There’s Still Time

Posted on by accordingtohoyt

Sorry, guys, still on the road, looking for a place to land.

Will hopefully do promo post later to hold you till tomorrow, but if not will do tomorrow.

Just want to remind you there’s still time:

http://davidjohnbutler.com/giveaways/five-books-may-giveaway/

Don’t burn anything down. If you get trolls please don’t bat them underneath the fridge when you’re done. That fridge is really heavy, and if we don’t get the troll out in time it will stink up the whole blog.

I’ll hopefully be back later today.

74 thoughts on “There’s Still Time”

      1. There is a whole lot of FL to choose from. It’ll take more work now than a year ago, but if you really want to go, FL has a lot to recommend it.

        Martin County near the northern part of the Everglades might be cheap, as it’s full of crackers last time I was there. Lovely people.

            1. Just r/ead a review of Starlink by someone living in upstate New York. Internet speed is decent, but you have to get the antenna mounted really high so its line of sight to the horizon isn’t blocked by anything. Even a single tree will cause your Internet connection to drop from time to time. The satellites Starlink uses aren’t geostationary: they’re moving through the sky, and at some point they’ll move behind a tree (from your antenna’s point of view). When that happens, the antenna is supposed to pick a different satellite to switch to, in a different part of the sky. Thing is, right now they haven’t launched anywhere near their complete set of satellites yet, so when the satellite you’re talking to gets low on the horizon and blocked by trees, the other satellites available are often also on the horizon and also blocked by other trees. The reviewer showed a screenshot of Starlink’s software saying “Your connection was obstructed by line-of-sight issues an average of 2 hours per day”.

              The amount of time your Internet gets obstructed by line-of-sight issues will diminish as SpaceX launches more satellites, because there will be far more times when your antenna can find an ubonstructed satellite. But right now, Starlink is only really good if you live on a flat plain where your roof is the tallest thing around. Then you can put the antenna on your roof and not get Internet drop-outs. But if you want your Internet to be on 24/7 and you live in a city, or where you can see any trees (or mountains) from your house, then Starlink isn’t your best option… yet. Give it another 6-12 months and it might be.

              2. One caveat on that review, the angle for line of sight required for upstate New York is a bit steeper than in Florida.

                1. Good point; I didn’t think of that. Though that would depend on which orbits the satellites they’ve launched so far have gone into. The image below from a 2018 news article shows that the satellites are orbiting at all kinds of different angles: some are equatorial, some at higher inclinations, and so on. So if SpaceX launched a lot of the inclined orbits first before the equatorial orbits, which seems likely given that they’re planning on selling beta-test service to North America before the rest of the world, then there might not be all that much difference between New York and Florida angles. It all depends on which satellites are where.

                  Mike Houst’s advice on building a really tall antenna tower is still a good one no matter where you live, of course. And the more rural you are, the more likely it is that Starlink is your best option (in big cities you may have a decent chance of fiber-to-the-home service being available), AND the more likely it is that you’ll be able to put up a tall antenna tower without some busybody telling you that local ordinances don’t allow it.

                  1. “a tall antenna tower without some busybody telling you that local ordinances don’t allow it.”

                    Depending on the definition of “tall”, the definition of “local” may be state and FAA. Something to check.

          2. The panhandle, especially near the west coast, might be cheaper. Or the western panhandle away from the shore. The problem with that northwestern “corner,” by the Gulf is that it’s where tropical storms like to make landfall. Go inland 20 or so miles and you’re more likely to get a windy rain storm, but a tropical storm is still not fun. West, near the Alabama border, might be cheaper, but one of the people on our current project was suggesting her area had started to go up.
            And summers can be brutal.

          3. Maybe Sevier county Tennessee? That’s where Karl Denninger went when he abandoned Florida so it must have pretty good internet available. It’s close to Knoxville so you could pop in on the blogfather on occassion.

            1. um…. we have WEIRD reasons for going where we are looking.
              I think I’ll reveal it after we move, because of the newly relocated hun’s dinner. But for now? nah.

              1. If the mystery location is Idaho or adjacent, drop me a line. I might know something about the place.

                But for some reason, I keep thinking that you’re going to land in Nebraska.
                I have no idea why.
                Utah should really lead the list, followed by Texas.
                The annoying part is trying to rationalize that feeling, and coming up with nothing. I mean, the Platte is lovely, but the novelty wears off after you cross it the first half-dozen times…

              2. Pensacola, FL is like San Diego 60 years ago. Replete with beaches, military bases, bars, and a few recalcitrant non-fad driven educational institutions, and, um, Matt Gaetz in Congress.

            2. That’s the area my husband and I are looking at, if we do decide to move north after my military retirement. Winters are warmer than the Midwest we grew up in, and the summers will be nicer than southern Mississippi.

              Assuming the coming solar minimum doesn’t change the calculus of that.

        2. Jax area is well below US average housing costs. And NW Florida is even cheaper — both with fine white sand beaches and few people most of the year.

