It kind of spoils the #aesthetic fun of exposed #cybernetics & #cyberware when you consider how much sand and dust is a problem without some sort of flexible protective covering over joints.

One can definitely mess with transparency but having nothing at all without some sort of mechanism to prevent foreign object intrusion is just asking for trouble.

Kotaku: After Netflix Anime, Cyberpunk 2077’s Expansion Makes Cyberware As Dangerous As It Should Be https://kotaku.com/cyberpunk-2077-phantom-liberty-edgerunners-netflix-1850533859 #gaming #tech #kotaku #campaignsettings #dystopianfiction #sciencefiction #postmodernism #subcultures #futurology #pawelsasko #cyberpunk #cyberware #netflix #culture

Next up in my ongoing series on practical #cyberware, after I get my IRL cortex implant I'm gonna need a new alimentary system starting with a "smart stomach". I want the experience and enjoyment of eating food whenever I get a "taste" for something while filtering out all the constituent components that my body doesn't need to stay healthy (excess sugar, cholesterol, sodium, etc.).

Having the visceral experience of eating food being separated from the "fueling the body" aspect would essentially mean that all food would have the same nutritional value. That, in turn, would mean that I could eat what I like, when I like, without consequences like high cholesterol, diabetes, and kidney/liver damage.

A side effect of this might be a supporting requirement for intestinal and kidney augmentation to support the new filtering and disposal aspects. That would require a lot of eddies, I think. Blergh.

Hmmm. It seems to me that the T-800 cybereyes with integrated threat assessment package is a lot further down my upgrade list than I originally thought. Ain't that a thing. Go figure.

On a related note to my previous post, I would recommend reading the Nexus trilogy, written by Ramez Naam. The three books (“Nexus”, “Crux”, and “Apex”) present a different take on the traditional #cyberware space: rather than cybernetic limbs and organ replacements, nanobots provide the augementation. Nexus is a “nano drug” that can connect human minds together, but it is also presented as sort of an “operating system for the body” which allows the user to control their brain just like they control a computer (complete with internal command line, ntalk, whois, and everything!).

It’s a very interesting melding of traditional #cyberpunk ideals with a very different take on #cyberware implementation with a lot of privacy, surveillance, and “who owns your data?” questions thrown in. It’s been long enough now since I’ve read it that I probably will end up reading it again. I think the series ended around 2015 so it might be a tad dated, but I think it was an interesting enough concept to survive the test of time. It was written at the height of the nanobot fascination in sci-fi literature and fears of “grey goo” incidents. Delicious!

So, if you’re looking for something to read, I would add this series to the list and give it a read when you can.

Sitting here on #corteximplant.com, I’m thinking about what I would want if I actually had a real cortex implant as #cyberware, and I’m thinking that my list is kind of decidedly un-#cyberpunk in the general sense of it. What would I want out of an actual cortex implant?

- Automatic recording of dreams for later playback (only by me, of course)
- Passive “Subconscious recording”: the ability to playback any situation over the last X hours with full access to everything that my subconscious picked up but that my brain filtered out in order to keep me sane and alive (basically, the #Cyberpunk2077 braindance idea but built into my own head)
- The ability to categorize thoughts for later posting or exploration, kind of like an internal referential notepad. Except in this case, it would compose thoughts in microblog-sized segments for later perusal, minor editing, and then posting to social media.
- A fairly sophisticated pain editor, primarily physical but also able to blunt emotional pain at a minor level

What I mainly want from my initial cyberware package is to make my own internal life better with minor cybernetic abilities, unless somehow I find myself in need of combat cyberware to live my daily life. If the latter is the case, my life has taken a decidedly unanticipated wrong turn somewhere.