Why does the future only begin at TL9?

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by walkir

It's been replaced by workstation terminal components.



There aren't lines, there are walls. Adding a little ladder would have been helpful.
I'm not talking about including every single bit mentioned in LT/HT in UT. But why is the change from batteries to power cells not even worth a single paragraph?

What change? Batteries are power cells.

[mearrin69]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

The new GCHQ building in the UK has had some pretty fancy-ass (and classified) shielding built into it as well ... but strangely, no defenses against dragons or minotaurs, so I think we can assume that TEMPEST ... or something very like it is non-mythological enough that people who know a thing or two about ELINT find it worrisome.

Oh, I don't know. We had a ballista on the roof. We were ready for those pesky dwagons. Commie dwagons. Can't say about the minotaur. There might have been one up in the tech section. I always used to get lost in that labyrinth and I swear, one night, I heard snorting. I guess it could have been that tubby Air Force tech sergeant that worked up there...but I can't say for sure. ;)
M

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by doctorevilbrain

Microwave Disruptors are "refinements of single shot explosively pumped high power Microwave Pulse weapons of TL8" Huh? What does that mean? They're not listed in High Tech.

It means that explosively pumped high power microwave weapons exist at TL 8, which may be true (I don't know if any are deployed).

Originally Posted by doctorevilbrain

Computer Monitoring Gear using TEMPEST is a MYTH!

Not precisely; there's some reason to be suspicious of the statistics, and it probably works better on more primitive hardware, but a wire carrying data does generate radio waves unless shielded, and those radio waves are in principle detectable.

[Xplo]

Originally Posted by Johnny Angel

Without breaking the NDA that I have with the military, I'll just say that I've seen some things which might make you think differently [about beamed microwave power].

Generally, technological devices or processes are assigned a TL corresponding to when they became reasonably mature, and their use is widespread. Experimental or prototype versions usually appear a TL earlier.

If effective, safe, reliable beamed power is still so secret and cutting edge that you've seen it, but can't talk about it, then we're probably not there yet.

[walkir]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

What change? Batteries are power cells.

They haven't got the same classes (those don't even map sizewise), weights are very different and cost too. I don't think so.
But if you were right, a single sentence would have been helpful.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by walkir

They haven't got the same classes (those don't even map sizewise), weights are very different and cost too. I don't think so.
But if you were right, a single sentence would have been helpful.

"All power cells are assumed to be compact and relatively inexpensive. They may be advanced electrical batteries, micro fuel cells, superconductor loops or even more exotic power supplies."

Page 18

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

"All power cells are assumed to be compact and relatively inexpensive. They may be advanced electrical batteries, micro fuel cells, superconductor loops or even more exotic power supplies."

Page 18

...does not address the point that GURPS accounts HT batteries and UT power cells with incompatible systems, does it?

Pedantically speaking, 'power cells may be batteries' is quite different from 'batteries are power cells'

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

...does not address the point that GURPS accounts HT batteries and UT power cells with incompatible systems, does it?

I don't understand the point.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

I don't understand the point.

Sometime between now and TL9, we're apparently scheduled to replace all our current battery sizes. And fairly significantly change their cost scaling and density. You'll know it's the future when you can't buy a car battery, but a 20-lb battey the size of a backpack is realiy a fairly common.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

Sometime between now and TL9, we're apparently scheduled to replace all our current battery sizes.

Given that UT power cells are vastly more capable than modern batteries (lead acid car battery: 30-40 Wh/kg. UT power cell: not explicitly stated, but looks to follow the TS lead, so something like 500-1000 Wh/kg), a change in sizes is hardly surprising.