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"The world is really so surreal these days that it's necessary for us to blunt it somehow in order to stay sane. The artist functions to short-circuit the buffering mechanism, so that people can occasionally perceive the weirdness of things as they are."
- William Gibson
 |
| Wearable White-Noise Generator | ||
| A device worn when the wearer preferred not to be the subject of audio recordings. |
Normal means paranoid, in Gibson's works; always assume that the other guy has better tech than you, but use what you've got just in case. Just hope your lawyer doesn't advise you to get one, as Laney had on his last day at work.
| It had been a weeknight, a Wednesday, when Laney had last seen Kathy... She'd stood there in the Cage, screaming as he cleared out his locker... He knew that she was screaming because her mouth was open, but the syllables of her rage couldn't penetrate the seamless hissing surf of the white-noise generator provided by his lawyers. He'd been advised to wear the generator at all times, during this last visit to the Slitscan offices. He'd been instructed to make no statement. Certainly he could hear none. |
| Technovelgy from Idoru,
by William Gibson. Published by Putnam in 1996 Additional resources -
|
As far as I know, this is the only mention in the book; certainly, it infuriates those who have choice words for him. Gibson is an expert at urban nomadics. He knows what today's city dweller needs. And can you get a personal white noise generator? Yes you can; see the AI-680 Active White Noise Generator at EnsurePrivacy. This device gives you the added bonus of protecting yourself from laser transmitters aimed at your windows. As they say at EnsurePrivacy:
Speaking with confidence and knowing your private conversations are private has never been easier when you are equipped with our White Noise Generator.
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
