Earlier, Asgardian “The Fabulous Pineapple” asked a great question regarding my push for Virtual Reality. One of the things that I like most about Asgardia is that we have people that are willing to question things and to think logically and to look to the future of our nation.

I wanted to share my answer to this question with you all as it’s relates to a fundamental thing that I want to achieve that I think will have a huge benefit to Asgardia.

The question he asked was:

I like what you have to say, but how much will you rely on virtual reality? I think that virtual reality has immense benefits for every area of society, but a headset and a competent rig can cost $1600. In a few years, virtual reality might be affordable.

It sounds like you intend to create a virtual universe similar to the Oasis in Ready Player One. As cool as I find this, is this a realistic goal? Setting up a government in real life is hard enough, but the use of computers adds the challenges of glitches and poor code. In addition to this, a project similar to what you've proposed would be unrealistically expensive. Taking into account the aforementioned issues, how do you plan on building a virtual society, and when?

My big question is, when will this happen? If this is a long-term goal and you're not 100% committed yet, then I don't expect anything more than a confirmation that this an idea that is still in its early stages.

I love the VR idea, but I don't see it being realistic for at least another decade. That being said, you've still got my vote.

My answer:

Hello Fabulous Pineapple – this is a Fabulous question, allow me to break it down a little and give it my full attention. I’ll apologize in advance for the wall of text, but I just love a good discussion!

The Cost of VR.

Virtual Reality hardware is expensive, but it’s getting cheaper all the time. Many modern smartphones are VR compliant and you can get 60-fps 101-degree experience for $100. I fully see the cost of VR coming down as time goes on. In fact, China is creating a ‘VR Town’ called ‘Guizhou’ located in mid-western China.

A town dedicated to the production and development of VR will help to see the cost go down even further.

The Oasis

Ernest Cline’s ‘Ready Player One’ is an incredibly well-written journey into a future with Virtual Reality at its core and like many science-fiction books that came before it makes plausible predictions based on what’s happening in the world.

I don’t have any personal plans to make ‘the oasis’ from ready player one, but I do believe that’s where the world is headed. Virtual Realities that exist on block-chain technologies and with the right conditions, Asgardia could be alongside them.

Is it a Realistic Goal?

Asgardia has ambitions for the future. We’re constantly working towards something that many people say isn’t realistic. To launch a satellite. To create an orbital network. To create orbital habitats and to have a space-fleet that defends the planet from outer-space threats.

Asgardia is about the future and it’s about investing in the future – there are technologies out right now such as AltSpaces that allow people to come together and socialize and collaborate in a virtual space and I don’t think that creating our own ‘virtual world’ is at all unrealistic.

Will it be expensive

Creating a good virtual world where we can go, train, learn, socialize, model things in virtual labs, watch a movie together will definitely not be cheap. It will take time, development, investment and it will require funds to maintain it, run the servers and provide some level of support to the ‘users’.

However; it’s a small price to pay compared to launching a rocket into space or buying up a piece of land and developing it into a society that will house hundreds of thousands of people.

In addition to that, it has the potential to make money through virtual tourism. If people would be able to use our servers and visit ‘virtual’ Asgardia or buy virtual art-work or come here to play our virtual games or see what life would be like in a future Asgardia or train at our virtual universities… we could actually generate income for our nation.

Computers add challenges.

Computers add challenges, but they solve many more challenges than they add. We wouldn’t be able to be having this conversation without a computer. Our Government and our nation are Digital – Adding a virtual layer on top of that will actually help .

A virtual world would help us to collaborate, it would help us to come together as a nation, it would help the parliament to work together and discuss issues, it would give us a place for people to come together and work together, a place to learn and a place to train by undertaking various simulations.

Train drivers use virtual Reality. Surgeons use virtual reality. Air-traffic controllers use virtual reality. Tank drivers use virtual reality.

I feel that as the technology develops, it’ll become increasingly valuable to our digital nation to become a virtual nation.

Is this a long-term goal?

I can’t make Virtual Reality a reality on my own. I can only push the agenda. It’s something that I’m personally committed to and something that I study. I know what’s coming for Virtual Reality and I know that it will benefit Asgardia.

I agree with your assessment, I think that VR will probably take another decade to fully mature – but I’d rather that Asgardia starts adopting and investing in the technology now and helping to develop it and guide it than picks it up in 10 years’ time.

Asgardia needs to make choices now about what it invests in. Asgardia and its citizens have the chance to be at the forefront of many future technologies. Asgardia could become one of the top nations for a space-related industry, science, and access. It could become one of the eminent authorities in space-law.

And, if people embrace VR, we could also become an authority in virtual reality technologies – something that shares huge synergies with a decentralised nation and really embraces the culture of Asgardia – No borders, a place where everyone can live, a place where people from all over the world can come together to achieve common goals.

What’s my plan?

I appreciate that VR won’t happen overnight and my initial goal is to show people the benefits of Virtual Reality.

1. I aim to create a ‘proof of concept’ called      ‘Asgard Island’ which will be a multi-user virtual-reality island where people can visit and hang out with their friends, chat, explore the island and watch movies together. This proof of concept will be built for smartphones that are Daydream / gearVR compatible.  I expect that this proof of concept will be completed this time next year.
2. I aim to produce research and commission studies into Virtual Reality so that I can show their benefits. I don’t      expect people to accept what I’m saying based on blind faith, I want to show people that it’s viable. These studies and research papers will be done throughout the year.
3. I will seek support from the ministry and from other MP’s to allow resources to be allocated to the use of and development of virtual reality. I can’t provide any time-scales on this because parliament isn’t formed yet and I don’t fully know what the processes will be.
4. I will aim to employ Asgardians with the requisite skills to begin to develop Virtual Reality solutions to come of our common problems. If all goes well, I will begin putting together a      plan for this in roughly 2 years and seeing what funding is available for this project.

Once we start to create VR solutions to common problems, if they prove to be a success, then we can further review the development of a VR world for Asgardians.

We need to start thinking about the future and what niches we want to be in as a nation, and my answer for that is VR for all the reasons that I have outlined.

My first priority, however, is the establishment of our Government, Parliament and the formation of our legal systems, financial systems, business systems and immediate citizen needs.

