Aladdin Systems: Not Your Greatmother's Autoservants

Who could imagine life without autoservants? They cook and clean for us, tend our homes and businesses, keep everyting in good repair, and take care of our every need. Servs and mechs and cybs are indispensible to modern life.

Yet how often do you think about your autoservants? If you’re like most people, seldom. You inherited them, or they came with your home, your business, your ship. They work perfectly—and when they don’t, mechs fix them.

Would it surprise you to know that your autoservants may have been in service for thousands of years? It seems incredible, yet it’s true: the average autoservant in today’s galaxy dates back to the days of the Terran Empire.

What must fill your poor serv’s circuts. Think of the inevitable bloat and clutter of that long a lifetime. Your grandfather’s drink preferences. Great-Aunt Matilda’s favorite breakfasts. The social schedules of a hundred generations. Millennia of trivia.

At Aladdin Systems, we specialize in making old autoservants new again. We’ll clean out your servs’ memories, peel away generations of clutter, and update their software with state-of-the-art routines. You’ll find that your autoservants are more responsive, more efficient, better able to serve.

Touch here to contact a representative for a consultation.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Medical First Aid Diagnostic Leech

Emergency Instructions

You will need:
• Series A-1 First Aid (red) or B-1 Diagnostic (white) leech
• Datapad(s) or dataspex
• Phone or other communications device

1. Peel back the leech’s transparent covering. Attach leech to patient’s exposed skin. (If the patient is wounded, attach the leech as near as possible to any wounds.)

2. It is normal for the leech to deflate as nanos enter the patient’s bloodstream. Leech casing will drop off or disintegrate when no longer needed.

3. Nanos will perform diagnosis and begin any necessary treatment. Consult your datapad and follow any instructions.

4. Provide phone for nanos to communicate with medical resources or authorities.

5. Further, specialized leeches may be required. Be sure to match color and number before attaching leeches to patient.

6. If medical professionals are available or needed, they will be summoned by nanos. Please be prepared to assist in locating patient for authorities.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

The Right Datapad Makes All the Difference

When you’re looking for a datapad, you want high resolution, quick response, durability, and compatibility. And above all, you want value.

All Ipuwer brand datapads feature near-molecular scale resolution, with nano-addressing to achieve results that exceed the limit of unenhanced human eyesight. With a refresh rate less than 0.01 seconds, Ipuwer datapads can display even the highest-speed video with no trace of breakups or artifacting.

Constructed from permaplast polymers that will last for decades of normal use, Ipuwer datapads are crumple-resistant and fully-rollable. And Ipuwer pads feature Snap-Smooth technology to eliminate folds and creases at the touch of a corner.

Ipuwer datapads are the most compatible on the market, fully compliant with all major data and networking standards, including FLBLA, Terran Empire Standard, and GalactiNet. Each Ipuwer pad comes with a minimum 2 TB of onboard memory, with access to local and wide-area network storage. Input methods include stylus, virtual keyboard, and auto-congifure data transfer from any system or network.

Ipuwer pads are available in all standard sizes, from wallet (5 x 7.5 cm) all the way up to Display (60 x 80 cm). Pads can be linked, physically and virtually, to make larger displays as needed. Available in multi-packs of 10, 25, and 50, Ipuwer datapads provide superior performance and value.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Meet a Galactic Rider

(from Stars of the Galaxy, May 6482 CE)

For millions of years, the Galactic Riders have served the causes of peace and freedom in the Galaxy. Yet Humans know little about this ancient alien order. Recently, on the planet Dovan, we interviewed Tto Yachim, a Dorascan Rider who was happy to answer some questions. Like all of his people, Tto Yachim is a superb linguist and vocal mimic; he speaks Terran Standard perfectly.

Stars: So tell us, what are the Galactic Riders all about?

Tto Yachim: The Galactic Riders provide help to those in need. In addition, we assist the cause of freedom over repression, maintain cultural continuity, act as mediators, and provide role models.

Stars: What sort of training do you need to be a Rider?

Tto Yachim: We are extensively trained in music, history, culture, and the accumulated wisdom of the Free Peoples.

Stars: Galactic Riders are empowered to act as judge, jury, and executioner. Who oversees them; who prevents them from abusing their power?

