Folka Albark is a fictional character from the Super Robot Wars series. He has appeared as a playable character in Super Robot Wars Compact 3 and was briefly playable in the bonus segments of Super Robot Wars Original Generations. Folka is slated to reappear in the upcoming Super Robot Wars Original Generation Gaiden as a fully playable character. In canon, he pilots the Shura God, Ialdabaoth.
Personal Data
Name: Folka Albark
AKA: Folka
Voice Actor: Yasunori Matsumoto
Status: Shura
Rank: N/A
Affiliations: Shura Army (OGs, Compact 3), Londo Bell (Compact 3)
Relatives and Personal Affiliations: Fernando Albark, Altis Tarl(Sworn Brother)
Mecha: Ialdabaoth (Compact 3, OGs/OG Gaiden), Apoetheosized Ialdabaoth (Compact 3, OG Gaiden)
Personality
Folka Albark is known to be a rather cold hearted man, preferring to deal with the business at hand as quick as possible. However, after meeting the allies in the Londo Bell, he began to open up his heart and warms up. He greatly values his brotherhood bond with Fernando and Altis, and is confident that he will succeed in his goal, in this case, finding a new way for the Shura race to live.
History
Folka is a member of the humanoid race called 'Shura', a race that lived only through battles. He is an adept fighter, proving himself worthy to ride on the Shura God machine Ialdabaoth. He is close with his brother Fernando, and both of them study martial arts style "Machine God Fist".
One day, Folka is pitted against Fernando in a death match to decide who has the right to be a Shura General. Folka emerged victorious, but he began to question why the Shura needs to keep fighting and refused to kill Fernando even though the rule decreed that the winner kills the loser. Folka instead ran off with Ialdabaoth, branded as a traitor and infuriating Fernando.
Folka arrived in the dimension of Earth, when the Shura lay waste of the city of Jaburo. He meets up with the Londo Bell squad and ends up joining them, trying to discover a new meaning in life. He fought against his Shura brethren, but his will remains set that he would not abandon his quest. Unfortunately, Folka was forced to kill his big brother Altis in the ensuing battles, and although he managed to regain the trust of Fernando and Maysis, Altis' friend and lover, they sacrificed their lives for Folka to continue on. With his intent renewed and strengthened, Folka eventually faces off the Shura King Alkaid and emerges victorious. Folka revealed to him, based on his experience with the Londo Bell, that there is a way for the Shura to live without continuous battles, they just didn't know how. And he has achieved it.
After the death of Alkaid, the distorted balance between the dimension due to the battles were restored and Folka returned to the dying Shura world. Super Robot Wars Compact 3 concludes with Folka leading the rest of the Shura race to live on the new lifestyle, confident that he will succeed in his quest.
Folka appears in the bonus section of Original Generations, and the events here will probably be carried over to the Original Generation Gaiden. During his days when he was loyal to the old lifestyle of Shura, he, along with Fernando and Arion came to Earth looking for good battles. Stumbling upon Kouta Azuma, who went under the guise of Fighter Roar, and his Compatible Kaiser, Folka challenged him into a fight, in which he acknowledges his strength. To drive Kouta further, Folka abducted his sister Shouko Azuma and brought her to the new fortress of Shura, the Swordian. He also had several more run-ins with the Original Generations protagonists. However, ultimately, it would seem that it was Shouko who made Folka doubt about the current lifestyle of the Shura at the first place.
Personal Data
Name: Folka Albark
AKA: Folka
Voice Actor: Yasunori Matsumoto
Status: Shura
Rank: N/A
Affiliations: Shura Army (OGs, Compact 3), Londo Bell (Compact 3)
Relatives and Personal Affiliations: Fernando Albark, Altis Tarl(Sworn Brother)
Mecha: Ialdabaoth (Compact 3, OGs/OG Gaiden), Apoetheosized Ialdabaoth (Compact 3, OG Gaiden)
Personality
Folka Albark is known to be a rather cold hearted man, preferring to deal with the business at hand as quick as possible. However, after meeting the allies in the Londo Bell, he began to open up his heart and warms up. He greatly values his brotherhood bond with Fernando and Altis, and is confident that he will succeed in his goal, in this case, finding a new way for the Shura race to live.
