160 Characters of SF

[Mixu Lauronen]

160 Characters of SF
- The Great Scibile Competition

What's a Scibile?
Science Fiction usually acts as a pioneer in the philosophy of science and
technology. The expanding field of telecommunications has, however,
caught SF* with its pants down.

A change is about to happen. Polaris, the sf-society of Oulu, Finland, has
developed a whole new type of literature, a scibile, which is based on the
possibilities of wireless communication.

A scibile has, headers included, a maximum length of 160 characters.
Unlike conventional literature, a scibile can utilise different abbreviations
and smileys. The ability to condense the story into a text message is what
counts.

A scibile is also a social form of literature. It is easy to share with friends
and SF-fans - just push a button!

***

160 Characters of SF
To teach people how to produce and use scibiles, Polaris announces the
first Scibile contest in the World.

The contest is held between midnight July 16th and midnight December 31st 2001.
The results will be announced on January 15th 2002. The prize will be
awarded by a Jury (to be nominated later). The Chair of the Jury is Mika-Petri
Lauronen. Members of the Jury may not partake in the competition.

The official languages of the competition are Finnish, Swedish, English and
French.

The 1st Award is 0,336 euro times the number of characters in the story. If
a single character is unneccessarily repeated several times, they will be
counted as one. The 2nd Award is 0,168 euro times the number of characters.
The award money is paid immediately.

The scibiles should be sent to a GSM number +358414699615, or to an email
address mpla...@paju.oulu.fi (recommended). If the GSM is used, the sender
should ensure that the number called from is sent to the Jury. That way we can
contact the winners.

On behalf of Polaris, Mika-Petri Lauronen, the Chairman
*SF = Speculative Fiction = science fiction, fantasy, and horror
literature

--
"Mr. Gandhi, what do you think about western civilization?"
"I think it would be a good idea."
-- Mahatma Gandhi, to a journalist --