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"...a lot of people find adventure on the Internet. That's their idea of being interactive. My idea of being interactive is going on out and doing it on the street."
- Harlan Ellison
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| Chalf (Quick-Scribe Powder) | ||
| A special powder that forms itself into words and symbols. |
Chalf is a truly unique idea. If you think about it, laser printer toner (the fine carbon material) is a similar powder, that is fixed onto the paper to form words and symbols. But, do you really need the paper?
| McKie brought a white vial from his copious jacket, scattered metallic powder on the desktop.
Watt pushed himself back from his desk, eyeing the powder with suspicion. He took a cautious sniff, smelled chalf, the quick-scribe powder. Still... "It's just chalf," McKie said. And he thought: If he buys that, I may get away with this. "So scribe it," Watt said. Concealing his elation, McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface. A broken circle with arrows pointing to a right-hand flow appeared in the chalf. |
| Technovelgy from The Tactful Saboteur,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Galaxy in 1964 Additional resources -
|
Chalf also offered the devious Jorj X. McKie, saboteur extraordinary, with an opportunity to do what he did best. His boss, Clinton Watt, was right to be suspicious.
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'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
