Honorverse ramblings and musings

kzt wrote:I tend to think that 3000 years of faster processors and better pattern recognition algorithms will probably produce at least some significant degree of improvement.

So yeah, the fact that something is today pretty much within our grasp if we applied a focused development effort to it means that the only reason this doesn't exist in an essentially COTS system is plot armor.

You are probably right. But as I said, I hope it won't take three millenia. We could really use the tech now. There are some deaf people in my circles, and it breaks my heart to see them a bit cut off. As I mentioned some time ago, my niece's best friend is deaf and they sign to each other like two music conductors. The girl loves my niece and we her. But many in her own family cannot sign. The good thing is that this genius of a young girl can read lips like magic.

cthia wrote:

kzt wrote:I tend to think that 3000 years of faster processors and better pattern recognition algorithms will probably produce at least some significant degree of improvement.

So yeah, the fact that something is today pretty much within our grasp if we applied a focused development effort to it means that the only reason this doesn't exist in an essentially COTS system is plot armor.

You are probably right. But as I said, I hope it won't take three millenia. We could really use the tech now. There are some deaf people in my circles, and it breaks my heart to see them a bit cut off. As I mentioned some time ago, my niece's best friend is deaf and they sign to each other like two music conductors. The girl loves my niece and we her. But many in her own family cannot sign. The good thing is that this genius of a young girl can read lips like magic.

I went to school with a pair of twins who were deaf but could read lips. They were old enough when they went deaf that they could still speak because they could feel the vibrations of their vocal cords.

In my line of volunteer work I often come in contact with families with special needs kids. Quite often they move close to each other creating support groups quite often in the same apartment complex to help ease burdens imparted by special needs and to provide a support structure. I have no idea if the child in question can get an implant, but they do exist for deaf people depending on the situation. Generally they want the recipient older though so children quite often are exempted.

We all have handicaps, just some are a bit more apparent than others. We all adapt. Us "normals" simply hide our handicaps and pretend they do not exist.

Cauldron of Ghosts

She raised her head again, just enough to give her two companions a ferocious glare. “What I do give a damn about is that I don’t want that chiseling scumbag landlord pocketing the money—which is what he did with Farouz’s remains. So when I die, keep it a secret from the shithead. Cut me up yourselves—the bathtub’s one of the few things in this dump that works—and freeze the parts. Then sell what you can.”

Anyone else think Weber is a genius in being able to see the ramifications of certain breakthroughs in medical science?

Although this passage is rather grotesque, I'm sure it is a reality. How many people may be murdered just to sell their parts. It reminds me of people burglarizing more and more visible sights to obtain copper - schools, businesses, etc. The copper epidemic - a new form of gold rush? It seems nothing is sacred. Apply that same mentality in the future and body parts have become the new copper. Damn. Humanity can be quite disgusting. I've heard of a high school football game being canceled because when they went to turn on the lights on the field they realized they had no power. Yards of copper wiring had been stolen.

It has gone from the stealing of cars for parts - to businesses and infrastructure for copper. And in the Honorverse, the human body has become the new source of bathroom chop-shops. Unbelievable.

Once upon a time, I used to be embarrassed that my parents drove their spaceship here to Earth and when we landed to fix a flat, I wandered off into the nearby woods and was inadvertently left (I think inadvertently ) but I'm no longer embarrassed of not being human. You carbon based life forms are disgusting.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/

OrlandoNative wrote:Actually, when I said "people haven't even thought of it", I didn't actually mean here in the forums, I meant in the text. There wasn't even a suggestion that it might be possible. And that seemed strange, given it was Honor conversing with Rabenstrange and *one* of the dispersed treecat colonies was on her own property on Grayson.

Yeah, I did understand that you meant in the text. I just wanted to bring out that the concept has been discussed here.

Oh, by the way, the other dispersed treecat colony is also on Honor's own property--on Gryphon.

I really would have expected something on the order of "I don't think any unbonded treecat would do very well that far from it's clan, UNLESS THEY CAN ESTABLISH A COLONY THERE LIKE THEY HAVE ON GRAYSON." for example. Even Nimitz didn't suggest it via sign; and he was involved in setting up the first one. It's like the whole concept had been forgotten by the author. Of course, maybe it had.

I don't see why you assume that treecat bodyguards would not do well without a colony. I think the reason that it wasn't mentioned in that discussion is because the treecats had already said they were willing to become bodyguards in the Anderman Empire. I don't think Honor or anyone else would assume they could get treecats to be Anderman bodyguards unless the treecats had already said they would. And if the treecats say they can be bodyguards in Andermani space, why should anyone doubt their ability to do so?

