SF podcast: reality TV as criminal tracking-bracelets

My friend Bill Shunn's story "Observations From the City of Angels" (originally published on Salon as Love in the Time of Spyware) has been adapted for spoken word by the excellent science fiction podcast Escape Pod. The story is about a guineapig in a program to track criminals with reality-TV-style spyware that transmits their sensoria to a home audience. He's kept company by robots and an omnipresent voice of the panopticon computer, each guiding him through a life where his every word and deed and sensation are transmitted to the world.

It's not just that, Brian. Think about this technology. The experiment's been successful beyond anyone's expectations. Spyware fittings for registered offenders will no doubt go into effect next year. But why stop there? Can you imagine having a therapist, a financial counselor, a social secretary, a nutritionist and personal trainer at your beck and call twenty- four hours a day? You'd like to get rid of that spare tire, right? We could help you. Really."

Hayes shivers, though the climate inside the car is perfectly controlled. "Sure," he says. "And I could have the whole world watching everything I do, for the rest of my life."

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