#Community Radio Programming
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bookishscrolls ¡ 6 months ago
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How to Build and Manage a Community-Centric Program Schedule for Your Community Radio Station
Creating a program schedule for your Community Radio Station (CRS) is like curating a reading list for a book club—it needs to be engaging, varied, and reflective of the interests of your members. For a CRS, your “members” are your community, and building a schedule that captures their attention and sustains their interest is key to success. A well-crafted program schedule doesn’t just ensure…
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shilohta ¡ 1 month ago
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I miss my radio show :(
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goatmilksoda ¡ 2 years ago
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Reject Spotify, embrace your weird, local community radio station.
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vvelegrin ¡ 1 year ago
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feeling like a Whole Person tonight despite feeling so tired that i could pass away. that's always nice! i don't care for the alternative (feeling so tired that i could pass away coupled with wanting to pass away).
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morningtonpeninsulanews ¡ 16 days ago
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Radio Westernport Officially Launches in Hastings, Giving the Region a New Voice
HASTINGS — Western Port has a new voice on the airwaves with the official launch of Radio Westernport, a community-driven online radio platform created by Atticus Health, in partnership with Mornington Peninsula Shire and Western Port Secondary College. The station, two and a half years in the making, was officially launched this week at its home base in Hastings. It provides locals with a space…
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jcmarchi ¡ 2 months ago
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Franklin.TV Powers Multi-Format Broadcasts with Facilis HUB16 Server and DaVinci Resolve
New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/franklin-tv-powers-multi-format-broadcasts-with-facilis-hub16-server-and-davinci-resolve/
Franklin.TV Powers Multi-Format Broadcasts with Facilis HUB16 Server and DaVinci Resolve
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Facilis’s recent article highlights Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio, and how they serve the 34,000 residents of Franklin, Massachusetts, with a full-spectrum community media operation. Founded in 2012, the organization started in a modest trailer and has since grown into a 5,000-square-foot multimedia facility complete with two TV studios, two radio studios, and even a professional kitchen set for culinary shows. Executive Director Peter Fasciano, a veteran of the broadcast industry, has overseen this transformation and continues to push for innovation across both television and radio.
Their media production demands are high, often generating up to 500 programs annually, which range from local interview shows to podcast-ready radio features. To keep this complex operation organized and efficient, Franklin.TV relies on a Facilis HUB16 server with 96TB of storage, directly connected to multiple Dell workstations running Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve. These systems handle everything from multi-cam TV footage and Zoom calls to full audio mastering and podcast editing. Each workstation connects via a dedicated 10Gb Ethernet line to the HUB16 for lightning-fast access to shared media.
The HUB16 also serves as a nearline archive for completed projects, allowing the lean team, just five full-time staff plus freelancers, to remain nimble while managing a heavy workload. The production team uses a streamlined “strip production” approach, recording up to five shows in one sitting and editing them over time for staggered release. Facilis has proven to be a rock-solid storage solution, and as Fasciano puts it, “We don’t have full-time IT—Facilis just works.” With scalable storage, strong support, and reliable uptime, Facilis helps Franklin.TV do more with less while delivering professional-quality community programming.
Learn more about Facilis below:
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meteorologistaustenlonek ¡ 5 months ago
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The best time to program your weather radio is when the current weather situation is quiet. We can help you do that! Find out more at wdef.com/weather
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reasonsforhope ¡ 3 months ago
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"A small group of activists assembled before dawn on a recent day in a South L.A. parking lot preparing to patrol the neighborhood. The gathering was not unlike what you see when police congregate in a parking lot preparing for a raid.
Only this time, the target was federal immigration agents.
The activists were from the Community Self Defense Coalition, which fights for immigrant rights. They were armed with two-way radios, bullhorns, and were trained to spot undercover vehicles from U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security.
The coalition formed in the wake of the second election of President Donald Trump and includes groups from across Los Angeles. They say their aim is to find ICE agents, alert the community to their presence using bullhorns, and drive them out of neighborhoods.