I am currently running for Parliament for District 1, if you would like to support my campaign and help me turn Asgardia from a collection of ideas into a reality, please visit my campaign page: https://asgardia.space/en/elections/candidates/English/17737/

By Ross Cheeseright, Parliamentary Candidate | October 30, 2017

I have had a lot of discussions with people about what they can do, as citizens, to help Asgardia grow and realize its goals and I thought it would be a good idea to write an article to share some of those ideas.

There are a lot of things going on in Asgardia right now. There is the election of local leaders and of members of parliament, the formation of the government, the satellite launch and a whole lot more.

It’s easy, as a citizen of Asgardia, to feel like you’re watching it happen from the sidelines and that you’re just an observer. People want to get involved and they want to take part, but they don’t have the time or the resources to dedicate themselves to joining the government.

However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Citizens of Asgardia are at the heart of the project. They’re the most important element of Asgardia. A nation without people is nothing.

Vote

Asgardia needs your attention in the elections. There are parliamentary candidates who want to work for you and who want to build up the 'Asgardia' we all dream of, but they’re struggling because not enough people are voting.

With your vote, you can shape the future of Asgardia. There are lots of different candidates with lots of different views on how to make Asgardia the best it can be – voting for the one that best represents your views would be a great way to support the development of the nation.

Visit the voting page for more information.

Spread the word

What was it that attracted you to join Asgardia? For me, it was the inclusive and forward-thinking nature of the project. The fact that scientists and people are trying to create something independent and open really appeals to me and I make sure to try and include my friends in this process.

Getting more people to join Asgardia would represent a huge boon to the nation. It would allow us to get more work done in less time and it would allow us to create a better global network. Spreading the word and helping people to understand the project is a great way to help the nation.

Participate

So much is going on in Asgardia. Elections, competitions, projects, discussions and general social fun. Getting involved will help the community of Asgardia thrive and grow. It will help to keep everyone interested and active. It will help people to forge new friendships and come together and bond.

Be passionate

Take pride in being an Asgardian. Passionately advocate for the Nation and help to generate that positive energy. Asgardia is a nation with noble goals and some patriotism for the nation will go a long way to helping build a positive image and an inclusive community of people. I’m not suggesting blind faith – but a positive attitude can go a long way.

Help new Asgardians

As we get new people coming in to test the waters and see what our community is about, they’ll need people to guide them. There is a lot of information out there on our website and our forums and it’s not always easy to find. And getting up to speed with the current state of the nation isn’t always easy.

However, the veteran Asgardians in the community can help here. They can provide information about what’s going on and even links to sources so that people can find out things for themselves. A great first impression for our new Asgardian citizens will do a lot of good.

Start a business

Asgardia is open to business! They want to fund start-up businesses, especially those that have an interest in space-related industry. What better way to support Asgardia than to take advantage of its $1 million in start-up funding fund?

Starting a business in the Asgardian ecosystem would be a great way to support the nation, helping to put Asgardia on the map as one of the forward-thinking nations and helping the nation to become profitable and sustainable.

Send an email to projects@asgardia.space to get more information on starting a business.

Donate

If you simply don’t have time, but you’d love to support the growth of the nation, Asgardia now allows its citizens to donate their hard-earned money. The money generated by the donations will go towards helping to fund future projects and as some special thanks, you also get some digital rewards for your efforts, including a 6-month subscription to ROOM: The Space Journal worth$56.

To learn more, or make a donation to Asgardia, visit the donation page on Asgardia.space

A quick note from the author:
I am currently running for Parliament. If you want to help create a movement that will see Asgardia become a reality, support me and together we can raise the standard of our nation.

Introduction

Hello my fellow Asgardians, I am Ross Cheeseright, 34 years old and geographically located in the South of England. I am a businessman running a small digital marketing company, a family man raising a young family and a student undertaking a degree in software engineering.

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you about myself and my race to become a member of the Asgardian Parliament.

Mission Statement

This is a vitally important time for Asgardia and the results of this election will shape the months and years that are to come. It is of paramount importance that the people we elect now are those that have the drive and the passion to get down to work and build the nation that we all dream of.

It is my mission to become elected as a member of parliament and carry the standard of the citizens of Asgardia and to put in the work and effort that is required to build the nation, establish the laws and make sure that everyone is informed every step of the way.

I ask that all Asgardians who believe as I do and who feel as I feel, to support me so that we can work together to turn Asgardia from a dream into a reality.

Previous Work for Asgardia

I believe that our words must become actions and our actions must produce results and I have put my money and time where my mouth is.

1. I have been running in the Local Leadership elections.
2. I have been interviewed by two national newspapers regarding Asgardia
3. I have been featured on the editor’s choice of Asgardia.space multiple times
4. I write a blog that outlined regular updates on my progress and regular news updates
5. I am establishing a not for profit business within Asgardia that aims to raise funds for Asgardia and funding for research projects.
6. I am leading a small team of reporters working as a volunteer for civic.asgardia’s communications department.
7. I am building a proof of concept ‘virtual reality’ simulation called “Asgardia Island.” Which I am to be a multi-use island to prove the benefits of VR for Asgardia.

How I will serve Asgardia’s Citizens.

1. As much as possible, I will be completely transparent. I will openly share details of my work, struggles, triumphs, budget spending, Salary and non-sensitive communications.
2. I will hold regular meetings and live-streams so that I can create a truly ‘two-way’ dialog with my supporters. Unlike governmental representatives of today, I will aspire to be a model of the future taking your views and concerns in real-time.
3. I will push a strong digital agenda that focusses on utilizing the strengths of Virtual Reality to enable us to better collaborate, train, share ideas, run simulations, and bond.
4. I will make sure that we don’t lose focus on ‘everyday’ Asgardian Citizens – There is a lot of focus on the next innovators and space start-ups, but there are much more people in Asgardia that just want to be a part of something noble, fair and driven to the future.
5. I will work to build the community and strengthen the public image of Asgardia. There are a lot of people out there who still don’t understand who we are and what we do.
6. I will undertake every effort to start finding those people that want to work to build up Asgardia and empower them with whatever support, tools and funding that is at our disposal.

Why am I pushing Virtual Reality Technology?

