| From: | "David Loewenstern, Bell Labs, |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Hmmm |
| Date: | Mon, 30 Aug 1993 11:20:56 EDT |
}>>>>> "WTI" == Weird Thoughts Inc
}>>>>> <MKNABUSCH%ALBION.bitnet@*****.nic.SURFnet.nl> writes:
}WTI> Its still the tried and true standard SmartLink but with
}WTI> an added feature. For just a few duckets more, a small but
}WTI> powerful magnet will be added to the palmlink as well as the guns
}WTI> grips. Now this sounds kinda dumb at first.
} * A magnet? One, the magnet will mess up the electrical signal of a
} smartlink (put a stereo speaker next to your TV some time and see
} what happens :-).
I'd be really shocked (so to speak) if they were using electricity to
carry signals in 2050. Since chips in SR are light-based, not
electricity-based, I'd expect the wiring to be fiber-optic, not
electric coax cable.
} Two, most firearms in 2050 have a significant
} amount of plastic in their construction. That's got to be a pretty
} powerful magnet in order to pull a handgun out of a holster.
Or conversely, for this method to work, either:
1. The gun must be mostly ferromagnetic, making detection _really_ easy, or
2. A smartlink is required in your underarm, so the matching
electromagnet in the gun can be activated when the gun is drawn.
} Third,
} better hope that there aren't any steel beams, car doors, etc., in
} the vicinity or your hand's gonna make a bee-line for them faster
} then the gun pops out.
Depends on the range of the magnet. It follows the square law (force
fades off as the square of the distance). Yes, if your hand is next
to some big hunk of steel, you'll smash your hand against it. But I
thought that only antiques are made out of steel these days.
} * Woudln't it be easier, and more effective, to make a spring-loaded
} holster? Equally quick, and far more Essence friendly :-).
It doesn't have the panache of the gun flying into your hand, though.
It also won't work on anything too big to fit into a forearm holster.
I prefer the "memory-metal" method that someone else suggested earlier.
Of course, if you want it done right, get a mage to put together the
appropriate "magic fingers" spell anchor. Essence-friendly, wonderful
style, much better range, and a steal at only about (off the top of my
head) 60KY or so.
-- Quincunx <loewenst@****.rutgers.edu>
