Fanfic Helpdesk: Technical and Scientific Help for Writers

[Whytewytch]

That's what I'm going to try to find out.

Good luck!

Spoiler:

I am off to get ready for pre-Easter dinner at my in-laws' house. Happy Easter!

[mathpiglet]

I'm not sure if this is the place for this question, but I'll give it a try.

In the Atlantis episode Before I Sleep Janus simply calls a ZPM a power device. Does anyone know if there is an accepted Ancient term for this device? Or should I invent one?

Thanks for a laugh! Yeah, power source is kind of bland, but Crystal Tower of Power is too over the top! For now I'm going with 'potentiam' which is the Latin word for power.

This question got kind of lost. Any ideas?

[thekillman]

the ancients call it a potentia (Brotherhood)

[mathpiglet]

I'm not sure if this is the place for this question, but I'll give it a try.

In the Atlantis episode Before I Sleep Janus simply calls a ZPM a power device. Does anyone know if there is an accepted Ancient term for this device? Or should I invent one?

Thanks for a laugh! Yeah, power source is kind of bland, but Crystal Tower of Power is too over the top! For now I'm going with 'potentiam' which is the Latin word for power.

the ancients call it a potentia (Brotherhood)

Thanks! My word was really close, but I'll use potentia!!!

[StargateWatcher]

Thank u SO MUCH for startin this thread. Goodness knows I could use this feedback from this thread's users. I'm much stronger at humanities/social sciences than engineering/natural sciences but love incorporating science and tech in my fanfics so will try n use ur thread to verify facts to make it as realistic as possible.

[SF_and_Coffee]

I'm glad you like it. May I make one suggestion? It's a lot easier to read and respond to someone's posts if they actually type words out completely instead of relying on textspeak like "n" and "ur". Trust me, you really are likely to get better responses around here if you do.

That said, welcome!

[Feast of the Muse]

I'm glad you like it. May I make one suggestion? It's a lot easier to read and respond to someone's posts if they actually type words out completely instead of relying on textspeak like "n" and "ur". Trust me, you really are likely to get better responses around here if you do.

That said, welcome!

I second this - if I have trouble understanding what you're writing I'm very likely to skip over the post entirely. (I don't understand chatspeak, nor will I spend time trying.) But I'm glad you've found the thread.

[Whytewytch]

Hey, y'all. Anyone else besides myself and Feast watch Sanctuary? I have plot bunnies biting my ankles, but Henry is my go-to character, with Nikola right behind him. Unfortunately, these two are very technical-minded and I'm happy I can throw around words like "HTML" and "DDos". The story is in slooowww progress, as I have two or three unfinished fics in other fandoms (two SGA, one RH BBC), but when I get going, I'd like to rely on the techies for help.

[thekillman]

since i don't care about arrogance, i'd say i'm good at tech and science.

so blast it away. i love a good thinking exercise

[Choo1701]

since i don't care about arrogance, i'd say i'm good at tech and science.

so blast it away. i love a good thinking exercise

Okay, so whats the meaning of the life, universe and everything else?

[SF_and_Coffee]

Oh come on, everyone knows it's forty-two.

Or chocolate. Take your pick.

[Skydiver]

Okay, so whats the meaning of the life, universe and everything else?

42

[SF_and_Coffee]

Or chocolate.

[Whytewytch]

since i don't care about arrogance, i'd say i'm good at tech and science.

so blast it away. i love a good thinking exercise

Rodney? Rodney McKay? Is that you? LOL! Just kidding, TKM. I appreciate you volunteering. It may be a few weeks, possibly months, however, before I have specific questions. Just putting out a general call in case I need Sanctuary-specific tech help. For example, if Henry needs to re-boot security or something at the Sanctuary, maybe only in the SHU. What terms would he use to do that? In Hangover, he used a term I am unfamiliar with and will have to watch the ep again (oh, darn!) to remember what it was. But while I have all my lovely techies--what the hey is the ethernet? What's the difference between that and the internet? Keep it simple--remember, short bus to tech school! (Ok, I was truant more than present--) Oh, and are there terms that are different in Canada? I think Britain uses interweb instead of internet, for example.

Oh, and if you ran security systems for a cutting-edge facility that housed both dangerous and friendly abnormals (sentient non-humans) & had an unlimited budget & government backing/blessing, what would you expect to find in your office/lab/armory? What would you dream of having? I'm talking both offensive and defensive things--from computer systems to weapons, tracking devices, etc.

Same question to the medical people?

[Whytewytch]

Or chocolate.

Dark, rich chocolate, drizzled over ripe, red strawberries... Mmmm...