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|| -------- -- ----- A E R I E O B L I V I A N A . singular book of text wandertainment by Frank Edward Nora ------------------- ----------- OSOAWEEK--ISSUE 158--8/4/97 <------- || OsoaWeek || Issues || Book 13 || -------> (Cup OWis158, Created v1 (4/27/99), Copyright 1999) = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = OsoaWeek Book Thirteen 2 "OsoaWeek158" by Frank Edward Nora, Lord of Obliviana, Tarb 6625 (8/4/97), copyright 1997 OBLIVIANA REGISTRY NEW REVOLVERS None NEW CUPLINES None NEW CUPS OBLIVIANA CENTRAL Get All Obliviana (Corrections) SEVERE REPAIR Severe Repair Almanac (Corrections) *OW* LORD OF OBLIVIANA Tue 7/30/97 * 12:57 AM I just finished writing a series of Parkings. And I am developing a new set of ideas for Obliviana. My big new idea is that Obliviana should encourage people to explore themselves, as opposed to interacting with other people. This is related to the "spirit of classic video games". Classic video games involve YOU and the MACHINE, trying to beat your own personal high score, or trying to reach a goal you have set for yourself. Right now in the digital superworld, the major buzzthing is interaction. "A human opponent is vastly superior to a computer-controlled opponent." But this only makes sense in games where you represent a character who is competing with another character. Like fighting games. The way I see it now, Obliviana is like a classic arcade video game, and YOU interact with IT, trying to beat your high score. Your "high score" is represented by your Fonosta. In this context, interaction with other players is in the context of you and the other players each trying to beat PERSONAL "high scores", each working on BETTERING your own personal Fonostas. Another idea I had a few hours ago is the idea of pieces of text, perhaps a new set each week, and you choose one per week, adding it to a personal text file, and then certain aspects of your overall text file will allow you to gain certain addition bits of text. For example, if you "have" ten or more instances of the word "far", you can get the word "surge". This is just a very basic example. I am smoking a good cigar for the first time in many weeks, a Padron 2000 (natural, not maduro). Since Sunday, when my major website update was done, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, and some new things are now happening. And this new idea of a text basis contradict my idea of Sunday that I might consider a 3-D interface for Little World of Racetracks. Now, I reject that idea once again. Today I read about Sega's "Transactor" technology, which implements an idea I have written about for years, my idea of "digital artifacts". This prompted me to reject the idea of interaction, the idea of shared digital online worlds and economies. 1:25 AM On my website, I have now defined half of Core Obliviana--Severe Repair, Superior, Zope, and Halfevil Graphics. The other half--Fonosta, Octagon/LWOR, Friction Enhancer, and 209/Forge of Wander--is where my ideas as expressed above will be realized. Octagon is the key idea in this matter, and I have yet to conceive of what Octagon is all about. So what have I developed in terms of Octagon? I know that Octagon is the main object type in LWOR. I know that each Octagon is made up of eight Cups. I know that there are "loose" Cups which get filled by Friction Enhancers. And I know that these looses Cups can be "traded in" or "discharged" to "buy" Octagons. And I know that Octagon has eight aspects, and these aspects relate to happenings in LWOR. And these aspects relate to Fonostas as character, vehicles, buildings, racing, digging, etc. Goodnight. Thu 7/31/97 * 12:06 AM Just you and the game. Or, just you and the mountain. Or just you and the book. See what I'm talking about here? It was about a year-and-a-half ago that I came to realize the 3-D online virtual worlds were WRONG. A few days ago I came close to embracing virtual worlds, but I realized the error of my ways. I think this close call was for a reason. I think it was to show me another great WRONG--interaction. As I discussed yesterday, I now see that the whole drive toward interacting with other people online is just plain WRONG. And my idea of digital artifacts is being implemented by Sega. Of course, they thought of it also, since it is a pretty obvious idea to those into thinking about online worlds. But seeing it from this new perspective, seeing the forest for the trees, I see that it is an idea that is UGLY. The want people to BUY and SELL these digital artifacts, which they call "ledos", or "limited-edition digital objects". And I assume that they will take a cut from every transaction. I admit that I, too, was thinking along these lines. But I realize now that it is a BAD idea. Enter Octagon. My new idea of Octagon is not fully-formed, but I do know this--you will EARN your Octagons, and they will NOT be traded. I equate Octagons to high scores in a video game. You can get a high score, but it makes no sense at all to buy or sell or trade high scores. The Spirit of Classic Video Games. "Socvig"? Nah. I may just call it the "Classictronica Spirit" (CS). Okay. Now, CS is starting to mean a whole lot more to me. You can look at in very basic terms. You and a mountain. The challenge is to climb the mountain. You struggle, and you succeed. You have climbed the mountain. It is an achievement. You cannot buy or sell or trade this achievement with anyone else; it is yours alone. You can talk to other people about climbing the mountain, and you can tell the story of climbing the mountain, and you can discuss mountain climbing with other people, but you the achievement is not liquid--it is yours and yours alone. Obliviana is a set of challenges, which I call "Friction Enhancers". These challenges are based not on physical circumstances, but on situational circumstances. For example, go to a mall. Now try and walk into a store which you've never been in before, and in which you have no interest. If you're a guy, try a women's clothing store. It is very tough to walk into that store. This is an example of a challenge that is SITUATIONALLY difficult, while physically not difficult at all. Octagon is a system by which you record your achievements and TRANSFORM them into something else. The Octagon Transformation turns these achievements into something understandable and compelling. Thu 7/31/97 * 6:59 PM Well, I left work early today, kind of stormed out of there, so the winds of change are blowing. I left in the context of "not feeling well" and to cool off, since I was near blowing up at this guy I work with. Anyway, this is not going to cost me my job, not yet. "Cost" in terms of me getting fired OR me quitting. But it throws into sharper focus something else that's been brewing--Obliviana is getting better and better, and at some point I have to devote ALL my time to it. Of course, I need an income, and with my wedding coming up in under four months, I'll need a lot of extra money, and I refuse to get into more credit card debt. So there are a lot of forces crushing in on me. But fuck all that. Obliviana will thrive! I will make it thrive. It's almost like the major new ideas I get are like thunder, exploding forth and changing things. I think that my very recent shift in focus from interaction to a more solitary experience has brought on this new changestorm. Now if I can only crack the secret of Octagon, I'll really be on my way to Obliviana as profitable business. Okay. I want to discuss the idea of "man vs. man" as opposed to "man vs. nature". Specifically, focusing on the Classictronica Spirit, whereas video games are created by people, a classic arcade video game is a THING, and when you play it, no people are involved, except for you. This is a system that I want to reproduce with Obliviana. I want the core experience of Obliviana to be JUST YOU. I want to clarify a point here. I am not saying that you cannot do Obliviana with someone else. Just as with many video games, you can play with someone else. But in these experiences the focus is more each player with the machine as opposed to the players with each other. I have been sketching Obliviana, but I haven't really delineated a clear picture of the total Obliviana experience. Right now, I am struggling to figure out the keystone, Octagon. But let me go over all I do have of Obliviana. Maybe doing this will help me in conquering Octagon. At its core, the Obliviana experience is you interacting with Reality (also known as the world around you) in a 209 context. This is the center of Obliviana. "In a 209 context". This refers to using the Forge of Wander, which is a grid, 11 squares wide and 19 squares high (209 squares total), as a tool to enter into a "situational" interaction with Reality. To clarify further, Reality is composed of a physical world, time, and situations. Reality changes as time passes, and it changes based on the situations that exist. Obliviana focuses on situations. And in Obliviana, situations are considered a Primal force of nature, in the same way as time is. That is, we refer to TIME as an understood aspect of reality. In Obliviana, I refer to Situation in much the same way. Situation is understood, in my opinion, by most people in a much more nebulous way than time is. That is, time is this big, reliable, apparently simple thing. Situation, on the other hand, is always shifting, always changing. "All the stuff that's going on in your life." People are certainly aware that "stuff is going on", but in general, people don't think of "stuff going on" as a Primal force of nature. I believe that the Forge of Wander, with its 209 "squares", is a long-forgotten aspect of humanity. This is the aspect of the Obliviana experience that can be considered "occult", in that I am stating that such a thing exists, and that somehow I know about it. It is therefore impled that my knowledge of 209 comes from a supernatural source. If indeed 209 is a thing that has been forgotten, I have remembered it. 8:24 PM Well, I did some laundry. A definite advantage to leaving work early in a huff. Getting to the laundry room with time to spare before the 9:00 PM closing. So, I have been setting forth some of the major ideas in Obliviana. Let me continue. In the context of 209, you interact with Reality in specific, defined period of time called Stormjaunts. 