Quick Fire Questions (A Place to Ask and Answer)

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I suppose a sonic screwdriver is just too passe.... what about something that ties in to electricity, if they still have it. You know the way you can get those tracking devices before you drill into the wall? If it had a current, too? a mini taser?
 
Actually you might have something in the counter measures thing. They were talking on some programme on the TV recently about GPS jamming. Apparently, though illegal to use, you can buy these anywhere on the internet. Most popular ones are quite small and plug into a car cigarette lighter socket. They are used by delivery drivers who don't want their van's automatic GPS tracking system telling their boss they have been moonlighting; with the GPS jammed the system doesn't think it has been anywhere. Anyway apparently these are still strong enough to disrupt the GPS single for a area hundred metres or so in radius. As well as that you can get units not much bigger that can apparently jam the GPS signal over an entire city.

So do you need to permanently disable it or would jamming it do? Don't forget that you could secrete a small jamming unit in his clothes which would do the job.

Also I get the impression now that this is going to be done possibly with the person's consent. If that is the case and you have, as you have suggested, some kind of access to the device itself, then it should be easy to apply enough electricity through that access to fry the components. Something that small is likely to operate on a very small low power battery which should make it easy to overload.
 
David Evil Overlord said:
I was going to suggest sending a virus to his phone, but you've got that.

You could try something like Larry Niven's tasp. It sends a signal to tickle the pleasure centre of someone's brain. Very dangerous, because it was highly addictive. I was thinking you could disable the implantee, rather than the implant.
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The poor implantee needs their wits afterwards, I'm afraid.

springs1971 said:
I suppose a sonic screwdriver is just too passe.... what about something that ties in to electricity, if they still have it. You know the way you can get those tracking devices before you drill into the wall? If it had a current, too? a mini taser?
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I don't think the stud-finder could be reconfigured to deliver a charge. Taser is still an outside bet.

Vertigo said:
Actually you might have something in the counter measures thing. They were talking on some programme on the TV recently about GPS jamming. Apparently, though illegal to use, you can buy these anywhere on the internet. Most popular ones are quite small and plug into a car cigarette lighter socket. They are used by delivery drivers who don't want their van's automatic GPS tracking system telling their boss they have been moonlighting; with the GPS jammed the system doesn't think it has been anywhere. Anyway apparently these are still strong enough to disrupt the GPS single for a area hundred metres or so in radius. As well as that you can get units not much bigger that can apparently jam the GPS signal over an entire city.

So do you need to permanently disable it or would jamming it do? Don't forget that you could secrete a small jamming unit in his clothes which would do the job.

Also I get the impression now that this is going to be done possibly with the person's consent. If that is the case and you have, as you have suggested, some kind of access to the device itself, then it should be easy to apply enough electricity through that access to fry the components. Something that small is likely to operate on a very small low power battery which should make it easy to overload.
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Jamming would do the job. They're doing it to prevent themselves being tracked, but it's all very rushed, very improvised, so a rigged up something probably suits my purposes better than a jamming device specifically designed for that purpose.

On your last point, Vertigo, what kind of device (or tool) could deliver that charge?
 
Wet a towel and put it over your head. This will muffle the signal. ;)


How about an improvised Faraday cage ?
 
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Well just a thought but if you had any other device the size of say a mobile phone (ok so they have implanted comms so I guess they wouldn't have phones but maybe a small palm computer) take the battery out of that. There's a strong chance it would be a much higher voltage than that of your comms device. Get a couple of wires and put them into the access port thingy. Then try it to see if it worked. Might take a couple of shots to get a pair of contacts that will do damage.
 
Thanks again, guys. The Faraday cage would be a little....impractical :D but it might work.

Perhaps springs' stud-finder is the key after all, but using the battery rather than the device itself. Unfortunately, while awake all night I thought of another scene which may complicate this one, which may mean re-writing elsewhere depending on what I come up with here, but at least I have lots of food for thought.
 
alchemist said:
Thanks again, guys. The Faraday cage would be a little....impractical :D but it might work.

