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"No one has ever produced a statement of fact that was technically true. The most accurate statements of science we have today are accurate to only 15 decimal places."
- Bart Kosko
 |
| Tri-Type Record | ||
| A printed card that stores information about a person, including a perfect three-dimensional representation. |
Aile Farr, traveler to Iszm, is under some suspicion due to his profession; he is a botanist. The Iszic provide house trees to the rest of the galaxy and guard their expertise jealously.
| "If the Sainh pleases - his tri-type for our records."
Farr patiently stood on the disk of gray metal. "Palms forward, eyes wide." Farr stood quietly. Feeler-planes brushed down his body. "Thank you, Sainh." Farr stepped up to the counter. "That's a different type than the one at Jhespiano. Let's see it." The clerk showed him a transparent card with a man-like brownish splotch on its middle. "Not much of a likeness," said Farr. The Szecr dropped the card into a slot. On the counter-top appeared a three-dimensional replica of Farr. It could be expanded a hundred times, revealing finger-prints, cheek-pores, ear and retinal configuration. |
| Technovelgy from The Houses of Iszm,
by Jack Vance. Published by Better Publications in 1954 Additional resources -
|
A hologram - the picture itself - doesn't look like much, either.
Compare to the personal metallic record disk from The Ancient Brain (1929) by A.G. Stangland and the identification ring from Sinister Barrier (1939) by Eric Frank Russell.
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and Technology from The Houses of Iszm
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| Store One Bit On One Atom |
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'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.'
'... the glittering little rocket bolted to the black iron behind him.'
'The slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'
