LAST EDITED ON Nov-05-01 AT 01:37 AM (EST)

(Yeah, well, *YOU* think of a better title.)

"An information engine powerful enough to sort useful patterns out of the news traffic of an entire galaxy?" said Prime. "Even Cybertron doesn't have a system as powerful as that."

Gosh, something like that would have to be the size of a planet. Hmm... Why does that sound familiar. Actually, joking/sarcasm aside, would you mind if I ask just how powerful a computer we're talking here? From what I've read about Durandal (and subsequently Tycho) this sounds like what he was trying to achieve according to Bungie. Anywhen, I've not gotten too far into Triplanetary, so my questions may be redundantly stupid...

What technology is this thing going to be built from?

The Matrix on Gallifrey sounds like it could work. Then there's Yggdrasil, which is reality, which would work. I can think of the Oracle (The one on Cybertron, not Gordon) that might be able to tap this, maybe. Asimov projected theories about computers shunted off into hyperspace which were probably powerful enough. The massivley-parallel-processor that I theorize is Subreality would probably work, but Subreality is neither EPU nor considered a computer by anyone but me. There's the obvious computer, but Zathras works for Washuu...

So, if I may ask: Can anyone offer any kind of white sheets, tech specs, techno-tib-bits (or tid-bytes), or theories about this engine? I am enthralled by the mear idear of it.

Static-Pulse
I suppose it being Kerovia is out of the question anyway...
- the most impulsive post alive
DarkBeast.com

>

>"An information engine powerful enough to sort useful patterns out of
>the news traffic of an entire galaxy?" said Prime. "Even Cybertron
>doesn't have a system as powerful as that."
>

>
>Gosh, something like that would have to be the size of a planet.
>Hmm... Why does that sound familiar. Actually, joking/sarcasm aside,
>would you mind if I ask just how powerful a computer we're talking
>here?

Um... very. It's a big computer. Really big. Very, very big indeed.

I can't do much better than that; we're getting back to that same problem as with the Dyson sphere fold inhibitors. There's a reason I've been trying to avoid going into detail about the tech in UF...

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>Hmm... Why does that sound familiar. Actually, joking/sarcasm aside,
>>would you mind if I ask just how powerful a computer we're talking
>>here?
>
>Um... very. It's a big computer. Really big. Very, very big indeed.
>

"Washuu, could we use your computer to monitor the galaxy?"

"Excuse me?"

"We want to use your computer to analyze all news events and incidents in the galaxy and predict trends so we can counteract them. May we?"

"Do you realize what you're asking? You want me to hand over user access to the collected computer technology of twenty thousand years! You want me to give you access to my deepest secrets! You want me to entrust you with the computing power of a planet!!"

"Um... I didn't know you felt that strongly about-"

"Go ahead."

"-this, I'm sorry for taking- what?"

"Go ahead. The password is 1-2-3-4-5. I got it off an idiot's luggage."

"But what about all your deep mysterious secrets?"

"They're not that deep. Knee-high at most. Have fun, I'm off to do some gene splicing!"

"... this is a very silly story and I refuse to be in it. Where's the scriptwriter??"

"CUT! CUT! CUT!!"

Redneck (my point is, don't worry about how we do it, we -do- it)

Red wizard needs money badly...
www.wlpcomics.com
White Lightning Productions - don't tell the Pope

>Redneck (my point is, don't worry about how we do it, we -do- it)

Not worried, really; I just like to day dream about such things. :)

Static-Pulse
- the most impulsive post alive
DarkBeast.com

>The Matrix on Gallifrey sounds like it could work. Then there's
>Yggdrasil, which is reality, which would work. I can think of the
>Oracle (The one on Cybertron, not Gordon) that might be able to tap
>this, maybe. Asimov projected theories about computers shunted off
>into hyperspace which were probably powerful enough. The
>massivley-parallel-processor that I theorize is Subreality would
>probably work, but Subreality is neither EPU nor considered a computer
>by anyone but me. There's the obvious computer, but Zathras works for
>Washuu...

Yggdrasil is...busy at the moment. Maybe if we built a sister computer...

