[Design] Robbie's Topic (2/20/08 - New Website Design)

[xHaZxMaTx]

It's certainly creative, I'll give you that.

[RobbieThe1st]

Har har. That was good.


Anyway, on to Today's update!

For several months now I have been thinking about building my own computer case, a unique one like nothing else around. Said case is -not- any normal form factor.
Anyway, I first designed #1, and after realizing all the space that was wasted, I refined it into #2(well, thats not quite correct - I actually created a completely new model, just using parts and the same basic idea from the old one). Now, a few days ago, I post this in the IRC(Yup, the unofficial, unholy IRC channel) and several people had problems with my various plans cooling wise. So, bearing that in mind, I created version #3, and, having finally found a use for, and learned to use, the text tool, I set to changing and labeling everything.
Here is a picture of #3(it looks alot more impressive via SketchUp):



1. http://robbiethe1st.ktserv.com/files/computer_v1.rar
2. http://robbiethe1st.ktserv.com/files/computer_small.rar
3. http://robbiethe1st.ktserv.com/files/computer_small-.rar

To view this in 3d, you need SketchUp, which can be gotten for free at: http://sketchup.google.com

Please give me feedback on this!


-RobbieThe1st

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

.. where's the air path? From what I see, you've got two large exhaust fans on the front, two large and three small on the left, and two large on the back (as it's facing here)

You don't appear to have input and output from the PSU (top right, yes?) included, and the input is on the back, with outputs on the left and front, here.

The problem with that is that you want cold air in the -bottom-, and hot air out the -top-, so that convection works with you. You've got the input fans stacked vertically, and the output at the front at the bottom. While the fans on the left will mitigate that, somewhat, the air path isn't clear - right angles aren't that great for airflow (which means you'll increase the noise, and lower the effectiveness)

Also there's nothing sucking cold air across the drives (assuming the 5 1/4" bays at the left front, and 3 1/2" bays at the back left)... hot air from over the CPU, yes, with the 3 1/2" ones, but that's it.

Your four critical heat generators, IMHO, are, in order, CPU, Disks, Memory, and GFX. The PSU usually has it's own heat management, and it's usually on the exit path (because it deals with working in hot air better than the CPU or GFX). Memory generates more heat per cc than disks, but there's a lot more disks than memory in there.

You probably know all this, but you might want to reconsider some of this plan based on that... or explain where I have the wrong end of the stick. ;-]

[RobbieThe1st]

.. where's the air path? From what I see, you've got two large exhaust fans on the front, two large and three small on the left, and two large on the back (as it's facing here)

You don't appear to have input and output from the PSU (top right, yes?) included, and the input is on the back, with outputs on the left and front, here.

The problem with that is that you want cold air in the -bottom-, and hot air out the -top-, so that convection works with you. You've got the input fans stacked vertically, and the output at the front at the bottom. While the fans on the left will mitigate that, somewhat, the air path isn't clear - right angles aren't that great for airflow (which means you'll increase the noise, and lower the effectiveness)

Also there's nothing sucking cold air across the drives (assuming the 5 1/4" bays at the left front, and 3 1/2" bays at the back left)... hot air from over the CPU, yes, with the 3 1/2" ones, but that's it.

Your four critical heat generators, IMHO, are, in order, CPU, Disks, Memory, and GFX. The PSU usually has it's own heat management, and it's usually on the exit path (because it deals with working in hot air better than the CPU or GFX). Memory generates more heat per cc than disks, but there's a lot more disks than memory in there.

You probably know all this, but you might want to reconsider some of this plan based on that... or explain where I have the wrong end of the stick. ;-]

Well, this might help to explain what I am thinking:

Yes, horrible I know, but it gets my point across. Blue = cold, Red = hot, and  pink/purple = warm air.

My plan is thus:
Cold air will come in the back fans, and a portion of it will get pushed to the left, into the disk area because of the sound card which will be in the bottom slot. The rest of said air will mix with the air coming in the left, and the warm air being pushed downwards by the fan hovering in mid air over the expansion slots(the graphics card and other cards will act as fins, pushing the air towards the right). All this air will converge over the memory slots, and be pulled under the floppy drives in the front, and out the center fan.

Any air that is around the CPU will get used to cool it, then pushed out the right front fan.

Also, there is an 80mm fan not shown in the center of the right side, on the motherboard tray, which will push some air outward.

I am sort of worried about the conflicting zone I first talked about, but I don't know what to do about it.

Do you have any ideas? There us a reason I posted this here.

the only things that have to be where they currently are are the stack of 5.25 inch drives and the motherboard. Everything else can be changed.
Edit:
The main stuff I want to have in it:
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131013
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773
Video card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150230
CPU cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118019

Just so you get an idea of what we are dealing with.

-RobbieThe1st

[RobbieThe1st]

Well, last night, when I normally read before sleeping, I pulled up my laptop, and instead of reading something, I pulled up my text editor, and started typing. 90 minutes later, I had the following story.
I know it needs a lot of work, and isn't nearly done, but that was all I could do last night. So, here goes.
The description box has the contents of a small text file I typed up a while ago, "charsnip.txt", which has some info about my char, some ideas , and a few questions. Make what you will of it.

Also, a couple notes, first off:
I am trying to portray Joseph(the 'Cubi scientist) as sort of crazy, and when he concentrates, he ignores everything else, which is why things happened as they did.
I also figured that my character, who comes from an alternate-Earth, has read enough books that he wouldn't be as surprised by *some* things, and, like me, when confronted by something completely odd, his first reaction is "cool!", and the second is "I wonder who  did it, and if I can do it". Also, from reading all those books, he knows that, in a situation that you are trapped in, its best to play along as best you can, until you know you can get out of it(don't try futilely to escape, or fight unless you have been attacked).


Description:

Character snippits:

Human-cubi. More or less Caucasian male, dark hair, dark-Grey & black speckled
wings.(Perhaps add more realistic orange/white patches or other markings?)


A crazy 'Cubi scientist was experimenting in Cubification and soul-energy
efficiency rates, and tried using a human pulled from an alternate
(Dimension? Plane?) as a subject. This char was that/one of those subject(s).

probably escaped during either a raid on this scientists lair, or when the power
went out, or something like that.

probably has rudimentary shape-shifting ability's, for hiding wings and things,
though not being born a 'Cubi, doesn't have much experience using them.

