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"I went [to the top of] Vehicle Assembly Building and looked down, and tears burst from my eyes. The size of this cathedral where the Rockets take off to go to the moon is so amazing."
- Ray Bradbury
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| Angel Music Player | ||
| A device that beams music directly into your brain, without wires. |
This device can be used to provide your music directly to your mind, or to the mind of a nearby person.
| Amand glared at him. "Are you on that damn Angel? What have I told you about using that thing when we have guests?
"I've heard of those things," Lily said. "Why don't you show me, Benj?" He fished in his jacket pocket and produced a gadget as slim as a cigarette. It was heavy in her hand, seamless, warm from his body heat. Benj set it with unconscious skill, Lily couldn't follow what he did, and a bright, brassy pop tune erupted inside her head: "I love you more than my phone / You're my Angel, you're my TV..." The Angel beamed its music directly into her sensorium, somehow stimulating the hearing centers remotely, without the need for wires and earpieces... Amanda said, "...And it's a pain to be zapped in the street by some kid who thinks you need a headful of drums and bass." |
| Technovelgy from Flood,
by Stephen Baxter. Published by Gollancz in 2008 Additional resources -
|
In some ways this device reminds me of the tasp from Larry Niven's works; it comes in a portable model that can stimulate the pleasure center of another person's brain remotely. Here's a quote from Niven's 1970 novel Ringworld.
"Have you ever been hit by a tasp? None of my business, of course."
Teela grinned derision for his delicacy. "Yes, I know what it feels like. A moment of - well, there's no describing it. But you don't use a tasp on yourself. You use it on someone who isn't expecting it. That's where the fun comes in. Police are always picking up taspers in parks."
The author also mentions that these devices come in milspec versions for use by the military.
"...Usually a tasp is just small enough to aim with one hand."
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'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
