Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"Another reason why privacy could be just a passing fad, terrorism is going to get too good. [1997]"
- Larry Niven

Blurbflies (Sing. Blurbfly)  
  Small robotic/organic advertisers.  

Blurbflies are corporate gadflies, tiny mostly robotic flies that create buzz for their sponsors.

The blurbs are the property of the AnnoDomino Co., invented to perpetuate their messages of luck and hope beyond the normal channels.

Blurbflies are allowed to travel the streets, buzzing their adverts alive and direct to the punters.

Blurbs shall stand for Bio-Logical-Ultra-Robotic-Broadcasting-System.

Only the company shall manufacture the blurbs. Other businesses or individuals may purchase blurbs from the Company, pre-loaded with messages and armed to the teeth, for the appropriate price.

None but the company shall know the insides of a blurb.

None but the Company shall capture a blurb.

If captured, a blurb may take the necessary steps to escape.

Technovelgy from Nymphomation, by Jeff Noon.
Published by Black Swan Books in 2000
Additional resources -

Eventually, people learn to hack these ubiquitous beasties; they never give you a moments peace, flying into your house, your pub, your car, you name it.

Benny produced a small package from his gentleman's shoulder bag. It was an aluminum box, tightly crimped. A takeaway curry box that Benny opened up to show Daisy...
"Isn't he a beauty?"
Certainly, a beauty; folded there on a bed of silver, with wings all a tremble, even whilst sleeping...
"It's a bootleg! Surely you're not trusting Jaz to deliver you? Don't you know his blurbs go crazy? ...They crash!"

Compare to the scarab robot flying insect from The Scarab (1936) by Raymond Z. Gallun, the infiltrators from Vulcan's Hammer (1960) by Philip K. Dick an the commercial fly from The Simulacra (1964) by Philip K. Dick.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Nymphomation
  More Ideas and Technology by Jeff Noon
  Tech news articles related to Nymphomation
  Tech news articles related to works by Jeff Noon

Blurbflies (Sing. Blurbfly)-related news articles:
  - Advertising Drones Hover Over Traffic In Mexico

Articles related to Robotics
Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
Robot Hand Creeps Along, Separate From It's Owner
Korean Exoskeleton Suit F1 Helps You Put It On

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Robotic Barber Programmed With a Number of Styles
'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'

Humanoid Boxing Robot KO's Opponent - It's A Knockout!
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'

Caterpillar Electric Mining Loader Not Yet Ready For Moon
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'

Centipede Robots Down On The Farm
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'

Anthropic's Claude AI Creates Legal Citation From Whole Cloth
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'

Students Vie For Lunar Regolith Mining Robot Prize
'About time you got here,' the astronaut said.

'They Erased My Memory' Says Ariana Grande
'...using a neutralizing electronic impulse.'

Solitary Black Hole Wanders In Space
'...the Hole is something like a vortex or a whirlpool?'

Spaceplane From Virgin Atlantic
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'

DARPA Wants 'Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.