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Category: Paper Pills (Page 21 of 21)

Paper Pills – An Exploration of the Analytical Engine

December 27, 2011 /

Here's a very interesting What If? that explores the possibilities of the Analytical Engine, had it been built.

Now, I understand that a lot of the ideas that Babbage mentions are marketing materials. He was, after all, trying to generate money to build the thing. Still, taking a bit of a plunge down the rabbit hole, this article has some thoughtful turns and twists that would have made our world a very different place. I particularly like the ideas of British banks using them and the telegraph connected machines talking to each other.

So let's take a look at the alternate early 20th century:

  • Arcades with Analytical Checkers, Chess, Tic-Tac-Toe and possibly Hearts.
  • Speaking of arcades, what kind of games would fans of Jules Verne have made?
  • Speaking of Jules Verne, the analytical engine could have generated the tables needed for launching objects into orbit and much more.
  • Banks with computers to calculate investments, interest, etc. With the telegraph communication modem, we have automated trades in the commodities markets.
  • The 1901 World's Fair is Glasgow may have featured a music composing machine.
  • The Wright Brothers would not have spent years re-calculating Lilienthal's faulty data. Babbage himself would have already recalculated tables that used the Smeaton Coefficient. The wind tunnel may have come much earlier. Heck, maybe Lilienthal would have been successful with his gliders.
  • Speaking of the Wright Brothers, materials engineering would have progressed a bit by the time they were designing the engine for the flying machine. General Motors or other engine manufacturers of the time would have been able to build it instead of the brothers designing one with Charlie Taylor.
  • Wireless computing would involve radio frequencies. That gives new meaning to hacking. It would be done with a shortwave radio and an antenna interface to an analytical engine.

There are more possibilities than that, of course. The article in the link refers to just a few. Going into the far future, the plaster that allowed for "print on demand" could be modified to print objects instead of words. Just a thought.

This kind of what if in RPGs is nothing new at all. There is Space 1889 and a host of other so-called steampunk that build on it. Somehow, though, this article struck a chord of interest. One reason is that the progress of the analytical machine would have spurred the fabrication of new materials. Another is that it would be likely that the integrated circuit would not have been developed. At the end of the article, the author mentions the lack of a telephone and based on the idea of analytical engine connected by telegraph, that makes sense. I'm also intrigued by the potential lack of a keyboard.

What say you? Good article? Old news?

Paper Pills – A Different Kind of Red Box

December 22, 2011 /

I've started a new category for ideas that sound really neat, but I don't really know where they lead. Sometimes, like today, it may be a really bad idea. It's posted because it contains a certain "What If?" quality that for whatever reason feels compelling or fascinating.

So here goes:

What if you combine a different arrangement of RPG rule books with a box that contains the perfect Newbie DM kit?

The first thing that pops into my head is "A Box for GMs and separate boxes for players? What the? Are you nuts?"

Then the second thing is "It's just like the Red Box except that you have more than two books."

Somehow, I'm thinking of something that is not either of those two ideas. I would like a perfect newbie GM kit *and* a perfect newbie player kit. It's just that the newbie player kit would be focused enough to be a few pages and limits choice in a way.

Maybe the GM kit features a four page handout that provides an overview of  various races and classes so that players can pick which newbie player kit to use. Then the player kit has everything needed to play that specific race and the classes available to them.

What say you?

A Step Into Elsewhere

November 24, 2010 /

It's been one of those weeks where I'm not able to sleep very well. The sink is clogged and despite a 25 and 50 foot auger, I cannot seem to alleviate the problem.

Seeing my frustration, my loving wife asked me about household problems in Shayakand. She asked how if magic would be used to unclog drains or would folks do it the mechanical way.

It's funny how that question took me to the "Game within a Game" post I wrote on NMP.

I replied that most people in urban areas live in apartments that have no kitchen. For a few coppers, most eat at local eating places that serve as a kind of fast food place. As to whether or not garmadala experience drain clogs, the answer is based on the clientele. You see, if a basha loves to eat at a certain garmadala, the kitchen is blessed by a myriad of priests with several enchantments.

Being tired, though, I began to ramble quite a bit about the garmadala, the end of the Shayakand empire, the Garuda, the Amanakshi and various other things. My favorite rant, though, still brought me back to a little garmadala northeast of the market center near the largest library in Varama.

Varama served as the resort city for the emperors. The entire city was built to provide a seaside resort for the emperor and his satraps. After the empire dissolved, the city survived due to its extensive libraries and influx of peoples drawn to the milder climate and ocean breezes.

Walking through the busy street to reach the garmadala, I could smell the mint and cardamom coming from the large doorway leading into the serving area. On the L-shaped table are six dishes of delectable dishes - even the curry lentils in the first two tureens are a joy to the palate. There would be raised eyebrows, if I, a common scribe of the working class, purchased one of the savory meat dishes. But on a beautiful day like this with a breeze blowing off the cold water current that runs close to the shore tempering the cloudless sky - savory meats are worth the stares and the coin.

Strolling out from the serving area into a stone plaza, there are several tables offering chess with the meal, as long as you bring your pieces with you. The wooden pieces in my jhola have lost of bit of the green and gold paint, but they have been victorious more times than not.

Sitting at a table, a merchant asks for the pleasure of conversation and perhaps a game. Noticing my meal, I was mistaken for a man of higher class. Still, we talked for some time and the match was close. She and I made small talk about business, but inevitably we began discussing our favorite writings. We had both heard the rumors of an extant copy of the Book of Beginnings about the Mpura. The possibility of such a treasure appearing in a library made us both hope the rumors were true.

I ask to see her again and she readily accepted my invitation. In the Virama, a man of lower class can court a woman of higher class without raising so much as an eyebrow. After such a womderful meal and the hope for love - it is difficult to leave the table and make my way back to my humble apartment.

The smell of sea air, mint, and curry follow me back - even to my chair. It is easy to step into a place of imagination on sleepless nights like this.

The hint of mint and cardamom stays in my memory. The memories of a trip to a place that I could almost touch allows me to let go of the day's stresses enough to sleep perchance to dream. With a big moon in the sky, I am sure that I will dream of Shayakand.

I am sure that I will see my beloved there, wearing a sari as she did on our wedding day over six years ago. There we will be the spices, the libraries and the chatter of the market vendors. There will also be the breeze and the dancing on the shore.

Many thanks to my wife who helped me escape for a bit to help me sleep.

Good night to all.

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