Some Stuff about My New "Laptop"

OK, I've been working with this thing for a while now, I think I can handle it.

Just to give you some background, the new machine is completely different from the old modified laptop. I'm told it'll be easier to maintain a connection because there isn't so much jury-rigging to get things working. Once the data is converted into whatever the crystals communicate with, it doesn't need to be converted back. It's just filtered through the crystal and some unused parts of my brain and then appears on the screen. Of course, it looks kind of strange, as I just see the website itself, no programs or anything. All the commands I get with a browser work though, I just have to "think" them. At first I thought it would be really chaotic, but it really goes pretty easy.

Anyway, writing is a bit more difficult. In fact that's the bit that was giving me headaches. Here's what the technician said to me about it (yela'kaja translating):

When typing, it takes a little bit more effort. There are two ways you can do it. The first is to visualize exactly what you wish to write. This is not as easy as it might sound. The device will read letters and formatting straight from your head and attempt to convert it into something that can be transmitted. If you're not good at visualization, it might not come out looking exactly as you expected.
The other route is to simply form the words in your head as if you're about to say them. You've already figured out how to work this strange arrow control [the cursor], so other tasks related to writing shouldn't be difficult.

By the way, you'll see more of that. This new system allows me to jack in the yela'kaja at any time and let him write something himself. Neither he nor my previous two yela'kaja had much patience trying to type, so they left the laptop alone, but they seem extremely adept at this stuff. Anyway, I ended up going with a little of both systems. The only issue with either of the writing techniques the machine has to, in the words of the technician, "tap into higher systems" in the brain, especially when I'm just forming words like I'm going to say them, which apparently activates a lot of little pathways that have to be tracked through.

Anyway, that about covers my new machine. We're coming up on another stop. It's a big Kesatan settlement out in the middle of the ocean. I've been to a couple of those. I'll talk about it a bit later, but my next post I'll be doing that bit on the Kesatan life-cycle like I promised before. Right now I've got to go to some sort of reception thingy. Seeya.