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Post by amlybon on Mar 17, 2014 14:24:11 GMT
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Post by aaroncampbell on Mar 17, 2014 14:36:21 GMT
I learned something new today. The first bombs delivered to their targets by air were launched on unmanned balloons, carrying a single bomb, by the Austrians against Venice in 1849, during the First Italian War of Independence. (Info courtesy of Wikipedia, of course.) So about 90 years after that beginning, we have poor Mort's demise at the early stages of the Blitz, and 75 years after that we've gone both backwards and forwards in technology. Backwards in that we're using unmanned delivery systems again, and forwards in explosive power, although we now have made this more selectable/tailorable to the "mission". Fortunately many of the powers that be have recognized that indiscriminate mass bombing of civilians is unacceptable, and are using technology to limit casualties. Hopefully this trend will continue until we can figure out a way to settle our differences without killing each other. A strange game; the only way to win is not to play. How about a nice game of chess? |
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Post by GK Sierra on Mar 17, 2014 15:07:01 GMT
Fortunately many of the powers that be have recognized that indiscriminate mass bombing of civilians is unacceptable, and are using technology to limit casualties. Or so they say, at least. The problem with " precision" munitions is that they aren't as precise as the engineers at Boeing and Raytheon thought they would be. Even with Global Positioning tail-kits, bombs fall off target, or targets are mis-indentified. Just ask Bill Clinton about that pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, he'll tell you all about it. Smart bombs aren't worth much more than dumb bombs if you don't have a smart intelligence staff backing you up. |
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Post by sniperserpent on Mar 17, 2014 15:24:32 GMT
I thought of it two. Made me think maybe this is both Kat and Annie going through Mort's last moment.s |
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Post by Covalent on Mar 17, 2014 15:44:24 GMT
Oh, good, at least it wasn't too brutal..
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2014 15:44:57 GMT
A strange game; the only way to win is not to play. How about a nice game of chess? Why not?
|♖|♘|♗|♔|♕|♗|♘|♖|
|♙|♙|♙|＿|♙|♙|♙|♙|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|♙|＿|＿|＿|__|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|
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1. e2—e4 ... Black to move and send a PM, if anyone's interested |
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Post by GK Sierra on Mar 17, 2014 16:05:41 GMT
A strange game; the only way to win is not to play. How about a nice game of chess? Why not?
|♖|♘|♗|♔|♕|♗|♘|♖|
|♙|♙|♙|＿|♙|♙|♙|♙|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|♙|＿|＿|＿|__|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|
|♜|♞|♝|♚|♛|♝|♞|♜|
1. e2—e4 ... Black to move and send a PM, if anyone's interested |♖|♘|♗|♔|♕|♗|♘|♖| |♙|♙|♙|＿|♙|♙|♙|♙| |＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿| |＿|＿|＿|♙|＿|＿|＿|__| |＿|＿|＿|♟|＿|＿|＿|＿| |＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿| |♟|♟|♟|＿|♟|♟|♟|♟| |♜|♞|♝|♚|♛|♝|♞|♜| 2. e7-e5 PM'd |
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Post by goldenknots on Mar 17, 2014 16:23:45 GMT
I'm all for you guys having fun playing chess. I'm not interested in being required to watch, though.
