WxMurray

First Lieutenant Marissa Ipswich

Advanced Tactical Trainer

Class Schedule Week Beginning Stardate 0506.27

Monday, Stardate 0506.27: Holodeck scenarios using advanced tricorder features. Each student will, in turn, be attempting to elude the rest of the class while they use the advanced features to find and capture the student. Each student will also have a turn at leading the class in the exercise.

Tuesday, Stardate 0506.28: Begin training general human instincts and anticipation of human movements taught in conjunction with advanced away team training. Students will learn how humans think when being chased and how to anticipate a running human’s actions. Students will participate in a holographic scenario to gain hands-on experience in chasing and anticipating humans’ thoughts and movements. Students will take turns leading the away teams in the scenario.

Wednesday, Stardate 0506.29: Begin training general non-human instincts and anticipation of non-human movements taught in conjunction with advanced away team training. Students will learn how non-humans think when being chased and how to anticipate a non-human’s actions. Aliens covered: Bajoran, Orion, Rigellian, Vulcan, and Bolian. Students will participate in a holographic scenario to gain hands-on experience in chasing and anticipating these species’ thoughts and movements. Students will take turns leading the away teams in the scenario.

Thursday, Stardate 0506.30: Continue training general non-human instincts and anticipation of non-human movements taught in conjunction with advanced away team training. Aliens covered: Klingon, Romulan, Breen, Reman, et al. Students will participate in a holographic scenario to gain hands-on experience in chasing and anticipating these species’ thoughts and movements. Students will take turns leading the away teams in the scenario.

Friday, Stardate 0507.01: Free activity day: students may run the scenario of his or her choice that he or she feels he or she needs to work on; introduce class to Lieutenant Commander Mary-Beth Schubert, instructor and contact officer for phase three training.

Wimbley Murray’s Personal Log

Stardate 0506.20

We started the second part of our training today: advanced security techniques. It’s amazing. There are things you can do on a tricorder that I never knew existed. You can look for heat patterns to tell you where someone went. There’s an infrared mode. There’s even an atmospheric disturbance mode that’ll tell you where someone is because the air is moving the wrong way due to breathing.

Our second part of training is being taught by a Marine, First Lieutenant Marissa Ipswich. She’s a nice person, and excellent at teaching security. I’m kind of surprised. I never would have expected a Starfleet Marine to be teaching security. Marines are a ground force. Security is more of a police force. Still, before the Dominion War, before a major Marine presence in Starfleet, security was the ground force. I guess there still isn’t much of a difference between Marines and security. Someday, though, the Marine Corps is going to evolve into its own department. I’d bet that the future has them on every starship to work alongside command, science, and engineering/security.

“Eat it, Blue!”

Murray fired away with his phaser rifle. They were in an intense game of capture the flag. The score was tied up at eight. The first team to reach ten points would win. Murray was the Red Team leader and was currently defending the flag.

An opponent ran up and tried to take the red flag, but Murray put his phaser on kill and vaporized him. “Oh yeah! Not in my house!” Of course, no one was truly vaporized while playing this game.

Murray jumped onto one of the bunkers and pulled out his sniper rifle. He zoomed in and eliminated two Blues following his teammate, who was carrying the Blue flag. “Oh! You’ve got nothing!”

He leapt down as the flag-carrier passed and watched as three Blues came charging at him, trying to get their flag back. “Bring it on! You’ve got nothing!” He threw a grenade and watched his opponents fall to the ground upon its explosion. A voice rang out across the playing field, indicating that the Reds captured the flag. “Oh, score! Red Team, this is Murray. Markle, and Smith, guard the flag. Andrews, Reilly, and Johnson, we’re going for the flag.

The four of them went in firing. Andrews was sniped, and Reilly was taken out by a grenade. As they approached the flag, Murray called out, “Cover me!” He grabbed the flag and ran. They scurried back to Red Base, firing all the way. As they approached their flag, Murray caught Johnson’s eye and dropped the flag. He turned around and ran back towards the Blue base, toward the advancing Blues trying to get their flag back.

