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"The germinal societies like Singapore and communist Hong Kong may give us a mutant capitalism that is both virulent and efficient. This is a significant cultural danger."
- Gregory Benford
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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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"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
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