			    TRAVELLER Digest 231

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Re: TRAVELLER digest 229 Misc	by CyHiggin@aol.com
  2) Transponder ponderings...	by muskrat@msn.fullfeed.com (John Kovalic)
  3) Bonded Superdense	by "Post, D L (Dan)" <PostD%HOST2@WLV.IIPO.GTEGSC.COM>
  4) Striker Stuff	by "Post, D L (Dan)" <PostD%HOST2@WLV.IIPO.GTEGSC.COM>
  5) Traveller: The New Era Character Spreadsheet	by Mike Basinger <dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
  6) where is the spreadsheet	by Mike Basinger <dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
  7) Travller: TNE Ship Design Worksheet	by Mike Basinger <dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
  8) Plausability of the Virus (TD#230)	by Derek Wildstar <wildstar@qrc.com>
  9) Re: TRAVELLER digest 230	by mtr@globalx.net
 10) Re: TRAVELLER digest 230	by mtr@globalx.net
 11) Aliens of the Rim...	by gdw.support@genie.geis.com

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Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 23:27:28 -0500
From: CyHiggin@aol.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 229 Misc
Message-ID: <950321232727_57042963@aol.com>

(Steve Deemer)
>Okay, I'm hooked. What is the title/author/publisher of the Dark
> Conspiracy trilogy? 

Michael Stackpole, who is an excellent writer.  If you're familiar
with back issues of Challenge, he's the guy who wrote all those
short Shadowrun stories about the shaman-werewolf dude.

>Would it be available through a friendly neighborhood bookstore?
It probably was.

>When was it issued?
 
A while back.


Harold (not Howard) Hale:

>>IFF interrogators, I'll eventually find their frequencies.

>   I don#t recall Iraq or the U.S.S.R. spending a lot of money on >such a
project.  

<sarcasm on, but with a smile>
Can I read your copy of the Soviet secret projects budgets?
I bet it's fascinating reading... <sarcasm off>  :-) :-)

I don't know about the Soviets, but we spent a great deal
of money on such activities -- all very, very hush-hush, Top
Secret, probably off-budget stuff.  It's part of SIGINT, signals
intelligence.  The U.S.Navy had a whole rating (that's MOS to
you army types...) devoted to it who weren't allowed to even
say what their rating (Cryptological Technician) did.  They 
had a handful of major sites that did nothing but that, and
various supporting sites.  I understand that that's 99% of what
the NSA does to amuse itself with taxpayer's money.  And 
so on....

                          -- Cynthia

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is
 for good men to do nothing."





------------------------------

Date: Tue, 21 Mar 1995 23:44:11 -0600
From: muskrat@msn.fullfeed.com (John Kovalic)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Transponder ponderings...
Message-ID: <199503220544.XAA01435@fullfeed.msn.fullfeed.com>


>>>  what sorts of PSG (pseudo-scientific gobbledigook) is
>used  to make Virus palatable.  The canonical explanation
>simply doesn't make any  sense at any level <<
>
>You're absolutely right. Nothing explains it
>satisfactorily. It's complete cobblers. Sad that a system
>with so many options as to the technical approach forces
>the use of such a feeble plot device.

Too true! Why couldn't the Virus be factually based and
extrapolated from real-world technology, like those nifty
Jump Drive thingies that make so much scientific sense...

:-)

           /\
****//\\**********************************************************
       // * \\                    ----------------------
     //        \\                  The Servants of Kovalic
   //______\\                ----------------------
   -------------
Hat Trick*Tornado*Read My Lips*Peace in Our Time*Market Manipulation*Bigger
Business*Murphy's Law*Rewriting History*Deasil Engine*Energy Crisis*Tax
Reform*France*Japan*Cable TV*Fraternal Orders*L-4 Society* Multinational
Oil Companies*Germany*Israel* Liquor Companies*.......Ours, alllllll OURS!
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! (THWACK!) Sorry.
*******************************************************************