I think it is up to the treecats themselves to suggest a colony if they want one.

cthia wrote:Anyone else think Weber is a genius in being able to see the ramifications of certain breakthroughs in medical science?

Although this passage is rather grotesque, I'm sure it is a reality. How many people may be murdered just to sell their parts. It reminds me of people burglarizing more and more visible sights to obtain copper - schools, businesses, etc. The copper epidemic - a new form of gold rush? It seems nothing is sacred. Apply that same mentality in the future and body parts have become the new copper. Damn. Humanity can be quite disgusting. I've heard of a high school football game being canceled because when they went to turn on the lights on the field they realized they had no power. Yards of copper wiring had been stolen.

It has gone from the stealing of cars for parts - to businesses and infrastructure for copper. And in the Honorverse, the human body has become the new source of bathroom chop-shops. Unbelievable.

Once upon a time, I used to be embarrassed that my parents drove their spaceship here to Earth and when we landed to fix a flat, I wandered off into the nearby woods and was inadvertently left (I think inadvertently ) but I'm no longer embarrassed of not being human. You carbon based life forms are disgusting.

There are the old 'friend of a friend' tales about the guy getting drunk with a group of strangers and waking up the next morning with his kidney removed, and some (IIRC, not fully validated) stories of people in poorer counties selling (or have them being sold) parts of their bodies, so it is nothing new.

And as much as I admire the MWW, it's an idea that did not start with him. Read some of the stories by Larry Niven, especially the Gil "the ARM" Hamilton, about a near future where the need for transplants outstrips the legitimate supply. Quite disturbing in its' way.

Niven even coined the term for it...Organleggers.

Hutch wrote:

cthia wrote:
Anyone else think Weber is a genius in being able to see the ramifications of certain breakthroughs in medical science?

Although this passage is rather grotesque, I'm sure it is a reality. How many people may be murdered just to sell their parts. It reminds me of people burglarizing more and more visible sights to obtain copper - schools, businesses, etc. The copper epidemic - a new form of gold rush? It seems nothing is sacred. Apply that same mentality in the future and body parts have become the new copper. Damn. Humanity can be quite disgusting. I've heard of a high school football game being canceled because when they went to turn on the lights on the field they realized they had no power. Yards of copper wiring had been stolen.

It has gone from the stealing of cars for parts - to businesses and infrastructure for copper. And in the Honorverse, the human body has become the new source of bathroom chop-shops. Unbelievable.

Once upon a time, I used to be embarrassed that my parents drove their spaceship here to Earth and when we landed to fix a flat, I wandered off into the nearby woods and was inadvertently left (I think inadvertently ) but I'm no longer embarrassed of not being human. You carbon based life forms are disgusting.

There are the old 'friend of a friend' tales about the guy getting drunk with a group of strangers and waking up the next morning with his kidney removed, and some (IIRC, not fully validated) stories of people in poorer counties selling (or have them being sold) parts of their bodies, so it is nothing new.

And as much as I admire the MWW, it's an idea that did not start with him. Read some of the stories by Larry Niven, especially the Gil "the ARM" Hamilton, about a near future where the need for transplants outstrips the legitimate supply. Quite disturbing in its' way.

Niven even coined the term for it...Organleggers.

Trust me Hutch. It's quite new to ME! You're talking to a guy that had to have special allowances made for him in advanced biology. Dissecting a cat, "BAM!" What was that? Oh that was just a 195 lb quarterback hitting the phucking floor, passed out from watching "THE filmstrip," of open heart surgery and the beating of a guys heart while opened up like a can of sardines.

So I don't do those type movies or books. I'll toss them first descriptive paragraph. I'm here with my head threatening my desk now from this one exchange.

I don't do blood and gore. I don't do possessions. I've never watched "The Exorcist" all the way through, let alone the special edition. I was talked into it the first time - my silly ass! And what the hell was Linda Blair's problem? Will somebody just slap that bitch already! Little wonder that most everyone from that movie is now DEAD I've heard. And she was in therapy! GO FIGURE!

Organleggers? Unphuckingbelievable.

Uh, I'll pass. I'm more of a hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, hold the organs kind of guy. And I don't care for Klingon bloodpie either.

Yes, I'm a wimp. Heard it from family members all of my life.