Sub-ethernet (not Shub-ethernet) exists in EPU; interstellar networks are instantaneous.

My suggestion: take a cue from SETI and start shipping EoJ screensavers. Given the number of sentients (and thus computer users) in the galaxy, using all their unclaimed clock cycles just might be enough...

--rR

>>The Matrix on Gallifrey sounds like it could work. Then there's
>>Yggdrasil, which is reality, which would work. I can think of the
>>Oracle (The one on Cybertron, not Gordon) that might be able to tap
>>this, maybe. Asimov projected theories about computers shunted off
>>into hyperspace which were probably powerful enough. The
>>massivley-parallel-processor that I theorize is Subreality would
>>probably work, but Subreality is neither EPU nor considered a computer
>>by anyone but me. There's the obvious computer, but Zathras works for
>>Washuu...
>
>Yggdrasil is...busy at the moment. Maybe if we built a sister
>computer...
>
>Sub-ethernet (not Shub-ethernet) exists in EPU; interstellar networks
>are instantaneous.
>
>My suggestion: take a cue from SETI and start shipping EoJ
>screensavers. Given the number of sentients (and thus computer users)
>in the galaxy, using all their unclaimed clock cycles just might be
>enough...
>
>--rR

Ummm... is it just me, or arn't these the sorts of things Eve and Vision used to do an a regular basis? At least it seemed like the sort of Rabbit Eve would pull out of her hat on a regular basis. Vision, on the other hand, seems to be having a veritble kick doing an impersonation of a S.OS. (Starship Op Sys)

___________________

Vaughn doesn't know I exist. I guess this explains why the rest of reality keeps ignoring me as well. >_<

>Ummm... is it just me, or arn't these the sorts of things Eve and
>Vision used to do an a regular basis? At least it seemed like the
>sort of Rabbit Eve would pull out of her hat on a regular basis.

Not really. Eve likes to keep an eye on a lot of things at once, but synthesizing all the available information on current events in the known galaxy and distilling it into usable trend maps is probably somewhat beyond her, or at least beyond what she can accomplish comfortably. She has her own life, you know, things to do...

>Vision, on the other hand, seems to be having a veritble kick doing an
>impersonation of a S.OS. (Starship Op Sys)

Lieutenant Commander Vision happens to be the Challenger Information and Communications Systems Officer. She's far more than just the Friendly, Polite Voice of Majel Barrett. :)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>>Ummm... is it just me, or arn't these the sorts of things Eve and
>>Vision used to do an a regular basis? At least it seemed like the
>>sort of Rabbit Eve would pull out of her hat on a regular basis.
>
>Not really. Eve likes to keep an eye on a lot of things at once, but
>synthesizing all the available information on current events in the
>known galaxy and distilling it into usable trend maps is probably
>somewhat beyond her, or at least beyond what she can accomplish
>comfortably. She has her own life, you know, things to do...

>--G.

If she gave out the sort of computer power required to monitor the galaxy, I suspect what was left would make her sound like Gypsy.

--rR

>If she gave out the sort of computer power required to monitor the
>galaxy, I suspect what was left would make her sound like Gypsy.

Durandal would come in *damn* handy here...

Berk Watkins
Student of Quantum Bogodynamics...

>>Vision, on the other hand, seems to be having a veritble kick doing an
>>impersonation of a S.OS. (Starship Op Sys)
>
>Lieutenant Commander Vision happens to be the Challenger
>Information and Communications Systems Officer. She's far more than
>just the Friendly, Polite Voice of Majel Barrett. :)
>

I apologise... I never meant for it to sound like she was acting like a dumb terminal as far as everyone else goes. And anyone who thought that of VISION really needs to go back and start reading about her again.

I&CS. Once again, you (or your alternate self) show a veritable talent for placing people into the perfect jobs for them. I'm certain that Vision considers herself the person who really keeps the ship running, too, given that the IPOSF runs on the same emphasis on ability and getting the job done over military courtesies, etc, that has long been a tradmark of the WDF. Yet another reason why groups like 'Fleet cant stand them. Most of them seem to care less about the cruiser off the starboard bow than the fact that you're hair is touching your collar. ^_^ (Hyperbolie inentional)

___________________

Vaughn doesn't know I exist. I guess this explains why the rest of reality keeps ignoring me as well. >_<

>>The Matrix on Gallifrey sounds like it could work. Then there's
>>Yggdrasil, which is reality, which would work. I can think of the
>>Oracle (The one on Cybertron, not Gordon) that might be able to tap
>>this, maybe. Asimov projected theories about computers shunted off
>>into hyperspace which were probably powerful enough. The
>>massivley-parallel-processor that I theorize is Subreality would
>>probably work, but Subreality is neither EPU nor considered a computer
>>by anyone but me. There's the obvious computer, but Zathras works for
>>Washuu...
>
>Yggdrasil is...busy at the moment. Maybe if we built a sister
>computer...
>
>Sub-ethernet (not Shub-ethernet) exists in EPU; interstellar networks
>are instantaneous.
>
>My suggestion: take a cue from SETI and start shipping EoJ
>screensavers. Given the number of sentients (and thus computer users)
>in the galaxy, using all their unclaimed clock cycles just might be
>enough...

Computer users are sentient?

(I work in tech support. I know them too well.)

Anyway, I'm tempted to suggest asking Ben Aaronovitch if you can borrow God.

(Check out Doctor Who New Adventures: The Also People. God was once asked, "Are you a computer?" He replied to the human: "Are you an amoeba?")
>
>--rR

--
"Eat hot blazing photonic pulse fire, you alien invading human-abducting saucer-alien bastards!" -- Captain of EAS Bellerophon, firing on a Vree cruiser.

>What technology is this thing going to be built from?

It's a really, really big Beowulf cluster, built using surplus Atari consoles from the crash of the early 80's.

(I honestly wish I'd been the first to think of something like this, but these people beat me to it, and I don't have Beowulf on my mind enough anyway.)

-- Sean --

http://www.thebrokenlink.org The Broken Link 4.0 is live!
"All tribal myths are true, for a given value of 'true'." -- Terry Pratchett
Follow my random thoughts
Follow my creative process

LAST EDITED ON Nov-05-01 AT 10:59 PM (EST)

>(I honestly wish I'd been the first to think of something like this,
>but these people beat me to it,
>and I don't have Beowulf on my mind enough anyway.)

How about a Ryo-ohkiwulf -- the first carrot powered Cabbit cluster computer? I can just see it... Tenthousand Cabbits processing the lottery numbers, um, whatever Gryphon needed...

Static-Pulse
- the most impulsive post alive
DarkBeast.com

>
>How about a Ryo-ohkiwulf -- the first carrot powered Cabbit cluster
>computer? I can just see it... Tenthousand Cabbits processing the
>lottery numbers, um, whatever Gryphon needed...
>

"...and run the latest selected GalactiLotto numbers through the standard Crystal Matrix process."

"I've never understood why you do that."

"For some reason, three months of GalactiLotto numbers can be used to generate a leading indicator of the next year's Klingon fashions, which is a leading indicator of unrest in the Romulan Empire..."

Peter Eng
--
who dreams of founding the Electronic Information Extraction and Interpretation Organization, just to say, "Peter Eng, he is a spy, EIEIO..."

>Peter Eng
>--
>who dreams of founding the Electronic Information Extraction and
>Interpretation Organization, just to say, "Peter Eng, he is a spy,
>EIEIO..."

Talk to The Directors about a part in Warrior's Legacy :)

-Z, Archane and Useless Trivia Sponge

---
We are Dyslexic of Borg. Your ass will be laminated.

>>Peter Eng
>>--
>>who dreams of founding the Electronic Information Extraction and
>>Interpretation Organization, just to say, "Peter Eng, he is a spy,
>>EIEIO..."
>
>Talk to The Directors about a part in Warrior's Legacy :)
>
>-Z, Archane and Useless Trivia Sponge
>

Hey, I know perfectly well where I stole the idea of EIEIO as initials for a Government Organization...

Peter Eng
--
Inventing the full name, OTOH, was all fun and games.