had even gotten in on the act once, which had only pissed her off that much more.
"If you want it done right, do it yourself..." she muttered before hitting her office intercom. "Susan, reschedule my appointments. I'm going to be in a private meeting for the rest of the day."
"Yes, Ma'am."
With that, she sealed her office, and in moments had changed into her costume. There were two names she'd managed to pry out regarding her current bugbear. While Gravtech's chief science officer had no family, the CEO, Danny Hebert, had a teenaged daughter.
Or as Rebecca thought of her... leverage.
"Door to Brockton Bay."
*******
"Stage one. More lemonade?"
"Stage one? Stage one of WHAT? Taylor, you're being really weird even for you." Vicky exclaimed. "You're acting like some kind of super spy or something. Are you a super spy?"
Taylor chuckled lightly. "Sorry to disappoint you." Then her voice dropped to a sinister tone, "But if I were a super spy, wouldn't that require me to kill you if you knew about it?" before returning to normal. "My dad just knows some people, who know some people, and from what Amy's said I think they'd be very interested in quietly discussing some things with your mom. Nothing too drast..."
Taylor cut her self off at the sudden appearance of Alexandria over the back yard.
"HOLY SH... erbet!" Vicky cried out and hovering up a little, Amy getting out of her chair in surprise. "Taylor, what did you do?!?"
"This wasn't me! Uh. Hello, Alexandria. This is kind of awkward, I wasn't expecting someone from the Triumverate to show up out of the blue."
Alexandria continued to hover over the three of them. "Misses Dallon, Miss Hebert. I was hoping to have a private discussion with your father. Is he here?"
"No, he's not. What do you need to talk to him about?"
"It seems that Gravtech has been keeping secrets from the Protectorate and the PRT. After all, Tinkers can be quite dangerous without proper oversight." It was not a pleasant smile that grew underneath Alexandria's helmet.
"Gravtech doesn't have any Tinkers there. Dad and Professor Drekin and General Calhoun have already told Armsmaster and Director Renick that."
"And I am disinclined to believe that." Alexandria spoke with outright menace. "Glory Girl, take your sister and leave. This does not concern you."
Glory floated up in front of her. "I'm sorry, but Taylor's our friend, and I don't like you trying to bully her like that."
*******
Taylor was thinking very hard as to how to get out of this situation when Vicky flew up to defend her.
Bless you Vicky, but you don't stand a chance against her.
[Not-Host] requires assistance?
Admin?
High levels of aggression detected from [Host][Stasis]. [Admin] determined unacceptably high risk of injury to [Not-Host]. [Admin] willing to assist.
How can you help?
Temporary proximity disabling of quantum linkages between [Hosts] and [Shards].
You can shut down powers?
Correct.
Can you not hit Amy or Vicky with that?
Exclusion of [Host][Shaper] and [Host][Fragile One] from effect possible. Does [Not-Host] require assistance?
Please!
Acknowledged. [HELPING!]
*******
One moment, Alexandria was staring down Glory Girl twenty feet above Taylor and Amy, the next she fell to ground like a ragdoll, though with the distinct sound of several bones cracking.
"What just happened?" Vicky said as she dropped down beside the iconic heroine. "Shit!, Ames, she's hurt bad!"
Amy rushed over and touched Alexandria's chin. "What the hell? Alexandria's one of the few people my power doesn't work on, except right now it IS, and she's seriously messed up!"
"What's wrong with her?" Taylor asked as she spoke with the 911 operator.
"Beyond the broken bones, which have ruptured both her liver and spleen, she's got stage 4 leukemia and she's not breathing on her own. Vicky, take her helmet off."
"What? But..."
Amy lowered her voice "She said it herself, she came to Taylor's looking for a Tinker. That's against the Rules. Besides, I can't heal her eye with the prosthetic in place."
Vicky nodded and carefully removed the helmet, staring at the face revealed. "Is that..."
"Yeah. Call the PRT, Director Piggot's gonna want to see this herself."
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- Location
- The deathworld-in-miniature that is Australia
- Pronouns
- They/Them
As a follow-up, more serious post about Bill Gates, he has much more serious issues with his moral code than just being a thief, among them [EDITED OUT TO NOT AGGRAVATE MODS]
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M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
Emily: (MAXIMUM Sarcasm Mode on) Good afternoon, Chief Director. Fancy meeting you here of all places. Indulging in a bit of cosplay, were we?
ConfusedPotato
Unverified Verifier
- Location
- Australia
I think the story is ToyHammer. Specifically this chapter: 40k: ToyHammer Chapter 26: Warpath, a warhammer fanfic | FanFiction
That was good; but you misspelled HALPING. 8)
As for Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, both were more business/market people than technical, and though Gates definitely had some technical chops, I don't think he's kept up. Both are much more skilled at understanding the markets they found themselves in, and adapting to industry shifts; sometimes creating those industry shifts. You can see what Jobs brought to Apple by looking at the times when he wasn't there; the late 90's and recently. Innovation has been poorly directed.
