Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"Science Fiction is speculative fiction in which the author takes as his first postulate the real world as we know it, including all established facts and natural laws."
- Robert Heinlein
 |
| Bugged Money | ||
| American cash with embedded listening devices. |
It's fun to turn around the prevailing standards; imagine American money unusable outside the U.S. However, I note with some dismay that the familiar "greenback" is apparently going to change whether we like it or not.
| They always played poker with European cash. There was American cash around, flimsy plastic stuff, but most people wouldn't take American cash anymore. It was hard to take American cash seriously when it was no longer convertible outside U.S. borders. Besides, all the bigger bills were bugged. |
| Technovelgy from Distraction,
by Bruce Sterling. Published by Bantam Spectra in 1998 Additional resources -
|
Sure, money talks - to Uncle Sam. We'll sneak right up on all those bad guys who use large bills! They won't suspect a thing! This is exactly the sort of "behind the curve" thinking that we would expect from the big bureaucracies of our national government.
American currency is not yet bugged, but it does have a special plastic security thread implanted in the bill. Hold a $20 bill up to the light and look for the plastic strip embedded in the paper; it runs vertically up one side of the note. The words "USA TWENTY" and a small flag are visible along the thread from both sides of the note; the security thread glows green under ultraviolet light.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority prints bills with a metallic thread; it might be easier to detect a large quantity of these threads at a security station.
Take a look at a kind of money that cannot be counterfeited - truffle skins - genetically unique money from The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrytch by Philip K. Dick.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 2 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Distraction
More Ideas
and Technology by Bruce Sterling
Tech news articles related to Distraction
Tech news articles related to works by Bruce Sterling
Bugged Money-related
news articles:
- Shuffle Master Bets On RFID Poker Chips
- Canadian Coins Are Bugged Money
- RFID 'Powder' - World's Smallest RFID Tag
| Will Whales Be Our First Contact? |
| NYC/Dublin Portal Fails To Meet 'Guardian Of Forever' Standards |
| Holobox? Who Doesn't Want A Home Hologram? |
| EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
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 Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
'If the biological robots were not living creatures, they were certainly very good imitations.'
"Everybody and his dog, it seemed, wanted to live out in the country; transportation and communication were no longer isolating factors."
'... the new typewriter that could be talked to, and which transposed the spoken sound into typed words.'
'... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.'
'My cars talk to one another. I have no doubt about it...'
'... the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell.'
