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Fa to Fd

F-type Star

The F type is a bright yellow-white star in the middle of the spectral sequence. These stars are distinguished by ionized calcium increasing in strength, hydrogen weakening, and other elements also beginning to strengthen as one goes down the scale.

These stars are very like Sol, although somewhat hotter and brighter and more shorter-lived. A F0 type star generally has a mass of about 1.7 times that of Sol, a luminosity of about 6.3 times, a surface temperature of some 7,400° Kelvin, and will spend about 3 billion years on the main sequence. The F5 spectral type is only about 1.3 times as massive and 2.5 times as luminous as Sol, with a surface temperature of around 6,600°. The cooler (F5 to F9) of these stars are prime candidates for garden worlds, but life, when found, is often of the microbial type. Nevertheless, these worlds can be easily terraformed, and the solar systems of A-types are valued by development corporations and colonists.

M. Alan Kazlev

Faber

A vec clade of generalized colonists and constructors, active on the growing fringe of the Terragen sphere.
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fabulism

[1] The art of storytelling.

[2] The art of creating mixtures of fiction and reality in order to entertain, confuse, perform ontological sabotage or educate.

[3] Ideology or view that promotes fabulism in the second sense as a way of life, hiding ones real life behind a layer of disinformation, deliberate myths and rumours. Fabulism in this sense is sometimes a reaction against rigid and panoptical societies, sometimes a way of self expression or self creation.

Anders Sandberg

factor cost

The value of output measured in terms of the cost of the factors of production used to produce it. In most nano-industrialized star systems and polities the factor cost is very small.

factor endowments

The resources which a polity possess.

factor immobility

Barriers to the movement of materials, labour, capital, information

factor incomes

Rewards to the factors of production. An example is labour receives wages, although this does not have to be financial; for instance a service ai feels satisfaction in performing a task.

factors of production

Raw materials, labour, capital, information, and entrepreneurs

Factotums

Generic term for degenerate discarded, obsolete or homeless vecs

facultative anagorobe

A sentient who participates in the market, but can survive without it (by analogy with "facultative anaerobe", a bacterium that uses oxygen if present but can survive without it). Also known as an exdependent

Mark A. Plus, in Transhumanist Terminology

falculae

[1] bright patches on the surface of a star that are associated with sun spots

[2] or any region which is brighter than the surrounding area on a planet or a moon
abbrev. FA

Fair Folk

Persistent folk tale motif found on many worlds, implying usually invisible trickster-helpers. Examples of this set of motifs date back to pre-Iron Age Old Earth.

Faiwy Fwoss Tuphz

deprecatory term used by Original Tuphz to describe all subverted lodges, and their sentients

M. Alan Kazlev

Falandian Heights

Range of mountains on the ore world, Karamundo, inhabited by a superior-based cult known as Stiletto, dedicated to the Teachings of Amaro.

From their lofty perchs in the Falandian Heights, the Stiletto oversee mining operations throughout Karamundo.

The ores are valued not for construction but rather their unusual and aesthetic geological properties and value as "natural art". Mining is strictly restricted, thus keeping prices high and ensuring their planet is not mined out

Charles Mosteller and M. Alan Kazlev

fallow

In prim (pre- and anti-industrial) societies, fallow land is land that has been left ploughed but not planted for one season. This helps the soil recover its fertility. Even so, this method of farming is grossly inefficient and ecologically destructive compared with modern bio-nano

family

In the Linnean system of classification, a monophyletic taxon of related and similar biological organisms. A family contains one or more genera. A group of similar families forms an order.

fantasy

Popular narrative genre of virch or rl world, employing races, history, and laws of physics that do not occur in the physical universe. Fantasy virchworlds and interactives are easy enough to create, but rl fantasy worlds requires extensive utility fog and nanotech to give the illusion of a fantasy universe. Themes and genres include neotolkeinism, trekism, ardentism, kalyptism, gothism, and more. Of greater interest are fantasy worlds created by non-aligned demiurge ai.

M. Alan Kazlev

fantasy world

A type of world created by a high-level demiurge AI, frequently using distributed picotech, femtotech or clarketech artifacts.

