SITE NEWS

8 March 2008

I apologize for the lack of ubdates these past few weeks, but I'm afraid its a trend that will only continue for at least a few more weeks to come. As I've said in the past, OV is pretty much a side project for me, and currently there's too many other things that I need to get done first before I can turn my attention back here.

OV was always meant as a reference database as opposed to any kind of blog anyway, so please feel free to use it in that capacity. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send them my way at: plucas1@hotmail.com

31 October 2007

As some of you have no doubt noticed, the frequency if new articles have dropped off somewhat lately. Unfortunately, as I've observed before, OV is something of a hobby that I squeeze in between all the other doings of the ongoing chaos I call my life. I've just been too busy getting caught up on my many other projects to devote a lot of time to OV stuff of late. Hopefully that will pass sooner rather than later and I'll be able to update with new articles more frequently.

On a happier note, the recently-added XEELEE RING marked the 100th technology article on Orbital Vector. I thought it would be appropriate to make the 100th article about a technology that was sufficiently cosmic and mind-blowing, and the Xeelee Ring certainly was that. Also, even though updates have been infrequent lately, I think 100 articles in should be proof enough that I'd like OV to be ongoing for quite a while yet.

Immediate future plans for OV involve nothing fancy. I might do an original front-page image, instead of constantly suckling at NASA's teat for those kind of graphics. I might overhaul the coding sooner or later to add a navigation bar, and maybe a bit more advertising to generate some more revenue to keep the site going. Beyond that, though, my main plan is to keep adding sci-fi and tech related content, which is what most of you come here for anyway. = )

23 June 2007

Despite my medical misadventures, I've gotten caught up on the things I set out to do on this site at the beginning of the year, albeit a few months later than I planned. An Alphabetical Index has been added, the Links page redone, an Aquatics section added, and an expansion of the weapons section, among various articles that were added since then. I've also added a bit in the FAQ as to why I organize the articles the way I do (from low-tech to high-tech, so the farther down the page you scroll, the deeper into the future you go)

My next major addition to the site will probably be an Essays section. It will be more or less an infrequently-updated blog where I can express my opinions, such as they are, on ongoing science and tech issues of the day. In doing the research for the tech articles I've run across a lot of interesting sidebars and thoughts that I think visitors to OV might be interested in.

Other future features will include updating the Author's Page, adding an original front-page illustration (if I ever have the time to get it done,) and maybe adding a recommended reading/viewing section complete with tech profiles of the stories in question. If any of you have any questions or comments, just contact me at: plucas1@hotmail.com As always, we'd love to hear from OV's users. Thanks!

24 May 2007

As you may be able to tell, a number of the problems associated with my condition have lessened in the past few weeks, and I'm back posting new articles. I'm hoping to average one a week, but it all depends how much time other things going on in my life allow me.

On another note, WELCOME STUMBLERS! There has been a HUGE upswing in unique user hits in the past few days, going from about 10-20 a day earlier in the week to 300-500 a day currently, and that's been almost entirely fom being featured on Stumbled Upon, a nifty website that features interesting and unique 'finds' on the internet in a variety of categories. I'm very flattered to be included in their listings. If anyone from there or just in general has any questions about OV, just contact me at: plucas1@hotmail.com Thanks!

Also, if you enjoy Orbital Vector and/or have found it useful, please feel free to donate, or better yet, buy my novel CREATURA, which you can see advertised at the top of most pages. Orbital Vector does take money and time to create and maintain, and every little bit will help immensely. Plus my novel is a damn good book, if I don't mind saying so myself. = )

6 March 2007

Due to several ongoing health concerns, including one that is going to require an operation, I'm going to have to temporirily suspend work on Orbital Vector for the time being. I hope to pick things up again and start posting new articles again in May or June. Thanks again everyone!

28 January 2007

As promised, I started filling out the Weapons sections more, but again, I've run into a snag that's slowing the process of writing new articles. Basically, it was an enginering problem of sorts. A lot of these advanced weapons--railguns, coilguns, lasers, etc--use an enormous amount of energy just in a single shot. So that set me wondering: How the heck do you create a power source small and lightweight enough to run them?

So that led me on a research quest to find ways to power them. I've run into a bunch of technologies I'd only had passing familiarity with (energy production/stoage/propagation was never a big area of interest for me.) These include things like compulsators, ultacapacitors, flywheel batteries, explosive power generators (two types), superconductor batteries, and more. So I'm having to do a lot more research into energy tehnologies than I thought I would at this point.

You probably won't see these articles online for at least a few months, though, as I'm planning on bundling them together into an article for maybe Strange Horizons or another ezine. Its primarily how I fund this site, lacking charitable contributions or mechandise to sell. I use the research I do for OV to write an article for a commercial zine first, and after they publish it I repackage it for the site. I've done that with a bunch of different articles now, most recently the Fusion article, published in slightly diffeent form in Strange Horizons as "Fusion Future". A single article sale is enough for six months worth of the site's internet costs.

There's also the problem with the Weapons sections that I'm only casually familiar with real-world firearms. Thorough research and talking to gun enthusiasts online helps, but there are some aspects of the subject that are proving daunting. For instance, I'd really like to do an article on advanced forms of firearm ammunition, but there's a huge bewildering array of ammunition already out there that's proving slow-going to plow through.

Anyway, combined with my other work, what this means is that the production of new articles will still probably be slow-going in the coming months, still averaging about 2 to 3 per month until I can get by this hurdle. Of course I'd welcome anyone out there who'd like to contribute or help. Can't pay, but you'd receive full credit for your contribution, plus doing this stuff is kind of fun when you're a technogeek like myself.

26 September 2006

Just to let those paying attention to this site know that there will be a general slow-down in the amount of new articles being posted. Since I ”officially” launched the site at the end of April I’ve been keeping at a steady pace of 4 to 6 new articles per month. I’m afraid that’s going to slow down to about 2 or 3 articles a month for a while.

The reason for this is three-fold. First, I have an avalanche of other projects that need attention, not the least of which is getting my current novel out to publishers and getting the first draft on another finished.

Second, I would like to gear up to finally fully expand the Military section like I’ve always wanted to. I’ve held off for a bit because it, like the Space section, promises to be huge. I’m going to split up weapons into these sections: Firearms, Tactical (artillery and vehicle weapons), Strategic, Orbital, Space, and Mega. Plus there will also be sections for Non-Lethal Weapons, Armor, Support, and Land, Air, Sea, and Space fighting vehicles. So yeah, its going to be quite an undertaking.

Thirdly, the other major undertaking as far as this site goes is an alphabetical index. The technologies will still be presented as is, from low-tech to high-tech, but this will give an option to those who would prefer a different organization. So that too is going to distract a bit from working on the main tech articles.

I’ll still be putting up articles in other sections as well as I get them done, but as I said, things will slow down for a while, so check in every other week instead of every week to see if new articles are up. And of course feel free to use the archive for reference as much as you want. Its what its there for.

24 April 2006

For those few people who've been paying attention to this site, its about to undergo some changes.

This site is a project I've long had on the backburner this past year as I've paid attention to other major things in my life, not the least of which was becoming a published author, as well as losing one day job and starting another. However, that's going to change. I've never had good luck maintaining a seperate page dedicated to my creative work, so I'm going to strip it onto this site.

So the biggest change is going to be the addition of the AUTHOR'S PAGE, which is going to feature samples of my writing and artwork, as well as commission information and other things going on with me professionally. It will ALWAYS be seperate from the main site except for the main page link, and orbital vector will continue its original mission as a speculative science encyclopedia. The Author's Page is also a Work In Progress, so don't expect anything fancy from it for a while.