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Post by Señor Goose on Mar 17, 2014 16:25:38 GMT
I think Jones' general immunity to everything includes immovability by external impacts. I can't imagine why you would think that. She's heavy, but not infinitely massive. |
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Post by KMar on Mar 17, 2014 16:28:27 GMT
I'm all for you guys having fun playing chess. I'm not interested in being required to watch, though. On the contrary, what a delightful novelty! It even suits the topic title so fittingly. I, for one, welcome this thread's new chess overlords. |
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Post by Señor Goose on Mar 17, 2014 16:28:36 GMT
Just ask Bill Clinton about that pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, he'll tell you all about it. I'll bring it up next time we get together for coffee and scrabble, eh? |
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Post by GK Sierra on Mar 17, 2014 16:42:10 GMT
Just ask Bill Clinton about that pharmaceutical factory in Sudan, he'll tell you all about it. I'll bring it up next time we get together for coffee and scrabble, eh? Five years ago we'd just have to get Doug Band really drunk and convince him that we were wealthy potential donors to the foundation, and we'd have a meeting in less than a week. Ah, how time flies. |
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Post by Covalent on Mar 17, 2014 17:33:40 GMT
Did Tom just manage to pull off a young child's death without massive uproar? That shows some major skill.  |
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Post by freeformline on Mar 17, 2014 18:08:48 GMT
It seems to me that she is movable, just very heavy: www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1108So she'll be unharmed by the bomb, but she might be in a different place after the dust settles. Honestly, I am more interested in how Mort and Jones get to know each other after the explosion than the mechanics of a Jones-bomb interaction. "The Mechanics of a Jones-Bomb Interaction"; a doctoral physics research paper in three parts. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but that made me laugh pretty hard! Also, for those of you from Great Britain/Queen's English regions, is fuze the standard spelling there? I know it is an alternate spelling (we 'Mercans done spelled it "fuse"), but is that actually a British thing, or just an older spelling? That was very intentional, and I'm glad to hear someone enjoyed it. |
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Post by philman on Mar 17, 2014 18:13:09 GMT
philman : Does that mean that Mort was burned alive? By fire? Could that somehow connect him to Annie's Fire Elemental's nature? The only other person that she helped as a psychopomp did die in a fire. EDIT:Ok, except for her mom, but that's a special case. No no, I simply meant that the bomb in the comic is an explosive device, whereas the bomb that was linked to was an incendiary one, i.e. it was probably the wrong bomb. I imagine Wednesday's comic will be Mort waking up, but in the ROTD? or with Jones? or in the Court? And will he have his sheet over his head already? |
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Post by philman on Mar 17, 2014 18:25:03 GMT
Also, for those of you from Great Britain/Queen's English regions, is fuze the standard spelling there? I know it is an alternate spelling (we 'Mercans done spelled it "fuse"), but is that actually a British thing, or just an older spelling? As a subject of the queen (Gor' bless 'er), I was first going to say that Fuse is the normal spelling here too, I assumed Tom had gone with a german spelling or something given it was a german bomb. But doing a bit of googling, it seems that usually the "fuse" spelling is used for burning fuses, whereas "fuze" is used for mechanical or electrical fuzes in most english speaking countries, so I guess it's the same for both of us! |
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Post by exuberancium on Mar 17, 2014 18:32:58 GMT
Now taking bets one how many pages it takes for young Mort to die. My guess is next Wednesday, seven pages after the chapter title page. Off by one update. I'll take it. Technically, he's still alive in this page. He won't be after about 1 nanosecond, but he's still alive at that instant, so you are technically correct in your guess. |
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Post by nero on Mar 17, 2014 21:34:10 GMT
Glad this was presented calmly. Maybe we'll see why Mort chose/was given the opportunity to be a ghost by Friday.
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Post by warrl on Mar 17, 2014 21:40:18 GMT
That seems to be full of phosphorus, which would make it an incendiary device rather than an explosive bomb. i.e. it was designed to start fires rather than blow things up. These were indeed used a lot by the Germans bombing the UK, but usually alongside normal explosive bombs (Blow things up with the explosive bombs, then drop incendiary devices on top to start fires in the wreckage) The explosive bomb would create tinder... |
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Post by nightwind on Mar 17, 2014 21:49:00 GMT
Alas, poor Mort, we hardly knew ye... now we'll never see you ag-- oh, wait.
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Post by naldru on Mar 17, 2014 22:11:25 GMT
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Post by eyemyself on Mar 17, 2014 23:01:50 GMT
A strange game; the only way to win is not to play. How about a nice game of chess? Why not?
