tushanshu | [VIDEO]

[It's been a while since Tony's made a public broadcast on the network. He doesn't look harried or frustrated now: this time he has good news. His eyes are gleaming with excitement, and he seems very pleased with himself.]

I've got an announcement for anybody who's interested in technology and engineering - kedan and foreigners. I've been working with the College to put together a community space in the Sky Sector. Sort of like a... library, for practical engineering. It'll have cutting-edge equipment, all kinds of tools, tons of space to mess around in, and even some basic supplies for anyone to use.

Tech's developing really fast in Keeliai, and it'll develop even faster if we collaborate and pool our knowledge and resources. This will be a place where we can do that. Where everyone can learn at their own pace, on their own schedule, and work on the projects they're interested in. With the situation with Tu Vishan and the Chihuelans... I think it's important for everyone to have a chance to contribute.

So, it's open to anyone. It's free to use for anyone at the College and students get first dibs, but if you're not enrolled here and you still want to get in on it, there's just a monthly membership fee to cover operating costs. I'll do my best to keep plenty of membership slots available. [He grins.] It's a lot cheaper than buying all your own equipment. Also, for people who want a private workspace, there's going to be some that you can rent by the month.

There'll be a bunch of classes, too. The advanced courses have a small fee, plus some money for supplies, but the basic courses will be free for students and members. I'll even be running some free courses open to the public. [Not something that will earn the College any money directly, but it'll be good for community goodwill, and encourage donations and new members.]

Just clean up after yourself, take care of the tools, and replace the supplies you use. And sign up for things early: there may be waiting lists for classes and workspaces. [He'd hate to turn people away, since that's sort of against the principle of the whole thing, but, sadly, his time and resources are not infinite.]

I'll be working full-time, maintaining the equipment and teaching a lot of the classes. When I'm not busy with those, I'll be available to help people one-on-one. I'm also looking for a couple people who can be around to watch things when I'm not there, so we can keep the doors open twenty-four-seven.

[And now that he's covered the basics, his expression turns a little more serious.]

Technology in Keeliai shouldn't just be used for profit or politics: it should be used to make everyone's lives better. We should be sharing with each other and learning from each other and building new things, not just fighting over what we have. That's what this is all about.

If you're looking to make a profit, you're better off at SI. [A case of pot meet kettle if there ever was one, but Tony's not above taking a few well-earned digs at his former company. Anyway, he's always been in favor of technology for the greater good: it's just the "not-for-profit" aspect that's new to him.] Most of the stuff we work on in the classes will be for the College and other public institutions. And anything that gets made here, the patent [not a concept with a direct translation into kedanese, but the translation magic will convey the gist of it] belongs to the College. That's not to cheat anyone out of their inventions or anything like that - it's so that everyone can use and build on any advances we make.

This will be a place for foreigners and kedan to work together to make Keeliai a better place for everyone. If you want to be a part of that... You know where to find me. [He grins again, and ends the feed.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Color Aya ~~green~~ impressed, Tony Stark.]

I would like to be of assistance in any way possible.

Awesome! [He figured she would be, but it's nice to hear from her anyway.] Are you still teaching those programming classes? It'd be great to have one of those here every now and then.

In a manner of speaking, yes.

Since the change in leadership over at Stark Industries, I have found myself with fewer individuals who regularly demonstrate both interest and discipline to continue with the curriculum. However, if we were given a more formal structured setting, I am certain that it would prove most beneficial to all parties involved.

That's too bad. [Though Tony maybe feels a tiiiiny little bit of schadenfreude at the expense of SI.]

"Structure" isn't really the idea, here, though. It's supposed to be... [He searches for the appropriate academic buzzwords,] student-driven learning. More open-ended and cooperative. Not really like a traditional classroom structure - that's more what the College is for. Think you can work with that?

[The implied lack of structure momentarily threw her. What are you even doing, Tony Stark?]

[...but then, as he elaborated, she began to understand.]

I see.

You wish to encourage an environment in which the students are given free range of materials with which they are to explore and discover new ideas and techniques of their own volition.

[It was not a bad idea. She only had one question:]

But what if they do it wrong?

[Sorry, Tony, she might be a slight perfectionist when it comes to her SCIENCE.]

Yeah, exactly! [Tony smiles brightly.]

My dad always says that the best way to learn to do something right is to do it wrong a few times, [he adds, in response to her protest.] A lot of the time, you can learn as much about something from seeing how it doesn't work as you can from seeing how it does. Anyway, isn't trial and error what science is all about?

Actually, Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

[A long pause.]

...though I suppose you could not come to an accurate conclusion 100% of the time, and thus, provide an opportunity to learn from errors made, yes.

Yeah, the "error" is a bigger part of "trial and error" for people who aren't sentient super-super-computers, [Tony says, chuckling.] And if you always knew exactly what you were doing, you'd never find anything you weren't looking for. Sometimes the unexpected stuff you learn is the most exciting part.

[Why thank you, Tony Stark. She was going to take that as a compliment.]

Agreed.

I often find it very exciting to uncover some piece of information I was previously not aware of.

See? It'll be fun. Learning is fun. [Except when it involves studying boring books in the library.] You should come check it out.

[Usually, she was the "boring books" from the library. Or, in this case, ship's computer system; much of Oan's vast wealth of scientific and spacial knowledge was a mere database access away from her. It took seconds for her to retrieve the information she needed, though that had only ever been limited to her original universe.]

[There was still so much to be learned about here.]

I will.

Thank you.

[Deon grins.]

That sounds great!

[Tony responds with an equally enthusiastic grin.]

You should come over and check it out. You've been working at Stark Industries, right?

[Tony recognizes his fellow foreigner from having seen him in passing, but Tony hasn't been spending a lot of time around SI these days.]

Tech stuff isn't really my cup of tea, but this sounds great, Tony.

Well, hey, if you ever want to give it a try, you can come to one of the beginner classes. There's going to be a little of everything.

[Surely there has to be some kind of tech that is Jack's cup of tea. Tony can't imagine anyone being completely, unconditionally uninterested in technology.]

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