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Message no. 1
From: Nexx <nexx@********.NET>
Subject: Datajacks, Artificial Arms, and the Rigger\Decker
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 08:49:07 -0500
According to R2, a rigger needs to get his jack installed behind his ear,
closer to the middle brain, because of how his stuff works. If he also
wants to deck (or do most things that would require a datajack, I'd
imagine), he has to get a second one, up on the temple.

But what if he has a fingertip datajack? Can he opt to have it switch
back and forth (a free action to switch between the two connections), does
he need to get two fingers replaced with datajacks... What?

***************
Rev. Mark Hall, Bard to the Lady Mari
aka Pope Nexx Many-Scars
*
The place to improve the world is in one's own heart and head and hands,
and then work outward from there. Other people talk about how to expand
the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a
motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value.
-Robert Pirsig, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
Message no. 2
From: David Foster <fixer@*******.TLH.FL.US>
Subject: Re: Datajacks, Artificial Arms, and the Rigger\Decker
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 10:37:10 -0400
On Fri, 11 Sep 1998, Nexx wrote:

->According to R2, a rigger needs to get his jack installed behind his ear,
->closer to the middle brain, because of how his stuff works. If he also
->wants to deck (or do most things that would require a datajack, I'd
->imagine), he has to get a second one, up on the temple.
->
->But what if he has a fingertip datajack? Can he opt to have it switch
->back and forth (a free action to switch between the two connections), does
->he need to get two fingers replaced with datajacks... What?

I'd say the R2 portion is incorrect. I know I'm saying a book is
wrong but hear me out here. According to the fingertip datajack portion,
it does not cause any additional essence loss to run the wires from your
brain, down your neck, across your body, own your arm, to your finger to
put a datajack in than it does to put the datajack in your head. That
being the case, you could feasibly put a datajack anywhere on the torso,
neck or skull for an equal or lesser amount of wiring. That being the
case, your rigger datajack (the connections would be different for a
rigger datajack than for a normal datajack, so different datajacks would
be needed to each activity) wouldn't have to be behind the ear.
Just to contradict myself, the fingertip datajacks may be
restricted to NON-rigger functions, but not stated as such in
Cybertechnology. Either way, one or the other books isn't telling us
everything.

Fixer --------------} The easy I do before breakfast,
the difficult I do all day long,
the impossible only during the week,
and miracles performed on an as-needed basis....

Now tell me, what was your problem?
Message no. 3
From: Sommers <sommers@*****.UMICH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Datajacks, Artificial Arms, and the Rigger\Decker
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 10:53:48 -0400
At 10:37 AM 9/11/98 -0400, Fixer wrote:
>On Fri, 11 Sep 1998, Nexx wrote:
>
>->According to R2, a rigger needs to get his jack installed behind his ear,
>->closer to the middle brain, because of how his stuff works. If he also
>->wants to deck (or do most things that would require a datajack, I'd
>->imagine), he has to get a second one, up on the temple.
>->
>->But what if he has a fingertip datajack? Can he opt to have it switch
>->back and forth (a free action to switch between the two connections), does
>->he need to get two fingers replaced with datajacks... What?
>
> I'd say the R2 portion is incorrect. I know I'm saying a book is
>wrong but hear me out here. According to the fingertip datajack portion,
>it does not cause any additional essence loss to run the wires from your
>brain, down your neck, across your body, own your arm, to your finger to
>put a datajack in than it does to put the datajack in your head. That
>being the case, you could feasibly put a datajack anywhere on the torso,
>neck or skull for an equal or lesser amount of wiring. That being the
>case, your rigger datajack (the connections would be different for a
>rigger datajack than for a normal datajack, so different datajacks would
>be needed to each activity) wouldn't have to be behind the ear.

Actually, neither one of them have to be incorrect. In R2 it says that the
decker's (and presumably most) datajacks are connected to the upper parts
of the brain. The rigger datajack to the VCR is behind the ear, connected
to the base of the brain (the medula oblongata I believe). And
Cybertechnology says that fingertip datajack does not cause any extra
essence loss for the wiring going from the brain down to the finger.

IMHO, the important part is where the datajack hooks into the brain. It
makes sense, the way its written, that the regular jack has to go into the
upper brain and the rigger jack has to go in the lower. I think that most
people can agree on that. So its a question of where the jack end is
located, ie where you can plug in.

Now the wiring doesn't cost any extra essence, and cost of the wire itself
should be negligible. But the time to operate, not to mention having to
operate on other parts of the body, does make the surgery more difficult
and possibly dangerous. I've always been told by doctors that in surgery
you try to make it as quick as possible to reduce complications. So if you
already have the guys head open to put the brain link at the base of the
skull, why open up another part to put his jack on his forehead? Its easier
to put it right there.

So for any kind of jack, the default is placing it where its wired into the
brain. Anything extra is just what instructions you give to the doctor on
placement.