Would most likely specialize in magic, and have lots of defensive spells and
ways to escape, and a small set of offensive spells he is proficient in.


Idea: Thin layer of fur, each fur(singular) being like a bamboo stalk, in that
each is hollow with air sealed into the space Perhaps this would help with
swimming?

Question: Where exactly do the wing-tentacles come from? it -looks- like they
are appearing from feathers, but that doesn't seem possible.

Story:

RobbieThe1st's Adventures in the land of Furrae. By RobbieThe1st Chapter 1: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, the trouble all started when I was fourteen; I was at the age where most men start to really wonder about other universes and such, and most aren't too comfortable with their form at this point. In retrospect, I figure this is most likely the reason I went with Joseph when he was looking for a volunteer. Let me explain. I lived at the time on a small ranch out in the country, with an older house, a barn, and trees surrounding our ranch. I had just come home from school one summer's day, and after dropping my backpack in the house and getting something to drink, I headed out the back door and into the woods to cool off. I found a nice tree, a Maple I think it was, and hoisted myself up onto a low branch. After a couple hours, things had started to cool off, and I was thinking about going in for the night, when I heard some crunching noises off to my left. I stopped and listened carefully, and yes, there it was again. It sounded sort of like footsteps, but sounded...odd somehow. I can't quite remember what I was thinking, but I quietly slid off the branch and started carefully working my way towards the footsteps, carefully walking from tree to tree. I stopped behind a large tree, a Fir I believe it was, when the footsteps sounded like they were coming right for me. Now, as the footsteps came closer, I became worried that whatever was making the noise might find me - as I said, I don't remember quite what I was thinking. Now, hearing the footsteps quite close now, I figured I had better get out of there. Looking around however, I saw that I was in the best hiding place around and I realized I would have to wait it out and hope the person making the footsteps passed me by. I figured this would probably happen, what with all the low hanging branches protecting me from prying eyes. I had sat down with my back to the tree, and was wondering how long it would take for whoever it was to go past me and then leave. Suddenly the branches were thrust apart, and I was about 3 feet away from the strangest creature I had ever seen. Well, strangest real one, anyway. I was no stranger to the Internet, and had come across all manner of fantasy and science fiction stories, and, as I loved to read, I had read all sorts of things - some good, some not so. Now, as the creature that appeared before me looked very odd indeed, I was sort of frozen, as it had not moved in any aggressive way. After a few seconds of my brain attempting to figure out what this thing could possibly be, I finally decided it had to be some sort of hologram. It looked somewhat like a anthropomorphized canine, and it had white wings flecked with blue, so I didn't think it could be real. He(as I realized) had gray fur with black specks in it.  Now, from my internet experience, I knew that Furries were an odd bunch, and some furry inventor coming up with a hologram generator wouldn't be extremely outlandish. That solved, I still had another two problems: One being what this guy was doing on our property and the second was what to do next. After a few more seconds, I shyly said "Hello." Now, as I figured that this guy was a human, when he spoke English right back to me, I never gave it a second thought. He, after a couple more seconds, replied "Hello." I, realizing that I would have to say something more, said carefully: "Er... Hi! This is our property, and I am curious as to what you are doing here." "I am an experimenter, and I was testing something out. I am sorry that I trespassed. I will be off now." I stood up, and after he started walking away, I called after him "Wait"! He stopped and turned back around, then replied "Yes?" "Well, I was wondering how you do that, first of all." "Do what?" "You know, look like that." He gave me a half-smile, "Do you really want to know?" I thought it over. I loved the idea of a hologram generator, and would love to have one myself, or at least know how it worked, so I said "Yes." "Follow me," he said, and started walking back the way he had come. I started following him, and, looking at him as he walked, I noticed that he carried himself like a scientist of some sort. I figured that he most likely wasn't going to do something like knock me unconscious and take my money or anything, and as we were heading deeper into the woods, I had no real doubts about following him. Ah, how wrong can you be.. Anyway, after about fifteen minutes of walking, he called back to me "Are you sure you want to know?" "Yes, definitely." A few minutes later, we rounded a patch of dense brush, into a clearing, and what I saw amazed me all the more. In this clearing, I saw the usual stuff you expect to see, you know, trees at the edge and grass and flowers in the center where the light shines down. However, I saw something I most definitely did NOT expect to see: It was a round circle, about eight feet in diameter, and pure black. I, wonderingly, asked him "So, your workshop is right through here?" "Yup," he replied. I figured the clearing contained his workshop, covered by a hologram or something.The black thing I decided was in front of the door, so I never expected what came next. In retrospect, I never should have gone through it, however, whats done is done. To this day I still wonder what possessed me to go through it. I figure it must have been a combination of emotion manipulation, making me trust him, and an overwhelming urge to find out how to do something no one else could. Anyway, whatever the reason, I stepped through the circle. As I stepped through the ring, It felt very very cold for a couple seconds, and just as I was getting worried, everything brightened(and warmed) up. I came out onto a metal platform, approximately ten feet wide and about four long, about 10 feet off the ground. It had guard rails running the length of it. At the front of it, in the middle was a metal stair down to the ground floor. I was awarded a very nice view of a very large, factory like building. It really looked like a factory, what with all the machinery about, and all of it humming, whirring, or clanking along. And just then I noticed all the people moving about below in tight-fitting overalls appeared to look like the guy I had just met. I started to wonder just what the **** was going on, and, panicking, stepped backwards into the ring - or, more accurately, where the ring had been, as instead of going through the ring, I whacked into the metal wall, and fell down. After standing back up, I looked over at the guy I had just met with my expression a mixture of shock, awe, wonder, and fear. "You like it?" he asked. "Um, whats going on here?" I replied. "Oh, just my small workshop." "Small??" "Yes, well, getting test subjects from other dimensions takes a lot of work." "Oh..Ok..WAIT, other dimensions?" "Oh yes, you see, people around here aren't too happy when I take people from amongst them to use as my test subjects... and that can be hazardous to my health." I, obviously, wasn't thinking too straight, and all this was a bit hard to swallow, so I leaned on the railing for a minute. I heard the clacking of claws on the stairway, and, turning around, watched as he started down. I realized that I had better catch up, as he was the only person I knew around here so I ran after him. As he walked along the ground floor, I asked "Um... 'test subjects'? What type of tests are you doing?" "Oh, nothing bad, we are just doing some tests on how we can 'Cubify people" "'Cubify? whats a 'Cubi?" "Someone like me." Thinking on that, and wondering what I was going to do, I followed him. He walked to one machine after another, checking the screens on each, moving levers and pressing buttons. I happened to look down, and noticed what appeared to be liquid-metal tentacles were coming out from between his feathers, and going in front of his wings. I couldn't see anything else. "Um, sir? You seem to have tentacles coming out from your wings..." "Yes, I do... its not that odd, we all can do it." Having my question answered that way threw me off balance, and so I walked behind him for a few minutes on autopilot, trying to make sense of the situation. After a while, we went over to the edge of the building to a door set in the metal wall. He swiped a card he had in a card-reader off to the left, opened the door, and we went inside. I never wondered where he kept his card, and also never noticed that he only had four fingers until much later. As he walked inside, I looked around and noticed that the ceiling in this building was only about one foot above my head. Also this area had a tile floor, as apposed to the smooth cement floor back in the factory room. I surmised that this must be an add-on building. I then heard the door *click* locked. After noticing that, I looked around the room for the first time, as the guy was now not blocking my view, and I was worried by what I saw. Looking around, I saw rows of cages, each approximately six feet wide, and perhaps eight feet deep. I couldn't tell for sure, as I was nearsighted(Well, I still am) and didn't have any glasses with me at the time. As I looked, I saw the guy walk over to the first cell, and as he neared it, I saw a hideous creature throw itself at the cage door, shaking the building. All I could see was odd patches of bright orange fur, and something that looked sort of like liquid mercury wrapped around the door. I, freaking out, jumped in surprise, then quickly glanced around to make sure there were no cages near me. Fortunately, I was in the middle of the room, more or less. Note that I was running completely on automatic, and wasn't reasoning very well. I probably would have broken down and cried or something, but the fear of that creature coming after me, and having a lot of adrenaline in my blood probably was the reason I did not. I looked back towards the guy(I still did not know his name at this poing) saw something that made me even more worried. I saw that the guy had a cattle prod like device, which had two prongs glowing blue, and he was jabbing it into the monster. I then realized that said monster was screaming inhuman screams, and I heard whimpers and screaming from all the cages around me. Looking furtively around for a way to get the hell out of there, I noticed a second door. It was on the other side of the room for where we had come in, and, hoping to get out that way, ran over to it, and attempted to open it. It was locked however, and after pounding on it a couple times, realized that I wasn't going anywhere without him. I turned around then, and saw that he had finished zapping the monster, and, key-card in hand, was obliviously walking towards the door I was at. I, sort of shell-shocked, simply waited there at the door, as he walked up and opened it. After the door had closed, with a *click*, like the last two times, I asked the guy "Wh...What was back there?" pointing to the last room. "Failed attempts," he answered, as he walked across this room, which, thankfully, did not seem to have cages in it. I, worried, but not so frightened now that there was a good, solid-seeming door between me and the creature, asked "So, you have me. Now what?" He walked across the room, footsteps muffled by what appeared to be carpet. I was just about to repeat my question, when he stopped in front of a door, a cheap-looking wood one. Opening the door with the same key-card, he turned around and faced me. He then asked me "Well, now that you are here, you aren't going home until we have finished our test. You now have a choice to make: You can cooperate with us, and stay here, or, if you give us trouble, you will end up in one of those cells. Which is it going to be?" Shell-shocked, I didn't answer, so he then said "Come on, come on, we don't have all day. Are you going to cooperate or not?" I am not the fighting sort, at 5' 10" and only 130lbs, so I said "Y...Yes." He said "Alright then, here is your room. Please do not attempt to escape," and then, after giving me a small push through the open door, he closed the door, which promptly locked.

