http://www.Novembershift.com November Shift Web comic en-us http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/Novah/NS/page37.jpg http://www.novembershift.com Welcome to the world of November Shift! I launched this Thursday, August 6th, 2009 with a 7 page prelude chapter. If you haven't already, hit the << to start at the beginning! <br><br> November Shift will update every Thursday night at first, possibly more frequently somewhere down the line! Come back next Thursday for the start of Book 1! <br><br> Many of the pages linked to via the navigation bar at the top of the page do not currently have content (such as "Cast"). These pages will be updated in the coming weeks as you meet the cast and discover more about the November Shift universe. These updates will be announced in this Shift Report area, as well as on the <A Href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift">Twitter</A>. <br><br>Check out the "About" page now, though, for a few more notes about the comic! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-05 21:00:00 UTC /frontpage/1 /frontpage/1 Welcome to the world of November Shift! I launched this Thursday, August 6th, 2009 with a 7 page prelude chapter. If you haven't already, hit the << to start at the beginning! <br><br> November Shift will update every Thursday night at first, possibly more frequently somewhere down the line! Come back next Thursday for the start of Book 1! <br><br> Many of the pages linked to via the navigation bar at the top of the page do not currently have content (such as "Cast"). These pages will be updated in the coming weeks as you meet the cast and discover more about the November Shift universe. These updates will be announced in this Shift Report area, as well as on the <A Href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift">Twitter</A>. <br><br>Check out the "About" page now, though, for a few more notes about the comic! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-06 21:00:00 UTC /frontpage/2 /frontpage/2 Welcome to the world of November Shift! I launched this Thursday, August 6th, 2009 with a 7 page prelude chapter. If you haven't already, hit the << to start at the beginning! <br><br> November Shift will update every Thursday night at first, possibly more frequently somewhere down the line! Come back next Thursday for the start of Book 1! <br><br> Many of the pages linked to via the navigation bar at the top of the page do not currently have content (such as "Cast"). These pages will be updated in the coming weeks as you meet the cast and discover more about the November Shift universe. These updates will be announced in this Shift Report area, as well as on the <A Href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift">Twitter</A>. <br><br>Check out the "About" page now, though, for a few more notes about the comic! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-06 21:00:00 UTC /frontpage/3 /frontpage/3 Welcome to the world of November Shift! I launched this Thursday, August 6th, 2009 with a 7 page prelude chapter. If you haven't already, hit the << to start at the beginning! <br><br> November Shift will update every Thursday night at first, possibly more frequently somewhere down the line! Come back next Thursday for the start of Book 1! <br><br> Many of the pages linked to via the navigation bar at the top of the page do not currently have content (such as "Cast"). These pages will be updated in the coming weeks as you meet the cast and discover more about the November Shift universe. These updates will be announced in this Shift Report area, as well as on the <A Href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift">Twitter</A>. <br><br>Check out the "About" page now, though, for a few more notes about the comic! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-06 21:00:00 UTC /frontpage/4 /frontpage/4 Welcome to the world of November Shift! I launched this Thursday, August 6th, 2009 with a 7 page prelude chapter. If you haven't already, hit the << to start at the beginning! <br><br> November Shift will update every Thursday night at first, possibly more frequently somewhere down the line! Come back next Thursday for the start of Book 1! <br><br> Many of the pages linked to via the navigation bar at the top of the page do not currently have content (such as "Cast"). These pages will be updated in the coming weeks as you meet the cast and discover more about the November Shift universe. These updates will be announced in this Shift Report area, as well as on the <A Href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift">Twitter</A>. <br><br>Check out the "About" page now, though, for a few more notes about the comic! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-06 21:00:00 UTC /frontpage/5 /frontpage/5 Welcome to the world of November Shift! I launched this Thursday, August 6th, 2009 with a 7 page prelude chapter. If you haven't already, hit the << to start at the beginning! <br><br> November Shift will update every Thursday night at first, possibly more frequently somewhere down the line! Come back next Thursday for the start of Book 1! <br><br> Many of the pages linked to via the navigation bar at the top of the page do not currently have content (such as "Cast"). These pages will be updated in the coming weeks as you meet the cast and discover more about the November Shift universe. These updates will be announced in this Shift Report area, as well as on the <A Href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift">Twitter</A>. <br><br>Check out the "About" page now, though, for a few more notes about the comic! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-06 21:00:00 UTC /frontpage/6 /frontpage/6 Welcome to the world of November Shift! I launched this Thursday, August 6th, 2009 with a 7 page prelude chapter. If you haven't already, hit the << to start at the beginning! <br><br> November Shift will update every Thursday night at first, possibly more frequently somewhere down the line! Come back next Thursday for the start of Book 1! <br><br> Many of the pages linked to via the navigation bar at the top of the page do not currently have content (such as "Cast"). These pages will be updated in the coming weeks as you meet the cast and discover more about the November Shift universe. These updates will be announced in this Shift Report area, as well as on the <A Href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift">Twitter</A>. <br><br>Check out the "About" page now, though, for a few more notes about the comic! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-06 21:00:00 UTC /frontpage/7 /frontpage/7 <i>8/13/09</i><br><br>And with this page, <i>Book One: Roll Call</i> begins! <br><br> A few updates:<br> To the right, I've linked the brand new Facebook "fan page" as well as the Twitter, and in the "Extras" page on the navigation bar, I've included several buttons for your use if you want to link back to November Shift! Word of mouth is the best way for me to reach people, and every tweet, status, or other mention of NS leads people here who might never have come upon the comic otherwise. (: Thank you to everyone who has spread the word! <br><br> Tune back in next Thursday for the next page! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-12 21:00:00 UTC /frontpage/8 /frontpage/8 <i>8/20/09</i> <br><br> The best and worst things about creating anything science fiction-y are at once the same - deciding what the world will look like at your decided-upon point in the future. Seriously, everything from clothes to elevators = intense thought process and decision-making. One of the things I'm really trying to do with November Shift is extrapolate forward from current trends and theories, as well as mix in a few new ones. I don't expect the world to turn out exactly or in any major way like my vision, but I want it to be one of many possible futures. <br><br> The site's slowly but surely getting filled in - the navbar pages now have a more complete design and will have more content coming in the next few weeks! <br><br> School's getting started back up again, and I hope that everyone's summer is wrapping up nicely! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-21 00:54:42 UTC /frontpage/9 /frontpage/9 <i>8/27/09</i> <br><br> In case anyone is curious what Simon is getting himself into (quite literally), I suggest that you look into <a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/light-propulsion.htm" target="_blank">light propulsion</a>...the hope was once (and still is) that we could use lasers to launch small vessels into orbit and beyond, creating a far more efficient and lighter way of getting people and supplies into space. <br> <br> However, the primary company that had been working on developing "lightcraft", Lightcraft Technologies, Inc., seems to have disappeared into internet oblivion after conducting several small scale tests around 99-00, such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtH-SxqdtaA" target="_blank">this awesome demonstration</a> (try around 1:40 for the real action). The CEO, Dr. Myrabo, is a <a href="http://www.eng.rpi.edu/soe/directory_faculty_details.cfm?facultyID=myrabl" target="_blank">professor at Rensselaer</a> and appears to be continuing his lightcraft research, but sadly the RPI Aero Lab's site is <i>also</i> down for maintenance. Guess I'll just have to wait for his book to come out! <br><br> In the meantime, however, I've decided that lightcraft are an excellent transport device for the future world of November Shift, and where exactly they are transporting Simon, you'll find out soon enough (: novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-08-27 04:49:37 UTC /frontpage/10 /frontpage/10 <i>9/3/09</i> <br><br> My laptop (a Toshiba Satellite) was fitted with its <i>fifth</i> motherboard this afternoon just in time to make today's update! (It was fitted with its fourth yesterday. Go figure.) Pretty much everything in the computer has been replaced at LEAST once, save for the HDD, the CD/DVD Drive, the LCD, and the case. That's it. Seriously. Oh, and I suppose the fans are the originals, though they could probably use replacing too. I can say this for Toshiba: their warranties are by far worth what you pay for, but they will spend thousands repairing your computer when a new one would have been a fraction of the cost. Ah well. <br><br> Happy travels, Mr. Lemoncelli. I really <i>do</i> hope you don't get motion-sick easily. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-09-04 01:03:54 UTC /frontpage/11 /frontpage/11 <i>9/11/09</i> <br><br> Special treat for y'all this week: a two page spread! Welcome to UAF Strongwater, Earth's premier cultural and engineering education and research implementation facility, accommodating civilian and military orbital interests since its establishment just before the turn of the century. Unfortunately, there seems to be a substantial amount of space junk floating around...and this isn't even the worst that the junk pollution gets! <br><br> Special thanks to everyone who helped me out the languages: S. Ponte, S.E Price, W. Clark, M. Adams, S. Ho, B. Durham, J.B. Albert, A. Klimas, A. Ponce-Young, C. Wideman, D. Munoz, K. Greenstreet, J. De Oliveira, M. McGibney, H. Bancroft, L. Berlin, D. Hendrick, A. Nallathambi, D. Gahunia, S. Norris, B. Lambertus, D. Helferich, and from dA, holls, taconaco, kain-was-here, mafer, koschei-sigma, Eryslash, LilianG, Thyya, artemisrox, LadyDunmer, teaspoon00, rem-chan, Larptard, bornirritating, Angelus-Tenebrae, Tiuni, the-lest, Diddle-Diddle, YoukoKurama25, and Rainbow-potato. Phew! I couldn't have done this page without you! There were, of course, some variations of the translations, as well as the choices whether to compound constituent words or to take a literal definition or not...so I'm sure there will be some disagreement with what I did with them, but c'est la vie? <br><br> Also, this is your first glimpse of the second member of the November Shift, Sasha Sturmbauer. A closeup of her is <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/Novah/NS/sashacloseup.jpg">here</a> and will be stored in the Extras section soon! She's piloting a fancy little personnel retriever, propelled by several multi-axial ion engines, positioned to allow the greatest dexterity of movement, important when performing precision-heavy maneuvers like connecting with a lightcraft for towing. <br><br> Earth photo courtesy of NASA, which has such fantastic use policies. Thank you, NASA! (: novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-09-11 04:23:58 UTC /frontpage/12 /frontpage/12 <i>9/18/09</i> <br><br> If there's one thing I could be satisfied with never drawing again, it would be the lightcraft. Seriously. No more. It's gone for at least the foreseeable future. <br><br> This week's comic was the first to be broadcast via Livestream. Thanks to everyone who came by during the ten-hour marathon yesterday, and I'm sorry that the comic is going up a day late! Next week's will probably go up late as well, as Thursday will be my first free day to work on it. Thank you for your patience! As always, if I'm going to be late, I'll tweet about the delay. This will hopefully not be a usual problem. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-09-19 00:41:31 UTC /frontpage/13 /frontpage/13 <i>9/25/09</i><br><br> Hey, y'all - I thought for a while about this, and seeing as this week through about next Monday is packed with tests and other important Life Responsibilities (including the need to stay cracking on Most Every College Senior's Mission aka the quest to ensure that one has a gainful occupation next year), I decided to delay this week's page in progress until next Thursday. <br><br> I am saddened when other comic artists have to delay and I am doubly saddened to do it myself so early in the visible life of November Shift, but never fear; any time there is going to be a delay, I will tell you, and I will be back. No yearlong hiatuses with no word over here (: <br><br>I will also do my best to make it up to you by giving you something in the interim, this time a cast portrait that's been hovering hidden on my hard drive for a while, due to the fact that it is of an as-yet unintroduced character. I clearly need to learn to do these things in order, don't I? Enjoy, and I will see you back here next week, I hope! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-09-25 04:34:00 UTC /frontpage/14 /frontpage/14 <i>10/1/09</i><br><br> And NS is back with a new update! <br><br> I need your help! I'm in a photomanipulation contest where the judging is mostly based on how many comments my entry gets, so I'm asking my readers to please comment on <A HREF="http://twitpic.com/jmzcz">http://twitpic.com/jmzcz</A> as well as offering three random commenters CUSTOM digital drawings of <i>WHATEVER THEY WANT</i>. You have to have a Twitter account to comment, but it's super fast and easy, and hey, you could win art! <i>Please please please</i> comment; The Adobe software I could win would greatly update what I have and help me make NS even better! <br><br>Twitpic only shows 25 comments max right now, so don't worry if your comment doesn't show up; it'll still be counted! <3 <br><br> Note, you get a bonus entry into the prize drawing by advertising for me by retweeting or posting a journal or anything. (: <br><br> Also, the first pieces of November Shift guest art are up in the Extras page! Thank you so much, Tree and Throgmorton! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-10-02 07:17:32 UTC /frontpage/15 /frontpage/15 <i>10/9/09</i> <br><br> And so we meet a few more students! Here we have Jim Maloney and Wren Tacoma. <br><br> YAAAAAAAY, I won the comment contest that I linked to last week!!! I am fortunate to have won a lightning fast, Intel Corei7-powered laptop - November Shift will soon be rocked by it and CS4! <br><br>Thank you so much to everyone who pitched in and commented - I feel so lucky to have so many well-wishers (: I'll soon be working on the three free drawings from my little comment contest ...I first have to make sure I don't leave out any of the hundreds of people who commented or advertised for me! <br><br> Fall break is over, and it's starting to cool down. At least when it's cold out, I'm not constantly wishing I was outside instead of inside working, right? novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-10-09 06:02:16 UTC /frontpage/16 /frontpage/16 <i>10/15/09</i> <br><br> You know, I think I'll keep the identities of these two rascals to myself for the time being - no use in spoiling everything down here in the Shift Report! I will give you something for your trouble, though - meet Dr. Navid Naderi, Director of the Goddard School of Astronautical Engineering. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-10-16 05:14:56 UTC /frontpage/17 /frontpage/17 <i>10/21/09</i> <br><br> Congratulations, Mr. Sam Garner, you can do math! (Though I do commend him on his speed...) <br><br> If you haven't already seen on the <a href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift"><u>Twitter</u></a> (which is conveniently visible to the right of the Shift Report, though IE8 users may be having trouble viewing it), the <a href="http://www.novembershift.com/cast"><u>cast page</u></a> is live, with two cast cards up (one of which is brand new and never-before-seen!). <br><br> Yes, it's Wednesday - I thought I'd post a little early this week to commemorate the cast page launch (: I'm also still experimenting with comic styles (as I'm sure you can tell from the last several pages), so please bear with me as I try to find one I'm comfy with! <br><br> Also, this page is dedicated to my friend and classmate Emily, who really wants a roast beef sandwich and can't have one for 41 more days. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-10-22 02:39:06 UTC /frontpage/18 /frontpage/18 <i>11/5/09</i> <br><br> And here we are; the November Shift. My apologies for skipping last week - this page just dragged on for ages. As a bonus, a slightly larger version of this page can be seen <a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/Novah/NS/page19big.jpg"><u>here</u></a>. <br><br> <b>Important news</b>: I'll be taking a break from NS until December, now that this intro scene is done. All of my grad school and fellowship apps are due in the next few weeks, and I need to devote my attention to those. I will be drawing on coming NS pages if I have time, but this will take a little of the pressure off of me and hopefully allow me to build up somewhat of a backlog for when it starts up again. (After my apps are in though, I have a super long winter break to spend drawing!)<br><br> If you want notice of when NS updates, follow the <a href="http://www.twitter.com/novembershift"><u>Twitter</u></a> or subscribe to the RSS feed. Otherwise, just keep checking back! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-11-05 23:49:53 UTC /frontpage/19 /frontpage/19 <i>12/4/09</i> <br><br> And NS is back! Thanks to all of you for your patience, and I'm so glad to have the time to work on NS again - I just had my last class for the semester and my graduate school apps are going well. (: <br><br> So, there's tons to update you on!<br><br> First off, there's a bunch of new art in the Guest Art section under Extras, so you should definitely go and check that out. <br><br> Second, if you'd like a preview of Goddard's regular school attire, check out the charming Anita modeling it <a href="http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/3178/anitav.jpg"><u>here.