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"I don't know why I write science fiction. The voices in my head told me to!"
- Charles Stross
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| Padloid | ||
| A tawdry news publication on a PDA, or notepad, device. |
Just a passing mention, but if you don't see anything like this on AvantGo, you're not looking hard enough.
The word itself is a contraction of "newspad" or "pad computer" (like a tablet pc) and "tabloid journalism" (meaning a newspaper that presents material in a condensed and lurid form). The word "Tabloid" is a registered trademark for a method of delivering drugs or chemicals in a condensed form.
| My office was in Mall Twelve, level thirty-six, 120 degrees. It's in the editorial offices of The News Nipple, the padloid with the largest circulation in Luna. |
| From Steel Beach,
by John Varley. Published by Ace Putnam in 1992 Additional resources -
|
Only if you want your news fresh; this is a good newspaper name for those who remember The Glass Teat (by Harlan Ellison).
The term newspad is borrowed from Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey; Varley uses this term himself in his 1979 short story Options:
Through it all Jules was an island of calm at the other end of the table, his nose in his newspad, sipping his second cup of coffee... He finished his coffee, folded his newspad and tucked it under his arm...
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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'Of course, being negative matter, when you push it, it comes toward you..'
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'The object is built up of an infinite series of plane layers, at the focus of the ray...'
'... the computing mechanisms that studied and restructured the incoming material.'
'... an instrument having relatively small bit pieces adapted to be gripped between the teeth.'
'A procession of automatic ore carts was racing over the bleak slag'
'The cab was an egg-shaped bubble of light metals and plastics...'
Don't you want to experience the 'feely' effects?
