Vol I / Issue iii
* * *
CONTENTS:
- Letter from the Editor
- New Babbage Rallies Against Invaders!
- L$10,000 Award For Best Elevator!
- Featured Invention: Kahruvel Steamworks
- The New Babbage Flag & Motto
- Literary Musings
- New Babbage Register
- Events & Announcements
- Classified Advertisements
- Resources
- Postcards!
- Contact, Circulation, and Other Essential Information for the Reader
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
During the last three weeks, New Babbage has seen a great deal of parcel turnover.While it seems unfortunate that some of the original supporters of a steampunk sim have sold their stakes, the influx of new residents appears to be an invigorating and diversifying influence.Second Life moves quickly. When I first stepped onto the mainland, the common lament was that creativity was waning in the world.Although a newcomer, I was convinced that what was needed was merely an infusion of fresh ideas. And so it is with a sim devoted to the principles of invention and ingenuity, that the spirit of progress is kept alive by the continual introduction of dissimilar but compatible views.As the excitement of an empty slate wears off, the emergence of a robust community bears the promise of magnificent tomorrows. I, for one, look forward to experiencing the unplanned, un-orchestrated, and thoroughly unique that New Babbage has to offer.
In your service,
Mrs. Junie Ginsburg
_________________________________________________________________________________
NEW BABBAGE RALLIES AGAINST INVADERS!
On the evening of Sunday, February the 25th, a great company of New Babbagers filled the street on the West side of the canal to confront an otherworldly visitor. The metallic tripod, bearing a single gold, glowing eye and a similar orb hanging from an appendage upon its top, scrambled up the thoroughfare between the Old Imperial Steampunk Theatre and The Factory of Questionable Steampunkery (Steinbeck & Co.). Confronted by such a mob of New Babbagers bearing arms, the machine, driven by a hitherto unknown occupant, shuddered and circled, shooting randomly its death-ray in apparent confusion.
New Babbage Cog reporters were on the scene, making a photographic records of the event. The gentlemen of New Babbage mustered a stunning arsenal at a moment's notice, launching assorted missiles ranging in deadliness from the explosive to the simply annoying. Should our dear island ever come under attack, we may depend on these brave men and gnomes to repel danger. After suffering through a barrage of fire, the alien at some point put off his metal exoskeleton and appeared before the mob in his natural form; a hideously mis-figured chimera of man and alien. Upon seeing the creature thus humbled, the crowd of New Babbagers detected no further threat and allowed the creature to mount his retreat to places unknown.
Junie Ginsburg
***
L$10,000 AWARD FOR BEST ELEVATOR!
In our last issue we conveyed the Mayor's announcement of an elevator contest. This week, we have learned more details, which follow. The object of the contest is to create a working Victorian steampunk elevator that will go to three floors and be suitable for outdoor use. Entrants may construct their builds at the elevator areas at the ends of the steel walkways, but must clean up after themselves or be automatically disqualified.The deadline for entering a build is March 15th,2007 which is also the date when the winner will be announced. The winner will be paid a sum of L$10,000. Please contact Mayor Shaunathan Sprocket with any questions about the contest.
Eggberta Echegaray
FEATURED INVENTION: KAHRUVEL STEAMWORKS
Upon hearing the phrase "well-oiled machine," it is difficult to imagine anything different was intended than Mr. Salazar Jack's magnificent Kahruvel Steamworks. A multipurpose facility, the steamworks marries several grand ideas with the intent of improving the New Babbage community.First and foremost, the factory generates steam, the necessary commodity by which New Babbage operates, and for which the facility is named. Although the steamworks is not yet finished, Mr. Jack says that one of his primary intentions is to pipe steam out to New Babbage residents not able to produce enough to power their parcels.
Given the amount of water necessary to generate such quantities of vapor, the steamworks is uniquely suited to perform another important function, namely, the desalination of seawater to produce fresh water. A gigantic tank in the facility is already filled almost to capacity. In addition to these public services, Mr.Jack hopes to eventually offer an array of products for purchase at the steamworks, including pre-fab steampunk structures and assorted gadgetry. He explained during the New Babbage Cog interview that his family has a long heritage of developing gadget technology, and he hopes to refine some devices long in use by his people.
