Well, at least they were trying to get her out of it, I still don’t understand why Goldbug is doing all this, but it’s clear he either has amazing hacking skills or he’s really part of anasigma which is why he has easy access to Nick and the drone.
Bear in mind Goldbug was responsible for breaking Nick out of his VR simulation, so it’s likely he knows a lot about VR.
There have also been unconfirmed hints that Goldbug might be the enigmatic Mr. Green, who IIRC is both Ginny’s boss at A-Sig and a major donor / benefactor to Project Skin Horse.
“Is the VR nightmare is worse than us?” Huh that is a good question. I mean she just had an epiphany, that the whole world being destroyed isn’t so bad. What does it say about her life?
Unity is so worried she’s calling Nick “Nick” instead of “Biscuit”! And something tells me that Sweetie’s simulation is *not* being run on the Apple that sufficed for Nick’s life… What has me worried is Sweetheart’s attitude- some very depressed people *do* cheer up tremendously… when they reach a firm decision and plan to die, they know they can handle whatever life can throw at them, in the time left. It is very much like giving themselves a gift. I hope I am reading this way wrong…
Fascinating, isn’t it? Maybe the panel with the greyed-out Nick text was when the dime dropped for him, and they had to abruptly cut him out and replace him with simulated Nick.
Actually no – ICE – Intrusion Countermeasure Executable – counter-intrusion software. Usage goes back at LEAST 20 years (Shadowrun), but may go back further in the cyberpunk genre.
Huh, when I learned about it there was no E in the acronym. It was just IC for Intrusion Countermeasures, but the hackers pronounced it “ice” since saying “Trollface got fried by some Black Eye-Cee” doesn’t have the cyberpunk feel.
I’m pretty sure Gibson just made it up for _Neuromancer_ because it sounded good, and people copied it after that. I had been working with computers for years already when _Neuromancer_ came out, and nobody had ever used that slang or acronym for security software.
As Clifton said, it’s a Gibson invention. Shadowrun “borrowed” a lot from Neuromancer, and presumably in this case dropped the E from their abbreviation to be somewhat less shameless.
ICE and “Black ICE” appear in both the novel (1984), not to mention the 8-bit game (1988) — respectively 5 years and 1 year before FASA’s Shadowrun. (originally, ICE were any countermeasures. Black ICE, on the other hand, could kill you).
Saw a good video originally on Io9 I think it was – showed a vid capturing the ‘shock wave’ of the Cherenkov radiation when a test reactor went critical.
I always think of Helen bathing in the reactor during Narbonic when I see these.
I hate to tell you this, but I doubt any of her is still OEM… I suspect I know what she does with her old parts, but would rather not think about it…
I hope some day TPTB see fit to show a flashback- how she came to work for Skin Horse after creating openings there…
At the very least, everything from the neck down was lost in the New Orleans incident. Her face might still be the original, but I doubt it.
On another note, did you know that the file names for (most of) the strips form a story? You can find a compilation here. It includes, among other things, the flashback you’re hoping for.
“Babe”? Forsooth!
She has always called Sweetie ‘babe’
True… Must be all the vr messing with my head! Mea culpa!
Well, at least they were trying to get her out of it, I still don’t understand why Goldbug is doing all this, but it’s clear he either has amazing hacking skills or he’s really part of anasigma which is why he has easy access to Nick and the drone.
Bear in mind Goldbug was responsible for breaking Nick out of his VR simulation, so it’s likely he knows a lot about VR.
There have also been unconfirmed hints that Goldbug might be the enigmatic Mr. Green, who IIRC is both Ginny’s boss at A-Sig and a major donor / benefactor to Project Skin Horse.
“Is the VR nightmare is worse than us?” Huh that is a good question. I mean she just had an epiphany, that the whole world being destroyed isn’t so bad. What does it say about her life?
That it’s kind of even either way, really.
Unity is so worried she’s calling Nick “Nick” instead of “Biscuit”! And something tells me that Sweetie’s simulation is *not* being run on the Apple that sufficed for Nick’s life… What has me worried is Sweetheart’s attitude- some very depressed people *do* cheer up tremendously… when they reach a firm decision and plan to die, they know they can handle whatever life can throw at them, in the time left. It is very much like giving themselves a gift. I hope I am reading this way wrong…
Let’s get Unity some brains and let her have a look at Sweetie.
Eeee! Baby cobra scarf! 😀
I would pay money for a baby cobra scarf, if someone could figure out how to knit one. (Also if I had money.)
Google is your friend. There are lots of patterns.
Must be serious…Nick’s not swearing…
unless this is a VR within a VR?
“Fooled me too” ,,, does this mean that some of the time when Nick was talking to Sweetheart at the institute, it was really him?
*Looks at big chart labelled “What’s a simulation and what isn’t”*
*Gets eraser*
Fascinating, isn’t it? Maybe the panel with the greyed-out Nick text was when the dime dropped for him, and they had to abruptly cut him out and replace him with simulated Nick.
What reassures me about this community is nobody had to ask what ICE was, or why it is (potentially) bad.
That’s the Icing on the KS email saying the books are here and will be sending out over the coming weeks.
I’m pretty sure that ICE is simply the swear filter in action.
Actually no – ICE – Intrusion Countermeasure Executable – counter-intrusion software. Usage goes back at LEAST 20 years (Shadowrun), but may go back further in the cyberpunk genre.
Nope. It’s a “thing”. It stands for Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics, and in Sci-fi it’s how you counter-hack the hackers.
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Intrusion+Countermeasure+Electronics
It’s a reference to Neuromancer. Intrusion Counter-Electronics, fries hackers who try to get in through virtual reality.
Huh, when I learned about it there was no E in the acronym. It was just IC for Intrusion Countermeasures, but the hackers pronounced it “ice” since saying “Trollface got fried by some Black Eye-Cee” doesn’t have the cyberpunk feel.
I’m pretty sure Gibson just made it up for _Neuromancer_ because it sounded good, and people copied it after that. I had been working with computers for years already when _Neuromancer_ came out, and nobody had ever used that slang or acronym for security software.
As Clifton said, it’s a Gibson invention. Shadowrun “borrowed” a lot from Neuromancer, and presumably in this case dropped the E from their abbreviation to be somewhat less shameless.
ICE and “Black ICE” appear in both the novel (1984), not to mention the 8-bit game (1988) — respectively 5 years and 1 year before FASA’s Shadowrun. (originally, ICE were any countermeasures. Black ICE, on the other hand, could kill you).
I knew this was a good place to hang out when Shaenon & Jeff used “Cherenkov radiation” and counted on us readers to “get it.”
Saw a good video originally on Io9 I think it was – showed a vid capturing the ‘shock wave’ of the Cherenkov radiation when a test reactor went critical.
I always think of Helen bathing in the reactor during Narbonic when I see these.
Hopefully these will link and not embed…..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgNwtepP-6M
Don’t ever change, Unity.
I hate to tell you this, but I doubt any of her is still OEM… I suspect I know what she does with her old parts, but would rather not think about it…
I hope some day TPTB see fit to show a flashback- how she came to work for Skin Horse after creating openings there…
At the very least, everything from the neck down was lost in the New Orleans incident. Her face might still be the original, but I doubt it.
On another note, did you know that the file names for (most of) the strips form a story? You can find a compilation here. It includes, among other things, the flashback you’re hoping for.
Sweetheart, just know that if your brain is turned to pudding, UNITY will see to your funeral arrangements.