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1000 results for “rombert”
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#WhiteFlowerWednesday The calla lilies at the corner house on my street. #Photography 📸 #StillLife #WestCoastKin #EastcoastKin #BlueskyPhotography #PhotographersUnited #PNW #Oregon #Newport #BloomScrolling #Flowers #FlowerScape #FlowerPhotography #Bloom #Blooms
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#WhiteFlowerWednesday The calla lilies at the corner house on my street. #Photography 📸 #StillLife #WestCoastKin #EastcoastKin #BlueskyPhotography #PhotographersUnited #PNW #Oregon #Newport #BloomScrolling #Flowers #FlowerScape #FlowerPhotography #Bloom #Blooms
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Robert Kirkman, conhecido por franquias como Invencível e The Walking Dead, anunciou oficialmente sua nova HQ original, Terminal. #hq #news
https://www.upnerd.com.br/2026/02/criador-de-invencivel-anuncia-nova-hq.html
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The Godwulf Manuscript (Spenser) "Spenser earned his degree in the school of hard knocks, so he is ready when a Boston university hires him" Sale: $9.99 to $1.99 by Robert B. Parker Rating: 4.2/5 (7,539 Reviews) #mystery #crime #thriller #spenser #booksky #detective #classic #books #hardboiled
The Godwulf Manuscript (Spense... -
This week I tried to log in to Deezer.
They asked me to wait 20 seconds to prove I’m not a robot.
I’m genuinely impressed by how bad that UX feels. Deezer is so outrageously bad that it almost makes Spotify look decent.
Don’t build products like this. Aim for interfaces where users do nothing and immediately get what they want.
#ux #tips #rant #ui #frontend #product #programming #security
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Akten zum Mord an Robert F. Kennedy ab sofort einsehbar
In den USA sind jetzt viele Akten zum Attentat auf Robert F. Kennedy einsehbar. Der demokratische Senator und Bruder des ebenfalls ermordeten Präsidenten John F. Kennedy war 1968 erschossen worden.
#RobertF.Kennedy #Mord #Akten #Veröffentlichung
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Shacks On The Air anyone?
There has been an explosion of “On The Air” programs lately. I think SOTA (Summits On The Air) may have kick started the trend. To my mind SOTA remains the purest and best of them all. Although there are many drive-up summits, many others require strenuous effort to reach the “activation zone” on foot. Unfortunately, here in southern Ontario, we have very few high elevation points. Some peaks over 500 meters (1600 feet) can be found, but without the required “prominence” to qualify for the SOTA program. I visited one of the few SOTA peaks in my area once. It was hard to see why it was classified as a peak. The activation zone was a section of flat road. SOTA forbids activating from inside a vehicle so all an activator has to do is park at the side of the road, get out and play radio at the roadside. Piff!
Woof Woof
Some friends and I enjoy a leisurely CW rag chew once a week. We have one thing in common – mourning the loss of once-loved canine friends. At the end of every session we sign off with “woof”. So when I think of the World Wide Flora and Fauna program (WWFF) my mind interprets that as “Woof-Woof”.
WWFF is very popular in Europe and to a lesser extent in North America. If you hear a station signing off with “73 44” you will know it is a WWFF QSO in which 44 contacts are required to activate a park. Some of the “Woof-Woof” program rules are quite strict. If you are operating from inside multiple parks you can only claim one for your activation, unlike POTA where one set of contacts can qualify for multiple activations in the right location. SSB participants in xOTA programs greatly outnumber CW operators so, although getting 44 contacts by phone may be relatively easy, getting the same QSO count by CW is sometimes more challenging. Fortunately, QSO counts for operating sessions are cumulative so you can return to the same park as many times as is necessary to validate an activation.
POTA
From humble beginnings the Parks On The Air program has exploded to become a formidable force in amateur radio. Every day there are multiple parks being activated around the world. The required QSO count to qualify an activation is 10. Ten is much more attainable than 44, but even so, there are days when even that number is a challenge. For those of us who like to handicap our operations by using QRP, a day of poor propagation conditions can bury our signals in the noise. I have participated in POTA for the last few years and have had very few outings in which I experienced a “busted activation”, i.e. made fewer than 10 contacts. Some operators avoid busted activations by making HT to HT VHF simplex contacts with other hams in their group. If you think that’s a good idea there is a way to make every POTA session an effortless success regardless of propagation conditions.
In days gone by the local indigenous hunters would drive herds of buffalo over a cliff where young braves would finish the kill. The hunt provided food for a whole winter. During one hunt a young brave was crushed by a falling buffalo and suffered the injury that gave this Alberta park its name.POTA was predicated on the idea that fewer rules makes for better participation. That’s a good premise and has worked well making POTA the “elephant outside the room”. On the downside, even the few rules that are in place are not enforced. When I made the suggestion that a Park to Park contact should mean a contact between two different parks, POTA management politely suggested I should forget about it and just enjoy my own operations.