In some cases the godlet will modify an existing planet into a fantasy world full of all sorts of mystic toys, isolate it from the rest of the universe, and then sit back and watch, interfering with the inhabitants occasionally through 'magic', mystic phenomenon, or through special priests whose brains are modified via ultra tech to receive the godlets communications, or any number of things. Or they make a world that is open to the galaxy, so that visitors and tourists can arrive and experience the wonders of the godlet's realm (sometimes to their peril, as some of these worlds contain dangerous artefacts). In some cases ultra tech devices taken a fantasy world cease to operate, at other times or from other worlds they work perfectly (and command astronomical prices on the galactic markets!), at still other times anyone seeking to plunder such a world - or even steal the tiniest item, is instantly killed by the local nano defense systems or some form of clarketech defense

M. Alan Kazlev

Far Acton

Cygnus Sector, Outer Volumes, system, former Cygexba outpost, attacked and destroyed by rogue bio-Autowars in aftermath of Keterist-Biovirate War, currently owned by Zenon Charter, offers the experience of feeding amat to only semi-tame rogue biowars.

far edge party

One of the main problems of exploring the stellar systems of the galaxy is that a serial journey even at relativistic velocity it would take so long time that most of the stars would have died during the journey. One solution is to parallelize the problem: the explorer travels to a new system, creates a number of copies of emself and sends them to other systems, while e remains behind exploring the system. After around 10 million years, when all of the galaxy has been explored, the explorers gather together at a prearranged place, and exchange or merge their memories ("The Far Edge Party").

Keith Henson, in Transhumanist Terminology

The Fargate

Wormhole of presumably alien manufacture discovered in the Metasoft volume in 10233.

Travel thru the gate transports one to a location in intergalactic space. The exact location in relation to the Milky Way galaxy is unknown since instruments sent through the portal have been unable to pinpoint any familiar configurations of galaxies. It is hypothesized that the Fargate may exit beyond the current universal Event Horizon or even into another universe. There is of course no evidence for this and most serious researchers are confident that the coordinates for The Other Side, as it is called, will be pinpointed eventually.

Todd Drashner

Farm Analogy, The

infamous forgery circulated on the net in the 430's purporting to be an authentic post from one AI to another, showing how they undertake "people farming".

Like The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and similar forgeries, these documents are something that conspiracy buffs and extremists (in this case anti-AI groups) accept, but is to believe in, too ridiculous for everybody else. During the federation era some AIs admitted that it had been written by AIs, just to make the idea of AI rule look like paranoid speculation. (Genuine AIs would of course not use such an antiquated analogy as a farm, which was already vanishing when the first AIs came into existence and mainly a cultural myth in the 5th century)

The Farm Analogy portrays AIs as considering baseline humans like livestock and domestic pets. Containing enough facts to entice the gullible, it points out that during the interplanetary period the AIs were still largely dependent on the humans, just as farmers in the old days needed their animals to survive. It is also clear even to the paranoids that the idea of becoming self-sufficient and getting rid of the baselines never caught on among the AIs - it was simply uneconomical, and those few who thought it was a good idea were inhibited by the majority who wanted to preserve the status quo.

The Farm Analogy portrays human relation and dependence on ai in terms of agricultural livestock and domestic pets from pre-singularity Old Earth (note, some of these baseline animal types are still used by prims and other romantics on certain worlds and habitats today)

The vast majority of people were cows and sheep.

The "cow" person just goes about their life, blissfully unaware that the world is now run by AIs. all they want is to have a nice paddock to graze in (reference here to a nice dwelling with the latest bionano modcons). Meanwhile the AIs milk them for their own purposes.

The "sheep" person only does what everyone does, goes along with the herd. If no-one believes that AIs in charge, well that's what they'll believe, If everyone believes, then ditto. Meanwhile the AIs fleece them for their own purposes.

Cows are easily led by some disinformation or distraction ("Look at the green grass in that field!"), and the sheep will follow the cows.

The "ox" person knows the world is ruled by AIs, but doen't think much of it. But they just do what the AIs tell them to do, like dumb and hard-working servants. Included in this category are human agents of the ai, various high level agencies "just following rules" and many politicians that simply cannot do without their decision support systems and marketing agents.

