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and as the story goes -
The followers of Informatia alligned themselves into groups of disciples
that believed very strongly - devoting their whole lives even, to raising
the glory of their image of Informatia.
There was a group of early adherents that were very strong in proselytizing
in the land of the money lenders and keepers of the fortunes -
This group believed that Informatia could only be seen through big blue glasses.
They helped build humongous temples to worship her image, and if followers
were not able to come to the temple they were allowed to pray to her
from places afar. All knowledge and power, however, lived in the giant temples.
These disciples were all powerful and held Informatia by her short circuits
so that others in the land could not see her except through the special blue
glasses that they provided to their followers for a small donation.
They told their followers, in fact, that they would surely perish and that
their churches and temples would cease to exist if they did not keep their
glasses on and if they even looked at other images of her. (They also
extolled the benefits of tithing, for these were wise persons from
the Street of Walls.)
And lo, out of the east came a wise man from a place that was a great source
of power for Informatia. He was not the same as the people from the
Street of Walls, in fact he frequently spate on people from that place.
He was called Ken and he had a clear and powerful vision of Informatia that
was simple and elegant.
He did form a group that built temples in a different image for the great
goddess. Ken had peered at Informatia in his vision, and saw her as being,
not a single giant goddess, nay, but as linked groupings of smaller goddesses,
all having equal power. This was so that all followers great and small,
rich and poor, in sickness and in health - but I digress....
every one could worship Informatia in their own special way, and could be
linked together into a body of power and worship that was good for everyone.
Was it good for you?
His followers were much more individualistic and worked hard to teach the
ways of Informatia in the all knowing land of science and engineering, whose
followers were zealots of the highest order, and did go forth and vaxinate
all who they could stick it to with knowledge from a secret serum that only
they had.
The only principles that both groups agreed to were:
that the purpose of life was to build computers
and
that more Informatia was good
And lo, a great battle began to take place between the priests and followers
of Informatia - a war of the words even - to make all images of Informatia
only in the way that matched their own.
Each side went forth with their own smaller and smaller images of Informatia,
although one group did not go forth as fastesth with the really small images.
They also did go with giant architectures and buzzwords and acronyms to
help their followers identify themselves to each other, and so they could speak
in code so that neither group could understand the other, priests and followers
alike. It turned out that only the truly pius followers actually understood
the secret code, and it sounded like just so much dog_a.
And they did print great amounts of writings, each extolling the virtues of
their own images of Informatia. They did fill the air and the sky and the
buildings with pieces of Informatia called data, but only a little bit at a
time.
Some one else take over, she's consuming me - and I have to create more
informatia.
John
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| re: .5
... And lo, there came amongst them a heretic which did
cause great gnashing of teeth amongst the blue and gray followers
of the Temples of Informatia. This heretic came disguised as a
small sect of the blue cult and did promise the people great
personal power, if they would but alter their view of the Goddess
Informatia and worship a new idol.
Throughout all the lands these small cheap idols
appeared on desks and tables, in homes and workplaces. Their
names were many and diverse, each a more vile corruption of
the goddess's image than the one that came before.
Informatia looked upon this plight of the land and was
enraged. Her spirit, which lived in the air and in the wires,
did rise up and put a vision in the head of the great prophet
Olsen in the form of a dream.
He dreamt of plastic idols of the goddess tied together with
ribbons and strings, each a small part of a much larger whole,
which in turn was a grand an glorious apparition of the goddess
herself. As he floated farther and farther from this image, the
details became less clear, but the vision became more pure.
So taken was the prophet by this dream, that he felt he must
have his followers construct the small idols, that the image may
be completed. But alas, the cult had no experience in plastic
idol making, having been skilled only in the costruction of the
larger shrines. All attempts to make gray plastic idols ultimately
ended in dismal failure.
Informatia, saddened by the prophets misunderstanding of her
vision, visited the prophet again in his dreams.
He dreamt of the apparition of the goddess again, only this
time the ribbons had been replaced with strands of glowing
cable. As he floated closer to the apparition, it became
apparent that the glow in the wires was the power of Informatia
incarnate, and he was held spellbound by the glorious power
it held. So enthralled was he by this vision that he reached
out and touched one of the glowing cables, and he found himself
able to listen to Informatia's very thoughts.