“They’re on our land. This is our territory,” said Ron Gochez of Unión del Barrio, which is part of the coalition. “Whatever they do here, they have to know they are going to meet an organized resistance.
“There is nowhere, there is no alleyway, no little corner of our city anywhere where an ICE raid can happen where we won’t know about it almost immediately,” he said.
An ICE spokesperson confirmed in a statement that agents have aborted at least one enforcement action “due to safety concerns brought on by protesters/bystanders.” The spokesperson declined to give his name “due to a heightened security risk to ICE employees.” ...
Tracking ICE
Last week, a high school history teacher, an ethnic studies instructor and a youth program leader were among the activists in South L.A. Nine people in three cars rolled into the darkened streets looking for ICE agents.
“We drive the streets of our neighborhood looking for anything suspicious,” said Gochez, a 43-year-old father and high school history teacher. "We start early in the morning because we know this is when ICE starts their operations.”
Gochez is a member of UniĂłn del Barrio, one of the members of the coalition.
UniĂłn del Barrio started the patrols in 2020 during a Biden Administration crackdown on unauthorized immigrants. The organization restarted the patrols over the past few weeks in response to the second Trump Administration.
On Wednesday, Gochez’s two-way radio crackled with the sound of a colleague checking in from another car on patrol.
“Copy. We are on Jefferson and Trinity. All clear,” she announced.
They looked for ICE vehicles – typically with heavily tinted windows, usually on an American made sedan or SUV, almost always with a cage in the back seat for detainees. Sometimes, the cars are parked sideways on a street in front of their target or grouped together in a grocery store parking lot.
Gochez said he and the other activists try to catch ICE agents in those lots as they gather before a raid.
“We try to catch them at that stage — that way we’re able to affect their plan and at the same time, we start alerting the community.”
When they find federal agents, they go into publicity mode.
“We go live on social media,” Gochez said. “We use our megaphone to alert the immediate community that ICE is present.”
In a recent Facebook Live post, Gochez can be seen speaking into a bullhorn across the street from where ICE agents appear to be conducting a raid.
“Everybody in this community, if you can hear me please do not come outside if you are undocumented,” he says on the video. “We have terrorists in our community.”
He implores people who are documented to come outside and support the protest.
Enforcing law vs defending community
Later, L.A. police officers confronted Gochez.
“We’re not interfering,” he told them.
“Yes you are,” responded an LAPD officer, who forced Gochez and the other protestors down the street.
The participation of city police officers appeared to violate L.A.’s sanctuary cities law, which prohibits police from cooperating or assisting ICE agents...
ICE backs off
As part of the coalition, UniĂłn del Barrio has trained people from more than 50 other organizations to engage in similar patrols, including The National Lawyers Guild, Jewish Voice for Peace and The Peoples Struggle San Fernando Valley, according to Gochez.
It's unclear how many conduct regular patrols like UniĂłn del Barrio does.
Gochez estimates his and other groups have intercepted ICE on about a dozen occasions. He said in some cases, ICE has backed off of a raid because of Unión del Barrio’s presence.
Cardona said ICE agents called off the raid when they were called out at the Target. “That one day, we knew we prevented several people from being detained and deported, their lives being uprooted.” ...
Union del Barrio urges people to use a text thread or to have some sort of a phone tree to alert each other about the presence of ICE in their neighborhoods. The group also has a hotline people can call if they spot ICE.
“We get calls from Uber drivers. We get calls from street vendors. We get calls from business owners and just everyday normal people who support the work that we do,” said Gochez, who refers to ICE detentions and arrests as the “kidnappings.”
“It is a kidnapping – no different from when they kidnapped Native Americans during the Indian Removal Act,” Gochez declared.
He said many of the calls to the coalition are false alarms, involving local agencies, like LAPD or the county Sheriff’s Department, conducting their own undercover operations. But the coalition is focused on the actions of federal immigration agents.
A new tactic
Experts said the tactic of patrolling for ICE is relatively new.
Mirian Martinez-Aranda, an associate professor of sociology at U.C. Irvine, said it lets members of immigrant communities know they are not alone.
