The Galaxy Tales - Dirk B. (Page 10 of 49)

Hmm. He has X amount of time left. Provided that air loss continues at a constant rate and that no loose objects (or people) plug the hole and restrict the air loss. The AI made a prediction based on the information it had. The prediction was not mathematical certanity but a guess based on information the AI had at the time (eg: what if one occupant died earlier than expected leaving more air for the others?)

I mean if during a drive to Vancouver (ew!), my AI predicted my fuel would run out in four minutes but it lasted eight, I'd think it was off by fifty percent due to reasons outside its control (temperature, expansion of the pipes, bad sensors, squirrels in the gas tank). The ratio is too low to be a miracle. When I reach my destination, I'll hardly emerge a born-again Christian.

if you want a miracle-in-doubt I recommend you give it a really long time. Like four hours. They get rescued. The leak is still there. The ship's oxygen tanks are empty as the AI said. It's clear the AI's calculation of death -- no matter how affected by outside factors -- is valid

I'm trying to keep Apollo in the game here, not cuddling with Aphrodite for 4 hours.

I'm claiming that a *properly functioning* AI can:
a) Measure and report the rate of air loss using 41st century technology. I assume you'll give me that one.
b) Can *estimate* how much air it takes for four average humans to remain conscious in a room the size of a raider. This would be a simple database lookup/calculation. No active measuring required. Apollo says "about 3 minutes". I made it imprecise on purpose.
c) Can calculate how long until 0 air (certain death to humans) using the same tech as in item a) above.
d) Can calculate what the *minimum* time is to get towed into the Marcus Decianus and repressurized from zero. It requires knowing how fast two ships are approaching each other (sensors), how long to tow the raider inside (tractor beam math 101), and how long to repressurize a raider (a known quantity for raiders since they pressurize/depressurize in combat all the time). It's a little complex, but if we can nudge a satellite into the orbit of a fast-moving planet millions of miles away, then it should be a piece of cake.

Now, let's look at variables. There aren't many.

The big one is rate of air loss. Did the cushion slip position and result in a *better* job of reducing air loss? Perhaps, but the sucking action of outer space means there's very little chance the cushion moved. Maybe I have my science wrong; wouldn't be the first time. If I'm right, then Apollo (correctly) ignores the possibility of a change in the rate of air loss.

Another variable is the speed of the Decianus in getting the raider aboard. The AI is calculating the *minimum* time required, based on the speed of the two approaching ships, and the fastest course the Decianus could take to position itself with the tractor beam. It could take longer, in which case the size of the miracle goes up. If it takes less than seven minutes, then there is no miracle. I'll work on that when my head isn't fried.

If the information is accurate, then you've eliminated the 'machine error' option. That leaves a few possibilities.

What you have to help me with is whether or not a real miracle occurs. If it is a miracle, then you don't need to think about how they evaded death. A miracle occurred. Done.

Or think of this like a wild card. Or a magic trick. The kids are alive because something changed a variable that the computer assumes is constant.

1) Amount of air (something supplements the oxygen...a breached O2 tank. Or a storage bin that opens because the loss of pressure makes the seal crack. Or a chemical reaction that releases O2.
2) amount and rate of pressure loss. Perhaps the cabin is larger than calculated because there is a lot of cargo that isn't inside. Maybe the hole plugs briefly with something that is sucked out into space. Maybe the pressure was greater inside the cabin than the AI knew about.
3) number of people in the room. This sounds whacky, but let's roll with it. If someone who had cyborg implants was counted as using up air and actually didn't need as much as expected, then the miracle happens because the computer didn't factor in a variable that it didn't know about.

Magic tricks work because you see a set of constants, think that your eyes can be trusted, yet there is information being withheld.

Here is the key question...What information are you going to withhold from 41st century technology?

Does the damage to the ship rupture the sewage feeds and the hole gets patched by pee or coolant that freezes on the cold side of the ship? Then the ship slowly rotates into the sun, the liquid plug evaporates and releases more air. Then goes back into shadow and plugs again? If the rescuers arrive and stabilize the rolling, they might never know the reason the kids survived. If the hole was tiny, they aren't going to go around and be all CSI on the spaceship to analyze the miracle.

You know, that isn't bad. I think I just surprised myself and thought all techie. (shakes head)  Brain freeze!

Um, no. I finally remembered why the whole thing works (without pee):

According to the AI, they'll be unconscious in 3 minutes, dead in 5, and rescued in 10, which means 5 minutes in a vacuum. The AI is counting down from 10 minutes. When it gets down to 8 minutes, it dies completely. That means they will be unconscious in about 1 minute (3 - 2 minutes). If I'm awake long after 1 minute, I know we have an AI error (I assume any reasonably intelligent human can tell the difference between sitting for 1 minute vs. sitting for say 3 minutes without looking at a clock). No one onboard the raider questions that they were awake longer than 1 minute after the AI died, so the AI was essentially correct with its first estimate ("about" 3 minutes). Once they're unconscious, the other two variables don't matter. They died "whenever" and were rescued "whenever + ?". Apollo's heart had to be restarted, which is consistent with the AI's prediction that they would die before being rescued. Apollo also showed signs of decompression sickness, which is consistent with the AI's third prediction that they would be exposed to vacuum before being rescued. The doctor tells him you can only survive a vacuum for two minutes. NOW Apollo has reason to question how long he was dead/exposed to vacuum. God had told him that He would slow down time in the raider after everyone aboard was unconscious. Since the AI is dead, Apollo has no way to check the validity of the 2nd and 3rd estimates.