History
Folka is a member of the humanoid race called 'Shura', a race that lived only through battles. He is an adept fighter, proving himself worthy to ride on the Shura God machine Ialdabaoth. He is close with his brother Fernando, and both of them study martial arts style "Machine God Fist".
One day, Folka is pitted against Fernando in a death match to decide who has the right to be a Shura General. Folka emerged victorious, but he began to question why the Shura needs to keep fighting and refused to kill Fernando even though the rule decreed that the winner kills the loser. Folka instead ran off with Ialdabaoth, branded as a traitor and infuriating Fernando.
Folka arrived in the dimension of Earth, when the Shura lay waste of the city of Jaburo. He meets up with the Londo Bell squad and ends up joining them, trying to discover a new meaning in life. He fought against his Shura brethren, but his will remains set that he would not abandon his quest. Unfortunately, Folka was forced to kill his big brother Altis in the ensuing battles, and although he managed to regain the trust of Fernando and Maysis, Altis' friend and lover, they sacrificed their lives for Folka to continue on. With his intent renewed and strengthened, Folka eventually faces off the Shura King Alkaid and emerges victorious. Folka revealed to him, based on his experience with the Londo Bell, that there is a way for the Shura to live without continuous battles, they just didn't know how. And he has achieved it.
After the death of Alkaid, the distorted balance between the dimension due to the battles were restored and Folka returned to the dying Shura world. Super Robot Wars Compact 3 concludes with Folka leading the rest of the Shura race to live on the new lifestyle, confident that he will succeed in his quest.
Folka appears in the bonus section of Original Generations, and the events here will probably be carried over to the Original Generation Gaiden. During his days when he was loyal to the old lifestyle of Shura, he, along with Fernando and Arion came to Earth looking for good battles. Stumbling upon Kouta Azuma, who went under the guise of Fighter Roar, and his Compatible Kaiser, Folka challenged him into a fight, in which he acknowledges his strength. To drive Kouta further, Folka abducted his sister Shouko Azuma and brought her to the new fortress of Shura, the Swordian. He also had several more run-ins with the Original Generations protagonists. However, ultimately, it would seem that it was Shouko who made Folka doubt about the current lifestyle of the Shura at the first place.
The Homeworld Universe is the world of the computer game series published by Sierra Entertainment and created by Relic Entertainment in 1999 and of its various fans' works of art and fiction. It is a unique universe and the games it belongs to are so far the only successful 3D space RTS games in the entire gaming industry. Heavily influenced by popular science fiction and the history of the Middle East and Central Asia, it is one of the best examples of space operas in gaming.
Games
The only official work produced in the Homeworld Universe is that of the games and the material associated with them (i.e., strategy guides and manuals). The first of these games known simply but definitively as Homeworld details the journey of the Kushan, a race of humanoids who have spent all of their known history on an inhospitable desert world known as Kharak. With the discovery of an artifact in the desert the Kushan now know themselves to be native to another world, known by the ancient word Hiigara, "home". The ensuing journey home brings them into danger and reveals the origin of their mysterious exile and ends in their confrontation with the powerful Taiidan Empire.
The second game, Homeworld: Cataclysm, developed by Relic Entertainment's associate, Barking Dog Studios, follows one of the small factions known as a kiith within the Kushan. This kiith, known as Kiith Somtaaw plays a small part in the role of the galaxy until they stumble upon a dangerous and ancient alien nanotech life form, known simply as "The Beast" which they accidentally unleashed on the galaxy. No longer just a minor part in interstellar affairs, the Somtaaw must confront the enemy they are responsible for releasing and rid the galaxy of it.
The third game follows one hundred years after the events of Homeworld. Homeworld: Cataclysm did not have any impact on the main thread, as it was much of a side story. Again developed by Relic the third game is simply titled Homeworld 2 and again follows the Hiigarans (who were formerly known as the Kushan). This time as they try to preserve the republic they have built up against the nomadic space raiders known as the Vaygr. This conflict, which seems but a political and military struggle at first, will eventually lead them to the ancient and extraordinarily powerful weapon which must be used in a desperate defense of the Homeworld. It also leads the Hiigarans to their destiny and begins the Age of S'jet. The end time has come.