“It's a new form in which immigrant communities and their supporters are finding a way to protect each other and to stand up for what's unfair and cruel,” Martinez-Aranda told LAist.
-via LAist, March 17, 2025
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delicatelysublimeforester ¡ 2 years ago
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Sustaining Nature, Amplifying Voices: CFCR's Community Connect Resonates across Saskatoon
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netripper ¡ 2 years ago
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throwback to when i still had my radio mod installed and after finishing the sinnerman questline this song played (days were golden - sunny day real estate if it doesn't load) while the sun came up
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was just driving like this the whole time
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sightseertrespasser ¡ 4 months ago
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Trying out a new method of story sharing.
Set in @keferon’s mecha AU sometime after Prowl and Swerve get rescued.
Sunny Side Screw-up
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Incoming communications…
BLUESTREAK: [Prowl.]
BLUESTREAK: [Prowl.]
BLUESTREAK: [Prowl do humans circle each other as a greeting.]
BLUESTREAK: [Is circling a sign of friendship or a threat time sensitive question please respond.]
PROWL: [What is going on? I need more information.]
PROWL: [Jazz says “Circling is not a sign of friendship but if you’re in Alt mode you’re fine, they’re just checking you out.”]
BLUESTREAK: [Not in Alt mode. Not in Alt mode.]
BLUESTREAK: [Oh Primus they’re getting closer.]
PROWL: [Where are you? The connection is weak, Bluestreak I need more information.]
BLUESTREAK: [So I got the short range shuttle like you asked and I was bringing it down onto the planet when a Quintesson rift opened up. And. A. BIG one latched onto the shuttle so I performed an emergenc-eeee they are getting very close now.]
PROWL: [Bluestreak? Are you under attack?]
BLUESTREAK: [I don’t know!]
BLUESTREAK: [Shuttle landed. Angry Quint. I couldn’t let them destroy the ship so I got its attention and drove away. The new quints they’re sending to Earth are MUCH faster then the normal ones by the way because I could not get enough distance ahead of it to get a safe shot but I had to TRY you know? So I went back into root mode and then it was ON me and I thought I was going to die and there was so much dust and then these two HUGE mecha came out of nowhere and RIPPED the quint apart like they were fighting over it.]
BLUESTREAK: [And now they’re looking at me! And I lost track of where the shuttle is. And the only English words I know are swear words so PLEASE HELP ME.]
PROWL: [Wait a moment. Jazz wants to try something.]
BLUESTREAK: [Wait?! Now? Prowl I think they’re sniffing me! Are they sniffing me? Is sniffing a sign of friendship? Can humans smell fear?]
PROWL: [ Blue! Can ya hear me?]
BLUESTREAK: [What? Yes I can still hear you.]
BLUESTREAK: [Wait is that Jazz?]
PROWL: [Bluestreak focus. We need to know who is with you, describe them as best you can.]
BLUESTREAK: [Oh that is so weird. Okay. Got it. There’s two of them, they’re both bigger than me, they look like fronliners, one’s red and the others yellow? I think? They’re both caked in dirt and gorAGH!]
PROWL: [Bluestreak!]
BLUESTREAK: [I’m fine! I’m fine! One of them got behind me and touched my doorwing. They backed off a little after I jumped.]
PROWL: [You’re not near any cities right?]
BLUESTREAK: [Yes! Or I guess no? I’m not anywhere near any sort of civilization. It’s basically nothing but desert, a slaughtered quint and two extremely intimidating mecha.]
PROWL: [Good news! Sounds like you ran into the twins Sunstreaker and Sideswipe! They’re a couple of Hunter Class mecha, they deal with Quints loose in mostly uninhabited areas. Basically bounty hunters who don’t work directly for Shockwave. They’re apart of another mecha program stationed in Europe that drop them off in a region for a week to kill everything in the vicinity.]
BLUESTREAK: [Great! Good! Now what do I do now? One of them is sniffing me again and the other looks like he wants to grab my face.]
