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"I do think there is a link in that in both cases, writing fiction or writing a computer program, at any given moment you're focusing on a very specific and particular thing—one word, one line of code, whatever."
- Neal Stephenson
 |
| Toaster | ||
| A handheld beam weapon. |
| "But what about hand weapons? Are there any available?"
"You mean toasters?" "Anything that's lethal." "Nothing." |
| Technovelgy from Accidental Flight,
by W.F. Wallace. Published by Galaxy in 1952 Additional resources -
|
Here are some additional quotes:
"He adjusted the toaster beam to an imperceptible thickness. Deftly he sliced through the control case and removed a circular section..."
"Outside, there was the characteristic sputter, like frying, that the toaster beam made when it struck metal..."
"Jordan juggled the toaster. "I can weld with this. Let's put him in a cabin and weld the door closed..."
Compare to the blaster (1925) from When the Green Star Waned by Nictzin Dyalhis, the neutron blaster (1951), from The Complete Paratime, by H. Beam Piper and the heat ray from The War of the Worlds (1898), by H.G. Wells.
Also, see the nuclear shears from Foundation (1951) by Isaac Asimov, the
Slaver disintegrator from Ringworld (1970) by Larry Niven, the
Lasgun from Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert, and the
atomic torch from One Against the Legion (1939) by Jack Williamson.
"The rocket pilot moved closer. The deadly little toaster was in his hand..."
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Tech news articles related to works by W.F. Wallace
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'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
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'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