</u></a> I can't wait to get to some different outfits...so much blue in the past few pages! <br><br> Third, I've been engaged in a <a href="http://nasawatch.com/archives/2009/11/creating-starfl.html"><u>great conversation</u></a> over at <a href="http://nasawatch.com/"><u>NASA Watch</u></a> about the future of education in science and engineering, especially oriented around future careers in space exploration (I'm Vines over there). If you have any thoughts on the matter, please post! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-12-04 18:05:21 UTC /frontpage/20 /frontpage/20 <i>12/10/09</i> <br><br> Some people were just born to tick other people off. <br><br> Ohhh, space food. Nothing like living in orbit to make you appreciate the variety of vittles here on Earth. For one thing, note that all of Lemon's spices are relatively macroscopic. It's likely that if he tried to bring something ground super-fine, like cinnamon, it would have been confiscated - the artifically-created gravity of Strongwater would grow weaker as one moves toward the center axis, making it likely that particulate could float around and clog air filters. <br><br> Speaking of space food, the lack of weightlessness on Strongwater would eliminate a lot of the current-day blandness of taste, but one can imagine that with such a wide array of people and preferences on board, it's hard to maintain supplies to cater to special tastes (even with hydroponic greenhouses on-board), and Lemon is <i>very</i> particular about his food. <br><br> I was shocked when I was first told that astronauts didn't actually eat the freeze-dried "Astronaut Ice Cream" that I loved to buy at my <u><a href="http://www.ncmls.org">local museum's</a></u> gift shop as a kid. I don't think I've eaten it in years as a result, my enthusiasm for it crushed. In fact, according to <u><a href="http://science.howstuffworks.com/space-food.htm">this awesome article on space food</a></u> at HowStuffWorks, <i>real</i> astronaut ice cream consists of <i>"a mixture of coconut fat, milk solids and sugar that is freeze-dried and compressed into cubes under high pressure. The cubes are coated in gelatin to prevent them from crumbling."</i> ...Gross. <br><br>A <u><a href="http://discovermagazine.com/2008/feb/just-how-nasty-is-space-food">hilarious review of space food</a></u> by Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune describes in detail the taste, texture and appearance of several space dishes, as well as how they manage to make even <u><a href="http://www.mreinfo.com">MREs</a></u> look easy and <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3N3x-XHJ-Q&feature=related"><u>appetizing</u></a>. I can see why Lemon might be a little concerned. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-12-11 04:10:43 UTC /frontpage/21 /frontpage/21 <i>12/21/09</i> <br><br> Hmmmm. Jackson Fox? Mintaka 19? Ring a bell? Now might be a good time to review the <u><a href="http://www.novembershift.com/frontpage/1">prequel</a></u>. <br><br> Livestreaming is always a ton of fun. Thanks to everyone who joined and chatted while I drew this week's strip! <br><br> Have a merry Christmas (or other happy holidays!), everyone! Travel safely. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2009-12-22 01:43:48 UTC /frontpage/22 /frontpage/22 <i>1/1/2010</i> <br><br> Boy, does that date feel weird to type. Happy new year, everyone, and may it be better than the last! <br><br> In the November Shift world, computing is completely tactile. As shown in previous pages, all mobile computing is in tablet form, with touch input, and "desktop" computers are more like "wall" computers, with the size of application widgets easily variable from very small to wall size, and several users can use a single interface at once for various purposes. I'll leave typing for the subject of a later page (or several) (; novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-01-02 05:08:41 UTC /frontpage/23 /frontpage/23 <i>1/18/10</i> <br><br> Don't forget to breathe, Sasha! <br><br> Sorry for the delay! I had a lot of messing around to do with this page before I was satisfied enough to put it up. I may be changing the update day from Thursday, also, since my schedule is a lot different from last semester, so update days may be somewhat variable until I figure out what day seems to work best. Keep checkin' back, either here or the Twitter (or subscribe to the RSS!) novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-01-18 05:53:53 UTC /frontpage/24 /frontpage/24 <i>2/12/10</i> <br><br> Hello again! I come bearing a two page spread (above) and lots of exciting news. <br><br> With regards to the comic, I dedicate this page to my own computational methods teacher, Dr. G(ustafson), who made me feel a lot better about programming on my first day of class freshman year by telling the class that it might be easier and less confusing to learn MATLAB if one <i>didn't</i> have Java experience. Granted, he was a lot nicer about it than Dr. Talowyn