PROWL: [They’re not sniffing you dude, they’re probably trying to check for damage and figure out what you’re supposed to be. Hunter Class don’t have external speakers which is why they haven’t said anything out loud. They’ve probably tried to radio to you to talk to you but obviously that ain’t happening.]
BLUESTREAK: [ The yellow one is poking me again! And the red one keeps waving?]
PROWL: [To them you appear as an unfamiliar Mecha of unclear purpose, with limited means of communication and looking rattled by both the quintesson attack and their presence. There is a 67% possibility you will be able to convince them you are a test pilot of an experimental mecha.]
PROWL: [Here’s what you need to do. Lean into the nervousness but try to focus it on the quint, not them. Try saying “Grazie” or “Thank you”. If you seem grateful and relieved that should instill a sense that they’re protecting you and supposed to be doing that. Technically they did just save your ass so you just gotta re-enforce that idea.]
BLUESTREAK: [I’ll try.]
BLUESTREAK: [I think it’s working? I’m kind of just rambling and pointing but their postures changed. Oh wow they’re even bigger when they stand up straight. How in the Pit is this working.]
PROWL: [Humans are hard wired to take queues from other people. It’s not like, mind control or anything but it’s really strong stuff. Shit man, 90% of the reason I stayed so calm while stuck in space was because Prowl stayed calm.]
PROWL: [Externally. And 82%.]
BLUESTREAK: [They’re walking off now. I can-]
BLUESTREAK: [They’re waving for me to follow now? What do I do?]
PROWL: [Shit.. I was worried about that.]
BLUESTREAK: [Please do not say that without elaborating.]
PROWL: [They either believe you are here to help them hunt, odds at 45%. Or they’ve decided the area is unsafe for you to travel alone, odds 74%. Possibly both.]
PROWL: [Bad news, either way you’re probably in the middle of a feral quint infestation. Good news, you’ve got a couple of scary ass bodyguards! Really bad news, those body guards think you’re a human pilot in a mecha.]
BLUESTREAK: [Why is that worse than “surrounded by feral quintessons”?]
PROWL: [Because if you get hurt, or visibly express that you’re in significant pain, the twins might try to perform an emergency extraction to save the “pilot”.]
BLUESTREAK: [Oh.]
BLUESTREAK: [Oh no.]
BLUESTREAK: [They don’t have alt modes though. I can get away from them right? Prowl please tell me my odds are good.]
PROWL: [There is a 70% they won’t pursue you if you did leave. However you are far more likely to die to quintessons while trying to locate the shuttle than if you temporarily accept protection from the twins.]
PROWL: [Besides, Hunter Mecha are built to be endurance predators. You will run out of fuel before they stop chasing you.]
BLUESTREAK: [So what you’re saying is that if I show any weakness an inescapable giant terrifying killing machine will run me to exhaustion and then rip out my still spinning spark? Oh no. Sorry. There’s two! ONE of them will tear open my chassis while the OTHER one will hold down my thrashing body!]
PROWL: [Actually, they might go for the face first.]
BLUESTREAK: [The face.]
PROWL: [If it happens, your best bet is to just keep yelling “Stop”.]
PROWL: [Behave as if it’s Elita One and you will be fine.]
BLUESTREAK: [Will I?!]
PROWL: [You will be fine because I will ensue you will be fine.]
PROWL: [We’ve been talking to everyone else the whole time we’ve been helping you. Ratchet knows Sideswipe and Sunstreaker and says they’ll listen to him over their actual bosses. Blurr is going to call Swindle who’s going to get in touch with the Twins’ program to get their contact details and Swerve is working out how to bounce the call from Prowl to you to them.]
PROWL: [This will take time. Myself and Jazz will stay available for consultation on everything. You greatest survival asset will be to maintain a positive rapport with these pilots. Assist them where you can but don’t risk sustaining any injury.]
BLUESTREAK: [Okay. Be helpful. Be endearing. Don’t show fear. Act like it’s Elita. Act like I’m human.]
BLUESTREAK: [Fuck.]
PROWL: [That’s the spirit.]
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A one shot story to get a feel for writing comms conversations.
Hunter Class mecha are basically the long haul truckers of the mecha world. Stopping Quintesson attacks on population centers take precedence but since they can drop anywhere, I imagine there’s a niche market for getting rid of the ones loose elsewhere on the planet.
-SSTP
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bookishscrolls ¡ 6 months ago
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Programming Guidelines and Best Practices for Community Radio
Community radio is more than just a platform for broadcasting—it’s a heartbeat of the community, echoing local voices, cultures, and stories that are often overlooked by mainstream media. Creating impactful programming requires thoughtful planning, creativity, and a deep understanding of your listeners’ needs. Whether you’re a new community radio station or looking to revamp your content…
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sad-trekkie-life ¡ 6 months ago
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Idk why some people say The Piece of Action is one of the worst episodes, while it’s one of the best. Here are some reasons:
- Kirk having so much fun with the whole thing, you can tell he didn’t want to change the society so he could LARP there from time to time.
- The plot is so ridiculous and random it’s brilliant.
- The mobster saying to Bones he’s got innocent baby blue eyes.
- All bosses having cute yet dangerous eye candy girls beside them, telling them to sit next to them and Kirk telling to do the same to Spock, implying that Spock is the cute yet dangerous eye candy girl of Kirk the boss.
- Spock saying how easy it is to contact Enterprise through the radio, getting the radio program instead of Enterprise and looking at Bones as if it is his fault.
- Spock and Bones suddenly having besties energy during the episode, and Spock and Kirk having extremely married couple energy.
- Kirk’s driving skills and I’m sure Spock could drive much better, and Spock knows it, but he preferred to watch the chaos unfold and be a passenger princess instead of helping.
- Kirk getting a hand on a jargon and confusing Scotty all the time is a top tier comedy for me.
- Spock at some moment getting a hand on jargon as well.
- Scotty trying to use jargon and getting it wrong.
- Kirk willingly continuing using jargon when they left the planet.
- Kirk calling Spock “Spocko”.
- Kirk calling Scotty “babe” and “sweetheart” and Scotty not minding it at all.
- Mobsters wanting to touch Kirk all the time for some reason and Kirk being annoyed by this.
- Kirk being so good as a mobster that mobsters wanting him to be the boss is very in character of Kirk and I love it.
- How good Spock and Kirk were looking in that clothes.
- Kirk understanding fashion.
- Bones being nervous he left the communicator there and not wanting to tell Kirk.
- The whole ending is basically being a punchline of a 50-minute joke (I laughed out loud).
- The only thing that could make the episode better would be to have Uhura, Sulu and Chekov there. I’m sure Sulu would accidentally become the boss there.
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poolseason ¡ 12 days ago
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more Ninjagelion AU
Setup: In the aftermath of a cataclysmic event on the Dark Island where humans accidentally awakened an entity known as the [OVERLORD] the world was plunged into eternal chaos. 20 years later, Ninjago has managed to rebuild. Now in New Ninjago City, a bustling and lively hub at the heart of Ninjago, has been under attack by monsters- onis, dragons, serpents, unexplainable beasts,- creatures made from the [OVERLORD]'s darkness. Luckily the Special Division ELEMENTS is here to protect the realm from these monstrous threats, with the NINJA mechs. This cant be possible without some valuable members of the team!
Characters, lore, and more ↓
Characters:
Pixal: In this au she's a human scientist, and probably the one person who knows the most about how the NINJA mechs are created. She's in charge of the technical division, and head of research and development. During a monster battle, her order's are second to Cole's. Her highest priority is the integrity of the mechs, to the point she might be a bit negligent of the safety of their pilots. Pixal is deeply involved in some suspicious agendas involving the secret entities hidden under the base, and while she's the most knowledgeable person in the force, she's not the most trustworthy. Pixal is Zane's personal "doctor" and knows more about his schematics than anyone else. She created the Nindroid plugs (aka the Dummy system, an autopilot of sorts) with his personality data. Pixal is also one of the few people who know what happened to the original Dr. Julien and Echo.
