Levian

Why does everybody all of a sudden think Illumination lets them shoot laser beams? Was this ever implied anywhere?

This is going to be a fair bit of work, but the hardest part will be finding every Q&A you can. After that, it's a simple matter of Ctrl+F and typing in "RAFO". I haven't been around here for too long so I don't know where you'd find most of the Q&A's... I'll try to provide you with a few links though http://www.17thshard.com/forum/topic/7267-words-of-brandon-compiled-x-2/ http://www.theoryland.com/intvmain.php?i=691#13 I went to theoryland and searched "RAFO" and got 622 hits, there's a bit of info to comb through! A lot of it won't be Stormlight Archive though. http://www.theoryland.com/intvsresults.php?kw=RAFO Good luck, this is a fairly big undertaking!

Off topic but about Ym - does it seem too coincidental that in two of the most popular fantasy books in recent time have two very specifically similar non-important characters? in The Name of the Wind, Kvothe visits a shoemaker and from his dialogue it seems that he helps homeless kids out by giving them shoes. In WoR Ym does the same thing, only it's confirmed that he's helped out a bunch of them. Not that it's important or matters at all, I just find it funny. I wonder if Brandon had always intended to include a shoemaker who helps out homeless kids, or if after reading Name of the Wind (I'd be VERY surprised if he hasn't read it) it subconsciously (or deliberately) stuck in his mind when he was writing up Ym's story. Not that I'm implying that there was any plagiarism or copying of ideas mind, just a funny coincidence.

Their surges aren't as useful in single combat definitely, but wielding a spren-blade that can change to what ever form you need it to be, a full set of active shardplate, and the natural bonuses granted by holding Stormlight (strength, speed, healing), they will still be massive forces to be reckoned with.

Thanks for providing that quote Kasimir, I knew I wasn't imagining things that hadn't happened!

... I'll show myself out the door then! Suppose I could have read slightly farther down on that wiki entry eh?

I've never heard of this Alcubierre drive before! What amuses me to no end is that if this turns out to be something actually capable of working, then Futurama yet again predicted the future and helped invent new technology! It's not *exactly* the same, but the it is explained that the engines on the Professor's ship doesn't actually propel the ship through space, rather it moves space around the ship. Again, not 100% spot on but surprisingly close!

I think something does actually happen to the ardents who use the Soulcasters. I can't remember the exact part but it's in the last 1/4 of the book I'm pretty sure. I think Adolin ducks into a Soulcaster tent to speak with one of the Ardents and I think he makes mental note about the soulcasting ardents looking strange in some way. Also later on there's a part (I think during the Everstorm/Highstorm clash) where the ardents lose their tents they normally hide in, and I believe Dalinar comments on how they'll just have to do it without the tents. Not 100% sure of any of this of course, I've read so many books since WoR

I believe you're right about the fibre-to-node thing, the tech mentioned something about it being a copper wire but I didn't really know what it meant. Oh well, it doesn't really affect us either way, we're getting the speeds we pay for at least. So as to getting this issue resolved, it comes down to calling every week to have the keep bringing in technicians until one gets it right? Would there be no way to contact customer support, talk to one of the higher up people and explain how them trying to replace the modem for the 5th time isn't doing anything and it's probably a wiring issue?

Honestly that sounded like the case to me with the technician. He just kept referring to this program he had open on his laptop saying it was "reliable" and he saw no issues, basically refused to acknowledge, offer suggestions or anything to the problem we were having. If it is a wiring issue, is it possible for it to be wires not in the house, but leading from somewhere outside to our house? I'm guessing since we've had some wires replaced they should be okay, but I will bring up the wiring issue next time I call. The reason I'm wondering is because I mentioned this to the technician as well, and he said they aren't about to dig up our lawn and driveway to check the wires to find out there isn't a problem. Just not sure how to go about this. Get the wires in the house checked out first no doubt, but how do I get them do check the wires out of the house? *edit* Oh and for clarification, when I said we switched to Fibe, that is just a faster service they provide. We were on DSL I think before, and switched to Bell's firbe optic service

Thanks for the quick replies guys, I knew this would be a great place to ask So we have had some wiring replaced but I don't know the extent of what was done, I wasn't involved with any of the technicians until recently and my family is pretty dumb with anything technical. I'm not a genius with this stuff but I know enough to get by at least. The problem with calling tech support while the modem is down is that it usually fixes itself within 5-10 minutes, and getting a hold of them can take 10-20 minutes. It's worth a try though and I'll definitely do it next time. There is no way to know if we'd have the same issue with two different service providers without paying for a second service right? That wouldn't be an option, that's an added expense I'm sure the family isn't going to want to do for some tests, regardless of what I could say to them. That being said, there have been a fair few trucks from Bell and Rogers in our court, but we haven't asked anybody else if they're having similar issues. We brought this up to the technician and asked if it could be a wiring issue coming into the court, and he just said if it was that we wouldn't be getting any connection at all. I doubt the truth of this, but I don't know enough about wiring and electrical stuff to really comment on that.

