Oh crap. This one is quite a problem, isn't it? +1
I kept thinking of Project Heimdall while reading this.
Im not familiar…what is Project Heimdall?
Edit:
never mind, I found it: http://www.scp-wiki.net/project-heimdall
UPDATE: I've made some additions to this, using an idea suggested by draxal about cross-testing with SCP-155 Infinite Speed Computer. Hopefully it will be well recieved.
Thanks.
That first photo is pretty awful, I'd recommend just using the second one.
That being said, I'm feeling nothing for this one. It isn't bad, just not really my cup of tea.
Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!
Downvoted because the first picture is really bad. Images taken at separate times would not be largely exactly the same like that.
Also, the concept doesn't do much for me. Alien von neumann machines on the moon? Call me cynical, but I think it's kinda eh.
if your reading this your gay
I'm with the people who dislike the first image. It's animated, and it's poorly shopped.
I wouldn't mind the animation (I can see the Foundation using a time lapse to show the effects of the anomaly), but yeah, it looks terribly fake.
Time-lapse, sure, but I'd rather it be a gallery of stills. Animated gifts are just -tacky-, and remember that I always envision SCP documents as paper documents, and think about how they might be printed.
Nah. We're talking about a massive, para-governmental bureaucratic organization.
This shit's gonna be done in Power Point.
God help us all.
the concept isnt terrible, though certain aspects of it i cant say i care for
that first image IS terrible though, and looks incredibly fake, specifically the differences being shown with the rest of the moon seeming COMPLETELY static, which would not be the case….and especially the morphing in the last frame vs the first frame. it really detracts from the article i think.
you'd do better to take four separate photos of the dark side of the moon from different angles and put your stuff in each frame that way instead. basically i suggest asking help of someone better with photoshop.
ok, I've changed the first picture. I think you're right about it
still some minor issues, but looks vastly better than what was there before. no further objection to the image, it's as good as what a lot of decent SCP's have now.
manifestation on the far side of the Moon
of the far-side of the moon
Capitalization and 'far side/far-side' inconsistency. Choose one and stick with it.
ince then, evidence of industrial activity has been discovered, activity which is growing at an astonishing rate.
This is awkward. Can be written as 'Since its discovery, evidence of rapid industrial activity and growth have been recorded ' or something, just to make it less awkward and remove the 'astonishing'.
finely-controlled nuclear fusion
You can remove 'finely-controlled' here. I think we get your point that advanced shit is happening.
It has been conjectured that a technologically sophisticated alien probe is responsible.
'is responsible' could be replaced with 'is the cause of SCP-XXXX' or something? Responsible seems like iffy tone to me but I'm not sure.
making use of a simple encoding scheme based on universal physical constants, and proving to be an intentional communication directed at humanity. The message were instructions on how to render SCP-1941's activities inert, apparently in an attempt to placate any neighboring civilization were they to find its activities undesirable.
I don't understand how 'Hello there citizens of another planet! We don't want any trouble with you! As a show of our good faith, we're going to give you instructions on how to shut down our current operations on your moon! If you decide you don't appreciate our behavior, you are free to shut them off at any time. I hope we can be friends :)' can be translated from alienspeak to humanspeak through universal physical constants like gravity and math. Maybe this is merely not my field and such a thing exists, but I'm really skeptical.
(1)
What is this doing here?
Overall it's much better than before! But there are still some things I don't understand (if it's because of my lack of knowledge on such subjects I apologize in advance).
Living the dream, or dreaming the life?
I've taken your stylistic suggestions and made some changes.
As for that '(1)', I can't seem to get rid of it…I'll keep trying.
The (1) appears to be a function of using the [[math]] code. I think you'll need to find another way of displaying that number to get rid of it. I'd recommend that anyway, as the second layer of exponents is quite hard to read (on my screen, anyway)
Giving bearhugs to the unsuspecting since 1872.
Can I ask, what things don't you understand…?
You know, it would actually be entirely appropriate to link this article to SCP-120 by saying that a lot of the close-up detection was performed by personnel from the moon base.
This is definitely an improvement over the prior version, though I still think it'd be better if it was slightly more mysterious. I agree that it would be… unlikely that that detailed a message would be able to be extracted from a start-from-scratch message that wasn't egregiously long. I really do recommend simplifying that part to something like "the transmission consists of a bootstrap linguistic program that establishes a small mathematical vocabulary and then terminates with an extremely large number and a request for its factors. It is currently unknown what the consequences are of either transmitting or failing to transmit these factors."
Giving bearhugs to the unsuspecting since 1872.
Ok, I'm taking that suggestion: Its great and mysterious!
—Edit: I took your wording wholesale and incorporated it, I hope you don't mind.