Virtual Reality is an emerging technology that gives people amazing capabilities and opportunities that they might not otherwise have access to. I plan to leverage this technology to ‘Centralize’ Asgardia for the following reasons:

1. The International community insists that we have a ‘defined territory’ and a ‘permanent population’ but there is no more land available on Earth, it’s all been claimed by other powers. With Virtual Reality, we’ll be able to create a world that all Asgardians will have access to and will be able to have a virtual home upon and symbolically and technically prove that we’re a people who exist within a defined territory.
2. With Virtual Reality, Asgardia will be able to create schools, training facilities, entertainment, theatres, art, gather together to hold concerts, enjoy live stand-up performances. It will give our people a place to gather and live.
3. Virtual Reality will provide a source of income – By creating a virtual world, we will have something to offer to the international community. People will be able to visit our virtual world to undertake ‘long distance study’ at our universities, to visit our art installations, to play our games, to buy our services and all this will help to generate income for our people and our nation.
4. A Virtual World is a good ‘test’ for us as a population. By using a virtual world we’ll start to be able to understand what life is going to be like living together, without having to spend billions on floating platforms or buying land. We can test government, legal practices, trace and simulate a whole host of other activities of daily living.

I am still only just learning about how to create a virtual reality, but I know that there are a lot of skilled people out there that I can organize to bring this technology to benefit us.

How can you support me?

If you wish to help me to create a strong and stable Asgardia, visit my Campaign Profile on Asgardia.Space: https://asgardia.space/en/elections/candidates/English/17737/

Fellow Asgardians,

There have been some developments in the past few days and the minimum running age for parliament has been dropped from 40 to 18 and so, without further delay, I would like to take this opportunity to officially announce my candidacy for Parliament.

I would ask all of those who believe in Asgardia and all of those who feel as I do to lend me your support so that together, we can work on changing Asgardia from a dream into a reality.

You can see the full details of my campaign and vote for me on the following link:

https://asgardia.space/en/elections/candidates/English/17737/

Let us create a movement that will ensure the success of our nation!

Yours sincerely,

Ross Cheeseright
Parliamentary Candidate.

I have seen a lot of discussion about this recently and I have seen people discussing it in-depth and I also know that this will be a polarizing issue for many Asgardians, but I would like to address it none-the-less and give you my perspective on it.

Asgardian Earth Settlements.

The argument in question is “Should Asgardia make settling on earth a priority?” the ‘yes’ camp suggest that Asgardians should buy up land on Earth and start to colonise it and move Asgardians around the world to settle in this “Asgardian Country” on earth. The concept itself has had many suggestions from taking up space somewhere in ‘international waters’ to creating landmasses – such as is seen in Dubai.

Why can’t we do this?

There are a lot of reasons that we won’t be able to do this, and I feel that I could write a blog entry for each one, but for now, I will summarise the reasons in a list.

1. Land is incredibly rare and expensive.
2. Almost all land in the world is owned, Asgardia would struggle to take it and declare independence.
3. We would need a huge mass of land to house 100,000 – 300,000+ people.
4. It would take years to build a city from scratch. Building a modern metropolis would take 25+ years of production.
5. We lack the current organisation or infrastructure to build a city. We don’t have a parliament, we don’t have laws, we don’t know if we have the specialists required or enough people willing to construct it.
6. It would cost a fortune to build – Saudi Arabia have recently pledged 500 billion dollars to build a modern city (and it already owns the land.)
7. We wouldn’t be able to protect it from outside threats.
8. It would make Asgardia more of a threat to current populations
9. It does not mirror the ideals of Asgardia the dream is space and to protect the planet, not to settle on it.
10. The logistics of getting people to move to a new country is just staggering. Who’s going to pay for the relocation costs? Who’s going to decide where people live? Who’s going to decide what jobs people do?

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Once you actually start looking into the details of what would be required to create a brand-new settlement on earth, the ‘todo’ list starts to become staggering. Finding and contracting companies, managing the budget, purchasing the construction materials, paying the labour, handling environmental studies, making sure we won’t affect wildlife. I can’t state enough just how much effort would go into this venture.

Most cities today have been built up from small settlements over a long period of time and the more modern cities – such as those being built in china and the proposed Neom from Saudi Arabia – are backed by huge wealthy and established governments.

So what’s the alternative?

The alternatives to trying to centralise our community into a nation on earth are to embrace the concept of a decentralised digital nation.

We live in a time when people are increasingly connected. A time where people can instantaneously collaborate and communicate from anywhere on the planet. Technology is giving us the tools we need to quietly and effortlessly step over the domains imposed on earth.

Using a ‘digital first’ solution for Asgardia and having people embrace this as a ‘digital nation’ would have many benefits.

1. It’s becoming increasingly affordable to use digital technologies.
2. Smartphones are helping to boost the connected population of the world.
3. The Internet allows us to access knowledge and information freely.
4. Asgardia has already positioned itself as a digital nation.
5. Asgardia is already working across borders with people from all over the world.
6. Our currency, SOLAR will be a blockchain based crypto currency.
7. Once we have our network of satellites in space, we’ll have full control over our information giving us true independence.
8. Each citizen in our nation can enjoy the status quo of living in their own country – including working, healthcare, edication (and so on)
9. Everyone can stay where they are, there won’t be any upheaval.
10. Logistically, it is a lot easier to manage a digital nation than it is a physical nation as each person’s host nation is already catering for their physical needs.
11. A digital nation is more inclusive, if we made a physical nation people might not be able to afford to move to live there, some people might not want to move to live there. A digital nation ensures access to everyone.

A Virtual Nation.

My ideal solution would be to take the digital nation one step further and create a Virtual Nation . I have spoken at length in my previous blogs about the benefits a virtual nation could bring to Asgardia. It would allow people to come together, to collaborate, co-operate and on a much more personal level than the current digital tools we have.

It would allow us to create and share works of art using virtual-reality painting tools. It would allow us to create universities, training simulations, cinemas to go and watch movies with our friends – it would give us access to a lot of things that we take for granted in the physical space.

It would provide people with a symbolic ‘space’ in the virtual Asgardia that they could call home and invite friends over to, even just to sit and talk with their colleagues would be a novelty.

And it would allow us to enjoy these things at a fraction of the cost of a physical land-mass.

Furthermore, it’s in keeping with Asgardia’s vision. A Virtual nation could, in the future, be hosted on Asgardia’s orbital network, Allowing us to symbolically ‘live’ in our own territory in space. Much as the current “Asgardia-1” is going to symbolize our ‘territory’.

