Random Questions Thread

I think pet trackers use the same GPS technology that cell phones do, so little diff between the two.

Tracking with phones is either GPS or triangulation using the cell towers.

Those chips that get placed under the skin is RFID^* Radio-Frequency IDentification) tags and isn't really used for tracking, they are usually only used for identification.

The RFID chip is powered by the reader.

edited 2nd Jun '13 6:55:31 AM by m8e

Check it out. The article's writing style is very fluffy, but buried in the cutsyness is the information about how it works.

How could negotiation tactics be misunderstood by an observer? One idea I had was for character P to speak first, and his subordinate Q (the POV character) to think this shows weakness. Q used to be an assassin, so could he have been taught different tactics for working alone? More likely to take risks, perhaps?

In essence, I want Q to get a low opinion of P's abilities. [edit: I should make clear they're on the same side and negotiating an exchange of favours with another group.]

edited 2nd Jun '13 5:10:02 PM by LongLiveHumour

@Long: That is so very much Truth in Television. I used to teach conflict resolution techniques in a corporate setting, and the ratio of managers who know how to use them vs managers who arent familiar with them but nevertheless somehow know that they are too wimpy to ever work in real life is unfortunately very low. here is an excellent resource explaining what such tactics are and how they work.

I cant imagine any self-respecting assassin would ever take them seriously.

I guess the thing is with the tracking is that I'm looking at androids with both an organic and electronic component. It seems obvious that they would be able to be tracked by GPS, but this would require the electronic component to be "on", so if it's not, you're out of luck (though your android at that point is at least braindead, and probably actually dead).

Then I guess the chips would be pretty useless because they all have serial numbers so they wouldn't have the same issues identifying humans that don't have anything like that in their systems automatically.

I am however wondering if theft and selling for scrap of these androids would be such a problem that they would have figured out a way for tracking to work even when the electronic components that run the android stop working, something that's not easily removed. Any ideas?

Sure, the chip has it's own power source. Just a tiny little battery would do it.

How long can you get batteries to last? I do wonder about those recharging things where you apparently don't have to plug anything in.

@De Marquis You mean people mistrust those strategies based on gut feeling? </business ignoramus> And you're right, conflict resolution probably isn't very high up an assassin's list of priorities.

Thanks for the link, it's phenomenally useful. Teamwork's kind of a theme.

@Cats: I'm not sure, but they last a long time. A month, at least.

@Loong: Well, you dont rise up the corporate ladder by being a nice guy, after all... You're welcome for the link, now can you share some of the story with us? I would be really interested in seeing it.

Yeah, the thing is that the lifespan of these things is about 60 years, usually about 20 of those under some kind of ownership, and the "just in case you get kidnapped and torn apart for your organs" is not really in the forefront of everyone's minds all the time so such a battery is unlikely to be regularly charged or changed, if it even is accessible.

Gotta disagree there. I'm basing my guesses on what I know about technology designed for tracking stolen trucks, which seems highly parallel if you think about it. Robots are someone's property, probably expensive, and insured, so it makes sense people would take steps to ensure that they can be recovered. The little chips would work off the main power supply most of the time, and the battery only comes into play when that source goes off line, like a cell phone does. It will be designed to last long enough for someone to have a reasonable chance of tracing the stolen property.

I see.

All right, thanks. That's very helpful.

I guess I should probably explain though, it's not as simple as "property," though I guess it is. Instead of evolution as strictly tools, as most androids and such are made out to be, the reasoning for all of these is there being a major population catastrophe and androids were created as filler population so that there wouldn't be a major collapse of civilization — while humans take nearly 20 years and lots of resources to raise into productive adults, you can churn out a mostly functional android in about one and a half with no resources dedicated to child care and schooling. However, years and years go on and the human population never completely recovers and the android population just keeps going up.

Because of this a lot of attitudes about androids are based on old-fashioned ideas of indentured servitude and slavery (a certain amount of work and then you're free) because of a paternalistic perspective of them (though they don't really have a childhood there's still some development in the first several years of life, the idea that even though they're smart and stuff they're not "complete" humans, and have to be protected from things like abuse and sexual harassment), and an old fashioned view of childhood (children being treated as little adults from a pretty young age and more children = more hands, rather than a burden, because the androids are capable from the get-go).