I read one account of an “activation” completed within 100 feet (30m) of a park boundary. That is valid for trails, but not for actual parks. I know that particular park and it does not qualify for the 100 feet rule. Generally, an operator and all their equipment must be completely within a park’s boundary. But perhaps, if that rule doesn’t work for you, “forget about it” and enjoy yourself.
The Drive-Thru activation
Unlike SOTA, POTA does not forbid operating from inside a vehicle. This has led to something variously called “Parking Lots On The Air (PLOTA)” or “Drive-Thru” activations. Mea Culpa; I have been guilty of this several times but I try to avoid drive-thru activations except in winter. In winter, brave Canadians don’t even button up our Mackinaws until it gets to 100 below, and we stir our coffee with our thumbs. It is only out of respect for our radio equipment that we would even consider operating from inside the comfort of a vehicle when the howling wind is blowing the snow horizontally and the mercury in the thermometer is frozen solid.
Kakabeka Falls, northern Ontario, the “Niagara of the North”.
If you gotta moment during your PLOTA activation, step outta the car and take a look.In summer many of us prefer to enjoy a hike or visit some of the spectacular scenery in our parks before or after a radio session. But for some diehard POTA activators, the name of the game is contacts – lots of ’em – then drive on to the next park where once again its eyes down, antennas up; no time to get out of the car. We each enjoy our hobby in our own way.
All the other OTAs
There are so many OTA programs these days it’s getting out of hand. How about TOTA? Did you think it means Towers On The Air? You are correct. But it also means Toilets On The Air. How about that; you can play radio while attending to your bodily functions. I know of one ham who takes his Handy-Talkie into the shower so he doesn’t miss any calls from his buddies; SHOTA anyone? TOTA also means Tiles On The Air. A Tile is a Maidenhead subsquare about 5km by 7km.
I am surprised nobody has thought of What 3 Words On The Air (W3WOTA?, WWWOTA?). W3W is a ridiculous (my opinion) method of dividing the world up into small squares each designated by three unique words. A lot of words are needed to identify all the world’s locations so some very rare and unusual words are employed. The English language is pronounced very differently around the world, and even within the United States. I met a very interesting fella who proudly came from “the South” once. He explained that the words “pin” and “pen” are pronounced exactly the same where he came from. Imagine trying to battle poor propagation conditions while interpreting a strange dialect relaying a rare and unusual word. When I posted on this topic some time ago I received a comment that W3W is universally accepted by emergency responders and we should just get used to it. Yay, let’s all get used to confusion and damn the torpedoes.
The spectacular Athabasca Glacier along Icefields Parkway, Alberta. Maybe worth stepping out of the car to take a look. It is possible to hike right up to the base of the glacier, or take a specially-equipped bus ride out on the ice.Don’t laugh please
Try not to titter when I introduce the next OTA. It is called HEMA and stands for “Humps Excluding Marilyns”. I believe it is a European program but I haven’t come across it on this side of the Atlantic. My first reaction was to wonder why Marilyn’s humps were excluded. I am sure HEMA has attracted a lot of jokes but it is actually a serious program. A “hump” is a summit with at least a 100 meter prominence, while a “marilyn” is a summit with at least a 150 meter prominence. So a hump excluding marilyns is a summit with a prominence between 100 and 150 meters. Robert Ripley might have made a TV episode about this one.
I’m OOTA here
I have become involved with one of the new OTAs and have filed my first couple of logs. It is called “Out On The Air (OOTA)“. As “the seasons go round and round and the painted ponies go up and down” (Joni Mitchell) the carousel of time begins to take its toll and I have less energy than I used to have. Just a few winters ago I would strap on snowshoes and haul a sled full of radio equipment across the deep and crisp and even white landscape to do an outdoor winter activation. No more. Maybe less inclination to join the OTA rat race too. Now I am content to set up in the sunshine and enjoy just being outdoors with my radio, and maybe a newly built antenna. If I make a few contacts I am satisfied. The great thing about OOTA is that there is really only one rule – just get out of the shack and make at least one contact. That’s just fine with me. If you do a POTA or “Woof Woof” activation, or you activate a hump that wasn’t Marilyn’s that counts too. Softly, softly, catchee monkey; relax, breathe; soak up the summer sun; enjoy life, it doesn’t last forever.
Help support HamRadioOutsidetheBox
No “tip-jar”, “buy me a coffee”, Patreon, or Amazon links here. I enjoy my hobby and I enjoy writing about it. If you would like to support this blog please follow/subscribe using the link at the bottom of my home page, or like, comment (links at the bottom of each post), repost or share links to my posts on social media. If you would like to email me directly you will find my email address on my QRZ.com page. Thank you!
The following copyright notice applies to all content on this blog.