9:15 PM Stormjaunts are each based on a specific challenge, called a Friction Enhancer. These challenges are descriptions of things to do which are situationally unlike anything you'd normally do. Now, once you finish a Stormjaunt, and have accomplished the goal of the challenge of the Friction Enhancer, you have achieved something. This achievement is yours, and no one can ever take it away from you. In Obliviana, this achievement is recorded by "pouring" it into a "Cup". So, for each Stormjaunt that is completed, you get one Cup, filled with the achievement of that Stormjaunt. These Cups go into your "Fonosta", which is your personal record of achievement in Obliviana. But it's also a whole lot more. This is where Octagon comes in. Each of your Cups has a "charge". To obtain an Octagon, you must "discharge" a certain number of Cups. Depending on the Octagon, you will have to discharge varying types and numbers of Cups. This is the Octagon Transformation--your achievements in Obliviana TRANSFORMED into Octagons. Now, we come to Little World of Racetracks. This is an imaginary world, composed of eight major and three minor Racetracks. And on this world, your Fonosta is a little character. And the state of your little character is determined by the Octagons your Fonosta "has". Part of the purpose of this whole system is to motivate you to interact with Reality. Your real-world advantures have a major impact on the "life" of your little character. So here we are, the point where I'm stuck. I know that Octagons each contain eight aspects, and each of these aspects has some effect on the Little World of Racetracks. So really, I need to define just exactly what's going on in LWOR to fully defin Octagon. Well, I know that there will be racing going on, and this implies a racer (your Fonosta), a vehicle, and roads. I have the layout of LWOR all done. So now it's a matter of figuring out what's going on inside! This past weekend I had an idea about LWOR which I have subsequently rejected. The idea was to have each square in the FOW that LWOR is on represent a half-mile. The tracks would then be eight-mile "tubes", with "ground level" bisecting the tube. The whole thing would then be a detailed 3-D model, with racing, building, digging, etc. I have rejected this idea because I am totally against 3-D. And so, I have decided that the specifics of LWOR will be much more abstract, in line with the Classictronica Spirit. Alright, I'm getting some ideas. Every week, a set of challenges on LWOR will be set forth. Players then have to decide how they will react. They can "drive" certain distances at certain speed, collecting stuff, dropping stuff off, converting stuff, etc. The idea is that there is a set of rules, and, like a video game, the system will respond in a mechanical way according to what you do. In this idea, players will be giving their Fonostas (little characters) instructions, and the results will not depend on what other people do. BUT, the state of things the NEXT week WILL depend on what everyone did. So, the main mechanic here is getting place one point on the Racetracks to another. But other mechanics could be involved also, such as "roadblocks" which must be avoided unless you have the power to break through. So, Octagon will break all this stuff down into eight categories. The more and better Octagons you have, the better you'll do. Now, let's say that there are a number of chices for what you can do one week. And if you are not very powerful, but if you happen to choose something that no one else chooses, that might bring you a great reward. In addition, each person will have "personal objectives". One such goal would be to have travelled on every segment of every Racetrack, at which point you might obtain a special Octagon. The scale of this system could be decreased to biweekly, or increased to daily, or even hourly. In an hourly case, you would gain some benefit for not doing anything at all, since otherwise it'd be total chaos. One aspect of this idea is that there will NOT be a question as to whether you will accomplish something in a "turn". As in chess, when you move a piece, it's a done deal. BUT, as events continue onward, THEN you may see that your past decisions have been good or bad. Gotta go to bowling alley now. Fri 8/1/97 * 12:27 AM August 1997. I had a premonition that the company I work for was gonna go out of business or something this month. And considering the fucking trouble I had yesterday, walking out like that, I mean, fuck--I can't afford to lose my job right now! Anyways, I was on the World Wide Web before, and I don't think anyone has really gotten there yet, to the right sort of online thing. And it's ashame that the WWW will be superceded by something else pretty soon, cuz folks won't have time to really master the Web, or whatever. What am I talking about? Let me get back to Obliviana. I'm almost there! I've almost cracked the secret of Octagon! Okay. So LWOR will be abstract. And you will basically play via E-mail or forms. And there really won't