“Not today!” Murray unleashed a barrage of energy from his rifle, but was quickly gunned down by the four approaching Blues. But Murray was an obstacle that gave Johnson what he needed. The Reds had won.

As the teams left the holodeck, Murray was approached by Commander Rhodes. “Mr. Murray, I’m impressed. You were completely unshakable in there. Calm under fire. In any case, it seems to me that you know what you’re doing. You will make a fine Chief of Security some day.”

Wimbley Murray’s Personal Log

Stardate 0505.25

I got gunned down today in a training exercise. It hurt. A lot. We were split into to teams and scattered into the range. The range had a number of obstacles, such as rocks, trees, and the occasional wandering, daydreaming cadet. The goal was to take out the other team without crossing into “enemy” territory. In short, it was a firefight. Unfortunately, I was taken out as I tried to leave my rock and find a tree. I kind of missed my target and ended up diving in front of the tree instead of behind.

We’ve been training for two weeks now, and tomorrow it begins to pay off. Commander Rhodes has several scenarios with mission objectives for us in the holodeck. Half of us will be the “good guys” and the rest will be the “bad guys” trying to take us out. It sounds like fun. I’ve also heard rumor that we will be playing capture the flag with phasers and other weapons. I can’t wait!

In other news, I got to see Cousin Gerhard, or “Saf” as he likes to be called, yesterday, for the first time since my graduation and posting to the Reaent. He has chosen to study engineering in the Academy. He has even taken up an apprenticeship under one of the engineers in the Academy Physical Plant. He is going to love his work. He will be a great asset to the fleet.

“So how’s the Academy going? Have you decided what field you want to be in yet?”

“I think so.”

Murray rolled his eyes at his girlfriend, Cadet Shiela Simmons. They were sitting in the café in the Academy’s Robinson building. They were waiting for Murray’s schedule to be finalized by the Assignments Office.

“You think so?” Simmons was in her third year at Starfleet Academy and had yet to nail down a field of study. “At the rate you’re going, I’m going to make Captain before you graduate.”

“Hey, do you think this is easy?”

“Yes. It takes most people all of about ten minutes to read the material and gauge his or her personal interests.”

“Well, maybe I’m a slow reader.”

“Or maybe you’re just clueless.”

As Simmons proceeded to administer a dope-slap, an Academy grunt approached the couple. “Lieutenant Murray?”

“Yes?”

“Here is your schedule of activities. Report to the firing range tomorrow morning at 0800 hours.”

 

roses are #FF0000

violets are #0000FF

all my base

are belong to you

That's hilarious! ;)

I've got an ensign and a junior grade lieutenant.

Why is the Starfleet Academy Orchestra abbreviated "SFO"? :lol: ;)

Oh, everyone knows, and if they don't, they soon will!

Someone on another message board posted a link to this text regarding geeks, nerds, and dating. These observations were written about guys, but I'm sure with a few adjustments they could just as easily describe ladies, as well. It holds pretty true to me; I just thought I'd share it.

In the wide world of dating, there are many options. Do you go for the flashy guy with the smooth smile, or the dude in the corner typing away on his laptop? The following are reasons why I think my fellow females should pay more attention to the quiet geeks and nerds, and less attention to the flashy boys.

 

1.) While geeks and nerds may be awkward, they’re well-meaning 9 out of 10 times. That smooth dude with the sly grin and the spider hands? Wonder what HIS intentions are... plus, I’ve never had a geek guy not call me when he said he would. Score major points THERE.

 

2.) They’re useful. In this tech-savvy world, it’s great to have a b/f who can make your laptop, desktop, and just about anything else that plugs into a wall behave itself.

 

3.) They’re more romantic than they’re given credit for. Ok true, their idea of romance might be to make up a spiffy web-page with all the reasons why they love you, with links to pics of you and sonnets and such... but hey. It lasts longer than flowers, plus you can show your friends.

 

4.) Due to their neglected status, there are plenty to choose from. You like ‘em tall and slender? There are plenty of geeks/nerds who are. You like ‘em smaller with more meat on their bones? Got that too.

 

5.) They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?

 

6.) Most are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such, especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due again to their neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who “have more options”. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend, they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do once they GOT a girlfriend.

 

7.) Sex. Yep. Sex. I’m not really familiar with this myself, but I’ve friends who’ve been intimate with geek guys and it’s raves all around. They say a virgin wrote the Kama Sutra... all that time thinking about sex, imagining sex, dreaming about sex, (they are male after all) coupled with a desire to make you happy? Use your imagination.

 

8.) They’re relatively low-maintenance. Most can be fueled on pizza, Twinkies and Mt Dew. No complicated dinners needed here, so if you’re not the best cook, eh. Can you order a pizza?

 

9.) Most frequent bars as often as slugs frequent salt mines. You won’t have to worry much about your geek guy getting his “groove” on with club hotties because, frankly, he’ll be too busy rooting around under his computer wondering where that spare cable went. You won’t have to worry about him flirting with other women because, 9 out of 10 times, he’ll zip right by them in a perfect b-line towards the nearest electronics store. I’ve seen this happen.

 

Me: “Eww. Victoria Secret’s Models... They’re so skinny. How is that feminine? You can see her ribs!”

Geek Guy: “ooooooo...”

Me: “Hey!” *notices he is staring lustfully towards the computer store*

Geek Guy: “What?”

Me: “Never mind...”

 

10.) Although he may not want to go to every outing with you, you can arrange swaps, as in, you’ll go to his Gamer Con dressed as an elf princess if he’ll take you to the ballet. Plus, if he doesn’t want to go someplace with you, you won’t have to worry much about what he’s up to. You’ll probably come home to find him asleep on his keyboard in a sea of Mt. Dew cans with code blinking from the screen. It’s ok. He’s used to this. Just toss a blanket over him and turn out the light.

 

11.) His friends aren’t jerks. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll more likely get “Omg! A GIRL!! Can I see?!” than “Hey hot stuff back that ass up here and let me get some grub on...” They’re awkward geeks too and will, 9 times out of 10, treat you with the utmost respect and, more than likely, a note of awe. A cute girl picked one of their clan to date? It could happen to them! Hope! Drag some of your single girlfriends over, open up a pack of Mt. Dew, crack open the DnD set and get working. Nothing impresses geek guys more than a girl who can hack-n-slash (well ok maybe if she can code... a geek can dream).

 

12.) They’re rarely if ever possessive. They trust you, so you can be yourself around them. You like to walk around the house in a ratty t-shirt for comfort? He won’t care. He does too! They won’t get pissy if you don’t wear make-up or don’t want to bother primping your hair. If you gain a few pounds, they won’t try their best to make you feel like crap.

 

13.) They’re usually very well educated. Physics majors and the like. See #5. You won’t have to listen to him blathering on about his car (ok maybe a little), he’ll have loads of other interesting things to talk about. Politics, world events, how much the chicken burgers down at the local place rock, so long as you douse them in hot sauce...

 

14.) You’ll almost never have to hear, “Yaw dawg whazzap!!” plop out of their mouths. Unless it’s in jest. They spell properly, use correct punctuation, and are able to tell the difference between the toilet and the floor. They almost never get “wasted”, so you won’t have to worry about coming home to find him and his friends passed out on the floor amidst a pile of beer bottles. Mt. Dew cans, perhaps...

 

15.) And the final reason why geeks and nerds make great boyfriends: They actually give a damn about you. Not how you look (though that’s a plus), not how skinny you are, not how much make-up you primp yourself up with, but they like you for you. That kind of thing lasts longer than “Damn, baby, you got a fine [butt]!!!” Believe me.

I can't go against my Pats.

Spray.

Bugs.

Hair

Someone move that report button please I almost reported Images.

 

I'm not north american so I get to see football about twice a year. Needless to say I don't have a favourit team. I do however like to watch the game but I never quite understood why a game that is mostly played with your hands should be called football. But then...what do I know?

Don't feel bad. I don't know either, nor do most fans.

Just remember that there will be no Academy sim tomorrow for Labor Day. :blink:

Go State! We beat USF yesterday.

In the pros: Go Pats. I don't yet know enough about CFL to choose a team (that's my project fro next summer). As for the AFL that starts in February. I'm not sure about AF2, though

I love the NX class.

C++

bit

byte

Just as a sort of follow up to Fred's post, I found these news items on a local TV station's website.

Pa. AG Gets Hundreds Of Gas Gouging Complaints

 

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett said his office has received scores of consumer allegations about gasoline price-gouging since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.

 

But said proving that any overcharges are illegal could be difficult. At a Harrisburg news conference, Corbett said price gouging is a civil offense under the Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Law, punishable by a fine of $1,000 per offense, and it is up to individual judges to decide whether the overcharges are "unconscionable" and therefore prohibited by law.

 

Corbett said he is working with legislators to refine anti-gouging legislation that would more clearly define the boundary between legal and illegal pricing. He said he hopes such a bill becomes law.

 

By midday Friday, Corbett said his office had received more than 250 telephone calls and more than 100 e-mails reporting alleged gouging activity. The complaints were not concentrated in any particular region, but rather scattered locations across the state.

 

Corbett also said he is working with his counterparts in at least 22 other states to investigate the reasons behind the sharp increases in fuel prices that followed the destruction caused by the hurricane.

Thousands Report Gas Gouging To Government Hot Line

 

WASHINGTON -- We know that Americans are being forced to pay sharply higher gasoline prices in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Are they being ripped off?

 

Federal and state authorities are fielding thousands of complaints from angry consumers.

 

The federal Energy Department reports getting more than 5,000 calls to its price gouging hot line in a single day. It is handing the complaints over to the Federal Trade Commission, but the commission has limited jurisdiction unless it can prove collusion.

 

Democratic members of Congress are urging the FTC to get more aggressive with its review of the complaints. They said hundreds of reports of price gouging were made in Illinois alone.

 

Attorneys general from a number of states held a telephone conference to discuss possible investigations. States getting the most complaints included North Carolina, Georgia, New York, Texas and Michigan.

 

Some lawmakers are demanding an investigation into the steep spike in prices this week.

 

But some states have their own laws against gas price gouging, and a number of attorneys general are discussing possible action against gas retailers.

 

After the hurricane disrupted production at Gulf Coast refineries, fuel prices jumped as much as 50 cents a gallon overnight.

 

Michigan U.S. Rep. John Conyers said the price hikes "go far beyond anything justified or relating to the market disruptions."

We need a blockbuster about the Dominion War.

 

But of course, why should anyone listen to me?

We need a blockbuster. Period.

Alaskan Bear

Moose

Well, as much as I hate to say it, prices within the United States (gas related) have never really updated to reflect economic inflation. I mean, I personally recall buying gas at less than a dollar (US).

Heck, I remember a time not so long ago when gas was less than a dollar.

Actually, gas stations in Chicago have lowered gas prices because they had done too much raising in anticipation of the hurricane and the $70 per barrel of light sweet crude.

Hey there,

 

I'm going to apologize now for the fact this post may turn into something of a rant. After living in South Florida my entire life and surviving more hurricanes than I can count, I have a very personal view/take on this entire situation. No, I'm not an authority, but going thru them for over two decades I have picked up a few things. :blink:

 

Images, I think your statement is very misleading. A simple reality is that buildings in certain areas of the United States do not need to be built to the same code as others. A house in New York needs to be more concerned with being able to withstand a snow storm vs a 160mph (257kph) hurricane.

 

Building codes within many areas of the Southeastern United States are higher than what many might think. In Florida, especially the south, they are some of the toughest anywhere on the planet. Buildings must essentially be able to withstand a certain wind speed or else you don't get an occupational certification. This is common sense. Some of these codes were being lowered in the 1980's and many came to realize the horror of that decision when Hurricane Andrew struck the Miami area. Since then, the codes have been made even stronger than before. Being blunt, in a hurricane the foundation isn't as important as the construction of the roof.

 

The problem is that even though Mississippi and Louisiana were struck by major hurricanes in the late 1960s, no substantial building codes were put into place. Nothing, nada, zip. Only some counties had some regulations but they were not universal. The result is there are many structures that aren't in existence now. I'm not saying that there wouldn't have been devastation, but from a wind speed point of view...this storm was weaker than Andrew yet the damage was far worse. There is no excuse for this.

 

I'm sorry, despite what some international media are claiming, this isn't global warming folks. A storm of equal size, strength and almost an identical past hit this exact same area in the middle of August, 1969. Hurricanes seasons go thru cycles...and I doubt when major storms hit Florida in the 1930s you could say it was the fault of fossil fuels.

 

What's the expression...those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it?

 

As for the relief effort, I'm again going to loose it here. The Director of the National Hurricane Center for the United States had to, personally, call the Mayor of New Orleans before they would issue a mandatory evacuation of the city. A Category 5 (at that time) storm is about to hit, something they knew was going to be a close call for over five days, and no one took it seriously.  This is a storm that they had dreamed about for years...should it exist, it would flood the city. So why, knowing this, were people still in the city having a party the night it hit?!?

 

I mean no disrespect to folks, but it really angers me to see someone on TV who is complaining about the fact they have no power, no food, no water, the background having an image of their destroyed home and they're complaining about where the help is. They should not have been there...period. They should have left the area while they could and I know for a fact there was some type of evacuation system in place for people who couldn't leave on their own. For crying out loud, people are able to get to the Superdome now for shelter (and relocation) but they couldn't find a way to get there before 80% of the city was underwater and the power was still on? No, I think most have agreed there would be a large number of people that they couldn't get out...but when stories of 18 year old kids stealing a schoolbus (from a lot full of hundreds of them) to get 100 people out...I have to wonder. Why weren't those buses in operation before the storm? What the heck was the local government over there doing?!? It seems they had the resources but "choose" not to use them. Why were people surprised that water levels went to roof level when they were reporting two days before (even here in New Zealand) that it might rise to 28 feet?

 

To me, you know what was amazing? Some of the first photos and images I saw of the area showed windows on houses. Now you might be asking why I'm surprised at this? Well, most people who take a hurricane seriously, put up some sort of storm shutters or protection. Heck, people even try to tape up the windows if there's nothing else available. However, in many areas, I don't see evidence of this being done. It tells/shows me that this was a sign many people in the area simply believed the storm would go elsewhere. They didn't prepare for it.

 

As for the levee system, I found out today from a relative that it's being said that it was designed to withstand a Category 3 hurricane. This storm was just below Category 5 when it hit. What I find amazing is that in some areas, they were depending on 100 year old pumping stations in the event of a breach. Even worse is that they apparently didn't have a method of getting these pumps on when the power went out, needing to physically go out to turn on backups. When they said it would be 4:00pm the afternoon after the storm hit before they could get the first pumping stations on, I thought I was drunk.

 

And no disrespect, but all the National Guard on the planet isn't going to do any good when they're having to call in Navy SEALS to do "landings" and rescue people.

 

Ending my rant, a good lifelong friend of mine who moved from Florida to that area (lived a near water actually) is safe with family.

 

I mean no dishonor against those suffering, please do not think that. I know that some of the above simply doesn't apply to people who now find themselves struggling to survive. The problem to me is that there are many individuals suffering right now that shouldn't be. There are many people dead right now that have no reason to be.

 

The gross ignorance and, I'm sorry, blunt stupidity of some people with the preparation for this storm is just too much for me to comprehend.

What he said. That's about the extent of it.

Rainy cookout (if you really want to know give me a PM)