#AmateurRadio #CW #OutdoorOps #POTA
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. -
#RobertDowneyJr. weaves introspection and environmentalism into a show about #cars
While “#DowneysDreamCars” is very much a show for #gearheads, it isn't restricted to that audience. Downey experiments with genre in a kind of #ecofriendly “#PimpMyRide” that is also part memoir and a documentary about the latest advancements in clean technology.
https://www.autoblog.com/2023/06/21/robert-downey-jr-weaves-introspection-and-environmentalism-into-a-show-about-cars/ #automobiles #environment -
Fascinating article! Well worth a read & a boost!
“With China, It’s Getting Late Early”
by Prof. Robert Pape in Escalation Trap on Substack
“What Americans Are Suddenly Seeing From Trump’s Beijing Trip — And What I Saw Touring China’s Advanced Industries”
[..]
“I came away convinced that much of Washington is debating the wrong problem.
The issue is no longer simply whether China manufactures goods more cheaply than the United States.
The issue is whether China is beginning to organize innovation itself more effectively than the United States”
https://open.substack.com/pub/escalationtrap/p/with-china-its-getting-late-early
#Press #SocialMedia #China #Innovation #EcoSystems #Universities #AI #Robotics #EnergySystems #Software #Logistics #Manufacturing #Integration #US #Decline #Trump #Beijing #Xi
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Robert Bloch, born OTD in 1917, was a protégé of #HPLovecraft https://cromwell-intl.com/travel/usa/new-york-hp-lovecraft/?s=mb #travel NewYorkCity
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Robert Bloch, born OTD in 1917, was a protégé of #HPLovecraft https://cromwell-intl.com/travel/usa/providence/locations.html?s=mb #travel
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Robert Bloch, born OTD in 1917, was a protégé of #HPLovecraft https://cromwell-intl.com/travel/usa/providence/lovecraft.html?s=mb #travel
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Robert Bloch, born OTD in 1917, was a protégé of #HPLovecraft https://cromwell-intl.com/travel/usa/providence/?s=mb #travel
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« C'est dix fois plus que les costumes de Fillon »: dans "Complément d'enquête", le sulfureux Robert Bourgi affirme qu’il a offert à Dominique de Villepin deux statuettes de Napoléon, dont l'une offerte en 2002 par Blaise Compaoré, alors président du Burkina Faso, l'autre par un homme d'affaires italien, pour une valeur totale de 125 000€. « C’est fini pour lui », soupire un élu, qui évoque « un gâchis ».
#Politique #Villepin #Presidentielle #Afrique #Corruption #Enquete #Off
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Le monastère hanté, par Robert Van Gulik
▶️ « Quand la foudre détruit une maison et tue ses habitants, faites-vous comparaître la foudre devant votre tribunal ? »
https://cltr.blogspot.com/2026/04/le-monastere-hante-robert-van-gulik.html
#roman #policier #polar #Chine #jugeTi #meurtres #enquête #littérature #livre #taoïsme #lecture #monastère -
Four years ago today I visited the site of Robert Taylor's alleged encounter with a UFO at Dechmont Woods in West Lothian. There was a lot of rain.
https://brianlavelle.scot/unidentify-me-in-woods-in-rain/
#DechmontLaw #DechmontUFOtrail #DechmontWoods #UFOs #WestLothian #ufology
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The X-Files season 8 is way better than I remember. The strong opening of "Within" and “Without," introducing Robert Patrick as Doggett, were phenomenal.
I remember missing Mulder after season 7 and having mixed feelings about season 8 at the time.
I've changed my mind, and this time around, I can clearly see what they were trying to do.
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Classic PS1, PSP Tales Remaster Leaks, But It Might Be a Nintendo Switch Exclusive
Robert (or Rob if you’re lazy) is an assistant editor of Push Square, and has been a fan…
#NewsBeep #News #Technology #BandaiNamco #GB #Tales #UK #UnitedKingdom
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/558005/ -
#eBooks - Atalanta in Calydon - #AlgernonCharlesSwinburne
https://kensbookinfo.blogspot.com/p/page-5-project-gutenberg.html#15429#eBooks - Robert Moffat - #DavidJDeane
https://kensbookinfo.blogspot.com/p/page-34-project-gutenberg.html#15444#eBooks - Mrs Warrens Daughter - #SirHarryJohnston
https://kensbookinfo.blogspot.com/p/page-27-project-gutenberg.html#15445#eBooks - Victorian Short Stories: Stories of Courtship - #Various
https://kensbookinfo.blogspot.com/p/page-56-project-gutenberg.html#15446#eBooks - Jess of the Rebel Trail - #HACody
https://kensbookinfo.blogspot.com/p/page-19-project-gutenberg.html#15447#eBooks - Aesops Fables - #Aesop
https://kensbookinfo.blogspot.com/p/page-1-project-gutenberg_12.html#86 -