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
That's because Admin was being genuinely helpful. It explained what it could do, agreed to only do it to Alexandria, then followed through on exactly what it said. 100% help, 0% halp.
1) Be very careful about accusations of responsibility, or more accurately culpability, when dealing with the rich. It's usually not profitable unless you are in possession of all the verifiable facts, and often not then due to litigation issues.
2) Probably need to redirect that to the political boards to not piss off the admins.
3) If that was all that he was doing, it's still not the most egregious example in Corporate America. It at least still is giving back even if done in a self-serving manner. For example, both The Donald and his father have been ballsy enough to use the line "Yes I abused the law! And you let me!" when questioned by lawmakers (his father being the only one that didn't plead against self-incrimination during a Congressional Inquiry regarding Fanny Mae/Mac irregularities by developers).
I question those percentages, based on prospective fallout.
DoctorNobody
The Doctor is In(sane).
"Magos! Come quickly! The new guy flubbed the Invocation of Not Jamming and now the printers have unionized and have gone on strike!"
Space Dresden: "I'm a Psyker! I'm in the vox book!"
And the goodies keep on coming
- Location
- Somewhere in the Ashes
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I don't even do IT, but I've "fixed" computers just by walking over and looming. It's freaking weird.
- Location
- The deathworld-in-miniature that is Australia
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Oh yeah, the number of times I've been asked by a friend or family member to help them with a machine that's not doing what it's supposed to, I go and ask them to show me what they're trying to do, and it works perfectly is also notable, but I put that down to them thinking more carefully about what they're doing when they're trying to show me it doesn't work, or something like that. Still weird that it works so often, and absolutely something that the AdMech would latch on to, but not as inexplicable to me as the exact same steps being variable in their success based on who's performing them.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I got a variant of that power: I can ask an arbitrary colleague to come and look, and when he does whatever didn't work works.
- Location
- Somewhere in the Ashes
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I figured there'd be a techbane in this thread! Sounds like you've got the milder version of it that hates observation instead of the more robust variant.
🤔
Gremlins.
😏
(or for the Hammerheads: failing to appease the machine spirits or some such)
I've a friend who sometimes seems to break technology by looking at it. My sister cannot wear watches as they always stop working (even mechanical or self-winding)…
So, 'gremlins' 😀
- Location
- The general area. Possibly behind you.
Most computers are easily intimidated if the right sort of glare is directed their way. It helps to be holding a tool in a meaningful manner. Especially if the tool in question is entirely and hilariously inappropriate for the problem in hand.
Like a lit welding torch, for example.
In this way they're a lot like many humans...
Edit: In my experience this also works oddly effectively with many other machines. And the reverse is also true... A really good mechanic/engineer/whatever can be nice to a particularly obstreperous machine and somehow persuade it to work as intended even when it shouldn't.
Another case of humans forming an emotional bond with anything. The weird part being how this bond is sometimes reciprocated...
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Jadesteele
Out of my Mind - Back in 5 Minutes
- Location
- half-way between 'Crazy' And 'Eccentric'
In Some places, they already Do...
You are forgetting something: the Worm-verse has to deal with the CUI, who In canon are already building up a force of capes, have been implicated in cape abductions and brainwashing, and are a clear threat. The release of weapons tech based upon gravtech's (and T's) work may actually cause them to take a pause.
You mean like, say, it did for OTL American hegemony in the early 21st century? Gravitech grants America lone superpower status even if other countries do have cape armies, which puts a cap on the whole arms race before it starts.
- Location
- Somewhere in the Ashes
- Pronouns
- She/Her
To be fair, I am six foot two, I have a fairly impressive loom.Most computers are easily intimidated if the right sort of glare is directed their way. It helps to be holding a tool in a meaningful manner. Especially if the tool in question is entirely and hilariously inappropriate for the problem in hand.
Like a lit welding torch, for example.
In this way they're a lot like many humans...
Edit: In my experience this also works oddly effectively with many other machines. And the reverse is also true... A really good mechanic/engineer/whatever can be nice to a particularly obstreperous machine and somehow persuade it to work as intended even when it shouldn't.
Another case of humans forming an emotional bond with anything. The weird part being how this bond is sometimes reciprocated...
I've found dice to be equally subject to base intimidation.
- Location
- NA
That felt way to quick for them lol, but it probably was the most efficient.
- Location
- USA
More likely it will cause them to look at the rate of advancement of the US and decide that their only chance is to attack soon and hard to wipe out the threat before it becomes impossible to counter. They will see US buildup as an imminent and direct threat that justifies preemptive action to neutralize it. Going after Gravtec, the source of the threat, with their full military might would be the expected reaction. And their capes are part of their military force to be used at their full capability. They may feel pushed into a corner with no other options, a bad place to be.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
A few tech support horror stories of my own...
