Viral messaging

[Stattick]

even letters take weeks or months to get to you (and the other one, the one at home, doesn't even know where to send them)?

You desperately need to get a message to a friend/contact/ally/family member. However, he or she is a Traveller. How would you even know where to send the message? Here's how I solved that same, long range communications problem in my game: Viral Messaging.

You go to the nearest Starport (preferably a class A), and you give them the message. The message can be encrypted for an additional fee. You designate how far the message should go: Sub-Sector, Sector, or further. Each additional feature addd to the Viral gets substantially more expensive. The most expensive messages, sent from the most powerful and wealthy of patrons, can span the breadth of the Imperium, and possibly beyond.

Here's how it works. Each X boat that passes through the designated starport becomes "infected" with a digital copy of the Viral Message that was sent out. Each starport that they subsequently visit become "infected" with the same message. Each "infected" port will then "infect" each passing X boat. Soon enough, an entire Sector (or further) can thus have a copy of the message at every major Starport. Travellers can even earn a small commission from the X-boat network for agreeing to carry Viral messages to lesser travelled Starports. Each port that they deliver a Viral message to that didn't already have that same message in their system will earn them a small commission (paid only once a year to the ship, and often a year or more out-of-date).

Most Virals carry a built in "self destruct" code. They can be created without one, at an additional charge. A typical "self destruct" code will be one or two years. After that time, each copy of the viral is encoded to delete itself, regardless of where it is at.

Meanwhile, Virals generally also have a destruct code built in to themselves as well. Once the message has been delivered and the proper recipient has been verified, the current viral turns into a "kill code". Kill codes are generally much, much smaller as far as memory requirements are concerned. A kill code moves virally, just like the original message, and deletes any copy of the original message that it finds. Kill codes also "innoculate" information systems, so they cannot download that same Viral message again.



Anyhow, whatcha think?

 

[alex_greene]

And your character gets bombarded with fifty copies of the message with every A class starport she encounters, and a lot of very angry couriers chucking drinks over her in every bar she visits.

 

[phild]

I think you just log on to the nearest Imperial terminal (found at all A & B starports, and many C & D), enter your name, DoB, UPP, finger print, retina scan and DNA, and you collect your messages.

*bing* You've Got Mail

 

[Stattick]

I think you just log on to the nearest Imperial terminal (found at all A & B starports, and many C & D), enter your name, DoB, UPP, finger print, retina scan and DNA, and you collect your messages.

*bing* You've Got Mail

Actually, while approaching a system with a good starport, it would be required to transmit your ship's registration and probably the crew roster as well. Consider the amount of traffic that goes in and out of a typical Class A port - it would make most huge international airports on present day Earth look like small potatoes. So it would be an absolute requirement to contact "the tower" (whatever it would be called) to dock. Before you'd even set foot out of the ship, you'd likely be automatically messaged that "You've Got Mail!"

The other stuff, finger prints, retina scan, DNA, etc, would be required to retrieve the message off of the system, and to activate the kill code. I also think that it would be required of all ships that they carry the kill codes for their crew's own messages that they've already recieved. That way, upon arriving in-system and approaching the Starport for docking, you'd already kill any old messages waiting for you.

 

[alex_greene]

There's also the problem of receiving real mail. Not just messages, but deliveries of parcels and other goods. Jayne's Cunning Hat and deliveries of idiots in cold sleep with their innards replaced with wetware.

Stuff like that. To borrow the Firefly imagery.

 

[Infojunky]

Drop the Viral descriptor and you have a system.

What you describe could be a is just applying the proper header to a message.

 

[kristof65]

I would call it "Broadcast Messaging" - in effect, that's what you are doing - broadcasting the message out to a certain range.

Messages would probably have a unique identifier in them to help "kill" the messages once received. I would think that the kill message might be able to act as a sort of delivery receipt, as well, catching up with the sender and notify them that the message was received.

You'll have millions, billions, possibly even trillions of these messages floating around a subsector at a given point in time. With that many messages, senders are going to be paying by the byte - my take would be that most of these messages are equivilent to our mobile phone SMS messages - only the truly wealthy would be paying to send larger messages.

 

[phild]

You'll have millions, billions, possibly even trillions of these messages floating around a subsector at a given point in time. With that many messages, senders are going to be paying by the byte - my take would be that most of these messages are equivilent to our mobile phone SMS messages - only the truly wealthy would be paying to send larger messages.

I'm not convinced by this. We can assume a TL15 society has perfected quantum data storage, meaning that huge amounts of information can be stored in a single atom. All you need is for each starport to have a massive data storage terminal, through which people can access the information they require. Although I'm sure not every message is transmitted everywhere. Like any standard mail service, your normal options are to deliver to a specific planetary address. You pay a premium to send a message to a sector, subsector or Imperium-wide. Although, just as with a postal system, the sender pays: cash up front, cash on delivery is too risky.

 

[Stattick]

I called it "Viral" because the behavior of the message type works similar to a virus. It spreads quickly and mostly predictably to the most populous systems first, but could potentially "skip" over a small backwater system for months. Like a virus, it makes changes to the code of every information system that it comes in contact with (assuming that the information system isn't "immune" to viral messaging). If you don't like the name, but you want to use something similar in YTU, then change the name, it's no sweat off my brow.

I would call it "Broadcast Messaging" - in effect, that's what you are doing - broadcasting the message out to a certain range.

Messages would probably have a unique identifier in them to help "kill" the messages once received. I would think that the kill message might be able to act as a sort of delivery receipt, as well, catching up with the sender and notify them that the message was received.