About the Author

I an active Asgardian Citizen currently volunteering as a communications specialist for civic Asgardia. I have been featured on the editor’s picks several times, interviewed by several international newspapers about my work in Asgardia and I am currently running for parliament. If you’d like to see more of my posts, you can add me on Asgardia.space as a friend, or check my blog feed .

On October 12, 2017 we celebrated Founding Day. One of the featured offerings on founding day was the infographic that looked back at some of the things that Asgardia had achieved and some of the things that were in progress and in my founding-day address I said that it had been a great year but there was still “A lot to do” and that we needed to make this a “great year for Asgardia.”

It came to mind that on traditional ‘new year’ events, it’s a time for reflections and resolutions and while it’s become a bit of a running joke that people don’t follow through with their resolutions, I think that it’s a helpful exercise.

And so for the next year ahead of us, there are my Asgardian Resolutions:

1. Start an Asgardian not-for-profit business.
2. Run for a position in Parliament.
3. Continue with my plans to learn and develop Virtual Reality.
4. Continue to volunteer for Civic Asgardia

My resolution is to continue to work to make Asgardia a success and for it to be taken seriously. I want to organise people and inspire them to continue working. I don’t want our prototype space nation to fizzle out and I certainly don’t want someone to beat us to our goals.

What about you? If you have any reflections or resolutions, why not leave them in the comments section below.

I am currently running as a strategist, please take a couple of minutes to look at my candidate profile and lend me your support.

Press Conference in Moscow - Rundown

Today, on the Anniversary of Asgardia’s founding, the Head of our Nation, Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli held a press conference in Moscow. The spirit of the conference was to address the primary outcomes of the first year and a look to the future of our nation to see what activity we might expect to see on the horizon. While this conference did raise some questions about the future, it certainly painted a picture of continued progress, productivity and an undeniable air of legitimacy. The future certainly looks exciting for the nation of Asgardia.

This document contains my rundown of some of the points that really stood out. If you’d like to review the press conference, you can watch it here .

Government & Elections

One of the hot topics facing the future of Asgardia will be our elections, there will be 150 parliamentary positions that will be divided up based on the language principle, rather than geography. The language figures are based on languages that people have selected on their national profiles.

1. It was confirmed that today was the official start of the election period following a re-design of the Asgardia.space website.
2. Asgardia does not recognize earthly borders and so the elections for parliament will be based on language and the split of parliamentary places will be as follows:
   1. English was the top language and there will be 68 places on parliament.
   2. Chinese was second with 23 places.
   3. Turkish was third with 16 places.
   4. Spanish came in fourth and will hold 15 places.
   5. Italian: 5
   6. French: 4
   7. Russian: 4
   8. Arabic: 4
   9. Portuguese: 3
   10. German: 3
   11. Farsi: 2
   12. Japanese: 1
   13. Other: 2
3. The Parliamentary Elections are due to come to a conclusion by March 2018
4. All Asgardians are asked to take Pride and Participation in the Parliamentary elections.
5. There are plans to launch the Post Office of Asgardia, stamps are expected to be available from December this year.
6. Once Parliament is elected, in the following months the members of the Court, Chamber of accounts and supreme council will also be elected.
7. Head of Nation affirms that we’re building a serious nation, not a fake nation or a vide-game and that we’re trying to move fast, but not so fast that we outstrip the law and establishment of laws which could harm our entry to the UN.

Currency & Finance

It seems that plans and progress on this front are really starting to pick up as Asgardia reaches some pretty important milestones.

1. Asgardia has been formally registered as an NGO in Vienna.
2. Asgardians are asked to provide charitable support.
3. The compensation of all functionaries will be done through Asgardia NGO starting next year.
4. Functionaries will not exceed 1% of the total number of citizens.
5. The budget will be published on the website.
6. In a serious victory for Asgardia, SOLAR (SOL) was registered formally on October 05 2017 by Europe and is classified as intellectual property.
7. More details on the cryptocurrency are due to be released once the central bank has been formed.
8. SOLAR is said to be ‘tied to the mass of the moon.’

Business & Jobs

Asgardia affirms its commitment to the business of investment in startups with a capital fund of 1 million Euros to fund startups.

1. Asgardia, the country of space start-ups will seed capital of 1 million euros which can increase to an unlimited amount due to the sale of shares to Asgardian Citizens and investors. More details will be released once the ministry of finance has been formed.

Space & Exploration

Dr. Igor Ashurbeyli shared some of his visions for the future of Asgardia as we work towards becoming the first space nation.

1. It was suggested that we could be looking at creating an orbital network of satellites in the next 5-7 years and that ideally, the head of the nation wishes that in his lifetime, he will be able to go to the moon or spend some time on an orbital Ark.
2. Asgardia-1 is due to launch and a press conference is scheduled to be held in Washington following the subsequent (successful) launch of the Satellite.
3. The 3 localities of Asgardia are said to be our Earthly locality such as spaceport, programming and flight centre, the next is the orbital network and the third would be moon-based settlements. At the moment there are no plans to go further, but the head of the nation said that those younger people may “visit mars.”

Security & Defence

Asgardia reaffirms it’s mission to peacefully protect humanity from external threats.

1. Asgardia will have no security / military presence on earth.
2. Asgardia’s primary objective would be to defend the earth from threats.
3. Asgardia will look to provide a space-fleet that will be based in orbit.
4. The Fleet will not be designed to engage in conflicts on earth.
5. The Asgardian Fleet will defend all humanity, regardless of earthly divides, from space threats such as asteroids and other threats.

I am currently running as a strategist and I could use your support!

Please take a couple of minutes to look at my candidate profile and lend me your support

Hello there Fellow Asgardians, in this blog I want to outline some of the things that I have been working on in the Asgardian domain and my progress so far. If you would like to support me, please feel free to check out my campaign profile and vote for me.

The Asgardian Development Society Concept.

I have been working on a concept called the Asgardian Development Society. The purpose of the project is to start gathering together members of the community who genuinely want to put their time and energy into making Asgardia a reality. The focus for the project would be on addressing matters that the citizens themselves could address without the intervention of the Asgardian administration such as collaboration on projects, improving the public perception of Asgardians and drawing attention to important petitions.

Setting up Shop in Asgardia

I have recently been exploring the process of setting up a business within Asgardia. The idea would be to create and sell a product to Asgardians, a portion of the proceeds being paid to Asgardia in ‘Taxes’ The main purpose of the business is to test the process and bring to light any issues that might arise so that the process can be improved for future businesses.

Requesting Expanded Tools to enable self-organization.

I am working on a proposal to send to the administration to expand the capabilities of the website so that we can start to form self-organizing groups – this would be a vital step for the development of Asgardia. The following is the first draft of my proposal:

Running for Strategist

My campaign for Strategist is starting to pick up steam and I now have a quarter of the votes that I need. The principal issue of getting votes is getting exposure. The early runners who started their campaigns when Asgardia was full of hype and energy did very well, however, the activity within the community has started dipping a little, which is to be expected.

I imagine that once the Parliamentary elections start up, there will be another surge of activity in Asgardia as people start to take more of an interest once more.

My plan, for now, is to keep pushing and working on getting my message out to people and hoping that my vision resonates with them.

Today marked another of Lena’s Live Streams where she speaks on issues that are brought up by the Asgardian nationals. In this article, we’ll be giving a run-down of the live-feed and summarising some of the more interesting points that were made.

Asgardia’s latest live-stream paints a very ‘down to earth’ picture of Asgardia’s near future as a nation that’s working with the best interests of humanity in mind but is very much constrained to work within the confines of reality and notions of a ‘floating utopia’ in earth orbit were quickly dispelled.

Rather than a structure in the Arctic or on a deserted island, Asgardia’s current form is that of a virtual nation using modern technology and looking for ways to invest in the future of humanity. Through the establishment of the nation, Asgardia will have a platform to offer funding, infrastructure and legal systems that will encourage people to look to the stars and develop new technology and businesses that make it easier than ever before.

It seems that Asgardia is looking to be a driving force behind the development of Space and that moving to live in space is simply something that will happen in time as a result of the core goals and business aims of the nation.

This might not sit well with some people that have a more fantastical view of what Asgardia is. I have had many discussions recently with people that are putting all their hopes and visions onto Asgardia and creating a really unrealistic vision without thinking of where the money or the technology will come form.

Below are the highlights from the live stream. I have summarised/paraphrased them and put them into broad categories to keep it to the point. However, the video and the full transcript will be out soon.

IDs & Passports.

There was quite a lot of discussion regarding the ID’s and passports, here are some of the highlights:

1. All the ‘golden 100,000’ (which is anyone that accepted the constitution before decree 9 was issued.) will be eligible for an Asgardian ID and Passport.
2. People applying for citizenship after this date will need to wait until Parliament is formed before they can become eligible.
3. It will take several months to prepare the documents as a matter of practicality.
4. People must present themselves in person to attain their ID. They must physically meet a representative from Asgardia at least once before attaining an ID or passport.
5. No ‘first documents’ documents will be issued electronically or by post.
6. Asgardia is looking for the best way to manage this and to make it as accessible as possible.
7. For people that are not able to present themselves in person, they will be looked at on a case-by-case basis.
8. Experts are being consulted to make sure that this is as official as possible.

Embassies & Consulates

1. There will be 6 embassies around the world, but there will be more consulates.
2. The location of the consulates will not be based on population but rather based on local infrastructure, practicality, ease of access, current holdings.
   1. No current plans to establish an embassy in Istanbul/Turkey, but it hasn’t been ruled out as an option yet, either.
3. It’s too early to go into detail now but more information is expected to be released towards the end of the year.
4. It’s possible that they will have Temporary locations that periodically pop-up offering a ‘drop-in’ service.
5. More details will follow in the coming months, especially once the Ministry of Foreign affairs is established.

Law & Order

1. The Constitution is the basis for the law of the nation.
2. Once Parliament is formed, they will begin to develop laws.
3. Laws will need to be passed and accepted.
4. Changes to the law must be done by way of petition.
5. Asgardia is open to various forms of government, such as the Estonian model and are considering the different ‘best practices’ that are being used around the world.

Business & Jobs.

1. Asgardia is prepared to invest and co-invest in start-ups that are aligned with the project such as Science, technology, software, engineering but is also welcomes any start-up business proposal.
2. Asgardia’s ‘business’ focus will be on start-ups and has partnered (or formed a close relationship with) a venture capitalist company called Seraphim who are a specialist investor in start-ups that have an interest in space.
3. Asgardia will have access to an expert community that will be reviewing and advising if it’s worth investing into a start-up
4. Asgardia.com will soon be releasing more information on the topic.
5. Asgardia.com will provide ways to apply for startup funding.
6. Asgardia’s infrastructure and future space-infrastructure will be built by hired professionals that have a proven experience in the field.
7. Asgardia is not currently hiring people from within the nation , however, they welcome people from the nation to apply to volunteer their time/resources if they want to help the project grow. They must clearly state their experience and details of how they would like to volunteer when they apply.
8. Asgardia will be deriving a revenue from business tax (once it’s jurisdiction is established.), from returns on its investments into start-up businesses and from the business that it plans to establish.
9. Asgardia encourages people to start submitting their business plans and proposals from today stating “It’s time now to start making proposals.”
10. Asgardia does not currently consider space-mining or investment in space-mining as a core part of its business plans.

Currency & Finance

1. Asgardia will be using a currency known as SOLAR.
2. SOLAR is a cryptocurrency that is being developed using blockchain technology in conjunction with IT experts and Mathematicians.
3. Asgardia will be following a capitalist model.
4. Asgardia is using blockchain technology which is transparent and highly secure making it nigh-on incorruptible which they hope will eliminate corruption and fraudulent use of the nation’s resources.

Space Exploration

1. Asgard-1 is ready to go. We are waiting the launch date which is currently scheduled for the 10 ^th of November, however, it’s not unusual for these dates to change based on the launch provider’s judgment.
2. Asgard-1 will hitch a ride up to space with an unmanned supply rocket that is taking supplies to the international space station. Once the drop has been made, the rocket will fly higher on its scientific mission and deploy the satellite.
3. The satellite has the onboard data storage and several sensors that are designed to monitor radiation with a view to finding the effects of space radiation on our data storage.
4. After some time, the Satellite will be pulled in by Earth’s gravity and will burn up in the atmosphere.
5. Asgard-2 is still in the very early planning phase, but the general idea behind A-2 will be to test data handling and data transfer.