Based on all this, he either has a computer error or a miracle, and he'll never know for certain which it is. One important coincidence is that the AI died immediately before the supposed miracle.

Now go away.

I'm getting ready for the 3rd draft of the book. I was wondering what people think about the smartwatches (swatches)? Should I convert them into contact lenses? If so, I'd also need an earpiece, a microphone, and a speaker. Not sure how bad the effect would be if a contact lense starts broadcasting from the eyeball. That's gotta feel very weird/uncomfortable.

Second question, should I introduce nanoids into the story? Can't recall all the places where I might be able to use them to replace simpler tech as currently written. A good one would be for medical purposes, as K does in his story. Terraforming? Automobile recycling plant (instead of genetically engineered bacteria)?

Thanks
Dirk

Any thoughts about the contacts vs. swatches?

I'm leaning toward swatches, since they're an all-in-one device (video in/out and audio in/out). I could potentially add 3D video to the swatches. I used to have that, but thought it was silly because simple arm movements would throw off the image, but maybe that's not such a big deal, or I could claim software adjusts to hold the picture steady. Requires explaining.

Currently, I use 3D for a holo movie, dining table centerpieces, and the display table in the War Room. In each case, there is an underlying projector, so contacts struck me as unnecessary so far.

That said, the only real limitation to contact lenses is audio out because of the vibrations against the eyeball. Any ideas on how best to address that? I could have the contacts transmit audio out digitally to a wireless speaker mounted on the head. Meh.

Thanks, Janet. Behind the ears is better than glued to the head. Let me see what the rest of our little clique had to add.

There's only one love interest in the story, and she's a total doormat in v2. Next draft I plan to make her into a stronger character, plus a bit of a slut. She's the pursuer and Apollo is the pursued.

Amy, thanks for your input.

Nuts. Just when I thought I found a great name for personal AI (swatch), somebody holds the copyright. Ditto for ewatch.
I tried virtual typing in the air/on my desk and it's not too bad.
The video of self isn't a problem as long as someone else (Paul) is there to film him. Not being able to film oneself is a weakness of the contacts. It prevents Joseph from taking pictures of himself in prison. Perhaps he can film himself by taking the lens out and turning toward himself. Meh. He also needs to film himself while sliding toward the cremation furnace in prison. He uses the footage to claim he his the Messiah.
The implants shouldn't be a problem. Without the contact lenses, the implants are useless.
The cochlear implants I've seen in pictures are quite complicated, but I can reduce most of it to fit inside a contact lens.

One other possibility is awatch, which is short for Acme Watch (Acme is my major supplier of all kinds of tech, delivered by Mama's Little Shipping.

Following are possible names for futuristic smartwatches: The word wise would be used sparingly. The smartwatches would generally be referred to by the second part of the names below:

wisewatch
wisechrono
wiseticker
wise timekeeper
wise doitall (or wise do-it-all for easy reading)
wise doohickey
wise doodad
wise gadget
wise thing (or wisething)
wise gizmo
wise thinker
wise thingamajig

I kind of like wisething and thingamajig because they're slightly tongue in cheek, which fits the nature of the book. I could also say silly stuff like: Joseph looked at his thing.

Why not both? I have contacts, wrist devices, glasses, hair dongles, tiaras, shoes, ocular implants, and I'm sure I'll have five or six more by the end of this draft. Or are you saying that there's going to be a massive technological convergence in the future?

How's about "watch". Of the category of watch could be watches by different companies such as the Swatch, the Galaxiwatch and the Pepsi-watch. It sounds like you're trying to name all the devices under one trademark, which would be uncommon for a free trade society (you wouldn't want a communications monopoly - that could get ugly).

Ok, then you should nix the contacts. A simpler backdrop allows you a more complex foreground of the descent into possible madness. Take a page out of Janet's book: sometimes a windmill really is just a random here-to-fore unimportant windmill. This puts the spotlight on the characters rather than the tech

Speaking of nixing tech, did Voyager ever have any holodecks?

Hmm this is a legitimate problem. Even numbing the eye, the vibration would still cause vision fluctuation. I also bet you'd get a lot of retinal detachment cases because that pesky thing can come loose for much less provocation.

option a) audio comes from the nearest loudspeaker == audio party line

(Note: This is what I currently use. When Laurie is in the taxi, she has full audio (via the taxi's speakers). The moment she leaves the taxi, she's down to video with subtitles and/or texting. She could speak after that, but everyone around would hear her side of the conversation.)

option b) contacts paired with ear buds

option c) go old school and have flickering Star Wars style holograms. Have people connect via protocol droids instead of hald-held technology (btw why oh why do Star Wars droids need to speak to each other? Don't they come equipeed with Wifi?)