I am thinking of having him stay along, cooperating, as he ends up getting turned into a 'Cubi, then ending up escaping, once he learns that the real purpose for this entire thing is to gain cheap soul energy from other realms, as well as get the most out of each test subject.

A note is that my crazy scientist is sort of based on Tapewolf's ideas, however, he doesn't consider killing beings(or lesser anything) wrong, which is why things are happening as they are.



I want all sorts of input, the more detailed, the better.  Note that this is my first real creative writing assignment in a long time; I have always been able to wiggle out of it somehow, or write some complete bit of ****... so I don't have much experience in the matter.


-RobbieThe1st

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Yes, you spelt anthropomorphized correctly. For an american, anyway. ;-]

Aso, you waver sometimes between present and past tense. You should probably decide which you want to use, and stick with it.

(eg, "after giving me a small push through the open door," in past, "closes the door, which promptly locks" present...)

[Tapewolf]

There was something a little strange about the sentence structure that I can't quite put my finger on.  I thought at first that it was all made up of short sentences, but that doesn't seem to be the case.  I think what it actually is is the way you've divided it into paragraphs - 9 for the entire story.
I think it would improve the readability if you split it up into shorter paragraphs.  If you have a time lapse, consider using something like:

* * *

I have to ask... why did you name the incubus 'Joseph'?

[RobbieThe1st]

Yes, you spelt anthropomorphized correctly. For an american, anyway. ;-]

Amazing. I used Firefox spell checker, which didn't know it either, so I sorta guessed.
XD

Aso, you waver sometimes between present and past tense. You should probably decide which you want to use, and stick with it.

(eg, "after giving me a small push through the open door," in past, "closes the door, which promptly locks" present...)

Sorry... I was getting tired. Fixed, hopefully.

Also, you misspelled also. (Sorry, I had to say it. <_<)

Thanks for the input!

There was something a little strange about the sentence structure that I can't quite put my finger on.  I thought at first that it was all made up of short sentences, but that doesn't seem to be the case.  I think what it actually is is the way you've divided it into paragraphs - 9 for the entire story.
I think it would improve the readability if you split it up into shorter paragraphs.  If you have a time lapse, consider using something like:

* * *

Yea, I should do that, however the problem is that so far, its been only a couple hours. However, I can think of a couple places I *could* add it.

I have to ask... why did you name the incubus 'Joseph'?

Well, it was late, and I couldn't think of anything else. In this case, I believe I was thinking of a guy I know over MSN who's first name is Joseph. I later might change it, but I need to figure out something better first.


-RobbieThe1st

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

FF uses either GB or US, depending on what you set. And it doesn't have -ed in it - just -ism, -ing, -ic, etc.

Go figure.