Tto Yachim: Galactic Riders act with the full authority of the Council of the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds. Riders are responsible only to their own consciences. A Rider’s integrity is beyond question. On the few occasions that a Galactic Rider has misused power, other Riders have hastened to administer justice.

Stars: Where are the Galactic Riders based?

Tto Yachim: Our order is headquartered on Nephestal. Many individual Riders make regular circuits of various worlds and settlments, visiting each perhaps once a year or so. Some set up permanent homes, and operate out of them. Others consider their ships to be their homes.

Stars: Thank you for sharing this information with our readers.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

The Few, the Proud…the Imperium Space Corps

The bond that holds Spacers together was forged nearly four millennia ago. Every Spacer inherits a legacy of those who have gone before and every Spacer is duty bound to uphold the traditions and legacy of our Corps and pass that on to future Spacers. From its beginning the long-ago days of the Terran Empire, the Corps has strived to produce not only the best warriors, but the best people. They are men and women who live by a code which form the bedrock of good character. These values guide the Corps, as well as its individual Spacers.

Honor: Spacers are held to a high standard of the utmost ethical and moral behavior. Honesty and honor are held in great regard. Respect for others is essential. Every Spacer is accountable for his or her actions and meeting the highest standard of the Corps.

Courage: Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the ability to face fear and overcome it. It is the mental, moral, and physical strength ingrained in Spacers. It steadies them in times of stress, carries them through every challenge, and aids them in facing new and unknown confrontations.

Commitment: Commitment is the spirit of determination and dedication found in Spacers. Every aspect of life in the Corps shows commitment, from the high standard of excellence to the vigilance the Spacers show for training.

There is only one explanation for people who accept a challenge this difficult. They're called to do it. They understand instinctively that the greatest things they will accomplish in life are the hardest things. Which path is calling you?

Touch here, to contact a recruiter.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Apologies

Apologies for the unscheduled hiatus. Don was in the hospital with a badly-infected foot, and is now recovering at home. Details are available on Don's blog at meerkatmeade.blogspot.com.

Regular posts should resume on Wednesday, April 11.

The Curious Voyage of the Maria Theresa

Perhaps the greatest galactic mystery is that of the Maria Theresa.

One of the legendary Imperial Starcruisers, the Maria Theresa was a passenger-and-cargo liner of unprecendented luxury. At an overall length of 8,000 meters and a width of nearly 500, the Starcruiser was a spaceborne city that could carry well over a million passengers. Each of the 25 Starcruisers endlessly plied the circumference of the Galaxy, making stops at each of the Provincial Capitals and completing a circuit in 11 days.

In TE 233, during a maintenance layover at the Tep Kecor shipyards, the presumed-empty Maria Theresa fired up her engines and, eluding pursuit, entered tachyon phase and was never seen or heard from again.

Lost along with the Starcruiser were her full complement of ancillary craft, including five fifty-meter liners, five twenty-meter cargo carriers, and one hundred ten-person escape boats. The liners and cargo carriers, respectable starships themselves, had FTL capability and limited weapons.

In TE 243, the Maria Theresa was replaced by a newly-constructed sister ship, the Maj Thovold.

Theories of the Maria Theresa’s fate include human or nonhuman pirates, other aliens, time-travelers, and unexplained behavior by the cruiser’s onboard AI software.

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Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Did Nostradamus Predict the Sack of Terra?

(Newschannel Six, 18 Sep TE 381)

Nearly a thousand years ago, the Earth prognosticator Nostradamus may have foreseen last month's attack on Terra by Patalanian Union forces. Nostradamus — Michel de Nostradame — is believed by some to have predicted many great events in history, including the rise and fall of Napoleon and Hitler, the bombing of Hiroshima, the terraforming of Luna, and the destruction of Cambolinee.

It looks as if Nostradamus also knew that the Sack of Terra was coming.

In Quatrain 4,8, Nostradamus says:

The great city by prompt and sudden assault
Surprised at night, guards interrupted:
The guards and watches of Saint-Quentin
Slaughtered, guards and the portals broken.

Is there any doubt that this describes the Patalanian surprise attack on the Empire’s capital? The reference to “the guards and watches of Saint-Quentin” can only refer to San Quentin Orbital, Terra’s largest prison facility — during the attack, this facility was targeted by Patalanian missiles. Many guards were killed, and many prisoners escaped.

