The Yazira Khwairif Tamaris Bagrationi of the Tsovereign Commonwealth of Mu Draconis

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-ButFir-t1-g1-t1-g1-t4-body.html Darwin Among the Machines [To the Editor of the Press, Christchurch, New Zealand, 13 June, 1863.] Sir—There are few things of which the present generation is more justly proud than of the wonderful improvements which are daily taking place in all sorts of mechanical appliances. And indeed it is matter for great congratulation on many grounds. It is unnecessary to mention these here, for they are sufficiently obvious; our present business lies with considerations which may somewhat tend to humble our pride and to make us think seriously of the future prospects of the human race. If we revert to the earliest primordial types of mechanical life, to the lever, the wedge, the inclined plane, the screw and the pulley, or (for analogy would lead us one step further) to that one primordial type from which all the mechanical kingdom has been page 180 developed, we mean to the lever itself, and if we then examine th...

For most of us Geminga is just part of our address. the Geminga Sphere, Schedar March and Achernar Duchy of Concordat Imperium Galactic Sector 2814, Mutter’s Spiral, Mutter-Andromeda-Triangulum Group, Virgo Sub-Supercluster, Laniakea Supercluster, Minkowski Continuum. Concordat Sector 2814, also known as the Tannhauser Domain and OA Sector 2814 is about 1500 light-years square. The 300 light-year section near the middle is what is known as the Geminga Sphere. Geminga is often thought to somehow a contraction for "Gemini Gamma-Ray Source", it is also known as "Gh'è Minga" which means "It is not there." According to Concordat sources, about 342,000 years ago, an attempt by the Spatium Tempus Navigatium Corpus to replicate the Galifreyan Eye of Harmony went horribly wrong, resulting in an extinction level event, supernova, quarknova and Gamma-Ray Pulse Beacon, which made most forms of Faster Than Light Travel in the Geminga Sphere impossible or too ha...

Crew Review Tamaris asked, "Where is Rajara?" "Khwairif, ma’am, she’s reviewing some of the seismic data, see if there is something else to find. I’ve saved her some sand squid ink." "That’s kind of you, Linus." "How are the rest of you holding up?" "Good, kind of fun to have something to do besides just operate the ship." "Anything to get a break from operating the excavator for 8 hours straight." "Including handling a corpse and bloody crime scene remains with the pretty pathologist lady?" chided Salma. "That was not made out of awesome, but I am never going to get lifted above laborer if I don’t expand. I don’t think I am cut out for crime scene evidence retrieval and victim pathology. Doctor Aristides is a beautiful woman, but I don’t think I impressed her by vomiting in the examination room." "There’s that." "Twice." After the laughter died down, Gallimaufry as...

Calculations "Professor, you missed dinner with the crew. Gagh Taco Tuesday, a crew favorite. We raise them ourselves. In actual targ’s blood. I obtained a breeding pair of wild targ some years back." "Oh Yum, sorry about that. I got involved in my calculations. Did you save me desert?" "That’s all gone, but I did save you some popped ant eggs, the kids love it. You might like that wild buttery taste." "Thanks, maybe later I might be feeling a bit peckish. I am still trying to gather heads and tails of these numbers." "You brought your own computer." "Mechanical differential analytical engine." "I am sure our onboard computing power would be sufficient….and quieter." "Maybe so, maybe so. But I don’t like how most computers make floating point overflow calculation. Some calculations require more accuracy, so I trot out ol’ Ada here. I have made some modifications over the years. The original worke...

<Main sitting room of Tsovereign Commonwealth Research Frigate.> "I am most pleased all of you could make yourselves available for this," said Tamaris, settling into her plush comfortable chair. Professor Serendipity fidgeted, "I am most pleased to find out how you are nostalgic and have not redecorated in 600 years. Are these the same chairs?" "The chairs have been reupholstered several times over the years. I was a young girl when these were new, my parents were fond of them. They wanted to fit in amongst the pithecines, for security reasons. They were considered very fashionable in their time." "They, as in the furnishings, or as in your parents?" Tevya wondered aloud as he finished his tea. "My parents were as fashionable minded as you are likely to find most Araxi, although my parent’s personal tastes were more usually focused about music and cuisine. Fortunately, decod...