Jay: For a little history on him, Jay is on the younger side, have graduated from college a couple of years ago. He originally interned here as an electrical engineer in the Weapons Deparment, but Pixal saw his skill and ingenuity and gave him an unrefusable return offer in the R&D department as her right hand. Jay's parents, Ed and Edna Walker were colleagues of Cyrus Borg and were involved in the engineering and design of the Geofront and NNC's civilian safety infrastructure, so Jay's always been somewhat interested in ELEMENT's work. It was kind of a dream come true when the Pixal Borg hired him. During monster attacks, Jay's in charge of making sure the NINJA mechs operate properly, have access to their weapons and gear, and making sure the NNC fortress moves as needed. Jay's always seen with his goggles and he almost never follows uniform protocol.
Jay is also one of the few Technicians who personally work with the Pilots, he's one of the first people Lloyd warmed up to at ELEMENTS, and he becomes kind of a big brother figure to him after one particularly crazy mission when he has to personally go out onto the field with Lloyd in Unit-01. When Nya arrives the pair work together a lot outside of pilot training, but Nya definitely likes him and he... needs to figure some things out. whoops!
Skylor: Having grown up in the aftermath of the 2nd (Overlord) Impact, Skylor's seen a lot of destruction and cruelty, even first hand from her own father who lead a doomsday cult that wreaked havoc on innocent communities trying to survive in the near apocalyptic event. Vowing to protect the world from similar chaos, she joined the NINJA program's tactical division. When the monster attacks began, she's in-charge of monitoring the enemy's health, pilot life signs, and mapping.
Dareth: His last name is Presley bc of the Elvis hair and inspiration lmao. He's not really a high ranking member of the organization but Cole and the others seem to really trust him, despite his mess ups. Dareth normally handles ferrying radio messages between ground teams and mission control. Dareth is a relaxed guy who values a positive work environment, even if that kind of makes him a bad employee. He's a very good uncle figure to a lot of members of ELEMENTS
MORE Cole: Cole is the leader of the tactical division. He was drafted into the military when he was only a young teenager in the aftermath of the [OVERLORD] but he was recognized by Wu and not long after he completed college and grad school he was quickly hired by ELEMENTS to oversee the tactical division. He's vengeful towards the Overlord's darkness monsters because his mother Lily was the captain of the disastrous expedition to the Dark Island 20 years ago. The dog tags he wears are his own and his mother's.
Lloyd and Zane, on neural headsets: As pilots of a NINJA mech they have a lot of pressure on them, obviously this can cause a lot of mental turmoil and stress. In order to pilot a mech they must synchronize their own mind to their mech's soul*, so stress isn't really a good thing for a pilot to have. Zane was programmed to not experience such emotions, but over the course of the series, its proven that he grows to feel quite strongly and become more human. Despite his programming, the lack of emotion early on was actually a detriment to his ability to pilot, since the NINJA soul wouldn't be able to synchronize it's feelings with an entity that feels nothing. Sometimes its necessary for pilots to wear more complicated neural headsets and spinal connections for more controlled sync testing. During the cross-sync experiment when Zane and Lloyd traded units, they were stuck wearing extra uncomfortable test suits -- too many wires and junk! The only downside to extra connection is that the mech could overload and go berserk. (which big surprise, happened!), so usually Lloyd, the designated Unstable Pilottm, only needs the barebones neural interface in most situations.
