Cyberjunk

This war has been remarkable in its media coverage with the Media right in with the action. As such we are seeing and hearing about all the gory details of the bad things that happen - I am sure they are a lot less than any other war but freindly fire for example is getting more exposure than ever before and its seems like there are more mistakes than correct events happening.

I just got accepted in the UN - little do they know....

Ah, that may have been me assuming that others would be there.

This is a no reply vote - just to guage reactions to war issues. I am going to add different polls on a regular basis.

Indeed welcome. Lively but structured debate is what we thrive on - do try and keep your posts within the appropriate topic - saves work for the moderators and me.  Always good to have more peeps on board!  

I have been playing this for a week or so since it was mentioned in a MacWorld column.

 

My nation is Night City Combat Zone.

 

My other pet waste of 5 mins a day is Celebdaq. Got up into the 2000's today.

I have been playing this for a week or so since it was mentioned in a MacWorld column.

 

My nation is Night City Combat Zone.

 

My other pet waste of 5 mins a day is Celebdaq. Got up into the 2000's today.

Quote (Dog Soldier @ Mar. 25 2003,21:15)

You like him, I don't.  That's what makes a horse race

And he does look a bit like a horse now you mention it!

I guess you don't like the man then!  I am all for freedom of speech and I respect other peoples point of view. We have a simular chap here in the UK - Mark Thomas who exposes naughtiness by the people we are meant to trust.

 

I have to disagree about his books being US bashing - he loves the USA but the doesn't like the way some people are running it - well some of the big corporations.

 

And yes I will agree it is biased but then he is writting about stuff that no-one else will dare to. Show me a TV news company that isn't biasing its reports about the Iraq war!

 

The Bush President election stuff isn't made up - most of it has been reported here on the BBC.

Ok, not strictly cyberpunk - not actually cyberpunk. However the undertones of how your natin would get into a cyberpunk situation are all explained here. This is a must read for anyone who values thier freedom, integrity, decency and country - and whilst it is all about the USA salient lessons are there for the rewst of the world.

 

It also explains why Bush is so eager for the Iraq war. The UK edition has an extra prologue explaining why the publishers originally stopped its release and how a bunch of Librarians got together to help get it published.

 

Michael Moore ha just won the Oscar for Bowling for Colombine and this book should also win prizes. A great light in civil liberties.

Despite the war in Iraq we have reached over 40 thousand posts! I say despite - certain members are out there fighting now and are thoughts are for thier saftey. So they are not posting but the conflict (of interests) has brewed quite a few hot topics.

Key concepts: monarch butterflies, resistance

to climate change, Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Deliberately makes no

mention whatsoever of desert warfare, raging street

protests, or giant thermobaric bombs

 

Link:

 

Our protagonist, Danaus plexippus.

http://www.monarchwatch.org/

 

Some butterflies use high-tech, advanced

photonic crystals!

http://www.globaltechnoscan.com/5thFeb-11thFeb03/photonic_crystal.htm

 

This mindboggling panorama of the entire coastline

of California might come in handy if you

migrate by flapping your wings.

http://www.californiacoastline.org

 

Maybe druidess Julia "Butterfly" Hill will flap

in to the next PlaNetwork.

http://www.planetwork.net

 

Sometimes even slimy microbes aspire to the

elegance of butterflies.

http://www1.tip.nl/~t936927/art_deco.html

 

What could beat the Viridian-artsiness of

a German-made Andy Goldsworthy movie?  Call

the local artfilm nook and demand that they

book it, so you can stop reading warblogs.

http://www.hoehnepresse.de/pages/films/public/rivers-tides.html

 

 

Source: Planet Ark, story by Karina Balderas

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20151/story.htm

 

"Monarch butterflies recover from killer freeze

 

MEXICO: March 14, 2003

 

"OCAMPO, Mexico == Famed for a mysterious annual migration

from Canada to Mexico, Monarch butterflies have shown a

remarkable tenacity by recovering from a cold snap in

Mexico last year that killed at least 65 million of them.