John Sturges – „Der Adler ist gelandet“ (1976)
Der Krieg gegen den Faschismus als Abenteuerspielplatz für Nachmittage mit der Familie: „Der Adler ist gelandet“ gehört zu jener Sorte von Filmen, die die mörderische Logik des Zweiten Weltkriegs in elegante Uniformen, straffe Handlungsbögen und hochkarätig besetzte Rollen verpackt haben. Michael Caine als deutscher Offizier, charmant, kühl, fast wie ein Popstar im falschen Kostüm. Donald Sutherland stolpert irisch-komisch durch die Kulissen, Robert Duvall trägt Augenklappe und preußischen Ernst. Alles ist zugleich zu viel, zu wenig, und vor allem, zu glatt. Furchtbar! (ARTE)
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John Sturges – „Der Adler ist gelandet“ (1976)
Der Krieg gegen den Faschismus als Abenteuerspielplatz für Nachmittage mit der Familie: „Der Adler ist gelandet“ gehört zu jener Sorte von Filmen, die die mörderische Logik des Zweiten Weltkriegs in elegante Uniformen, straffe Handlungsbögen und hochkarätig besetzte Rollen verpackt haben. Michael Caine als deutscher Offizier, charmant, kühl, fast wie ein Popstar im falschen Kostüm. Donald Sutherland stolpert irisch-komisch durch die Kulissen, Robert Duvall trägt Augenklappe und preußischen Ernst. Alles ist zugleich zu viel, zu wenig, und vor allem, zu glatt. Furchtbar! (ARTE)
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John Sturges – „Der Adler ist gelandet“ (1976)
Der Krieg gegen den Faschismus als Abenteuerspielplatz für Nachmittage mit der Familie: „Der Adler ist gelandet“ gehört zu jener Sorte von Filmen, die die mörderische Logik des Zweiten Weltkriegs in elegante Uniformen, straffe Handlungsbögen und hochkarätig besetzte Rollen verpackt haben. Michael Caine als deutscher Offizier, charmant, kühl, fast wie ein Popstar im falschen Kostüm. Donald Sutherland stolpert irisch-komisch durch die Kulissen, Robert Duvall trägt Augenklappe und preußischen Ernst. Alles ist zugleich zu viel, zu wenig, und vor allem, zu glatt. Furchtbar! (ARTE, Wh.)
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John Sturges – „Der Adler ist gelandet“ (1976)
Der Krieg gegen den Faschismus als Abenteuerspielplatz für Nachmittage mit der Familie: „Der Adler ist gelandet“ gehört zu jener Sorte von Filmen, die die mörderische Logik des Zweiten Weltkriegs in elegante Uniformen, straffe Handlungsbögen und hochkarätig besetzte Rollen verpackt haben. Michael Caine als deutscher Offizier, charmant, kühl, fast wie ein Popstar im falschen Kostüm. Donald Sutherland stolpert irisch-komisch durch die Kulissen, Robert Duvall trägt Augenklappe und preußischen Ernst. Alles ist zugleich zu viel, zu wenig, und vor allem, zu glatt. Furchtbar! (ARTE)
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John Sturges – „Der Adler ist gelandet“ (1976)
Der Krieg gegen den Faschismus als Abenteuerspielplatz für Nachmittage mit der Familie: „Der Adler ist gelandet“ gehört zu jener Sorte von Filmen, die die mörderische Logik des Zweiten Weltkriegs in elegante Uniformen, straffe Handlungsbögen und hochkarätig besetzte Rollen verpackt haben. Michael Caine als deutscher Offizier, charmant, kühl, fast wie ein Popstar im falschen Kostüm. Donald Sutherland stolpert irisch-komisch durch die Kulissen, Robert Duvall trägt Augenklappe und preußischen Ernst. Alles ist zugleich zu viel, zu wenig, und vor allem, zu glatt. Furchtbar! (ARTE)
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EU Acting Like ‘Suicide Ship’ by Keeping Russia Sanctions: Slovak Leader
Islam Times – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has urged the EU to lift the sanctions on energy…
#Europe #EU #‘Suicide #a #Acting #and #bloc’s #by #comparing #dialogue #Energy #EuropeanUnion #Exports #Fico #from #has #Islam #Keeping #Leader #lift #Like #Minister #on #policies #Prime #resume #Robert #Russia #Sanctions #Ship #Slovak #the #Times #to #urged
https://www.europesays.com/europe/6920/ -
The Astropolis trilogy
In the last post I discussed my recent exploration of Reddit. The one conversation I’ve started so far was a request for posthuman space opera recommendations, particularly ones without FTL, stories that envision what the future might be like if we can’t get around the speed of light limit. One hidden gem recommended was Sean Williams’ Astropolis trilogy.
Williams imagines a far future where humanity, or at least its posthuman progeny, manage to settle the galaxy within 150,000 years. Traveling the galaxy takes centuries or millenia, but this isn’t too much of an issue because just about everyone is immortal. Characters in interstellar journeys also benefit from being able to control their tempo, the rate at which they experience time, so that a trip that takes centuries in “time absolute”, only takes a few days or weeks subjectively.
