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
in the News

AI Operates An Excavator
re: HG Wells
(5/19/2026)

US Army IBEX Exoskeleton Walks Troops Out Of Danger
re: Iain M. Banks
(5/17/2026)

Boy Makes Biomimetic Turtle Robot
re: Poul Anderson
(5/17/2026)

Elon Musk Wants Data Centers In Space
re: Iain M. Banks
(5/15/2026)

Origin F1 Humanoid Robot's Facial Skin
re: Rog Philips
(5/13/2026)

Grok And The City Fathers From 'Cities In Flight' By James Blish
re: James Blish
(5/11/2026)

Why Not Move A Warehouse District?
re: Jane Webb Loudon
(5/9/2026)

Will An AI Found A New Religion?
re: Frank Herbert
(5/7/2026)

Terraformer Industries Make Methane
re: Jack Williamson
(5/5/2026)

I Need An Outdoor Spherical Display
re: Iain M. Banks
(5/3/2026)

Worm Disrupts Physics Simulations Undetected For A Decade
re: Philip K. Dick
(5/1/2026)

Muxcard Redditor's DIY Credit Card-Sized Computer
re: Various
(4/29/2026)

'Soft Assembly' Fashions That Fashion Themselves On The Wearer
re: JG Ballard
(4/27/2026)

Orwell's Nightmare Of AI-Written Novels Comes To Pass
re: George Orwell
(4/25/2026)

More SF in the News

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