# Ask the guy who is pretty good at SF Story Identification **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417 "2008-09-07T00:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 79
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1561 "2024-08-31T16:03:54Z")
Plus, the very first replicator won’t be perfect. We’ll have (in fact, we have right now) “replicators” that don’t have sufficient fidelity and/or versatility to make themselves long before we’ll have ones that will. As time goes on, replicators will become able to make more and more things… but also become more difficult to make. Hopefully, the latter happens slower than the former, so it’ll eventually be able to catch up, but it’ll be a gradual process. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1562 "2024-08-31T17:19:38Z")
Whereupon the value of physical objects will shift first to elements and eventually to exotic matter like strange quark nuggets. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1563 "2024-09-01T22:19:51Z")
But a replicator that makes mistakes can evolve… ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1564 "2024-09-01T23:23:46Z")
Which might be bad for us… ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1565 "2024-09-01T23:28:29Z")
…giving us Zibarro, the Bizarro-Bizarro Superman. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2024, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1566 "2024-09-09T03:19:37Z")
His pizza isn’t much good, either. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1567 "2024-09-11T20:34:09Z")
Here’s one for you - not a story but an episode in a comic book, and not so much science fiction as horror. Still, I may get lucky and you’ve run across this one. I think it’s most likely that it was a mid-1970s ‘Witching Hour’, or maybe a ‘Twilight Zone’. It involved a high class Chinese person who was obnoxious to those he considered beneath him. He did something that was too much for, well, I’m not sure whom - a mage, a witch, a wizard, the gods, the fates… He was cursed to sweep until the last bristle fell from his broom. What he wasn’t told was - dun dun duh duh DAH - each bristle of the broom was one year of his life, and by the time he was done, he was too old to enjoy his freedom from the curse, and died that day. Any ideas what it was and what it was called? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2024, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1568 "2024-09-11T21:12:29Z")
Hm. Sounds like it’s inspired by the story of the last Emperor of China, who did spend some time as a street sweeper after a long and complicated series of events > **[Puyi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puyi)** > > Puyi\[c\] (7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967) was the last emperor of China, reigning as the eleventh and final monarch of the Qing dynasty. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate in 1912 as a result of Xinhai Revolution at the age of six. During his first reign, he was known as the Xuantong Emperor, with his era name meaning "proclamation of unity". > Puyi was briefly restored to the Qing throne by the loyalist general Zhang Xun from 1 July to 12 July 1917. He wa... > Puyi came to Beijing on 9 December 1959 with special permission from Mao and lived for the next six months in an ordinary Beijing residence with his sister before being transferred to a government-sponsored hotel. He had the job of sweeping the streets, and got lost on his first day of work, which led him to tell astonished passers-by: “I’m Puyi, the last Emperor of the Qing dynasty. I’m staying with relatives and can’t find my way home”.[[213]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puyi#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBehr1987314-216) One of Puyi’s first acts upon returning to Beijing was to visit the Forbidden City as a tourist; he pointed out to other tourists that many of the exhibits were the things he had used in his youth. He voiced his support for the Communists and worked as a gardener at the [Beijing Botanical Gardens](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Botanical_Garden). The role brought Puyi a degree of happiness he had never known as an emperor, though he was notably clumsy. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1569 "2024-09-12T17:19:05Z")
I’m looking for a story in Analog magazine in the 1970s, where a campus supercomputer / intelligent computer was answering technical questions with poetry, which confused people. It turned out a librarian was feeding the computer all the poetry books at night. I remember a line from the computer in response to an architectural design with a phrase about building castles on the sand. Any ideas? Thanks!! ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1570 "2024-09-12T17:35:23Z")
Answer Affirmative or Negative by Barbara Paul - available [here](https://archive.org/details/analog90000unse/page/n7/mode/1up) if you have an account ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1571 "2024-09-12T18:32:46Z")
That was it! You are great!! It’s from 1973 - 51 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1572 "2024-09-12T23:16:18Z")
PS [story identification - Computer answers in poetry - Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/83263/computer-answers-in-poetry/234342#234342) ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1573 "2024-09-18T21:29:03Z")
My foggy memory recalls a science fiction story, or perhaps essay, proposing the use of nuclear waste as coinage. Could be counted remotely, with a Geiger counter. Would tend to discourage the hoarding of coins. There were some other benefits touted - I need to track this down! ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1574 "2024-09-18T21:31:36Z")
A Larry Niven essay “Yet Another Modest Proposal” link: [https://www.larryniven.net/?q=yet-another-modest-proposal-the-roentgen-standard](https://www.larryniven.net/?q=yet-another-modest-proposal-the-roentgen-standard) Essay must predate the widespread use of credit and debit cards. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1575 "2024-09-18T21:40:04Z")
Already ninja’d. Ah well ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2024, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1576 "2024-09-24T23:25:22Z")
I can’t remember if this was a Warhammer 40k novel detail, but soldiers in the future having automatic defibrillators built into their armored suits to automatically resuscitate themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2024, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1577 "2024-09-24T23:33:37Z")
There’s a Michael Kube-McDowell story about a wearable device that will revive you from a heart attack and inflate to protect you from injury. “Life Bomb” was also made into an episode of “Tales from the Darkside” [Lifebomb | DarksideTales Wiki | Fandom](https://darksidetales.fandom.com/wiki/Lifebomb) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1578 "2024-09-25T02:53:39Z")
Besides the Niven essay, you might also be recalling _Self-Limiting_ by Robert L. Forward, a story speculated to be inspired by it. It begins and ends with the line “There are no millionaires on Xanax”, and is set on a planet where money comes in the form of heavy, warm metal coins that are stored in a “money pit” that can contain a hundred thosuand coins. One of them gets the idea to dig his pit bigger and start stealing… > He entered his dwelling, and leaning over the money pit, he gloated as he dropped the bag of coins into the hole that was waiting for it. Queed could hardly wait until it was night-time and he could take out all the coins and count them. He was now certainly a millionaire! > > As the heavy bag of silvery-grey coins made of pure plutonium 239 dropped into the waiting hole, the money pit went critical and exploded . . . > > There are no millionaires on Xanax. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1579 "2024-09-25T17:58:06Z")
Which is silly of course because people would have to know what the only thing that counted as money was made out of. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1580 "2024-09-25T18:41:30Z")
I just keep thinking “I bet there are a lot of millionaires on [Xanax](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alprazolam).” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=78) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=80)