A personal note for you, from the year 2267

The year is 2267.
This is not for pretend. Consider, for a moment, that I might be telling the truth. You think you’re in the early 21st century. Very quaint back then. The early 21st century was the beginning of the Game Age, when what you call ‘video games’ became the meaning of life. By 2030, games had advanced to the point where you could enter into a perfectly realistic world, via a direct feed to your Consciousness, and live out your entire life in any of the various worlds you chose to participate in. Now, in the 2200’s, we’ve advanced far beyond this. Our entire culture and lives are ‘virtual’. In the same way that someone from 2006 might have been interested in the Renaissance or Medieval times, you are interested in the early 21st century. Very exciting time, full of wars and big technological breakthroughs. So you decided to play a game called The Age of Change.
You paid 410 credits to enter the game. You started playing last week. We plugged into your Consciousness, and entered in an entire set of memories so that you ‘remember’ everything that happened prior to last week. But of course, nothing did. It’s all just memory implants. We also did a character change for you, so that you think you’re another person (you’re actually a 21 year old boy). Then, as you requested, we temporarily wiped out all memories that tell you you’re actually a 21 year old boy in the year 2267. This is a full immersion game. The game will last for two hours, but for you it will seem like 28 years. Nothing around you is real. It’s all just the game The Age of Change. Pretty cool, huh?
You did request that we leave you this one clue as to the true nature of the game. This is it, and you will receive no other.

Oh yes – Bianca tells you that she says ‘hi’, and she can’t wait to take you for a ride in her new Tricat Moonjumper, as soon as you unplug. She’s getting lunch with Cassie down at that nice little café next to the space elevator, and she’ll meet you there.

Finally, here’s the message you left for yourself –
How do you know this isn’t true?

I have to note that the system is buggy.. so sometimes you may have to listen to me.. to avoid it to crash... And if you notice any bugs.. please post it as a reply

Nice one Sigurd.

Some time ago (a few months, or is it really only a few minutes?) I suggested you read the story "By His Bootstraps". Here is a link to an online copy.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~pot/scifi/byhisbootstraps.pdf
Did you read it yet? If not, I am afraid I'll have to use my back door and change your character to Bob Wilson.

I fear my answer is still...

Haven't read... YET!

(I actually forgot about it, sorry)

Reading is often when I'm sick or traveling.. so I'll print it and add it to my list of books I still have to read.. but a lot of them are also catching a lot of dust... so I hope my business will soon have a lot of potential deals in the US (trans atlantic flights take a while )

OK, your character is now Bob Wilson and you are about to have a very interesting time travel experience. And you can do it very quickly, because the entire story is only 34 pages long and can easily be read in the first hour of your journey!

Not bad at all. However, I prefer the one where the guy goes back in time to shoot an already-dying T-Rex, squishes a butterfly on accident, and changes the entire world (but realizes it too late to get out of Dodge). Can't remember the name -- I'm terrible at remembering titles and authors, but rarely forget a story itself.

A Sound Of Thunder...

Bradbury.

http://the4400.free.fr/en/home.php?page=dossier03

I read that one too but much prefer "By His Bootstraps" because it highlights, no, is totally concerned with, the paradox of time travel. The Heinlein story leaves you wondering what the cause of the whole experience is because it is a closed loop in time with no cause at all. So is there free will or not? It implies not. The Bradbury story implies parallel universes with the time traveler somehow being directed to a particular universe when he returns. And which universe he returns to is determined by his actions in the past. In that case, you would never return to the same universe you departed from since your very existance in the past did not occur in this universe. In contrast, the Heinlein story assumes all past and current presences of Bob are in this universe.

True... And these, ladies and gentlemen, are the two primary theories of time travel. Either way, it's not a very pleasant experience at all. So don't try this at home, kids.

I don't know, it doesn't seem too bad so far. I'm a time traveller, I just haven't found reverse yet.

Shades of "The Matrix" movies...

From the February 2267 issue of Popular Science:

Fusion Power only 20 years away!
Moller the XXIV's Flying Car a near reality!
And lift off of the 50--eleventh Delta II mission to Mars!
President Abigal Clinton-Bush spends 300 Billion quadloos on Somalia!
The Air Force receives its first combat ready F-22 after 13th crash landing.


Nothing ever changes....