QUOTE (LurkerOutThere @ Jun 27 2011, 04:49 AM)
So your entire argument is that it will never work because the barrens is a dystopian miasma and nothing will ever change that? Seems rather flimsy to me, a moderately successful gang isn't stupid, and might want a way to make phone calls among their membership. If they are really too stupid to live they will be too stupid to catch the drones. None of that changes that having wireless access in the neighborhood is good in the short term, it allows unlimited access to porn if nothing else.
Basically your working really hard to come up with circular logic reasons why the idea won't fly, when I can just as easily come up with reasons why.
So your argument is there are no such things as ghettos. I'll head down to South Dallas and let everyone know. They'll be thrilled.
People who have been rejected by society aren't stupid for living for the here and now over the long term, they simply have no choice. Gangs don't need a mesh network, they need food, bullets and drugs. It doesn't make sense to let your city decay, but it doesn't make sense to drop out of high school your senior year either, which is when most people do it. It doesn't make sense to destroy your own neighborhood in a riot, but Spike Lee called that doing the right thing.
Urban renewal is expensive and long term. In order to keep that drone in the air, you need some type of order and order doesn't exist in the Barrens. Lone Star won't provide it and the nature of a go gang doesn't allow it.
Even if everything goes right and the Barrens start getting better, what you get is gentrification. As the neighborhood starts getting nicer, the people who grew up there can't afford to live there anymore and the Barrens just moves to a different part of the city.
I'm not trying to come up with reasons why it won't fly, I'm telling you why it doesn't. There is little Matrix coverage in the Barrens. You don't know why. I'm telling you why. You can ignore explanations at your own peril.
Poverty doesn't make sense, but it does exist.
QUOTE (Redjack @ Jun 27 2011, 07:52 AM)
Appreciate the response but....
This seems to be a function already provided by any node in a mesh network. I guess I am expecting it to be something more by way of definition....
EDIT: Now I see the table has ratings for both the laser link & directional antenna, though the text neither mentions either, nor any affects of variant ratings. The lack of errata is frustrating..
There are some places that don't have a mesh network, like the Barrens or the Mojave desert. If your team of runners is trying to clip telesma from Joshua trees and you need to stay in communication over miles, this is probably the way to go.
It also helps for creating mutual signal range to things for which you may need a direct subscription, like slaved devices.
The text mentions what the ratings for both the directional antenna and laser transmitter are(4 and 3, respectively.)
The rating of the directional antenna determines it's Signal rating, as described on p. 199 of
Unwired.
The rating of the Laser Link determines it's Signal Rating. If the Laser Link in
Arsenal has a range of 100m and it is a Rating 2 Laser Link, Rating equals Signal. This Signal is degraded due to visibility modifiers such as fog and smoke.
There is no errata needed for this device.
