I've only just got my copy of SSG so this is the first time I've seen the final layout. Several mistakes got by me in proof reading my section and I just want to set the record straight:

a) page 74 - Calcutta writeup second paragraph should read "11 million" rather than "10 million" (and those are only the official numbers). [edit - ammended from 100 million]
b) page 79 - Metropole writeup first paragraph should of course read "200 million souls" rather than "20 million".

I'll post more as they come up.

Regarding Calcutta you are correct, I made a mistake when looking at my notes and have ammended my figures above. Calcutta figures in the book are correct considering "official sources". According to some numbers though there are close to 24 million people currently living in the greater Calcutta area and population is growing at a staggering rate of 16% a year as the countryside empties and people move into slums surrounding the city looking for better lives.

Regarding Metropole: As of 2000 Brazil had a total population of 185 million if you believe census figures (UNICEF figures point to closer to 190 million). Even official sources place the population of greater São Paulo in the 40 million range and Rio de Janeiro over 20 million. Factor in vanished Brazilia and Salvador which account for a further 4 million, not to mention all the other major population centers that have gone and the human population that has been pushed into the sprawl by Amazonian growth. For reference sake the Metropole sprawl is more than 300 kms long and 50 kms wide and includes many sub-sprawls.

Shadowrun assumes a population slightly higher than current levels by 2063, despite VITAS and other factors. After all, there have been 40 years to build population levels back since Vitas II and 50 since Vitas I. Given comparative periods of modern history (ie. the last half-century) population values 90-110% of current are extremely plausible.

ahem There is also the earthquake that destroyed Monaco and most of southern France. It happened in 2043, not 2028 (IIRC, I don't have my book with me)

Metroploe's population density looks like an average of 8,000 per square kilometer. Not bad considering Paris was around 24,450 per square kilometer in 1999.

I'd guess it reaches toward the Philippines capital of Manila at 43,205 persons per square kilometer in the sprawls and almost nil in the blank spaces. Just those travelers staring out the train windows as they rocket down the bubble tubes between home and work, or pleasure and business.

I picture a very vertical city almost like a giant castle with towers spiraling skyward set into a cliff of chrome and glass. Peasant villages pressed against the gated walls for protection, filled with loathing and yet need for the monstrous megaplex.

Another picture of Manila, just because.

In in character text under bribing, P70 para 2, "NPC"s are referred to instead of border guards or opposition or some other suitable term.

this one's not errata, I don't think, but still...

P34, Basketball. Reference to the new Sure Shot™ technology basically a smartlink for throwing. no game stats anywhere for it that I can see.

And that's all i found so far!

Grenades for it would be expensive for one-use items...

From all descriptions of it, the "ball" in question isn't modified in any way. It would probably have a slightly higher essence cost because of more tragectory calculations.

you can program launched grenades in SR to explode after travelling a variable number of meters, if you've got a rangefinder and grenade link. i don't see why it'd be difficult or expensive to modify hand grenades to interact with a palm pad in the same manner.

I think 'Smart ball' in shadowbeat gives it away. The ball is obviously modified. Then you have 'Sure Shot' which is cyber. It seems to me that they'd likely be designed to work in conjunction, which yeah, would make grenades very expensive, unless it is a very simple procedure. A palm pad might not give enough predictable contact with a curved surface like a grenade. In a launcher, you can predict where contact will be made, every time. You might have to go with an induction jack or something in a finger which must be held over a certain part of the object for it to work with something you hold in your hand, in which case the grenades would be no more expensive than mini grenades really if we're accepting that they have electronics in them anyway.

Alternatively, the Sure shot system could be a highly specialised skill soft system, designed to calculate for weight of object in the designated 'throwing arm' and trajectory, and consists of some hardwired skillwires and a processing unit, adding dice to the test as opposed to reducing modifiers. Maybe. Its a thought.

Regardless of how it works, I still think it should have specific rules if they're going to mention it like that, with a ™ and everything!

(I think they should have had rules for Vitmo™, too! Even if it just rotted your teeth... "Vitmo: The thirst quenching taste of Beef!" Marvellous.)

*hangs head*

nobody wants to play football with a troll!

Nah, I don't think a Smartball system would be that much more complicated than a Smartlink2 system at all. In fact, you wouldn't require interaction with the ball at all, just a slightly more involved simsense rig to determine the weight of the ball and its current velocity; the Essence costs should IMO be a wash. The processor would work exactly as a SM2 processor would, I think; gravity and wind resistance would naturally be a part of that system's calculations as-is.

Grenades would be a little more complicated. You'd need to bring back the induction pad (+.08-.10 Essence), although the communication with the weapon itself wouldn't have to be very extensive. All you'd need is for the pad to tell the grenade a set amount of time before detonation. I'd also imagine that such a "Smart grenade" wouldn't cost much for a cheap 1-2MP OCC and an induction pad of its own. Maybe 20-30Y? Certainly much much less than a ballistics processor installed in a Smartgun, which has to deal with different types of ammo and likely have sensors to determine the state of the weapon itself. I'd also imagine such Smart Grenades (Smartbombs? ) to be very slightly ergonomically designed--maybe with one or two finger-grooves?--to ensure the pads line up.