[RobbieThe1st]

FF uses either GB or US, depending on what you set. And it doesn't have -ed in it - just -ism, -ing, -ic, etc.

Go figure.

Yea, I noticed that. So, word-re-smithing to the rescue(if thats even a valid word-smithed word itself).


-RobbieThe1st

[Tapewolf]

I have to ask... why did you name the incubus 'Joseph'?

Well, it was late, and I couldn't think of anything else. In this case, I believe I was thinking of a guy I know over MSN who's first name is Joseph. I later might change it, but I need to figure out something better first.

Ah - I was wondering if you had derived it from Jakob, which would have been somewhat amusing.  One trick I am fond of doing is taking an existing Earth name and altering it, e.g. 'Izak' (Isaac), 'Daryil' (Daryl) and 'Kevan' (Kevin).

[WhiteFox]

There was something a little strange about the sentence structure that I can't quite put my finger on.

Have you ever read Ernest Hemingway? It reminded me a lot of his hallmark style. Very straightforward, no frills, very clear diction. Personally, I like the tone and I don't think it needs embellishment. A lot of writers like to pile on cumbersome adjectives and adverbs, and it just clutters the writing.

The only thing that really sticks out in my mind is the paragraph where he's watching the creature get prodded. I'd think that if he were running completely on automatic, wasn't reasoning very well, and had a lot of adrenaline in his blood, chances are he'd jump first and look later.

A few notes on the first paragraph. When he says the footsteps sounded... odd, it'd be much better if he were to describe how rather than just say they were odd. He says "*type of tree*, I believe." twice. I usually try to avoid accidental repetition.

Other then that, there's some punctuation goofs, like double ??'s, which I unprofessional, or periods outside of quotation marks. A few run on sentences, mostly curable by turning a comma into a period. Trivial stuff, really.

On the whole, I was surprised at how well it read.

[RobbieThe1st]

I have to ask... why did you name the incubus 'Joseph'?

Well, it was late, and I couldn't think of anything else. In this case, I believe I was thinking of a guy I know over MSN who's first name is Joseph. I later might change it, but I need to figure out something better first.

Ah - I was wondering if you had derived it from Jakob, which would have been somewhat amusing.  One trick I am fond of doing is taking an existing Earth name and altering it, e.g. 'Izak' (Isaac), 'Daryil' (Daryl) and 'Kevan' (Kevin).

Well, in this case, no I did not - However, your works have been a definite inspiration for various concepts and such, however I don't really have anywhere I can point to in this part of the story at least.

There was something a little strange about the sentence structure that I can't quite put my finger on.

Have you ever read Ernest Hemingway? It reminded me a lot of his hallmark style. Very straightforward, no frills, very clear diction. Personally, I like the tone and I don't think it needs embellishment. A lot of writers like to pile on cumbersome adjectives and adverbs, and it just clutters the writing.

The only thing that really sticks out in my mind is the paragraph where he's watching the creature get prodded. I'd think that if he were running completely on automatic, wasn't reasoning very well, and had a lot of adrenaline in his blood, chances are he'd jump first and look later.

Well, that would be true, if my char had been anywhere near the cage when this happened. I figured that he would have been just inside the door, and looking around, however, I should edit it, because he probably would have jumped anyway in surprise.

A few notes on the first paragraph. When he says the footsteps sounded... odd, it'd be much better if he were to describe how rather than just say they were odd. He says "*type of tree*, I believe." twice. I usually try to avoid accidental repetition.

Fixed.

Other then that, there's some punctuation goofs, like double ??'s, which I unprofessional, or periods outside of quotation marks. A few run on sentences, mostly curable by turning a comma into a period. Trivial stuff, really.

Well, I edited a few things. The only one with double ?'s I can see is this line: "Small??" (Talking about the workshop)
I was doing that for emphasis - I mean, my char expected a small garage- based workshop, something the size of the small clearing, and instead found a HUGE workshop, one that probably cost a fortune to build, and another small fortune to run.

On the whole, I was surprised at how well it read.

Thanks.

Of cource, now I need to figure out what to do next.

My sort of sketched out idea is that after coming here, he ends up getting turned into a Human 'Cubi, and for a while is taught how to use his powers, to a certain extent, and then he learns what will happen to him, and ends up escaping and running for his life.

My first idea was that Joseph was grabbing people from various dimensions to figure out the best soul food source, and seeing if he could get better efficiency out of turning the subject into a 'Cubi first. (I.e. if a subject normally gives X amount of energy, and turning the subject into a 'Cubi costs Y amount of energy, eating the soul of the newly 'Cubified subject gives more than X+Y )
The problem with this is that there would be no reason for Joseph to train my char.

One idea I just came up with is that instead of eating the subject's soul directly, Joseph would train them, and use them as living emotion-scoops, gaining energy slowly for a while, perhaps a few years, before Joseph eats all the newly gained energy. Sort of using the subjects as living energy-converters.

This would give Joseph a reason to teach his subjects various ways to handle as much emotions as possible, so, instead of putting up shields, adding it to the subjects energy pool.

Of course Joseph may be doing several things at once, and the reason he teaches my char is that willing subjects are very rare.


Next, I figure that the way my char learns whats going on is that my char keeps quiet and helps out Joseph, wanting to learn as much as possible, and in the process, ends up learning whats going on, because Joseph wasn't paying attention and let too much slip.


-RobbieThe1st

[Tapewolf]

My first idea was that Joseph was grabbing people from various dimensions to figure out the best soul food source, and seeing if he could get better efficiency out of turning the subject into a 'Cubi first. (I.e. if a subject normally gives X amount of energy, and turning the subject into a 'Cubi costs Y amount of energy, eating the soul of the newly 'Cubified subject gives more than X+Y )
The problem with this is that there would be no reason for Joseph to train my char.

It's going to take effort to affect the transformation, so I doubt that would work from a 'net energy gain' point of view.  The second idea is better, although bear in mind that eating other 'Cubi is looked down upon - apparently it started the Clan Wars.

Less immediate but better from a long-term point of view is to take chunks of their souls periodically, on the assumption that they will heal/regrow over time.  'Cubification might be a way to speed up the healing period via emotional energy collection.