In Quatrain 4,12, Nostradamus predicts:

The greater army put to flight in disorder,
Scarcely further will it be pursued:
Army reassembled and the legion reduced,
Then it will be chased out completely from the Gauls.

Sure enough, the Imperial Navy was chased out of the Solar System (poetically called “the Gauls”), but was not pursued by Patalanian forces; the Navy was able to regroup at Laxus, 3.4 parsecs away.

Finally, in Quatrain 10,49 Nostradamus wrote:

Garden of the world near the new city,
In the path of the hollow mountains:
It will be seized and plunged into the Tub,
Forced to drink waters poisoned by sulfur.

This plainly predicts that the domes of New York (the “hollow mountains” of the “new city”) would be cracked in the attack, allowing water to flood the city. The waters of the East River do indeed contain high levels of sulfur and other contaminants.

So there you have it: nearly a thousand years ago, this humble pretech soothsayer saw the disaster, and tried to warn us.

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Find out more in "Candelabra and Diamonds" by Don Sakers

Come to Columbo and Create the Future!

World Creativity Conference
August 28 - September 2, 2042
Clarke Centre, Columbo, Sri Lanka
membagent@creativcon.con

This year’s CreativCon will be held in the tropical paradise of Sri Lanka, a land older than time and yet more modern than the future itself. The main facility is the incomparable Clarke Centre, the scientific and technological jewel of the East. Symposium topics range from the aesthetics of space travel to interdisciplinary virtual world design, with all disciplines represented. Whether you’re a poet, painter, dancer, fashion maven, video artist, or Net designer, there’s a place for you at the CreativCon. This is the year’s biggest celebration of artistic creativity…you dare not miss it!

This year’s Special Challenge Topics are:

• Preserving the Past: Conservation Strategies for Pre-Digital Artifacts
• The Ice Cometh: Preparing for the Next Ice Age
• Lojban at 87: Is It Time for a New Artificial Language?
• New Mesopotamia: Design Study for an Undersea City

So come to Columbo, bring your imagination, and become a part of the future!

NOTE: New Special Challenge Topic just added:
• The Martian Century: Settling the Red Planet.

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Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna by Don Sakers

Eisenhower Spaceport

from Terra on the Cheap by Tunella Gennero
©6473 CE, Interstellar Publishing Group, Bosip

Over 90% of traffic to and from Terra passes through Eisenhower, earning the spaceport its nickname “Gateway to Terra.” Regularly-scheduled tourist flights departing from Bosip and many other worlds are the best way to avoid variable landing and berthing fees. Be wary of pickpockets, con artists, and others who prey upon tourists.

Transportation
Aircabs to New York City are available in front of the main terminal. Be sure to use only cabs displaying a license from the Terran Tourist Board.

What to See and Do

Main Terminal: Believed to be the largest spaceport terminal in the Galaxy, the Main Terminal is an excellent example of Late Empire architecture. At its peak, the Main Terminal served five million transients per day. Don’t miss the many local food vendors, which offer the chance to sample authentic Terran cuisine like Athan’s Otdogs, the Madonna Bigmac, and Crottled Greeps. Wash it down with genuine Buckstar’s coffee.

Grand Central Clock: The centerpiece of the Main Terminal was perhaps the most famous clock in the Terran Empire. relocated from Grand Central Station in New York, the clock’s four faces are made from opal.

Hotels & Inns
Many fine hotels and inns are available in New York.

Find out more at the Scattered Worlds site

Thank you for choosing RCSpex™

Features

• Eidolon-265 450 GHz processor
  
• Fully FLBLA-compliant for assured compatibility
  
• Rechargeable 12-day battery
  
• Adjustable earpieces for comfortable fit
  
• Stereo bone-conduction speakers & microphones
  
• Continuous eye-tracking allows operation by eye movements
  
• Retinal scan provides perfect security
  
• Built-in configuration program
  
• Five operating modes: Transparent, Basic Computing, Virtua, Cyberbia, El Juego
  
• Distinctive styling
  

Quick Start

A built-in configuration program allows you to begin using your RCSpex™ immediately.