Mr. Jack himself is a talented builder. He is responsible not only for numerous builds elsewhere in the world and the Kahruvel Steamworks in New Babbage, but served also as the engineer for Sir ArthurConan Doyle's Undershaw Restoration Society building. Mr. Jack and Sir Doyle have recently purchased adjoining parcels in the industrial district where he says they hope to construct a community stockyard. The yard will be a place where various building projects may be undertaken by residents. To learn more about Mr. Salazar Jack and his many projects, please visit his log on the Aethernet at:
http://homepage.mac.com/salazarjack/default.html
Junie Ginsburg
***
THE NEW BABBAGE FLAG & MOTTO
Because education in the Latin language has fallen out of favor, the New Babbage motto might be a bit of a mystery for visitors and residents alike. For any curious reader, the motto, "Industria Profisicor In" means "Industry
The New Babbage flag, designed by Miss Eggberta Echegaray and finalized by Mr. Solivar
Anyone wishing to fly the New Babbage colors may obtain a flag by right-clicking on one and selecting More, Take a copy. For Miss Echegaray's personal thoughts on the creation of the flag, please visit her blog at:
Junie Ginsburg
***
LITERARY MUSINGS
In this issue, The New Babbage Cog is proud to present Chapter 2 of Sir ArthurConan Doyle's "The Sign of The Four."
MISS MORSTAN entered the room with a firm step and an outward composure of manner. She was a blonde young lady, small, dainty, well gloved, and dressed in the most perfect taste. There was, however, a plainness and simplicity about her costume which bore with it a suggestion of limited means. The dress was a sombre grayish beige, untrimmed and unbraided, and she wore a small turban of the same dull hue, relieved only by a suspicion of white feather in the side. Her face had neither regularity of feature nor beauty of complexion, but her expression was sweet and amiable, and her large blue eyes were singularly spiritual and sympathetic. In an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents, I have never looked upon a face which gave a clearer promise of a refined and sensitive nature. I could not but observe that as she took the seat which Sherlock Holmes placed for her, her lip trembled, her hand quivered, and she showed every sign of intense inward agitation. "I have come to you, Mr. Holmes," she said, "because you once enabled my employer, Mrs. Cecil Forrester, to unravel a little domestic complication. She was much impressed by your kindness and skill." "Mrs. Cecil Forrester," he repeated thoughtfully. "I believe that I was of some slight service to her. The case, however, as I remember it, was a very simple one." "She did not think so. But at least you cannot say the same of mine. I can hardly imagine anything more strange, more utterly inexplicable, than the situation in which I find myself." Holmes rubbed his hands, and his eyes glistened. He leaned forward in his chair with an expression of extraordinary concentration upon his clear-cut, hawk like features. "State your case," said he in brisk business tones. I felt that my position was an embarrassing one. "You will, I am sure, excuse me," I said, rising from my chair. To my surprise, the young lady held up her gloved hand to detain me.
"If your friend," she said, "would be good enough to stop, he might be of inestimable service to me." I relapsed into my chair. "Briefly," she continued, "the facts are these. My father was an officer in an Indian regiment, who sent me home when I was quite a child. My mother was dead, and I had no relative in
"Only one that we know of--Major Sholto, of his own regiment, the Thirty-fourth Bombay Infantry. The major had retired some little time before and lived at
"The envelope, too, please. Post-mark,
"They are disguised hands, except the letter," he said presently; "but there can be no question as to the authorship. See how the irrepressible Greek e will break out, and see the twirl of the final s. They are undoubtedly by the same person. I should not like to suggest false hopes, Miss Morstan, but is there any resemblance between this hand and that of your father?" "Nothing could be more unlike." "I expected to hear you say so. We shall look out for you, then, at six. Pray allow me to keep the papers. I may look into the matter before then. It is only half-past three. Au revoir, then." "Au revoir," said our visitor; and with a bright, kindly glance from one to the other of us, she replaced her pearl-box in her bosom and hurried away. Standing at the window, I watched her walking briskly down the street until the gray turban and white feather were but a speck in the somber crowd. "What a very attractive woman!" I exclaimed, turning to my companion. He had lit his pipe again and was leaning back with drooping eyelids. "Is she?" he said languidly; "I did not observe." "You really are an automaton--a calculating machine," I cried. "There is something positively inhuman in you at times."He smiled gently."It is of the first importance," he cried, "not to allow your judgment to be biased by personal qualities. A client is to me a mere unit, a factor in a problem. The emotional qualities are antagonistic to clear reasoning. I assure you that the most winning woman I ever knew was hanged for poisoning three little children for their insurance-money, and the most repellent man of my acquaintance is a philanthropist who has spent nearly a quarter of a million upon the London poor." "In this case, however-- --" "I never make exceptions. An exception disproves the rule. Have you ever had occasion to study character in handwriting? What do you make of this fellow's scribble?" "It is legible and regular," I answered. "A man of business habits and some force of character." Holmes shook his head. "Look at his long letters," he said. "They hardly rise above the common herd. That d might be an a, and that l an e. Men of character always differentiate their long letters, however illegibly they may write. There is vacillation in his k's and self-esteem in his capitals. I am going out now. I have some few references to make. Let me recommend this book--one of the most remarkable ever penned. It is Winwood Reade's Martyrdom of Man. I shall be back in an hour."
