You wake one morning outdoors, alone and bewildered. You discover a bag with a supply of food, a laptop and a CD in the drive. You realise that you are not in the 21st anymore!

Fear not! You are not alone. You are just the latest arrival in a different 1828.

The Napoleonic Wars ended for us in 1810. A settlement in 1811 restored parts of the old Europe while cementing many of the changes since 1789. France was ruled for the boy Napoleon II under a Regency led by Eugène Beauharnais, who died suddenly in 1822. Marshal Bernadotte now leads the Second Republic. In Britain, George IV reigns. Earl Grey is PM.

In America, John C Calhoun is President. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee & South Carolina are phasing out slavery. Eastern OTL Texas is now part of the US, after a war with Spain and the US has reached the Pacific, holding OTL Oregon.

The Republic of California has recovered from a civil war won by uptimer led exiles, who then gave way to gold miners. Spain has been expelled from South America.

The 1828 Olympic Games have just been held in Paris. The 1820 Games in Berlin were marred by the assassination of Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia by a radical student. The 1824 Games were in London.

Newcomers arrive from time to time, always a little further along in the timeline. Some "uptimers" are doing quite well "downtime" and do their best to help or rescue the new arrivals. However, our time of origin and the existence of the laptops are kept secret. Our lives and prosperity depend on it.

Some well qualified uptimers have accelerated technological development, successfully introducing incandescent lights, telegraphs, gliders, ironclads, sewing machines, typewriters, phonographs, photography and radio, to name a few.

Contact us. Tell us news from uptime. We know about events through to April 2009. We can tell you what is different in this timeline and how to survive until we reach you.

One last thing - we hope you can tell a good story!