|♖|♘|♗|♔|♕|♗|♘|♖|
|♙|♙|♙|＿|♙|♙|♙|♙|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|♙|＿|＿|＿|__|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|
|♜|♞|♝|♚|♛|♝|♞|♜|
1. e2—e4 ... Black to move and send a PM, if anyone's interested
|♖|♘|♗|♔|♕|♗|♘|♖|
|♙|♙|♙|＿|♙|♙|♙|♙|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|♙|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|♟|＿|＿|
|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|＿|
|♟|♟|♟|♟|♟|＿|♟|♟|
|♜|♞|♝|♚|♛|♝|♞|♜|
1. e4 c7
2. ... |
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Post by thedoctor on Mar 18, 2014 4:27:25 GMT
Also, for those of you from Great Britain/Queen's English regions, is fuze the standard spelling there? I know it is an alternate spelling (we 'Mercans done spelled it "fuse"), but is that actually a British thing, or just an older spelling? As a subject of the queen (Gor' bless 'er), I was first going to say that Fuse is the normal spelling here too, I assumed Tom had gone with a german spelling or something given it was a german bomb. But doing a bit of googling, it seems that usually the "fuse" spelling is used for burning fuses, whereas "fuze" is used for mechanical or electrical fuzes in most english speaking countries, so I guess it's the same for both of us! Ok, that is too complicated for me...Guess it kind of makes sense, as a technical distinction though. I'd have thought they'd be switched; that the earlier spelling would be the one with the "z," a more phonetic spelling from before English spelling was standardized. Oh well... |
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Post by eightyfour on Mar 18, 2014 8:38:39 GMT
I assumed Tom had gone with a german spelling or something given it was a german bomb. Yes, in German we spell it with a "z", too: "Zünder". |
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Post by Xan on Mar 18, 2014 9:29:23 GMT
As a subject of the queen (Gor' bless 'er), I was first going to say that Fuse is the normal spelling here too, I assumed Tom had gone with a german spelling or something given it was a german bomb. But doing a bit of googling, it seems that usually the "fuse" spelling is used for burning fuses, whereas "fuze" is used for mechanical or electrical fuzes in most english speaking countries, so I guess it's the same for both of us! Ok, that is too complicated for me...Guess it kind of makes sense, as a technical distinction though. I'd have thought they'd be switched; that the earlier spelling would be the one with the "z," a more phonetic spelling from before English spelling was standardized. Oh well... Quoting Wikipedia: |
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Post by SilverbackRon on Mar 19, 2014 7:02:06 GMT
Only 110 lbs? Poo. I was hoping for something bigger. SC50 is the lower limit of Nazi air-dropped munitions.  " This picture immediately above gives the relative sizes of the bombs. From front to back are the 50k, the 250kg, the 500kg (in the wooden frame), the 1000kg (nicknamed by the Germans "Hermann") and the 1800Kg (nicknamed by the Germans "Satan"). The bomb right at the back appears to be a 50kg variant. " If Jones is going outside to "feel the might of their bombs" then she is going to be rather disappointed. "Oh crud, you only dropped a 50 kg bomb today? Come on, where are the big ones?" Still, the "mechanics of the Jones-bomb interaction" will be interesting for us nonetheless. |
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drdave
Junior Member
Posts: 99
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Post by drdave on Mar 19, 2014 8:17:46 GMT
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Post by freeformline on Mar 19, 2014 8:23:29 GMT
Simple bombs are reliable bombs. Reliable bombs are good bombs.
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Post by voiceofgrog on Mar 19, 2014 13:22:29 GMT
SC50 type bombs were filled either with powedered or cast explosives, the second possibility more likely. So, molten TNT or similar high-explosive (yes, it's safe to melt it) is poured into this metal shell, and just cools down to be a uniform solid. Pretty much what Xan said. For the bomb specifically asked by Tom this seems to be a decent reference: SC 50 BiThe filler is listed as: Cast TNT, Amatol or Trialen For an idea of what cast TNT looks like: Cast TNT BulkAnd if you want to see the devastation one of these small bombs can produce check out this video where they show the detonations for the SC 50 and SC 500: WW2 's German Bombs test 2Just thought I'd share what I found.  |
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Post by voiceofgrog on Mar 19, 2014 13:29:02 GMT
I learned something new today. The first bombs delivered to their targets by air were launched on unmanned balloons, carrying a single bomb, by the Austrians against Venice in 1849, during the First Italian War of Independence. (Info courtesy of Wikipedia, of course.) So about 90 years after that beginning, we have poor Mort's demise at the early stages of the Blitz, and 75 years after that we've gone both backwards and forwards in technology. Backwards in that we're using unmanned delivery systems again, and forwards in explosive power, although we now have made this more selectable/tailorable to the "mission". Fortunately many of the powers that be have recognized that indiscriminate mass bombing of civilians is unacceptable, and are using technology to limit casualties. Hopefully this trend will continue until we can figure out a way to settle our differences without killing each other. A strange game; the only way to win is not to play. How about a nice game of chess? The Japanese used balloon bombs during WWII. Although unsuccessfully. Link: Fu-Go |
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