One person I use to know managed to kill his Windows XP instalation to the point I had to clean install it for him. How? I have no freaking clue. Initially he said he did something in Notepad, so I assumed he'd been messing with the system files. After I reinstalled Windows for him, he demonstrated what he'd done. He opened a brand new Notepad document. He typed Arglebargle, then saved the file to his desktop with a name like Asfwid or some such. He then rebooted the computer... and Windows XP died. I had to clean install his OS again. Leaving him with 2 more reinstalls before he'd have to buy a new license. He had a bit of a problem with somehow killing Windows XP doing things that shouldn't have done so.
Someone else I knew had zero clue how anything on a computer works. Countless times I had to do a factory restore on his desktop, update Windows, and reinstall an anti-virus program. I had to do this because he was an idiot that would get his system so heavily infected that it couldn't really even start Windows anymore. Each and every time I did so, I'd tell him to not turn off Windows Update. I'd also explain to him that the antivirus program (Avira) had a pop up ad for it's paid version when it updates virus definitions once a week. And that this was not an indication of a computer virus, just an ad for the program's paid version. Every single freaking time he would remove all Windows Updates for reason I never got properly explained, disable Windows Update because he'd heard there was a computer virus that pretends to be a Windows Update, and remove the anti-virus program. He would also disable Windows Defender because in his words it kept "ruining my computer". AKA it would defrag the hard drive once a week, which showed the system down during the process. He would then go back to all the sketchy porn sites that had infected his computer so badly before, because he just had to have his porn fix. Eventually I gave up trying to fix his computer. The problem wasn't the computer, it was him.
He also had zero clue how to power cycle a modem despite tech support explaining it to him many times. he thought the process involves the following steps:
1. unplug modem
2. let modem sit for half an hour
3. go outside
4. do something (he never explained what it was very well, and nobody else coudl figure it out) to the cable where it first enters the house
5. at the same time as step 4, plug modem back in
He was convinced if you didn't do those steps the modem would be stuck in an eternal boot cycle. In fact, he yelled at me and almost got physical when I... power cycled the modem to fix a DNS error connection issue. That's how I discovered he thought you need to do something outside to power cycle a modem. Nobody else ever figured out what the frell he thought he was doing, or why he thought it was affecting anything. Closest anyone could determine, he was yanking on the cable... which apparently risked damaging something.
One person I use to know managed to kill his Windows XP instalation to the point I had to clean install it for him. How? I have no freaking clue. Initially he said he did something in Notepad, so I assumed he'd been messing with the system files. After I reinstalled Windows for him, he demonstrated what he'd done. He opened a brand new Notepad document. He typed Arglebargle, then saved the file to his desktop with a name like Asfwid or some such. He then rebooted the computer... and Windows XP died. I had to clean install his OS again. Leaving him with 2 more reinstalls before he'd have to buy a new license. He had a bit of a problem with somehow killing Windows XP doing things that shouldn't have done so.
Someone else I knew had zero clue how anything on a computer works. Countless times I had to do a factory restore on his desktop, update Windows, and reinstall an anti-virus program. I had to do this because he was an idiot that would get his system so heavily infected that it couldn't really even start Windows anymore. Each and every time I did so, I'd tell him to not turn off Windows Update. I'd also explain to him that the antivirus program (Avira) had a pop up ad for it's paid version when it updates virus definitions once a week. And that this was not an indication of a computer virus, just an ad for the program's paid version. Every single freaking time he would remove all Windows Updates for reason I never got properly explained, disable Windows Update because he'd heard there was a computer virus that pretends to be a Windows Update, and remove the anti-virus program. He would also disable Windows Defender because in his words it kept "ruining my computer". AKA it would defrag the hard drive once a week, which showed the system down during the process. He would then go back to all the sketchy porn sites that had infected his computer so badly before, because he just had to have his porn fix. Eventually I gave up trying to fix his computer. The problem wasn't the computer, it was him.
He also had zero clue how to power cycle a modem despite tech support explaining it to him many times. he thought the process involves the following steps:
1. unplug modem
2. let modem sit for half an hour
3. go outside
4. do something (he never explained what it was very well, and nobody else coudl figure it out) to the cable where it first enters the house
5. at the same time as step 4, plug modem back in
He was convinced if you didn't do those steps the modem would be stuck in an eternal boot cycle. In fact, he yelled at me and almost got physical when I... power cycled the modem to fix a DNS error connection issue. That's how I discovered he thought you need to do something outside to power cycle a modem. Nobody else ever figured out what the frell he thought he was doing, or why he thought it was affecting anything. Closest anyone could determine, he was yanking on the cable... which apparently risked damaging something.
- Location
- The general area. Possibly behind you.
He was probably wringing out the cable to kill any lighting pixies that had managed to sneak into it. It's a common problem in some areas of the world...
- Pronouns
- Psychic energy
Hey, author-san, what's pedosnake and tattletail up too in the background?