Health & Education.

1. There are currently no programs defined to offer health or education to Asgardian nationals (though I know from personal experience that there are MOOCs being developed.)

Application to the UN.

1. There are no ‘set requirements’ to be met to be appointed as a nation. There are no formal criteria.
2. Paperwork is being prepared and contact is being initiated with other countries and international institutions.
3. Extended documents are being prepared to start working with them, but we have not formally asked to be accepted as a nation.

Support me.

I am currently running as a strategist and I could use your support! Please take a couple of minutes to look at my candidate profile and lend me your support if you agree 😊

Through the application of technology, it’s possible to help Asgardia grow, make money and come together as a nation. One of the purposes behind Nerdblog is to share details of progress that I am making towards building software and virtual worlds for Asgardia.

This is a cross-post from my blog, www.nerdblog.co.uk

Please support my Campaign for Strategist here: https://asgardia.space/en/blog/candidate/784722-8774-virtual-space-for-our-nation/

While my skills are currently quite modest, within the next few weeks, I will be returning to university to commence the second year of my software engineering degree. During the next year, I fully expect my capabilities to advance quite significantly as I build upon my knowledge.

However; ins spite of my current skills, I am still happy to share details of my current progress.

Calendar App.

Asgardia has its own date system, so one of the things that I have been working on recently is an application that will allow us to view the Asgard date/time. Presently, I have been working with my colleague to crack the code that converts the ‘standard’ date into the ‘Asgardian’ date.

This has been a very useful exercise as it’s gotten me used to work with Android Studio – software that’s specially designed for Android app development.

Demo of date conversion.	Demo of ‘Swipe’   interface to switch between Asgard date & Standard Date.

Naturally, this is just a proof of concept and there is still a lot to learn about the tool, but it was a small victory to get the base logic down that handles the conversion of the dates and plugging all that into the Android UI.

There are several features that we’d like to add in the future to expand the functionality.

1. App will respond to Asgardian holidays.
2. Year Day will show a special screen.
3. Google Calendar integration.
4. Thought of the Day.

Throughout the year, it is my intention to update the app with some more interesting functionality and a more interesting UI so that it might be a worthy offering for Asgardians to have on their phone.

As a lot of Asgardia is going to need to be crowd funded, I am mooting the idea of a small charge for the app to help raise money to support Asgardia and fund further development of other applications, naturally – it’ll be a while before we get to a point where that becomes a serious discussion.

Preparation for Virtual Asgardian Worlds.

One of the big platforms for me is the application of Virtual Reality to create a ‘digital space’ for Asgardia. A Virtual world where we can exist, share thoughts, ideas and knowledge to solve the problems that Asgardia is facing. To make this a reality, I need to expand my skills beyond what I’m learning on the Software Engineering Degree.

Lots of Virtual Reality development shares more skills with a Game Developer / Game Designer / 3D modelling artist than it does with a Software Engineer.

To support my learning, I have started to learn about the fascinating world of ‘Game Development’ by undertaking a course on Udemy and also familiarising myself with the tools of the trade. While I am doing a lot of my self-study in Unity, recently, I have been getting to grips with a new Game Engine from Amazon called Lumberyard. I have got all the tools set up and I spent some time exploring the starter pack that they recently created to showcase what their engine was capable of.

See the Lumberyard play-test here.

This tool has a really user-friendly interface that allows you to interact with objects in your game world in ‘real time’. I am a very visual person so I love editors that can show me how the changes I make are reflected. It makes development a lot more visceral, almost like I’m reaching in and molding it with my own hands.

Lumberyard also comes with a host of content out of the box intended to give developers a taste of what they can do with the engine and in the coming months, I will be turning my hand to creating a proof of concept called ‘Asgard Island’ which will be a fully virtual world that will allow multiple users to visit.

See the Lumberyard 'edit mode' here.

As with Asgard, there is still a lot of work to do before there are any tangible results that will inspire confidence in the project, but with will and the backing of the community, I am certain that we can start to develop something amazing for our nation.

In this series, I’m going to be talking about Virtual Reality, its applications and why I believe that it could help Asgardia to achieve its goals. I’ll be using the term ‘virtual’ and ‘augmented’ interchangeably.

This is a cross-post from my blog: https://nerdblog.co.uk/?p=3456

I am currently running for the position of strategist please support my campaign .

I have already written a report at length regarding how Virtual Reality will change distance learning, so if you’re interested, I encourage you to go and read that report some time, too.

Today’s ‘let’s talk’ is going to address the concept of a ‘Virtual World’ and why I think it’s important to the future of Asgardia.

What is a Virtual World?

A virtual world is a digital environment that has been generated using game development tools such as Unity or the Unreal Engine. It is primarily made up of 3D models and artwork and it forms the basis for the ‘land mass’. It can be designed in any way imaginable. Using one of these game engines, it’s possible to apply simulated physics to the world, too so that objects within the world behave like they do in real life.

Why do we need a virtual world?

Unity

Asgardia is made up of a very widespread population. We have people from 217 countries all operating on different time-zones and speaking different languages. Now, it’s very difficult for people to come together and feel like a unified population.

The Internet dramatically changed how bonds are formed between people, the internet has given us some brilliant tools for communication and collaboration across vast distances. It’s now possible to have friendships with people that you’ve never met.

The Virtual World will take this one step further, it will allow people to communicate directly and share experiences together. It will give these bonds a sense of tangibility that wasn’t possible before. Further to that, it will enable things such as the emulation of touch and the stimulation of lights and sound.

This technology will help Asgardians come together to start to form even more meaningful social bonds and truly start to unite as a people.

Defined Territory

The Internet and Virtual reality is making it harder than ever to define things by the traditional sense. One of the key requirements for independence is that we must have a clearly defined territory. Now – practically speaking, this isn’t possible in the ‘real world’ as we have no land available to settle on.

Having a Virtual World where every citizen of Asgardia can have a ‘home’ and can reside in might help us to show the international community that we’re more than just a wide-spread decentralised group of people.

