Mutual Signal Range, a.k.a. the story of the abandoned game mechanic Options

[suoq]

Disagreed. Normal people don't leave the corporate safe zones. The same people who live off helper apps don't leave the society that the apps are written for. They stay in the enclaves and eat their SoyBoy burgers. I don't believe there's a lot of wageslaves in the Barrens. The wageslaves are where they can get a connection surrounded by their comfort zone.

Once you leave the wageslave comfort zone, you leave the wageslaves and all their nice little Matrix relays. Likewise, if you enter a corporate security zone, you may also lose connection because the rules there may be "No Active Connections for Security Reasons". The same place that doesn't want you cybered or awakened probably doesn't want you decked either. They're all security threats.

[Yerameyahu]

I don't see our statements as incompatible. If normal people don't leave the safe zones… they use Active Mode there. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

That said, I still understand the basic 'normal' level of social life (bars, clubs, etc.) in 2070 to include Active Mode services (basically, Facebook), in the same way that AR is a fundamental part of life. Yes, there's a class that benefits less (even not at all), but even the poor have cell phones.

[Ryu]

See Unwired pg. 53-55 on Data Exchange.

[Sengir]

Why wouldn't they? That should be as sane as checking your ammo and safety. Am I missing something?

A few completely mundane applications: Your ID tag, meeting schedule, short profile so the people you ride the elevator with know who you are. Of course mommy corp will also use this to watch her precious little employees, for their own good. And not just commlinks, everything from light switches to ad boards (do you wish to learn more?) should also run in active mode.

What's also interesting, SR4A says that the routing functionality is separate from the other functions of the device - after all, "hidden" just means that you don't broadcast your presence, not that you maintain radio silence. So depending on whether you give precedence to the advanced book or the newer book, passive and hidden devices do contribute to the mesh.

[Yerameyahu]

Or, of course, the position that Passive meshes, and Hidden doesn't. Still, the fact that you can Detect Hidden Nodes *might* imply that they do (or, instead, that you just listen in for phantom traffic).

[Ascalaphus]

The way Passive is described, it meshes; it merely ignores all the spambots trying to grab your attention.

[suoq]

The way Passive is described, it meshes; it merely ignores all the spambots trying to grab your attention.

Actually it does more than that.

In Active mode, you can both access and be accessed by other PANs, devices, and networks. You give permission for anyone to connect to your commlink and see
what is on it.

Active mode is the home of the clean commlink, the commlink associated with the fake ID you're using right now and without a bunch of software or data that you don't want people to know you're carrying. (If the crunch was there, it's where you would put the software you want people to think you are using. Imagine NOT having Angry Birds loaded on your phone. Those people running software that shows everyone's Angry Bird's score flying over their heads would stare at you like you're a freak or something.)

Passive mode keeps your data secure and that means maintaining your fake ID, appearing to be who you want to appear to be MUCH easier. BUT, your phone is still saying "Here I am!" and if you're not in a enclave, do you really want any device telling everyone within signal range that you're there?