Author Topic: EP172: Union Dues - Tabula Rasa  (Read 17595 times)

cryptocrat

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Reply #25 on: August 27, 2008, 03:29:58 PM

A technical note on RFID "chipping." 

At the current state of the art [...]

1) this is only sort of true in "our" universe.  i.e. it is true for most commodity "RFID" products, but does not generalize to all possible similar technology.
2) even in our universe, vicinity RFID chips could be effective identifiers with concealed readers scattered around high traffic areas.
3) the UD universe has technology that we don't.



Heradel

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Reply #26 on: August 27, 2008, 04:03:03 PM

A technical note on RFID "chipping." 

At the current state of the art [...]

1) this is only sort of true in "our" universe.  i.e. it is true for most commodity "RFID" products, but does not generalize to all possible similar technology.
2) even in our universe, vicinity RFID chips could be effective identifiers with concealed readers scattered around high traffic areas.
3) the UD universe has technology that we don't.

An example would be the Attendee MetaData project at the Last HOPE (not actually the last HOPE), though that was with powered RFID and in a contained area.

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Chivalrybean

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Reply #27 on: August 27, 2008, 04:30:24 PM
I had already heard the Clonepod Episode, and I think that, for me, made the ending that much more enjoyable.

Overall, a decent story. Nothing unexpected for me, but it wasn't boring.

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yicheng

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Reply #28 on: August 28, 2008, 04:06:01 PM
A technical note on RFID "chipping." 
...

Body implanted chips would, of course, be limited in range due to power issues.  That should have still give the Union the capability to track the characters inside and immediately around the Pyramid, and possibly track things like heart-rate and blood sugar level.  For an organization that has no qualms about kidnapping children and brainwashing their members, I wouldn't think a thing like implanting a chip on the base of the skull (or in the hip bone) would be beyond them. 

And remember that this is a world where Super-Geniuses walk around with strength-enhanced body armor.  I would think that the Union would have advanced technologies (nanotech, robotics, video facial recognition -- can see through disguises) at their disposal.



Windup

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Reply #29 on: August 29, 2008, 12:49:14 AM

A technical note on RFID "chipping." 

At the current state of the art [...]

1) this is only sort of true in "our" universe.  i.e. it is true for most commodity "RFID" products, but does not generalize to all possible similar technology.
2) even in our universe, vicinity RFID chips could be effective identifiers with concealed readers scattered around high traffic areas.
3) the UD universe has technology that we don't.


All true, but the author has not indicated the UD universe is substantively different in this respect, so the default assumption is that it's substantially similar to ours.  I was writing in response to the question of "Why doesn't the Union plant tracking chips in the supers?" implied in several posts, and my proposed explanation is that this isn't and oversight on the part of the Union (or by extension, the author), but that an RFID implant wouldn't make a very effective wide-area locator. 

It wouldn't strain my credulity any if, in the next story, the Union unvieled such technology (assuming a satisfactory explanation for why it hadn't been used so far were offered), I'm just saying that it's technically sensible for the author not to invoke such technology.

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Dwango

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Reply #30 on: August 29, 2008, 08:53:47 PM
I don't think the union needs RFID to find this guy.  If he keeps winning every fight he has at the carnival, that would become rather suspicious.  I expect he would have to lose once in a while not to be discovered.  Of course, that could lead to a sequel, running from the Union.  Maybe he could even run into the girl who is a plant for the Union, the one pretending to be a hooker.  Thats whats great about the Union Dues world, there are so many places an imagination can go into.  I'm beginning to want to see a novelization of the world, where there actually are characters that change and a continuing plot.  Its strange to feel you are at square one in each story, though it works really well in the short story format.



Loz

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Reply #31 on: September 10, 2008, 10:02:54 AM
I guess my one nitpick with this one would be how a gigantic person could just slide in to normal society without anyone making a connection with the Union.

Was he stuck at one size, or was he able to change size, if not, how tall was he?

I think I liked this story to some of the more recent 'Union Dues' tales precisely because it offers some hope that the Union isn't inescapable. I'd be interested to see a story that tries to put the Union in a good light, not some Pravda-propaganda piece but perhaps one in which perhaps some employee does what the can to manipulate things so the Heroes don't get shafted continually.



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Reply #32 on: June 29, 2010, 05:36:53 PM
This was my least favorite of the Union Dues stories.  I really like a new story in a series to illuminate some previously unforeseen part of the universe, to expand my understanding of that world, to introduce new elements/characters that will leave me hungry for the next installment but this one didn't cover any new ground other than the fact that a super is sometimes replaced by just recruiting someone knew and putting them in the same costume.

The story itself, even regardless of whether it illuminated the Union Dues world, didn't do much for me.  I didn't find any of the characters particularly sympathetic.  It's hard to find something original in an amnesia story and this one didn't take it anywhere unexpected.

Since the Union Dues stories tend not to have much on-screen action, they really need to be carried by their characters and ideas, and this one wasn't strong enough in either respect.

That's not to say that it wasn't an okay story in its own right, but since Union Dues have been published here so many times, it raises the bar.