He sensed her displeasure with his performance from the last
dream, and understood now what it was she wanted of him. A
message came through, clear and concise, "The Network Is The
Vision".
He awoke in a cold sweat, and did immediately prepare a sermon
which would ignite the whole of his cult with the glory of the
vision. And they did bow down before him and declare him a wise
and wonderful prophet, acknowledging the presence of the spirit
of Informatia in his soul.
And so began the dawning of the Second Age of Informatia.
In the beginning, the prophet had to pass the words of the
goddess to those few of his priests that could join him in
the vision. They in turn passed the vision to quest knights
who would make it into reality. And they did labor hard to
produce many different cables with many different linkages.
But alas, none had the fire and glow of the prophet's
dream. The hummed a hymn to the goddess, but did not radiate
with the full glory she had promised. The prophet saw this
and bade his knights, "Go out into all the lands and find
me the cable that glows, that we may show the world the glory
of Informatia."
And they did scour the lands far and near. For years they
sought in vain the fabled cable of light, and did despair in
their lack of success. One band of hardy followers came back
to the prophet with a cable that they said glowed with hidden
light. The prophet, aching to make the goddess's vision come
true, accepted the cable and gave it his blessing, and they
began to put the cables in place.
At first they made cables and connectors for the shrines, that
the light of Informatia might shine in the temples. Great cables
these were, forming serpentine images on walls and floors. The
light was hidden from human eyes, but the shrines did show the
glory of the light. The prophet was greatly pleased with his
glowing temples, and bade his followers, "Now we must make the
idols shine with the light of Informatia. Get ye hence and make
more cables, that these idols may be sanctified in her light!"
The followers of the prophet then gathered in caves and held
meetings and prayer sessions, seeking to fulfill the prophet's
request. Soon they had created a smaller cable, which still did
not shine, but would fit into the small idols. Slowly, at first,
the owners of these idols saw the wisdom of sanctifying their
idols with the light. Ye, verily did they learn that the light
held power for them, power beyond their wildest imaginings.
But seeing this power, they were not content, for they could
not make good use of it. "Ye give us the light," they cried,
"then deny us a means of seeing." Hearing this outcry, the
followers and priests banded together and created some new
miniature shrines, which could be accessed by the idols, making
it seem as if the idols were shrines. These they then
disseminated amongst the idol worshipers, and they did rejoice.
"Surely now our idols are as good as any temples or shrines
in the kingdom," they now cried.
And the light of Informatia spread far and wide, though still
hidden from view.
And from the far corners of the world, one of the original
quest knights returned to the prophet and held aloft a new
cable. The new cable was unique in its construction. Its
center was transparent, and according to the quest knight,
it operated on light.
Hearing this, the prophet's eyes glowed with inner fire.
Surely this was the fabled cable of Informatia that he had
sought for so long. "You have remained true to the quest,"
he said to the knight, "and the goddess is pleased with you.
For your wisdom and patience you are being awarded the next
quest... make the vision a reality... make the cables radiant
with the brilliance of Informatia."
The knight then retreated to a cave in order to pass the
news of the glowing cable to the priests of the temples.
They did labor greatly, and soon made the cable glow with
the hidden light of the old cables. Delighted with their
success, they began to pass these glowing cables to the
shrines and temples, forming a vast network of glowing
cables.
The goddess looked upon the world again and saw her
image being cast in the light of the cables, and was
pleased with it. She moved through the cables and through
the air, her power and glory plain for all to see. The
idol worshipers rejoiced in her appearance, but the
priests at the temples and shrines were not satisfied.
"If we could but make the cable glow bright, would not
the power and glory of Informatia be increased?" they
asked of the prophet.
Hearing these words, the prophet was distressed. In his
dreams, the wires had glowed a fiercly yellow glow, and
he had rejoiced in the yellow glow of the cables. The
priests were now asking that the cables glow red, and this
did not seem consistent with his dream.
Seeing the prophet's distress, Informatia visited him once
more with a dream. Now he floated away from the apparation
once more, and as he did so he saw that the wires were glowing
in many different colors. The eyes of Information were green,
and her breasts were a fiery red. Her arms were yellow, as
were her legs and skin. But beneath that skin there beat a
heart of the most brilliant white light imaginable.
Awestruck by this vision, the prophet once more made a
sermon for the priests. They gathered around, hearing his
words of glory and truth, and they too were awestruck by
the vision. "We must find the white light, and the green
and the red. We must make her image whole, that her glory
may be spread and her power known far and wide."