You'll have millions, billions, possibly even trillions of these messages floating around a subsector at a given point in time. With that many messages, senders are going to be paying by the byte - my take would be that most of these messages are equivilent to our mobile phone SMS messages - only the truly wealthy would be paying to send larger messages.

I agree with everything that you wrote... except that in my Trav Universe, I'll be calling them Viral Messages, thank you very much. :lol: I just like the way it sounds. Sure, I know that "Viral" has a different meaning today with Viral Marketing and such, but the meanings of words and language do evolve over time.

I hadn't thought of the kill message being able to be a reciept for the sender that his message had been successfully delivered. Brilliant addition to the idea. Of course, the sender would have to pay just a little bit more for that service. This is capitalism.

I'm not convinced by this. We can assume a TL15 society has perfected quantum data storage, meaning that huge amounts of information can be stored in a single atom. All you need is for each starport to have a massive data storage terminal, through which people can access the information they require. Although I'm sure not every message is transmitted everywhere. Like any standard mail service, your normal options are to deliver to a specific planetary address. You pay a premium to send a message to a sector, subsector or Imperium-wide. Although, just as with a postal system, the sender pays: cash up front, cash on delivery is too risky.

Right. But this is Traveller. Most systems are not going to have TL15. I imagine that for backwards compatibility to lower tech star systems, that the system I described would have to work off of similar technology to our present day e-mail system. Why would the Imperium pay for an unnessisary top of the line information storage/retrieval system for every Class A (and maybe Class B & C) starport in the imperium, just so people can send mail in such a way as to cast a wide enough net to get messages to their friends/family/employees that are travellers. This tech wouldn't be nessisary for non-travellers - you know where they are, you just send the message to the system they live in. I think that the cost to the Imperium for what you describe would be too expensive, and so I think that they'd utilize a much less expensive digital computer system. I do agree that the sender would have to pay cash up front though, with delivery not being guarenteed.

 

[walkir]

Right. But this is Traveller. Most systems are not going to have TL15. I imagine that for backwards compatibility to lower tech star systems, that the system I described would have to work off of similar technology to our present day e-mail system. Why would the Imperium pay for an unnessisary top of the line information storage/retrieval system for every Class A (and maybe Class B & C) starport in the imperium, just so people can send mail in such a way as to cast a wide enough net to get messages to their friends/family/employees that are travellers. This tech wouldn't be nessisary for non-travellers - you know where they are, you just send the message to the system they live in.

TMB 91 states that "storage space is effectively unlimited at TL 9 and above". Average imperial TL is 12-14.
As (at least IMTU) every imperial Starport is either TL 15 (at TL 13-15 worlds) or 12 (everywhere else if that's the TL of the modular cutter/it's modules used for minor Starports), storage space won't be a problem. Selling it for a premium won't be one, too.

Why not giving the TAS, which according to spinward marches already has special members-only computer facilities, a mail system like that?
One duty of every member could be bringing mail to the branch offices they are going to visit (except the one where they are at the moment and their destination are connected by X-Boat, of course).

 

[kristof65]

You'll have millions, billions, possibly even trillions of these messages floating around a subsector at a given point in time. With that many messages, senders are going to be paying by the byte - my take would be that most of these messages are equivilent to our mobile phone SMS messages - only the truly wealthy would be paying to send larger messages.

I'm not convinced by this. We can assume a TL15 society has perfected quantum data storage, meaning that huge amounts of information can be stored in a single atom. All you need is for each starport to have a massive data storage terminal, through which people can access the information they require. Although I'm sure not every message is transmitted everywhere. Like any standard mail service, your normal options are to deliver to a specific planetary address. You pay a premium to send a message to a sector, subsector or Imperium-wide. Although, just as with a postal system, the sender pays: cash up front, cash on delivery is too risky.

The x-boat network is TL 13, at least based on the X-boat design in Traders and Gunships - I would assume the rest of the network is of similar tech level.

While data storage may be effectively unlimited, it still costs someone money to build and maintain the network - which means they're going to charge based on how much "load" a message puts on their network. Senders may not be literally paying by the byte, but part of what they are paying will be based on sized of the message, as it's an easy way to assess the cost for the "load" a message will put on the system.

Note, too, that I said "most of these messages are equivilent to our mobile phone SMS messages". In all likely hood, the OTU equivilent of SMS would be short "low-resolution" video messages. Of course, their definition of low-resolution may be what we consider HDTV - it's the concept I was trying to get across, rather than stating that most of these messages would actually be 140 character text messages.

I'd almost bet that text only messages under a certain size would be free or nearly free, simply to encourage a sense of interstellar community.

 

[barasawa]

actually, this functions just like computer networks. There are packets that are sent to everything, sometimes limited to certain subnets, and only the intended recipient opens them.

Since the traveller data-stores are effectively unlimited for simple data like text, any courier could easily carry trillions upon trillions of those without even impacting on it's large data consumption cargo.

To make it work, just get intended recipient (unique id info), target area (world, sector, etc), and time frame (expires in 1 year or whatever).
Then pay a standardized fee and supply the file.
(At tech 10, even a 3 hour video recording would be miniscule. Also, encryption doesn't really take space, just make sure your recipient has the key.)

How it happens is Automagically. Players may want to know how it happens, in which case, check their comm + edu.
You don't have to detail it anymore than you detail the formulas for astrogation through jumpspace.
The characters either know or don't, and the players only need to make skill checks.