Motifs and Common Threads
The games show several common threads. One is that they all follow one race, the Hiigarans, who apart from all other races seem to have a way of shaping history. This is mainly due to their possession of one of only three hyperspace cores in the galaxy. One is held by the Bentusi, and the Hiigarans have the second core. It is what caused them to be branded, almost mythically, as 'The Exiles'. In the first game they return from exile to victory against the Taiidan empire, one of the more powerful empires in the galaxy. In the second game they (more specifically one of the smaller clan-like kiith, Somtaaw from the original Kushan people) contain an enemy so horrible that more powerful races abandoned hope of fighting it. In the third game they try to preserve their new order, and despite almost losing everything, they recover majestically and from the ruins bring an era of peace and justice.
In addition, the games also seem to all be connected in that the future comes from the past. In Homeworld the Kushan rediscover their original world of origin from an ancient rock known as the Guidestone and recover the second core from the ruins it was buried in. In Homeworld: Cataclysm the Beast is found in an ancient derelict and its flagship is all that remains of an ancient species from another galaxy. In Homeworld 2 the Kushan discover that their hyperspace technology owes itself to another ancient species and that Sajuuk requires three ancient cores to awaken it.
Finally, another motif is that hyperspace seems to play a greater role than simply transportation. The Taiidan annihilate Kharak for no better reason than the violation of a treaty signed by the Kushan guaranteeing that the Kushan would not develop hyperspace technology. The Beast is thought to have originated in hyperspace where it latched on to the Naggarok. The three great hyperspace cores needed to awaken Sajuuk (a powerful Progenitor ship) are known as far jumpers for their ability to jump across galactic distances in the blink of an eye.
Overview
The original idea for Homeworld actually came from Relic's desire to design a game around the original version of the cult science fiction show Battlestar Galactica which has a similar storyline about a species searching for a world after the destruction of another and facing off against an evil empire. When Relic Entertainment was not given the rights to make a game based on the series they went ahead anyway and made a new game based around a custom storyline inspired not only by the original series but also from references to Dune, Star Wars, and Middle Eastern history and mythology.
They assorted funds from electronic games manufacturer Sierra Entertainment. The result was a brilliant success and Homeworld won several Game of the Year awards upon release as well as the Best Music Award for computer games. When Sierra decided to go ahead with a sequel Relic initially passed them off considering instead to work on their new project with Microsoft known then as Sigma and later to be released as Impossible Creatures. So Sierra instead went to Barking Dog Studios founded by several game designers who had worked with Relic in the past.
Barking Dog then released Homeworld: Cataclysm as a "stand-alone expansion pack" to the original game. The game, which used the same engine as Homeworld with a few modification but did not require the original game to function was not really an expansion or a sequel and was acknowledged as neither officially. The game, which disappointed many fans due to its simplified gameplay and somewhat clichéd storyline of a life form that "took over" other life forms and bent them to its will, nevertheless sold well enough for Relic to be brought back on in early 2001 and start working on the sequel.
Interestingly enough Relic had already developed concepts of a sequel during the release of Homeworld in 1999. Known alternatively as Homeworld: Empire (amongst the designers) and Dust Wars (amongst fans) the early concepts called for a more character-oriented storyline and intense gameplay including giant stations called "megaliths" which held trenches reminiscent of the Death Star trench run in Star Wars. The E3 video of 2001 caught the eye of Homeworld fans and Relic seemed to be off to a good start.
Within a year however Relic and Sierra temporarily broke contact and production halted over arguments between the two companies. Production did not restart until later and this delayed the game's release by two years and ended in the complete restructuring of the game. The storyline barely resembled that used in the original concepts and the character-orientation was gone along with the megaliths and trenches. This immensely disappointed fans and led to a quick drop in sales following the release of the new blandly known Homeworld 2.
Since then Relic and Sierra have split permanently and Sierra tumbled into bankruptcy and was incorporated into VU Games completely leaving little chance of another official addition to the Homeworld saga.