      2. I’ve never been a cold weather person, so I finally made FL home. Have a couple of relatives here also. Love it that winter where I am doesn’t get down into my bones, like it did in NY, VA, and northern GA. 8 miles from nice beaches on Atlantic. Governor is awesome so far. Reasonable prices can be found but it takes time. Places I used to live are more expensive than where I am now.
        Drawback is no mountains.

        1. The climate is a really difficult transition for younger people who are used to temperate seasons (summer/fall/winter/spring) rather than tropical (rainy/dry). There’s an age line past which the climate is tremendously welcome, though, which accounts for our high senior population. 🙂

          1. We have some family in Florida, so I’ve been to the state a few times. And of course, you fly through Miami to get to South America. The thought of having to live in that land gives me the cold grue.

            But the people are absolutely lovely.

            2. If you set your A/C to 65, it’s going to be a shock to that system when you walk outside to 90. As for the gators, Messrs. Colt, Browning, and Glock helped level the playing field a bit 🙂

      3. I agree with Kathy L., there’s a lot of Florida to choose from. I suspect you’d find the high internet connectivity in 99% of FL, sez the guy in Alaska with his wood fired router.

        Seriously, the Florida I grew up in is long gone (Which is why I’ve raised my kids in Alaska.), but I suspect you could find what you want today there & at semi-reasonable prices.

        1. If you are willing to deal with the cold, I suspect South Dakota would be a reasonably priced landing spot.

          1. SD is not highly elevated, we have internet, but is damn cold in the winter.

            More cows than people, excepting Sioux Falls… We still have housing for sale, but not as much as normal for this time of year. Sioux Falls has multiple hospital systems, but has enough population to have its own criminal underbelly.

            Watertown has its own zoo. Brookings and Madison have universities, and are within an hour of Sioux Falls. Choices, choices.

        2. Yeah, my first response was ‘wait, we don’t have high speed internet?? We’re not on Mars or something.’ XD

          Having said that, the real estate market here is on FIRE. For obvious reasons.

          1. Yes, in general, a high priced market in FL. However I just did a quick Zillow search and found a lot of Florida properties listed at less than $200,000 including some less than ten grand. As Kathy said, it’s a big, and varied, state.

            Not as big as Alaska, of course. Grin.

          2. It’s on fire EVERYWHERE. America is in the middle of a great move, as people were released from 9-5 in offices.
            BUT FL is insane.
            As for high speed, we found more rural areas are hit or miss.

      4. Ya’ll’s prices are higher than Colorado’s now.

        Also all of the Florida Men stalking through the undergrowth.

        And the occasional storm that wipes everything (I say while living in tornadoland).

        1. …And earthquake, volcano, tsunami, and ice-storm land.. Over here. But OMG! Hurricanes!

          Heat, humidity, tropical bacteria fungi, and insect-born diseases, snakes, roaches, spiders… Oy!

          1. We also get more tornadoes per square mile than anywhere else in the US. They’re just smaller, on average. 🙂

          2. Mother-in-law was in Naples (seriously pricey) and Ocala area (didn’t used to be pricey maybe more so now). Big issues were with ants, darn things show up ANYWHERE it stays moist for a bit. And Outside its fire-ants, they’re a nightmare if you like gardening. She’s in VT now near her son. Basically I can’t recommend ANY of the New England states except perhaps NH. They’re too blue on average, though less so it you move away from any cities, MA, CT, and ME have effectively 1 party systems, NH flips back and forth, but is headed that way, VT is just frickin weird, though the imports from NYC and BOSTON are trending it bluer.

            1. I know. DIL is from New England, and Dan still has family there. The tragic thing is I love the land and the landscape and the people to an extent. BUT NOT the politics. no.

        2. The nice thing about recovering from tornadoes is that even with the BIG ones, the distance from “destruction” to “all infrastructure operating normally” is literally walking distance (as long as you are reasonably healthy); help is not far away.

      1. I lived in NC for seven years and SC for one. You can’t scare me with humidity. You can scare me with FLEAS. I’m deathly allergic to their bites. So I spent summers with my legs in raw flesh.

  2. Just signed up. Noticed that the answer to the qualification question was on the page in large type. Either you are trying to filter out morons, or bots, or the software requires a question, orrrr it is a legal requirement. May we know which?

      1. Moo. Fwiw, I thought I sent a pssoible Guest Post. Did it arrive? And if it…er…. needs work… let kniow, so as I can put back on the burner to simmer for a while…

        1. I got it. I haven’t had time to read it. Yes, it’s this crazy. Probably tomorrow, and I’m very grateful. (Probably tomorrow, even without reading, because I know Ox-quality is always pretty much good.)

      1. Use the light energy and find a new landing place. Good luck in your search.

  5. Oh, I was going to say just kick ’em out the back door like a rat; but whatever. (Did y’all see that crazy video from a few years ago when five or six college girls worked together to punt a rat out the front door of a house?)

    There’s a nice horsey looking place just down the road from my home church; two story brick, square columns (Georgian?), five acres of land, perhaps. The paperwork spider still has our old place tangled up mid-sale (no help there); but there’s signs that my cousin’s aunt old house is being fixed up (a nice bungalow).

      1. I used to tell a few, select passengers that if we had an engine problem, it was OK, because I have a glider pilot license as well so we’d still be legal. That usually brought chuckles and relaxing. I also compared light chop turbulence to a County Grade B road. Everyone knew what that meant, and again, relaxed. You gotta know your audience, though.

  7. So, if I may derail things, any thoughts on writing good game antagonists?

    Been sketching more ideas for the MMX fan game. The final boss has already been set by other games (in this case the stolen body of one of your comrades, which will actually work really well in the arc) and the guy behind it all is also set by other lore. (Basically, manipulative power hunger pure evil guy) but, for the majority of it, they aren’t going to be the main antagonist.

    This means, there needs to be another main antagonist, probably several*, actually, who are the face of the other side for most of the game’s story. Thinking key things are, they need to have an actual point to what they are doing.

    I’m thinking, in universe, they’d likely be, essentially, revolting against a government that became oppressive, and just pushed things too far. So I’m thinking the personalities probably should be a spectrum of past revolutioneries both failed and successful.

    Still trying to get my head wrapped around how to think about it.

    *The game profile is you have an intro, with no real boss, then eight levels with themed bosses. The themed bosses can have limited characterization; the theme and mechanics provide the interest.

    Then you have three floater bosses. These generally are a side quest, and are actively pursuing the player. These all should have some hook to them.

    Then each end cap has between 3-4 stages to them, each with some sort of boss, and the final boss who has been the main big-bad of the game.

    Finally, in a glorious case of scope creep, one of the issues in MMX games is that they are relatively short, so I’m thinking any good one, these days would need to be planned as a trilogy: basically have the full story arc go over three games. So, that would imply having the stories outlined before even doing the first one, so, there’s a *lot* of antagonists to sketch out.

    Thoughts? (I mean, beyond, I’m crazy. I’m pretty sure that’s the case…)

        1. The Meeple Mini Expansion (MMX) is a small expansion for the Green Box of Games.

          Best as I can decipher is it’s a on to 6 player gaming system (i.e. small multiplayer.)

        2. Mega Man X. It was a series of shooter platformer games that started on the Super Nintendo.

          The first few are fun, but the series stagnated. Also, every game you fight Sigma, over and over again. That worked for the first 3. By the eight one in the series, one wonders what it will take to kill him for good. An act of god, as it turned out.

          Unfortunately someone hijacked their artificial god, and things later got messy…

    2. What do your boss characters want? Bonus if there are two mutually exclusive things, one of which overlaps with what the hero wants. Until boss decides to repriortize for the sudden and inevitable betrayal.

      1. Power, freedom, vengeance.

        The true villian wants to use the synthetic God to enslave all reploids.*

        One of the revolt leaders is trying to destroy the humans before they can use the synthetic God to do that.

        One of the leaders simply wants vengeance on the main character for what they have done in the past.

        Freedom comes first. Vengeance second, Power 3rd.

        The floating optional bosses, the first are intelligence operatives. They think the player character has something they are looking for.

        The second floates are scavengers. They took something from the player character. They don’t fight to the death.**

        Not sure what the third floaters are yet.

        *Reveal at the end is Big Bad deliberately engineered this so he could get authorization to do just that.

        The main character’s objectives are to preserve humanity, preserve reploids, and recover the unknown thing a friend was killed for. (She makes him promise to find “it” but doesn’t get to telling him was “it” was)

        **This does mean I’m going to have to include the exchange:
        “Don’t kill me!”
        “Why shouldn’t I?”
        “I don’t know!”

          1. Or zealots, instead. Basically a robot Armageddon cult, that have decided that the main character is the thingy that’s in the way of whatever it is that they want.

  8. There’s always the Mega Man Zero games as the lapsed time sequel series. Ignore everything past X4 and skip to those instead for a retro good time.

    1. Huh, if I turn off (java)scripting for ATH (but NOT for wp & wordpress) I get the full edit-box back. Weeeeeird. And it still lets me post comments.

      1. Oh, you got the pencil thin comment box? I get that sometimes. Can you drag the bottom right corner to make it bigger?

        1. No. But now that you mentioned that, I realized that the icon/image in the box *is* a ‘box expander’ that is decidedly non-obvious (alright, ox sssllloowww). Useful. It works. Text typed does overflow the box, and some is cut off on the left, even at default magnification in browser. BUT..it IS a vast improvement over the damned half-line horror. Why only on THIS machine, no idea. I tried clearing settings, etc. And no gain. Yet, another machine running the SAME browser (same version) on the SAME OS (same version, same updates) has no issue. Seriously, WTH?

  11. Come to Eastern Kentucky. Good land,cheap cost of living and we do have high speed internet.The people do get a bit…clannish… if you go too deep into Appalachia though.

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