What is "Starports"?
Starports is a science fiction short story anthology created by Jack J. Ward and will be offered in both "The Library" Podcast as an audio story and (with select submissions) as part of an e-book anthology to be sold for a competitive price with profits to be split to the authors and editor. Authors interested in placing submissions should contact Jack at jackjamiewardATgmailDOTcom
Starports begins in 2012!
Guidelines are listed below.

The Story in Brief
Matthew Rose, a university student, discovered a cheap, easy, and safe way to teleport anywhere in the universe. Reasoning that a conveyance needed a map, Matt also developed the software that figured exact coordinates based on time, space, and a theoretical centre of the universe. Rose’s work drew the attention of the authorities and before he disappeared his entire work was published on the Internet giving anyone with net access and the modest technological means, the ability to travel any distance.

The effect upon humanity was profound. Within nine months, one fifth of humanity had travelled to distant worlds in other solar systems, galaxies, even clear across the universe. New industries opened up as people relocated to "better" Earth-like planets. The wealthy discovered new forms of exotic entertainments and sights in distant places that could be barely fathomed before.
Of course, confidence men, huxters, and thieves lined up to cash in on the Starport technology as well. After all, who could police the entire universe? If a family came to a planet for a vacation, but were press-ganged into forced labour, who had the jurisdiction to enforce anti-slavery laws?
Back on Earth, worried and concerned governments saw population patterns blinked in and out like Christmas tree lights. Various parts of the globe developed critical shortages, or sudden steep prices.

Unprecedented opportunity hung before humanity, and the only question was, how would this new technology serve the future? Would it bring out a deeper understanding of community? Or would avarice and greed find a way to control the most democraticizing technology humanity had ever seen?
The story... the answer… is still to be discovered.

Story Possibilities
Starports offers fodder for a nearly endless series of stories. Consider the following questions:
What would an Earth look like when over a fifth of its population (mostly in North America and other "Westernized" nations) have gone to other planets?
What kind of business opportunities both legal and otherwise would be available for a population mobile enough to colonize or vacation anywhere in the universe?
What kind of unsavory characters would take advantage of people?
How would the Internet change as a tool, when it holds the public domain software that sends people to the stars?


SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. Authors are to present their own original works.
2. All Submissions must be no more than 6,000 words.
3. All Submissions must be in 12 point Times New Roman Font and RTF format.
4. All Submission must be within Background Guidelines (see below) and using the genre (science fiction) and form (short fiction) in a clean dramatic fashion.
5. Accepted submissions are to be read by the Author or a designated reader and recorded with a clear microphone. (Contact Jack if this could be a problem. He has many actors to read stories.)
6. Accepted submissions are to be transferred to Jack in standard MP3 stereo format 44100 Hz frequency at 256 KPS bit rate.
7. All accepted submissions are to be transferred to Jack in a timely manner upon acceptance of the story proposal.

Background Guidelines
There are some clear rules when writing an Anthology series in the "Starports" universe. Please read the following Timeline and Glossary to make yourself familiar with Starport definitions and guidelines.

Timeline
YEAR 1
- Matthew Rose publishes the Starports technology. More than one educator and critic has pointed out the irony that this has occurred during the end of the Mayan calendar.
- Rose with others in his science department create the CPS (Cosmic Positioning Software).
- Matthew disappears. It is assumed he has ported to safe world.
- New dating system begins. Current Era (CE) or Anno Domini (AD) are thrown aside by many for After Porting (AP)
- Jury-rigged space suits are made for thrill seekers called “Star Jockeys” or “Vapour Dancers” to “Blind Port” to different locations.
- The Celestipedia (Celeste) is organized online.
- The term “Earthly” associated with a colour is designed to describe the type of planet’s gravity and atmosphere.
- No sentient alien races are reported of being discovered although some report ancient ruins little more than what might be ruins in rocks.
- Grendal Vacations begins blindporting trials
- Five months later, Jammers are created by Instatex Corporation and sold to governments all over the world to protect banks and secure sites.
- Several groups for a free space create the non-profit organization Far Seeker’s Society almost a year to the first publication of the Starport material. Official launch party is on the first year anniversery.

