COMPUBLURB: Tea Leaves and Tacky Ads IMAGE: A scaly abstract pattern with a bright yoni-like opening in the center. ANNOUNCER (in a voice like warm honey poured over a jackhammer) Hey, you! Yes, you, sitting there in a unremarkable gray evening. Wouldn’t you like a Mark-V Discometer? It can immobilize opponents and infatuate friends. But wait, there’s more! Every Mark-V ships with our patented, titanium-reinforced ultrasonic suction attachments, guaranteed to extract unwanted dirt from your carpets, your conscience, and all quantum timelines. Spilled something nasty on the rug? One pass of the Mark-V and it’s gone! Why shouldn't your home defense system also double as your soulmate? Yes, call now 88-543-8000 for this amazing product. Available now for just 9999 credits. Operators are standing by, and a few of them are even human! Hurry up! Don't just leave a footprint—make your mark with a Mark-V! [END TRANSMISSION] Nadya away from the screen. "Compu-blurb?" she asked, rolling the phrase around like a coin that had come from the wrong century. "What the heck is that?" Bill rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the ceiling, hunting for an explanation that would made sense to her. "Well," he said, sketching invisible shapes in the air, "Isn't it a kind of commercial metadata used by many businesses?" Nadya scoffed and rolled her eyes with theatrical exhaustion. "Meta-data, eta-data, beta-data…" Nadya sang playfully. "It all sounds like voodoo to me." A quiet smirk tugged at Bill’s mouth as he nodded in amused agreement. "Yeah," he chimed, tipping back in his chair until it creaked, "in some ways it’s like reading tea leaves. You collect a few scraps of data and try to guess what the universe is up to." From across the table, Gus let out a sharp snicker, shaking his head at the pair of them. "The only trend I see is a drift towards nonsense" he said. Nadya raised her wineglass. Its surface shimmered with tiny, scale-shaped reflections. "No doubt!" ===================================================================================== from _Cyberpoems: Exploring the Human-Machine Interface_ by T Newfields SUMMARY: A baffling infomercial for a reality-bending gadget sends three friends spiraling into a playful debate about metadata, meaning, and nonsense. KEYWORDS: surreal humor, science fiction parodies, infomercial satire, textualized yoni, absurdism, strange technology, curated tea leaves, cyber-sales Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955 - ?) Begun: 1992 in Shizuoka, Japan / Finished: 2026 in Shizuoka, Japan Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted < LAST https://www.tnewfields.info/CyberPoems/man-ipulations.htm TOC https://www.tnewfields.info/CyberPoems/index.html NEXT > https://www.tnewfields.info/CyberPoems/writ.htm