Outsider page 155

Me too, which makes me wonder if there will be a reduction for extraction (https://eldraeverse.com/2012/08/17/youre-not-cleared-for-this/) at some point when the Historians can get the right access...

z

Somehow I doubt a Pad CXII can do that with just a software upgrade.

Arioch

The question becomes, what would "retrieval" involve? 'Cause a destructive brain-peel and upload does count as "retrieval"...

z

Is was probably inside the "trashcan" holoprojector.

Michael Pettersson

The Historians are possibly already seen implicated in Bellarmine's demise - remember page 60?

GhostlyYorick

Could this also imply that the constructs could be/have been in the Loroi computer systems and networks all along, but have chosen not to divulge that fact?

CJSF

They live in computer hardware apparently, I'm sure they can beat most IT security like a drum.

Bee

Now that is an interesting turn to the story.

Earl Tower

Military computers are usually badly outdated, but very durable. I saw once testing process of a simple button for russian submarine, it is insane.

COMANDANTE

That's some pretty durable computer hardware! What was left of Bellarmine was mangled scrap, and I don't imagine secondary effects from the particle beam were kind either.

CJSF

DOH!

Arioch

How interesting... Espicially if we take into account fact that military stuff usually badly outdated.

COMANDANTE

Deleting your porn, and swapping out the W on your QWERTY keyboard for a second U key :-)

Turns out wrapping my head in tinfoil wasn't crazy after all, DAD.

TSH

No joking matter on the Loroi homeworld.

just because they managed to access Alex's data pad, doesn't mean they can sneak into the Lorois' (whats the mass plural?) data pads...but with Alex around, they don't need to. :)

Anthony Docimo

*nods* no reason risking making a fleet for Historian use. :)

Anthony Docimo

uh-oh...i have a feeling the ladies are, after the rescue going to tell him "thanks for calling in backup, but *thwack* don't ever do that again." :D

Anthony Docimo

I'm often asked why, since the Loroi farseers can only detect living minds, don't the Umiak assemble an automated fleet and send it deep into enemy territory? There are a number of reasons why not, but I think we're seeing the #1 answer.

Arioch

No not his porn! It's the only thing saving him from terminal blue balls!

I'm guessing "power-off intrusion prevention" starts with shielding your computer systems to prevent sufficiently detailed scans. But at some point you'll want to turn the computers on, and once that's done I'm sure the Historians have a thousand other ways in...

James Harris

That sounds about right. A sufficiently fine-grained scan would allow you to produce a virtual duplicate of any computer system. Combine that with sufficiently advanced skill in reverse engineering... Basically there are no secrets from the Historians. Unless there are things you never ever write down, either on paper or electronically. I'm assuming they can't scan people's brains the same way - that's more of a Loroi thing :D

James Harris

Come to think about it, I wonder if "power-off intrusion" could be not hacking directly, but rather deep "scanning" of computer hardware and data storage for physical evidence of data present (states of transistors, magnetisation directions on a HDD, etc.) and afterwards interpreting the scans as data and software and manipulating those? And all that done by an AI/VI without the Loroi noticing? Now that's godlike hacking indeed, opens a huuuge can of worms...

Valdis Trautmanis

Lol no. I am the guy who thought myself smart for inventing the lightbulb, now learning what careful manipulation of electricity can *really* do.

James Harris

I missed that that pod was the Historian container we saw earlier on the bridge. Good catch!

James Harris

I think the line about "power-off intrusion" means the Historian broke into the Bellarmine's computer *after* the Bellarmine had been wrecked and the computers had lost power. That's damn near godlike hacking ability, but I can believe it from a race that appears to routinely send computer programs as diplomats.

James Harris

This would seem to implicate the Historians in Bellarmine's (and her crew's) demise, wouldn't it? The construct seems to be saying it got into the computer system - which would have had to be done before the attack - not just the data pads and such after the fact.

CJSF

I was wondering about the exact same thing just now. In a best-case scenario the Historian is aware of the situation due to being aboard of the "Prophets Reason". And because it is communicating in English over a human data pad its logical to assume that the only person that can even read and reply to a message would be Alex. Perhaps the hardware of the Historian container aboard the shuttle is sufficiently advanced for environmental awareness / capable of directly interfacing with the data pad. If all of these apply there might not be an intrusion in the Loroi's systems. However if there IS a breach that would betray Alex is apparently significant enough for the Historians to show their hand and reveal that they can penetrate into Loroi systems, something that is generally a no-go as far as covert-ops goes. Even so this is some bloody impressive tech. The Historian managed to teach itself English from the databanks, learn the hardware and software architecture of the EXISTING datapad well enough to send a message, and after that it was even capable of creating an entirely new program for it on the fly. If they are capable of all this in such a short timespan i'd consider them to be an extremely dangerous potential threat.

Excellion

So, you’re the Thomas Edison of the 21st century... Honor to meet you! ;)

A

Damn. The Historians hacked the Bellarmine's computers *while they were turned off*, learned English, and wrote a patch for the datapad that lets it communicate securely with its radio turned off. I feel like Thomas Edison being introduced to smartphones.

James Harris

The pad probably has a camera.

Jeff Freeman

We can possibly assume that the Historians have better access to Loroi systems than the Loroi may be aware of.

TSH

Thank you for the WiP pages, Arioch! This probably is more suited for the Page Discussion threads on the forum proper, but I can't help myself - has the historian VI penetrated the wrecked Bellarmine's computer while the wreck was examined by the Tempest, or just the pads in the cargo hold of the shuttle? It also appears to have up to date knowledge of the present situation - has the historian penetrated the shuttle's computer also, since it's aware of who's reading the pad? I'm sure Tempo would be VERY keen about learning of this...

Valdis Trautmanis

The little "congratulations" icon for the Pocket Historian is adorable.

Morgan Olson

Seconded. I imagine it's on the To do list, probably to tie in with the launch of the TV series. Alexa meets Outsider Insider with added sarcasm

Wabbit

Pocket Historian(TM)? ... I want one

Twinkee

The Loroi are more than a full tech level ahead of Humanity, so despite their relative strengths and weaknesses in the field, Loroi information technology is substantially ahead of their Human counterparts.

Arioch

Heh. Humanz iz not #1 H@XX0RZ any more...

Perrin Rynning

Interesting... So Human Computer systems are disproportionately advanced compared to the rest of their technology (compared to other races). Still not as advanced as the Historians though. How do Human computers/software compare to Lorai computers/software?

A