Although it’s established in the second book that, when possible, most travel takes place via hardcasting, where individuals are scanned, converted into information, transmitted, then centuries or millenia later reconstituted at the destination. It isn’t exactly teleporting, since the scanning and reconstitution can take consider time, with verification checks to make sure someone was rebuilt with fidelity.
The interstellar civilization is known as the Continuum, which exists over a galactic network known as the Line. In the Continuum, the closest thing to old-time humanity are the Primes. They have open ended lifespans, although it’s implied in the books that most do eventually die, either by accident, because only one instance of them exists, or by choice. Most of these set their tempo at time-absolute, the rate of time perceived by old-time humanity. The oldest Primes, ones whose lives stretch back to C20 (the twentieth century) are known as the Old Timers.
Singletons, like the Primes, are still recognizably human, but can exist as multiple copies, copies which can be distributed far and wide. The copies can meet up and synchronize memories, allowing Singletons of the same person to have a more or less unified personality. Although differences can creep in. But from moment to moment, each Singleton is an individual. Tempo is pretty flexible among Singletons, ranging from the same rate as Primes to very slow ones.
A gestalt is a group mind, a collection of bodies without much individuality in any particular body. Their relationship to tempo seems similar to the Singletons.
Forts are another type of group mind tied together with with Q-loops, connections which allow reliable independent communication between their Frags, the individual bodies that make up the Fort. The overall Fort minds have a tempo set very low, so that their perceptions span centuries. It leaves them disconnected from the rest of humanity. In earlier history, the Forts play a crucial role running the key infrastructure of the Continuum civilization.
Someone born into one of these types can decide to become another, although the process of becoming a Fort is arduous and risky, with many failing, even under peaceful conditions.
The first book begins in the 879th millennium. Imre Bergomasc awakens in the care of the Jinc, the local component of a gestalt (group mind) known as the Noh. The Jinc are looking for God at the edge of the galaxy. They come across a debris cloud, which they collect and are able to reassemble. It turns out to be a cylinder storing a mind, Imre’s mind. They are able to recreate his mind and instantiate him in a body.
However, there are pieces missing, and they are forced to fill in with assumptions. One of those assumptions is Imre’s sex. They guess female. When he first awakens and discovers himself in a female body, he immediately recognizes that it isn’t right, and later asks them to correct it. Although his ability to remember his past life is limited. Eventually he discovers that he’s in danger and is able to escape.
Imre was once the head of a military organization known as the Corps. As he returns to civilization he begins to find members of his old team. As each team member is found, they relay their story in of the last several hundred thousand years.
It turns out that the current version of Imre comes from a mind backed up before a lot of history. During that history, something initiated a Slow Wave that propagated out from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The Slow Wave disabled the Q-loops connecting the Frags of the Forts together, destroying the overall Fort mind and turning their Frags into mindless entities. The Forts throughout the galaxy are wiped out. The galaxy enters a time of chaos. The Continuum is now fragmented into various societies.
Some of the societies attempt to rebuild by constructing new Forts. But a clandestine organization known as the Barons always attack and destroy any incipient Fort before they can do too much. And there appears to be another clandestine organization known as the Luminous, manifesting as silver balls, which also suppress the creation of the Forts, while also seeming to be an enemy of the Barons.
As the books progress, we get further into the future. By the beginning of the third, we’re over two million years out. And that story takes us further still. It turns out that Imre’s past self played some kind of pivotal role in the history leading to the current civilization. The books are about Imre rebuilding human civilization, then investigating his own past, learning what really led to the Slow Wave, and finding out who his real enemies are.
If you enjoy posthuman space opera in the style of Linda Nagata or Robert Reed, then these books are well worth checking out. The writing is excellent, although the worldbuilding in the first book can feel overwhelming at times. And there are times where it seems the only reason some of the characters do what they do is for the plot. But overall none of it was enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story.
Lamentably these books aren’t available as ebooks. They are available in audio, and I ended up listening to the first one. But audio is not my preferred format, so I read the other books as used paperbacks. Which felt a bit nostalgic considering that we’re in the sunset of mass market paperbacks. It feels like a crime that these were never published as ebooks.
Williams appears to be a fairly prolific author, but a lot of his output appears to be Star Wars novels. Although he has done a few other independent books. Another series recommended to me are his Geodesica books, which I plan to check out.
If you’ve read the Astropolis books, I’d love to know what you think. Or of any others in the same genre niche.
#sciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera -
The Astropolis trilogy
In the last post I discussed my recent exploration of Reddit. The one conversation I’ve started so far was a request for posthuman space opera recommendations, particularly ones without FTL, stories that envision what the future might be like if we can’t get around the speed of light limit. One hidden gem recommended was Sean Williams’ Astropolis trilogy.
Williams imagines a far future where humanity, or at least its posthuman progeny, manage to settle the galaxy within 150,000 years. Traveling the galaxy takes centuries or millenia, but this isn’t too much of an issue because just about everyone is immortal. Characters in interstellar journeys also benefit from being able to control their tempo, the rate at which they experience time, so that a trip that takes centuries in “time absolute”, only takes a few days or weeks subjectively.