1. Put on your RCSpex™
2. Adjust the flexible earpieces for the most comfortable fit.
3. Locate the on/off switch, where the right earpiece joins the lens assembly.
4. Click and hold the on/off switch for ten seconds to activate the configuration program.
5. Arcy, our animated mascot, will guide you through the configuration process.

NOTE: If you currently wear corrective lenses (glasses or contact lenses), please have your lenses available. RCSpex™ will scan your lenses to determine their optical properties. RCSpex™ will then adjust its own display to match the effect of your lenses.

Modes

Cycle modes by clicking the mode switch, located where the left earpiece joins the lens assembly. (Optionally, you can use the configuration program to set up an eye movement that will switch modes.)

1. Transparent Mode: RCSpex™ display an unprocessed view of the real world. Options: Time/date display, Incoming mail alert, Continuous audio-visual record

2. Basic Computing Mode: Real-world image is overlaid with a windowing environment that can be used for data processing, communications, and interface with your personal or business computer systems.

3. Virtua: RCSpex™ display Virtual enhancements of the real world. NOTE: RCSpex™ can be set to transmit your own Virtual persona so that others will see you the way you want to be seen. (Construction of virtual personae images requires additional software.)

4. Cyberbia: RCSpex™ are your portal into the limitless realm of cyberspace. Simple navigation controls respond to eye movements, allowing you to travel through Cyberbia at will. Conduct business transactions, visit with friends, play interactive team games, learn, teach, view virties, read books, surf the Nets.

5. El Juego: RCSpex™ take you into the richest and wildest gaming environment ever. Play your existing character(s), or establish new ones.

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Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna by Don Sakers

Nephestal

Home of the Daamin in the Scattered Worlds, founded immediately after the Flight of the Daamin. Nephestal became the center of culture in the Scattered Worlds, and the meeting place for the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds. The surviving Singing Stones are kept in Geva Elen, the Place of the Stones, before the Temple of All Worlds.

During the First Terran Empire, Nephestal was known to Humans as Kao Li, and was believed to be the central world of a small Daamin trading league. The Daamin dealt with Humans exclusively from a base on the Human-colonized planet Ny. Humans did not actually visit Nepehestal until well after the fall of the Empire.

Other notable features of Nephestal include:

Assembly Hall: Meeting place of the Council of the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds.

Deepest Crypt: Storage place for weapons and other dangerous things. Maintained by Nar Klerit Tum, Warder of Arms.

Forest of the Hlutr: The particular physical collection of Hlutr near the Assembly Hall.

Galactic Riders' Landing Field and Riders' Quarter: Quarters and support facilites for the Galactic Riders.

Llala-Pili: Scattered Worlds race of legendary gourmands, in charge of cuisine on Nephestal.

Lovers' Grove: Grove on Nephestal where the legendary Jel Haran and Lirith first fell in love. Popular tourist attraction. According to legend, vows exchanged in the Lovers' Grove will never fail.

Museum of Worlds: Museum on Nephestal which preserves art and artifacts from throughout the Scattered Worlds. Its caretaker is titled "Master of the Museum."

Rept Kretzlab: The Gap of Remembrance, a portion of Nephestal's sky kept clear of cosmic dust so that the light of the Galactic Core can be seen.

Temple of All Worlds: Cultural and religious center on Nephestal, with remembrances of each of the Scattered Worlds. At the center of the Temple is the Dais of the Elder Gods.

Visitors' Quarter: Area of Nephestal which is devoted to housing and services for visitors.

Watchers (of the Stones): Cadre of telepathic-sensitive volunteers, who attempt to divine meaning from the music of the Singing Stones.



Famous People Connected with Nepehstal:

Arhineal delv Trespidaan: Avethellan member of the Council of the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds.

Clombortau Nor'Piqenn: Marpethalan member of the Council of the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds.

Hes-Namu: Artificial intelligence in service of the Free Peoples of the Scattered Worlds.

Kayya Trnas: Daamin scholar of Humanity at the time of the First Terran Empire.

Nar Klerit Tum: Talebba, Warder of Arms for the Scattered Worlds.

Sinlath Trnas: Post-Imperial Daamin scholar of Humanity.

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Find out more in The Leaves of October: a novel of the Scattered Worlds by Don Sakers