| From: | Jeffrey Jacob Mach <mach@****.CALTECH.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Welcome Canis was Elementals / Spirits |
| Date: | Sun, 13 Oct 1996 14:42:17 -0700 |
> In article <m0vCW0t-0004wbC@*******.Informatik.Uni-Oldenburg.DE>, Sascha
> Pabst <Sascha.Pabst@**********.UNI-OLDENBURG.DE> writes
> >++++++Begin Encryption
> >******Private: Dark Avanger, Bull
> > >>>>>>[ Confirmed, DA, these beasts are spirits. Repeat, you
met spirits.
> >Can't say I know who send you the elementals, but can confirm a astral
> >dogfight of several spirits near your LZ. Sorry I couldn't help, had to cover
> >some chummers on their way in.
> >These buggers are bad news, watch out.
> >Bull, you said these were Mantids? Never met 'em buggers before. Did go
> >against triple enemies. I didn't wait to see who won, though.
> >Do you need magical/mediacal help out there? Johnson and chummers are were
> >they wanted to go, I can offer help now. Can't stand if youngsters are under
> >attack.
> >Drek, how does one turn off this voice-input &/ ")!SB"S!
]<<<<<
> > - Canis <OR:IO:ND/ID-TH-IS>
>
> ++++++Begin Encryption
> ******Private: Canis
> >>>>>>[Thanks Canis, you've just ruined my year. Where the frag
are
> these spirits coming from? I've never seen anything like this. Bull
> tells me Chicago is riddled with 'em, he started telling me some of it,
> but we're in transit at the present time. Things got real hairy in
> there for a while. We have astral and spirit cover at this time, but may
> need some more strength later, I've got a few things to do to lock the
> safe house down, es[ecially now with these things fraggin about in the
> area. We have a couple of non-combatants with us, and would appreciate
> any help you can give us to protect them. Like I said, I've got a Mage
> assisting at this time, but I don't want to burn him out, and this is
> going to take some time, he can't be expected to maintain an overwatch
> continually. It wouldn't be fair on him. Contact Inferno on
> >>enrypted<< and chat to him. I'll run a scan from here on the ground.
> We are relocating to >>encrypted<< and I would personaly like to see you
> and talk. Welcome to the team Canis, nice to see you again.]<<<<<
> - Dark Avenger <**:**:**/**-**-**>
> --
> Pete Sims
>
Okay...from one newbie to another, a few points of constructive criticism:
1) Please follow the format specified in the FAQ. Stop with the
reposting already! Stop with the sig lines! I have seen a rash of this
especially with the group that are posting the recent bug run into the
outskirts of Chicago to pick up Bull.
2) Have a good excuse as to why this is passing through the Shadowland
BBS if it is passing through the Shadowland BBS. There was a whole mess
of stuff earlier that probably should have been handled in another method.
For example: it could have been a telcom message.
*****Internal: ChitelCo. Cellular Distribution Net
*****From: >Telcom number< To: >Telcom number<
>>>>>[ insert real time message here ]<<<<<
-- ChitelCo. CDN Node 1239 <HH:MM:SS/mm-dd-yy>
Else, you can have someone else intersept the message:
>>>>>[Hey, dudes, you know something wicked this way goes.... Caught this
outta the air man, and after me an my deck played with the decrypt for a
while, I got this:
+++++insert audio.log
insert real time message here with plenty of missing time and garbling.
What the hell's this all about man...?]<<<<<
-- The Last Ham <HH:MM:SS/mm-dd-yy>
Or worse, it could have been and intercepted message relayed via an
internal UCAS military communications unit. I figure, like others have
said that security should be tighter than a nun's habit around bug city,
and I don't think the electronic front would be any less so. However,
encryption can delay the translation of the message long enough that it
would be too late to act on it, so be sure to adjust the bottom TD stamp
to reflect a suitable delay. But Shadowland posts (the whole PRIVATE
business or public posts, are probably not the way to go when there is
time-critical information to be passed. Not all ShadowTk messages
actually pass through Shadowland, which is why the header "*****Internal"
exists.
Also, as per the problem you guys had with Inferno, which on my end did
not appear planned, make sure to coordinate postings if more than one
person is doing the posting. The only foul--up I have had by this was
when the listserver died between when my compatriot posted his and I
posted mine. However, the TimeDate stamps made everything clear.
3) Obscenity.... I am assuming that all of the people on ShadowTk are big
boys and girls, or else you wouldn't know about something down and dirty,
nice and gritty like Shadowrun. Therefore, unless anybody has a legal
reason (like their service provider reads their email and if they find
obscene expletives of any kind will cancel their service) I see no reason
to restrict my writing the way that Shadowrun sourcebooks have to in order
to get published. And especially for an audiolog...I don't know how to
pronounce %@$%*, but "Holy Shit!" seems clear. So if you think it would be
appropriate for your character to swear, GO FOR IT! I am getting tired of
"frag this," "frag that," and worst of all "Fragger." Get
creative folks.
If you find a your cat stapled to a wall upside down with it's entrails
spelling out a warning, and you didn't say "Fuuuuuuuuck...." you should be
up for cannonization. And a runner who was fond of his drill sergent back
in the EuroWars wouldn't inspire his buddies with "Hoi chummers, let's go
out there and frag those slitches." He'd say something more akin to:
"Okay you fire-breathing sons-of-bitches, let's get out there and blow
those bastard straight back to the hell they came from!" And don't be
afraid of putting a new twist on an old explative, the language will
change some in the next 61 years, roll with it.
From what I have been told, "frag" does have a meaning, shortened from the
word "fragmentation grenade" which gained some of its current meaning
during the Vietnam War where the device was used as a method of removing
inexperienced officers that were blithely leading their soldiers into
certain death, although from what I have come to know, the word now just
expresses the nasty destruction said device can create as well as in
Shadowrun and the comics (notably Lobo), as a catch-all replacement for
the explative (but not the verb) "fuck." "Slitch" means nothing,
other
than that FASA uses it instead of bitch so that they can get their books
published, and well, chummer is obvious, albeit annoying after being read
the 128th time.
I believe as one scholar once said, "Obscenity is the last refuge of the
inarticulate." However, if it is appropriate to the character and to the
scene, I won't be holding my tongue any.
Here's to hoping the right people get this message....
--My two yen
Jeff