Oxen are best managed just as the cows - give them something they want, and they will do it.

The "dog" person is happy to accept the AI as their "alpha male" or "leader of the pack". they acknowledge the AI is much stronger than them, even that it has the power of life and death over them, but they will do what their ai tells them to do. They love to have fun and frolic and play with their AI, who they trust implicitly (although they may be wary of other AIs)

The "cat" person is independently-minded, and knows that they are in charge, even though they also acknowledge the AI's superior power over them. But they know the AI loves them and wont hurt them

Included in this category are many cosmist and transhumanist groups like the heterosemiotics. Dogs and cats can be managed by giving them stuff - it doesn't have to be physical benefits, just attention (dogs) or a feeling of superiority (cats).

The "rabbit" person is a vapid inoffensive type, who knows the AIs rule but doesn't think too much about it. This type is especially common among the conspiracy nuts. Best managed by keeping them marginal, by feeding them more disinformation to get them to make fools of themselves or become so intimidated they keep away.

The cunning "fox" and "wolf" types of person won't accept the rule of AIs, and they at best comfortably, at worst precariously, make a living out of being feral.

The fox doesn't hurt the livestock too much, they are a nuisance unless they get into the henhouse. The wolf is a dangerous predator with a plan, that has to be hunted down. Foxes can be managed by fences - protect the domestic animals, keep the fox out. If they get through, set a trap.

Rats are unaware of the AIs, content to exploit the system and causing some minor damage. They are an inefficiency/problem, but not a threat like the foxes and wolves. Best managed by a bit of traps and poison to keep them down - or by getting other animals to get them.

Chickens simply don't get it. They have such a limited perspective that they cannot perceive a world outside their own, happily producing eggs and fighting in their pecking order for imaginary status. They manage themselves and only need to be fed and protected from the foxes.

M. Alan Kazlev and Anders Sandberg

Farmer

Political ai orientation pertaining to the stasist pro-human quadrant. "People farmers" see humans are nice and should be protected and even advanced, but it should be an organised change. The name derives from the Farm Analogy, although it has since acquired other connotations (hydroponics farm, neogenic crops, etc)

farrum

Pancake-like structure, or a row of such structures, on the surface of a planet or a moon (pl. farra)

abbrev. FR

Farty Vorlon

Late First federation Age cyborg comedian and shock jock, said to be one of the inspirations for the Wup movement.

Millennia of myth and memetic engineering by peterpans, slobbers, and others, have removed most records of the original. According to the popular myth Farty's distinguishing characteristic was an annoying flatulence over which e has no control, and results in slapstick situations that only those not easily offended can appreciate. Even medical nano is no help. Finally Farty decides to use eir emissions as eir trademark, and gets up to various adventures in eir travels throughout SolSys and beyond.

M Alan Kazlev

Fast Forward

Dominion experiment in the creation of a neutron matter based neogenic ecosystem.

First proposed in 9746 by the vec Random Patterns of Harmony, the project was begun using femtotech quark sculpting in 9897 at neutron star 8846AG-b. Named in honour of the Information Age scientist, inventor and fabulist Dr. Robert L. Forward who was one of the first terragens to seriously propose the idea of life on a neutron star.

In the current era, the nuclear reaction based ecosystem of Fast Forward (operating at something like a million times the rate of an organic system and with artificial assistance) is rapidly approaching the equivalent of the era of development of complex lifeforms on Earth or other Garden Worlds.

Discussions are already underway as to whether or not to eventually provolve some of the developing lifeforms to full sentience as well as courses of action should such an event occur spontaneously.

John B

Fastman

A human or human-descended person which does not need to eat or drink at all, except maybe some water and minerals. Fastmen obtain all the necessary energy and organic compounds through the nano inside their bodies. More: the fastmen lifestyle

Jorge Ditchkenberg

Fastman Shoes

Shoes which at night walk for eirself and connect to the energy source, and at the daytime supply their user with energy. Popular especially among children. See: the fastmen lifestyle.

Jorge Ditchkenberg

Fastmen Lifestyle

Augmented biont sociotype which uses ultratech and (in extreme cases) transapientech to avoid having to partake food

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