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Mailing List Logs for ShadowRN

Message no. 1
From: Robert Hayden <rahayden@*****.WEEG.UIOWA.EDU>
Subject: Encephalons (another question)
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 92 05:43:40 CET
Hmm, I was just reading up on encephalons and suddenly and had a
startling thought.

Check the Smiling Bandit's comment on the bottom of the page. According
to that, an Encephalon will multitask your cognitive needs. Well, the
word "multitask" stuck in my brain for a moment and I got to thinking....

Could an Encephalon multitask multiple strings of input or output through
more than one datajack?

Real Life parallel:
I have an MSDOS system. It is single task in nature. I can
really only have one thing happening at once. One modem running.

If I install Windows, I can multitask several application (well,
it isn't REALLY multitasking, but I don't want to argue the point). I can
be printing and editing and have had two modems operating at once.

I also have LINUX installed on a partition. This is true
multitasking and have had 30 or 40 processes running at once. Some
compiling, modems modeming, games playing, etc etc.



So, what would happen if I had two datajacks installed, maybe each
with it's own I/O SPU. Could I conceviably be running two things at once?
(heh, run the matrix with TWO or more cyberdecks) Heh, imagine once guy
with 10 datajacks running 10 cyberdecks with 10 "people" in the matrix.

So the question is, is something like that conceivable?


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Robert Hayden | Black holes result | My views do not
rahayden@*****.WEEG.UIOWA.EDU | from God dividing the | reflect the views
AQ650@*********.FREENET.EDU | universe by zero | of my employer.
Message no. 2
From: steven mancini <mancinis@******.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Subject: Re: Encephalons (another question)
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 10:40:37 EST
]
] So, what would happen if I had two datajacks installed, maybe each
] with it's own I/O SPU. Could I conceviably be running two things at once?
] (heh, run the matrix with TWO or more cyberdecks) Heh, imagine once guy
] with 10 datajacks running 10 cyberdecks with 10 "people" in the matrix.
]
] So the question is, is something like that conceivable?
]

>>>>>[ Scuse me if I am off track a bit; computers ain't my big thing. I
have seen 'windows' and don't they usually remain relatively
inactive until you focus on the process in that window. Now I know
you could have a process running there, but your 'sentience' isn't
really occupied with what's going on- kinda like Searle's Box theory
about the Intentionality of.. excuse me, I digress. Anyway, it would
seem that multiple icons in matrix would result in 9 of them in
a frozen and Vulnerable state while the decker's consciousness
was occupied with one of them. Such a decker would also be 10 times
as vulnerable to trace since he would have 10 decks operating from
one locale. The cost of ten decks would be quite a bit, but I
guess if he/she could run 10 icons, money wouldn't be a problem
for this super-decker. Besides, what kinda dump-shock would this
guy take if he was hit one al 10 icons at once and had to jack-out?
yuck!]<<<<<<
-Minotaur(right here/right now)

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| Steve Mancini (a.k.a. The Minotaur) | mancinis@******.cc.purdue.edu |
| Grad Student {Dazed & Confused} | mancinis@**.cc.purdue.edu |
| Political Science Department | phi@****.cc.purdue.edu |
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| "Of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with |
| his blood. Write with blood and thou wilt find that blood is spirit" |
| -Nietzche, Thus Spoke Zarathrustra |
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Message no. 3
From: BOSCHETM@********
Subject: Re: Re: Encephalons (another question)
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 92 14:07:22 EST
>>>>>[If a decker was truely mutlitasking all of his icons would be
functioning
at the same time. Windows is not a mutlitasking system, all it does is task
swapping. If you could truely multitask like this with an Encephalon it would
enable a decker to get several data steals done at the same time.]<<<<<
--Ichneumon <No Time/No Date NA-UCAS-MW REMOTE>
Message no. 4
From: Robert Hayden <rahayden@*****.WEEG.UIOWA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Re: Encephalons (another question)
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 01:50:39 CET
On Wed, 7 Oct 1992, BOSCHETM%IPFWCVAX.bitnet@*****.nic.SURFnet.nl wrote:

>
> >>>>>[If a decker was truely mutlitasking all of his icons would be
functionin
> at the same time. Windows is not a mutlitasking system, all it does is task
> swapping. If you could truely multitask like this with an Encephalon it would
> enable a decker to get several data steals done at the same
time.]<<<<<
> --Ichneumon <No Time/No Date NA-UCAS-MW REMOTE>

Heh, i doubt ANY decker would be silly enough to try to work in windows. :)

My original question was, and still is, is the expert system and CPU on an
encephalon smart and powerful enough to multitask (not task switch) more
than one datajack combination?

It would be my forst instinct that YES, it can, providing you have an I/O
SPU for each datajack to act as an FIFO buffer. But, in order to limit
it to something mortals can handle, lets say you can only have the number
of datajacks equal to the rating of the encelphalon +1. This way, people
without an encephalon can use one datajack, while those with can use multiple.

So, that decker with an Encephalon Mk4 can have 5 datajacks installed AND
WORKING at the same time with NO degradation in speed.

As for the statement that a person could only issue a command to one
process at a time, I have to take issue with that. Accorthing to Shadowtech,
using these can "multitask your congitive needs". I would think, based on
that statement, if you had 5 cyberdecks running, you could control all
five of them in real time. Of course, that costs nuyen, but money is ONLY
money.

Imagine making a run on the Arcology with 3 cyberdecks at the same time
you multitask a process and are playing studpoker with the guys

} Hey guys, i'll bet 200. Gimmie 3 cards. Oh, i just took down a killer
} IC. I'll raise you 50 and call. Hey, a kool datastore, let's see, what
} we have here. Personnel reconds? Hey, full house, beat that guys. Oh
} shit, Black IC!


Comments?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Robert Hayden | Black holes result | My views do not
rahayden@*****.WEEG.UIOWA.EDU | from God dividing the | reflect the views
AQ650@*********.FREENET.EDU | universe by zero | of my employer.

Further Reading

If you enjoyed reading about Encephalons (another question), you may also be interested in:

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Thwap!