From: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu (Richard Pieri/Stainless Steel Rat)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp
Subject: Re: Shadowrun: Controlling magicians
Date: 14 Apr 92 01:40:22 GMT
	<1992Apr9.143305.24786@u.washington.edu>
	<NIGEL.92Apr9172259@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov>
Reply-To: ratinox@meceng.coe.northeastern.edu
Organization: 3WA, Boston Office. Or Nu Meta Chi. Take your pick.
In-reply-to: nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov's message of 9 Apr 92 22:22:59 GMT
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>>>>> On 9 Apr 92 22:22:59 GMT, nigel@rs733.GSFC.NASA.Gov said:

nigel> Hmmm...sorry I wouldn't buy this...then again I decided on something
nigel> similar.  It isn't that the Matrix is a magical phenomenon but that
nigel> the ability (through extremely wide bandwith networking schemes) to
nigel> use the Matrix as a whole with a distributed processing OS is
nigel> extremely powerful.  Tasks can be farmed out to systems with spare CPU
nigel> cycles anywhere on the matrix concurrently.  The only reality no-no is
nigel> the fact that the max data rate in real life is limited to the speed
nigel> of light...but we can ignore that for the pruposes of the game ;-).

This isn't as bogus as you suppose. It's called ``distributed processing''
and is fundamental to operating systems that function under the priciples
of ``Amobea.'' Simply put, you tell your machine to do something. It then
splits the task up into smaller tasks, and sends out querys to other
machines on the network--machines that are free are capable of responding,
and do so. When your machine gets a reply, it tells that remote node to
process a subtask and send the results back.

A similar technique is used in the massively parallel systems being
developed. It's also how your brain works, if you think about it a bit.

nigel> Anyway anyone with real research to do would need this ability to do
nigel> real number crunching real fast...which might explain why all these
nigel> nifty large prime encrytion algorithms don't work in the SR universe.

[stuff about cryption algorythms]

DES has been broken. Any cryption algorythm can, theoretically, be broken,
given enough time.

nigel> Deckers on the other hand may simply be stealing cycles much as
nigel> current day phone thieves operate...which means that the corps have
nigel> even more reason to hunting down deckers...a sucessful run may be
nigel> costing the Matrix as a whole millions in stolen CPU cycles.

Yep! Now *that* makes the most sense of all. CPU time = processing time =
money. Legitimate deckers at large in the Matrix have been paid for by
their corps (or themselves), just like you can rent Internet connections
today. The hackers gain entry/access illegally, sucking up someone else's
CPU time. I like it!

It also brings up a point for having ``black'' research machines linked to
the Matrix. Research into those kinds of things would require truely
massive amounts of processing power, possibly more than the corp could
afford to have in-house. So non-sensitive calculations would be farmed out,
while the secret stuff would be done internally. Makes you think of all
kinds of internal power struggles, as one side says ``isolate us, or we're
vulnerable'' while the other says ``we need the power of the Matrix to do
our research.''

Wow.

--Rat
--
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From: dlc@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Dennis Clark)
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 17:31:42 GMT
Subject: Re: Sex and RPG's - Why Oh Why ?
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA