More intuitive spacetime interval

Space is Euclidean.  Spacetime is hyperbolic.  Why?  Because time is imaginary.

From the Wikipedia article on the spacetime interval:

There are two sign conventions in use in the relativity literature:

${\displaystyle {�}^2=(��{)}^2-{�}^2-{�}^2-{�}^2}$

and

${\displaystyle {�}^2=-(��{)}^2+{�}^2+{�}^2+{�}^2}$

Let us take the second convention and rewrite it to a more standard hyperbolic form:

    s2 = x2 + y2 + z2 – (ct)2

But, since time is imaginary, we can rewrite this to the Euclidean (Pythagorean theorem) form:  
    s2 = x2 + y2 + z2 + (cti)2

The result is the same.  The addition of i (the imaginary number, square root of -1), when squared, reverses the sign of the time component.  But this formulation shows exactly what is going on in this distance equation.  The Pythagorean theorem holds in space as well as spacetime, but spacetime is hyperbolic because time is imaginary.

There are no inconsistencies, there are no contradictions.  Every concept is simple, even if the math is complex.  It even helps show that time is at 90 degrees to every space dimension, because the imaginary number line lies at 90 degrees to the real number line.

QED

The Army needs this now.

The Army needs this now.  They don't need to study it for ten years, then spend ten years changing design specs, driving up the price before inevitably cancelling the program because the right palms didn't get greased.  Just buy a few thousand of the things, and issue them out two per maneuver company, 4 per battalion.

The Finns have had these for 15 years.  The Russians have had something similar for 50 years.  Our perfumed princes are just now "beginning to prepare to form a working group to write a white paper on the issue."

The Finnish Patria NEMO 120mm gun-mortar.  The system is really the turret, it's shown here integrated into a wheeled vehicle.  They can also put it on a tracked vehicle, a shipping container, or even a boat.

"Patria NEMO is a turreted, remote-controlled 120 mm mortar system for the needs of modern warfare and crisis management, which calls for mobility, protection, and accuracy. It is an indirect fire support system, but due to its direct fire capability, it can also be used for self-defence."

Elevation	−3° to +85°
Traverse	360°
Rate of fire	10 rounds/minute (max); 6 rounds/minute (sustained)

We need more indirect firepower than we have.  And it needs to be on call at the lowest possible level.  And we need assault guns to take out bunkers and concrete buildings.  

The NEMO can operate in urban terrain, placing 120mm mortar shells into the windows of a building, then dropping indirect fire on the intersection behind the building, then using direct fire to destroy an onrushing car bomb (VBIED).

The only thing it's missing is a machine gun.  But that's a problem that should be fairly easy to rectify.

New Monster Hunter: Memoirs novel!

Available now:  Monster Hunter memoirs:  Fever

Bought it yesterday morning.  Finished it yesterday afternoon.  Does it need more praise?

Cedar Sanderson's The Groundskeeper

 I've enjoyed everything Cedar has written so far.  If you're here, you probably will, too.  Give it a read.  You won't regret it.

Surprise Unexpected Enlightenment!

New Rachel Griffin book!

The long awaited sixth book of Unexpected Enlightenment has arrived in time for the anniversary of Rachel's arrival at the Roanoke Academy for the Sorcerous Arts.

CEO group think

 It's like these CEOs all know each other and share the same culture of stupidity and shamelessness.

The Unity video game engine has decreed that come January 1st, all games made with their engine will have a new contract enforced retroactively, and that the developers will owe Unity a fee for every download (ever) of any game made with their engine.

The current CEO of Unity is the former CEO of Electronic Arts, who was fired for running EA into the dirt at the time.  He's a graduate of Berzerkeley school of business, and apparently has a long history of being promoted from failure to failure.

As George Carlin said, "It's a big club, and you ain't in it."

Simple D&D melee stunts

House rule for simple melee combat stunts in a D20 system. After making the attack roll:

Succeed: Disadvantaged damage and stunt, or normal damage.

Succeed by 5: Normal damage and stunt, or advantaged damage. Succeed by 10 (crit): Advantaged damage and stunt, or doubled damage.

Fail: No effect. Fail by 5: Take disadvantaged damage from opponent. Fail by 10 (fumble): Take normal damage from opponent. Bosses (and PCs) could deal disadvantaged damage and a stunt instead.

Advantaged roll: Roll two dice, take the better. Disadvantaged roll: Roll two dice, take the worse.

Bonus idea: armor damage reduction

If you want armor to reduce damage instead of (or in addition to) making the target harder to hit, do not use a static number for the armor. Roll for it, just like for the weapon damage. Shields add an extra armor roll. (Shields should be more useful in games than they usually are.)

Option 1 (math, less deadly): Subtract the armor roll from the weapon roll. If the armor equals or exceeds the weapon, no damage is taken.

Option 2 (no math, more deadly): Compare the rolls. If the weapon roll is higher, the target takes the damage.

If you really want to get crunchy with this, you could add skill dice to either or both sides of the combat. Add terrain and range dice for defending against a ranged attack. Use your imagination. You could even use this system in place of making separate attack and damage rolls. (h/t: Into The Odd)