 

(((That's right == this Viridian Note conveys really good

news about butterflies!)))

 

"Tens of millions of black and orange Monarchs neared the

end of their winter sojourn in the mountains of central

Mexico this week to the relief of biologists who feared

their numbers would be seriously depleted this year."

 

(((There are zillions of 'em!  The glorious megafauna

of the insect world!)))

 

   "'We were waiting anxiously because we didn't know

whether the butterfly phenomenon would be repeated after

such a big kill,' said biologist Marco Antonio Bernal,

director of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in

Michoacan state."

 

(((They've got a special biosphere reserve named

just after them alone!)))

 

  "'We were astonished to see that, with good conditions

in the United States and Canada, they could recover their

population density and come to Mexico,' he said."

 

(((They're blowing the minds of trained experts!)))

 

  "Believed to be guided by the sun or the earth's

magnetic field, Monarch communities fly several thousand

miles from Canada and the northern United States to Mexico

every year, arriving in October and November."

 

(((Nobody's got the least idea how they do it, but

they don't even care, they just do it!)))

 

  "Monarchs spend winter in the pine-clad mountains of

Michoacan state and the state of Mexico and fly to Canada

in the spring."

 

(((They were NAFTA before there was NAFTA!  They pay not

the least attention to paranoid security measures at the

borders of the United States!)))

 

  "Butterflies die during migration but also mate, making

it possible for their descendants to complete the

journey."

 

(((It's a stark but triumphant confrontation with

sex and death!)))

 

  "The migration fascinates scientists, who did not

realize where the insects went every year until the mid-

1970s."

 

(((Would we could all return to those halcyon years

of soaring gas prices and Viet Nam == oh wait, never

mind that part.)))

 

  "'It is the only insect capable of making such a long

journey, that's why it is called the Monarch,' said

Mexican biologist Alejandra Hinojosa."

 

(((A blatant lie, but hey, for a scientist, that is so

poetic!)))

 

  "Officials said some 83 million butterflies returned to

Mexico this season to occupy 8.3 hectares of a 56,000-

hectare reserve, 155 miles (250 km) from Mexico City."

 

   "Last year, reserve officials put the population at 93

million occupying 9.3 hectares, of which an estimated 65

million died when temperatures fell unexpectedly in

January, 2002.

 

  "The cold snap led scientists to question whether the

number of butterflies making the annual trek is actually

much higher than previously thought. One scientific count

estimated 270 million dead, or double the high end of

previous estimates of the annual Mexico migration."

 

(((But they're back, that's the point!  They took

a body-hit, went back to the eggs and cocoons and came

back in a solid airborne horde!  Those little guys are

tougher than Mexican cactus!)))

 

  "Floating like leaves amid the Oyamel fir trees, the

butterflies engage in a final ritual before leaving

Mexico: an airborne mating dance. By the end of March the

forest will be virtually empty of them as they head

north."

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

THIS TOO SHALL PASS

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

Just finished the paperback of Effendi.   (The third Falaheen is not in paperback yet). The first (Pashazade) finds Raf arriving in North Africa in an alternate world where the germans won WW2. It a bit like a near future Casablanca. Great story, excellent setting but not quite the mystery novel the blurb makes it out to be. Highly recommended.

A short while ago I wrote to the Director Mark Neale and had an e-mail chat with him. Result of which is that I have a copy of the documentary on dvd here with me. I intend to review it and post my comments on the site.

 

The documentary was filmed in 2001 - did any one see it? I have no idea where it wass broadcast but would like feedback freom anyone who has seen it. Post here, send me a PM or e-mail me.

 

I have only seen the first 5 mins and it looked very good - even Mrs CJ was interested!

Quote

What proportion of the posters to this message board are 2020 roleplayers ??

Quite a large bunch of them actually but this forum is not exclusive to RPG at all - everyone is welcome.