Despite this, loyal fans have long since poured their own efforts into expanding the universe of Homeworld and dozens of fan fictions have been produced along with fan art and modpacks. These fan attempts at continuing the series and the information contained in the manuals have led Homeworld to be just as in depth as many other science fiction franchises and shows remarkable devotion on the fans' part.
Fan Media
Fans have produced a large series of fan media ranging from fan fiction (which is the vast majority of media) to fan art. They include the following:
*Fiction (stories, histories and biographies)
*Cartoon Strips (Catatoons, HW: Too and various pics)
*Media (paper starships - e.g. at http://paperstarships.tengun.net, various homemade videos)
For comic strips they include the popular Homeworld Too by Relic Forums browser troff. The strips themselves are found at the Relic Forum thread http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=23286 or on Troff's website at http://www.Homeworldarchives.com (but less frequently updated).
Influence of Homeworld
Despite what some would call the death of Homeworld the series has played an immense influence on gaming. The original Homeworld was the first ever attempt at producing a fully three-dimensional real-time strategy (RTS) set in space and it along with its sequels were for the longest time the only ones to attempt this and succeed. Similar games have attempted this such as O.R.B., Project Earth: Armageddon, Hegemonia: Legions of Iron and the more recent Sins of A Solar Empire.
Influence swings both ways though and Homeworld has been greatly influenced by other series. Battlestar Galactica played a great part in its development but so did several other science fiction series. The desert world Kharak in Homeworld is quite similar to both Tatooine from Star Wars and Arrakis/Dune from Dune. The name Kharak even bears resemblance to that of Arrakis though this might be stretching the comparison.
In addition Homeworld follows the story of a small but heroic group of survivalists fighting against the evil empire, an empire that then falls to rebels in a single dramatic battle ending in the ruling despot's death and giving way to the birth of a republic. This storyline bears all too much resemblance to that of the Star Wars original trilogy to be dismissed and is likely linked.
Homeworlds influences also draw from the real world. The Kadeshi, a race of religious fanatics guarding a rich nebula, take their name from the ancient Levantese city of Kadesh, now known properly in history texts as Qadesh. Qadesh was the location of a major battle between the Hittites and the Egyptians, two competing forces in the region at the time.
The name Hiigara bears much resemblance to the Arabic word hegira which refers to the flight of the Muslim founding Prophet Mohammed from his original home of Mecca to his future home in Medina. With more Muslim ties the Kushan culture and religion seem to have similarities to Islamic and ancient Jewish culture though these might be secondary influences, filtered through the influence of Frank Herbert, author of the . These are but a few of the references tied to the real world with other names popping up such as Elohim, Tanis, etc.
Perhaps the most interesting and least apparent influence is that of the Terran Trade Authority books by Hamlyn Publishing Group in the 1970s and illustrated by Peter Elson and Chris Foss. These books greatly influenced the art style and designs for ships in the Homeworld series. Another small influence on the art of the game was possibly that of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game which detailed of a battle simulator whose description is not dissimilar to the game's "sensors manager".
Characters
Though characters hardly play a large part in the Homeworld series (with the exception of one major protagonist and one major villain), they are a major part in fan fiction. However, the character of Karan S'jet survives throughout the entire canon timeline of the series. Her journey is parallel to that of the Kushan species as a whole, going from naiveté to semi-divinity.
Games
The only official work produced in the Homeworld Universe is that of the games and the material associated with them (i.e., strategy guides and manuals). The first of these games known simply but definitively as Homeworld details the journey of the Kushan, a race of humanoids who have spent all of their known history on an inhospitable desert world known as Kharak. With the discovery of an artifact in the desert the Kushan now know themselves to be native to another world, known by the ancient word Hiigara, "home". The ensuing journey home brings them into danger and reveals the origin of their mysterious exile and ends in their confrontation with the powerful Taiidan Empire.