Virtual Asgardia would allow us to offer up that ‘clearly defined’ territory, at least in principle – and it would allow us to do it in a peaceful and technological way that wouldn’t infringe on the sovereign rights and territories of the international community.

Simulation of a possible future.

Having our own virtual world with space that we occupy will allow us to see, in principle, what life will be like for Asgardia. It will allow us to test how things will work in our community in practice. With people coming from all over the world it will create a huge influx of cultures and we don’t yet know what it will be like to merge all those cultures and ideas.

Our virtual world will give us a chance to test how compatible we are as people, and how willing we are to change and adopt new cultures and ideas without having to spend billions of dollars creating Arks first.

It will also enable us to test how well our government works in principle, how well certain elements of our legal system will work and it will generally give us a taste for ‘life’ as an Asgardian.

A perpetual ‘hub’.

As we move into space and we settle on platforms, the moon, mars or other celestial bodies, our people are going to be further and further apart and we will still have the same issues of ‘decentralisation’ that we have now. If technology continues to advance at the current rate, it’s possible that people from all around our globe on Arks and space platforms and those still on Earth will be able to stay connected through the Virtual World to continue to share ideas, meet up, collaborate and bond.

It’s a lot to think about, and in future blogs in this series I will be going into more detail about ‘Virtual Asgardia’ and why it could be a huge boon to our project.

Hello Fellow Asgardians,

It’s official, the head of state Mr. Igor Ashurbeyli has just signed off on Decree number nine. In the decree he states:

“By this Decree, I hereby:

Announce that the fi­rst Constitution of Asgardia has been accepted, and order it to be immediately published on the website www.asgardia.space in accordance with Chapter 10, Article 46 of the Constitution.”

Source: https://asgardia.space/storage/page/publication/attach/a0/69/a069a8940b7af40e8bc9b539a408df3307cf925d443d51d5cb2e91542e39190f.pdf

This shows that we’re progressing one step at a time along the path that was laid out. I hope that the march of progress will show doubters that Asgardia is serious about its goals and that under Mr. Ashubryli’s leadership, we’ll continue to make progress. As I have said in previous articles and interviews, results are the best way to convince people of our project.

The next vital step for Asgardia is the formation of the government and the election of the local leaders. There is still a lot of work to do and there are still a lot of elements that need to be worked out. How everything will fit together and function in practice will doubtlessly take time and discussion and I, for one, look forward to the challenge.

Good luck to us all.

I am running for the position of Strategist, please view my Campaign Page and lend me your support.

This is a cross-post from my blog, Nerdblog. View the original here: https://nerdblog.co.uk/congratulations-decree-n9-has-just-been-issued/

The campaign is starting to pick up steam and I'm almost 20% on my goal to becoming a strategist. I thought that it would be a good idea to share a little more information on my campaign in the hopes of convincing more voters to throw their support behind me. Please feel free to like, share and discuss this post if you want to help me out.

Vote for Me.

Core Goals: Unity, Virtual space.

One of Asgardia’s truly noble goals is to unify people under one goal and one banner. But this is very difficult as people from Asgardia come from all over the world and it’s very difficult to get together. I want to push for virtual technology to create virtual space where Asgardians can truly come together, bond, collaborate, share knowledge and share experience.

This is a lengthy post, but I encourage you to read it and understand why I am worth your vote.

Who am I?

My name is Ross Cheeseright, I’m 33 years old I worked for several years as a data analyst before moving on to study Software Engineering. I am currently a second-year student and run a small digital marketing that specializes in getting small businesses online. I have been passionate about Asgardia the moment I heard about it and I have a strong desire to turn a lot of talk into a lot of action.

Why Virtual Reality?

Virtual Reality is an emerging technology that gives people amazing capabilities and opportunities that they might not otherwise have access to. I plan to leverage this technology to ‘Centralize’ Asgardia for the following reasons:

1. The International community insists that we have a ‘defined territory’ and a ‘permanent population’ but there is no more land available on Earth, it’s all been claimed by other powers. With Virtual Reality we’ll be able to create a world that all Asgardians will have access to and will be able to have a virtual home upon and symbolically and technically prove that we’re a people who exist within a defined territory.
2. With Virtual Reality, Asgardia will be able to create schools, training facilities, entertainment, theatres, art, gather together to hold concerts, enjoy live stand-up performances. It will give our people a place to gather and live.
3. Virtual Reality will provide a source of income – By creating a virtual world, we will have something to offer to the international community. People will be able to visit our virtual world to undertake ‘long distance study’ at our universities, to visit our art installations, to play our games, to buy our services and all this will help to generate income for our people and our nation.
4. A Virtual World is a good ‘test’ for us as a population. By using a virtual world we’ll start to be able to understand what life is going to be like living together, without having to spend billions on floating platforms or buying land. We can test government, legal practices, trace and simulate a whole host of other activities of daily living.

I am still only just learning about how to create virtual reality, but I know that there are a lot of skilled people out there that I can organize to bring this technology to benefit us.

What else?

I believe in action, I don’t just want to sit around talking and philosophising about what Asgardia could be. I want to act so that people around us start to take us seriously. At the moment I am doing this by

1. Running for Strategist so that I can start to organize people and create projects.
2. Raising awareness of Asgardia so that we get more members.
3. Writing a blog on the topic of Asgardia ( www.nerdblog.co.uk )
4. Creating a community site that will help spread word of Asgardia and the good work that we do.
5. Doing my civic duty by voting, raising awareness of voting and participating in discussions.

What are my goals if you get elected?

There is a lot of work to do to get Asgardia on it’s feet, and I am prepared to give a lot of my time and dedication to the nation. These are my immediate goals if I get elected.

1. Centralize my community – Start bringing people together and sorting them out into ‘Citizens’ and ‘Activists’. Citizens are those that want to be a part of Asgardia and Activists are those that want to volunteer their time and help Asgardia grow.
2. Take stock – Find out details about what resources we have available and at our disposal.
3. Start Fundraising – If we want to do things, we’re going to need resources. Fundraising and supporting local businesses will be central to this.
4. Start building Asgardia’s reputation – We need to take control of the narrative, we’ll be using digital marketing techniques to spread word of Asgardia and have people start taking us seriously.
5. Work with other local leaders and Set up a committee for the application and development of VR / AR technologies.
6. Be completely transparent in my activities, results, work and communications so that people can freely scrutinise my activities.

