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" I think that computers today allow us one last opportunity to provide something like a level playingfield in America."
- William Gibson
 |
| Toaster | ||
| A handheld beam weapon. |
| "But what about hand weapons? Are there any available?"
"You mean toasters?" "Anything that's lethal." "Nothing." |
| Technovelgy from Accidental Flight,
by W.F. Wallace. Published by Galaxy in 1952 Additional resources -
|
Here are some additional quotes:
"He adjusted the toaster beam to an imperceptible thickness. Deftly he sliced through the control case and removed a circular section..."
"Outside, there was the characteristic sputter, like frying, that the toaster beam made when it struck metal..."
"Jordan juggled the toaster. "I can weld with this. Let's put him in a cabin and weld the door closed..."
Compare to the blaster (1925) from When the Green Star Waned by Nictzin Dyalhis, the neutron blaster (1951), from The Complete Paratime, by H. Beam Piper and the heat ray from The War of the Worlds (1898), by H.G. Wells.
Also, see the nuclear shears from Foundation (1951) by Isaac Asimov, the
Slaver disintegrator from Ringworld (1970) by Larry Niven, the
Lasgun from Dune (1965) by Frank Herbert, and the
atomic torch from One Against the Legion (1939) by Jack Williamson.
"The rocket pilot moved closer. The deadly little toaster was in his hand..."
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Accidental Flight
More Ideas
and Technology by W.F. Wallace
Tech news articles related to Accidental Flight
Tech news articles related to works by W.F. Wallace
| China's Handheld Electromagnetic Gun |
| Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade? |
| Man Builds 200 Foot Basement Firing Range |
| Russians Create Robot Tank Platoons |
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'...each of them is a neural mapping of the mind of a Tibetan monk who actually lived.'
'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.'
'... every veephone on the continent would display, over and over, two propositions.'
'Completely silent, accurate up to about twenty meters. No recoil...'
'He wore spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.'