[RobbieThe1st]

My first idea was that Joseph was grabbing people from various dimensions to figure out the best soul food source, and seeing if he could get better efficiency out of turning the subject into a 'Cubi first. (I.e. if a subject normally gives X amount of energy, and turning the subject into a 'Cubi costs Y amount of energy, eating the soul of the newly 'Cubified subject gives more than X+Y )
The problem with this is that there would be no reason for Joseph to train my char.

It's going to take effort to affect the transformation, so I doubt that would work from a 'net energy gain' point of view.  The second idea is better, although bear in mind that eating other 'Cubi is looked down upon - apparently it started the Clan Wars.

Yea, and that makes sense, however I was figuring that the 'Cubification process made more energy usable, therefor not being over-unity. But yea, not the best idea.

Well, that is a good question: While eating other 'Cubi is looked down upon, would a 'Cubified Being be looked at as a 'Cubi, or as a Being, as the newly made Creature was born a Being.

Less immediate but better from a long-term point of view is to take chunks of their souls periodically, on the assumption that they will heal/regrow over time.  'Cubification might be a way to speed up the healing period via emotional energy collection.

Yea, *if* that is possible. That would be the best solution, and would provide a good incentive for having a lot of loyal servants, and the experimenting part could be trying to find what species(s) can handle the most emotional energy at a time, or will regrow the fastest.

I wrote a little more last night, which I will post. I don't know if it is nearly the same quality as the first stuff, so that is what you guys need to tell me.


-RobbieThe1st

[Tapewolf]

Well, that is a good question: While eating other 'Cubi is looked down upon, would a 'Cubified Being be looked at as a 'Cubi, or as a Being, as the newly made Creature was born a Being.

Apparently some clans have experimented with 'Cubification to increase their numbers.  If you've read Amber's Hidden Doctrines, you may be able to guess a reason why they might want to do that, instead of simply having more children.  I'm sure that they would consider them to be 'Cubi, and in any case if you caught your Being at the right age it would be almost the same as a real 'Cubi (Dan, Abel and apparently numerous others having grown up in the belief they were Beings themselves.)

Less immediate but better from a long-term point of view is to take chunks of their souls periodically, on the assumption that they will heal/regrow over time.

Yea, *if* that is possible. That would be the best solution, and would provide a good incentive for having a lot of loyal servants, and the experimenting part could be trying to find what species(s) can handle the most emotional energy at a time, or will regrow the fastest.

I hope it's possible, because it's something I'm using in some of my writing

[RobbieThe1st]

Well, that is a good question: While eating other 'Cubi is looked down upon, would a 'Cubified Being be looked at as a 'Cubi, or as a Being, as the newly made Creature was born a Being.

Apparently some clans have experimented with 'Cubification to increase their numbers.  If you've read Amber's Hidden Doctrines, you may be able to guess a reason why they might want to do that, instead of simply having more children.  I'm sure that they would consider them to be 'Cubi, and in any case if you caught your Being at the right age it would be almost the same as a real 'Cubi (Dan, Abel and apparently numerous others having grown up in the belief they were Beings themselves.)

Less immediate but better from a long-term point of view is to take chunks of their souls periodically, on the assumption that they will heal/regrow over time.

Yea, *if* that is possible. That would be the best solution, and would provide a good incentive for having a lot of loyal servants, and the experimenting part could be trying to find what species(s) can handle the most emotional energy at a time, or will regrow the fastest.

I hope it's possible, because it's something I'm using in some of my writing

Well, then its decided, thats what I am going to do.
In this case, the things in the cages are most likely failed experiments, only kept around for more tests or something(Well, that, and scaring everyone into following instructions).

I would imagine that taking chunks of someone's soul would probably make the subject tired and useless for a while, and perhaps also would lose a bunch of memories, at least temporarily(I.E. what happens if you destroy part of a RAID(not 0) - it takes a while to rebuild the lost data into a functional format, or at least is slow to retrieve. And, perhaps with a living subject the missing data would manifest as either not being able to remember something, or your memories are sort of blurry, lots of detail lost.
It would also probably be painful and quite disorienting.

If that happened once to my char, he would have a *very* good reason to get out of there before it can happen again. And, completely forgetting some stuff, even if it comes back later, would be extremely scary.


And, upon thinking, one good reason for Joseph to be getting people from other dimensions is ease of retrieval - It would be hard for someone from another world to blend in, and so easy to retrieve if he/she escaped.


-RobbieThe1st

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

If that happened once to my char, he would have a *very* good reason to get out of there before it can happen again. And, completely forgetting some stuff, even if it comes back later, would be extremely scary.

You're assuming that you remember that you forgot something. If it's no longer there, and all references to it went with it, how would you be able to tell you'd forgotten something?

Just a thought.

[RobbieThe1st]

If that happened once to my char, he would have a *very* good reason to get out of there before it can happen again. And, completely forgetting some stuff, even if it comes back later, would be extremely scary.

You're assuming that you remember that you forgot something. If it's no longer there, and all references to it went with it, how would you be able to tell you'd forgotten something?

Just a thought.

You are right, IF it perfectly removed the memories(see: Terry Goodkind, sword of truth series, last three books in the series).
However, I would think that it would be more like a bit of corruption on a hard-disk - you see missing links here and there, from other memories, and partial memories and such... It would all depend on how memories are stored - A good system would have a RAID-like model, with error correction, and perhaps even multiple partial copies of anything, such that even with a really bad corruption, most if not all of the data can be recovered.

So, I am assuming that the latter happened; the former would be quite a pain.


-RobbieThe1st

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You're presuming that memories are stored in a good system. That evolution happened to generate a good system, and that everyone is using the same sort of system.

I beg to differ. :-P

[RobbieThe1st]

You're presuming that memories are stored in a good system. That evolution happened to generate a good system, and that everyone is using the same sort of system.

I beg to differ. :-P

True... Well, I hereby declare that in the dimension my char came from, nature generated a good system, which my char uses.

However, if Furrae has a good system, thats debatable.

Well, assuming it *doesn't*, then this next idea would be applicable:
Beings or Creatures who have a section of their soul eaten lose any memories in that section, and just forget a bunch. They may remember little bits faintly, but the memories are just *gone*.
However, none of the subjects know this is going on, and one by one they end up going crazy or reverting to feral status, as they forget various crucial bits and pieces. A subject having gone through this process once or twice generally is fine, but in rare cases, can go insane due to the process, and the chance of going crazy goes up as the number of times goes up. The reason these feral subjects are kept around is because if they were killed it would raise suspicion, and Joseph is studying them in his off-hours, trying to figure out what the problem is, as he hates having to get new subjects - all that training, and getting  your subjects to stay around is quite a problem.