 

GM2023 was wrong to post this topic in General Chat as we do have a 2020 General Topic - thus I am moving it there.

 

The General Chat topic is for all things that are not covered elsewhere on the Forum.

 

Quote

What proportion of the posters to this message board are 2020 roleplayers ??

Quite a large bunch of them actually but this forum is not exclusive to RPG at all - everyone is welcome.

 

GM2020 was wrong to post this topic in General Chat as we do have a 2020 General Topic - thus I am moving it there.

 

The General Chat topic is for all things that are not covered elsewhere on the Forum.

Key concepts: Viridian parties, wind power, good

industrial news, embarrassments for the wicked

 

Attention Conservation Notice:  Involves

free beer!  You're invited!

 

Links:

http://www.sxsw.com/interactive/

http://www.sxsw.com/interactive/panels/tuesday/

It's SXSW Interactive again, and, as is our wont,

we are having a Viridian SXSW Open House Party.  It's

Tuesday evening March 11, starting, oh, 7:45PM or so.

You can bring anything you can carry and anybody

you trust.

 

If you've never been here before, email me and

I'll send you directions to the Viridian Vatican

here in Austin.

 

Link:

http://www.infinitematrix.net/faq/editorials/gunn12.html

http://www.infinitematrix.net/columns/sterling/sterling69.html

Ever felt even a *little bit* guilty that you get

tons of cool, hip Viridian email, yet you never

have to *pay anything at all*?  Well, go

give Eileen Gunn *one lousy dollar* right now, so that

she can wing some kind of arts grant and then

pay me to continue my Infinite Matrix weblog.

 

*************************************************

 

(((Ned Leonard of "Greening Earth Society" is

a notorious Beltway black-propaganda hack

who is paid by coal companies to deny the Greenhouse

Effect. Ned is a longtime Viridian bete noire.

 

(((Now check this out: due to climate change,  

Ned got snagged in the recent Washington snowfalls

and his Webmaster caught pneumonia.  Ned

spins this mishap with the childish canard that Washington

freezing means there can't be any such thing as

"global warming."  I do notice new undercurrents of

confusion and fear here that Ned's brazen lies

normally lack.  Maybe the next big storm in DC will

destroy Ned's office instead of just delaying his

emails.)))

 

Source:  Greening Earth Society

http://www.greeningearthsociety.org/

 

"VIRTUAL CLIMATE ALERT

 

"February 24, 2003 Vol. 4, No. 4

 

"Snowfall in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area has a

pretty dramatic impact, triggering office and school

closings, total disruption of commuter traffic by road and

by Metrobus and rail, and closing the areas three airports

(Dulles, Reagan/National and BWI). That, plus our

Webmaster contracting pneumonia and my travels caused a

delay in posting our latest Virtual Climate Alert.  We

apologize that it is a bit less timely than originally

anticipated, but it remains an important insight to

environmentalists' claims that the snowfalls along the

Eastern Seaboard during the last two weeks have been

triggered by global warming."

 

***********************************************

 

(((Meanwhile, in New Zealand, the government has the

elementary good sense to tax carbon emissions and build

windmills with that money.  If we Americans were to do

this in the USA, Ned Leonard's evil sponsors would go

broke in short order, but nobody else would much

notice.)))

 

Source:

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/20032/story.htm

 

"NZ govt to back wind farms with carbon credits

"NEW ZEALAND: March 5, 2003

 

"WELLINGTON == The New Zealand government said yesterday

it will support the development of two proposed wind farms

by giving them Kyoto Protocol climate change credits for

the clean energy they will produce.

 

  "The two wind farm projects == a 36 megawatt (MW)

extension of TrustPower's (TPW.NZ) Tararua wind farm and a

40-80 MW project proposed by state-owned Meridian Energy

== will be allocated Kyoto Protocol 'carbon credits'.

