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"The world is really so surreal these days that it's necessary for us to blunt it somehow in order to stay sane. The artist functions to short-circuit the buffering mechanism, so that people can occasionally perceive the weirdness of things as they are."
- William Gibson
 |
| Monobloc Dating System | ||
| A kind of pub with unique hardware and software for computer dating. |
In this story, Niven has created another variation on the theme of extended life. Drugs with true anti-geriatric properties are in common use, but cosmetic options are less well developed. It is hard to know someone's true age; the Monobloc dating system provided a local area network version of online dating.
| "Am I cramping your style?" "No problem. Nobody hurries in the Monobloc. If you see someone you like -" My fingers danced over the lighted symbols on the edge of the table. "This gets you a map. Locate where she's sitting, put the cursor on it. That gets you a display...hmm." I'd set the cursor on the white haired lady. I liked the readout. |
| Technovelgy from The Best of all Possible Wars,
by Larry Niven. Published by Baen Books in 1998 Additional resources -
|
In this era, people in their eighties still date actively; the software just gives them a little bit more information to go on before asking someone out on a date.
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and Technology from The Best of all Possible Wars
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Tech news articles related to The Best of all Possible Wars
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'He was in a high-ceilinged windowless cell with walls of glittering white porcelain.'
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors...'
'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...'
'Guy named Otto Octavius winds up with eight limbs... What are the odds?'
'It is as you thought when you constructed the time crystal, my master Vaylan.'
'This was their world, their planet — this swift-traveling, yet seemingly moveless vessel.'
