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CONTENTS:
- Letter from the Editor
- Events & Announcements
- Classified Advertisements
- Contact, Circulation, and other Essential Information for the Reader
- New Babbage and Steampunk FAQ
In your Service,
Miss Eggberta Echegaray
As I was busy examining the collected evidence from the past Babbage murders, I was informed that yet another murdered body was found at the Old Imperial Theatre. By the time I had reached the crime scene, the body of Edler Reifsnider, had been taken down by our Mayor, but the naked noose still hung from the rafters. I was told by one of my SUI colleagues, who examined Mr.Reifsnider body, that a knife had also been stabbed into his back. In my opinion, it looks as though the murderer had made doubly sure, that the old man was indeed dead.
Exploring the crime scene, I came across 2 letters which were scattered in the main hallway, and also found one handwriten note, which was found next to the pool of Mr. Reifsnider's blood.
It looks as though, Mr.Reifsnider was indeed a Masonic Agent, who was assigned to New Babbage to not only hunt for this elusive Porta Terrarum Device, but to also take over the Old Imperial Theatre for reasons unknown at this time, sway our Mayor, and make a request for someone to deal with Prof Nishi. An un-named person, turned in a business card to the SUI that belonged to Mr.Reifsnider, which further proved he was working for the Masons as an Agent. As a resident of New Babbage, I am some what relieved that Mr. Reifsnider was "disposed of" now knowing this information.
Going on the information from the evidence letters, I felt I should investigate the urchins hide out in the Old Imperial Theatre. The hideout entrance was hard to find, but I finally came across a plank which lead me to the orphans secret room.
Inside the urchins' dark, gloomy residence, which was full of cobwebs and had little mice running all around. It made me sad to see the state in which these children lived in, but I had to ignore my emotions, and press on with the investigation.
Going further into the room, I came across what look like a secret passway. I held up my lantern and saw what looked like, some sketches on the brick wall. When I got closer up to the wall, I held my lantern up and was spooked out with seeing such strange drawings on the wall, which seemed like pagan pictograms. I took out my camera and took a couple of photograms to enter into the already building evidence surrounding the murders.
When I got back to the station, I went to the evidence room to drop off my photograms, and noticed this glass dome with some object inside of it. I walked up closer to this object, and noticed that is was the elusive "device" that people where getting killed over. I was told by Mayor Sprocket, that the Porta Terrarum Device was found and taken from Professor Nishi's laboratory earlier that same day.
As of now, the device is securely locked up under the glass dome, and will remain in SUI custody for the time being.Eggberta Echegaray
EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Put your event and/or announcement here!
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CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS
HELP WANTED: EDITORIAL ASSISTANT FOR THE NEW BABBAGE COG
The chosen E.A candidate will gain experience with all aspects of publishing by assisting the Editor in Chief, with the administration of planning and production of The New Babbage Cog.
Typical work activities will include:
- Support and assist the Editor in Chief with all activities leading to the monthly publication.
- Liaison with freelance writers, and photographers.
- Research, organize, write own articles adhering to deadlines
- Contribution of ideas and stories
- Help to organize, copy and paste text and images to the out of world Babbage Blog Payment of the role will depend on Advertising revenues submitted to The New Babbage Cog.
VOLUNTEER FREELANCE REPORTERS/PHOTOGRAPHERS
Reporters/Photographers are needed to cover stories for the New Babbage Cog. Need steampunk stories directly related to the New Babbage sims, her residents and aethernet steampunk websites of interest.
Typical work activities will include:
- Research, organize, write own articles adhering to deadlines
- Contribution of ideas and stories
- Most photographs are in sepia, please keep that in mind when submitting snapshots
Content ideas:
- Architecture of New Babbage
- Business Owner’s Spotlight
- Inventors Corner
- Special New Babbage Event coverage
- New Babbage stories
- Aethernet Steampunk culture: Steampunk movie, music, book, clubs reviews, websites of interest.
