Distraction by Bruce Sterling:
Science Fiction Inventions, Technology and Ideas

This future Earth novel is set in 2044, and most of the government and social institutions that we think are eternal and unchangeable have gone to the dogs. Global warming, cheap computer power, increasingly irrelevant government - sound familiar? See at least one set of logical conclusions in this book. Select an invention:

Bambakias Hotel - help it come into being
A hotel that wants to exist! It just needs a little help.

Bugged Money - money rigged for surveillance
American cash with embedded listening devices.

Infowar Operation
Making use of various means to disrupt the enemy's military and civilian information networks.

Junkbot - spamachine
An automated email program that specializes in sending junk mail (spam)

Netwar - communications warfare
Making use of various means to disrupt the enemy's military and civilian information networks.

Profile Sniffers - sifting the web
A software device that sifts Internet access records for patterns associate with particular personality types.

Smart Bike
A motorcycle with sophisticated systems for steering and balance.

Talking Tape - smart as a brick
Adhesive-backed network connection, global positioning, voice synthesis and speakers.

 

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Science Fiction
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'Soft Assembly' Fashions That Fashion Themselves On The Wearer
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Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
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ISS Plagued By Leak - Again!
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Ridiculous 'Ghost Murmur' Tech Still Science Fiction
re: Roger Zelazny
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Outdoor Video Screens Can Be Arbitrarily Large
re: HG Wells
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Infrared Contact Lenses To See In The Dark
re: William Gibson
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What'll You Have? Extinct Animals Returned, Or Synthetic Eggshells?
re: Michael Crichton
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Sunbird Pulsar Fusion Like Leinster's Space Tug
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(4/13/2026)

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