So I guess instead of the usual image of what "android" conjures this story really has like an underclass of people that makes up a significant amount of the population. I don't know if this makes any sense.

edited 2nd Jun '13 6:03:10 PM by ohsointocats

Historically, it has always been considered very bad to damage or remove a man's slave or indentured servant. You're depriving him of his means of making a living, and that was always taken very seriously. Depending on who is considered to own the labor of these androids, whether private individuals or society in general, will determine how they react to anyone trying to interfere with them in nefarious ways.

This soldier has a stab wound in his abdomen that's been stitched shut more than once because he gets out of bed and tries to fight, then tears the stitches out. About how many times can his wound be restitched before he starts having problems, and what could these problems be?

Reliably? None. Otherwise, anywhere between that and infinity; assuming the wound was still suitable for closure. There are far too many factors and normal variation to make predicting anything like that remotely plausible - especially at an individual level. Basically, the more times you stitch the same wound up, the likelier you are to get complications (including the stitches opening up again; leading to a vicious cycle).

As for what problems you are likely to receive, the biggest would be continued bleeding as well as infection/sepsis/abscess formation. Other things would include deterioration of the surrounding skin/tissue to hold onto the stitches. However, so long as there isn't a catastrophic, life-threatening amounts of blood loss and/or sepsis, the wound would eventually heal itself by forming disfiguring scar tissue. In the abdomen, that might potentially affect the functionality of the affected organs.

@De Marquis Ach, it's a fanfic, so it's not as interesting as you think. Four government mercenaries (including assassin) have got themselves tangled up with an illegal group in a different country, and they're working on an exchange. Mercenaries get access to a politician they suspect will threaten their homeland, and in exchange they allow the illegals to hire them for a little espionage and sabotage. Except the illegals aren't all in accordance and one of them prefers more drastic methods *cough*terrorism*cough*. There's a lot of arguing and twisting of agreements. Meanwhile Assasin-boy grows more and more disappointed in his leader, whom he'd barely met before and had placed on a whacking great pedestal.

Sounds interesting to me. Fan fic of what work?

What are the possible psychological problems for a person who is teleported to a random earth (land) location every 24 hours for over three months?

Scenario one has them as an otherwise normal human.

Scenario two has them not needing to eat, drink or sleep, plus other traveller powers.

Er. Naruto.

First thing that comes to mind is disruption of circadian rhythms, a.k.a. the biological clock. Massive jetlag, especially if they have to stay in the new place for several hours. Changes in light delay or accelerate your need to sleep: using your computer at night can really bugger up your sleeping schedule, and not just because you've been troping till 2 a.m. not that I would know anything about that.

...Really want to read some papers about that now. I'll get back to you in the morning.

Edit: Reread your question & realised you said psychological and that I am an idiot.

edited 3rd Jun '13 4:18:43 PM by LongLiveHumour

I wouldn't imagine there to be any major psychological problems. Admittedly, the unrealistic circumstance makes it hard to say for certain. The closest comparable situation would be jet-setters who frequently travel around the globe for months on end and they seem fine as far as I'm aware. At most, I think it might aggravate any underlying psychological condition that the person already has. It certainly isn't going to help.

edited 3rd Jun '13 9:45:09 PM by peasant

Does the person know what's happening and why?(like having a teleportation device stuck on shuffle)

That's pretty much what's happening. The deal is that if they can survive for one hundred days without going mad or dying they get to use the power for themselves. Before that they have a kind of holographic timer on their arm that displays time until next jump. I think Sliders may have been an inspiration.

Mind and body effect each other so what you said does seem relevant.

edited 4th Jun '13 7:43:01 AM by MCE

Who is doing this to them? Can they set the protagonist up? For example, just as they are about to finally eat something- teleport.

Is it a bad thing for a genetically engineered super-soldier to have the emotional intelligence of a fifteen year old? I don't know why exactly I'm asking, because it's something of a plot point, but I feel odd trying to write the ultra badass character as a petulant teenage girl whenever she isn't shooting people.