The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other oddities.

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Rman Virgil
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

Post by Rman Virgil »

I guess the mini sagas are qualifying Einstein's assertion: "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
Exactly.
Saw this in my travels - floating village / school: http://txchnologist.com/post/5171886708 ... s-nigerian
Amazing.

And to reiterate.... many of these type Pre-Collapse structs/tech - floating cities, desalinization plants, Synthetic Biology Archetecture, micro powerplants, Jet Borgs, D.U.M.B.s connected by maglevs, etc. - I postulate would survive post collapse and are an untapped wellspring for fresh maps, mods, gameplay...
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

Post by Rman Virgil »

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Also, epic facebook group with loads of cool tech stuff (mostly related to Resource Based Economy / Venus Project type stuff): https://www.facebook.com/pages/Resource ... 7969292820
Spectacular resource. :D

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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

Post by Rman Virgil »

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Self explanatory by now, I would assume.

Gonna let it percolate, mayhap germinate, till next weekend. :hmm:

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Thought occured to me that the expanded timeline is the equivalent of a tool called "Writer's Prompts". I say equivalent because it can serve in other capacities, not just for spinning a yarn. It can prompt art, mods, maps and gameplay constructs, I think. At least, that is how it affects my sensibilities.


Even if you are not a professional writer you probably already heard about writing prompts. They represent a very effective tool for any writing project, so it’s a good idea to know how to use them.

What Is A Writing Prompt?

If you’re a fiction writer, you may want to consider using writing prompts to kick-start your creativity. A writing prompt is simply a topic around which you start jotting down ideas. The prompt could be a single word, a short phrase, a complete paragraph or even a picture, with the idea being to give you something to focus upon as you write. You may stick very closely to the original prompt or you may wander off at a tangent.

You may just come up with rough, disjointed notes or you may end up with something more polished and complete, a scene or even a complete story. The point is to simply start writing without being held back by any inhibitions or doubts.

Here are four good reasons for writing to prompts :

Sometimes it’s hard to start writing when faced with a blank page.

1.) Focusing on an unrelated prompt for a while helps get the creative juices flowing. If you write for just ten minutes on a prompt, you should then find it easier to return to the piece you intended to write. You may also find that if you stop trying to think so hard about what you wanted to write and switch you attention to the prompt instead, the words and ideas for your original piece start to come to you after all.

2.) The things you write in response to a prompt may also end up as worthwhile material in their own right. The prompt may give you ideas from which a complete story grows or you may get fresh ideas for another piece you are already working on. It’s often surprising how much material you come up with once you start.

3.) Writing to a prompt regularly helps to get you into the habit of writing. This can act as a sort of exercise regime, helping to build up your “muscles” so that you start to find it easier and easier to write for longer and longer.

4.) Prompts can be a great way to get involved in a writing community. Sometimes writing groups offer a prompt for everyone to write about, with the intention being for everyone to come up with something they can then share. This can be a source of great encouragement, although knowing that others will read what you have written can also inhibit your creativity.

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/writing-prompts-101/
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2068 to 2107 Time Interval Part B.jpg
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

Post by Lord Apocalypse »

Another one I thought of.. How about the supercomputer from Superman III. Designed by Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor). It becomes self-aware and tries to kill anyone who threatens it. Though one victim gets sucked into the machine and spat out as a cyborg controlled by the machine. Actually.. kinda sounds like what the nexus link weapon does :hmm:

What say you Rman? Think we may have found the partial link between real world stories/movies and the birth of nexus?
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

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Like the timeline but have a question about the womb.. why wait so long for the technology considering it is viable today (though not as widely researched) I would think it would ready at least 10-20 years before your timeline has it, though maybe not widely used until much later.

Anyway, the artificial womb has made at least one publication. It is the basis for the reproduction of most clan warriors in the Battletech universe.

