Special Delivery from the Interplanetary Library System

Thank goodness for the United Federation of Planets and the awesome Interplanetary Library System!  I am seriously behind in my blog and am remiss in not showing this amazing transmission.  We assume that it dropped in through a wormhole; the obvious first choice for moving printed materials through time and space.

There is, of course, the slight possibility that this transmission is of contemporary origin and was the product of a prolific and kind fictional correspondence partner.  If that be the case, the Wisconsin resident in question has far more creativity in letterhead and font manipulation that I.  (Kneeling and bowing on the floor) "We're not worthy!  We're not worthy!"

Update:  Here is the transmittal letter in its full glory:

Whether by wormhole, quasar fluctuation, quantum displacement or by the hands of the Postal Service, we at the house full of nerds are grateful for this package.  It very much made our day!

For a complete tutorial on the art of fictional correspondence, please visit Dante's Wardrobe on  Blogger.

Metallic Typing and Fictional Mail

I owe the inspiration for this post to two fellow bloggers.  First, I need to commend Ledeaux of Dante's Wardrobe for catalyzing fictional correspondence among our family members.

 http://danteswardrobe.blogspot.com/2012/04/fictional-correspondences-what-are-they.html

Second, I'll give a shout out to Florian at Maschinengeschrieben for showing that typing on aluminum foil can be done.
http://maschinengeschrieben.blogspot.com/2011/11/11112011-1111.html

Before I get to the aluminum foil typing, I need to explain the path to this little exercise.   MEK read the information on fictional correspondence and decided it might be a good way for our family of word nerds to communicate.  Hannah F. and Claire F. readily agreed.

One thing lead to another and a reply to a Dr. Sottenmeyer in the future was required. Why aluminum foil?  Well, it is obviously a superior medium for surviving time transmission.  Duh!  Or something like that...

This aluminum post was brought to you by Olympia!, our perky SM3.  I guessed that the sans italic would translate well to foil.  The trick to getting a clean impression is to use two pieces of paper underneath and one on top.  This sample was done with the ribbon vibrator running.  It takes a harder key strike that way.  Turning the ribbon vibrator off makes the aluminum impression easier but leaves no typed hard copy.  Life is full of tradeoffs.

Olympia says "Click here and look at me!"

But that is not the end of the story.  Sure enough, Dr. Sottenmeyer found the transmission at the research library in 2195 and sent a return package.  It was an elaborate package with instructions on the making of synthetic paper including a sample of the necessary Adamantium.  Addressed to the Scientific American, it arrived on time in the late 1800s.  Like magic, the 1898 Scientific American Cyclopedia was updated by way of an Errata sheet!  Time is fluid that way.

This is one of the most awesome books, ever!  You can download digital copies, but it is not the same experience as browsing 114 year old pages to find recipes for everything including alloys, paint, paper and ink.  Some would say it is an essential post-apocalypse library addition.

This type looks suspiciously like it came from our gold Royal.  Hmm.

In theory, the recipe should eliminate the need for metallic transmission media.  But that assumes the technology of 2012 is as good as that of 2195.  We shall see.