My niece teases "It's just blood uncle."

NO IT ISN'T. It's MY blood. After my knees grow weak, buckle, and I topple over splitting my head on the nearest sharp object!

cthia wrote:There are the old 'friend of a friend' tales about the guy getting drunk with a group of strangers and waking up the next morning with his kidney removed, and some (IIRC, not fully validated) stories of people in poorer counties selling (or have them being sold) parts of their bodies, so it is nothing new.

And as much as I admire the MWW, it's an idea that did not start with him. Read some of the stories by Larry Niven, especially the Gil "the ARM" Hamilton, about a near future where the need for transplants outstrips the legitimate supply. Quite disturbing in its' way.

Niven even coined the term for it...Organleggers.

Trust me Hutch. It's quite new to ME! You're talking to a guy that had to have special allowances made for him in advanced biology. Dissecting a cat, "BAM!" What was that? Oh that was just a 195 lb quarterback hitting the phucking floor, passed out from watching "THE filmstrip," of open heart surgery and the beating of a guys heart while opened up like a can of sardines.

So I don't do those type movies or books. I'll toss them first descriptive paragraph. I'm here with my head threatening my desk now from this one exchange.

I don't do blood and gore. I don't do possessions. I've never watched "The Exorcist" all the way through, let alone the special edition. I was talked into it the first time - my silly ass! And what the hell was Linda Blair's problem? Will somebody just slap that bitch already! Little wonder that most everyone from that movie is now DEAD I've heard. And she was in therapy! GO FIGURE!

Organleggers? Unphuckingbelievable.

Uh, I'll pass. I'm more of a hold the pickle, hold the lettuce, hold the organs kind of guy. And I don't care for Klingon bloodpie either.

Yes, I'm a wimp. Heard it from family members all of my life.

My niece teases "It's just blood uncle."

NO IT ISN'T. It's MY blood. After my knees grow weak, buckle, and I topple over splitting my head on the nearest sharp object![/quote]
Wow. You've never heard of it before? The first Larry Niven story about organlegging was written in 1973. And the tales of it happening in real life are even older. Now, almost all of those tales are urban legends, but the idea has certainly been around for most of your life.

But I'd have to say you're pretty lucky to have missed hearing those tales when you were young.

kzt wrote:So yeah, the fact that something is today pretty much within our grasp if we applied a focused development effort to it means that the only reason this doesn't exist in an essentially COTS system is plot armor.

Well, it's possible that given Honorverse medicine, untreatable deafness may be all but unheard of. But given that a present-day cell phone probably has nearly enough CPU and a good enough camera for the job, it ought to be just a software issue if it doesn't already exist.

cthia wrote:Cauldron of Ghosts

She raised her head again, just enough to give her two companions a ferocious glare. “What I do give a damn about is that I don’t want that chiseling scumbag landlord pocketing the money—which is what he did with Farouz’s remains. So when I die, keep it a secret from the shithead. Cut me up yourselves—the bathtub’s one of the few things in this dump that works—and freeze the parts. Then sell what you can.”

Anyone else think Weber is a genius in being able to see the ramifications of certain breakthroughs in medical science?

Although this passage is rather grotesque, I'm sure it is a reality. How many people may be murdered just to sell their parts. It reminds me of people burglarizing more and more visible sights to obtain copper - schools, businesses, etc. The copper epidemic - a new form of gold rush? It seems nothing is sacred. Apply that same mentality in the future and body parts have become the new copper. Damn. Humanity can be quite disgusting. I've heard of a high school football game being canceled because when they went to turn on the lights on the field they realized they had no power. Yards of copper wiring had been stolen.

It has gone from the stealing of cars for parts - to businesses and infrastructure for copper. And in the Honorverse, the human body has become the new source of bathroom chop-shops. Unbelievable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_trad ... rgan_trade

It's happening now and has been ever since shortly after organ transplants became a viable process. It is partly what drives the human trafficking(AKA slave) trade, although cheap labour, sexual abuse and a variety of other demands are sustaining it.

Parts of Earth today are no better than Mesa and may well be much worse.

Weird Harold wrote:

OrlandoNative wrote:There's probably also no reason a "translator" DEVICE couldn't be developed, ...

There is no such device now, hence your future verb tense -- "could be developed" -- and my assertion:

There may be a treecat colony in the Andermani's future, but it won't be a 'near' future.

All it would take is one more suspicion of mind control on New Berlin, and I suspect there'd be a significant change in priorities.