Unwired: Hopes, dreams, and expectations Options

[XON2000]

I get, and fully accept, why data storage is ignored...too damned much bookkeeping...

I had heard that the reason that storage space was removed was because in the years between 1st and 4th editions (or even between 3rd and 4th for that matter), storage space has become so cheap and compact that it's not likely to be a limiting factor for hacking. When 1st edition was released, the primary form of portable storage was the floppy disk, which could store about one megabyte, and was very fragile. Now, my iPod can hold 160 gigabytes (over 160,000 times as much as the floppy). I have a couple thousand songs and my entire library of gaming PDFs, and I've barely scratched the surface. I could throw on the entire human genome (750 megabytes) and not even notice.

Last year, Hitachi released a one-terabyte hard drive (about a thousand gigabytes). Imagine what might be possible in 2070. Add to that the increases in transfer speeds, and the notion of assigning stats to these factors seems irrelevant.

Shawn

[Earlydawn]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/twirl.gif)

I could throw on the entire human genome (750 megabytes) and not even notice.

Hmm, well.. that's rather sobering. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sleepy.gif)

[WeaverMount]

Yeah storage is cheep, transition and computation, I think will always be a real bottle neck. Knew a professor who worked at Amazon.com He said running a simple queries on there whole data base could cost over a million dollars in electricity and maintenance. So yes storing everything that everyone does ever would likely be trivial, touching each datum, and moving it somewhere, not so much.

From a balance angle though riggers need to have some kind of a limit how many drones they can field at once. The way things are now though there is no differance between the full feed of a drone, and and RSS feed. Both are a subscription capped at system x2. That's the main reason I want some kind of data metrics. Also even if there is zero or almost zero mechanics around data size/speed, I'd really like it if somewhere in 4th ed, they mentioned terms so I can throw them around as fluff.

[Eyeless Blond]

The irony of the whole thing is that the amount of data being generated is increasing more quickly than storage space is. This is the source of the so-called "exaflood" problem, which is largely silly at this point because much of the data being generated is either useless or redundant, and simply will not be stored long-term. In the future, though, we're probably going to have the opposite problem: there will be too little storage space to keep everything we want to save. Computing power, on the other hand, is far outstripping the amount that we actually need; these days we're likely to waste much of the processing power we do use on feature bloat and useless graphical widgets that no one really cares about (see: Windows Vista), and most of us still aren't using the storage space we ought to (when was the last time you kept an offsite backup?).

Oh, and AFAIK the human genome is actually 3.2 Gb

[XON2000]

Oh, and AFAIK the human genome is actually 3.2 Gb

Weird. Duelling Wikipedia entries! (Either way, my original point stands. That amount of data would fit easily on my pocket-sized iPod.)

[Blade]

The Gb in "3.2Gb" stands for gigabases not gigabits.

[CanRay]

True, no more issues on how much space, but that data still needs to go SOMEWHERE.

Which is something that I'm going to insist that my group keep track of!

Remember that everything that's built by the Megas is Wireless, and probably has some minimum amount of Memory at the very least! Putting the paydata in the Troll's Boxers and then burning it's Wireless would make it bloody well secure, that's for sure!

And really embarrassing when it comes time to hand it over to Mr. Johnson. "OK, Tiny. Pants off." "Awwwwwwwww..."

[Prime Mover]

Let me see if I can find it ... here it is: http://pavao.org/aud/HackingDemo.mp3.

Finally got around listening to this. Pretty much how we've been running things including some rolls like log stuff tossed in on the fly. Would like to have heard how you envisioned the node and programs visually.

[Aaron]

Finally got around listening to this. Pretty much how we've been running things including some rolls like log stuff tossed in on the fly. Would like to have heard how you envisioned the node and programs visually.

I was just going for mechanics, so I didn't really think about sculpting at all. The cool thing about the Matrix, though, is that you can really do whatever you like, as long as the paradigm works.

[kzt]

Like a MAC Address on any network device. Actually, this can be worked with, however, those would also likely be easy to Spoof...

If you really can't spoof it that would be quite interesting and useful. It also means that anyone who takes an implanted comlink as a runner is a total fool.

[kzt]

In the future, though, we're probably going to have the opposite problem: there will be too little storage space to keep everything we want to save. Computing power, on the other hand, is far outstripping the amount that we actually need; these days we're likely to waste much of the processing power we do use on feature bloat and useless graphical widgets that no one really cares about

I doubt that. The solid state RAM explosion hasn't hit yet. It will, and you'll see storage costs continue to plummet for another decade or two. I'm thinking 1T USB sticks for $10 or less, using memory that doesn't wear out.

What is expensive these days are backups. Backing up 6T of disk space is a huge pain, much less the >300T of a large company. Hard drives capacities are still growing faster than tape capacities, and the prices of tape are not falling as fast as HDs. But having off-site backups is still incredibly useful, as human error/or deliberate acts are still a big factor in bad things happening to good data.

[DocTaotsu]

True, no more issues on how much space, but that data still needs to go SOMEWHERE.

Which is something that I'm going to insist that my group keep track of!

Remember that everything that's built by the Megas is Wireless, and probably has some minimum amount of Memory at the very least! Putting the paydata in the Troll's Boxers and then burning it's Wireless would make it bloody well secure, that's for sure!

And really embarrassing when it comes time to hand it over to Mr. Johnson. "OK, Tiny. Pants off." "Awwwwwwwww..."

I recently had a dream where I was trapped in a bunker somewhere fending off endless waves of faceless bad people. To pass the time I was reading great works of literature but because I lacked anywhere to store them I deleted information off the brains of my grenades and loaded them in there.

I killed a man with Kafka.

It was outstanding.

[FrankTrollman]

The Human Genome is 3.2 billion base pairs long. To a first approximation, every Base Pair can be in one of four states. At maximum compression then, you can store a BP in just 2 bits. A byte has 8 bits, so maximum compression could fit four base pairs in every byte - so just under 800 million bytes would be needed. A Megabyte is actually 1048576 bytes, so 750 "Megabytes" is 7864 million bytes, which is about the length of the compressed genome.

Bottom line: yes, you can put the entire genome of a person on a CD. And no, you couldn't actually do much with it while it was in that format. You'd need like an mp3 player to get the kind of storage space and processing power needed to actual extract useful information from someone's genes.

-Frank

[krakjen]

My genes are running on an iPod !

[CanRay]

If you really can't spoof it that would be quite interesting and useful. It also means that anyone who takes an implanted comlink as a runner is a total fool.

Having worked where MAC-Filtering was a wireless security suggestion, I can tell you that MAC-Spoofing is not that difficult.

Remember, people who build Security Systems have a deadline and a 9-to-5 punchclock.

Deckers and Hackers don't. They work when they want, how they want.

[raverbane]

My hope and dreams is to actually see the book someday... hehe

Anyone heard anything new about a new projected release quarter?

They talk about BT books alot on Twitter, but havent mentioned Unwired in a while...

[Leofski]

True, I hope Unwired comes out shortly, but I expect it may be a bit longer.

I have submersions paid for and waiting for the expanded echoes list.

[Prime Mover]

My hope and dreams is to actually see the book someday... hehe

Anyone heard anything new about a new projected release quarter?

They talk about BT books alot on Twitter, but havent mentioned Unwired in a while...

Yea I usually check Twitter before log into DS and it's painful to see 2 CBT books off to printer and not a mention of were Unwired is. l;(

[Aaron]

Maybe there's no news because it's at the printer? *hope* *hope* *hope*

[kzt]

Having worked where MAC-Filtering was a wireless security suggestion, I can tell you that MAC-Spoofing is not that difficult.

Remember, people who build Security Systems have a deadline and a 9-to-5 punchclock.

Deckers and Hackers don't. They work when they want, how they want.

Yes, but that's why I said "can't spoof it". This is Shadowrun, where mysterious forces make pistols as deadly as assault rifles. And I can think of ways to make spoofing very hard given a model where the companies that made comlinks also made the base stations and billed users for usage, which is what SR has.

Project managers may not worry that much about security, but their senior management is very concerned about collecting every damn cent, and the corporate auditors care deeply about possibilities of fraud and misappropriation.

[CanRay]

Which is why there's a budget for overtime. But you still have to keep within a budget.

Hey, look, Deckers and Hackers budget is making sure the Nutrisoy tap is full, and the fridge is full of energy drinks, with the single case of beer to distract the Street Sami when he comes over to watch the illegal feed of Urban Brawl!

[Adam]

Unwired isn't at the printer, but it's awful close. Sorry for the relative silence lately; the BattleTech schedule got jammed up badly and feedback at the GAMA Trade Show was so good about our The Corps fiction anthology that we decided to reprint it quickly, so I've been working like crazy to get that untangled while Jason works on Unwired. Fun times! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Earlydawn]

Is there any estimate for a PDF?

[CanRay]

And a Cost. I want to get PayPal ready for that one!

Be appropriate to buy it on PDF, I think. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Adam]

Is there any estimate for a PDF?

No. As usual, we avoid doing "estimates" on release dates.

It will be priced in line with our other PDFs.