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"We are all repositories for genetically-encoded information that we're all spreading back and forth amongst each other, all the time. We're just lousy with information."
- Neal Stephenson
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| Wearable White-Noise Generator | ||
| A device worn when the wearer preferred not to be the subject of audio recordings. |
Normal means paranoid, in Gibson's works; always assume that the other guy has better tech than you, but use what you've got just in case. Just hope your lawyer doesn't advise you to get one, as Laney had on his last day at work.
| It had been a weeknight, a Wednesday, when Laney had last seen Kathy... She'd stood there in the Cage, screaming as he cleared out his locker... He knew that she was screaming because her mouth was open, but the syllables of her rage couldn't penetrate the seamless hissing surf of the white-noise generator provided by his lawyers. He'd been advised to wear the generator at all times, during this last visit to the Slitscan offices. He'd been instructed to make no statement. Certainly he could hear none. |
| Technovelgy from Idoru,
by William Gibson. Published by Putnam in 1996 Additional resources -
|
As far as I know, this is the only mention in the book; certainly, it infuriates those who have choice words for him. Gibson is an expert at urban nomadics. He knows what today's city dweller needs. And can you get a personal white noise generator? Yes you can; see the AI-680 Active White Noise Generator at EnsurePrivacy. This device gives you the added bonus of protecting yourself from laser transmitters aimed at your windows. As they say at EnsurePrivacy:
Speaking with confidence and knowing your private conversations are private has never been easier when you are equipped with our White Noise Generator.
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'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
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'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
