Well, since NetSlut asked about The Collection, and since the explanation relates to this highly dangerous avatar practice that only Sparrow has the sense to avoid, here goes.....
<pause>
Actually, I'd better start of with MoM, otherwise you'll just accuse me of being sane, or some such slur.
Right; MoM. The Ministry of MisInformation. It's based somewhere up near Edinburgh and employs a whole bunch of creatives, generally authors from all over the country (the artists and musicians tend to end up in The Collection). Now the whole purpose of MoM is to make sure that no-one believes the truth if they ever encounter it (admitted rare, given that most media outlets one way or another come under MoM's control). One of their favourite ways, is to let everyone know about the truth in advance but call it fiction. Cunning, huh? Oh, they change a few bits here and there, but basically it’s the truth. So if someone spouts out and says so and so happened, someone will say "you just read it in a book", end of Truth.
As an example, I think Ken Macleod is a member of MoM - some of the descriptions in the Execution Channel read just like MoM, and I'm sure you can think of other stories along the same line.
Douglas Adams was another. You think the cute furry animals like cat, squirrels and meerkats are just what they appear? Nope Mr Adams was spot on with his mice – they're all conducting hideous experiments on us (actually the cats are the senior managers uniform). And the crop circles? They're the compulsory purchase orders for the hyperspace by-pass (fortunately the Men in Black are successfully challenging the planning application).
And don't think MoM is UK-only; I know the US has DoC. The Department of Confusion (though I feel it has grown somewhat and probably taken over a whole bunch of other departments). Sadly, I don't know of any of its authors…
Actually, MoM, like The Collection, has a real problem for a quango. They make a tidy profit. You have no idea how embarrassing this is for them (well, you try explaining to government accountants that you want a negative budget without getting sent to the funny farm). They've been forced to launder large amounts of money through sporting ventures, buying loss-making media companies and employing ever more authors who are not part MoM. Which tends to backfire around Edinburgh. I think the person who hired Alexander McCall Smith has been sacked (though they went on to set up a very profitable agency…).
Of course, occasionally one of their authors goes AWOL and has to be "delt with" or brought back under control before they say things or become too popular. For that, MoM has a secret prison somewhere in Edinburgh and a range of actors to replace the authors (though some of them are just too darned creative to be impersonated…). I remember hearing Ken say he was okay so long as his Blog doesn't mention cats.
Ouch. Stop poking me with that green stick. I am
not off-topic, I'm just taking the scenic route… a
very twisty scenic route…. Oh, alright. I'll try and be succinct.