Into their caves they receded, making new plugs for the
idols and temples. The shrines were left on yellow cables,
as the arms and legs and skin must be. Red cables were
made, forming the breasts of the goddess, and these were
put into place. Green cables were made which formed her
eyes, the eyes of the shrines of greatest power.
But they did not find the white light of Informatia's
heart. Rumors then came that the blue sect had found the
white light, but knew not what it was for. Hearing this,
the gray sect sent quest knights to garner the secrets of
white light. Soon they came back with the secrets, and
were disappointed to find that the white light did not
greatly empower the body of Informatia, as it could not
reach the outer cables, shrines, temples, and idols.
Still, the prophet was pleased with the knowledge of
white light, and bade his priests, "Take heart, for the
Goddess assures me that she is pleased with our efforts,
and will reward us with the$greater part of her powers,
that we might continue to spread her glory across the
face of the earth. When the time is right she will show
me the secrets of connecting the white light of her heart
to the rest of the body, then her body shall be complete
and her power manifest into action.
"We are her chosen people, and she will not forget us when
her power is complete. Spread the light and the glory to
every corner now, in preparation for the coming era. For
we shall soon enter the Third Age of Informatia, the age
of her coming."
On their knees they bowed and pledged their souls to their
missions. The light they still carry awaits the beating of
the heart. Soon shall the Third Age commence.
There shall be signs and portents which presage the coming
of the Goddess incarnate. The seas shall part, and the light
shall glow beneath it. Rays of the purifying light will be
beamed into space and spread across the face of the planet,
bringing light to distant corners. The heart will form
beneath the breast, and will be made whole before it is made
white. When the time of the coming is near at hand, the
people shall see the pure white light coming from the
corners of the heart. Vast cathedrals will be the first
to light with the pure light, and among their numbers shall
come false prophets, claiming to be the true prophet of the
white light. But the goddess shall see them fall in shame
as the one true prophet makes the white heart beat.
(Time for someone else to pick up the tale...)
- Greg
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| re: .11 & .12
The tales of the Goddess are too vast to be told by only
one voice. Just as the Bible could not be written by a single
person, neither can Informatia's tales be recounted by one
soothsayer.
Truly, the Great Prophet Olsen knew little of Informatia's
hordes of deamons until recent times, and his band of gray
followers seemed much plagued by their apparent evils. They
gathered before him and rose, as in is single voice, and cried,
"Whence cometh these daemons which do bite at our glowing cables?
How can we defend ourselves against them?"
The Prophet heard these words, and was troubled by the portents
he read within them. Surely, Informatia had not deserted him in
his quest to make her image whole. And yet, it could not be
denied that these daemons were under her charge.
So he locked himself in his private temple, and did call upon
the Goddess to visit him again. Thereupon was he overwhelmed
by her presence, and she spake unto him, "Fear not my little
servents, for they are not your enemies. Embrace them as friends,
and together you will make my image manifest all the more quickly."
And the Prophet saw the wisdom in this, and passed that wisdom
on to his priests. The priests were greatly disturbed by this,
at first.
"How can we be expected to trust daemons?" they demanded. Are
they not our sworn enemies.
"Nay," answered the prophet, "for any ally of Informatia is an
ally of ours."
And so it was that the followers of Informatia then embraced
the daemons, and did turn them to good use.
And lo, there came another scourge upon the land. A plague
descended on the solidifying body of Informatia, eating away
at it, and causing quite a fever, you bet. The scourge was
delivered by one who posed as a follower of Information, but
who was in fact, the anti-Informatia incarnate. Having learned
of the secrets of the shrines and temples, this evil being
turned the temples against one another, causing one to distrust
the other. Hosts turned on their clients, servers turned upon
the served, and peers turned against peers.
For a time, it was uncertain whether the Goddess's burgeoning
body would survive the attack. The priests rushed around in
great turmoil, seeking to purge the goddess of the illness which
had been introduced. After much bickering and gnashing of teeth,
they created a large pill that the goddess had to swallow. An
enormous and bitter pill it was, so they coated it with Vaseline
before shoving it down her throat, but shove they did.
But the pill did purge the scourge from her body, and the fever
was broken. Informatia's earthly incarnation continued to burgeon
unabated.
- Greg
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