Overall good timeline though :) I think there may be one or two things that are out of place or in need of tweaking but overall excellent work 8)
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

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Lord Apocalypse wrote:Another one I thought of.. How about the supercomputer from Superman III. Designed by Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor). It becomes self-aware and tries to kill anyone who threatens it. Though one victim gets sucked into the machine and spat out as a cyborg controlled by the machine. Actually.. kinda sounds like what the nexus link weapon does :hmm:

What say you Rman? Think we may have found the partial link between real world stories/movies and the birth of nexus?
I'll roll with that. :)

Something else too which aubergine brought up. Stuff looks to be happening a whole lot faster than forecasted on Pumpkin's timeline, especially as far as Synaptic Link Tech. When I was making the entries in "Part B" I was thinking to myself, this stuff is already under development right now.... to reach the stage of the game could very well happen in half the time projected by the canon. That got me to thinking if there was some way to extrapolate the Synaptic Link beyond how we have been understanding its workings to date ? I haven't come up with anything yet. :hmm:

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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

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Lord Apocalypse wrote:Like the timeline but have a question about the womb.. why wait so long for the technology considering it is viable today (though not as widely researched) I would think it would ready at least 10-20 years before your timeline has it, though maybe not widely used until much later.

Anyway, the artificial womb has made at least one publication. It is the basis for the reproduction of most clan warriors in the Battletech universe.

Overall good timeline though :) I think there may be one or two things that are out of place or in need of tweaking but overall excellent work 8)
There are many things I feel that way about. See my last post about Synaptic Link Tech. Ultimately, short of re-writeing the Pumpkin canon, the only thing I can think of is invoking the concept of parallel universes where our RL timeline has a faster rate of change than the WZ universe timeline, while otherwise having many of the particulars in common. O_o

But, like you suggest, maybe with some tweeking and re-arranging we can minimize some of the more glaring rate of change discontinuites.

Something else to keep in mind...

The opening scene of Aldous Huxley's novel, "Brave New World", published in 1932, and taking place in AD 2540, is in a hospital ward full of external wombs !! Huxley's inspiration, IIRC, was Henry Ford's factory assembly line innovations for his Model T.
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

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Artificial Womb
I see this at first being restricted to the rich and the military. This would be say first generation super soldiers (precursor to syn link). Think SPARTAN program in HALO or the clans in battletech. Each soldier is modified to enhance base traits such as strength and intelligence. The US and major corporations can both see this as a way to dominate and control countries in other parts of the world. I guess it would really depend on how quickly you can grow someone to maturity though.

Synaptic Link
VR has been out for a very long time but has never really caught on but it would have to be first gen tech. With a human/computer interface (possible now within the next few years if memory serves) you would hit second gen, but it would probably again be mostly a direct link to a VR setup. More like hooking yourself into a UAV via ground control systems rather than connecting directly with the aircraft. I think third gen link tech would finally be correctly integrated for full combat armor control. So, in a sense you have two techs converging really. Powered combat armor and syn link techs (basis for a spoiler in Redemption).

The biggest obstacle isn't the link though it going to be the software interface and the ability to transfer data fast enough to the suit. Pretty much the suit would have to respond to input as fast as the pilot could think it. Realistically though... I don't know if this would be any better than using a lot of bio sensors in the suit itself. It would give the pilot far greater access to data though but the limit there would be how much and how fast the human brain can process every detail during a battle.

Mag Lev to the Rockies
This puzzles me. If JH knew about the Mag Lev line then why did he not use it during the exodus from Seattle? You didn't mention if it was destroyed or what its status is.

NASDA LasSats
Here is one thing that is missing. When did research begin on the LasSat program? As powerful as they are made out to be in game you would think that the R&D for them would take far longer than 2 years. Perhaps the NASDA systems were actually developed earlier in the timeline and later repurposed? Or perhaps the research was mothballed with the tech being nearly complete and not finished for another decade. Either way it probably would take several years to get all of the satellites launched into orbit.

