The Internet Book Database of Fiction

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:

voralfred wrote: ...
Note the "whatever bastard Cyrillic". Adding one special letter to the cyrillic alphabet for the sound "w" would not be impossible. Already one should realize that the cyrillic used in Russia, Ukraint and Serbia are not identical. However many letters for sounds close to "ee" exist in russian cyrillic, there are even more in ukrainian and serb cyrillic alphabets !
...

EEK!

(transcribed from Ukrainian cyrillic script with Serb punctuation)

Do you mean ИК, ЙК, ЍК, И̃К, ӤК, IК, ЇК or ЫК ?

(Incidentally, Belarussian cyrillic uses Ў to represent the sound "W")

New page, hence new need for orchestrali's quote

orchestrali wrote:

"I was so afraid for you, I forgot to be afraid for your enemies."

Book?
Who is speaking?
Who is listening?
What caused the speaker's fear?

Hmmm, I am bad at coming up with bonuses and we've already got a few running, so that's it!

orchestrali wrote:EPS - Yup! Martya and Miles are talking about Delia and Duv in Memory. That's half a after I finish this post.

Here's the next quote:

"I was so afraid for you, I forgot to be afraid for your enemies."

Book?
Who is speaking?
Who is listening?
What caused the speaker's fear?

Hmmm, I am bad at coming up with bonuses and we've already got a few running, so that's it!

Book? Barrayar
Who is speaking? Aral
Who is listening? Cordelia
What caused the speaker's fear?
Aral was afraid for her while she was attempting a crazy raid on the Imperial Residence to get back Miles' replicator, but he forgot to be afraid for Vordarian, until his head fell out of a shopping bag.

Indeed. Floor's yours, voralfred.

Sorry I couldn't confirm earlier; I was at a festival away from the internet this weekend!

"What the hell are you doing?" said the one in tan coveralls, sounding outraged.
"Quality control inspection," said XXX glibly, "and boy, do you have a problem."

Book?
XXX?
What is the quality problem?

I remind you of a bonus for references to "ulcer" in the Saga. The original quote was in Vor Game and other references to that ulcer in the same book don't count. The place in Mountains of Mourning where Miles mentions hereditary ulcers in his family has been found by orcheparilla err… salsastrali... hmm, has been found already, but I know of at least two more.

voralfred wrote:

"What the hell are you doing?" said the one in tan coveralls, sounding outraged.
"Quality control inspection," said XXX glibly, "and boy, do you have a problem."

Book?
XXX?
What is the quality problem?

Book? The Vor Game
XXX? Miles
What is the quality problem? none, Miles just bluffs there is one to explain his presence.

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:

voralfred wrote:

"What the hell are you doing?" said the one in tan coveralls, sounding outraged.
"Quality control inspection," said XXX glibly, "and boy, do you have a problem."

Book?
XXX?
What is the quality problem?

Book? The Vor Game
XXX? Miles
What is the quality problem? none, Miles just bluffs there is one to explain his presence.

Hmmmmm....
Two out of three....
I'll give you the next quote, but only half a sherlock for the time being.
There is a quality problem. The second half of the sherlock will go to whomever posts it first (you still have a chance if you beat everyone else to it).

Anyway the floor is yours !

voralfred wrote:

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:

voralfred wrote:

"What the hell are you doing?" said the one in tan coveralls, sounding outraged.
"Quality control inspection," said XXX glibly, "and boy, do you have a problem."

Book?
XXX?
What is the quality problem?

Book? The Vor Game
XXX? Miles
What is the quality problem? none, Miles just bluffs there is one to explain his presence.

Hmmmmm....
Two out of three....
I'll give you the next quote, but only half a sherlock for the time being.
There is a quality problem. The second half of the sherlock will go to whomever posts it first (you still have a chance if you beat everyone else to it).
Anyway the floor is yours !

If I have 2 out of 3, why don't I get 2 turds of a Sherlock instead of 1 half?


Anyway, the question is moot as, opposed to my first answer, I went to look it up and found it.

The quality problem is: "The station's wall panelling is made of flammable material instead of fireproof as required for a military installation!"

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote: If I have 2 out of 3, why don't I get 2 turds of a Sherlock instead of 1 half?

Anyway, the question is moot as, opposed to my first answer, I went to look it up and found it.

The quality problem is: "The station's wall panelling is made of flammable material instead of fireproof as required for a military installation!"

In fact I anticipated your question and I have an answer ready.

The easy answer is, there are no such thing as a 1/3
But the full answer is much more complicated.

