{"id":27,"date":"2021-05-05T13:05:22","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T13:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2021-05-12T22:30:22","modified_gmt":"2021-05-12T22:30:22","slug":"welcome","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>to Arbiter Central Repository. Your trusted place for online materials and bonus content for &#8220;The Arbiter&#8221;, a serialized ethno-cyber-punk novel by Artrit Byty\u00e7i.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Running on a sub-thread of Truthbringer A.I. version 1.56b. Predicting the future and preventing journo crimes since 2040.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here you can browse through some of the forbidden materials we confiscated and secret communications we intercepted. Please note that your access to these materials is for research purposes only, and any deviation from the prime mission will be followed by standard punishment measures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">About &#8220;The Arbiter&#8221; Issue 1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Arbiter: Episode 1 | Book trailer\" width=\"550\" height=\"309\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2KxuIFU0_pY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/arbiter-mockup-test-1-1024x785.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-86\" width=\"512\" height=\"393\" srcset=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/arbiter-mockup-test-1-1024x785.png 1024w, https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/arbiter-mockup-test-1-300x230.png 300w, https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/arbiter-mockup-test-1-768x589.png 768w, https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/arbiter-mockup-test-1.png 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<p>In a dystopian near future, free speech is a distant memory and all news is censored. Journalists live in exile in last remaining safe havens like Prishtinopolis from where they organize info-revolutions. They are hunted and eliminated by cybernetically enhanced agents called arbiters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow the Arbiter as he crosses the border as part of a covert mission. He must work blind, with his cybernetic implants turned off to avoid detection, but more importantly, trying not to cause a diplomatic incident between the two neighboring countries \u2014 a techno-dictatorship and cyber-libertarians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This bilingual publication \u2014 in both Albanian and English \u2014 goes beyond a serialized cyberpunk novel. Its content is a hybrid between an artist\u2019s book, a zine, a work of science fiction, a collection of essays, and a multimedia experiment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><br>As you read \u201cThe Arbiter,\u201d you can enjoy the soundtrack that follows the literary text, especially composed by Liburn Jupolli. He describes his creative process in the featured essay \u201cComposing for EthnoCyberPunk.\u201d Other nonfiction by Artrit Byty\u00e7i includes texts such as \u201cSci-Fi in Kosovo: Dystopias as a Utopian Project\u201d and \u201cA Printed Book in the Time of Cybernetic Reproduction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Bonus Content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-2 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">You already read the first episode in a book format? Have a look at an early release of chapters from episode 2.<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/broken-signals\/\">Broken Signals<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">\u201cCommence Operation Moebius,\u201d said Colonel Hana Uka. \u201cAffirmative, Colonel,\u201d responded Major Ardi, her second in command, as he disappeared amid the swarm of soldiers barking out unintelligible orders.&nbsp; With greying \u201cregulation\u201d cut and a stoic face weathered from combat, tragedy, and experience, Major Ardi projected a calm demeanor that often ranged on the unemotional. He\u2026 <a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/broken-signals\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">: Broken Signals<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/the-kacak-syndicate\/\">The Ka\u00e7ak Syndicate<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">As the Arbiter walked down the steps of \u201cThe Collective\u201d he increasingly heard the humming and buzzing of the crowd. The bar was full, and the previously laid back and talk-therapist-like bartender was now taking orders and serving with the efficiency of an industrial robot.&nbsp; As the Arbiter stood at the entrance observing the crowd,\u2026 <a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/the-kacak-syndicate\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">: The Ka\u00e7ak Syndicate<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nonfiction &amp; Essays<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">You liked the essays in the book? Here&#8217;s a sneak peek of some fragments that didn&#8217;t make it in the book. <\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/sci-fi-in-kosovo-dystopias-as-a-utopian-project\/\">Sci-Fi in Kosovo: Dystopias as a Utopian Project<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">Sci-Fi in Kosovo: Dystopias as a Utopian Project&nbsp; By Artrit Bytyci why (waste time to) write sci-fi in kosovo When I wrote my first \u201cbig\u201d work of science fiction during my high school years, it coincided with a time of great changes, all of which revolved around the Kosovo war. From starting high school in\u2026 <a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/sci-fi-in-kosovo-dystopias-as-a-utopian-project\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">: Sci-Fi in Kosovo: Dystopias as a Utopian Project<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/the-power-of-our-new-gods\/\">The Power of Our New Gods<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">\u201cThe Arbiter\u201d also explores new types of power \u2014 that of Artificial Intelligence, more precisely. \n&#8220;God is dead \u2014 we have killed him.&#8221; And in its stead we have invented an all-knowing and all-seeing God whose spirit resides in the machine, in some distant server in the cloud.<\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/corporate-dictatorships-of-our-information-age\/\">Corporate Dictatorships of our Information Age<\/a><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-excerpt\">Instead of our promised cyborgness, our promised symbiosis between human and machine, we were turned into cyber-dope-fiends, whose only preoccupation became to get that dopamine reward in our brains, no matter the content of the information. It became irrelevant what kind of content you viewed as long as the chemical cravings of your brain were satisfied.<\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Audio Soundtrack by Liburn Jupolli<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:50px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"450\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" allow=\"autoplay\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/playlists\/1160710114&amp;color=%23535353&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true\"><\/iframe><div style=\"font-size: 10px; color: #cccccc;line-break: anywhere;word-break: normal;overflow: hidden;white-space: nowrap;text-overflow: ellipsis; font-family: Interstate,Lucida Grande,Lucida Sans Unicode,Lucida Sans,Garuda,Verdana,Tahoma,sans-serif;font-weight: 100;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/storylab-kosovo\" title=\"StoryLab\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">StoryLab<\/a> \u00b7 <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/storylab-kosovo\/sets\/the-arbiter\" title=\"The Arbiter\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color: #cccccc; text-decoration: none;\" rel=\"noopener\">The Arbiter<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>to Arbiter Central Repository. Your trusted place for online materials and bonus content for &#8220;The Arbiter&#8221;, a serialized ethno-cyber-punk novel by Artrit Byty\u00e7i. Running on a sub-thread of Truthbringer A.I. version 1.56b. Predicting the future and preventing journo crimes since 2040. Here you can browse through some of the forbidden materials we confiscated and secret [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":103,"href":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/storylab.al\/arbiter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}