Users and Userspace: an overview
Jun. 7th, 2011 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
a1enzoMatter
Users, or "humans", are not made of energy, but of something called "matter". Energy is actually a property of matter, and in Userspace it takes the form of heat, light, motion, and a lot of other things.
Matter is made of invisibly tiny bits called "atoms" (that's where "atomic" comes from). There are different types of atoms, a type is called an "element", and they combine in certain patterns into bigger but still invisibly tiny bits called "molecules", which define a substance. (Some molecules can be only one atom.) For example, two atoms of hydrogen merged with one atom of oxygen make a molecule of water, which is probably the most important substance in Userspace.
Humans
Humans are shaped like high-level sprites [fig. 1], but with much less variation. Their skin [fig. 2] is always some shade of brown or beige, like Game sprites, and is heavily textured. Their hair [fig. 3] resembles a static particle system and can be yellow, brown, black, red, or any blend of those. Shorter, finer hair covers all skin except the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and the lips.
Internally, humans have mostly similar systems to sprites, but much more complex. For example, they have more bones, including a lot of very small ones in clusters. One big difference is that instead of a processor, resource allocation is handled by the blood, which travels around the body in a series of tubes called blood vessels and is pumped by the heart.
All living things in Userspace are made of tiny (but not as tiny as molecules) bits called cells. Different kinds of cells make different body parts. Each cell contains a molecule called DNA, which is a User's code. DNA is quaternary code, and fully redundant: there's a complete set from each parent. A dominance algorithm decides which parent's code is used for each variable, or "gene".
DNA only codes for physical attributes. For the rest, humans have a linked, insubstantial half called a "soul". No one seems to know if souls have any code at all or what it's like.
Earth
Humans live on a planet called Earth [fig. 4]. Like in space Games, a planet is a gigantic ball of matter, in this case mostly dirt, rock, and metal, with water covering most of the surface. The parts not covered in water are called land masses, mostly six huge ones called continents. (They count one of them as two continents for some reason.) "Down" isn't a single direction on a planet but points toward the centre of the planet, so no matter where you are on the surface, gravity pulls you toward it.
Planets orbit around stars, which are even huger balls of fire. The Earth's star is called the sun, or sometimes Sol. Planets also spin on an axis, and day is when you're on the side facing the sun, and night is when you're facing away. From the surface of the earth, it looks like the sun goes up and down and moves across the sky. Earth doesn't have a real sky, but if you look off into space during the day, the light bends so it looks blue, but it's an illusion.
Land masses are divided into irregularly shaped sectors called "countries", which are the closest thing Users have to systems. Some countries have subsectors called different things like "states" or "provinces". Cities are built wherever enough humans get together; a lot of them are built next to rivers, for the water. Humans come first, cities and countries come second. There is lots of land which is not part of any city at all. You can get the idea from Games with large world maps, although random encounters are much less likely.
I will be uploading more detailed information later. I hope this gives enough background for the rest to make sense.
Users, or "humans", are not made of energy, but of something called "matter". Energy is actually a property of matter, and in Userspace it takes the form of heat, light, motion, and a lot of other things.
Matter is made of invisibly tiny bits called "atoms" (that's where "atomic" comes from). There are different types of atoms, a type is called an "element", and they combine in certain patterns into bigger but still invisibly tiny bits called "molecules", which define a substance. (Some molecules can be only one atom.) For example, two atoms of hydrogen merged with one atom of oxygen make a molecule of water, which is probably the most important substance in Userspace.
Humans
Humans are shaped like high-level sprites [fig. 1], but with much less variation. Their skin [fig. 2] is always some shade of brown or beige, like Game sprites, and is heavily textured. Their hair [fig. 3] resembles a static particle system and can be yellow, brown, black, red, or any blend of those. Shorter, finer hair covers all skin except the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, and the lips.
Internally, humans have mostly similar systems to sprites, but much more complex. For example, they have more bones, including a lot of very small ones in clusters. One big difference is that instead of a processor, resource allocation is handled by the blood, which travels around the body in a series of tubes called blood vessels and is pumped by the heart.
All living things in Userspace are made of tiny (but not as tiny as molecules) bits called cells. Different kinds of cells make different body parts. Each cell contains a molecule called DNA, which is a User's code. DNA is quaternary code, and fully redundant: there's a complete set from each parent. A dominance algorithm decides which parent's code is used for each variable, or "gene".
DNA only codes for physical attributes. For the rest, humans have a linked, insubstantial half called a "soul". No one seems to know if souls have any code at all or what it's like.
Earth
Humans live on a planet called Earth [fig. 4]. Like in space Games, a planet is a gigantic ball of matter, in this case mostly dirt, rock, and metal, with water covering most of the surface. The parts not covered in water are called land masses, mostly six huge ones called continents. (They count one of them as two continents for some reason.) "Down" isn't a single direction on a planet but points toward the centre of the planet, so no matter where you are on the surface, gravity pulls you toward it.
Planets orbit around stars, which are even huger balls of fire. The Earth's star is called the sun, or sometimes Sol. Planets also spin on an axis, and day is when you're on the side facing the sun, and night is when you're facing away. From the surface of the earth, it looks like the sun goes up and down and moves across the sky. Earth doesn't have a real sky, but if you look off into space during the day, the light bends so it looks blue, but it's an illusion.
Land masses are divided into irregularly shaped sectors called "countries", which are the closest thing Users have to systems. Some countries have subsectors called different things like "states" or "provinces". Cities are built wherever enough humans get together; a lot of them are built next to rivers, for the water. Humans come first, cities and countries come second. There is lots of land which is not part of any city at all. You can get the idea from Games with large world maps, although random encounters are much less likely.
I will be uploading more detailed information later. I hope this gives enough background for the rest to make sense.
