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"The science fiction method is dissection and reconstruction. You look at the world around you, and take it apart into its components. Then you take some of those components, throw them away, and plug in different ones, start it up and see what happens."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Answerboard | ||
| A forum or computer meeting location with experts on a particular topic. |
Good name for an expert forum; the word "answerboard" is rarely used on the Internet.
| He leaned away from the wall and listened to Chumlig. That was why the school makes you show up in person for most of the classes; you had to pay a bit of attention just because you were trapped in a real room with a real instructor...
And for a while, Juan paid attention, too. He really did. Answerboards could generate solid results, usually for zero cost. There was no affiliation, just kindred minds batting problems around. But what if you were'nt a kindred mind? If you thought transcription was a type of translation, it could take you months to get anywhere. |
| From Rainbows End,
by Vernor Vinge. Published by Tor in 2006 Additional resources -
|
Obviously not an invention or prediction. However, Vinge makes a good point on how difficult it can be to really understand different bulletin boards and forums that have been in operation for years. A good teacher is often a good interface to a particular subject-matter.
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'A worker replaced by a nubot... had to be compensated.'
'... forcing the energy transfer which allowed him to regrow his lost fingers.'
'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.
