Martin L. Shoemaker

Programmer by day, writer by night... or maybe it's the other way around. Look for Today I Am Carey, The Last Dance, and The Last Campaign.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@MichaelFKane If the Enterprise can travel between star systems in a couple days at sublight, so can the Millennium Falcon.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@SandyofCthulhu @RupertLowe10 My ceremonial blade is a Glock 9mm.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

I’m not the audience for this film. I never saw the cartoons or the previous movie. I never had the toys. I still hold a grudge because DC comics promoted it by putting a 4-page He-Man/Superman crossover into every book the month it debuted, wasting my time. I won’t be seeing this film.

But damn, I’m impressed with the trailer. My brother-in-law and my nephew grew up with He-Man. A good friend writes He-Man comics. I can see how squarely the trailer is aimed at them. The protagonist (whatever his name is) is trapped in a modern corporate world full of mediocre conformity. I’m not sure, but I think he forgot or never knew that other world ever existed. Then tiny clues start popping up, until he’s drawn home to reclaim his destiny in a world where it’s acceptable to be a He-Man.

The fan service is in every scene. The fights and effects look great. I expect the fans to love it.

They might miss the mark; but it really looks like they’re on target.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@orthonormalist Playboy was paying roughly $1 per word in the 1970s, the highest rate around—and still a damn good rate today. They naturally attracted top writers.

No serialization market today comes close.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@esrtweet That makes sense. Even Americans who seldom interact with Spanish speakers are likely exposed to them in entertainment and sports. And place names in our Western states are often Spanish-derived. Sometimes poorly pronounced (Los Angeles), but not always.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@SandyofCthulhu We have a similar poster at work, only the theme is workplace safety. There’s a hand supposedly in danger from the impossible gears. It’s proof that graphic designers have zero mechanical aptitude.

The irony. We make big truck transmissions. Gears everywhere!

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@Xx17965797N X = 10A + B
Y = A + B
X - Y = 10A + B - (A + B)
= 9A

For all integers A, the sum of the digits of a multiple of 9 like 9A is another multiple of 9. Keep summing digits and eventually you get 9. But the proof of that part is more complicated.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

True enough! Martin Fowler once said that for a given task, his estimate was X for the job to run once, on his machine, with him running it. If it had to run more than once, the estimate went up by a factor of 3. If it had to run on other machines, another factor of 3. Somebody else running it: another factor of 3. And these were cumulative.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

https://t.co/YCHSBlqYdy at #CirqueItaliaShow

Free circus mystery ebook!

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

In stroke rehab, they asked about hobbies to help us get back to our normal activities. Where possible, they incorporated these into therapy. They learned that I was a GM, and another patient was a gamer. For his birthday, they asked if I could run a game. I had no books, of course; but I remembered enough GB to design and run an adventure for him and two therapists who had never rolled a die before. I used street maps to mock up maps of the rehab facility, and I added ghosts based on the facility’s real history. A great time was had by all.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@SandyofCthulhu Honestly, all later d6 variants fall short for me. Those designers focused too much on crunch, not play. With GB, we can be playing in minutes, and the system is flexible enough to resolve any problem as long as you prioritize fun over minmaxing.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@SandyofCthulhu As an early buyer of the Ghostbusters game, I consider it the second-best thing you’ve ever written.

The first-best is anything you write about your family. Your sincere love and affection shine through. I get to “meet” them through your eyes.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

Casual use and habit can lead people to break rules. If the break isn’t extreme, most people don’t notice. “Moon’s bright tonight” is understood, especially when it’s the subject. Oddly, it’s less acceptable as an object. “Look at moon” sounds silly, childish.

Then there are nonnative speakers. I have a Russian coworker. Russian has no articles, and he tends to skip them in English when he’s excited. And since me speech habits can be plastic, I find myself doing the same when I talk with him.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

I knew a guy whose chemistry career was practically derailed because he knew chemistry AND he understood computers. This was back before ubiquitous computers, and everyone in the department came to him for tech support. Anytime they had a task that needed computer work, it got assigned to him, while actual chemistry work went to others.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@SandyofCthulhu I can’t claim to have seen all, or even most, but it’s true in everyone I’ve seen except FMJ and that non-Heinlein film. More broadly than just boot camp, it’s a general military growth trope. Multiple times in Men of Honor.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@SandyofCthulhu In many “boot camp” stories, the hard ass drill sergeant becomes a staunch ally once you earn his respect.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@SandyofCthulhu In Willow, Sorsha changes sides and opposes Baymorda. But she does it for love of Madmartigen, which to me feels less principle than passion.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@mariana057 Ow.

[Martin L. Shoemaker @ShoemakerSpace]

@tuuu28283 @esrtweet There are many variables. Some people will always use the informal. Others will adjust their diction for the circumstances. Some will never use the informal. And the there are regional dialects.

Yes. Yep. Yup. Yeah. There are others.

No. Nope. Nah. Others.