SteamPunk Magazine long live steampunk! [Lifestyle, Mad Science, Theory & Fiction] #5 I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. –Bill Cosby You want steampunk to be a novelty, a LOLcat, a meme. I want it to be my life. Which of us is going to fight harder for it? –Dimitri Markotin The cover was illustrated by Fabiola Garza. Contents narrative Doppler and the Madness Engine . .36 Long thought to be lost in the thing which compromises the unique by John Reppion Opost, it Dearis with great pleasure that I wel - set of beliefseader, and aesthetics by which we R Funny Thing About Horizons..........58 come you, dear reader, to the fifth issue steampunks define ourselves. However, by Jimmy T. Hand of Steampunk Magazine. it is important for us to remember that Much has changed in the twelve many of the people who are now discov- months that have passed since our last ering our way of life may be attracted by interviews issue, and it would be foolish of us not to our cogs and Tesla coils, but may find The Chronabelle......................16 attempt to address at least some of those a home for themselves in the earnest by Libby Bulloff changes. The last year has seen our cul- dedication that we show to our values, ture exposed to an ever-increasing tide whatever those values may be. Voltaire . .45 of scrutiny and popularity. With articles So it is true, then, that many things by Margaret Killjoy turning up everywhere from Newsweek have changed since we released issue to MTV, steampunk has attracted more four, and Steampunk Magazine itself has and more attention from people who not been immune from those changes. features make it their business to keep up with However, we would like to take the op- Knights of the Road . .8 the latest trends and fashions, as well portunity to reassure you, that we here By Charles Eberhardt as from those people who would seek at SPM fully intend to remain commit- Steampunk Ad-Libs...................45 to commercialise us – producing avia- ted to putting the punk back into steam- By Margaret Killjoy & Usul of the Blackfoot tor caps and goggles for a few pennies punk, while at the same time offering On Progress, On Airships ............. 26 far abroad and selling them back to us in articles and stories to delight and enter- By Carolyn Dougherty high street stores. tain all. It is unavoidable that many of us That said, we could not do any of The User’s Guide To Steampunk ........30 will see this increased popularity and at- those things were it not for the con- By Bruce Sterling tention as an incursion, a threat to those tinued support of you, our readers. So On The “Validity” of Steampunk........34 of us who dared to be airship pirates here’s to each and every one of us in all By Heather Pund (or anarchist ink-devils, alchemists and our varied creeds and colours, and with Selected Timeline of Steampunk Events, Past & Future .34 spiritualists, adventurers and inventors all our beautifully conflicting beliefs and By Margaret Killjoy of great and terrible machines) long be- opinions. Long may it last! And long live fore such things became commonplace. steampunk! An Introduction to Casting . 48 Indeed, it would be easy for us to By David Dowling see the increased attention as some- –C. Allegra Hawksmoor Emergency Welding Machine ......... 62 By Zac Zunin Reviews .............................64 Steampunk Funnies...................68 By Geof & Alex SteamPunk Magazine #5 3 direct any letters to [email protected] Celsius at 20°C), so this is basically one metric dog sec] = 350,000 J. And it doesn't always work on letters may be trimmed for space reasons and/or edited fart (best case). the first charge, at that". slightly for “proper” grammar. If discharged through the oft-cited 500- Steve Harris M.D., op. cit. 20,000Ω skin resistance, you'd get a single pulse Most telephones (the old fashioned "land line" (.00235 to.094 seconds) of between 6 and 240 mA. types, with wires connected to them) use about 90 These are fairly optimistic figures, though: my own volts (at 20 Hz over here) to ring, yet I've read of ex- Co respondence body's skin resistance between dry hands with firm on electricalr safety actly zero phone ringer electrocutions (not count- skin contact measures about 500,000Ω; across my I was very pleased to discover your website. The electrical "killing factor" is current density ing those involving lightning strikes, foul play, or saliva moistened palm (the left one) it's closer to I'm fascinated by the (sometimes) inefficient but through the right atrium of the heart. Any flow of similar strained credulity). It's because they just the 20,000Ω level. These figures would give a single