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" I think that computers today allow us one last opportunity to provide something like a level playingfield in America."
- William Gibson
 |
| OSMO (Osmic Mobile Observers) | ||
| UAV with the ability to "smell" their human quarry. |
| "...Many of our UAVs are equipped with smaller aircraft that can be dispersed in quantity. We refer to them as "midges". Midges have many capabilities. To the untrained eye, they look like sparrows. They even fly like sparrows, for up to 20 hours before they self-destruct. The ones we are utilizing at this moment to search the crowds in Mecca are known as Osmic Mobile Observers or OSMO's. They can zero in on individuals or groups of individuals based on long-term dietary habits."
"Any vegetarian will tell you that meat eaters stink. I stink, most of my crew stinks. Rich Muslims stink but with significant differences. Poor Muslims stink hardly at all. Three meals a day of eggs, meat, and/or fish, and we can send an OSMO right up to you with the passionate sensitivity of a moth seeking a hot date. We can also distinguish observant Muslims from drinkers of alcoholic beverages, which may or may not be helpful. We are discovering that a disturbing number of security, police, and Army personnel have imbibed spiritous liquors, wine, or beer in the past two weeks." |
| Technovelgy from Quantico,
by Greg Bear. Published by Vanguard in 2007 Additional resources -
|
Compare to the slamhound from Count Zero (1986) by William Gibson, as well as the mechanical hound from Fahrenheit 451.
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'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
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The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