My char seems to have a better system, and ends up figuring out what is going on, sooner or later, and that provides reason to escape, that and wanting to get out of his "golden cage" so to speak.

What do you think?


-RobbieThe1st

[Tapewolf]

You're assuming that you remember that you forgot something. If it's no longer there, and all references to it went with it, how would you be able to tell you'd forgotten something?

This is all entirely non-canon, but having read Night's Dawn, I'm assuming that the soul also contains all the memories from the brain.  If the soul was damaged while still in a living brain it should just be a matter of it being synchronized across.  However, I've also been assuming that there are 'blank' or 'unallocated' areas of the soul.  Like I said, it's just the model I'm using and I try to avoid including it in my writings to avoid conflicting with anything Amber may do

[RobbieThe1st]

You're assuming that you remember that you forgot something. If it's no longer there, and all references to it went with it, how would you be able to tell you'd forgotten something?

This is all entirely non-canon, but having read Night's Dawn, I'm assuming that the soul also contains all the memories from the brain.  If the soul was damaged while still in a living brain it should just be a matter of it being synchronized across.  However, I've also been assuming that there are 'blank' or 'unallocated' areas of the soul.  Like I said, it's just the model I'm using and I try to avoid including it in my writings to avoid conflicting with anything Amber may do

Thats basically what I have been using also - However, I figure that the more powerful you are, the more soul energy you have, the more space you have available for memories and such - Thats how 'Cubi have no trouble remembering stuff that happened hundreds of years ago for them. I also figure that *most* of the blank areas are written with backup copies of whatever memories that you have, and the oldest backups get formatted over whenever new data is added.

Of course, the older/less used a memory is, the fewer backups stored, and the more chance of losing some part of the memory, so, if a portion of your soul is blanked, there is a good chance of losing a few very old and unused memories, and very little chance of losing a useful memory.


-RobbieThe1st

[WhiteFox]

Three notes about memories:

-They are not perfect recordings. It's not like watching television, they're more impressionistic. Things will get out of order, things will be

-Stronger memories are formed when adrenaline is going through a persons system. This is why you can look back on some things and they feel like they're in slow motion. It's like your mind starts over-recording information.

These are just interesting facts I thought I'd share. to the meat of my post:

-Memories aren't like files on a hard drive. You don't have a list of them that your mind can just look up. Memories are associated with (Or "Triggered by") the sensory information involved with the memories. For example, I will always associate Linkin Park's "Meteora" with college, because that's when I bought it. Listening to Meteora reminds me of the sidewalks of Halifax, the city gardens that were up the block from the HMV I got it from. I will always associate the smell of snow (Yes, I can smell fresh clean snow.) with the town I grew up in. The sledding. The skiing. Walking to school in -40 weather.

The problem with losing memories is that the associative bridges can still remain. Losing a memory isn't like ripping a page out of a book.

You're assuming that you remember that you forgot something. If it's no longer there, and all references to it went with it, how would you be able to tell you'd forgotten something?

Just a thought.

Let's say you deleted an image from your website. Well, there's a broken hyperlink and probably some messed up layout. So you know something's missing. Well, you delete that page. Excpet there are other pages that point to that page. So you delete those pages. Suddenly, your site is missing. Other sites that linked to your site now have broken links. Are you going to delete those too?

Memories are like that. You delete one, you have to delete the memories associated with that to not realize that you're missing a memory. And then delete the memories associated with those. Somewhere, you're going to notice a hole. You might never actually notice the hole, but you could still stumble on it.

Most of this is food for thought, and not really meant as an argument for or against anything.

Go watch "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" It has an interesting depiction of memories.

[RobbieThe1st]

Three notes about memories:

-They are not perfect recordings. It's not like watching television, they're more impressionistic. Things will get out of order, things will be

-Stronger memories are formed when adrenaline is going through a persons system. This is why you can look back on some things and they feel like they're in slow motion. It's like your mind starts over-recording information.

These are just interesting facts I thought I'd share. to the meat of my post:

-Memories aren't like files on a hard drive. You don't have a list of them that your mind can just look up. Memories are associated with (Or "Triggered by") the sensory information involved with the memories. For example, I will always associate Linkin Park's "Meteora" with college, because that's when I bought it. Listening to Meteora reminds me of the sidewalks of Halifax, the city gardens that were up the block from the HMV I got it from. I will always associate the smell of snow (Yes, I can smell fresh clean snow.) with the town I grew up in. The sledding. The skiing. Walking to school in -40 weather.

Well, yes... to a certain extent. I didn't add the adrenaline issue to my ideas however.
I wasn't figuring it *exactly* like a hard-drive, although the comparison would be more accurate to a web-page as you said. I also figure that memories are stored with lossy compression, which is why you may remember a certain part of a memory that was important to you very well, and everything else around it not nearly as well.
I agree that a memory simply ripped out would leave bits hanging, and that would be noticeable, IF the memory removed was something used, and the person thinking streight - said person could just think it odd and forget about the forgotten memory, and in the meantime the linked memories would repair/remove the broken links, until it wouldn't be noticeable in the least, accept that you couldn't recall the data stored there.

The problem with losing memories is that the associative bridges can still remain. Losing a memory isn't like ripping a page out of a book.

Let's say you deleted an image from your website. Well, there's a broken hyperlink and probably some messed up layout. So you know something's missing. Well, you delete that page. Excpet there are other pages that point to that page. So you delete those pages. Suddenly, your site is missing. Other sites that linked to your site now have broken links. Are you going to delete those too?

Memories are like that. You delete one, you have to delete the memories associated with that to not realize that you're missing a memory. And then delete the memories associated with those. Somewhere, you're going to notice a hole. You might never actually notice the hole, but you could still stumble on it.

Most of this is food for thought, and not really meant as an argument for or against anything.

Go watch "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" It has an interesting depiction of memories.

Go read the trilogy I mentioned, the last three books in the Sword Of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, which is interesting.

The problem with wiping out memories is that they leave broken links, and in these books, basically, a spell that was created to wipe out one set of memories was locked away, as it would not only erase those memories, but anything attached to those memories, and out and out until it wiped everyone's memories. Which isn't good. Especially when the Bad Guys get control of said spell and run it.


