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"Writing about the future, I have a vested interest in there being a future for me to write about."
- John Brunner
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| Dustplug | ||
| A cover specially made to protect one's microsoft socket; a tongue retainer for your brain. |
Since the socket for a microsoft (a small piece of electronics that is hardware, software and content all in one) is implanted directly into your brain tissue, I think that it is appropriate to take proper care of it when not in use.
There also may be particular social contexts in which one might not want to flaunt one's wired status.
| Among the dozen-odd microsofts the Dutchman had given him was one that would allow a limited fluency in Spanish, but in Vallarta he'd fumbled behind his left ear and inserted a dustplug instead, hiding the socket and plug beneath a square of flesh-tone micropore. A passenger near the back of the bus had a radio. A voice had periodically interrupted the brassy pop to recite a kind of litany, strings of ten-digit figures, the day's winning numbers in the national lottery. |
| From Count Zero,
by William Gibson. Published by Arbor House in 1986 Additional resources -
|
The original analog to a dustplug is a special flesh-colored earring that both conceals the hole in your ear and keeps it from closing up.
The more modern version is an acrylic tongue retainer, used to hide your tongue piercing while keeping the hole open. (BTW, you can get them in both flesh color and clear.) For use before your interview with that big zaibatsu you always wanted to work for.
You'll need one of these if you get a carbon socket to allow you to slot extra firmware into your brain - see microsoft from Gibson's Neuromancer.
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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 Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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'The car surged and lifted, clearing its top by a negligible margin.'
Science fiction authors are serious about sleep, too.
'I had explained," said Nessus, "that our civilisation was dying in its own waste heat.'
'Just what did I want Flexible Frank to do? - any work a human being does around a house.'
SF writers have thought about this since the 19th century.
There's a lesson in this for neural net AI engineers everywhere.