So if you want action as I do, and if you want Asgardia to be taken seriously as I do, then lend me your support and we shall make people take note.

Vote for Me.

Hello Fellow Asgardians,

It is good to see that the voting has been concluded on the temporary symbols of our nation. These images represent more than just a flag or an anthem, they show that we’re moving forward, they show that there are hundreds of thousands of people that say “We want humanity to be better.” – and it’s under this message and these symbols that we’re going to unite and make that a reality.

So congratulations to all those that voted and congratulations to those artists that took the time out to share their craft to create some really wonderful designs. It will be interesting to see what the final flag, anthem and coat of arms look like -- but for now I think that these are damn fine representations for our cause.

You can see the official post here: https://asgardia.space/en/page/chronicles/list-of-conest-winners

Regards,

Ross Cheeseright
I am running for Strategist, please support me on my Campaign Page .

I am glad that Asgardia has become a thing.  The creation of Asgardia has been an inevitability for some time.  I am sure that many members of the community will be familiar with Malthusian fears of global overpopulation.  There are solutions to that problem but in general they are not acceptable, either morally, or legally.

We hold human life sacrosanct beyond all things except perhaps the danger of human suffering.  The problem with this is that in the event that population expansion is not interrupted by natural processes, there will be problems with food production, pollution, and quality of life, amongst other problems.  In the absence of human action a release is a necessity.  The only pressure valve we have is the potential for colonisation of space.

In the past large families for all was desired.  It led to the ability to do more, produce more, defend the state, etc.  In the modern world it is considered to be a liability.  Overcrowding causes disease; logistical failures cause famine; political boundaries trap all these problems in localised areas accentuating the inequalities between nations.  When well managed in unlimited space massive populations are no longer a liability.  The more minds at work on any problem the quicker that problem can be solved.  When thousands aren't starving or dying of the diseases of poverty they have incredible power to do amazing things.  Expansion into space isn't just a release from global problems, it is an opportunity for interplanetary growth that could create possibilities larger than anything the human race has ever achieved before.

At present our imaginations are giving us ideas for so many advantages of extraglobal habitation.  The ability to mine the Kuiper belt will give a wealth of resources for the building of craft and habitations, as well as for trade with earthly concerns.  The access to light from the sun that is unfiltered by an atmosphere will give massive amounts of electricity through photovoltaic cells.  The difference in temperatures between empty space and unshielded sun opens a wealth of possiblities for power production.  The easy adaptability of equipment for astronomical research when people are living in space could massively advance our knowledge.  A chance to put all our eggs in more than one basket would save the human race in the event of sudden cataclysmic disaster on the planet's surface.  Those are just the ideas that spring to mind for me.  When we have the overflow of the entire planet the number of ideas will increase exponentially.

These are early days yet, but space colonisation is inevitable and the principles upon which the constitution has been aimed to be based are so much better than many alternatives, including many earth bound nation states.  Hopefully the kinks will be ironed out of our problems in time.  This idea is to big to fail, whether Asgardia is an approach that will be successful in maintaining the idea is yet to be proven by the test of time, but it has a big advantage over any other approach in that it is actually doing it already.

This article briefly discusses my recent experiences with the press following some publications that I was interviewed for and raises concerns over the narrative.

This is a cross-post from my blog: www.nerdblog.co.uk
View my Candidate Profile and lend me your support if you like what I have to say.

Recently, there have been a couple of publications that have contacted me for my opinions as an active Asgardian and because I’m running for a community leadership position. They’ve all been writing articles about Asgardia, Taxes, diplomacy and our goals.

It struck me just how difficult it must be for them to write a well rounded article and try to make sense of all that information that’s swirling around about Asgardia.

Each time that I’ve been contacted about Asgardia – I’ve provided a very lengthy succinct response to their questions and each time, 99% of what I said has had to be cut.

Due to the issue of space and time (not in the same way that Asgardians think about space and time.) my very succinct answers have been boiled down to ‘soundbites’. Now, I don’t blame the authors for this, but it does make it difficult to have a meaningful narrative on Asgardia.

I will provide an example of the extent that things are getting condensed.

Question:
“The specific issue of the low number of women among Asgardians (15% per cent of the 100,000 who approved the constitution, Lena told me) has come up. Does that bother you personally? Wouldn’t that be a problem if there was a colony in space with only 15% women?”

My answer:
“I think that's something that can be thought about on multiple levels. Firstly; Asgardia's goal isn't specifically to populate space with its own citizens but to make space accessible by all people and to see humanity as a single people in that respect. It aims to make space peaceful and separate it from the conflicts on earth.

"Asgardia is also unique from a philosophical aspect – to serve entire humanity and each and everyone, regardless of his or her personal welfare and the prosperity of the country where they happened to be born."

(https://asgardia.space/en/word)

I think that the vision that Asgardia is moving to create a utopian society and populate it with its own people so the number of women from this perspective doesn't specifically apply.

Further to that, I don't think that it's unusual to see more interest from men than women in this sort of area. It's very reminiscent of the STEM -- This project is about Science, Engineering, Technology -- an area that women, classically at least, are under-represented in.

I think that once the community starts to be more widely accepted as something more than theoretical, the population will start to further diversify.

And when the prospect of actually going to space is on the table, I'm certain that will be of interest to everyone, regardless of their gender.

Add to that the fact that some of our highest-ranking members are females, I can rest secure in the fact that women have strong representation.

To answer your question directly: 15% of 100,000 is 15,000 people, the number of people required to repopulate is 160. 15,000 : 85:000 would provide more than enough bio-diversity to create a successful population. But I don't think that it will come down to that.”

What was printed:
“As for the worrying dearth of women, he said: “When the prospect of actually going to space is on the table, I'm certain that will be of interest to everyone, regardless of their gender”. In any case, 15 per cent would provide “more than enough biodiversity to create a successful population” ”

So, you can see here that a large section of my actual response was cut out in order to present a friendly ‘bite’ of my overall point and moreover, most of the questions I answered only served to provide some context, or were cut entirely. Now, that is perhaps part of the ‘art form’ of the author of an article when space is limited.

But it definitely raises the question: What can Asgardia do to control the narrative about the project and help others to understand, with more depth, what Asgardia is about without diluting the message.