Science Fiction
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"I can remember when the first pulsars were discovered. I was able to go and sit down and listen to graduate students talking about what their theories, to explain what pulsars really were."
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In the novel, every last bit of commerce, government business and private communication goes over a nation-wide data network. Some individuals obtain special access through the use of government power or great wealth, and use their access to conceal their criminal activities in a way that can never be uncovered.
Nick Haflinger, hacker extraordinaire, writes a super-tapeworm that ends this system, and devises an electronic plebiscite (e-voting) scheme to give every person in North America the opportunity to vote on two guiding principles that the tapeworm will enforce on the datanet.
Although Brunner did not invent the concept, this was a great mass-popularization of the idea. Buckminster Fuller wrote about "electrified voting" in 1971; there was at least on limited implementation for distributed choice-making done on early networked computers in 1970.
The propositions voted upon related to the laws governing the computer network that ran every aspect of people's lives. The electronic plebiscite ran as part of a super-tapeworm that would carry out the results of the voting immediately.
The first proposition:
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Science Fiction
Timeline
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!'
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.'
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself'
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'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...'
Can A Human Land A SpaceX Rocket On Its Tail?
'If she starts to roll sideways — blooey! The underjets only hold you up when they’re pointing down, you know.'
Robot Snakes No Longer Stopped By Stairs
'...she dropped her hands from the wheel, took the robot snake from his box.'
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