even be any surprises, at least in terms of a response. There won't be a response. You make your moves and send them to Obliviana to record them officially and also let us know about them. And I don't want any messy Bulletin Board slash Usenet kinda thing going on in Obliviana! That shit is ugly and very confusing and off-putting! As I've been talking about, Obliviana is going to be a much more solitary kind of thing, with very limited forms of interaction with other people. Intercation. Just go into a chat room or check out Usenet and you'll see very quickly that you really gotta limit your interaction with "the masses"! I do not want the Obliviana Website to be confusing, jarring, or attention-span-smashing. I want it to be a totally excellent thing for a lot of people. Okay. So let me get into the specifics of LWOR/Fonosta/Octagon. First of all, distances in LWOR will be measured in Storms, one Storm being one square. The curved sections will be equal to one Storm also, though if you really measured it, they would be around eight-tenths of a straight section (pi/4, pretty much). As I said, LWOR will be ABSTRACT. The eight aspects of Octagon will define the LWOR experience. First of all, I have to determine the general structure of Octagon. Octagons are "Digital Artifacts", but they are not to be bought, sold, or traded. In terms of being limited, there will not be limited numbers of certain "flavors" of Octagons, BUT, certain Octagons may only be available for a certain time period, so you get it then or not at all. See, I have to think about the trading issue. Octagons are meant to represent real-world 209 adventures a player has had. So, if a player gets involved early on, and gets a really rare Octagon, and then trades it for like tons of Octagons later, those tons of Octagons do not represent real achievements. This is a major issue for me--the balance between 209 and LWOR. But I think that as an overall philosophy, Octagons have to represent real-world 209 adventure achievements, and therefore, trading is not appropriate. This "Magic: The Gathering" rarity and trading aspect is something that I did want to include in Obliviana, but recently I have rejected the notion. Now, you might think that Octagons of the same "value", but with different aspects, might be traded. Yeah. This is an interesting question. A player's set of Octagons would then still represent 209 achievements. But this would make trading far less appealing, since you are just trading stuff of similar value. But I will keep this idea in mind. Now. A big question is, once you get an Octagon, do you always keep it, or can you trade it for "bigger" Octagons? Also, do aspects of Octagon have "charge", and therefore can become discharged? Are there permanent changes caused by Octagons which are traded in for a better Octagon? Or do those aspects disappear? Let me attempt to find my notes on aspects of Octagon, which must be from a month or two ago... Here's something, from 6/2/97: *********** [10] THE EIGHT FACETS OF FONOSTA. Ah, this is the real challenge... to come up with the Eight Facets... or Aspects... or whatever... Well, Device is definitely one of them. Other ones I am working on are Character/Guy, Building, Vehicle, Sword, Cup, (((My Jukewand is free! After many harrowing hours of cap and nipple fused together, I have finally gotten it apart!)))... Now, where was I? Oh yes. The eight aspects of Obliviana. I don't know them yet. If I did, Fonosta would be defined, and thus Obliviana would be defined, and a major, very major thing in my life would be resolved. So trying to get these eight aspects would seem something worth working on right now, eh? ******************* Okay. So Device is definitely "in". I was thinking of the idea of having to "dial in" one aspect per Octagon per turn. This idea is interesting, but I don't know... There are definitely different kinds of aspects... powers and rewards. That is, some aspects give you powers, such as speed, and some give you rewards, such as Device elements. Now the question is, in order for the game to be fun there have to be rewards. And game rewards might not represent achievements, eh? Then... should "game rewards" be separate from achievements? Another idea... use Swords to "thrust into the ground", giving you benefits, such as teleportation to a "sworded" spot. This Sword idea points to permanence. You would get the Sword "with" an Octagon, but the Sword will be permanent, and hence must be separate from the Octagon, if the Octagon is going to be non-permanent in any way... Gotta go to bed! Gotta get to work early tomorrow! Sun 8/3/97 * 9:12 PM Yeah. So let me get back to work here. Little World of Racetracks, Octagon, Fonosta. I need to go just a little further... then I'll be there... I'll be over a major hurdle in my work and my life... but I won't know if it's really THE right idea until some time passes... Okay. Nature of Octagon. Permanence. Cups of real-world 209 achievement are permanent. They are create charged, and then discharged to "buy" Octagons. Now, an Octagon is made up of eight Cups, each of which contain stuff that is relevant to activities