From:	ROBERSON@***.EDU
Subject:	Towering Volvo
Date:	Fri, 29 Jan 93 02:41:10 CET

Ah, the focus shifts from mages to riggers as we contemplate the
VCC, assist Minotaur in learning to drive alive, and discuss whether or
not Riggers can run a building or not. I am only going to comment upon that
last element.
To be operated by a Rigger, a vehicle must have a control rig
installed. This rig is essentially a dedicated computer, hooked up to various
systems and sensors throughout the vehicle. The rig takes all of this
information and translates it into sensory input which the Rigger receives
through his VCR. The VCR then allows the Rigger to control the vehicle by
turning signals from his brain into digital commands for various parts of
the vehicle.
A VCR is not required for control, just as a deck is not required to
jack the matrix. However, both are preferable to "doing it naked" because they
streamline the incoming data and make it more presentable to the brain. Without
the computer translating for you, your mind finds itself dealing with a flurry
of images and information that it is simply not accustomed to dealing with.
Thus, while you can operate a vehicle via datajack instead of VCR, it is an
uncomftorable experience and does take some getting used to.
The only requirement for neural control of a vehicle is that the vehicle
be rigged. If there's no input jack, you're out of luck, just as a decker
can't do her thing if there's no computer system lying around.
I've always been under the impression that building systems were
controlled by computer, perhaps an entire SPU devoted to elevator, climate, and
lighting slave nodes.
So the question becomes: What happens when a Rigger plugs into the
Matrix? Without a deck, he'll see the same stream of data anyone else sees
when they jack in naked; with a deck he'll be able to function as a decker
if he has the appropriate skills.
The VCR, remember, is a dedicated computer that translates signals
from automotive systems into sensory data the brain can cope with. That's also
what the UMS default data does for a deck. I posit that VCR data and deck data
are represented differently, using a different protocol, making them
incompatible and thus a Rigger cannot function as a decker as was mentioned
in the letter that started all of this. Unless, of course, the Rigger also
is a Decker or jacks naked.
Of course, if for some reason the building was rigged with a control
rig instead of a computer system, then a Rigger would have no problem. Thus,
it comes down to whether or not you believe a building's controls are
operated by computers or by dedicated machines that don't fall under the
domain of the Matrix. But that is the subject of another letter entirely.
I'll let everyone mull this over and read your responses on the morrow.

J. Roberson

Television is Furniture