If you can find time to read the whole IC, that'd be a HUGE boon. If not, I'd advise reading the summaries you can find at the bottom of most of the IC posts. That should put you up to speed.

Do note that we're leaving the evolution phase presently and preparing to transition into a more "We're in the present" form of RP. We'll later have another evolution phase when we get bored of the current technological era.

EDIT: As for "Good to know" stuff... Well, I'll come up with that later. Diplomacy's a bit of a tangled web.