in LWOR. Could these also have charge? And also, there are three additional "bullseye" areas on each Octagon. These could also have charges. So the basic idea in all this is discharging to gain some benefit. In the case of the "209 Cups", discharging allows the "purchase" of Octagons. So a big question here is whether there are objects in the Fonosta/Octagon/LWOR system that are apart from Cups and Octagons. Well, as stated above, Swords are objects that are permanent and apart from Octagon, but absolutely acquired THROUGH Octagon. So therefore I have established that there ARE objects apart from Octagons/Cups. And if this is the case, Octagons are means by which USABLE objects may be attained. Idea: The center space of an Octagon may be discharged to purchase "High Octagons", Octagons which must be bought with other Octagons, and not 209 Cups. This brings up some other interesting ideas. For example, if I decide to keep some facets of an Octagon closed until a known or unknown period of time elapses, or until some event occurs, then it would be an interesting game element to have to choose between discharging the Octagon to buy a High Octagon, or waiting to see what the closed facets may contain. Now, I need to decide what sorts of activities will be taking place in LWOR. Driving is a major activity, or course. The aforementioned Swords are another big thing. Driving requires a vehicle, as well as a driver. I have been thinking of making a Fonosta an abstract thing that does not distinguish between driver and vehicle, but I decided against that idea. But if I AM going to have a driver, then there will have to be game elements that depend on the driver, as in getting out of the vehicle and performing some task. Another element I am sure of is Device, which is the graphical emblem of the Fonosta. So: Vehicle, Driver, Device, and Sword. Four major aspects. Let me step back and reassert that it is the real-life adventures using 209 that are the source for 209 Cups, which are then transformed into Octagons, which are then transformed into usable objects in the system. This relates to the idea of means vs. reward. That is, in LWOR, you will have the means by which to go after rewards. This brings up the question of whether rewards will gain objects--in other words, be an alternate source. But I have to say that this is not right. The ONLY source must be the 209 Cups, which can only be filled with stuff you REALLY do. I want to comment here about the possibility of people simply lying about what they're doing. I want to develop the system so that the emphasis is on the 209 adventures, or "Stormjaunts" (SJs). So I don't want LWOR to overwhelm the true purpose of Obliviana. Ultimately, it is the nature of the REWARDS in the LWOR system that will determine the balance. For example, if you could get a cash prize as a reward, folks would have a very compelling reason to cheat. I want to be very clear that rewards will be within the LWOR system.That is, you will be gaining only objects within the system. A major question here is whether or not players will be able to TRADE objects with other players within the system. Now, I DO want to have a single world, where some kind of interaction with other people is going on. For example, there may be a "brick wall" on a segment of track, and Fonostas with "Breakout"-type abilities can knock bricks out of the wall. It could be the sort of thing where it might take many Fonostas several weeks of concerted effort to break through. This idea brings me back to the idea of Fonostas, as the characters in the LWOR system, being based on classic video game characters. So in the example I stated above, a "Breakout" power would allow a Fonosta to knock out X number of bricks per turn. This then implies a more causal, exploratory sort of play mechanic, and this is good. Multiple goals. A very limited system where very small new things can be very exciting. Just imagine playing Atari 2600 "Adventure" and discovering a new sort of object or a new room, after playing for a long, long time. Actually, this is a weird game to use as an example, since it DID have the secret Microdot and "Created by Warren Robinett" room. But you get the idea. So the theme here is one of transformation. Your Stormjaunts are transformed in the system in interesting and unexpected things. I do want a very limited system, and the eight facets of Octagon fit right in here--that is--eight basic sorts of objects/activites/abilities/powers/etc. Now, let's say I establish "fortresses" at various spots on LWOR, which will have X number of bricks, and which can be broken down by Fonostas with the "Breakout" power. Then, there will have to be something inside to make all the effort worthwhile! And this reward cannot be an alternate SOURCE, but must be a FURTHER TRANSFORMATION. It is possible that such an object would be a "limited edition" in that it would be AVAILABLE for a limited amount of time. That is, during the time available, it may be obtained by any Fonosta who has the ability to take it, but afterwards, it will not be available anymore. The problem of trading in this system is that every