------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Mar 95 12:48:00 PST
From: "Post, D L (Dan)" <PostD%HOST2@WLV.IIPO.GTEGSC.COM>
To: beta <gdw-beta@qrc.com>, Traveller <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Bonded Superdense
Message-ID: <2F6DEA76@MX.IIPO.GTEGSC.COM>


 Someone was making comments on putting armour on planes.
This brings up a  point on FF& S. It only provides 1 type of armour
at any tech level.  Bonded superdense is great unless you want
to be a aircraft or speeder. Then you turn into a lead sled, or
end up with huge powerplant to power the device. Surly high
tech levels have come up with a light wieght alloy that provides
reasonable armour.  Perhaps you could use the preceeding
armour technology for a current version of a alloy.....
 Here could be a potential example:
TL 12 lightwieght Crystaliron alloy - Toughness 7 Mass 7.5 Cost .042
Compared to bonded superdense it would be half the
toughness, half the mass and triple the cost. Any
thoughts?
                         Dan
pg 3221 of imperial tank manual......
"Never land your 200ton grav tank in a swamp......"

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 20 Mar 95 09:57:00 PST
From: "Post, D L (Dan)" <PostD%HOST2@WLV.IIPO.GTEGSC.COM>
To: Traveller <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Striker Stuff
Message-ID: <2F6DC287@MX.IIPO.GTEGSC.COM>


 I have been working on writing up the striker campaign I
recently ran. One of the things I want to come up with for
my next campaign are rules for transporting ground forces
in spacecraft.   One of the basic questions is how many
vehicles can I fit in a Far Trader cargo hold? I came up with this
for a first attempt....
  1. Strike load- "Ready to roll out the cargo ramp
      when the ship lands and enter combat" Take the M3 of the
      vehicle and times it by 2.  (landing in the middle of a
      armored division is still not recommended)
  2. Combat load "Some parts on vehicles may
      be removed to save space. (antennas, external
      weapons etc. Plus no real space between vehicles
      etc.  The cargo is loaded so that each ship has
      what is needs to supply the equipment it carries
      From unloading to combat ready should take
      24 to 48 hours. Take the M3 and times it by 1.5.
  3. Merchant load- Everything is packed to save
      space with no regard to combat use. All equipment
      that can save space by being broken apart will be.
      Use the M3 as listed. From landing to combat ready should
      take upwards of 7 to 10 days.

    Note that the wasted space in 2 and 3 would be used for
    smaller gear and ammo. These numbers assume that
    the vehicle is less than 3 meters high so that is will fit
    in a standard cargo hold.  The strike load multiplier
    can be 1.5 if a landing craft designed for armored
    vehicles is used instead of a cargo ship.  Any
    (friendly) comments are welcome. Next - Supplies
    needed for a armored batt....
                    Dan
     "Wargamers look at equipment, soldiers look at
      logistics"
     "

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 09:01:18 -0500 (EST)
From: Mike Basinger <dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Traveller: The New Era Character Spreadsheet
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9503220831.A14477-0100000@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>

I have uploaded a Traveller: The New Era spreadsheet to help with 
character generation. Here is the read me file for the spreadsheet.

mike
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A simple Traveller: The New Era spreadsheet in Excel 4.0 format. Does 
have some formulas to do some of the math for you. Nothing fancy. Uses 
Arial font.

Please free feel to alter it to your likely. Re-post it, but I would 
appreciate some credit for the concept. 

Traveller: The New Era copy right GDW.

--
D. Michael Basinger [N9YYO]
dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu
<http://bronze.ucs.indiana.edu/~dbasinge/>
"Not speaking for Indiana University"


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 09:02:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Mike Basinger <dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: where is the spreadsheet
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9503220903.A14853-0100000@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>

I have post the spreadsheet at CompuServe and ftp.mpgn.com

look for ttnecs.zip

mike

--
D. Michael Basinger [N9YYO]
dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu
<http://bronze.ucs.indiana.edu/~dbasinge/>
"Not speaking for Indiana University"


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 1995 13:46:51 -0500 (EST)
From: Mike Basinger <dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
To: Traveller Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Travller: TNE Ship Design Worksheet
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9503221321.A22614-0100000@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>

I have made a real, real basic worksheet in Excel to help design ships in 
Travller. Feel free to change it to your liking. I have posted it to 
ftp.mpgn.com and CompuServe.