The second game, Homeworld: Cataclysm, developed by Relic Entertainment's associate, Barking Dog Studios, follows one of the small factions known as a kiith within the Kushan. This kiith, known as Kiith Somtaaw plays a small part in the role of the galaxy until they stumble upon a dangerous and ancient alien nanotech life form, known simply as "The Beast" which they accidentally unleashed on the galaxy. No longer just a minor part in interstellar affairs, the Somtaaw must confront the enemy they are responsible for releasing and rid the galaxy of it.
The third game follows one hundred years after the events of Homeworld. Homeworld: Cataclysm did not have any impact on the main thread, as it was much of a side story. Again developed by Relic the third game is simply titled Homeworld 2 and again follows the Hiigarans (who were formerly known as the Kushan). This time as they try to preserve the republic they have built up against the nomadic space raiders known as the Vaygr. This conflict, which seems but a political and military struggle at first, will eventually lead them to the ancient and extraordinarily powerful weapon which must be used in a desperate defense of the Homeworld. It also leads the Hiigarans to their destiny and begins the Age of S'jet. The end time has come.
Motifs and Common Threads
The games show several common threads. One is that they all follow one race, the Hiigarans, who apart from all other races seem to have a way of shaping history. This is mainly due to their possession of one of only three hyperspace cores in the galaxy. One is held by the Bentusi, and the Hiigarans have the second core. It is what caused them to be branded, almost mythically, as 'The Exiles'. In the first game they return from exile to victory against the Taiidan empire, one of the more powerful empires in the galaxy. In the second game they (more specifically one of the smaller clan-like kiith, Somtaaw from the original Kushan people) contain an enemy so horrible that more powerful races abandoned hope of fighting it. In the third game they try to preserve their new order, and despite almost losing everything, they recover majestically and from the ruins bring an era of peace and justice.
In addition, the games also seem to all be connected in that the future comes from the past. In Homeworld the Kushan rediscover their original world of origin from an ancient rock known as the Guidestone and recover the second core from the ruins it was buried in. In Homeworld: Cataclysm the Beast is found in an ancient derelict and its flagship is all that remains of an ancient species from another galaxy. In Homeworld 2 the Kushan discover that their hyperspace technology owes itself to another ancient species and that Sajuuk requires three ancient cores to awaken it.
Finally, another motif is that hyperspace seems to play a greater role than simply transportation. The Taiidan annihilate Kharak for no better reason than the violation of a treaty signed by the Kushan guaranteeing that the Kushan would not develop hyperspace technology. The Beast is thought to have originated in hyperspace where it latched on to the Naggarok. The three great hyperspace cores needed to awaken Sajuuk (a powerful Progenitor ship) are known as far jumpers for their ability to jump across galactic distances in the blink of an eye.
Overview
The original idea for Homeworld actually came from Relic's desire to design a game around the original version of the cult science fiction show Battlestar Galactica which has a similar storyline about a species searching for a world after the destruction of another and facing off against an evil empire. When Relic Entertainment was not given the rights to make a game based on the series they went ahead anyway and made a new game based around a custom storyline inspired not only by the original series but also from references to Dune, Star Wars, and Middle Eastern history and mythology.
They assorted funds from electronic games manufacturer Sierra Entertainment. The result was a brilliant success and Homeworld won several Game of the Year awards upon release as well as the Best Music Award for computer games. When Sierra decided to go ahead with a sequel Relic initially passed them off considering instead to work on their new project with Microsoft known then as Sigma and later to be released as Impossible Creatures. So Sierra instead went to Barking Dog Studios founded by several game designers who had worked with Relic in the past.
Barking Dog then released Homeworld: Cataclysm as a "stand-alone expansion pack" to the original game. The game, which used the same engine as Homeworld with a few modification but did not require the original game to function was not really an expansion or a sequel and was acknowledged as neither officially. The game, which disappointed many fans due to its simplified gameplay and somewhat clichéd storyline of a life form that "took over" other life forms and bent them to its will, nevertheless sold well enough for Relic to be brought back on in early 2001 and start working on the sequel.
Interestingly enough Relic had already developed concepts of a sequel during the release of Homeworld in 1999. Known alternatively as Homeworld: Empire (amongst the designers) and Dust Wars (amongst fans) the early concepts called for a more character-oriented storyline and intense gameplay including giant stations called "megaliths" which held trenches reminiscent of the Death Star trench run in Star Wars. The E3 video of 2001 caught the eye of Homeworld fans and Relic seemed to be off to a good start.