 

   "'Electricity from these wind farms would avoid some

gas or coal-fired generation, with its associated

greenhouse gas emissions,' Energy Minister Pete Hodgson

said.

 

  "'That is clearly in New Zealand's interests but the

initial costs mean that the wind farms would probably not

proceed without the credits the government is offering.'

 

   "New Zealand ratified the Kyoto accord on global

warming last December."

 

(((By now, for most countries on earth, it's become a

delight to ratify the Kyoto Accord merely in order to

irritate the United States of America,  that Viper Among

Nations, Threat to World Peace, Bane of the UN Security

Council, that Gunslinging Atomic Bully, Rogue State, Oil-

Grabbing Imperialist Hyperpower Hegemon, a Regime Cursed

by Pope and Ayatollah Alike, etc etc etc etc.)))

 

(...)

 

  "New Zealand generates around 63 percent of its

electricity needs from hydro power stations, with gas

providing around 22 percent, geothermal around seven

percent and coal about four percent. (((Get rid of the

coal, Kiwis.)))

 

   "Under the deal, promissory notes for Kyoto Protocol

emission units will be allocated to the power companies

depending on the final amount of generation from the wind

farms."

 

****************************************************

(((In local Austin news, the benighted hyperpower

Imperialist Texans, driving SUV's while bloated with

hamburgers, are humbly planning to build some homeless

shelters out of old phonebooks.)))

 

Source: Austin EcoNetworks, David Farris

 

From: "David  Farris <straw_works*yahoo.com>"

Date: Tue Mar 04, 2003  12:29:45 AM US/Central

To: AustinEcoNetwork*yahoogroups.com

Subject: [AustinEcoNetwork] stackwall demo structure

Reply-To: AustinEcoNetwork*yahoogroups.com

 

"Hello all, I am David Farris. I recently co-invented with

my 5 yr old son, a new way of building homes for the

homeless and other citizens using recycled telephone

books. This endeavor is fueled by my desire  to lessen

waste in landfills across the world and to house the  

homeless in a sustainable manner.

 

  "SBC, www.housethehomeless.org and  Leadership Austin

is assisting me in establishing the avenues and volunteer

base to collect and build housing with this coming-

December's estimated 1.4 million Austin phone books.

That's enough to build 275  1500-square-foot, 4 bedroom, 2

bath homes, or enough co-housing capacity to house  2,700

homeless/displaced persons.

 

   "I have an individual offering to  have the first-ever

stackwall structure built on her property just south of

east St. Elmo Road in south Austin.  The storage shed/barn

is around 600 square feet.  Those interested in lending

their support,  expertise or funding to this work-in-

progress can call me directly at  512-407-8874 or thru

this email  stackwallproject*yahoo.com."

 

"thank-you,

David Farris

 

"To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:

AustinEcoNetwork-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com"

 

*************************************************

 

(((Meanwhile, in rather more conventional business

affairs, Enron's windpower has been bought by General

Electric, who are guys who, unlike Enron, actually

manufacture products.  Business Week approves.)))

 

Source: Business Week, By Adam Aston in New York

 

"MARCH 3, 2003

INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT

 

"A Strong Tailwind for Wind Power

 

"GE's entry == and buy-green laws == have the industry

racing ahead

 

  "In May, 2001, General Electric Co. (GE ) scooped the

assets of Enron Corp.'s wind-power division out of

bankruptcy for $285 million. Skeptics wondered why GE was

bothering with such small fry. Its own $23 billion Power

System Div. was a global leader in heavy power equipment.

The wind business as a whole, worth just $6 billion in

revenues worldwide, was too small to really matter on the

global-energy scene. And even if it did, Enron Wind ranked

fourth in an industry dominated by European companies."

 

(((And besides, it's merely a matter of stark human

survival.)))

 

    "Nearly two years later, it's clear that GE grabbed a

cheap ticket into the fastest-growing game in the power

business. Global wind capacity has nearly quadrupled in

the past five years. Better technology has brought prices

down. And wind power has also benefited from a growing

body of local and national buy-green laws.

