Re: Time and place in the breakout novel

In article <s9g822di3kgr7q9ssrkqk4robd8qtbk6uf@xxxxxxx>, Brian Henderson <BrianL.Henderson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

What I need to do is establish that the chip interface can, at least
in theory, get tapped into by a computer system it wasn't designed to
access, which is relatively easy, and explain why the chip, which
logically is going to have some very extensive spam filters, isn't
going to just toss the initially extraneous signals into the bit
bucket. It's that second part, where you have to have at least some
understanding of how the chips function and filter content, that's
throwing me.

But I don't think the reader needs to have any understanding of how the chips
function and filter content. The alien computer mind is different, so filters
designed for another technology won't necessarily stop it. There are also any
number of other reasons why the alien computer mind might not be stopped by
such filters:

- the alien minds are much more deeply enmeshed in their network, and so the
interfaces necessarily operate at a much more involved level and have more
interface/protocol functionality to achieve the connection and that
sidesteps/overcomes the filters.

- the alien minds are much more intelligent and adaptive than the interface
software the humans use, and so they can penetrate such filters more easily.

- the aliens are being incorporated into a hive mind, and some of them may or
may not initially have the desire for that to happen, so the interconnection
to the hive mind is designed to overcome such objections and penetrate
filters.

- the aliens had a rebellion once where a bunch of them were separated from
the hive mind and, once physically rejoined with their confreres, didn't want
to become 'one with the Borg' again, so the interface was enhanced to overcome
such objections and penetrate filters to reincorporate them.

- unlike our human heroes with their static chip technology, the machine minds
are always improving their interfaces because of the increased capabilities
that evolve among their members, so the hive mind interfaces incorporate a lot
of features to accommodate all kinds of revisions, capabilities, prototcols
that have been used and have even been contemplated but not used yet, so their
interface is really adaptive and adapts to the heroes more static one,
treating the filters as a communications obstacle to overcome, the overcoming
of which is rather minor given the computational capabilities they can apply
to it.

- the alien connection actually operates at different frequencies and with
different protocols (gonna be true anyway), and it happens to connect with our
hero not through the normal interface humans use which has all the filters and
such, but through an RF sideband, or through a previously unknown hole in the
protocol, or through tapping into the connection between the interface chip
and the brain rather than through the chip's external interface, etc.

Any of these seem to fit into your scenario, could be explained in a sentence
or two, and I still don't know how the chips function and filter content.
That is, they meet the needs of the story without requiring the infodump.

Now, if you want to include the info on how the chips function and filter
content because you think the spec-tech you figured out is way cool, you need
to go back to my basic adage: "When in doubt, remember: it's the story." When
couldn't get stuff to fit into "Message Received", I chucked it and moved on,
and I chucked a lot. Everything was secondary to TELLING THE STORY.

You can always provide all the cool backstory stuff on your website or your
publisher's boards once the book is out and you have droves of tech-weenies
debating how the chips could work.

Rich Weyand
Working title "Message Received" complete
WIP: untitled sequel
.

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