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"It was my preferred entertainment when I was a kid, so when I set out to be a writer, it was perfectly natural that I should write the sort of stories that I used to enjoy reading."
- John Brunner
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| Sniggertrance | ||
| The state of a person receiving a call mediated by a Taprisiot; interiorized consciousness accompanied by spastic, jerking body movements. |
This item is really a side-effect of technology, not the device itself. You don't want to take a Taprisiot call just anytime. Taprisiots make real long-distance calls possible.
| Furuneo was his name. Alichino Furuneo. He reminded himself of this as he rode into the city to make the long-distance call. It was wise to firm up the ego before such a call. He was sixty-seven years old and could remember many cases where people had lost their identity in the sniggertrance of communication between star systems. |
| Technovelgy from Whipping Star,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Galaxy Publishing in 1969 Additional resources -
|
A sniggertrance makes me think of the sort of state you get into when making extended telephone conference calls. Your eyes unfocus; your ears get moist (from being held against the phone) and your neck starts to hurt.
There was a lot of interest several years ago about people driving while yakking (DWY); it appears that we have moved on to other concerns. Most of the concern seems to center around the physical problem of handing a car and a phone at the same time (watching the road and dialing a phone, for example). However, it is a fact that you can verify for yourself the next time you are using your cell phone in your car: you are less aware of your surroundings when concentrating on a phone conversation regardless of whether you use a standard instrument or a hands-free arrangement. As Ellen DeGeneres says, "If you need both your hands free, don't you think your brain should be involved, too?"
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'...there's a narrow belt where the climate is moderate.'
'... with the Master-operator all you have to do is push one! A remarkable achievement!'
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