 

   "Now, the industry should get a big boost as GE brings

its century-long experience in turbine technology to bear.  

'The wind business,' says Steven Zwolinski, president of

GE Wind Energy, 'combines a variety of technologies that

GE excels at.'

 

   "Technology has played a key role in this virtuous

cycle. Windmill blades have gotten bigger and more

efficient, as have turbines, which convert the mechanical

motion into electricity. Just two years ago, 750-kilowatt

turbines dominated the market. Today, GEWE's best-selling

model has twice that capacity. And while first-generation

turbines in the 1980s were famously unreliable, 'now,

they're up 95% of the time or more,' explains Randall

Swisher, executive director of the American Wind Energy

Assn.

 

Link:

A delightful bunch of people.  Buy the T-shirts.

http://www.awea.org/

 

  "This means that new, well-sited wind towers  

(((yay!))) can compete with coal- or gas-fired plants,

(((booooooooh!))))  charging 3 cents to 6 cents per

kilowatt hour, versus around 4 cents for coal or gas. So

utilities and power developers are starting to see wind as

a cost-effective way to diversify their mix of fuel

options and not just a way to burnish a green image.

 

  "'The main driver has been cost. The price [of wind]

has come down by 80 percent over the past 20 years,' says

Lew Hey, chairman and CEO of FPL Group Inc. (FPL) The Juno

Beach (Fla.) utility == a GEWE customer == has added more

than 2,000 megawatts of wind capacity to its portfolio of

gas, coal, biomass, hydro, nuclear, and solar plants.

 

(((NO WAR FOR WIND, BIOMASS, HYDRO AND SOLAR!  Hey wait,

that slogan doesn't even fit on the placard here.)))

 

   "Sweeteners in the form of local and federal wind-tax

credits are part of the allure.  In 1992, for example,

President George H. W. Bush (((of beloved memory)))  

unveiled a set of federal production-tax credits, or PTCs,

which now give wind-plant operators a 1.8 cents credit for

each kilowatt hour they sell. The PTCs aren't ideal, as

they are only useful to companies such as utilities that

earn steady income. But they're a step up from earlier

investment-based credits, which gave wind producers little

incentive to maintain wind facilities after taking the

initial credit."

 

Link:  The Texas Renewable Energy Industries Assoc. has

jazzed-up its website.

http://www.treia.org/

 

   "The current PTC is set to expire at the end of 2003.

Still, industry execs say that support for wind is greater

now than on the past two occasions the credit was renewed.

'The industry's at a point where it could probably get by

without [the PTC],' says Edwin F. Feo, a lawyer

specializing in energy finance at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley &

McCloy LLP.

 

(((The occasional bank-crushing oil-price spike may have

its own effect, too.  Seen those pump prices lately?  

Wow!)))

 

   "Thanks to the rise of green-energy quotas, GEWE and

the wind biz may prosper either way. Concerned about

global warming  (((no such thing))) and U.S. dependence on

imported oil,  (((utterly harmless, a mere myth)))  more

than a dozen states have established so-called renewable-

portfolio standards that require power producers to phase

in locally generated renewable sources. California, for

example, calls for 20% by 2017; Texas producers are ahead

of schedule to produce 3% green by 2009;  (((I can hear

those New Zealanders laughing from here, but c'mon, three

percent is a lot)))  and in New York, the governor just

set the bar at 25% within 10 years. (((Not to mention Tony

Blair's recent very interesting screed on the blatant

national-security menace of climate change.)))

Link:

http://www.worldrevolution.org/article/663

 

   "A similar set of national quotas == a 10% green-power

minimum for all 50 states by 2020 == was approved by the

Senate last year, and is bound to get more attention.