You know, it would actually be entirely appropriate to link this article to SCP-120 by saying that a lot of the close-up detection was performed by personnel from the moon base.
That would make me wince so, so hard.
attempts at cross-linking are typically met with lynching, aren't they?
No, cross-linking's perfectly acceptable, so long as both articles can stand on their own, and it's not done gratuitously. It would make sense here.
Cross-linking as an attempt to piggyback on the popularity of another SCP is what's technically frowned upon. Cross-linking in and of itself isn't forbidden, just… difficult to pull off. Note that I'm not suggesting that you actually put the link in; I just think that this would actually be an example of an appropriate crosslink.
Giving bearhugs to the unsuspecting since 1872.
Part of the issue is "there is no canon." This article stands alone quite effectively with the use of satellites - there's no need for "oh yeah, and we sent out some dudes from the moonbase from that other SCP."
The other issue is that while the article as written is plausible, the moonbase is really silly.
Part of the issue is "there is no canon." This article stands alone quite effectively with the use of satellites - there's no need for "oh yeah, and we sent out some dudes from the moonbase from that other SCP."
There no need for it, but the fact is, we as a website could use more of this, in the opinion of myself and many others. (This is actually one of the Topics of the Hour, for those of you who watch the admin site.)
Let's face it: Crosslinking, when done well, adds a whole lot to the wiki. It draws readers further into the site, and it highlights other articles that may not be the flavor of the moment. Crosslinking shouldn't be used to try to prop up a poor article, and the article should continue to be able to stand on its own. The suggestion here would work within those bounds.
(I don't feel it HAS to be added myself, though I like the idea - I'm using this example to make a point.)
You know, it would actually be entirely appropriate to link this article to SCP-120 by saying that a lot of the close-up detection was performed by personnel from the moon base.
Ehh…yes, it could have been recorded by someone on the moon base, but why couldn't he just say that instead of cross-linking it?
Because someone who hasn't read 120 wouldn't have any clue what he meant if he just said "the Foundation moon base". If he said something like "the moon base previously established by SCP-120" that would let new readers know where the fuck the base came from.
Giving bearhugs to the unsuspecting since 1872.
Not to be pedantic, but I think SCP-120's allows access to the near side, not to far side of the moon (if ive got my lunography right)
from SCP-120 Location 9: Mare Imbrium: The SCP displays a subdued grey glow when dialed in to this destination. This destination is on a relatively flat section of the Sea of Rains on the lunar surface. Through vast expenditure of money and D-class personnel, a small outpost has been established there, and is considered one of the Foundation’s safest locations.
from Wikipedia- Mare Imbrium: Mare Imbrium is visible to the naked eye from Earth. In the traditional 'Man in the Moon' image seen on the Moon in Western folklore, Mare Imbrium forms the man's right eye
from Wikipedia- Jackson Crater: Jackson is a prominent lunar impact crater that is located in the northern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. Less than one crater to the northeast is the crater Mineur, and to the south-southwest lies McMath.
Ah, good point. I'd forgotten where on the Moon the pool dropped you. And of course, it's always your choice whether to add that link or not depending on whether you think it's appropriate or not.
Giving bearhugs to the unsuspecting since 1872.
Yeah. People forget the size of the moon sometimes. The equatorial circumference is 10,921 km, which means that a trip from one side to the other would not just be a casual Sunday drive.
Still trying to make up my mind on this one. I'm hovering somewhere between 0 and +1, with the images being the biggest sticking point. Decently done article, though.
A thought on improving the image: if you can get a nice, big high quality LRO image of the far side of the moon, that image itself will probably be a composite image of several smaller photographs. Perhaps cut that image up into its individual sub-images, modify each of those, and then re-assemble? Having a consistent-looking overlaid image on a composite image (which appears to be what you have right now) isn't going to look as real as having the imperfections that would result from having it assembled from parts. Just a thought - free advice worth the cost.
boy…you know i though about that myself…it wouldn't be that much work and it would lend such an air of authenticity to it….
my big worry is that someone looks up the stats on the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter and discovers that it can resolve features as small as half a meter, in which case my goose is cooked =D
l
I'd consider doing it anyway, since it might improve the first image. Your call, of course. Besides, just because the LRO is able to resolve features as small as 0.5 m doesn't mean that every image has that resolution. This image is of an entire hemisphere of the moon, so when you compress the image to acceptable size for posting on the internet, it'd lose plenty of detail anyway.
I'm positive that there's some subtext here that I'm missing. Until I find that, no vote.
I'm curious, what kind of subtext? like why is it dangerous?
I like this a lot.
The question about whether answering it is a good thing or not is particularly neat.
that was suggested to be by someone further up the thread and I must say I though it was a great idea!