here, haha! As a fledgling engineering student, feeling like it was okay to not have a wealth of programming experience coming into college when a lot of my classmates did was much-needed encouragement. <br><br> Imagining computing a century from now is a virtually limitless activity...after all, in 1910, who could have envisioned a "computer" as we know it today? I've chosen, as I have tended to do in the past in November Shift, to extrapolate upon currently "new" science. Quantum computing is computing using logic elements based on the spin of an electron in a quantum state, which can be spinning "up", "down", or anywhere in between (as the spin switches from up to down). That's called the superposition of states and allows for nearly infinite programming possibilities. <u><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100205162953.htm">Research being done at Princeton</a></u> indicates that this is possible with one or two electrons, but it will take a lot more, hundreds, to do anything useful. <br><br> <b>Anyone with an Android phone</b>: November Shift is available as an application in the Android Market, and expect an update in the next few days that will include multitouch zoom and pan capabilities! Get November Shift updates on your phone in a gorgeous interface! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-02-12 18:11:16 UTC /frontpage/25 /frontpage/25 <i>3/23/10</i> <br><br> Another page, at long last! No rest for the weary, Lemon. No rest for the weary. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-03-24 03:45:06 UTC /frontpage/26 /frontpage/26 <i>5/20/10</i> <br><br> My, it's been a while since I was able to update! I graduated from college this past Sunday, so I'll be able to post regularly again this summer. Sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth for the last few months! <br><br> The star field photograph used is (c) http://our-universe.com/ novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-05-20 15:51:49 UTC /frontpage/27 /frontpage/27 <i>5/28/10</i> <br><br> He doesn't <i>try</i> to be late, he just...always is. ): Don't rub it in! <br><br> Jim's serious about wanting to explore every nook and cranny. He probably won't stop until he's been inside Director Naderi's closet. Let's hope he doesn't actually get that far. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-05-28 15:35:51 UTC /frontpage/28 /frontpage/28 <i>7/9/10</i> <br><br> It does kinda...just...look like an elevator, Jim. This better be good. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-07-10 00:15:57 UTC /frontpage/29 /frontpage/29 <i>8/17/10</i> <br><br> Lemon remains unimpressed. He is more than familiar with the concepts of angular momentum and centrifugal “force”. You better have somethin’ <i>real</i> special there, Jim. <br><br> I am beginning to believe that a course in Drawing Mechanical-Looking Things Adequately should be a requisite feature of a standard undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum. I personally had a small introduction to perspective and technical drawing in my freshman design class, which I considered surprisingly innovative at the time, but now I can’t understand how drafting isn’t a larger part of engineering education. I would expect most any job in the field would require some degree of it, which is more than can be said for some core curriculum subjects. <br><br> November Shift went live a year ago this month (August 6th, to be exact). Since then, about 32 pages have been posted (or the equivalent of; re: double page spreads). That’s not <i>terrible</i>, but I certainly can’t say that I’ve been updating weekly and definitely not always on Thursday. At some point soon, I suppose, I’ll remove the “Updates Thursday Nights” from the site description. All that aside, though, I am definitely continuing November Shift – if anything, I have more passion for it than ever and will hopefully take it in some interesting directions over the next year and the ones following it. Keep checking back! There will always be another page coming – eventually. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-08-18 02:40:08 UTC /frontpage/30 /frontpage/30 <i>10/6/10</i> <br><br> Windows, not stars. Strongwater is a big place! I can't help but wish the elevators <i>I</i> use every day had this ability... maybe I just need a buddy like Jim who is dedicated to figuring out every single little neat thing about my surroundings. <br> <br> With regards to Jim's liberal dosages of "Future Slang", I refer you to the <a href="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FutureSlang">TVTropes</a> article on the matter. I forget who it was, but some writer or another made a great point that if people from a hundred years ago were to listen in on a casual conversation today, chances are that they would understand less than half of the terms they heard off the bat, though intonation might betray meaning in some cases. I don't believe that it would be any different with regards to a conversation a hundred years from now, which is why you will notice some use of this trope in November Shift. (: <br><br> So ends my first month of graduate school! I'm taking an awesome satellite design class and it is twenty kinds of inspiring for NS...I just need to find the time to <i>act</i> on that inspiration. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-10-06 20:20:52 UTC /frontpage/31 /frontpage/31 <i>11/28/10</i> <br><br> Had to make sure I got in at least one update of November Shift in the month of November! <br><br> Sasha, you are the biggest hypocrite. The biggest. And Lemon, it's already too late. At least N Shift managed to get everyone here before the shift ended. O Shift is <i>still</i> looking for one of their students. <br><br> Metal texture from <a href="http://www.cgtextures.com/">CG Textures.</a> novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-11-29 05:07:52 UTC /frontpage/32 /frontpage/32 <i>12/9/10</i> <br><br> I'm not quite as much of aircraft nerd as I am a spacecraft nerd, but I make exceptions when it comes to the idea of suborbital fighter planes, manned or unmanned. The one Sam is admiring is unmanned, likely one that malfunctioned and was lost until Strongwater pulled it in. Seeing as the <u><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth-generation_fighter">"fifth generation" of fighter aircraft</a></u> is beginning now (or technically "began" in 2005 with the <u><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_F-22_Raptor">F-22</a></u>) and the <u><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_generation_jet_fighter">fourth generation</a></u> began around 1980, I'd say we have about another thirty years to develop <u><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar-absorbent_material">radar-absorbant materials</a></u> transparent in the visible spectrum, as depicted here. Plenty of time! (Since November Shift takes place in 2118, I’m sure they’ve also developed, as stated in the comic, <i>much</i> cooler things since.) <br><br> As for the fusion scramjets: scramjets are “Supersonic Combustion Ramjets”, engines with no moving parts that don’t require diffusion, or slowing of the intake air, at supersonic speeds in order to combust and provide thrust (like regular ramjets do). A fully functional scramjet would allow aircraft to fly above Mach 5 and hypothetically up to Mach 15 (aka insanely, insanely fast). A few caveats to their functionality on spacecraft: because they’re air-breathing engines, they would need to travel at suborbital altitudes, or within the region where the atmosphere is still relatively dense. Also, the vehicle has to have some alternative form of propulsion (rockets are used currently) in order to boost it to operational speed at about Mach 3 (when the flow into the combustor is subsonic). Since one of the advantages of a scramjet is its lightness, it is unfortunate to have to attach another system and heft along the mass of its fuel. This is why it would be great to have a renewable energy source on board…like <u><a href=”http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3294”>nuclear fusion.</a></u>. Fusion rockets in general would be fantastic, but the development of a lighter and smaller fusion reactor would unlock the possibility of nuclear power in space. <br><br> I suggest <u><a href=”http://www.popsci.com/military-aviation-space/article/2007-12/hypersonic-age-near”>Popular Science article</a></u> and <u><a href="http://alexjoy.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8421">this New Scientist article</a></u>, forum-linked since you need a subscription for their site, to learn more about scramjets and their current applications. <br><br> Textures courtesy of <u><a href=”http://www.cgtextures.com/”>CG Textures</a></u>. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-12-10 01:03:04 UTC /frontpage/33 /frontpage/33 <i>12/25/10</i> <br><br> Sasha = not a Christmas cookie scientist.<br><br> Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays, everyone! The next page is in the works, but I felt like continuing the tradition of a holiday November Shift picture (: First white Christmas here since 1947! novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2010-12-26 06:38:53 UTC /frontpage/34 /frontpage/34 <i>1/31/11</i> <br><br> Happy New Year! There's a lot of fun things in store for November Shift this year, especially regarding the comic's focus on orbital debris mitigation and removal. As always, thank you for reading, and stay tuned! <br><br> In case you need a refresher on what Jim means by his "low-grav license", check out his card on the Cast page, as well as <u><a href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/Novah/NS/pilottraining.jpg">this bonus sketch</a></u>. novshift@gmail.com (Gwendolyn Vines) 2011-02-01 02:28:31 UTC /frontpage/35 /frontpage/35