 

   "Accounting for just 0.25% of U.S. power output, wind

may still look like a long shot. But developments in

Europe give the industry hope. There, high fossil-fuel

costs and a steadier commitment to wind power have pumped

up wind loads to over 20% of power generation in Denmark

and Spain. AWEA expects the U.S. to achieve 6% wind by

2020 or sooner just by letting current growth trends

continue.  (((Maybe they'll forge ahead  with green power

just to *spite* the Americans.  After all, that sure beats

trying to defeat their Air Force.)))

 

   "For many states, wind may be the only cost-effective

option. Most state-level renewable quotas demand that the

green energy be produced locally. For all but a handful of

hydropower-rich states, wind is the cheapest, most

flexible, and most abundant option. The cost of power from

photovoltaic cells, for example, is five to six times that

of wind, though prices for solar have been falling.

Biomass and geothermal remain too small to compete for

now. And with dams coming under environmental scrutiny,

hydropower output is likely to decline."  (((That's pretty

much the energy story, all right == but you know, it's

hard, but it's *not impossible.*  In fact, it's simpler

than endless warfare and vast deficits.)))

 

    "GE's arrival on the scene could add a lot of

momentum. Zwolinski, who also served in GE's medical and

power-systems units, talks about turning GEWE into a $1

billion operation by applying the conglomerate's diverse

industrial expertise. GE's aerospace engineers can work on

the shape of the blades. Generators are a specialty of GE

Power Systems. The drive shaft, gearing, and control

systems are all staples of GE's industrial controls and

power operations. Add in Six Sigma tools that GE itself

perfected, and Zwolinski thinks the company could bring

the price of wind power down by an additional 20% or so.

 

   "Already, GE has unveiled the world's largest

commercial wind turbine. At 3.6 megawatts, it has more

than twice the capacity of today's standard 1.5-megawatt

models.  (((They're AMERICAN-sized wind turbines! SUV-

sized! Double cheeseburger with bacon!)))  Zwolinski is

also focusing on service and maintenance, applying remote

diagnostics and other technologies GE pioneered in its

medical-systems operations to predict when maintenance is

due. (((And they're *wired and digital!*))))

 

   "'GE'S entry really changes the game. And it means a

healthier, more competitive industry,' says Terry F.

Hudgens, CEO of PPM Energy Inc., which recently installed

GE turbines in a Minnesota wind park.

 

    "Such customer confidence is a plus. But GE still

faces some significant obstacles. In its key U.S. market,

uncertainty over the timing of the PTC renewal is causing

some developers to delay big deals. And while wind is

plentiful, it often blows the hardest where nobody needs

it. So until federal rules are revised, it may be costly

for new wind projects to get connected to the grid. And

once these issues are resolved, wind's price will have to

keep falling. After all, notes Zwolinski, wind businesses

can only flourish if they deliver power at a price that

won't punish customers for going green." (((Punish them

for going brown, stupid.)))

 

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

C'MON OVER, PEOPLE

LET'S HAVE A GOOD TIME

O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O O=c=O

As from today you can also reach Lauri's fab site from www.edgerunners.com and hurrah for issue 8!

As from today you can also reach Lauri's fab site from www.edgerunners.com and hurrah for issue 8!

Here you go...Medtechs - The Cutting Edge

 

First time around - what a suprise!

MindWrap only just made it into the Top 100. It's, lets say, an interesting site! It's more of a cyberpunk culture site the you are probably used to - some interesting ideas and in a way quite arty - I like it.

 

And yes this is the part of the forum to advertise your site!!

Thank you very much. For me its been an absolute pleasure creating this.

 

Late winter come spring is usually the busiest time but I do suspect the temporary closure of the RTal board has brought some new faces and they are all very welcome of course! I do hope they like the quality of the discussions here and decide to pop in more often.  

Quote

Cyberjunk, if you are reading this, then please could you set up a poll related to my above post? Please?

Well we will give it a whirl! New poll

 

I have turned the Polls back on due to a request, Can't promise they will work or stay on for long but enjoy while they are here!