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icaruspendragon ¡ 2 months ago
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we’ve always had this desire, to hear stories, to read them, to see them, to consume them, to tell them. that’s why we’ve always found a way to do so.
and i think we have this desire because being human and being alone is an exceptionally difficult task. humans are hardwired for community, for companionship. and storytelling is a pillar of community. stories are made to make you feel less lonely.
like before people were illuminated by the glow of their tvs or phones or laptops consuming their stories in whatever form they choose, they were illuminated by lamplight as they listened to a program on the radio. or a mother or a father, grandparents and aunts and uncles whoever, as they shared stories from their youth, stories heard in their youth. stories they heard from their parents or their parents parents. stories that were passed down, hand in loveable hand.
or they’d be illuminated from the sun filtering through the window of a small church as they listened to the sermon. because whether you believe them to be true or not, they’re stories. or they’d be illuminated from the sun itself as they sat on a neighbors porch in the sticky august heat, swapping tall tales and simple joy. and before that, they were illuminated by dancing flame around hearth or torch or under the expense of starry skies to break bread with others. to tell stories and laugh and feast. to nourish their bodies and their spirits with syllables from the silos.
the breaking of bread, the sharing of stories, fire starting and word weaving and bounty sharing. moths to flame, we hunger for the connection given by the exchanging of words.
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nasa ¡ 2 years ago
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Let's Explore a Metal-Rich Asteroid 🤘
Between Mars and Jupiter, there lies a unique, metal-rich asteroid named Psyche. Psyche’s special because it looks like it is part or all of the metallic interior of a planetesimal—an early planetary building block of our solar system. For the first time, we have the chance to visit a planetary core and possibly learn more about the turbulent history that created terrestrial planets.
Here are six things to know about the mission that’s a journey into the past: Psyche.
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1. Psyche could help us learn more about the origins of our solar system.
After studying data from Earth-based radar and optical telescopes, scientists believe that Psyche collided with other large bodies in space and lost its outer rocky shell. This leads scientists to think that Psyche could have a metal-rich interior, which is a building block of a rocky planet. Since we can’t pierce the core of rocky planets like Mercury, Venus, Mars, and our home planet, Earth, Psyche offers us a window into how other planets are formed.
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2. Psyche might be different than other objects in the solar system.
Rocks on Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Earth contain iron oxides. From afar, Psyche doesn’t seem to feature these chemical compounds, so it might have a different history of formation than other planets.
If the Psyche asteroid is leftover material from a planetary formation, scientists are excited to learn about the similarities and differences from other rocky planets. The asteroid might instead prove to be a never-before-seen solar system object. Either way, we’re prepared for the possibility of the unexpected!
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3. Three science instruments and a gravity science investigation will be aboard the spacecraft.
The three instruments aboard will be a magnetometer, a gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer, and a multispectral imager. Here’s what each of them will do:
Magnetometer: Detect evidence of a magnetic field, which will tell us whether the asteroid formed from a planetary body
Gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer: Help us figure out what chemical elements Psyche is made of, and how it was formed
Multispectral imager: Gather and share information about the topography and mineral composition of Psyche
The gravity science investigation will allow scientists to determine the asteroid’s rotation, mass, and gravity field and to gain insight into the interior by analyzing the radio waves it communicates with. Then, scientists can measure how Psyche affects the spacecraft’s orbit.
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4. The Psyche spacecraft will use a super-efficient propulsion system.
Psyche’s solar electric propulsion system harnesses energy from large solar arrays that convert sunlight into electricity, creating thrust. For the first time ever, we will be using Hall-effect thrusters in deep space.
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5. This mission runs on collaboration.
To make this mission happen, we work together with universities, and industry and NASA to draw in resources and expertise.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the mission and is responsible for system engineering, integration, and mission operations, while NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Services Program manages launch operations and procured the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Working with Arizona State University (ASU) offers opportunities for students to train as future instrument or mission leads. Mission leader and Principal Investigator Lindy Elkins-Tanton is also based at ASU.
Finally, Maxar Technologies is a key commercial participant and delivered the main body of the spacecraft, as well as most of its engineering hardware systems.
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6. You can be a part of the journey.
Everyone can find activities to get involved on the mission’s webpage. There's an annual internship to interpret the mission, capstone courses for undergraduate projects, and age-appropriate lessons, craft projects, and videos.
You can join us for a virtual launch experience, and, of course, you can watch the launch with us on Oct. 12, 2023, at 10:16 a.m. EDT!
For official news on the mission, follow us on social media and check out NASA’s and ASU’s Psyche websites.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!
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