Within a year however Relic and Sierra temporarily broke contact and production halted over arguments between the two companies. Production did not restart until later and this delayed the game's release by two years and ended in the complete restructuring of the game. The storyline barely resembled that used in the original concepts and the character-orientation was gone along with the megaliths and trenches. This immensely disappointed fans and led to a quick drop in sales following the release of the new blandly known Homeworld 2.
Since then Relic and Sierra have split permanently and Sierra tumbled into bankruptcy and was incorporated into VU Games completely leaving little chance of another official addition to the Homeworld saga.
Despite this, loyal fans have long since poured their own efforts into expanding the universe of Homeworld and dozens of fan fictions have been produced along with fan art and modpacks. These fan attempts at continuing the series and the information contained in the manuals have led Homeworld to be just as in depth as many other science fiction franchises and shows remarkable devotion on the fans' part.
Fan Media
Fans have produced a large series of fan media ranging from fan fiction (which is the vast majority of media) to fan art. They include the following:
*Fiction (stories, histories and biographies)
*Cartoon Strips (Catatoons, HW: Too and various pics)
*Media (paper starships - e.g. at http://paperstarships.tengun.net, various homemade videos)
For comic strips they include the popular Homeworld Too by Relic Forums browser troff. The strips themselves are found at the Relic Forum thread http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=23286 or on Troff's website at http://www.Homeworldarchives.com (but less frequently updated).
Influence of Homeworld
Despite what some would call the death of Homeworld the series has played an immense influence on gaming. The original Homeworld was the first ever attempt at producing a fully three-dimensional real-time strategy (RTS) set in space and it along with its sequels were for the longest time the only ones to attempt this and succeed. Similar games have attempted this such as O.R.B., Project Earth: Armageddon, Hegemonia: Legions of Iron and the more recent Sins of A Solar Empire.
Influence swings both ways though and Homeworld has been greatly influenced by other series. Battlestar Galactica played a great part in its development but so did several other science fiction series. The desert world Kharak in Homeworld is quite similar to both Tatooine from Star Wars and Arrakis/Dune from Dune. The name Kharak even bears resemblance to that of Arrakis though this might be stretching the comparison.
In addition Homeworld follows the story of a small but heroic group of survivalists fighting against the evil empire, an empire that then falls to rebels in a single dramatic battle ending in the ruling despot's death and giving way to the birth of a republic. This storyline bears all too much resemblance to that of the Star Wars original trilogy to be dismissed and is likely linked.
Homeworlds influences also draw from the real world. The Kadeshi, a race of religious fanatics guarding a rich nebula, take their name from the ancient Levantese city of Kadesh, now known properly in history texts as Qadesh. Qadesh was the location of a major battle between the Hittites and the Egyptians, two competing forces in the region at the time.
The name Hiigara bears much resemblance to the Arabic word hegira which refers to the flight of the Muslim founding Prophet Mohammed from his original home of Mecca to his future home in Medina. With more Muslim ties the Kushan culture and religion seem to have similarities to Islamic and ancient Jewish culture though these might be secondary influences, filtered through the influence of Frank Herbert, author of the . These are but a few of the references tied to the real world with other names popping up such as Elohim, Tanis, etc.
Perhaps the most interesting and least apparent influence is that of the Terran Trade Authority books by Hamlyn Publishing Group in the 1970s and illustrated by Peter Elson and Chris Foss. These books greatly influenced the art style and designs for ships in the Homeworld series. Another small influence on the art of the game was possibly that of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game which detailed of a battle simulator whose description is not dissimilar to the game's "sensors manager".
Characters
Though characters hardly play a large part in the Homeworld series (with the exception of one major protagonist and one major villain), they are a major part in fan fiction. However, the character of Karan S'jet survives throughout the entire canon timeline of the series. Her journey is parallel to that of the Kushan species as a whole, going from naiveté to semi-divinity.