Glossary and Terms
Aliens
No "Intelligent" Aliens until Year 4. No exceptions. Earth-like or (Earthly) planets will certainly have life. But make it lower order. Animals are allowed. Even complex animals. But intelligent aliens that can communicate, build societies, and complex organizations are a strict no starter for now.

Alien Civilizations
See above. The only possible exception is finding evidence of a long dead civilization. But this needs to be handled with care. Mystery and enigmas as to the civilization will be greeted a whole lot more warmly than beginning a saga of an alien race. These, again are stories about how the human population is affected by the Starport technology.



Alien Diseases
Scientifically speaking, for the most part alien diseases would not find human being palatable. Virus' on Earth have taken thousands of years to mature to want to eat our biology. There may be some exception but, any virus or disease transferred back to Earth would be very difficult to accept.

Blind 'Porting
This is the task of having human beings (Star Jockeys or Vapor Dancers) dress in special environmental vacuum suits, along with camera and sensing equipment. They are sent to investigate a previously undetermined sector of space. They are given special one-way Starport equipment (Homers) that when activated will return them to their Initial Waypoint (I.W.)
Once returned home, their data is assessed and further Blind 'ports may take place to "Zero In" on an excellent candidate (Earthly Planet).

Cecile
The Internet personality who claims to understand the original story of how Matthew Rose came up with the Starports technology and why he published it on the Internet. Cecile's identity has never been established.

Celestipedia
The massive on-line website- free for anyone to edit and create content. Based on the old "wikipedia" site, Celestipedia is the most complete encyclopedia of places and Earthly environments across the cosmos.

CPS
based upon Matthew Rose's supposition that the oldest star discovered in the galaxy, HE0107-5240, dates back to the beginning of the Universe, the CPS is a highly complex and accurate Cosmic Positioning Software. The model for coordinates begins with the theoretic positioning of the universe at the big bang, known spatial variances to date, and theoretical projects along the same curve. Part of Matt Rose's teams’ brilliance is in creating an accurate coordinating system that not only operates effectively for this galaxy, but potentially all galaxies using the origin point of the universe as a “universal constant”.

Earth
After the first nine months that the Starport technology hit the Internet, nearly 1/5 of the population of Earth have teleported elsewhere. Some have migrated. Some are on vacation. All represent people on the Earth who have money and access to computers and the Internet.
Starporting is, on a global scale, a past-time of the wealthy.
This means that some cities have very quickly depopulated, trade routes interrupted. Those governments not reeling from the changes have very much taken advantage of the situation.

Meanwhile global warming continues, global poverty increases in some areas during volatile stockmarkets. Kids in wealthier nations "Homestead". There are movements by some governments to ban Starporting all together because of the impact on the economies both local and international.
Very quickly after it became clear that Starporting could also mean getting into private property on Earth, and low-grade electronic generators (Jammers) were made to disrupt exit curtains and protect banks and high-security facilities.
There are stories that the government of China is attempting to set a wide array jamming signal that would prevent any kind of Starporting by its citizens or foreigners into China.
Earth represents a tinder-box of old power structures versus new opportunities.

Earthlies/ Earthly Planet
Earthly planets are Earth-like in their makeup. All Earthly planets have the right oxygen/nitrogen mixture, appropriate gravity (within .5 to 1.5 of Earth norm), and average temperature to allow human egress from a curtain into the world without environmental suits. Earthlies have developed civilian colour codes, and while most planets have a variety of terrains and climates, a general impression is coded.:

Earthly Black	Moon like surface. All water is underground, and rain is rare if not nonexistent
Earthly Yellow	Desert like surface. Seasonal rains if any.
Earthly Red	Volcanic activity on the surface. Pollution and acidic rains can be a problem.
Earthly Green	Mostly lush vegetation. Jungles or Forests are predominant.
Earthly Blue	Mostly free standing water. May have continents or islands. (ex. Our earth "Terra" would be coded, Earthly Blue as it is 3/5ths water.)
Earthly Brown	Mostly mountains, foothills and low standing vegetation. Rocky terrain.
Earthly White	Mostly ice covered world.

