A must reread.

Воодушевленный интерес.
Любопытство.
Жажда знаний.
«Искусство выхода на пенсию заключается не в отходе от дел, а в умении начинать новые».
«Возраст – не препятствие для овладения новой профессией, ремеслом или чем угодно, главное, чтобы вам было интересно».
И помните: «Познание – богатство для бедных, почет для богатых, помощь молодым, поддержка и утешение пожилым» (Джон С. Лаватар).
«Настоящее искусство запоминания – это искусство внимания».
Помните: Все, что хотите запомнить, должно быть связано с тем, что вам уже известно.
Предлагаю шестнадцать объектов, которые нужно запомнить один раз, что научит запоминать шестнадцать любых других объектов в любое нужное время.
Приведенный список очень прост, поскольку каждый объект выбран таким образом, чтобы олицетворять некое число, и оно может символизировать только одно число. Не нужно пересматривать весь список, чтобы выяснить, какая цифра как представлена.
Для № 1: Представьте волшебную палочку. Стоящая вертикально палочка похожа на цифру 1.
Для № 2: Представьте лебедя. При некотором усилии воображения лебедь вполне похож на цифру 2.
Для № 3: Я обычно представляю трехлистный клевер.
Для № 4: Вы можете нарисовать что-нибудь с четырьмя ножками – стол, кресло или животное с четырьмя ногами.
Для № 5: Представьте пятиконечную звезду.
Для № 6: Представьте хобот слона, закрученный в виде цифры 6.
Для № 7: Флаг, развевающийся на ветру.
Для № 8: Песочные часы.
Для № 9: Курительная трубка, стоящая на ручке.
Для № 10: Представьте биту и мяч. Бита – это цифра 1, а мяч – цифра 0.
Для № 11: Мой первый образ – две полоски спагетти. Поэтому спагетти для меня всегда символизируют цифру 11.
Для № 12: Представьте часы со стрелками на 12 часах.
Для № 13: Вы можете вообразить либо черного кота, либо человека, проходящего под лестницей.
Для № 14: Представьте молнию в форме цифры 24.
Для № 15: Изначально я представлял себя в лифте, говорящего: «Пятнадцатый этаж, пожалуйста». Поэтому для этой цифры представьте лифт.
Для № 16: Представьте дорожный знак, на котором написано «Шоссе 16».
С небольшой «памятной подсказкой» не возникнет проблем с запоминанием этих предметов. Тренируйтесь, пока не научитесь легко воспроизводить их по порядку и вразброс. Приведу последовательность еще раз.

1. Палочка
2. Лебедь
3. Клевер
4. Стол
5. Звезда
6. Хобот слона
7. Флаг
8. Песочные часы
9. Трубка
10. Бита или мяч
11. Спагетти
12. Часы
13. Лестница (черный кот)
14. Молния
15. Лифт
16. Дорожный знак

«Не злитесь на людей, если не можете сделать их такими, какими хотите, поскольку даже себя вы не можете сделать таким, каким мечтаете».

Совет поэта д-ра Лайфчайлда: «Начинайте негромко, говорите негромко; Зажигайтесь, увлекайтесь; Они поражены, вы безмятежны; Когда завершите, свое место займите».

Перестаньте тревожиться из-за того, что может случиться.

А Гарри Голден в своем бестселлере «Только в Америке» хорошо написал об этом. Он предложил каждое утро просыпаться с мыслью о том, что вы будете жить вечно. «В возрасте семидесяти лет начните в доме капитальный ремонт, а в семьдесят пять начните изучать иностранный язык или запишитесь на новый курс. Другими словами, продолжайте жить так, как будто ваша жизнь никогда не закончится. А когда конец все-таки придет, вы его даже не заметите».

Вы гораздо успешнее, чем думаете.
Умение и уверенность – два солдата, которые могут победить целые армии.

Везение – это постоянная готовность. Или, как следует из китайской пословицы, «чем больше вы знаете, тем больше вам везет». Поэтому, вместо того чтобы хныкать о своей невезучей судьбе, подготовьтесь к удаче! Именно так – приготовьтесь, чтобы, когда возможность представится, вы не упустили ее или знали, как ею воспользоваться.

Проблема есть не что иное, как возможность в рабочей одежде

Возможности никогда не перестанут стучаться в дверь
Возможности не раздаются по одной на брата. Идею о том, что шанс представляется лишь единожды, культивируют неудачники, которые перестали искать возможности, упустив всего одну.
Те, кто говорят, что я больше не приду, после того
Как я пришла однажды и никого не застала, ошибаются.
Потому что каждый день я стою перед вашей дверью
И призываю вас проснуться, бороться и побеждать.
Не горюйте об упущенных возможностях!
Не тоскуйте о том, что хорошие времена закончились!
Каждый вечер я сжигаю все, случившееся за день,
А наутро каждая душа рождается заново.
Уолтер Мэлоун

«Позвольте мне добрее стать, Позвольте мне не замечать Ошибок тех, кто рядом есть, Похвал в их адрес и не счесть».

