From:	Bruce Ford <shaman@*******.COM>
Subject:	Re: Mirrors, Corners, the Past, the Future
Date:	Mon, 9 Mar 1998 02:30:14 -0700

On Mon, 9 Mar 1998, Jeffrey Mach wrote:

> these anywere else, say on ShadowRn (although, I don't exactly know the
> policy over there, I think they handle Fiction as well), or place them on

They tend to frown on fiction from what I've seen, when a rather
interesting post that dealt with a rather interesting story idea, popped
onto the list a number of people screamed ... it eventually ended up here.

> people around here would be interested in reading your story. Posting
> them to ShadowTk, however, requires consideration of the paradigms that
> everybody else that posts here are playing under.

I ask once more, what are these paradigms, so that people new to the list
don't constantly step on toes. As I have said before in previous posts,
this is a very rich world that has been created, having a quick list of
what has gone before would be a great help to those new to the list.

> that leave all his characters? Either a) they've been wasting their time
> (and his for trying to write the story) or b) they should have had a
> breakthrough a long time ago. As is, FASA has had vague and mysterious
> reports of AI-like things haunting the matrix or buried deep within the
> mainframes of megacorporate research fascilities. The list has even shown
> a few that at least appeared to be AI, but that there was by conscent, and
> I presume that the actual question of sentience was never answered. So, I
> think it is purely natural for Mark and others (me included, heck with
> MAX, I have a pretty big stake in the argument as well) to want to get you
> to fully describe your ideas and explain your reasoning.

Fair enough, I can understand why Mark reacted the way he did in his
previous posts. It makes far more sense now and my response would have
been different had I known.

However, it does support to a degree, what I said above in requesting a
basic rundown of where things stand. Heck, it might even keep my own
yammering down as such. :)

IMC, I tend to play it that there are a few true AI's floating around but
none that were truly created by man or understood as to the process that
actually creates sentience, so a man-made AI does not yet exist in my own
world. However, I have incorporated a number of the novels and the AI in
the Renraku mainframe does exist but it is no more then a rumor just as
the bugs once were, on the streets. I would never bring it onto the list
though as I would prefer to use the `List' history if I ever manage to
learn it and because I tend to lean toward other areas in SR besides the
matrix.

However, I plan on paying most of my attention to my own upcoming plot
which all things considered should be relatively mundane or at least what
I consider veteran running ...

Enjoy,
Bruce.