Basically, I figure that people might notice that they couldn't remember something, but they would end up thinking it odd and then just forgetting that.


Now, onto another part of my theory.
I figure that as the subject's soul energy contains encoded memories, and if some of said energy is eaten, any data in that area would be lost.
I also figure that soul energy would be used in small amounts for 'magic' energy, and other things. However, you might ask, why doesn't data get deleted then?
I figure that the brain is good about data management, sending off unused bits of soul first, and then redundant bits next... It would be nearly impossible to lose anything in the way of data with normal magic usage. And, the brain would obviously have safeguards such that at a certain level, it would shut off magic access, so you simply would be drained, and not able to cast anything more until you accumulated more energy.

I also figure that having a certain amount of energy forcibly ripped from you would not do much in the way of damage, for a few times. If it happened to rip out a very important part of your memories, something that defines the way you look at life, well, then anything could happen.


-RobbieThe1st

[RobbieThe1st]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, there I was in a room somewhere in this scientists lab complex. I still didn't know his name, although I had been with him for over an hour(Or so my watch said, and it felt right). Taking stock of my surroundings, I was in a room, approximately 10'x10'. The floor was covered with what appeared to be short-pile commercial carpet. With my back to the door I had just entered, there was a simple bed in the far right corner, taking up most of that wall. Between the end of the bed and the near-right corner there was a free-standing cabinet taking up most of the space.  On the left, there was a small desk in the corner, and in the middle of the left wall there was a door. I assumed that it lead to a bathroom. On the far wall was a window, perhaps 12 inches square, which opened like a door inwards. On the other side of the glass there was a standard mosquito net, and then a set of bars, approximately two-inch-square net, made out of 1/2" iron or steel. The door behind me had a key-card lock like the outside; This must not be a standard prisoner suite, however, it still would be very hard to get out of if I had to. Returning my attention to the door at the left, I found that it did indeed open onto a bathroom, which I made use of. A couple minutes later, after making a through examination of the bathroom, which consisted of a shower, sink, and toilet, all of cheap-looking materials. The floor in the bathroom appeared to be a cheap patterned-vinyl floor. I did, as is my nature, check around for anything interesting, however, I did not see anything useful. Back in the main room, I waited for a few minutes, and, realizing that for now I was stuck here, I checked what I had on me: I had a set of jeans, underwear, a tee-shirt, and a pair of light boots(I have never been much for shoes, myself). No coat, unfortunately. I also however had my LED flashlight, with reasonable batteries, and a multi-tool, which, while useful, would NOT be able to cut through the bars if I needed to. Deciding that I really was stuck, and that I couldn't do anything now, I took off my boots. I then got myself into a comfortable position on the bed and waited. A while later, I was awakened by the sound of footsteps outside. I must have fallen asleep waiting I realized. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up expectantly, hoping that finally I would get some answers. I heard the footsteps stop outside my door. I then heard a knock on the door, and about ten seconds later I heard the door *click* unlocked,and then open. Once the door opened, I saw who the footsteps belonged to. The person outside, I guess it was male, appeared to be a feline-morph. He had shortish black fur, with white fur on the insides of his palms, and a few streaks of orange around, on his arms and neck. He had blond hair. Clothing wise, he had on brownish pants, of what appeared to be some sort of thick canvas material, and a T-shirt, which was gray. "Hi, my name is Will, and you must be the new 'recruit'. What is your name?" he asked. "Er... Hello. My name is Robbie." I replied, then asked "What is going on here?" "Well, our leader, Joseph, whom I assume you have met, has learned how to make people 'Cubi(like he is), and is doing his part by showing other people the benefits of being one." (Yea, right) "So, these 'benefits' you were talking about...?" I asked. "Well, first off, I should mention that the fur and body-structure is not part of it, this is how I looked before the process - However, as I was about to mention, we are able to shape-shift, and so you are able to take any form that you like." I was relieved, as I was not a Furry, and have always thought that fur would be more annoying than anything else. He continued "Now, as I was saying, the first benefit is being able to shape-shift." At this point, he sort of became fuzzy at the edges, and also shiny, and sort of 'melted' into a mirror image of me! "Wow!" I said "That IS cool!" "Yea, thats why I showed it to you first" he replied, then shifted back into his original form. "So, whats next?" I replied, interested, perhaps a bit more than I should have been, although I have always thought that shape-shifting was quite cool. "Well, you get two sets of wings, head-wings" he said as small wings grew from his head, feathered ones green with pink streaks in them, " and back-wings." At this point, larger wings grew from his back, all fluffy and brilliantly GREEN, with a bit of pink streaks in them, just like his head-wings. "Ah, I see you notice the odd colors." he said. "That... is a most ..unusual.. choice of colors. How did you get them?" I replied. "Ah, well, you see, Joseph had been working on changing wing colors and types, and I was very tired when I was made into a 'Cubi, and he asked me if I wanted to test out a new color, and not thinking, I said yes. And here I am. Joseph is finished with colors now, and can make any color pattern you want, if that makes a difference." I had been wondering about that, yes. At that point I thought to myself 'I wonder... could I fly with the wings'. Will spoke "Yes, you *can* fly, and very easily also!" At that, he flapped his wings a couple times, and sort of levitated straight up, and moved around the room a bit with only a bit of flapping. I was concentrating on watching him move around that I never noticed the transparent liquid rod/line going from him to the point where he was when he took off. I also never noticed that I had never voiced my thoughts on flying. After a couple more seconds, he came back down to where he took off, and we resumed our conversation. "So, what other tricks do 'Cubi have up their sleeves?" I asked, still in awe of what I had been shown so far. "Well, for one thing, we 'Cubi live for a ridiculously long time - In fact, we still haven't had a 'Cubi die from natural causes!" I was sort of in an accepting mood at this point, and I never thought to question him on this point. He continued. "Another thing you may be interested in, is that we can manipulate energy directly, and do all sorts of cool 'magic' with it, as well as other things." I wondered for a moment at that, and then I thought 'Hey, I wonder if I could fix silicon chips, if I could manipulate it precisely enough...'. At that, he 'responded' with "Yup, completely possible! Why, several people have been using that skill to fix things on their home planets!" {OOC: Yup, Tape, you gave me the idea for this.} I never questioned this either, or realized that, for a second time, I never spoke the words that he had replied to. "Well, I'm hooked." I said "So, whats the process like?" "Well, when you are ready, I will get you and take you to Joseph, and he will take you into his lab, give you a sheet of stuff to fill out, and in fifteen minutes or so you will be done, and its mostly painless, just a 'pinch' or two." he replied. I was feeling sort of compliant, and couldn't have been thinking all that well, as I agreed to the process, and asked him when it could be done, to which he replied that there was an opening tomorrow morning early. I agreed, and he started to leave, but before doing so turned back to me and said "I will wake you a couple hours beforehand, and then you get some breakfast, and then we will do the operation." I nodded, and he left. Not a minute later, I felt strangely tired, but decided it was just because I had gone threw a lot. I used the bathroom, then curled up under the covers and fell asleep in seconds. (Note that my shoes were already off from before)