object your Fonosta has is the result of transformation, leading all the way back to the player's real-life Stormjaunts. So trading would then potentially muddy these waters, especially if there was a "collectible" aspect in the system. Collectibility. Limited-edition objects. Like "Magic: The Gathering". I DO NOT WANT such a system in Obliviana. I do not want LWOR to overshadow Stormjaunt. Still, limitation is very important to the system, and I DO want to have limited-edition objects, limited in the "time-limit" way I described above. So--by simply excluding trading from the system, I think I can defeat this whole problem. Instead of trading, certain desirable objects could be made available again, perhaps rumored to be in a certain fortress. THIS is a good idea. Okay. So I think the idea of fortresses and a "Breakout" power is good. Now, this idea of a "Breakout Power" implies a kind of object. Hammers? Now, I still want a challenge that relates to the Fonosta character itself. And I have already decided that there won't be any fighting in LWOR. Racetracks with Fortresses and Swords. What else? Well, let me look at some classic games... Pac-Man comees to mind, but the idea of X number of dots is very similar to X number of bricks. How about some kind of "obstacle course"? I have Donkey Kong in mind... and an obstacle course could involve a number of challenges, such as running, jumping, climbing, etc. And each Fonosta character could have varying amounts of these attributes, allowing for different Fonosta-types to take different amounts of time getting through different obstacle courses. Okay. Now I'm getting somewhere. For each basic object, there is a challenge: Vehicle: Racetracks Character: Obstacle Course Hammer: Fortress What about Sword and Device? Hmm... Sword and Device seem to be more along the lines of REWARDS. Aha! Means vs. Rewards! Yes... yes... So now I'm beginning to see the big picture... MEANS: Character, Vehicle, Hammer CHALLENGES: Obstacle Course, Racetrack, Hammer REWARDS: Sword, Device Element Y'know, I hope that this thought process is entertaining to some of you out there. I question sometimes whether I should publish all these thoughts and ideas. But heck, why not! The beauty of "hypertext" is that you don't gotta read it if you don't wanna! You don't have to worry about it at all if it's not for you! Anyway, I'm definitely getting somewhere with this system. Stormjaunts transform into Octagons which transform into Means which transform into Rewards via Challenges. The set of Means/Challenges/Rewards above is not complete. But it's getting there. Here's the thing... you have a little "guy", with a vehicle, and a Hammer (or other destructive device). This is a very simple thing, a very simple image. Your little giraffe with his car and his hammer... or your mailman with his his ostrich and his baseball bat... or your vampire with his unicycle and his chainsaw... Now, you know I'm octo-centric, so I want to add one more element to this picture to get it to four, which fits nicely into eight. Color is something I'm thinking of here. But what would the Challenge be for Color? Or it could be Substance. And it could be applied to the weapon. I did a thing back at the library at Drew University in 1986 or around there, called "The Unreal 64", which eventually led to an organization and a number of characters in Severe Repair. Anyway, I had 64 entries, which were like "Gunderson Joster, madman with a terbium howitzer". The first name was the last name of a famous person or character, the last name was a word from an Old English dictionary, then a character-type, element, and weapon. The problem with using something like that as a MEANS is that I need a CHALLENGE for it. Far better for SUBSTANCE to be a REWARD, I think. SUBSTANCE as a reward that applies to the weapon, and COLOR as a reward that applies to the character, perhaps? Or COLOR for the vehicle, and something else for the character... So I need one more major MEANS, which has to fit into the picture of character, vehicle, and weapon. How about HOUSE? I like this in the picture, but what is the CHALLENGE for HOUSE? And then again, HOUSE would be a good sort of REWARD. Friend/Sidekick/Helper/Pet/Familiar. Hey! There ya go! I'll call it "Friend" for now. A character that helps your main character, perhaps able to perform the same sort of tasks as the main character, but to a lesser degree. But will there be a CHALLENGE for FRIEND? I think there can be. Sun 9/3/97 * 11:57 PM Here: Obstacle Course --> Maze Fortress --> Fort Racetracks --> Road And... CAVE!!! Caves that only your little Sidekick can go into. I think it works. But I have to work with the idea a little. Anyway, another idea is weather, which would affect driving conditions. And the idea of Houses, with perhaps better houses allowing for better protection from weather phenomenon, and hence better sleep and better performance, except then a REWARD is becoming a MEANS. I have a lot more to go, but right now I have to finish this issue up and do the website update. Get All Obliviana! *OW* -------> ------------------- ----------- -------- -- ----- |