Sommers
Home page to eventually be installed in this location.
Actual date is Real Soon Now (tm)!
Message no. 4
From: Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Datajacks, Artificial Arms, and the Rigger\Decker
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 15:13:12 -0400
At 10:53 AM 9/11/98 -0400, you wrote:

>Actually, neither one of them have to be incorrect. In R2 it says that the
>decker's (and presumably most) datajacks are connected to the upper parts
>of the brain. The rigger datajack to the VCR is behind the ear, connected
>to the base of the brain (the medula oblongata I believe). And
>Cybertechnology says that fingertip datajack does not cause any extra
>essence loss for the wiring going from the brain down to the finger.

Actually, a rigger jack doesn't *have* to be at the base of the skull. It
can be nearly anywhere. It's just that it's likely easier and more
efficient (at least for the implantation surgeons) to implant the datajack
as close to the part of the brain being wired to. Less work on their part
since they don't have run the wires or whatever from a toe datajack up to
the frontal lobe.

Erik J.

Looking forward to sleeping the entire weekend...
Message no. 5
From: Alex van der Kleut <sommers@*****.UMICH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Datajacks, Artificial Arms, and the Rigger\Decker
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 15:50:32 -0400
At 03:13 PM 9/11/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Actually, a rigger jack doesn't *have* to be at the base of the skull. It
>can be nearly anywhere. It's just that it's likely easier and more
>efficient (at least for the implantation surgeons) to implant the datajack
>as close to the part of the brain being wired to. Less work on their part
>since they don't have run the wires or whatever from a toe datajack up to
>the frontal lobe.

Which is the point that I was trying to make, although not as successfully
as I might have liked I guess. The reason that you put a rigger jack behind
the ear is because that's the part of the brain that you're attaching it
to. Why run the extra wire for no reason?

Guess great minds think alike, huh? :)

>Erik J.
>
>Looking forward to sleeping the entire weekend...

Sleep is for the weak! Why aren't you running all wekend? ;)
Message no. 6
From: Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Datajacks, Artificial Arms, and the Rigger\Decker
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 16:34:54 -0400
At 03:50 PM 9/11/98 -0400, you wrote:

>Which is the point that I was trying to make, although not as successfully
>as I might have liked I guess. The reason that you put a rigger jack behind
>the ear is because that's the part of the brain that you're attaching it
>to. Why run the extra wire for no reason?

Perhaps you did, I hadn't been paying close attention to this thread honestly.

>Guess great minds think alike, huh? :)

I'm beginning to think that "great minds" simply think.

>>Looking forward to sleeping the entire weekend...
>
>Sleep is for the weak! Why aren't you running all wekend? ;)

I actually cancelled my regular game this weekend...I'm just too run-down,
my voice is only just now coming back and I've been ill the last several
days...I badly need time off, so I'm taking it this weekend. About two
months non-stop finally caught up with me.

Oh well, one off-week and one hermit-like weekend is a small price to pay
for two great months and a fantastic weekend.

Erik J.


http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/dungeon/480/index.html
The Reality Check for a Fictional World
Message no. 7
From: "D. Ghost" <dghost@****.COM>
Subject: Re: Datajacks, Artificial Arms, and the Rigger\Decker
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1998 00:38:42 -0500
On Fri, 11 Sep 1998 15:50:32 -0400 Alex van der Kleut
<sommers@*****.UMICH.EDU> writes:
>At 03:13 PM 9/11/98 -0400, you wrote:
>>Actually, a rigger jack doesn't *have* to be at the base of the skull.
It
>>can be nearly anywhere. It's just that it's likely easier and more
>>efficient (at least for the implantation surgeons) to implant the
datajack
>>as close to the part of the brain being wired to. Less work on their
part
>>since they don't have run the wires or whatever from a toe datajack up
to
>>the frontal lobe.

>Which is the point that I was trying to make, although not as
successfully
>as I might have liked I guess. The reason that you put a rigger jack
behind
>the ear is because that's the part of the brain that you're attaching it
>to. Why run the extra wire for no reason?
>
>Guess great minds think alike, huh? :)

>>Erik J.
<SNIP>

Why does the Rigger jack have to be connected differently than the Decker
jack? I mean, doesn't the cyberdeck override the CNS's motorcontrol and
route all (or most) motor commands into the deck for controlling the
persona? IOW, to access the node to the left of you, do you walk left or
think "access node left of me?"

To simplify arguments, let's assume, at least initially, that we are
speaking about a Hot Deck with or without a Reality Filter.

D. Ghost
(aka Pixel, Tantrum, RuPixel)
o/` Trideo killed the Video Star ... o/`

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Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Datajacks, Artificial Arms, and the Rigger\\Decker, you may also be interested in:

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These messages were posted a long time ago on a mailing list far, far away. The copyright to their contents probably lies with the original authors of the individual messages, but since they were published in an electronic forum that anyone could subscribe to, and the logs were available to subscribers and most likely non-subscribers as well, it's felt that re-publishing them here is a kind of public service.

Thwap!