I really did like the Shadowrun Universe - it was new and it was different. While it was not the first game that merged magic with technology most of the other games that did so were either set in a post apocalyptic world (such as Gamma World and Rifts) or were just plain stupid (though the one example that does come to mind I simply cannot remember the name). However Shadowrun is a cyberpunk world, a world of big cities and commerce, a world that had changed but in many cases is still very much the same. With Shadowrun I could turn my favourite Hollywood action movies (Terminator II comes to mind) into adventures in this world without too much difficulty.

This book is set in London, and the England of 2050 is a land pretty much covered with houses (though I have recently been to England and it really does not look like that, though I sometimes wonder if people underestimate the size of the Earth) and is ruled by the Druids. They still have a king, but when I was running Shadowrun games, I had a different England story which that involved the king becoming an orc which gave rise to a lot of political intrigue where the PCs had to uncover a plot to remove him from the throne - a plot involving republicans and people who simply do not like orcs.

In many ways Shadowrun is very much ahead of its time. It is not the idea that magic has entered the world, though over the past 20 years I do notice that us Westerners are developing a more spiritual outlook to our lives (and while I do believe in magic, I believe that it is very subtle, much like sympathetic magic – look it up on Wikipedia). However, it is the idea of the Matrix, cyberware, and the mega-corporations that are strangely prescient of our modern times. I will look at each of these as I review the other books in the series, but in this instance I will explore the nature of the Mega-Corporation.

When the original book indicates that the years 1990 to 2010 resulted in the rise of the mega-corporation as a political entity, it is almost mind boggling how true they are. I remember speaking to a friend in the early 90s who indicated that the only true mega-corporation would be the Rand Corporation. How much as changed (though in many cases it has stayed very much the same). Corporations have always wielded influence, and in reality, the first true mega-corporation would have been the British East India Company (though that operated under charter from the British Government). Now however it is difficult not to look and see a mega-corporation with in spitting distance, though not all of them are easily seen from the shop front.

The power of the corporation today is that they can operate like their own countries. The concept of extra-territoriality exists, which is where the national law does not operate in areas owned by the corporation. We do currently have private property laws which mean that a shopping centre (Westfield) can dictate what the customers see and do when they enter their malls. By stepping into a shopping centre these days you are stepping into a different world were different laws apply. However, we go over to developing countries (such as Indonesia) and we have export processing zones. While they are on Indonesian soil, they do not come under Indonesian law, they do not pay taxes, have no fair work or safety laws, and the authorities are not permitted on the land without an invitation even if a crime has been committed.

In many ways even in some developed countries the influence that corporations have on government is in immense. Australia is indeed a lucky country in that there are strong sets of regulations, and while corporations may object to the introduction of fair work and workplace safety laws, they are forced to accept it if they want to do business in Australia, and while Australia may have a small population, we have things that they want, and we have a population with money, so if they want our money, they have to play by our rules (though this is starting to change, especially with Big Ears stating that Australia is open for business).

However, consider that there are at least two Australian companies (News Ltd and BHP) that have risen to the status of mega-corporation. BHP is Australia's biggest company by market capitalisation, and operates pretty much everywhere in the world. While it may be small compared to Xstrata (Swiss) or Vale (Brazil) they are still a massive company that can wield a tremendous amount of power. News Ltd, probably known better as Fox, was actually born in my hometown (Adelaide), and the owner, Rupert Murdoch, has risen to become one of the most powerful media moguls in the world.

In this way I find Shadowrun to be very good: it was warning us of the dangers that can come about by giving corporations unfettered authority (something which they do not have). While the US government is pretty impotent when it comes to regulating companies (if you put through a law that is needed, they object, and we quickly find it repealed, however it will take huge protests from the population to get a law we like passed). However America is blinded by the principle that we are all responsible for our own destiny though if a bank deceives you into taking out a loan that you cannot afford, it is not the banks fault, they are a mindless, soulless, entity providing a service; rather it is the consumer's fault because they should have been more alert in how that interacted with the company. Once again, Australia has a Trade Practices Act that is rigorously enforced.

I might step away from exploring the Shadowrun Universe and instead look at some ideas that come out of this novel (or at least its title). This is the third Shadowrun novel and the final book in the initial trilogy. The protagonist, Samuel Verner, returns to North America to help his sister. His sister has had a double whammy in that she metamorphosed into an Orc, but was then infected by the HMHVV (Human Meta-human Vampiric Virus) and has become a Wendigo.

In the Shadowrun universe Vampires are not the scheming manipulators that we discover elsewhere but rather diseased individuals that feed on others and then infect them. They are not undead, as one expects them to be, but rather diseased individuals that turn into mindless monsters (much like the creatures in <a href=”www.imdb.com/title/tt0480249/”>I Am Legend</a>). The virus turns humans into vampires, while it turns orks into Wendigos (which means that there is little difference between the two creatures – they are both ravenous blood sucking monsters). However, I don't believe the real Wendigo is vampiric, though I can't be bothered actually researching it (that is, typing Wendigo into Wikipedia).

The one thing that I have noticed about Shadowrun is that there are no undead. In Shadowrun death is pretty much death. There is no magic that brings the dead back to life, or even reanimates their dead corpses. The creatures in the Shadowrun world that are named after undead creatures tend to be diseased, which made me think that something like the Rage virus would be perfect for this world. Unlike the 28 days movies, there is much more of an ability to defeat, and even cure, people afflicted by the virus.

The title of this book to me is a little corny, and reeks of existentialism. It is the idea that we discover our own truth, and that truth is entirely relative. While I believe that truth is objective (a table is still a table no matter what name you call it, and if you bang your leg on one, it hurts) I can understand where concepts of truth can be misunderstood. Somebody stating that all Port Power supporters are losers is not speaking a truth, but giving an opinion. While somebody may say to you that they are your friend, the fact that they said it does not make it a truth, it is only, once again, an opinion. To me, football supporters come in all shapes and sizes, some are good, some are bad. Friendship is not defined by words but by actions. Somebody who says that they are your friend but who will never lift a finger to help you is probably not a friend.

The problem with using such an existentialist title for a roleplaying spin off, to me, is just corny. To be honest, I probably would not read such a book anyway because, to me, truth is truth, it is objective, it cannot be anything else. The role of a judge in a court of law is to determine the objective truth of the situation put before him (or her), to weigh up the characters of the people putting forward their versions, determining the credibility of the characters, and then coming to a conclusion. It is a system that I think is good (though the European system is better as more power rests with the judge to investigate rather than with the lawyers who simply put forward opposing versions). Personally, I believe that all this talk about making our own truth, and making our own reality is just plain silly. If anybody comes to me and says that they sincerely believe that the Eiffel Tower is in Berlin, and because they believe it in their own reality, then it must be true, I'm likely to look at them, shake my head, and find some more intelligent conversation. Unfortunately, unless somebody actually moves it to Berlin, the Eiffel Tower is in Paris, and if somebody tries messing with me by changing the name of the tower in Berlin to the Eiffel Tower, I would probably recommend that they confirm that with the French before making such an outlandish statement.

Well this is the first of the Shadowrun novels, and not surprisingly, the first one that I will review. There were a few of them written, and I did read some of them, however, as I have said previously, in these later stages of my life the role-playing game spinoffs novels have ceased to impress me, and the Shadowrun books are no exception. They tend to be poorly written and rushed and their only real purpose is not only to continue to make money from successful product, but to also give some atmosphere to the role playing world in which the novel is set. The major catch with that is that a lot of GMs may like the world, but will change aspects to suit their own style, which means that when one reads the novel, the aspects that that particular GM dislikes and cause it to be a little jarring at times.

I will not go into details of these particular novels, but will rather explore aspects of the Shadowrun world as I visit each of the novels that I have read. For this one I will give an overview of the roleplaying world. Shadowrun is set on Earth beginning in the year 2050 (aligning with 1990, the year that the system was first released - Shadowrun is always 60 years ahead of the year in which a supplement is published). This world is a vastly different place to the world that we known, and a simple definition would be 'Cyberpunk meets Dungeons and Dragons'. The world is a world of the dark future (see Blade Runner, or Neuromancer for an idea of what the world of the Dark Future would look like, though there are a lot of other books and films that could do the same job) where governments have become impotent and the corporations have risen to positions of great power.

Much has changed since our world though, and there is a reasonable time line outlining the events that brought about these changes. The most important change is that magic has re-entered the world, and along with magicians we also have magical beasts, diseases, and new races into which a minority of humans have metamorphed (or goblinised as Shadowrun calls it). Discrimination has moved away from skin colour to simply looking different, and it turns out that orks and trolls, the more uglier of the goblinoids, tend to find themselves at the bottom of the social pile. Along with all of this, dragons have also made another appearance (as the title of the book suggests), which is not surprising because one cannot have a science-fantasy would without dragons.

The idea of the game is that magic is not a new thing, but rather a reawakened reality. For some reason magic left the world centuries ago (most likely because all of the practitioners were killed off) and the magical forces went into remission (and creatures such as dragons went into hibernation). However, in the early 21^st Century the Native Americans rose up against their oppression, and in a desperate battle, one Native American released a reign of destruction on the American forces. This pretty much turned the tables and the United States was forced to break up, and much of the West was handed back to the Indians, while the east was split into UCAS (the United Canadian and American States) and the CAS (the Confederated American States).

Most of the action is set in Seattle (I wondered why it was not set in Los Angeles, but I guess the developers may have been more familiar with Seattle), which is an independent city state (governed by the UCAS) that is surrounded by Native American Nations. I suspect that they develop Seattle this way as a means to create a frontier city, sort of like the Wild West meets Cyberpunk.

One of the things that I did not like about this book is that the Shadowrunning team that the protagonist encounters turns out to be the team that was used in the rule books as an example of how to create various types of characters. This I found to be very corny - it just did not sit all that well with me. To an extent it made it appear that they were trying to push the marketing aspect of the game a bit too much.