![[Sigil]](/fit/img/chronobot-sigil-md3d.gif)
When we learned of the rediscovery and subsequent destruction of the legendary Cybertronian Underbase data repository in the Sol/Terra system, joy was rapidly followed by despair. [...] Closer examination of the events surrounding its destruction [...] soon proved that the artifact destroyed was merely a pretender to the title. [...] The way was now open for us to intercede, to snatch the Underbase [and] plumb its depths · · · [full transcript]
--From the Retrospectives files of the Division of Data Archeology of the Chronobot Polity.
So these Chronobot XTs, these transforming alien robots, they say they want to hire me to run their Earthside Web liaison operations. So I say, Sure, it's a job -- but then, do they give me any of their fancy toys to run it with? The gestural and vocal interfaces, the wallscreens, the self-evolving Poisson schemas, the common sense-based knowledge builders? No! They insist -- sorry, "stipulate" -- I use nothing but "authentic Earth-fleshling computing facilities" · · · [full transcript]
--From the memoirs of Underbase.org webmaster Phillip Thorne.
NEW FEATURE -- FEBRUARY 2003 My entry in the Katsucon 2003 short animation contest: "A Message to Fleshlings, Squishies, and Meat-Tubes".
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In the past eight years, the grapical component of the global Internet known as the Web has proven a remarkably effective tool for distributing data across the planet. It has proven less so, however, in organizing that data into information and knowledge. The predominant technology of the Web is HTML, a human-readable markup language for creating hyperlinks between textual documents. It's easy to learn and apply -- and like many other tools, difficult to apply well, or to apply at all beyond small problems. The tools that are suited for managing vast quantities of data have both a higher learning curve, and a higher price tag.
Consider one small facet of human endeavor: the Transformers, that Japanese-inspired, Hasbro-marketed line of toy robots that cleverly fold into the shapes of machines and animals -- plus the comics, television series and fan creativity that have followed in the line's wake. For years, dedicated fans have collected the minutiae of this universe -- details of the toys, profiles of the characters, synopses of the episodes -- but only in the shape of crude, non-machine-readable, quick-to-write -- and cheap -- HTML pages.
This website represents the next level. (Or it will, as soon as I get the kinks worked out.)
In the meantime, please consult the following third-party sources for your informational needs:
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