Callie Cardamon is an American singer from Des Moines, Iowa who is known for her unique style, which has many jazz influences. Her debut CD was entitled "Time & The Weather" and was released in 1997. She has said that her influences include Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, and her father. Cardamon writes all of her own songs with her husband Eric Rawson. She started singing in Iowa, New York, and Tennessee before moving to California and releasing her debut album. She currently lives in Los Angeles, California.
The University of Limerick Computer Society is a student-run society under the governance of the University of Limerick Students' Union.
The Society's governance structure leaves the system administrators free to administer the machines, as the early admins feared the election by popular vote of an inexperienced president would create difficulties in keeping the servers operational. It is this separation that causes the common confusion over the name of the Society. University of Limerick Computer Society is the official name and encompasses both the social/events side of the Society and the computing resources. Skynet refers only to the computing resources. However, Skynet is commonly used in place of the official name.
Skynet currently consists of 300+ active members and offers services such as webspace, E-mail access and IRC access. Users have a shared storage Capacity of up to 2 Gigabytes.
Skynet also offers Web space (1 Gigabyte) and mailing list access to other Clubs and Societies at no cost.
History
The University of Limerick Computer Society, in its most recent incarnation, arose from the decision of student John Quinn to install Linux on his computer, beginning between 1992 and 1994, and give access to other students. These students were from both computing and non-computing disciplines. The University of Limerick Information Technology Department (ITD) were requested to allow the computer access to the Internet to allow Quinn's computer, named after the Skynet computer network from the Terminator films, to run services such as webserving. This exposed the users to new technologies such as the Apache HTTP Server. Many of these students went on to form the Irish Linux Users Group [http://www.linux.ie (ILUG)].
When it became clear that a strategy would be required for when Quinn graduated (taking his computer with him), the Students Union was approached to re-register the dormant Computer Society. Funding obtained from the Students Union assisted in procuring replacement equipment and in running tutorials for new members.
For a number of years the equipment migrated between student bedrooms and donated space in college labs. One infamous incident occurred when an administrator issued a "shutdown" command to the main server but did not specify a "restart". The problem was the only way to restart it was to unlock the room of the student where the server actually resided, a student who was nowhere to be found. Thankfully he did show up eventually and the server returned to service. With the completion of the Student Centre, the Society's equipment now has a (more or less) permanent home in the UL Students' Union building.
The Computer Society now owns several machines operating in various roles, many of them donated over the years by the University and by private companies. Recently, improved funding has allowed the purchase of new equipment to ensure the stability of Skynet.
Activities
In recent years the society has obtained sufficient funding and interest to host and partake in several social activities. These have included trips (both domestic and foreign), talks, events, and the convention SkyCon.
Trips
Boston 2006
Those attending were Cian Davis, Colm Quinn, Conal Watterson, Daniel Heffernan, Daniel Nagle, David Dolphin, Gareth Eason, Ivan Kelly, Laura Czajkowski and Stephen Shirley. All activities of the trip to Boston, including visits to MIT, Harvard and the Boston Museum of Science have been extensively chronicled on .
Talks
Talks in the past have been given by such people as Google, Intel, HEAnet and Alan Cox.
Events
SkyLan
A Lan Party organised by Cian Davis, Colm Quinn, Daniel Nagle and Stephen Shirley. took place in UL between the 10th and 11th of December 2005. Games played included Quake 4, Battlefield 2, Dawn of War, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Counter-Strike: Source.
Wavehunt
is a high-tech manhunt using a moving wireless computer network on the streets of Dublin, Ireland. The Event is hosted by DCUs Networking Society . In 2005 David Dolphin entered the Competition and .
SkyCon
, which took place from February 16, 2007 to February 18, 2007 at the University of Limerick, was the Computer Society's first major conference, dealing with many fields of computing. The event, organized to celebrate the Society's 15th birthday, was sponsored by Red Hat, , Bank of Ireland and the University of Limerick Arts and Sports Fund.[http://www.limerickpost.ie/dailynews.elive?id7617&categoryDaily-Mon] Speakers included Alan Cox, , , , , Gavin Moore - Oracle, HEAnet, Jono Bacon, , , Martin Krafft, [https://launchpad.net/~mjg59 Matthew Garrett], Matthew Revell, , , Microsoft, , , , , Simon Phipps - Sun Microsystems, Stuart Langridge, and Val Henson.