Thats about all for now. I shall try and find more later.
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

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Good input LA. Very helpful. :)

Like your take on the External Wombs and Synaptic Link. Been reading a serious but still fun study about what kind of science advances it would take to make the most current incarnation of Iron Man a reality and this aligns with it. It's called "Becoming Iron Man". Which reminds me of a recent proposal for a Borg APC. What would really be cool is if Borgs had a "Tumbler" vehicle instead. But that would likely obsolece tanks somewhat though Drive Mode would be quite a ride. ;) Actually, the Brits have already taken it up:

http://gajitz.com/batman-tech-comes-to- ... n-tumbler/

Agree with your assessment of the NASDA LaSats. Will work something out on the timeline to reflect it. :3

As for the Mag Lev, here's what I have, so far.

During the all out nuke exchange, the system was compromised. MagLev couldnot be run, nor could the tunnel be used to make the journey on foot below ground. It was pressing that the NORAD facility be secured before another faction could claim it. Not all made the journey from the Seattle D.U.M.B.; some stayed behind to secure that facility. IIRC there are well over 1000 miles of tunnel. We wondered what the Hammond contingent did for 14 years at NORAD. I propose that one the things they occupied themselves with was troubleshooting the system from both ends - NORAD to Seattle D.U.M.B., & visa versa. Sometime after the original campaign they get the system fully operational and the contingents joined. Open to suggestions. :hmm:
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

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Time for a story interlude, me thinks.

A few posts back I mentioned Mini Sagas.

Part of my fiction writing process the last 8 years is that when formative story ideas come to me, characters and scenes inparticular, I first attempt to write what are called Mini-Sagas. This is a deceptively simple art form with only one parameter - you tell a story using no more than 50 words. If I can't create a Mini-Saga it tells me I really don't have a good enough grasp of the material to write at greater legnth. I've done some already for this illustrated novel and will continue to throughout the term of its creation. These I can share here to offer a pithy taste of what is to come, while at the same time each can stand on thier on two feet independent of the longer work and pose no down-side to me in the novel's evolution. So these too will be part of the postings here, now and again...
Here are 5. Written at different times and improvisationally, I had no notion they would form a sequence till after they were done. Each was intended to stand alone but here they are in what strikes me as a natural unfolding. Guessing it was my subconcious at work. I do trust it without reservation and can't imagine stepping into the unknown to conjure without that covenant.
~ Radical ~

After the FBI raided Planet First, Taryn decided it was time to die.

Blowing her brains out, jumping off the Goldengate, wouldn't work.

It had to be a conjured fact so that she could be free to topple, then vanish.Topple those who would steal the future of the unborn.
~ Mission ~

She made her home between expectation and destiny.

She had many names, many guises, and a fate that burned those who would rule for their comfort alone.

She even faked her own demise to remove all ties and traces.

Now this.

She set the last C-4 brick and detonator.
~ A Vision ~

"The one whose light is wrapped in darkness, is close."

Mia Littlewing, my kid sister, rarely spoke. When she did, it was the gift and she couldn't help it.

"Where ?"

"By a great water, under mountains."

The city reservoir, I thought.

Would there be time to prevent the disaster ?
~ Bad NEWS ~

"There's no time debate. You gotta get your teams deployed."

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"Your words ain't gospel. Even if your blog won a Pulitzer."

It was hopeless. Who'd believe an autistic's vision.

Until it happened. Too late.
~ No Return ~

She made the call.

They thought hoax, till a side of canyon wall blew off into the serene reservoir. That's when they dropped whatever, evacuated and closed both sides of the dam to traffic.

Sure no one was left, she triggered the detonators.

Walking away, she only heard the explosions.
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

Post by aubergine »

Still reading through posts - been a busy week reporting on stuff in Turkey - but one thing that would surely cause a delay to tech (at least reaching the public) is global revolution.

