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RPG Laboratory

Sphere Operations

Submitted by Chainsaw Aardvark on Tue, 2007-02-13 17:19.

Just the name, internet, reveals two of the main problems with the old computer system. First, that it is internal, and one leaves the real world so to speak, when using it. Per-say, compare a person who is reading a book, to one that is listening to the story on a music player - leaving their eyes free to observe what is around them. Secondly, as a net, it was tangled, often without order, a profusion of sites added in the thousands daily with similar addresses delivering wildly different destinations.

Finally, its was based on an obsolete code. Binary. Imagine if you could only ask yes or no questions, and asking the wrong one would require you to start your query all over again. That is how the old computers worked

We are quite fortunate to live in the age of Hex Code. One through five and null allow a great profusion of information in but a little space. Mind you - it only takes five bases to create the DNA that codes for humans and everything else. (adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine, and the often overlooked uracil used in RNA transcription)

Faster computers, not reliant of fragile and heat prone transistors and silicon, coupled with a more agile code allowed for a new paradigm. Rather than dropping out of a conversation to check ones computer and type, the information was displayed in the natural field of vision without a monitor (thanks to either glasses/contacts overlay, or the fairly common cybernetic optics replacements.)

Interface is via a six button controller - mounted on the users non dominant arm and wrist. Appropriate buttons were either part of a garment's sleeve, a wristband, or actual implanted as a sheet under the skin. The dominant hand is placed on the other arm, the fingers at a natural spread, the thumb the farthest from the wrist, with a choice of two button positions - the first as part of the multi-button combination scheme, and the second held down to turn the hand into an appropriate pointer for gesturing to objects in real space.

Visually, the effect is a wire-frame overlapping the world around the user, with "magnetic" properties. Windows can be left floating in front of the user, or clamped to any of the lines associated with the object, the position stored in the user's personal data-bank, allowing the "stuck notes" a degree of permanence for later reference. User defined combinations can bring up windows, search for relevant data, and set assorted search modes - where an AI will fill automatically search and find relevant information about designated objects in the viewing field.

Access to the sphere is via either the Tesla network, or hard attachment points. The HAPs allow better speed due to the higher bandwidth of a land line compared to wireless technology. Tesla coils built into the wireless routers provide power to many of the systems in addition to connectivity, though batteries are built into almost all garments and modern processors waste far less energy as heat.

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» add new comment | by Chainsaw Aardvark | 265 reads

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Submitted by decreased on Tue, 2007-02-13 18:19.

Have you ever felt like someone just wouldn't leave you the h*ll alone?

So, I get the technology, but how bout a little bit about what is capable of. Is it near instantaneous or just a few time faster than todays computers? Encryption levels? Tracking of physical locations of users? WW net or local dark nets? Centralized system or peer-to-peer type? Hacking? Can physical harm be accomplished through the network? Can you hear me? How about now?

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Sorry if this isn't what you want...

Submitted by Chainsaw Aardvark on Tue, 2007-02-13 19:29.

I do tend to get caught in little details and lose the forest in the trees sometimes on things like this. Does it matter to anyone else if the control uses 5 buttons or six? Probably not. This isn't the my first project to get caught on issues like these. Additionally, there is the matter of my general computer incompetence, so I'm inclined to say computers are light years ahead of everything and leave it at that. Of course, all this is gone post invasion, so its really just the idea that there is more than just a loss of society. I'll revise what I have here later.

However to avoid delay;

  • Yes, the thing is instantaneous. A personal computer is in petra/tera-flop range of speed, and made of synthetic diamond to allow for optical data management and heat dissipation. More importantly, the thing learns and is natural language based, so you don't need to refine your searches five times to find something.
  • Encryption would be near impossible to break with current technology. However, the government probably has tandem computers with Artificial Intelligence that prevents anyone from hiding something for too long. As of 2050 there was a constitutional amendment covering privacy and technology. In short, it works out to "The only way for three men to keep a secret is to kill two of them" - Malignant activity makes itself known fairly easily so there is no need to dig through other's privacy to find it.
  • The net is world wide, but there are areas that cut themselves off to enforce only local protocols. Each person has their private database as well, so they can retrieve quite a bit of information and maintain wire frame windows without a connection.
  • One can chose to turn off the connection and drop out. To the average user, they would disappear. However, surveillance devices are common enough that its not a reliable means of escaping notice. In fact, it would probably be better to stay connected so allies can give you real time information about your enemies.
  • Its "maximum peer to peer" - information is on central servers, but there are quite literally millions of these. Given that the net has been effectively torn down and replaced, to what degree the old paradigms remain are anyone's guess.
  • That said, some people do maintain older networks based on binary, which most modern computers don't recognize. As such, there is an unpatrolled dark net fairly similar to what we have today.
  • As long as computers are non-sentient machines, then there will be hacking. However, since things are defined very differently, with fewer lines of code to get lost in, its rather more difficult.
  • Fortunately, there is no Black Ice/kill commands like old cyberpunk media. Nor is there complete synthesia in the net or outside control of biological functions. It might be possible, but no one has officially tried it.

As to if I have head you, you tell me. Are these adequate answers or cop outs? I just wanted to avoid the usual zombies rise and everything goes amok, to more of a "fall from the golden age" or "destruction of the tower of babel" scenario. Dark Angel rather than Night of the Living Dead if you're aware of the old TV series. (Foundation + the undead?)

There is a fine line between hobby and obsession. I seem to have lost sight of it some time ago.

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