The readme file

A simple Traveller: The New Era spreadsheet to help design star ships. It 
is in an Excel 4.0 format. Does have some formulas to do some of the math 
for you. Nothing fancy. Uses Arial font.

Please free feel to alter it to your likely. Re-post it, but I would 
appreciate some credit for the concept. 

Mike Basinger
dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu

Traveller: The New Era copy right GDW.

--
D. Michael Basinger [N9YYO]
dbasinge@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu
<http://bronze.ucs.indiana.edu/~dbasinge/>
"Not speaking for Indiana University"


------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 95 14:04:29 -0500
From: Derek Wildstar <wildstar@qrc.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Plausability of the Virus (TD#230)
Message-ID: <9503221904.AA29198@qrc.com>

CyHiggin@aol.com writes:
> Item (2) is easy -- the two computers merely have to be in communication.
> Anything Virus can do to computer A, it can do to computer B if it can 
> communicate with it.

More or less.  Assuming that there is any type of security system in place,
the Virus on computer A will have to convince, cajole, or otherwise trick
computer B to allow it sufficient access to do what it wants.

For some computers, this should be relatively easy - for others hard or
impossible.  Even the best sentient cracker can't breach every computer
every time, particularly when the security system is set up to be properly
paranoid.  Of course, even in the Far Future, there will likely be many
computer systems that aren't properly paranoid - presumably the Virus will
be able to gain access to many - and perhaps even a majority - of the
systems it encounters.

> Item (1): how does software change hardware? [...] Imperial technology 
> computers ...  are .. composed of self-configuring processors; ..i.they
> can literally rewrite their own circuitry as needed. 

This is a very good point, and certainly would make an interesting Traveller
plotline.  However, I don't think it provides an explanation for the Virus
and Collapse as postulated by GDW.  There are a couple of reasons why, even
with the computer technology you postulate, the Virus is still (to me, at
least) rather unbelievable:

The first is that a society that has used this technology for any
significant length of time should be VERY aware of the possible risks from
viruses, and take strong measures to defend their computer systems from just
this kind of attack.  Undoubtedly the designers had many years of experience
with various kinds of attack on their systems, including 'virus' programs
that attempt to reprogram the computer.  Accordingly, Imperial computer
systems
would have incorporated many security measures intended to prevent such an
occurence, detect it if it did occur, isolate the infected node, and prevent
the damage from spreading.

Even more important, to my mind, is that Charted Space is a large, diverse
area.  It stretches my credibility a _lot_ to postulate that every computer
manufactured in the Imperium, from about TL-7 through TL-15, and whether
designed on Terra, Vland, or Glisten and intended to control equipment from
automatic forklifts to starships, military or civillian uses the same
architecture and is vulnerable enough to a Virus like you describe.  

It exceeds the capacity of my suspension of disbelief to postulate that the
Hivers, the Aslan, the K'Kree, and the Vargr also used this very same 
architecture and technology, with the same security flaws as the Imperium,
and therefore suffered a corresponding Virus infection.

> the pocket-empire list had a wonderful time trying to figure out how to 
> keep the Virus-induced crash from being SO severe that the 
> New Era was 700 years later instead of the 70 years later it officially 
> is -- which time is too short anyway to be the Complete Collapse of
> Civilization as We Know It that GDW makes it out to be.  A severe
> economic depression for 70 years, I could believe, but not this 
> severe a collapse.