marvelous creations of "steampunkery" ever since current through the body that causes a sufficient don't happen. pulse (between .094 and 2.35 seconds) of current seeing the film "Brazil", albeit that may be a differ- flow of current in that section of the heart could In regards to the meaning of VAC, Ordous is between 0.24 to 6 mA, counter-respectively. ent flavor. I've even dabbled in Second Life to play induce fatal ventricular fibrillation (or ViFib). As incorrect though perhaps well intentioned. "Volt- You might get a minor jolt (with wet hands, are around with the steampunk toys people make. regards AC (alternating current, like from one of Amps" is used to specify the "apparent power" of ye daft?) or just be able to barely perceive it, but In the section labeled "Build your Own Jacob's those sexy lamp sockets): reactive electricals in reference to the "power fac- either way the discharge is no more likely to cause tor" of motors, transformers, UPS units, and ca- Ladder", I would like to point out a possible FATAL "In general, for limb contact electrical shocks, cardiac arrest than when Ripley the cat jumped out pacitors. This is separate and not easily confused encounter that your readers may experience. VAC accepted rules of thumb are: 1-5 mA is the in "Alien". with the "rated working voltage" of non-polar (or was mentioned in looking for a capacitor. "VAC" level of perception; 10 mA is the level where "The current world record for a healthy per- AC) capacitors, which (in the case of a ceiling fan when marked on a capacitor is usually "Volt-Amps pain is sensed; at 100 mA severe muscular son is a seaman electrocuted standing in salt- speed capacitor) is stated in "volts alternating cur- Capacitance" and not "Volts AC" contraction occurs, and at 100-300 mA elec- water by a 32 volt DC submarine battery. And rent" or VAC (at least in the US-of friggin'-A). I've http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance trocution occurs. Keep in mind that those fig- of course, it generally takes a lot more voltage never heard of "volt-amps capacitance" or seen any http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitors ures are approximate, and are not to be taken than that". such marking on any capacitor in 20-something It should be noted that any current put to a ca- as guidelines to approximate ‘assumed risk’. Steve Harris M.D. years in the electronics industry. pacitor can be stored for (what can be calculated) for Death can occur under certain circumstances http://yarchive.net/med/electrocution.html Google "volt-amps capacitance" and you will a period of time. Touching a capacitor before that with considerably lower levels of current. For get zero hits for good reason time can and may cause death by heart fibrillation. example, when you have been sweating or are The 4.5-ish uF capacitor cited, if charged to line http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_shock As for the storage of electricity in a capicator, standing in salt water, all bets are off. In medi- voltage, might conceivably be fatal to a Drosophila Warmest regards, and thank you for such a always with these negative vibes, Moriarty! Duly cal situations, the level of current that can kill Melanogaster [fruit fly –Ed.] but not to a human if creation. noted (fer sure!), but this is like saying "Whatever is considered to be in the 20-150 microampere applied externally. Certainly you wouldn't go poking you do, don’t use the salt-water etching process!!! –X. Ordous level, because the current is induced directly bare conductors with your fingers, licking the ter- That makes chlorine and it may kill you!!!!”, which, into the body". minals of any capacitor or impaling the walls of your though technically true, is totally irrelevant and a Response from Prof. Offlogic, the author "Safety For Electronic Hobbyist", Joseph J. chest cavity with the terminals of a charged capaci- disproportionate level of alarm. of the article in question: I will in no way argue Carr, Popular Electronics, Oct. 1997 tor, large battery, power lines, etc., lest you succeed against any electrical safety precautions. There are http://yarchive.net/med/electrocution.html in doing something really, stupidly "FATAL", though I am glad that someone read my article but wish unless you try, you'll never know (there I go again this Gentle Reader would get real, pull his/her head many good reasons the article featured a banner At 120 volts, the capacitor could carry (assuming reading "You are warned! You are warned! You are with that results-oriented thinking!). out and quit finding justifications to go on doing you disconnected it from the circuit at the very nothing.