Far Seekers Society
This citizens' grassroots organization who’s central belief is that no one “owns” space. Using cyber-hacking, private donations, amalgamations of other smaller organizations, and through the selling of exotic plants and samples to fund their movement, The FASSY put together their own exploratory missions, to register and create new spaces for humanity to live. Far Seeker destinations always can be found free on websites all over the Internet. There are, however, no regulations or error-checking for posted coordinates, and everything from typos that send people into suns, to hidden locations that shanghai travelers into becoming slave labour occur.
As much as possible, comments are presented on websites about favourite destinations, and there are entire websites (pedias) cropping up that catalogue and identify everything from geological formations and meteorological events, to plant and animal discoveries.
Because of the democratic nature of the Far Seekers, many individuals have pooled their resources and knowledge bases into projects like "Celestipedia".

Grendal Vacations Corporation
The largest of the exploratory Corporations. Grendal sends out teams to "Blind Port", to discover new and exotic locales. Patrons pay for exclusive travel packages, and are sent to breathtaking one-of-a-kind vacations but are not given access to the actual coordinates. Grendal and others in the new travel industry rely on discretion and secrecy to maintain their clientele.

Homesteading
A game invented by teens. Homesteaders, (often street youths) find unoccupied domiciles (usually abandoned because owners are starporting). Homesteaders use anything left behind by the owners- sleeping arrangements, food, clothing, and other amenities. Some homesteading takes place in “active” zones. The danger is in potentially being caught. Betting often takes place between various gangs involved.

Jammers
Low grade electronic generators can be set up to great an invisible field for expense that prevent Starporting within a particular area, originally developed by Instatex. This protects banks, homeowners, and highly sensitive government and military buildings.
If a Starporter attempts to make an exit curtain to where a jammer is placed, they will simply exit from the same curtain they entered as the conduit is pinched off at one end.

Matthew Daniel Rose
Matt Rose was a student at the University of Toronto who developed the Starport technology. Stories differ as to whether Matt Rose is an alias for the real person who developed the technology or not. Records at University of Toronto do not show a Matthew Daniel Rose attending campus, and yet conspiracy theorists have already concluded that Matt Rose's records were wiped either to protect the family, or in the wake of an official investigation, or simply for the university to save face. Real or not, Rose is a legend since his disappearance when he published his complete theoretical works and the "Starports" freeware to the Internet.

Monies
Currently there are neither "galactic credits" or any kind nor any form of universal exchange. Communities on other worlds have either created a makeshift barter system, or developed their own local currency. Travellers trade in whatever their buyers on Earth need initially. Bartering between planets other than Terra doesn’t begin until Year 2 and really does not settle into specific treaties for the most part until Years 4-5.
Some countries on Terra have suggested that gold should be the standard for trade, but as some planets are gold rich and others gold poor this seems an uneven proposition by many.
Travel Corporations initially operate strictly in national currencies as they bring goods and people into vacation spots from Terra, and make money strictly by importing people from Terra to exotic locations.

Planetary Cooperative
The Planetary Cooperative was founded by many educators and scholars in Year 4. It includes those who believe that new planets that are "virtually Earth-like" should be terraformed into entirely Earthly conditions. Encapsulating some of the grand ideals of humanity colonizing the stars, the Planetary Cooperative is mostly funded through membership donations and private sponsors, as well as university and corporate research grants.

Safe Banks
Some Corporations and Citizen Organizations have created their own bank of "Safe Destinations" for travelers. These include planets and large moons that can support terran life. Some of the more popular groups are The Planetary Cooperative, Far Seekers Society, and Grendal Vacations Corporation.

Star Jockeys/Vapor Dancers
These thrill-seekers dress in environmental vacuum suits and equip themselves with acute sensing equipment. Taking best guesses from previous information they will starport themselves into another area of the cosmos that has never been mapped before. Star Jockeys are adrenaline junkies. They are juiced by the opportunity to be the first human in an area of space. But by blind 'porting, they could accidentally put themselves too close to a star, or cosmic radiation, or within a planet or the gravity well of a gas giant. The risk can be worth a great reward as Star Jockeys who discover a "rich" site, or a potentially lucrative vacation spot could net them 1% of any income generated. That's enough to set a Star Jockey for life!