What amazes me about the whole "Official Line" from GDW is how unbelievable
their line is: that this Virus clobbered every computer in known space,
killing 90% of the population of the Imperium and plunging worlds into a
dark age so deep that 60 years later, the grandchildren of Imperial spacers
(mostly) didn't believe the 'legends' of their ancestor's interstellar
exploits.  And that 10 years after _that_, worlds are building starships
again?  Really, now!

A _much_ more realistic scenario is possible, and doesn't change the
overall story much.  Start with the state of Known Space at the end of Hard
Times - things are pretty bad by that point, but are beginning to look as if
they will stabilize.  If some significant fraction of Imperial computer
systems were of the design Cynthia described above, and the Virus operated
as she described, this would knock out the majority of those computers.  I
don't think it's too much of a stretch to propose that the reconfigurable
comptuers were produced primarily for the civillian starship market, this
would knock out a sizeable fraction of the commercial ships, and
particularly those few ships which still ventured into the Wilds. 

This would cause the remaining Safes to contract further, and become totally
isolated from one another, separated by wide belts of Astra Incognita.  Its
also not unreasonable that the Domain of Deneb was spared - communication
betewen Deneb and the rest of the ex-Imperium was already effectively cut,
and the few copies of the virus which did make it through were sufficient
for Deneb to develop new safeguards for their computer equipment.

Of course, in this scenario, non-Imperial races would be hit considerably
less hard than the Imperium itself, with the possible exception of the
Solomani (particularly if the computer architecture in question were a
Solomani innovation).  This would have some interesting consequences,
though: instead of areas separating the Safes being totally devoid of
starfarers, one would encounter Vampires as well as the occasional Vargr (in
coreward areas), Aslan (mainly to the rim-spinward), and a Hivers
(rim-trailing), and K'Kree (trailing).  Any of these encounters should be
relatively rare (after all, there's very little in those areas left that's
worth going after).

It would also be quite interesting to note that each of these races would be
doing its own thing within the boundaries of the Former Imperium.  Aslan
would be settling inviting worlds, while leaving most other locations alone.
Furthermore, they probably wouldn't venture too far towards the safes - why
should they, when suitable worlds in the Wilds are there for the taking.
Vargr would undoubetdly do many interesting Vargr-like activities, including
scavenging, perhaps raiding, and certainly limited settlement.  The K'Kree
would likley set up a deep buffer zone between their worlds and
human-inhabited space, while the Hivers would probably do exactly what
they're doing in the New Era: setting up little polities whenever they
discover a ripe cluster of worlds, and then manipulating them for their own
ends.

wildstar@quark.qrc.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Shoot Them!  A lot!  --- Don
Karnage

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 95 18:34:39 -0500
From: mtr@globalx.net
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 230
Message-ID: <9503230248.AA0036@Ck.globalx.net>

> Oddly enough, the technical aspects of the Virus make more sense than
> the societal ones, as I hope to show you.  How does the Virus, nominally
> a program, change (1) hardware on (2) another computer?  

Actually the two make no sense at an equal level.

> Item (2) is easy -- the two computers merely have to be in communication.

My computer is currently in communication with another one through a serial
link.  I challenge ANYONE, ANYWHERE (Bulgarian Underground Hackers
included!) to infect me.  I'll leave the link up for as long as they like.

The fact is that my computer simply does not execute any data sent from the
remote system unless I explicitly do so.  It takes my direct actions to
infect this computer system the way it is right now.

Also, I challenge anyone to write a program whose binaries will run both on
my PC here and on my AIX workstation at work.  The architectures of the two
machines, starting from the CPU and working through peripheral interfaces
and operating systems, are so radically different that I'm pretty sure that
no single binary file could be a valid executable on both systems.  (I can't
confirm this for certain -- I don't know the executable formats on both
sides.  I do know, however, that the instruction sets of the PowerPC and the
80386 are VERY different...)  The potential avenues for unresolvable
differences go up exponentially for each type of machine you try to build
a "universal binary" for.  (Hell, I'm pretty sure that it's not possible to
build a single executable which is valid for my machine running OS/2 and my
machine running Linux...)

