Black Friday

As it happens, my book and e-book aren’t on sale or otherwise specially discounted for Black Friday. But, y’know, they don’t cost all that much to start with, so why not go buy a copy anyway?

Book Recommendation

I made a book recommendation elsewhere today, concerning the problem of writing beings with senses or abilities or other things that we don’t have, and since for myself I think it’s a rather good recommendation, well, I’m going to make it here, too. Specifically, Inside of a

2012 Conlang Card Exchange

This year I’m planning to take part in the 2012 Conlang Card Exchange, in which participants from the conlang and conculture mailing lists I subscribe to exchange: “a card-sized, mailed, ordinary or concultural, written-in-a-conlang item such as: * a this-cultural greeting card in the conlang * a this-world postcard in the

Author's Note: Multiple Jeopardy

So, yeah. Here’s how the legal system – well, the Empire’s legal system, anyway – copes with forking.  You are liable for all the crimes committed by you, or by the lineal fork-ancestors from which you descend.  So if you commit the crime first, and then fork, both of you

Multiple Jeopardy

AIÖ (IMPERIAL CORE) — The Watch Constabulary announced today the capture of more instances of Werg yilKorin hinAnkar, estrev and sole member of the Shrouded Suns Selfdom, a criminal syndicate based out of the Sivrin Freeworlds, notorious for their ventures in blacknet operations, infojacking, reputation gaming, identity fraud, loansharking, forknapping, brainspiking,

Trope-a-Day: Electronic Telepathy

Electronic Telepathy: Specifically, the kind built into the eldrae and galari (although with different encodings, originally), and put on general sale by a number of corporations.  See Psychic Powers.

An Inglorious Coda

Arkuel Múras: Where’s next on the agenda? Ethly 0x4414CC2B:  Freylis.  Fourth planet of Ardylis in the Dark Sea, two moons, oxy-nitro-water garden world with a levo-protein, levo-lipid, dextro-carbohydrate, DNA-encoding ecology.  And most interestingly, a former sophont civilization, or what’s left of it. Arkuel Múras: How former? Ethly 0x4414CC2B:

Trope-a-Day: Electric Instant Gratification

Electric Instant Gratification: Exists, in a variety of forms as unsubtle as classic “wireheading”, known as “electrobliss” – only much simpler to implement, since you can actually achieve it perfectly well with transcranial magnetic stimulation – or orgasmatronics through more subtle pleasures like slinkies with better-than-life emotional tracks, all the way up

Trope-a-Day: Eldritch Abomination

Eldritch Abomination: There have been a few elder races and Gone Horribly Right seed AI, and other postsophont entities, that are not terribly, shall we say, sophont-friendly, or indeed sophont-comprehensible.  (Start with the Leviathan Consciousness, and work down the list.)  And statistics – and bright EM spots elsewhere in the galaxy

Clearly, This Is The 1.0 Release

Responses to the advent of Information Physics, and the proposal that the universe, in essence, is a self-simulating simulation, a program using itself as a processor, usually fall into one of four classes.  The ambitious immediately wonder how we can apply this in the short-term to build better, faster, more

Trope-a-Day: Elaborate Underground Base

Elaborate Underground Base: The Imperial Military Service (various, with special props going to the Imperial Navy’s hollow hangar moon at Palaxias IIb), the Imperial Emergency Management Authority’s Crisis Citadels, more than a few data havens, the original location of Argyran Depository, the Nightfall Complexes (retreats for city populations

Trope-a-Day: Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette

Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: This is the stereotypical – and yes, actually, very common – look for the eseldrae race, with actual close-to-cream-white skin, and usually differing only in hair that may be dark brown, rather than black.  Many of the kireldrae can also carry it off, although their skin is translucent enough