I sat in the window with the volume in my hand, but my thoughts were far from the daring speculations of the writer. My mind ran upon our late visitor --her smiles, the deep rich tones of her voice, the strange mystery which overhung her life. If she were seventeen at the time of her father's disappearance she must be seven-and-twenty now--a sweet age, when youth has lost its self-consciousness and become a little sobered by experience. So I sat and mused until such dangerous thoughts came into my head that I hurried away to my desk and plunged furiously into the latest treatise upon pathology. What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking account, that I should dare to think of such things? She was a unit, a factor--nothing more. If my future were black, it was better surely to face it like a man than to attempt to brighten it by mere will-o'-the-wisps of the imagination.
***
NEW BABBAGE REGISTER
The following plots have changed hands since our last issue was distributed:
Parcel No. New Owner/Business
___________________________________________________________________________
EVENTS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
* * *
Your announcement here!
* * *
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS:
* * *
Your advertisement can be placed here!
* * *
RESOURCES:
The following groups have been created under the name of New Babbage:
New Babbage Adventurers' Society
Founded by: Miss
Public: No
Description: All Members of the Society shall endeavor, with courage and bravery, to add to the Scientific Knowledge of the Known World, to Shed Light on the Darkest Mysteries, and to Make Known the Secret Corners of the Earth. The Society's gathering place is the Rusty Cog, in the
New Babbage Conservatoire
Founded by: Mr. Quine Mondrian
Public: Yes
Description: Actively promoting the musical arts of New Babbage.
New Babbage Medical League
Founded by: Mr. Jules Whittlesea
Public: Yes
Description: We are the most gifted, most skilled doctors and nurses is all of New Babbage, come to think of it, we are the only doctors and nurses in New Babbage. We hold our sketchy reputations of being creative surgeons with pride Any member found giving real medical advice under the title of office he/she holds in the New Babbage Medical League will be shot out of a cannon.
The New Babbage Cog
Founded by: Mrs. Junie Ginsburg
Public: Yes
Description: Members of this group will automatically receive the newest issues of The New Babbage Cog, a newspaper serving the New Babbage steampunk sims.
***
POSTCARDS!
Send them to your friends, colleagues, and sweethearts!
_______________________________________________________________________
CIRCULATION, AND OTHER ESSENTIAL
INFORMATION FOR THE READER:
***
Ethics Statement:
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:
The New Babbage Cog office is located at the end of the block in
Circulation:
The New Babbage Cog is circulated in two ways. Firstly, new issues are sent automatically to subscribers of the free New Babbage Cog group. Second, issues are available from a paper box in
Back Issues:
All back issues of The New Babbage Cog will be available free of charge. They can be found in the archive on the first floor of the newspaper office. A volunteer archivist position is available.
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 germaine 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 free to New Babbage citizens. Out-of-towners may advertise at a rate of L$100 per ad placement per issue. For both residents and non-residents, space is limited to 500 characters per advertisement. 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 that are 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:
Copyright 2007 of the Common Era
The New Babbage Cog
~~ Relata Refero ~~