Hey Sharders, I have a problem I'm hoping someone can help with. I know this kind of thing is best asked in an actual tech forum, and I have posted it there, but from my experience that particular forum is very slow to respond, if at all. I know a lot of the Sharders here are really smart, a lot of you guys seem to have pretty good computer knowledge what with all the discussion of coding going on. Two different subjects, but I can hope right? I have a very annoying problem. . I live in Canada with family and we're with Bell .The internet isn't in my name so there's not a ton I can do with Bell unless my family calls in and lets me speak with them, making things just a little bit more annoying. So for the past two years or so we've been having issues where the internet speeds slow down to a crawl over about 5-10 minutes. Web pages take ages to load, then load like it does when you're using almost all your bandwidth. Then the modem basically turns off, all devices disconnect and can't see the modem because it is off. It eventually resets itself within 20 minutes or so. This happens anywhere from 1-4 times a day, to once every couple days, but it is a frequent issue. Usually before it automatically turns itself off, I'll access the modem through the browser and reset it. This solves the problem for anywhere between a couple hours to a day. Last year, we upgraded to Fibe using the Sagecom modem. We don't have our own router. Our download and upload speeds are pretty great, what we're supposed to be getting. But that didn't stop this issue. Before we upgraded to Fibe, we had the modem replaced about 3 times. With Fibe, we've had it replaced twice, and every time the issue remains. We've had wires in the house replaced with no effect. Now with Fibe, the TV is connected to the modem as well. When it resets itself, the TV turns off as well. We just had a technician in today who basically told us (for the umpteenth time) that there is nothing wrong he can see, and even that they have no record on their end of the modem having turned off since last June (!!!). He said that even unplugging it for 2 seconds, it should register on their system that it has been unsynced or some such. Which is strange considering not only the amount of times we reset the modem daily through the browser and unplugging it, but we had an ice storm this winter that left us without power for three days. We brought in a generator and plugged in the modem and still had service, so obviously Bell's system was unaffected by this storm, so that at the very least should have registered. There are 15 different devices connected between cell phones, iPods, game systems and computers, although a maximum of 6 or 7 are active at once. The others are from family who comes to visit and have registered their devices. All of us use wireless except the main PC beside the modem which is plugged directly into the modem. I'm not sure listing my or any household PC specs are relevant seeing how it seems to be an issue with the modem, therefore it affects all devices. I believe we're using the Sagemcom 2864, but I'm not 100% sure. It's definitely a Sagemcom though. I can't seem to find any trigger that causes this. It doesn't happen during or after downloading or uploading at max speeds, and it's happened while nobody is using the internet or tv at all, early in the mornings or late at night. Sorry for the long post, but I figured the more details the better. This is ridiculously frustrating, ongoing for two years with each call and technician resulting in no fixes, being told that there is no problem. If anybody has any suggestions as to what the problem could be and a potential fix, or even something I can finally call Bell and tell them to look into I would greatly appreciate it. Let me know if there's any more info needed.

I nominate Sebarial as the Kandra. He doesn't quite fit with the idea of somebody who isn't very important as suggested in the OP, but he is one of the least important and vocal Highprinces and there is definitely a lot we don't know about him. He is in a position to hear everything important happening while being considered unimportant by the other Highprinces, yet has resources in the money he is making by farming and with textiles. Then again, maybe he's just a Herald... Or a regular guy. But who knows!

That anagram is awesome, never caught that one! He is definitely the lying type it seems. He puts on an act for the other Highprinces while letting his true personality, identity, and agenda stay hidden. There is MUCH more to him than we know, and as we know anybody who isn't who they seem is a huge suspect of being either a Herald or Worldhopper. I doubt he's a Worldhopper since he's been around so long and is in such high position with a family history, but a Herald is definitely possible.

I've been wondering about Shardic Intents lately. We've been told that the Intents of the Shard doesn't always align itself with the nature of the person who holds it. I doubt they knew the intents of the shards when it was first shattered and they chose them (if they did indeed choose them willingly). I know it doesn't quite fit but I've been wondering if a person's personality focuses a Shard when they first picked it up after the Shattering, and it magnifies to become the Shard's Intent, until it is so powerful it become all consuming to the person holding it. I know we've been told the Intent doesn't always match the personality of the Holder, but do we know if that is true? It could just be one person's flawed opinion. We know there have been similar situations where we've been told something by a character, only to be shown down the road it was wrong, but what they believed at the time. Maybe it doesn't even have the be the person's personality, possibly just the first feelings they had when the picked up the Shard, and those feelings got picked up and magnified. Because why would pieces of a massive source of power have Intents so similar to feelings and emotions naturally? If they were all combined before Adonalsium shattered and sort of balanced each other out I could see it being possible, but it seems to me Adonalsium, and Shards, aren't (or weren't originally) things capable of emotions, or Intents. It was most likely originally just a source of massive power. It sort of makes sense if you don't look at specific Shards where the Intent doesn't quite line up with the Holder's personality (but like I mentioned earlier, maybe some of the Shard holders weren't as well known to their friends as they thought. Possibly with secret, unshared feelings). The majority of the Shards seem very close in Intent to the Holder's personality, or as close as you could expect it to be after the Intent of the person was magnified by the Shard. Sort of how Naln was all about justice, but after abandoning the Oathpact it became his absolute focus until he started acting on a corrupted idea of justice, I think the Shards were only capable of one Intent, so the one that it picked up just kept magnifying until that became the Shard's whole purpose.