Although it’s established in the second book that, when possible, most travel takes place via hardcasting, where individuals are scanned, converted into information, transmitted, then centuries or millenia later reconstituted at the destination. It isn’t exactly teleporting, since the scanning and reconstitution can take consider time, with verification checks to make sure someone was rebuilt with fidelity.
The interstellar civilization is known as the Continuum, which exists over a galactic network known as the Line. In the Continuum, the closest thing to old-time humanity are the Primes. They have open ended lifespans, although it’s implied in the books that most do eventually die, either by accident, because only one instance of them exists, or by choice. Most of these set their tempo at time-absolute, the rate of time perceived by old-time humanity. The oldest Primes, ones whose lives stretch back to C20 (the twentieth century) are known as the Old Timers.
Singletons, like the Primes, are still recognizably human, but can exist as multiple copies, copies which can be distributed far and wide. The copies can meet up and synchronize memories, allowing Singletons of the same person to have a more or less unified personality. Although differences can creep in. But from moment to moment, each Singleton is an individual. Tempo is pretty flexible among Singletons, ranging from the same rate as Primes to very slow ones.
A gestalt is a group mind, a collection of bodies without much individuality in any particular body. Their relationship to tempo seems similar to the Singletons.
Forts are another type of group mind tied together with with Q-loops, connections which allow reliable independent communication between their Frags, the individual bodies that make up the Fort. The overall Fort minds have a tempo set very low, so that their perceptions span centuries. It leaves them disconnected from the rest of humanity. In earlier history, the Forts play a crucial role running the key infrastructure of the Continuum civilization.
Someone born into one of these types can decide to become another, although the process of becoming a Fort is arduous and risky, with many failing, even under peaceful conditions.
The first book begins in the 879th millennium. Imre Bergomasc awakens in the care of the Jinc, the local component of a gestalt (group mind) known as the Noh. The Jinc are looking for God at the edge of the galaxy. They come across a debris cloud, which they collect and are able to reassemble. It turns out to be a cylinder storing a mind, Imre’s mind. They are able to recreate his mind and instantiate him in a body.
However, there are pieces missing, and they are forced to fill in with assumptions. One of those assumptions is Imre’s sex. They guess female. When he first awakens and discovers himself in a female body, he immediately recognizes that it isn’t right, and later asks them to correct it. Although his ability to remember his past life is limited. Eventually he discovers that he’s in danger and is able to escape.
Imre was once the head of a military organization known as the Corps. As he returns to civilization he begins to find members of his old team. As each team member is found, they relay their story in of the last several hundred thousand years.
It turns out that the current version of Imre comes from a mind backed up before a lot of history. During that history, something initiated a Slow Wave that propagated out from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The Slow Wave disabled the Q-loops connecting the Frags of the Forts together, destroying the overall Fort mind and turning their Frags into mindless entities. The Forts throughout the galaxy are wiped out. The galaxy enters a time of chaos. The Continuum is now fragmented into various societies.
Some of the societies attempt to rebuild by constructing new Forts. But a clandestine organization known as the Barons always attack and destroy any incipient Fort before they can do too much. And there appears to be another clandestine organization known as the Luminous, manifesting as silver balls, which also suppress the creation of the Forts, while also seeming to be an enemy of the Barons.
As the books progress, we get further into the future. By the beginning of the third, we’re over two million years out. And that story takes us further still. It turns out that Imre’s past self played some kind of pivotal role in the history leading to the current civilization. The books are about Imre rebuilding human civilization, then investigating his own past, learning what really led to the Slow Wave, and finding out who his real enemies are.
If you enjoy posthuman space opera in the style of Linda Nagata or Robert Reed, then these books are well worth checking out. The writing is excellent, although the worldbuilding in the first book can feel overwhelming at times. And there are times where it seems the only reason some of the characters do what they do is for the plot. But overall none of it was enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story.
Lamentably these books aren’t available as ebooks. They are available in audio, and I ended up listening to the first one. But audio is not my preferred format, so I read the other books as used paperbacks. Which felt a bit nostalgic considering that we’re in the sunset of mass market paperbacks. It feels like a crime that these were never published as ebooks.
Williams appears to be a fairly prolific author, but a lot of his output appears to be Star Wars novels. Although he has done a few other independent books. Another series recommended to me are his Geodesica books, which I plan to check out.
If you’ve read the Astropolis books, I’d love to know what you think. Or of any others in the same genre niche.
#sciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera -
The Astropolis trilogy
In the last post I discussed my recent exploration of Reddit. The one conversation I’ve started so far was a request for posthuman space opera recommendations, particularly ones without FTL, stories that envision what the future might be like if we can’t get around the speed of light limit. One hidden gem recommended was Sean Williams’ Astropolis trilogy.
