Years ago.

IBM came out with a portable dictating machine. Before little tapes, this thing used a magnetic belt maybe 4 inches wide. Great machine. A couple of batteries and a folder of tapes and you could dictate your way across the country on a LGA to SFO flight, usually a Lockheed Super Constallation, prop of course.

Problem. The FAA banned radios on planes, did this by banning powering on any electronic device. 

Take out your IBM portable dictating machine and a stewardess would pounce. No more dictating during flight. Unhappy. Measured electromagnetic radiation from my IBM. Next to none. Complaints to FAA, IBM. IBM did battle with FAA, got an exception, send me a sticker to paste on the unit. Happy. 

Next flight cross country. Show stewardesses and pilots my sticker. Now middle of night, Have been dictating for several hours and bored. Sitting in the dark, cabin lights off. Idea. Pushed call bell. When stewardess came, I said that something interested me, "look out at that light in the distance. Every time I turn on my dictating machine, that light rotates about 30 degrees, just like the plane is turning, then when I shut off the machine, the lights rotates back to where it was. Here, look out the window and I'll do it for you."

In a flash the dictating machine was snatched out of my hand and she disappeared at a run toward the front of the [plane]. The boring night flight became interesting. I kept saying that if you will give me the machine back, I will demonstrate. Response was "NO!" I was given my dictating machine back when I exited the plane at LAX.

Before TSA.

Dear Prof. Farber,

I hope that you remember me from a Japanese IPA's Exploratory Software Project: Development and Application of Global Operating System Shell.

Last year, I published a Sci-Fi fantasy novel to illustrate the goal of my research, as a sequel to Prof. Jun Murai's book about the Internet for children.

I have translated the novel into English, and begun to distribute it under a CreativeCommons license so that people around the world can read the novel, and also hopefully help me improve the document and my research.

The novel is titled "NEO IN WONDERLAND - A Tale of Money That Changed Our Future".

Here is the URL of the document: http://grsj.jp/neo.pdf

I would really appreciate if you could help me spread the word about the novel.

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Overview of the novel:

Today, humanity seems to be suffering from a trilogy of problems: we are living in the era of Peak Oil in which the world production of petroleum is about to hit its peak if not it has already done so (energy crisis), which is probably the fundamental reason why we are experiencing the severest economic depression in the history of capitalism (economic crisis), while the whole human activities with effects to change the earthly environment are alleged to be the cause of climate changes (environmental crisis).

Some argue that moving toward so-called green economy, or changing to natural energy sources instead of relying on fossil fuels, is the solution to all these. Will it work, or will it just introduce another level of the same trilogy of problems as long as our economy requires to keep growing?

Let's begin an adventure with Accianco, a kindergarten girl, Kencha, a super robot, and Puppy-chan, a puppy, to explore an alternative solution in this sci-fi monetary fantasy novel. The story begins one year after the past adventure of the trio, in which they visited the Wonderland where the Internet is utilized in an extreme fashion.

* * *

Dr. Suttokoholm, a blind genius scientist in the Wonderland, is kidnapped by the Army of Centricity that aims to invade the country! Accianco, Kencha, Puppy-chan and Accianco's mother go to the Wonderland through the wormhole invented by Dr. Suttokoholm.

A new adventure begins around the centerless monetary mechanism in the centerless Wonderland that takes place in Hunan City, a big city in the Wonderland.

What is the Army of Centricity after? Will Accianco and her friends be able to save Dr. Suttokoholm?

The story evolves in an unexpected way as they encounter mysterious NEO in the Wonderland.

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Best regards,

Kenji Saito

Keio University