Category Archives: technology

Early Phone Sex

In the summer of 1968 I worked in a Boston phone exchange. There were hundreds of cable banks corresponding the working numbers. My friend and I would eavesdrop on thousands of conversations. Few people said anything of importance, but one couple practically invented phone sex and spoke at the same hour every day. One afternoon […]

Rocketman Redux

Over the centuries the Greek myth of Icarus has appealed to earth-bound children with the desire to fly. As a kid my friends and I would steal large sheets of plastic from the nearby suburban construction sites. We would then climb to a wind-blown hilltop and spread the plastic sheets to capture the wind like […]

All-Seeing Eye of the NYPD

As a child the nuns at Our Lady of the Foothills told us that God was all-seeing. Our every moves was surveilled by Our Father in heaven and the sisters seemed to be blessed with the same power. They had eyes in the back on their head and could catch us passing notes or misbehaving, […]

Crime of Memory

Robot Rules Of Love

The Laws of Robotics were written by science fiction author Isaac Asimov in his story I ROBOT. 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict […]