Ship's Locker: Out of the Closet

[Condottiere]

Engine: Simplest Automobile and Aircraft?

We have a maximum of twenty spaces.

Customization tends to be increasing or decreasing costs and spaces, for a specific outcome; since spaces are in lots of ten percent, if customization is to be optimized, the chassis would be in two basic sizes, ten and twenty spaces.

Decreasing speed would grant an extra one or two spaces, at dropping it to fifty to a hundred klix per hour, which should be sufficient for an urban environment, while shaving off ten percent of the default cost per space.

Probably not worth it for a twenty space vehicle, though for a ten spacer, it might, if squeezed for volume.

Increasing the speed to two to three hundred klix per hour is likely overkill; Formula One would be in the mid three hundreds. It would double the default cost, and require ten percent of spaces.

Cruising speed at fifty to a hundred klix per hour, increases range by fifty percent.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Simplest Automobile and Aircraft?

For every increase of twenty five percent of the default cost, you can attribute to fuel efficiency an increase of range of fifty percent.

Or, save ten percent of the default cost by reducing range by twenty five percent, which probably isn't worth it.

Sacrifice ten percent of the default spaces, and you can increase the range by twenty five percent, basically by having a larger gas tank.

Likewise, recovering ten percent of spaces will decrease range by twenty five percent, essentially shrinking the fuel tank.

Manipulation of cruising speed, fuel storage, and better equipment can adjust the range considerably, though, at default, it seems a pretty good performance overall.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Earliest Useful Advanced Light Vehicle Chassis

It's technological level ten.

It's speed is high, and it's range is five hundred klix; not that much of an improvement from technological level seven, medium and range four hundred klix.

Any vehicle can be fitted with an auxiliary grav drive, allowing it to fly for short distances.

While flying, the vehicle will have its Agility reduced by -1, its Range halved, and Speed reduced by one band.

Auxiliary Grav Drives add +100% to a vehicle’s Cost per Space and consume 25% of the vehicle’s total Spaces (rounding up).

Eight spaces, twelve kilostarbux, four shipping tonnes.

Two hundred fifty klix range, slow (fifty to a hundred klix) speed.

 

[Condottiere]

How To Drive a 1959 BMW Isetta Bubble Car

Today on the channel, the coolest car you will ever see - and I get to drive it! This is a 1959 BMW Isetta Bubble Car.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Earliest Useful Advanced Light Vehicle Chassis

Keeping the above in mind.

It's still technological level ten, with a retro technological level five aesthetic.

It's speed is high, and it's range is five hundred klix.

Fitted for, and with, an auxiliary grav drive.

Four spaces, six kilostarbux, two shipping tonnes, agility minus one

Two hundred fifty klix range, slow (fifty to a hundred klix) speed.

Three spaces can be converted to driver/pilot, and two passengers and or half a tonne cargo.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Earliest Useful Advanced Light Vehicle Chassis

Short term life support at technological level four, provide this habitat for up to four days before air and filters need replacing (included as part of the vehicle’s regular maintenance costs), at ten kilostarbux per space, per twenty humans.

Long term life support at technological level seven, does the same but for ninety days, at fifty kilostarbux per space and consumes 1 Space for every 5 people on board.

In theory, that's four days times twenty, equals eighty man days, versus, ninety days times five, equals four and a half hundred man days.

I forgot how much vehicle maintenance costs in percentage, per annum, divided by twelve maintenance periods.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Earliest Useful Advanced Light Vehicle Chassis

All vehicles require routine maintenance and the occasional topping up of fuel and other essentials. This is part of general vehicle care though all vehicles should spend at least one day in a well-equipped workshop each year for a full service, and advanced military vehicles may require a great deal more attention.

For the purposes of Traveller, this is assumed to be covered by a simple monthly maintenance cost equal to 0.5% of the total cost of the vehicle. This will cover all essentials and refills other than ammunition and other stated extra costs.

Ten kilostarbux being fifty starbux per month.

Though, I don't see how four days fits neatly into that.

Presumably, that either fifty kilostarbux per life support recharge, or six percent per annum, six hundred starbux, divided by ninety one and a quarter, equals 6.575342465753425 starbux, per four days.

Likewise, ninety days is three maintenance periods.

Fifty kilostarbux would be two hundred fifty starbux per month, or three kilostarbux per annum.

Or, literally, two hundred fifty starbux per three months.

Or, three kilostarbux, divided by twelve, times three, which, which would be seven hundred fifty starbux per three months.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Earliest Useful Advanced Light Vehicle Chassis

This can be added to a vehicle to allow it to traverse across the surface of water. This does not make it seaworthy but it will be capable of navigating rivers, lakes and coastal areas. The modification includes waterproofing, snorkels and props or water jets for propulsion.

Light vehicles will have the same movement rates as boats (see page 20) of the same TL, though their Agility while afloat will be one less and Range 10% of that of a boat.

Aquatic drives add +50% to a vehicle’s Cost per Space.

Being plus three and three quarters of a hundred starbux plus per space.

Technological level seven gives a boat range of four hundred klix, which means a default range while floating, of forty klix.

Speed is medium.

If it doesn't fly, it would make a vehicle all terrain.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Earliest Useful Advanced Light Vehicle Chassis

An open frame vehicle is a Light Ground Vehicle that the rider mounts rather than climbs inside.

They often have just two or three wheels to make a motorcycle or trike, or quad, but, not specified.

Spaces are restricted to one to three, at an additional three quarters of a kilostarbux per space.

You get plus one to agility, and promoted to the next speed band.

Sidecar can be an unpowered vehicle, upto ten spaces, at a hundred starbux per space.

Possibly, both sides.

A space can be sacrificed for an auxiliary grav drive, at plus hundred percent to the open vehicle's cost.

Added agility and speed would probably make it worth it.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Earliest Useful Advanced Light Vehicle Chassis

A speeder bike, or maybe half a monocycle, semimonocycle.

Technological level ten, open frame, two spaces, one taken by the auxiliary grav drive.

Agility neutralized, high speed neutralized, two hundred fifty range.

Cost six kilostarbux, one tonne shipping.

 

[Condottiere]

Tech Billionaires Want Us Dead

Tech billionaires are planning for a future where humans don’t exist, and they’re already building it.

For decades, tech elites have sold us a shiny future powered by artificial intelligence. But what if the future they’re building doesn’t include us?

I investigated the dangerous worldview known as TESCREALism that has taken hold across the world’s most powerful tech companies, from OpenAI to Tesla. It’s the belief that biological humans are flawed and temporary, and that a post-human future dominated by AGI (artificial general intelligence) is both inevitable and desirable.

Under this ideology, human obsolescence is framed as progress, while billionaires like Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel, and Mark Zuckerberg prepare to outlive the collapse they are helping to create.

This video explores AI ideology, tech billionaires, the post-human future, and the real human cost of the AI arms race.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Intro: The Silicon Valley Death Cult
02:36 Silicon Valley's origins
04:19 Hacker utopia: Jobs, Wozniak & The 70s
05:50 The personal computer revolution
07:13 The "Mind Children" prophecy
09:06 The Singularity Explained
10:50 Larry Page vs. Elon Musk
11:17 Humans are obsolete narratives (2010s)
14:44 Viral "Humans Need Not Apply" video
15:10 The era of sterile minimalism
15:47 How apps dehumanized labor
16:35 Kim & Kanye's post-human home, tech campuses, Airbnb
18:56 Why design became boring (Jony Ive)
20:44 A fatal brain upload startup
21:54 The billionaire ideology destroying the world (TESCREAL)
26:18 A "worthy successor" to humans
28:26 Marc Andreessen's most unhinged blog post
30:34 "Beff Jezos" and the e/acc cult
34:21 Inside Grimes' pro-AI event
36:20 They redefined the word "humanity"
40:47 The bio-baby mind virus
41:43 AI arms race
47:05 Data centers
48:36 Billionaire bunkers and escape plans
51:32 Sea steading and Próspera
52:09 Bryan Johnson's quest for immortality
53:58 "The event": preparing for collapse
55:00 We are not powerless
56:32 The truth about online safety laws (KOSA)
57:42 Why we must tax the rich
59:31 Building a human-centric future

KEY CONCEPTS: From the Singularity to billionaire bunkers, TESCREAL ideology is the invisible force driving the AI arms race.

TESCREAL: Transhumanism, Extropianism, Singularitarianism, Cosmism, Rationalism, Effective Altruism, Accelerationism, Longtermism.


1. Ironically, I think demographically challenged Europe might actually thrive.

2. It's those with excess humanity that are going to get screwed at both ends.

3. Butlerian Jihad.

4. It's almost inevitable, that those that can afford it, will genetically alter their children, to what they feel will make them smarter, and physically perfect.

5. And speaking of longevity, supposedly the opposite of capitalists, are reportedly accumulating genetic data on their populace, and teenagers have a depressing tendency of sudden death syndrome, and donating their organs.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Airship

In theory, you could add an auxiliary grav drive to an airship.

Since it is, supposedly, lighter than air, the added drive should be able to concentrate in increasing the speed.

However, you have to sacrifice a quarter of default spaces, that that would include the virtual ones, from the gas bag.

In which case, you strip off the gas bag, and just go barebones with the gondola.

The important thing, which is why any unpowered chassis isn't a candidate for this makeover, is, that the airship gondola is powered.

We'll go with a forty space airship, twelve kilostarbux, doubled, twenty four kilostarbux.

The four space light ground vehicle at six kilostarbux is still cheaper.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Earliest Useful Advanced Light Vehicle Chassis

How far can we customize a light vehicle chassis, to squeeze out the maximum performance?

This customisation allows a vehicle to draw power from an external source, such as overhead wires, induction plates buried under roads or beamed microwaves.

So long as the vehicle has direct access to the external power source (remaining on the road or within line of sight of the microwave transmitter, for instance), it effectively has an unlimited Range.

The External Power table shows how much this costs depending on the total number of Spaces the vehicle has, and how many Spaces it will consume within the vehicle as a percentage of the total number of Spaces.


Vehicle Type/Technological Level/Cost/Space Percentage
Train 4 Cr2000 5%
Ground Vehicle 8 Cr5000 5%
Aircraft 9 Cr10000 10%
Grav Vehicle 11 Cr10000 5%


The aspect that's missing is what is broadcasting, or transmitting, that energy, and how much volume would it take up, and cost?

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Or Not

If a galleon is eight hundred spaces, and a sloop one hundred forty four, all that's needed is a sixty tonne unpowered ship, which would be two times one hundred twenty spaces, which is two hundred forty spaces, at thirty six kilostarbux, or spaceshipping, thirty tonnes.

If I had to guess, if we used power broadcasting, it would require ten percent of spaces for the receiving equipment, at technological level nine, and five percent, at technological level eleven, at ten kilostarbux per space.

If someone just stuck in an electrical plug, five percent at two kilostarbux.

Ships and boats provide the best means to transport people and cargo long distances wherever seas or rivers are present. Such craft can be powered by rowers on board and while this makes the vessel largely immune to the effects of wind, those that utilise sails are far more efficient. The possible speeds listed assume fresh crews and benevolent winds, and can be lowered by the referee to reflect adverse conditions. Range is effectively limited only by the food and supplies that can be carried by the craft.

You can't gravitate an unpowered vehicle.

Except, apparently, you can microwave power at it.

Assuming technological level eleven, one twentieth of two hundred forty spaces is twelve spaces at one hundred twenty kilostarbux for the receiving equipment.

A further twenty five percent for the auxiliary grav drive, that's sixty spaces, at double one hundred fifty starbux per space times two hundred forty spaces, means that a usable volume of one hundred sixty eight spaces, can fly, at seventy two kilostarbux.

The downside, so to speak, is if the power is turned off, and the flying ship obeys the law of gravity.

 

[Condottiere]

The Galaxy Class Girls: Red Shirt Romeo | 80s Pop Music Video

HE THINKS HE'S A CAPTAIN. HE'S JUST A RED SHIRT.

Computer: Run Program "MTV-1985". Disable safety protocols.

Forget the Warp Core!
This is the only power source that matters in the Alpha Quadrant.

Meet The Galaxy Class Girls!
The holographic supergroup that is currently jamming subspace frequencies from Risa to Romulus.

Comprised of the Federation's most lethal and legendary icons, this isn't just a band; it's a Level-10 Force Field of glamour and groove.

Featuring the sonic wail of Deanna Troi
The percussion-heavy rebellion of Kira Nerys
The cool Vulcan rhythms of T'Pol
The Trill basslines of Jadzia Dax
And the cybernetic shredding of Seven of Nine

They are breaking the Prime Directive of Pop with a sound that is one part 24th-century precision and three parts 1980s excess.

This isn't just a music video; it's a fully realized aesthetic timeline where the Enterprise meets Miami Vice. We're talking anamorphic lens flares, pastel suits, velvet tuxedos, and enough hairspray to breach the hull.

Join the ultimate away team as they navigate a world of arcades, workout montages, and synthahol nights.

Watch Riker lean on everything, see Worf discover the power of pastel polos, and witness Spock try to use logic on a dance floor.

It’s high-fashion, high-concept, and highly illogical.

Cast List

STARRING THE GALAXY CLASS GIRLS:
Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi (Vocals)
Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys (Drums)
Jolene Blalock as T'Pol (Keytar)
Terry Farrell as Jadzia Dax (Bass)
Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine (Electric Guitar)

FEATURING THE RED SHIRT ROMEOS:
Jonathan Frakes as William Riker
Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko
Michael Dorn as Worf
William Shatner as James T. Kirk (TOS)
Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk (SNW)
Anson Mount as Christopher Pike
Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
Leonard Nimoy & Ethan Peck as Spock
Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien
Robert Duncan McNeill as Tom Paris


It's nuanced.

Not all redshirts can make it back.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Or Not


Tech Table

TL Speed Range

4 Very Slow 200
5-6 Slow 300
7-8 Medium 400
9-10 Medium 500
11+ High 600


Assuming the above is accurate, that's one to two hundred klix per hour at technological level eleven, either sailing or rowing.

Even sailing, that feels like gale storm winds.

 

[Condottiere]

Engine: Or Not

Apparently, available at technological level three.

For the convenience of the crew, an outboard motor can be fitted to a rowed or sailing boat. These cost Cr100 per Space of the craft to be moved, propel the craft at a minimum of Idle speed and have a Range of 100 km. At a cost of Cr250 per Space, this minimum Speed can be increased to Very Slow.

I'd say organic propulsion is faster.

And, if you based the auxiliary grav drive on the outboard motor, it really would have the speed of a raft.

 

[Condottiere]

Four space light vehicle, with auxiliary grav drive.

 

[MarcusIII]

I had a '46 Willy's. Vacuum powered windshield wipers and the same tires. It out climbed every other 4WD vehicle I put it up against in the 70's.

 

[Condottiere]

Not surprised, strong motor.

Though I heard, not very comfortable.