Yeah, I was thinking about using the 1 term = 1 ring thing as a quick workaround for a PC. I think that I will say that once you're done with terms, the only way to add new rings is to pay for them (using the cybernetics / biomods stuff from Central Supply).
Thanks for your note!
And, the first three Uplift books elevated Mr. Brin to my personal top 5 authors of the 20th century list. The 2nd trilogy has some great stuff in it, but got way too "woo" for me. He also (deliberately, I think) made his chim unpleasant people. At least, that's how I reacted to them. So unpleasant in fact, that in MTU, the events of planet Kirthrup (the Karrank scream after Charles Dart detonated the nuke) are the source of the the Scream (from Stars Without Number), which is the event that resets the entire galaxy back to square 1.