Albert Einstein, when asked to describe radio, replied: "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."
+++Plasteeque, that wonderful world of shining neon polymer, lustrous textured PVC, and liquidy-smooth memory-alloys. We've got buzzers and brain-bugs, dissemblers and nootropics, and everything in between. This section is the compilation of the Outback No-Dunny Gadgets=O=Trouble List fresh from the Aussie Republic Undernet-32, a chock full of Regimed nutek from Malaya and Vietnam, as well as more standard accessories for your physical and mental comfort.+++
Jarmenizer : Fades life to black.
Temporary stasis-suspension system, composed of compressed nanoids
in a sleek stainless-steel tube, stoppered with a geneprinted
translucent bulb.
KAL/Skullish : Vernacular name
for an implanted compad (small portable network computer). A skullish
is connected to the optic nerve and has access to most public
datanets, and has a transponder that police can trace when an
emergency beacon is activated. Stands for Cranial Accelerant Logic.
KALs are controlled by eye
movement which is interpreted by the system. In practise the person
would 'see' a holographic menu or Proxy in front of them, from which
they could then select options. An underground group has modified
the basic Kal design to include filters to remove or identify
government-corporate propaganda transmissions that flood the spectrum (see 'Etherwave').
Implantees can be identified by a skull-shaped datajack, hence the
nickname Skullish.
Plasteeque : Trade name for the
most popular form of programmable memory-plastic (a polymer that
is malleable but can harden, and then reform into pre-programmed
shapes) marketed by Gensyn.
Shit-Tag : vernacular name for
any molecular-bonding sticker. So called because that's often the
first thing one says after seeing it on one's assets. These are often used by policlubs,
clans and other special-interest groups to attack cars and buildings
with their messages. Common ones include: "Stop this car, you're
killing me!", "I've got beetles", and "Geezers Rule".
Eyeball : technically a tiny (10cm across) scouting
drone based on the Micro Air Vehicle ornithopter design, which sits on a soldier's
shoulder and occasionally flies forward to relay optical images of what's ahead.
Soldiers have taken to calling this the 'eyeball' or 'parrot' while in the field.
Eyeballs have a direct radio tight-beam link to a KAL and are integral to Intelligent
Weapon Systems.
Vidwindow : A hovering holographic
video screen created by an array of lasers mounted in a small,
portable hemisphere (the projector). Vidwindows are commonly used
in rich homes and meeting rooms, and sometimes as billboards in
ultra-secure neighbourhoods. [Cost $800-2000, Index 4]