Please write a short email summary, explaining your affiliation and knowledge about the Steampunk culture and the New Babbage Sims. Submit your email to Miss Eggberta Echegaray at
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NEW BABBAGE AND STEAMPUNK FAQ
Q. What is New Babbage?
A. New Babbage is a planned group of themed sims designed to promote a steampunk aesthetic.
Q. What is
A. The first, and to date the only, of the planned New Babbage sims is
Q. What is "steampunk?"
A. Steampunk is a genre of speculative fiction, usually science fiction, that explores the question of how past eras, particularly the Victorian period, would have looked if more modern technology had existed using only the tools at their disposal. Thus the steampunk aesthetic often makes use of wood, brass, iron, and steam-powered engines to construct fantastic machines that never were.
Please see the steampunk Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk
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Q. Is New Babbage for role-players?
A. New Babbage is for anyone interested in steampunk ideas. Although many residents dress and role-play the part, all are welcome to participate in the activities here (period attire not required), and are encouraged to explore the technology made available to us in SL New Babbagers are builders, scripters, and texture artists, curious and experimental by nature, come together to invent, create, and commune.
CONTACT, CIRCULATION, AND OTHER ESSENTIAL
INFORMATION FOR THE READER
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Ethics Statement:
THIS IS A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER, NOT A VEHICLE FOR EXPOSE. All reporters for The New Babbage Cog are obligated to inform potential interviewees when they are gathering data for a report on our behalf, or clearly identify themselves as a TNBC journalist. This is a community paper, not a vehicle for expose; all investigative reporting must be above-the-board. Deception is against the intended spirit of community embraced by this paper and will not be tolerated. If a citizen encounters an aggressive reporter claiming to work on behalf of The New Babbage Cog, they are urged to report same to the Editor.
Contact:
-- Visit us:
Temporary location: The Willow Tea Room Lot # 20 New Babbage Cultural District
-- Drop a notecard:
Notecard communications can be sent to Miss Eggberta Echegaray
-- IM:
You may contact Miss Eggberta Echegaray by IM with any newspaper business.
-- Aethernet mail:
Messages sent to
Miss Eggberta Echegaray.
-- Ms.Echegaray's SL Office Hours: Mon – Fri
Circulation:
The New Babbage Cog is circulated in three ways:
1. new issues are sent automatically to subscribers of the New Babbage Cog group.
2. Issues are available from a paper boxes at the following locations:
-- Babbage Square telehub
-- Willow Tea Room
-- Undershaw Restoration Society
Back Issues:
All back issues of The New Babbage Cog will be available free of charge. They can be found in the Willow Tea Room on the first floor.
Submissions:
Volunteer freelance and column writers are welcome to propose stories. The New Babbage Cog also welcomes news tips, reports, and story ideas from interested parties. Please see our contact information above.
Advertising:
Advertising should be germane to subjects of greatest import to residents of New Babbage. Although our sensibilities are quite modern and liberal, The New Babbage Cog reserves the right to determine an ad's fitness for inclusion based on its pertinence to steampunk, Victoriana, retrotech, industry, anachronism, and other related concepts.
Advertising is L$50 to New Babbage citizens and L$100 for out-of-towners, per listing, per issue. For both residents and non-residents, space is limited to 500 characters per listing. Each ad may include one embedded texture and one landmark. File attachments must be delivered at the time of ad reservation. Please see our contact information above to inquire.
Errata:
[There are no errors known to be in need of correction at this time. The New Babbage Cog is obliged to anyone who sends notification of a mistake, so that rectifications might be swiftly published.]
Copyright Disclaimer:
This issue of The New Babbage Cog, and it's intellectual property, are owned by the contributors to the newspaper and is also publicly owned by the City-State of New Babbage, which at the time of it's printing, was under the care of Mayor Shaunathan Sprocket.
Copyright 2007 of the Common Era
The New Babbage Cog