|
I was dreaming …
It was a very corny dream … and it was in French. But luckily there were subtitles, so I could understand what was going on.
I was in an ancient-looking Alfa Romeo with a hot brunette who had way too much eyeliner on. The car and the eyeliner made me realize that I was stuck somewhere in the sixties. That, and the fact that we were driving in Rio de Janeiro and the surrounding islands and mountains were still stunning and undeveloped. .jpg "Image") I was dreaming ... The brunette uttered something unintelligible. I glanced at the subtitles forming around her bosom … “Why do you look so glum? Is there anything I can do to cheer you up?”
I was about to answer her when my shoulder started shaking. The next moment I was back in a dark, dank tent that was dug into a muddy, freezing hole in the middle of a war zone.
My shoulder was still shaking. A hand was attached to it. Attached to the hand was an arm, a shoulder, a neck and a jaw. The jaw was shouting at me … “On your feet soldier! Roll call in ten minutes. Full battle dress!”
Ten minutes later …
(Click 'Comments' below to read the full episode) ...
... we were sipping cold coffee in the dark and trying to figure out how we got there. Most of us were muttering how inhumanly early it was. I was massaging my brain and marveling at the weight of the ancient assault rifles we were issued with. The gun looked a bit like a fully automatic elephant rifle and it fired massive old 7.62mm rounds. The Brass said that, once the robot threat had become apparent, Logistics Command had to scour the developing nations of the Free Sector to get enough of these weapons, and then they had to shift half of the Free Sector’s remaining industrial capability toward producing tungsten-tipped bullets to make the weapons certifiable robot-killers.
Behind us the gas turbine engines of a Puma helicopter started whining into life. A tent flap was flung open and Colonel Crockett came striding at us with a severe expression on his face. I’ve seen that expression before – it was the look of a man who had been forced to order his men into a lethal environment from which few, if any, would return.
The colonel cleared his throat. We were all ears. “Men, we have just received intelligence that a small group of four IR-1 infantry robots have been spotted approaching River 34 in Sector Four. They seem to be doing what all the other IR-1s in this sector are doing: moving in to congregate 2km from here for a massed assault on our lines.”
I froze again when I heard these words. We had never engaged these metallic beasts before, and the thought of hundreds of them charging our thin lines made me break out in a cold sweat.
The colonel continued, “As these robots cannot go through deep water, we calculate that they will follow the river to a fortified boat-crossing camp 6km north from where they were spotted 30 minutes ago.”
“We know these robots are fitted with a lightweight, ultra-mobile interface device called the VIA NanoBook. We know the NanoBook is protected by a 3cm-thick steel plate at the back of the robot’s rear bullet silo. It connects to the robot’s processor stem through two USB 2.0 ports and a DVI-I video output. Military data is injected via a 4-in-1 Card Reader, but … and this is important …” the colonel paused to let his words sink in, “we suspect that the VIA NanoBook also has Bluetooth capabilities, which means they can "whisper" to each other.”
We all exchanged worried glances. Bluetooth as well? In such a small device? That would explain how a group of four NanoBook-linked robots can communicate as a single unit, while at the same time “going dark” with their NanoBooks’ wireless LAN capabilities. Whereas wireless LAN was more powerful, it required Ethernet set-up and it was easy to “hear” at long distances. Bluetooth meant secret, small-footprint, intra-unit communications. The communication range could be selected for 1m, 10m or 100m. At 10m the target group of four IR-1s – or NanoBots as we were beginning to call them – would be communicating in the wireless world’s equivalent of a whisper. Bluetooth systems were also known to use an incredibly small amount of power, leaving the NanoBook free to use its four-cell battery for other applications.
In civilian life, Bluetooth was used to make peripherals communicate directly with computers, to create wireless sound systems, to send pictures straight from mobile devices to printers and to completely remove cable clutter from multiple scenarios.
Now it was being used by infantry robots to "whisper" to each other.
Great, that’s just great.
The colonel cut short our morbid calculations: “This is the plan! We need to get our hands on as many of those NanoBooks as possible. You have been trained with your high-powered rifles. You will soon use them. The helicopters will insert you in the target group’s way and you will engage the group and kill all four of them. You will bring back as many of these NanoBooks as possible. You have 20 seconds to get into that chopper. NOW, MOVE IT!”
Next: “Flare when you land”
|
Visitor
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
:grin :grin 8) :grin 8) :grin 8)
Visitor
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
Stop writing about them and get them into the shops in Australia. I want one.
Visitor
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
I want one too!
Charles Engelbrecht
Thursday, 19 July 2007
Hang in there folks, just over a month before they hit the shelves in Europe. Then it's the US' turn ... and you know how fast the US can export something! ;)
Visitor
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
Hmmm, "subtitles forming around her bosom" ... I would have stopped that car right there! 8)