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"It's hard to tell stories about critters that are not human. John W. Campbell tried it, in "Twilight," and everybody says it's a wonderful story, and nobody ever reads it twice."
- Jerry Pournelle
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| Death-rattle File | ||
| A cache of information set to destroy itself upon the death of its owner. |
| "I note everything, Lars. Yes, it's in my death-rattle file." Death-rattle ... the fireproof, Third-World-War proof, Titanian bolecricket-proof, well-hidden file-cases which were rigged to detonate in the event of Morris' death. He carried on his person a triggering mechanism sensitive to his heartbeat. Even Lars did not know where the files currently existed... |
| From The Zap Gun,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Galaxy Publishing in 1965 Additional resources -
|
One of the reasons I included this item is that it is a very early reference to the idea of a tag or medallion that performed a medical monitoring function, and then communicated particular events wirelessly to another location.
For us today, this is an old idea; we've all seen the commercials for medic-alert medallions worn by people who say "I've fallen, and I can't get up..."
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Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
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'THE red tennis robot scooted desperately across the court...'
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
'Do you know what window washing used to cost by the hour?'
'Once the target is confirmed, it uses an IR laser to send a coded signal back to the parent, clearing it to attack.'
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'