Perhaps springs' stud-finder is the key after all, but using the battery rather than the device itself. Unfortunately, while awake all night I thought of another scene which may complicate this one, which may mean re-writing elsewhere depending on what I come up with here, but at least I have lots of food for thought.
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I have heard (and I'm sure there will be a scientist along any minute now to tell me if I'm wrong) that if your car hits a power pole and the live wires are twitching and sparking and generally being dangerously electrical all over the place, just sit tight. The body of the car is acting as an improvised Faraday cage. If you open the door, you break the effect of the cage, and all that voltage comes looking for you.

Now, I'm not suggesting you crash your character's car into a power pole. Not unless it helps your evil plot. But making something similar should not be impossible. Provided at least one character knows what they're doing (and doesn't just think they know what they're doing).
 
There was an episode of Top Gear which proved that.

Alas, for my story, it doesn't fit with where everybody is (no cars or power poles, for instance).
 
David Evil Overlord said:
I have heard (and I'm sure there will be a scientist along any minute now to tell me if I'm wrong) that if your car hits a power pole and the live wires are twitching and sparking and generally being dangerously electrical all over the place, just sit tight. The body of the car is acting as an improvised Faraday cage. If you open the door, you break the effect of the cage, and all that voltage comes looking for you.

Now, I'm not suggesting you crash your character's car into a power pole. Not unless it helps your evil plot. But making something similar should not be impossible. Provided at least one character knows what they're doing (and doesn't just think they know what they're doing).
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As long as you don't provide the current a way to earth (say by sticking your foot on the ground) the tyres of the car will keep you insulated and you'll be safe.

If you have to get out of the vehicle (say it's on fire) you should jump clear, ensuring that at no time is your body connected to both the car and the ground at the same time. If the voltage is high enough it may arc across the intervening space and fry you like crispy bacon, but hopefully you'll jump far enough that the voltage can't arc across.
 
Yes as Gumboot says that particular effect is not really a Faraday Cage. You are safe because of the insulation of your tyres and the metal of the car providing the easiest route for the electricity (rather than your body).

The windows are much too large for a car to be a true Faraday Cage. If it was you would not be able to use your mobile phones inside the car. It does attenuate the signal some which is why it is preferable to have aerials for radio and such like outside the car body. However it is not completely necessary.

I believe though I couldn't swear to it that the size of the holes or gaps in a Faraday Cage are proportional to the wavelength of the signal you wish to block. Don't quote me on that one though :eek:
 
The Wiki article has this as part of its introductory paragraphs:
Faraday cages cannot block static and slowly varying magnetic fields, such as Earth's magnetic field (a compass will still work inside). To a large degree though, they also shield the interior from external electromagnetic radiation if the conductor is thick enough and any holes are significantly smaller than the radiation's wavelength.
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Ah I thought there was a relationship between wavelength and hole size. I guess car windows are going to be just a tad bigger than most microwave wavelengths ;)
 
The wiki article links to a "booster bag"

The booster bag can be an ordinary shopping bag, backpack, pocketed garment, or other inconspicuous container whose inside is lined with a special material, typically multiple layers of aluminium foil.

An item is placed inside the booster bag (effectively a Faraday cage). Electronic security tags inside the bag may not be detected by security panels in the detector antennas at the store exit.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booster_bag


Line the inside of a hat or his jacket with aluminium foil?
 
fishii said:
If someone is talking and they have a flash back while talking (as in it's part of the dialogue) should it be in italics?
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If the flash-back is outside of the speech, I'd probably do:

"If the flashback is-" his mind reeled with the effects of deja vu "-is outside... I've said this, haven't I?"

I haven't thought about whether it should be a capital H in this case, and suspect that there should be a comma after "vu".

If the flashback is in his words, then I wouldn't worry overly as long as the context makes it clear.

"If the flash-back is outside - Outside. I -- I was outside. It snowed. Five people with carrots for noses."
 
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