Notes on this chapter:
First off, in case you haven't noticed, Will is a complete liar, and expert at passive mind reading. I also figure that there are special crystals embedded in the light-fixture(which I never described), which broadcast various frequency's, one of which makes subjects compliant, and another, which when a current is run threw it makes you feel tired.

Why are they doing this? Its always nicer to work with willing subjects, when they aren't attempting to escape. I figure to explain more in chapter 3 or 4..


-RobbieThe1st

[Tapewolf]

Heh.  Of course, fixing microcircuitry isn't something you can do just like that... you still have to be able to understand the circuit and find the fault.  The difference is that you can now sputter new material over the break magically instead of having use an ion lathe (which requires the casing to be removed and has to operate in a vacuum).

One thing that does strike me is that you may be going a little overboard with the descriptions.  Does the composition of the linoleum matter?  Do we really need the measurements of the rooms?  In some ways it's like an estate agent's description 

Pity he didn't have one of those dynamo torches as well...

[RobbieThe1st]

Heh.  Of course, fixing microcircuitry isn't something you can do just like that... you still have to be able to understand the circuit and find the fault.  The difference is that you can now sputter new material over the break magically instead of having use an ion lathe (which requires the casing to be removed and has to operate in a vacuum).

I figured something like that, and in this case, Will is just completely lying, taking what Robbie was thinking about and turning it around, and saying yes it can be done. I think one would find that, if you asked Will some specifics, he wouldn't have any.

One thing that does strike me is that you may be going a little overboard with the descri ions.  Does the composition of the linoleum matter?  Do we really need the measurements of the rooms?  In some ways it's like an estate agent's description 

Well, I should re-edit that, as I am going to do something different now, but when I wrote it, I figured that that room would be where Robbie would stay for several months, before he escapes.
I have a different idea now, however.
As readers will learn sometime, Will is an expert at passive mind-reading, and lying based on information found there, which I think would be pretty effective at controlling his recruits to do what Joseph wants them to without much in the way of hassle.
Will would have told Robbie that he could change the sky color if that was what would make him go along with the 'Cubification.

Pity he didn't have one of those dynamo torches as well...

You mean Robbie having a Dynamo-powered LED flashlight?

I suppose, however, a regular AA LED flashlight used infrequently, should last for several months of light use. I figure it has enough to last for a couple of months.. or until there is a critical need for it! 



Future ideas:
I am figuring now that Joseph has done most of his experiments, and now, with normal Furrae Beings, is taking a couple a month, convincing them to become 'Cubi, converting them into no-clan 'Cubi, teaching them some things(more on this later), and then after a year of grabbing energy out of them, the majority of subjects are still able to function, and are sold to the highest-bidding 'Cubi clan, then bound to that clan.

The few who don't survive the process with their minds intact are used for other experiments, like de-'Cubification.


Teaching wise, unlike at Saia, all the courses are very hands-on(so to speak), and practical. It doesn't matter that a student has no clue *why* he can eat emotions, so long as he can do it, and do it at the best efficiency possible.

After everyone gets a good dose of the best way to eat emotions, they end up spending a good portion of the day in various classes - It depends on the student group, and if the current 'Cubi buying clan has any particular requests.
However, the rest of the day is 'electives', in this case, stuff that is interesting to the student, and keeps him or her occupied mentally. One other goal of this process is to hopefully get new 'Cubi to think up new, better ways of doing things. If a particular student runs across a way to do something with less energy, or more precisely, then that new technique is incorporated into the curriculum, and also used by staff as needed.
Note that no offensive spells are taught, for obvious reasons.

Also, keeping an entire room of 'Cubi busy mentally and producing some sort of emotion is good, as each member gets to take advantage of the high total level of emotions, which is good for Joseph.



One idea is that, some way through the year, Joseph is *so* close to being a Tri-wing and craves it so much that he goes crazy and starts completely draining all the current students, at which case I realise that 'Cubi are going in, and are being hauled out dead or near-dead on the other side, and decide that this isn't good for my health, and escape.
Tentatively I was thinking of blowing a huge hole in a wall/fence with pure energy, just a massive burst, so massive that it ends up scrambling any magic/electricaly-based tracers, cameras, or anything else nearby! *massive, awesome-looking explosion!* 

However, that is quite tentative.


-RobbieThe1st

[RobbieThe1st]

Well, for quite a while I have been working on various website designs, and anyway, I think this one is a keeper: http://robbiethe1st.ktserv.com/newsite/

I am building my own CMS system, based on text-files(Hey, MySQL is annoying, and for a small site like mine, files are better) I *am* completely validating input, so no one can hack it. I am working on a comment system also.
Currently my system works like this: Upon selecting a page, it checks if that page is a valid database-name, and if it is, loads the entire file into memory. It then breaks the file into an array based on chr(30). The first line of the array is the "information" line, with each line after it being data lines.

It then breaks the first line into another array, based on chr(31). The first section of this array is generally 4 chars, and it is the "module identifier" - namely, what module to load to parse the database. It then loads that module, and passes all the data to the module to be parsed. The module then passes back the data to display.

The only thing I can think of that might be a problem is if you get a *huge* database file, in the several megs range, it may slow it down a bit, being as it has to load the entire thing before parsing out a page to display.



I need comments on two things: The design/colors of the site, and my underlaying backend design. Feel free to comment on either or both.

[Tapewolf]

The colour scheme seems to be innocuous enough, although it might look a bit funny if you're colour-blind or something.  I am a little concerned about the fact that all the hyperlinks down the side menu bring up the same content, though.  Is that a bug?

At some point I must look at redesigning the Radio Project website...