Re: [OFFICIAL] Some FT background stuff (guidelines for writers)

> Sorry, not making myself clear. By FTL comms I mean instantaneous
> commmunication over interstellar distances that allow face to face
> discussion like BabCom or Star Trek.

I knew that. I was just pointing out what they had was still FTL. 
 
> The point is we aren't far off that NOW. Think of a videocam
transmission
> over the internet. When you resolve that down what it is is a sequence
of 1
> 0 pulses down a wire. Now look at the phenomenon that we have seen
where
> paired electrons(I think they were) will modify their spin apparently
> instantly when separated. 

<snip a bunch> 

Now, you might not be wrong. This was a fairly hopeful experiment. 
But I understand this was quite a contrived setup and required quite 
a bit of work to acheive. I'm not sure this will work quite the way 
you think, but I'm going to consult some of my Eng Phys and Pure Phys 
brothers to see what they can tell me about this before I venture any 
further comment. Could work. Also note the requirement for paired 
electrons - good for a link one to one, but for a one to many or many 
to many link, I wonder. 

> Strange as it may appear, it seems a lot easier to transmit
*information*
> than it is to transmit *matter*.

Not quite so strange.

> I'm willing to accept anyone who might say 'it's fiction, it's my
story and
> this is how I want it' but I'll be grumbling under my breath while
doing so..

I think an attitude like that might suggest a 'narrowed 
viewpoint'.  We don't know exactly how things will develop, and our 
attempts to place our *own* visions of how the future will shape up 
on our games is kind of funny if you think about it (everyone haul 
out your own personal trunk of biases and pet theories!). But, if you 
think it doesn't make sense, don't go with it. Nothing GZG  or 
anyone on this listserv (doubly so) has written is (AFAIK) *in stone* 
and if you change it in your local environment *you will not be 
hunted down*. (I assume). They come mostly as suggestions and 
ideas. If you are grumbling about GZG or list members making 
decisions about its universe.... remember two things - we all have 
our own views and no two of us will totally agree and secondly GZG is 
not in the business of developing a blueprint for the far future, 
just a fun game we can all run around and blow up things with. If any 
tertiary setting details are distracting you from the basic enjoyment 
of the games, please take a step back. The games are far too much fun 
to spend time grumbling. 

BTW - I beg to differ on the matter transport not being anywhere 
near or even suggested. They have (AFAIK) already been able to 
suggest from theory and based on observation that certain kinds of 
subatomic jumps are possible. It may well, some believe, be possible 
to take this principle to a wider scale and thereby create some form 
of interstellar drive. Also, we are aware of more and more *other 
spaces* as time goes by (dimensions, different continuums, whatever) 
and it may be possible to utilize one of these for transport from A 
to B in our space without passing through the space (in our own 
reference) between A and B. This (I admit) is further off. 

Also, that same experiment with the distant electron spin has been 
suggested by some as a possible means of moving humans FTL too. 
(Encode the human as data - okay now thats no mean feat - send him as 
data - rebuild him - again no joke). This is a lot of work, but may 
well be conceivable as interstellar personal transport some time in 
the future (now mind you, this method still sticks you with the *how 
do you get a receiver to the destination* problem.....). 

Anyway, just some thoughts. We should all try to keep an open mind in 
any of these discussions and be open to the possibility (probability) 
that we have no clue what the future 300 years hence will look like 
(my Grandad born in 1898 was struck with the wonder of 100 years 
change.... cars, computers, radio, TV, ATMs, etc..... imagine what 
another 300 years at current delta rates in technology will do.... 
you can't.... neither can I or anyone on the list....with any chance 
of being very close.... so go with it....we're just making guesses 
that we can live with so we can play these games) 

:) Tom

/************************************************
Thomas Barclay
Software Specialist
Police Communications Systems
Software Kinetics Ltd.
66 Iber Road, Stittsville
Ontario, Canada, K2S 1E7
Reception: (613) 831-0888
PBX: (613) 831-2018
My Extension: 2034
Fax: (613) 831-8255
Our Web Page: http://www.sofkin.ca
**************************************************/