Williams imagines a far future where humanity, or at least its posthuman progeny, manage to settle the galaxy within 150,000 years. Traveling the galaxy takes centuries or millenia, but this isn’t too much of an issue because just about everyone is immortal. Characters in interstellar journeys also benefit from being able to control their tempo, the rate at which they experience time, so that a trip that takes centuries in “time absolute”, only takes a few days or weeks subjectively.
Although it’s established in the second book that, when possible, most travel takes place via hardcasting, where individuals are scanned, converted into information, transmitted, then centuries or millenia later reconstituted at the destination. It isn’t exactly teleporting, since the scanning and reconstitution can take consider time, with verification checks to make sure someone was rebuilt with fidelity.
The interstellar civilization is known as the Continuum, which exists over a galactic network known as the Line. In the Continuum, the closest thing to old-time humanity are the Primes. They have open ended lifespans, although it’s implied in the books that most do eventually die, either by accident, because only one instance of them exists, or by choice. Most of these set their tempo at time-absolute, the rate of time perceived by old-time humanity. The oldest Primes, ones whose lives stretch back to C20 (the twentieth century) are known as the Old Timers.
Singletons, like the Primes, are still recognizably human, but can exist as multiple copies, copies which can be distributed far and wide. The copies can meet up and synchronize memories, allowing Singletons of the same person to have a more or less unified personality. Although differences can creep in. But from moment to moment, each Singleton is an individual. Tempo is pretty flexible among Singletons, ranging from the same rate as Primes to very slow ones.
A gestalt is a group mind, a collection of bodies without much individuality in any particular body. Their relationship to tempo seems similar to the Singletons.
Forts are another type of group mind tied together with with Q-loops, connections which allow reliable independent communication between their Frags, the individual bodies that make up the Fort. The overall Fort minds have a tempo set very low, so that their perceptions span centuries. It leaves them disconnected from the rest of humanity. In earlier history, the Forts play a crucial role running the key infrastructure of the Continuum civilization.
Someone born into one of these types can decide to become another, although the process of becoming a Fort is arduous and risky, with many failing, even under peaceful conditions.
The first book begins in the 879th millennium. Imre Bergomasc awakens in the care of the Jinc, the local component of a gestalt (group mind) known as the Noh. The Jinc are looking for God at the edge of the galaxy. They come across a debris cloud, which they collect and are able to reassemble. It turns out to be a cylinder storing a mind, Imre’s mind. They are able to recreate his mind and instantiate him in a body.
However, there are pieces missing, and they are forced to fill in with assumptions. One of those assumptions is Imre’s sex. They guess female. When he first awakens and discovers himself in a female body, he immediately recognizes that it isn’t right, and later asks them to correct it. Although his ability to remember his past life is limited. Eventually he discovers that he’s in danger and is able to escape.
Imre was once the head of a military organization known as the Corps. As he returns to civilization he begins to find members of his old team. As each team member is found, they relay their story in of the last several hundred thousand years.
It turns out that the current version of Imre comes from a mind backed up before a lot of history. During that history, something initiated a Slow Wave that propagated out from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The Slow Wave disabled the Q-loops connecting the Frags of the Forts together, destroying the overall Fort mind and turning their Frags into mindless entities. The Forts throughout the galaxy are wiped out. The galaxy enters a time of chaos. The Continuum is now fragmented into various societies.
Some of the societies attempt to rebuild by constructing new Forts. But a clandestine organization known as the Barons always attack and destroy any incipient Fort before they can do too much. And there appears to be another clandestine organization known as the Luminous, manifesting as silver balls, which also suppress the creation of the Forts, while also seeming to be an enemy of the Barons.
As the books progress, we get further into the future. By the beginning of the third, we’re over two million years out. And that story takes us further still. It turns out that Imre’s past self played some kind of pivotal role in the history leading to the current civilization. The books are about Imre rebuilding human civilization, then investigating his own past, learning what really led to the Slow Wave, and finding out who his real enemies are.
If you enjoy posthuman space opera in the style of Linda Nagata or Robert Reed, then these books are well worth checking out. The writing is excellent, although the worldbuilding in the first book can feel overwhelming at times. And there are times where it seems the only reason some of the characters do what they do is for the plot. But overall none of it was enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story.
Lamentably these books aren’t available as ebooks. They are available in audio, and I ended up listening to the first one. But audio is not my preferred format, so I read the other books as used paperbacks. Which felt a bit nostalgic considering that we’re in the sunset of mass market paperbacks. It feels like a crime that these were never published as ebooks.
Williams appears to be a fairly prolific author, but a lot of his output appears to be Star Wars novels. Although he has done a few other independent books. Another series recommended to me are his Geodesica books, which I plan to check out.
If you’ve read the Astropolis books, I’d love to know what you think. Or of any others in the same genre niche.
#sciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera -
The Astropolis trilogy
In the last post I discussed my recent exploration of Reddit. The one conversation I’ve started so far was a request for posthuman space opera recommendations, particularly ones without FTL, stories that envision what the future might be like if we can’t get around the speed of light limit. One hidden gem recommended was Sean Williams’ Astropolis trilogy.