I just posted a vid to Repeace Turkiye from someone who was in the Egypt uprising and his description of how their government changed (for the worse) seems suitable - if applied globally, such tech would be rapidly developed in military realm but take much longer (longer than usual) to reach civilians. Basically a prolonged period of societal collapse engineered to make the population utterly dependent on government (this has happened several times throughout history already). The key is that it would massively effect corporate entities as well as general public - the new owners would want to stamp out anyone smarter than them (potential threats).
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

Post by aubergine »

Regarding brave new world vs. nwo:

Image
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

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Actually I believe t should be A brave new world in 1984 as it seem both extremes are happening in parallel.
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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

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I agree, LA. Both extremes are co-existing here in the US like a marriage made in heaven. Don't know the rest of the world nearly as well.

Neil Postman's work has been one of the pillars of my thinking for a long time. Came to him when I was studying Richard M. Weaver, Gregory Bateson, Alfred Korzybski and S.I. Hayakawa. I think "Amusing Ourselves to Death" is even more true today than it was when first published in 1985.... Another one of his works that left an indelible imprint on me was "The Invention of Childhood". :hmm:

Terrific comic style presentation, btw. :3

@ aubergine: Was reading the Wall Street Journal coverage on Turkey and they state the conflict first erupted over citizens protesting the government wanting to convert a park in Istanbul into a shopping mall. Is that your read across the pond ?

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Re: The Doc's Bio Lab for Scav Experiments - & other odditie

Post by aubergine »

Re: Brave New World vs. 1984... It's a false dichotomy - you can't have one without the other, more specifically Brave New World and 1984 are one and the same thing, a story told from two perspectives.

Re: Turkey...

It started with a peaceful hippie-like sit-in at Gezi park. Govt wanted to build a shopping mall on it, every community already has a shopping mall, Turks are sick of shopping malls! Gezi is the last remaining park in Istanbul, it might be easier to think of it in terms of parks in other countries: https://www.facebook.com/RepeaceTurkiye ... 2306657348

It was the police brutality against the hippy-like 'sit in' at Gezi park that sparked the uprising. Tensions had been brewing for a long time. Turkey is a secular country, but their PM is trying to turn it in to an Islamic state.

The Turks documented the event in pictures: http://imgur.com/r/POLITIC/LXzoyS8

This image sums up the wider tensions: https://www.facebook.com/RepeaceTurkiye ... 7236628855

Some good fb groups to follow:

My friend Jenny runs the Revolution News page/website - a superb lens on uprisings around the world: https://www.facebook.com/RevNews - she's currently looking for donations, she does it all single-handedly!

My Turkish friend Emine works for the Progressive press: https://www.facebook.com/EmineDilek13 / https://www.facebook.com/TheProgressivePress

The following groups are from the activists on the ground in Turkiye (there are many, but these two are the best currently):

* https://www.facebook.com/geziparkidirenisi
* https://www.facebook.com/OccupyGezi - where it all started

I also post lots of info to my fb timeline (usually posting stuff there 12-16 hours a day, 7 days a week) but it's restricted to friends only - feel free to friend me using my fb link under my forum avatar (to the left of this post) but message me to let me know who you are - I get lots of shills, agents and deniers trying to friend me so I tend to be dubious of unexpected friend requests.

Note: There's also a great deal of innovation in the Turkish Spring. Some examples:

* Protesters are going out of their way to show kindness to police where possible, eg. offering them pizza, books to read, food and drink, etc.
* TV news was not reporting the uprising, so the protesters have laid siege to the TV stations!
* Protesters clean up the mess every morning, picking up tear gas canisters, sweeping roads, rebuilding pavements, etc.
* General public are involved at all levels - leaving lemons and other things out to help people recover from tear gas, providing free food/drink/shelter, and so on.
* Many workers unions are now joining in - with strikes and protests of their own.
* Lorry drivers have used their trucks to create barricades to prevent police attacking protesters
* Pensioners are flashing their house lights and banging pots and pans in support of protesters
* Protesters have 'occupied' the diggers that were going to be used to tear up the park, and used them to chase away police water cannon vans LOL
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