Starports Freeware
This is the software programme that Matthew Daniel Rose published on the Internet along with his complete theoretical works of how teleporting to the stars operates. The original software is very simple with CPS waypoints for current and end point calculations. The software allows only the right number of characters in each field, and never allows operates if there is a character that does not fit within the basic parameters. The Freeware has a “checksum” function that sends a pre-port pattern so that no one teleporting can enter another physical space. Adjustments are made almost instantaineously so teleporting individuals arrive beside or even above solid objects. This does not, however always effectively work for gases or energy levels as well as solid matter and some Star Jockeys have appeared well inside the depths of a star.
Other companies have since developed their own brands of Starports software, building on the initial engine. Features such as a log of places journeyed, timer features, address books of destinations, and email among others have all been added by many different competing companies for the Transporting market.

Technology
The process of Starporting while not completely understood includes gravitational fields that are set up using a laptop and a very easy interface that weakens the gravitic bonds of normal space. Once the "curtain" of normal space is opened. The "Corridor" or hyperspace can easily be manipulated. Gravitational fields need only a few coordinates to open up the curtain on the other side of space.
Coordinates are all powered by freeware published on the Internet by the brilliant student, Matthew Rose. Anyone can surf the Internet’s many sites to discover how to rig their own hyperfield projector or buy one of the inexpensive commercial options available in stores. Once in place, the software "Star Teleports", or Starports for short, will initialize an I.W. or "Initial Waypoint". The I.W. sets the home coordinates via GPS (Global Positioning Software) and compares this with the CPS (Cosmic Positioning Software). Any time the “Conveyance” (computer- usually a laptop) is moved, either through a starport or physically, the software runs an inobtrusive background agent to keep the computer in sync with the CPS. If there is any error in computations, original Starport software is designed to send the traveller back to their I.W.

Teleportation
The technology is virtually instantaneous, so ", there is little danger of dematerialization (as per Star Trek transporters) hopping through “hyperspace curtains”. Voyagers go through an origin “curtain” whole and are ejected safely and instantaneously through the “curtain” at the destination in the same fashion.
Curtains remain open longest from point of entry (PEC). They can remain open up to 9 seconds before burning out a computer that creates the field, but remain open, on average, 4.2 seconds.
Curtains open five feet from source of a field generation (computer), and are roughly a halo shape six feet by four feet width.
Point of Exit Curtains (PXC) expel travellers and seal nearly immediately after expectorating the traveller. While theoretically it may be possible for someone to enter an exit curtain to return through before the entrance curtain closes, it has never been accomplished in practice.
The field generation opens a simple conduit between the two points. There is no evidence that travelers can sidestep or shift to other points of entrance or exit.

Electromagnetic devices within a twenty-foot radius of an opened curtain have been known to display side effects from interference to electro-magnetic pulses. This doesn’t seem to affect technology brought through the curtain as the release of energy pulses in a one-way direction from PEC to PXC and outwards dissipating before the traveller re-emerges on the other side.

Summary
A good anthology based on a common world (universe) needs to maintain the concept for everyone who writes in it. This means you can't blow up a city on Earth because other stories may reference that city as intact. You can't have most of the population of Earth dying from disease for the same reasons. A shared universe requires shared concepts and not just individual takes on a single idea with no continuity.
While not hamstringing creativity, it is important to play nicely in the same backyard. Suggestions and ideas about things like, wars, disease, famine and aliens (the four horsemen of the Apocalypse) will all be accepted for Year 2. Until then, Year 1 is about the human drama and comedy of star travel.

Rewards
Those who successfully create, and record a story for Starports, also get the opportunity to send a promo of their own works, a bio. Listeners will get to vote on their favourite stories at the end of Year 1 and those favourite shorts will be bound in a book and sold. The profits split accordingly. Great chance to write in an anthology, and gain credit for it in your author's credits!

Good Luck! And email me if there is anything you think needs to be added or is unclear or missing!
jackjamiewardATgmailDOTcom

Latest Version from suggestions by Robyn Paterson