Balooon-based floating telecom relays always make me think of an element in Robert Charles Wilson’s “Spin”

Balooon-based floating telecom relays always make me think of an element in Robert Charles Wilson’s sci-fi novel, “Spin,” in which a mysterious membrane appears around earth that drastically slows down time inside. (A simulated sun maintains the day/night cycle) This effectively cuts the world off from outer space, including orbiting satellites. The world settles on high-altitude balloons as a replacement.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/telecom/internet/internet-balloons-and-drones-look-to-rise-in-the-5g-era

#telecom #books #scifi

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It’s a really interesting book, especially once people realize that they can still launch probes or spacecraft out, just can’t receive any transmissions back. And when they realize that they can take advantage of the different rates of time on Earth vs. outside.

There are two sequels, Axis and Vortex, which are very different. Worth a read, but I think Spin was the best of the three.

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@hafnia Yeah, they had some interesting ideas – the chain of worlds, the floating civilizations, the different ways of linking people together cybernetically – but IMO the stories weren’t anywhere near as good.

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I’ve been at home, sick, for the last 2 days, which means when the SSD …

I’ve been at home, sick, for the last 2 days, which means when the SSD for the new computer FINALLY arrived, I spent the afternoon installing the drive, Windows, all the drivers, and key applications, including a game the kiddo has been wanting to play for ages (but couldn’t due to hardware specs on the old PC).

And coughing and sneezing a lot.

This afternoon, after school, he finally got to play it!

For 10 minutes, before the power went out.

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To my amazement and relief, he took it in stride, even as the power kept fluctuating for the next hour.

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@FiXato The weird thing is, he usually isn’t. I think maybe he’d gotten used to waiting for the specific thing, so it didn’t bother him so much. 🤷‍♂️

But yeah, the first time your kid gets sick can be nerve-wracking.

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@sohkamyung Thanks.

The power did eventually stabilize, and he got to spend some time seriously playing.

Then I went to lie down for the rest of the afternoon. @&*$! cold.

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