Ad Astra

Every game has a certain atmosphere, which can vary widely even in the same genre. For example, a Wild West game set in the world of “The Man with no Name” would be very different from one that features “The Lone Ranger”

Jusnoctis

Jusnoctis aka London by Night or LbN (Mages) has a very specific atmosphere and it is not an optimistic one.  It is not clear why this should be the case; the Mage STs don’t want to promote anomie and alienation. However, a clique of players seems to enjoy inducing these feelings in new players.

Perhaps it is because all long-term JusNoctis players are comfortable in an environment where they have only 2 options: trivial soap opera or implausible threats of TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World As We Know It).

Fear Addicts

The defining aspects of JusNoctis Mages are fear and their response to that fear. They love - they are addicted to - the frisson of possible doom. They have a need for the fictional conceit that “this time” there will be a genuine threat to their existence and hence a justifiable requirement for action. This response might be within or outside the game, but that is irrelevant to the addict. Fear is the sole justification needed for their actions and - for these players - the ideal action is cowardly, brutal or duplicitous (possibly all 3)

One interesting aspect of the JusNoctis addiction is that the alleged danger does not need to be real, or understood, or verifiable; any alleged threat is gleefully accepted.

Conclusion

Like all addicts, the clique of JusNoctis Mages needs a “fix” in order to function. They do not feel fully functional unless they can revel in a state of fear. This gives them meaning, structure and (perhaps most importantly) excuses for their behaviour.

This craving leads to the characteristics of any addiction: denial, rationalization, projection and increased tolerance to the substance (in this case, fear and reaction to it). Imbalance is accepted as normal, which leads to increasingly harmful and unpleasant consequences.

With every addiction - and JusNoctis is no exception - addicts minimize their problems and blame them on others. Unfortunately, the only available “others” are new members of the game .

The Scientific paradigm is admittedly weak on the concepts of soul and spirit - but we wish to examine both in our consideration of London as a lifeform.

On one level, a city such as London is ‘merely’ a three-dimensional exercise in architecture - or perhaps sculpture.

However, there is an undeniably organic quality to any city; it adheres to most of the definitions of ‘life’. Indeed, few would refuse to accept that (even if only in metaphor) London is alive; it moves; it changes form; it courses; it throbs; it cycles - and it may one day die.

Poets have always believed that every city has its own rhythm, its own pulse, its own personality, all in transcendence of the multiplicity of lives living within - assuming there is a ‘within’ to speak of.

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Leicester Square webcam (view from the cinema)

Leicester Square webcam #2 (view from Radisson Hotel)

Ad Astra magazine requests articles on the following topics

1. Cities as lifeforms - with particular reference to the possibility of cities developing sentience, self-awareness and intelligence .
2. The Lippisch P.13a - with particular reference to its use of ‘Kohlenpulverantrieb’
3. History of the vampire group known as ‘Tremere” - and its relationship with the Order of Hermes [”House Tremere”]
4. Translations of operating manuals for the the Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-301

Using virtual reality goggles, a camera and a stick, Scientists have induced out-of-body experiences (OOBE: the sensation of drifting outside of one’s own body). This is excellent training for Laboratory Assistants who are unfamiliar with the Virtual Web - and might eventually be extended to the general public

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Overview of a CCTV control centre.

A warning to anyone who uses “smartphones”

http://spymobile.in/index.html

There is a similar problem with iphones - via the metasploit hack

And - of course - all cellphone users should be aware of the facilities offered by the numerous UK companies that offer passive location services eg: MobileLocate

Bottom Line: Your mobile phone can spy on you and your conversations (online or just in the same room).  It can tell someone where you are - even take photos without your knowledge or permission

NWO DISCUSSION PAPER

SUPER-EMPOWERED INDIVIDUALS/GROUPS AND THE FIFTH GENERATION OF WARFARE

PROPOSITION: The Technocracy’s victory in the so-called “war for reality” has not necessarily made the world safer; the techniques used bring their own problems - and have given Reality Deviants one (last?) technique to use in their conflict with us.

For centuries, we have had to cope with the possibility that some psychotic Verbena Reality Deviant might release a new Black Plague - now we must deal with the possibility that the same result could be achieved by any competent genetic microbiologist. Likewise, major political changes have been achieved by quite ordinary individuals that use the WWW for the co-ordination of political campaigns.

It is therefore appropriate to guide the world’s nation-states into consideration of how to deal with super-empowered individuals and their associated networks. To provide a conceptual framework, this problem will be termed “Fifth Generation Warfare” or 5GW.

[Where 3GW is Maneuver Warfare (or Lightning Warfare aka ‘Blitzkrieg’) and 4GW is Netwar, 5GW is Secret War.]

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The US agency DARPA has been researching techniques for “augmenting” insects for nearly 2 years

see here for the official tender - specifying the desired capabilities

“the delivery of an insect within five meters of a specific target located at hundred meters away, using electronic remote control, and/or global positioning system”.

Once at the target, DARPA says, “the insect must remain stationary either indefinitely or until otherwise instructed … [and] must also be able to transmit data from [Department of Defense] relevant sensors … include[ing] gas sensors, microphones, video, etc.”
Gizmodo has pictures of a cyborg moth here

The implantation technique involves inserting the relevant microchips into the pupa of the insect - which has the capability to grow ‘around’ foreign objects

This machine/insect combination avoids many of the problems involved with micro UAV (Unmanned Air Vehicle) design. It simply uses an existing (and highly efficient) framework to transport a sensor payload.

There has been speculation about weaponizing the design - perhaps with ‘tailored’ viruses.

“We’re heading into an era where people will be writing DNA programs like the early days of computer programming…” Drew Endy, MIT.

“I see a cell as a chassis and power supply for the artificial systems we are putting together…” Tom Knight, MIT.

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