Williams imagines a far future where humanity, or at least its posthuman progeny, manage to settle the galaxy within 150,000 years. Traveling the galaxy takes centuries or millenia, but this isn’t too much of an issue because just about everyone is immortal. Characters in interstellar journeys also benefit from being able to control their tempo, the rate at which they experience time, so that a trip that takes centuries in “time absolute”, only takes a few days or weeks subjectively.
Although it’s established in the second book that, when possible, most travel takes place via hardcasting, where individuals are scanned, converted into information, transmitted, then centuries or millenia later reconstituted at the destination. It isn’t exactly teleporting, since the scanning and reconstitution can take consider time, with verification checks to make sure someone was rebuilt with fidelity.
The interstellar civilization is known as the Continuum, which exists over a galactic network known as the Line. In the Continuum, the closest thing to old-time humanity are the Primes. They have open ended lifespans, although it’s implied in the books that most do eventually die, either by accident, because only one instance of them exists, or by choice. Most of these set their tempo at time-absolute, the rate of time perceived by old-time humanity. The oldest Primes, ones whose lives stretch back to C20 (the twentieth century) are known as the Old Timers.
Singletons, like the Primes, are still recognizably human, but can exist as multiple copies, copies which can be distributed far and wide. The copies can meet up and synchronize memories, allowing Singletons of the same person to have a more or less unified personality. Although differences can creep in. But from moment to moment, each Singleton is an individual. Tempo is pretty flexible among Singletons, ranging from the same rate as Primes to very slow ones.
A gestalt is a group mind, a collection of bodies without much individuality in any particular body. Their relationship to tempo seems similar to the Singletons.
Forts are another type of group mind tied together with with Q-loops, connections which allow reliable independent communication between their Frags, the individual bodies that make up the Fort. The overall Fort minds have a tempo set very low, so that their perceptions span centuries. It leaves them disconnected from the rest of humanity. In earlier history, the Forts play a crucial role running the key infrastructure of the Continuum civilization.
Someone born into one of these types can decide to become another, although the process of becoming a Fort is arduous and risky, with many failing, even under peaceful conditions.
The first book begins in the 879th millennium. Imre Bergomasc awakens in the care of the Jinc, the local component of a gestalt (group mind) known as the Noh. The Jinc are looking for God at the edge of the galaxy. They come across a debris cloud, which they collect and are able to reassemble. It turns out to be a cylinder storing a mind, Imre’s mind. They are able to recreate his mind and instantiate him in a body.
However, there are pieces missing, and they are forced to fill in with assumptions. One of those assumptions is Imre’s sex. They guess female. When he first awakens and discovers himself in a female body, he immediately recognizes that it isn’t right, and later asks them to correct it. Although his ability to remember his past life is limited. Eventually he discovers that he’s in danger and is able to escape.
Imre was once the head of a military organization known as the Corps. As he returns to civilization he begins to find members of his old team. As each team member is found, they relay their story in of the last several hundred thousand years.
It turns out that the current version of Imre comes from a mind backed up before a lot of history. During that history, something initiated a Slow Wave that propagated out from somewhere near the center of the galaxy. The Slow Wave disabled the Q-loops connecting the Frags of the Forts together, destroying the overall Fort mind and turning their Frags into mindless entities. The Forts throughout the galaxy are wiped out. The galaxy enters a time of chaos. The Continuum is now fragmented into various societies.
Some of the societies attempt to rebuild by constructing new Forts. But a clandestine organization known as the Barons always attack and destroy any incipient Fort before they can do too much. And there appears to be another clandestine organization known as the Luminous, manifesting as silver balls, which also suppress the creation of the Forts, while also seeming to be an enemy of the Barons.
As the books progress, we get further into the future. By the beginning of the third, we’re over two million years out. And that story takes us further still. It turns out that Imre’s past self played some kind of pivotal role in the history leading to the current civilization. The books are about Imre rebuilding human civilization, then investigating his own past, learning what really led to the Slow Wave, and finding out who his real enemies are.
If you enjoy posthuman space opera in the style of Linda Nagata or Robert Reed, then these books are well worth checking out. The writing is excellent, although the worldbuilding in the first book can feel overwhelming at times. And there are times where it seems the only reason some of the characters do what they do is for the plot. But overall none of it was enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story.
Lamentably these books aren’t available as ebooks. They are available in audio, and I ended up listening to the first one. But audio is not my preferred format, so I read the other books as used paperbacks. Which felt a bit nostalgic considering that we’re in the sunset of mass market paperbacks. It feels like a crime that these were never published as ebooks.
Williams appears to be a fairly prolific author, but a lot of his output appears to be Star Wars novels. Although he has done a few other independent books. Another series recommended to me are his Geodesica books, which I plan to check out.
If you’ve read the Astropolis books, I’d love to know what you think. Or of any others in the same genre niche.
#sciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFi #SpaceOpera
