[gurps] Space Transport Costs at TL10

[Hal]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: gurpsnet-l-bounces at sjgames.com 
> [mailto:gurpsnet-l-bounces at sjgames.com] On Behalf Of Onno Meyer
> Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 3:34 PM
> To: The GURPSnet mailing list
> Subject: Re: [gurps] Space Transport Costs at TL10
> 
> > Like all such warfare it is a matter of cost of defense VS cost of 
> > offense and the amount of manpower that can be used.
> > 
> > There is very good evidence that a clocking device could be 
> made by TL 
> > 10 that works on all frequencies by bending light around the hidden 
> > object.
> > Douglas E Knapp
> 
> But wouldn't that be a little bit excessive 'just' to 
> preserve privacy? In the real world, I wouldn't like some 
> government to record everything I do online, but right now 
> I'm not bothered enough to actually use PGP ...

Ironically, the means to preserve the "security" of the cameras may end up
being more costly than the costs of the camera itself.  Even more
interestingly, is the prospect that certain activities of the cameras
themselves can reveal their very nature.  If for example, you pick up a
series of encrypted transmissions with a relatively higher bandwidth than
the normal activies of those "ubuiqitous" transmissions of day to day
"legal" stuff - then you have a clue that there is an operational spy
surveillence system nearby.  If their transmission range/power is that low
as to not register, then you have to have a lot of repeaters scattered
nearby to boost its range, which in turn, increases the probability of it
being detected.  If for example, you note that there is a lot of power
flowing (ie electricity) in a general region that LOOKS like it should be
relatively low grade in output, that would be yet another indicator that
something is unusual about the nearby location.

I'm hard of hearing, which I'm sure some of you are aware.  What you're not
aware of - is that my hearing aid currently has an aspect to it that permits
me to set it to electromagnetic mode and pick up the induced electromagentic
current being sent to the ear receiver - allow me to hear on the telephone
itself with my hearing aid.  Said capability however, also permits me to
keep my hearing aid in electromagentic mode and find where certain power
lines are by the electromagnetic field they give off.  I can for example,
stand next to a drywall and determine where there is a power line hidden
behind the wall simply by the electromagnetic hum I can hear from my hearing
aid.

In short?  If people start getting finicky about their privacy and are
involved with having to deal with a government that spies on its citizens,
you can be sure that "Urban survival" skills will include the ability to
find ways to counter cheap surveillence techniques and find simple solutions
that countless others have tried and found to work.  

What makes it even more interesting is the fact that some punkers may decide
that they need to spraypaint surfaces just to act in rebellion against the
remote possibility that there is a spy camera set in a wall.  Just as a
certain social fad involving body piercings became more common, perhaps the
wearing of face hiding fashion accessories will become the norm in such a
society.  Want radar interference against sensors that measure the
topography of your face and matches it agains known databases?  Makeup with
materials that interfer with the sensors may become possible (assuming that
it even works that is).  Want to avoid having to do business in a
surveillence area?  Bribe an official to tell you where there are "dead
zones" or better yet, to create virtual dead zones.  Sometimes, the easiest
way to bypass security is to play the people, not beat the tech.