The Society's governance structure leaves the system administrators free to administer the machines, as the early admins feared the election by popular vote of an inexperienced president would create difficulties in keeping the servers operational. It is this separation that causes the common confusion over the name of the Society. University of Limerick Computer Society is the official name and encompasses both the social/events side of the Society and the computing resources. Skynet refers only to the computing resources. However, Skynet is commonly used in place of the official name.
Skynet currently consists of 300+ active members and offers services such as webspace, E-mail access and IRC access. Users have a shared storage Capacity of up to 2 Gigabytes.
Skynet also offers Web space (1 Gigabyte) and mailing list access to other Clubs and Societies at no cost.
History
The University of Limerick Computer Society, in its most recent incarnation, arose from the decision of student John Quinn to install Linux on his computer, beginning between 1992 and 1994, and give access to other students. These students were from both computing and non-computing disciplines. The University of Limerick Information Technology Department (ITD) were requested to allow the computer access to the Internet to allow Quinn's computer, named after the Skynet computer network from the Terminator films, to run services such as webserving. This exposed the users to new technologies such as the Apache HTTP Server. Many of these students went on to form the Irish Linux Users Group [http://www.linux.ie (ILUG)].
When it became clear that a strategy would be required for when Quinn graduated (taking his computer with him), the Students Union was approached to re-register the dormant Computer Society. Funding obtained from the Students Union assisted in procuring replacement equipment and in running tutorials for new members.
For a number of years the equipment migrated between student bedrooms and donated space in college labs. One infamous incident occurred when an administrator issued a "shutdown" command to the main server but did not specify a "restart". The problem was the only way to restart it was to unlock the room of the student where the server actually resided, a student who was nowhere to be found. Thankfully he did show up eventually and the server returned to service. With the completion of the Student Centre, the Society's equipment now has a (more or less) permanent home in the UL Students' Union building.
The Computer Society now owns several machines operating in various roles, many of them donated over the years by the University and by private companies. Recently, improved funding has allowed the purchase of new equipment to ensure the stability of Skynet.
Activities
In recent years the society has obtained sufficient funding and interest to host and partake in several social activities. These have included trips (both domestic and foreign), talks, events, and the convention SkyCon.
Trips
Boston 2006
Those attending were Cian Davis, Colm Quinn, Conal Watterson, Daniel Heffernan, Daniel Nagle, David Dolphin, Gareth Eason, Ivan Kelly, Laura Czajkowski and Stephen Shirley. All activities of the trip to Boston, including visits to MIT, Harvard and the Boston Museum of Science have been extensively chronicled on .
Talks
Talks in the past have been given by such people as Google, Intel, HEAnet and Alan Cox.
Events
SkyLan
A Lan Party organised by Cian Davis, Colm Quinn, Daniel Nagle and Stephen Shirley. took place in UL between the 10th and 11th of December 2005. Games played included Quake 4, Battlefield 2, Dawn of War, Unreal Tournament 2004 and Counter-Strike: Source.
Wavehunt
is a high-tech manhunt using a moving wireless computer network on the streets of Dublin, Ireland. The Event is hosted by DCUs Networking Society . In 2005 David Dolphin entered the Competition and .
SkyCon
, which took place from February 16, 2007 to February 18, 2007 at the University of Limerick, was the Computer Society's first major conference, dealing with many fields of computing. The event, organized to celebrate the Society's 15th birthday, was sponsored by Red Hat, , Bank of Ireland and the University of Limerick Arts and Sports Fund.[http://www.limerickpost.ie/dailynews.elive?id7617&categoryDaily-Mon] Speakers included Alan Cox, , , , , Gavin Moore - Oracle, HEAnet, Jono Bacon, , , Martin Krafft, [https://launchpad.net/~mjg59 Matthew Garrett], Matthew Revell, , , Microsoft, , , , , Simon Phipps - Sun Microsystems, Stuart Langridge, and Val Henson.