The reward for a correct answer consists of two parts of equal value :
a) the right to ask the new quote : an atom of value 1/2
b) a full , of total value 1/2, but itself composed of two atoms, a half each of value 1/4 each.

Since you answered 2 points out of 3 you deserved 2/3 of the reward. But since I gave you the right to the next question, of value 1/2 of the reward, you only deserved 2/3-1/2=1/6 of the reward in addition. That amounts to 1/3 of a or 2/3 of a half
By granting you a full, atomic, half , I gave you in fact more than what you deserved namely 2/3 of a half , and instead of smileying angrily at me

you should have been extremely grateful !



This discussion is all the more uninteresting that the question is now moot, since you answered the last 1/3 of the question. Note, however, that if someone else had given the answer, this third party would have been justified in
ing me !

Indeed, 1/3 of the answer should deserve 1/3 of the full reward, or 2/3 of a , or 4/3 of a half , but I had only exactly one atomic half to give that third party, depriving her/him of 1/3 half , 1/6 of a full or 1/12 of the total reward.
You, on the other hand, are not allowed to do so, since this deperdition exactly compensates what you already received in excess....

Errr... hmmmm...

What is not moot is that we are eagerly waiting for your next question !

In Shards of Honor Cordelia and Aral had to defend against a flock of airborne balloon-like creatures.

Without checking in the book, what gas provided bouyancy to the creatures?

1. Helium, He
2. Hydrogen, H2
3. Carbon dioxide, CO2
4. Methane, CH4
5. Hot air

Bonus: The creatures are similar to what marine denizens (on Earth)?

That would be number 2, Hydrogen, of course! Those darling chemistry sets. Dunno about the bonus.

orchestrali wrote:That would be number 2, Hydrogen, of course! Those darling chemistry sets. Dunno about the bonus.

Yes, you're stung. I mean, you're right and you're up again.

The bonus (which had an indirect hint) is fair game for everyone.

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:

orchestrali wrote:That would be number 2, Hydrogen, of course! Those darling chemistry sets. Dunno about the bonus.

Yes, you're stung. I mean, you're right and you're up again.

The bonus (which had an indirect hint) is fair game for everyone.

I know the answer but I'll wait the end of my 5-days exclusion before answering. I'm itching to answer, it is even stronger than just an itch… Other players, beware!

voralfred wrote:

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:

orchestrali wrote:That would be number 2, Hydrogen, of course! ...

I'm itching to answer, it is even stronger than just an itch… Other players, beware!

I know you like explaining things (like the good Dr. Isaac Asimov used to do).

So please, in passing, also tell us why molecular hydrogen gas, H2, at the same pressure and temperature as Sergyar's atmosphere, is the one and only gas that can provide boyancy to airborne living creatures.
(I assume that deuterium and tritium are too rare to be used by living organisms.)

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:

voralfred wrote:

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:

orchestrali wrote:That would be number 2, Hydrogen, of course! ...

I'm itching to answer, it is even stronger than just an itch… Other players, beware!

I know you like explaining things (like the good Dr. Isaac Asimov used to do).

So please, in passing, also tell us why molecular hydrogen gas, H2, at the same pressure and temperature as Sergyar's atmosphere, is the one and only gas that can provide boyancy to airborne living creatures.
(I assume that deuterium and tritium are too rare to be used by living organisms.)

Well, in fact, LMB decided it had to be molecular hydrogen H2. However, your proposal of methane CH4 was quite interesting. Methane is much easier for living organisms to produce than molecular hydrogen. Just ask cows (or, rather, their intestinal flora)! It is flammable, maybe not quite as explosively as H2, but enough to destroy the creatures if a live flame is brought in contact with them, so Aral and Cordelia could still have disposed of them the same way. And its buoyancy is just about half that of H2 : at any given temperature and pressure, the respective buoyancy of various gases is proportional to 29 (mean molecular mass of air, on Earth but also probably on Sergyar) minus the molecular mass of the gas under consideration, 29-16=13 for CH4 vs 29-2=27 for H2. This reduction, however, is more than compensated, IMHO, by the ease to produce methane versus the huge metabolic cost of producing hydrogen.
Helium is almost as buoyant as H2 (29-4=25 vs 27) but is very rare, and hard for living organisms to separate out of air. Separating isotopes like deuterium or tritium out of natural hydrogen (which contains a little deuterium and very, very little radioactive tritium) is almost impossible for living organisms and what would be the point? Besides CH4, the only gas with significant buoyancy I can think of is ammonia NH3, but it is harder to make than CH4 (though easier to produce than H2) but, more importantly, it has a strong affinity for water, so it would tend to dissolve into the creatures tissues instead of filling a cavity as CH4 would. At higher temperature, there is water vapor, of course, but then the beasties would have to be boiling ! So I'd say, CH4 would have been my choice. But then, I did not write _SoH_... !

voralfred wrote: Well, in fact, LMB decided it had to be molecular hydrogen H2. However, your proposal of methane CH4 was quite interesting. ...

Thank you.

All right, new quotation:

"I think you all underestimate her. Your excessive tenderness insults both her intelligence and will."

Book?
Who is speaking?
Who was underestimated?
Who did the underestimating? ("you all"—several people, don't have to give them all)

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:In Shards of Honor Cordelia and Aral had to defend against a flock of airborne balloon-like creatures.

Without checking in the book, what gas provided bouyancy to the creatures?

1. Helium, He
2. Hydrogen, H2
3. Carbon dioxide, CO2
4. Methane, CH4
5. Hot air

Bonus: The creatures are similar to what marine denizens (on Earth)?

Cordelai compares these floating beasties to jellyfishes (also, a bit later, to vampires , but the latter are not marine denizens). Sting, itch.. ouille-ouille-ouille..

Let's not forget the new quote :

orchestrali wrote:All right, new quotation:

"I think you all underestimate her. Your excessive tenderness insults both her intelligence and will."

Book?
Who is speaking?
Who was underestimated?
Who did the underestimating? ("you all"—several people, don't have to give them all)

voralfred wrote:

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:Bonus: The creatures are similar to what marine denizens (on Earth)?

Cordelai compares these floating beasties to jellyfishes (also, a bit later, to vampires , but the latter are not marine denizens). Sting, itch.. ouille-ouille-ouille..

Another bonus point (½ Sherlock) to you, Voralfred.

BTW. Before going on a trip involving the sea and swimming in it, it might be worthwhile boning up on sting treatment.

It appears to be time for an expansion. However, all of my books are packed in a suitcase because I am moving shortly, so I think I will just provide a hint instead.

"I think you all underestimate her. Your excessive tenderness insults both her intelligence and will."

Book?
Who is speaking?
Who was underestimated?
Who did the underestimating? ("you all"—several people, don't have to give them all)

The person who was underestimated only appears in two books.

orchestrali wrote:It appears to be time for an expansion. However, all of my books are packed in a suitcase because I am moving shortly, so I think I will just provide a hint instead.

"I think you all underestimate her. Your excessive tenderness insults both her intelligence and will."

Book?
Who is speaking?
Who was underestimated?
Who did the underestimating? ("you all"—several people, don't have to give them all)

The person who was underestimated only appears in two books.

Book? : Mountains of Mourning
Who is speaking? : Miles
Who was underestimated? : Harra
Who did the underestimating? ("you all"—several people, don't have to give them all) : Essentially all the people of Sylvy Dale, mostly Speaker Karal, Harra's mother in her twisted way, all the old people….

Yep. You're up, voralfred. Though I would say in addition to Speaker Karal, Lem is another person Miles is particularly speaking to when he says "you all" underestimated Harra.

orchestrali wrote:Yep. You're up, voralfred. Though I would say in addition to Speaker Karal, Lem is another person Miles is particularly speaking to when he says "you all" underestimated Harra.

Thanks. But I beg to disagree : I don't think that Lem underestimated Harra. But there were things he did not want her to learn from his own mouth, and that makes a lot of sense.

Anyway, the new quote

"Was that real?"
"Well --it' a little irregular. But from what I've read of our history, I can't help feeling it's closer to the original than the official version."

Book ?
First speaker ?
Second speaker ?
What is "it" ?

voralfred wrote:

"Was that real?"
"Well --it' a little irregular. But from what I've read of our history, I can't help feeling it's closer to the original than the official version."

Book ? Civil Campaign
First speaker ? Ekaterin
Second speaker ? Miles
What is "it" ? His story about a bunch of Cetagandan scalps.

E Pericoloso Sporgersi wrote:

voralfred wrote:

"Was that real?"
"Well --it' a little irregular. But from what I've read of our history, I can't help feeling it's closer to the original than the official version."

Book ? Civil Campaign
First speaker ? Ekaterin
Second speaker ? Miles
What is "it" ? His story about a bunch of Cetagandan scalps.

No, sorry. Almost all the answers are wrong, only one is correct but that does not count, looks more or less random... (or, let us say, almost tautological).