> Anything Virus can do to computer A, it can do to computer B if it can 
> communicate with it.

This is nonsense.  Computer B would have to allow computer A to execute
code directly.  Not all communications links allow this.  (The one I'm using
to collect my mail and news, for instance...)

> crunching with little output?  The unused holographic processors re-
> configure themselves into more floating point units.  Now imagine the 
> VIRUS getting loose in circuitry like that.

Since it is the transmission medium I have difficulties with (not to mention
architectural incompatibilities), I can't imagine Virus getting loose in that
circuitry.

> More primitive technology is vulnerable to another form of attack: it IS
> possible to alter the physical characteristics of a CPU with software.  It

Not in any deterministic way.  You could not change the microcode of a
Pentium, for instance, to be a completely different microcomputer using this
sort of technique.  It would become an untenable computer long before you
managed to change it into a different processor.

> Third, though the Virus can be present only as software, its
> normal form is that of a living semiconductor chip, a gene-tailored
> version of the silicon lifeforms of Cymbelline.  Those lifeforms had
> the ability to crawl up to another chip, and consume/subsume it
> into themselves, and use it as raw material to make more little chipoids.
> The Virus can do that if in actual physical contact with the hardware.

Virus spread through transponder systems, not through physical contact.  Or
did these silicon life forms have the ability to "crawl" through radio (or
whatever) waves?

> There you go.  Now do you see why I, among others, consider the
> technical aspect to make more sense than the societal?  In fact,

I can see why, but I disagree with them.  (I've heard most of these before
-- although not quite so succintly written.)

> the pocket-empire list had a wonderful time trying to figure out how to 
> keep the Virus-induced crash from being SO severe that the 
> New Era was 700 years later instead of the 70 years later it officially 
> is -- which time is too short anyway to be the Complete Collapse of
> Civilization as We Know It that GDW makes it out to be.  A severe
> economic depression for 70 years, I could believe, but not this 
> severe a collapse.

These are two more problems with TNE -- ones which I would have dealt with by
simply putting the timeline forward by several centuries had I decided to run
a TNE campaign in that setting.

---
Michael T. Richter
mtr@globalx.net
(613)592-7994

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 22 Mar 95 18:50:39 -0500
From: mtr@globalx.net
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 230
Message-ID: <9503230300.AA0037@Ck.globalx.net>

> You're absolutely right. Nothing explains [Virus]
> satisfactorily. It's complete cobblers. Sad that a system
> with so many options as to the technical approach forces
> the use of such a feeble plot device.

It was this combination of many technical options and the unfeasible
Virus that made me design my own campaign setting.

First, I had been getting tired of the Jump Drive, so I replaced it
with Starfire-like naturally occuring warp points and combined FF&S'
"keyhole" drives into it.  Warp points, in general, only require
rudimentary gravitics to utilise -- mainly as compensators for the
bizarre tidal stresses. Many warp points were one-way and had a
"closed" end, however.  Starting at tech level 11, devices could be
built which allowed warp transitions from the closed end. Taking tips 
from Babylon 5, these "keyhole" drives were absolutely enormous to begin
with, and were horrendously expensive at any tech level.  Thus only VERY
large, VERY expensive ships could mount them.

The flexibility and extensibility of FF&S made designing a whole
universe's technology pretty simple, actually.  I'm still working on
getting the ludicrous engagement distances of Brilliant Lances fixed
up, though.  Lasers shouldn't be effective (as weapons) much beyond 
planetary orbital ranges.  This changes the face of starship combat
drastically...

---
Michael T. Richter
mtr@globalx.net
(613)592-7994

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Mar 95 00:39:00 UTC
From: gdw.support@genie.geis.com
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Aliens of the Rim...
Message-ID: <199503230106.AA248680794@relay1.geis.com>

Aliens of the Rim: vol I, Hiver & Ithklur, is now in the warehouse and s
shipping to distributors. $14.00, #318.
 
       LKW

------------------------------

End of TRAVELLER Digest 231
***************************
