News

Scroogled, a short story for Radar about the day Google became evil

Radar commissioned me to write them a science fiction story about "the day Google became evil." I wrote them a little short-short called "Scroogled," about the perfect axis of evil: the DHS and Google, working hand in hand. As part of the contract negotiation, I got Radar to agree to release the story under a remix-friendly Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license, so you're free to make movies, slideshows, songs, art, or new texts from this one.

Greg landed at San Francisco International Airport at 8 p.m., but by the time he'd made it to the front of the customs line, it was after midnight. He'd emerged from first class, brown as a nut, unshaven, and loose-limbed after a month on the beach in Cabo (scuba diving three days a week, seducing French college girls the rest of the time). When he'd left the city a month before, he'd been a stoop-shouldered, potbellied wreck. Now he was a bronze god, drawing admiring glances from the stews at the front of the cabin.

Four hours later in the customs line, he'd slid from god back to man. His slight buzz had worn off, sweat ran down the crack of his ass, and his shoulders and neck were so tense his upper back felt like a tennis racket. The batteries on his iPod had long since died, leaving him with nothing to do except eavesdrop on the middle-age couple ahead of him.

"The marvels of modern technology," said the woman, shrugging at a nearby sign: Immigration—Powered by Google.

Link

11 Responses to “Scroogled, a short story for Radar about the day Google became evil”

1. nathan says:

   September 14, 2007 at 4:28 pm

   Are you a fan of Radar in general? I was excited when I saw your name in the table of contents, but now that I know they actively *commissioned* you, it just increases tenfold my love of this bizarre little magazine.
2. Cory Doctorow says:

   September 14, 2007 at 4:29 pm

   I pick it up every now and again, but tbh, I barely have time to read the net these days, let alone print mags!
3. Alberto S. Lopez says:

   September 14, 2007 at 6:18 pm

   Cory,

   Christ, you write well, dude. I got your email about Scroogled on my iPhone and clicked on the link on a lark...

   I should have known.

   I read the ENTIRE damn thing in a single sitting, glued to my chair in my office, oblivious of the passing of time. The same thing happened to me with "The Day Sysadmins Ruled The Earth".

   What an awesome talent you have. I could only wistfully hope....

   Keep up the great work, Cory. I look forward to seeing you again when you come out to Los Angeles again.

   Cheers,

   --
   Alberto S. Lopez
   Lawndale, CA
   Email: albertoslopez@gmail.com
   Cell: 310.686.1259
4. zelda says:

   September 16, 2007 at 9:42 pm

   Many of your stories have reverberated in my mind long after reading/hearing them, and I know this one will too -- so chilling and powerfully written! I too read it all in one sitting. You have a wonderful gift, not just for storytelling, but for showing us world through strange and mindblowing new perspectives. thank you!
5. Simon MacDonald says:

   September 17, 2007 at 10:31 am

   I have created a .lit version for anyone who prefers to read this short story in MS Reader.

   http://simonmacdonald.blogspot.com/2007/09/cory-doctorows-short-story-scroogled.html
6. technikhil says:

   September 21, 2007 at 8:58 am

   Great story - it was especially interesting reading it after encountering The Church of Google website. I blogged about it here.
7. Bob Blanchett says:

   September 21, 2007 at 4:40 pm

   Hi, I just read Scroogled. Nice.

   An alternate title.. how about "The Search Merchants"?
   Fred Pohl would approve, I think.

   if you ever do a book on google.. you can use it with attribution ;)

   PS spot on about the security minders.. I have a few howlers about the ahem "Defense Listeners" here in Australia you'd laugh at.

   Love your work.

   cheerio!
8. Cory Doctorow says:

   September 21, 2007 at 10:17 pm

   Search Merchants! Love it.
9. Extreme Googlemania - The Church of Google « Technikhil Writing says:

   September 22, 2007 at 7:26 pm

   [...] Now here is an interesting contrast to the Google worship of The Church of Google. Cory Doctorow wrote a short story of what could happen if Google went to the dark side. [...]
10. Nur mein Standpunkt » Scroogled says:

    September 30, 2007 at 2:02 pm

    [...] Falls jemand Zeit hat - “Scroogled” von Cory Doctorow steht unter einer CC-Lizenz. Ich gehe stark von aus die “Remixed”-Klausel in der Lizenz schließt eine Übersetzung mit ein - Fanübersetzung. Ohne kommerzielle Absicht. Hmm, Cory meinte dies dazu: […] so you’re free to make movies, slideshows, songs, art, or new texts from this one. [...]
11. Ruslan Grokhovetsky says:

    October 23, 2007 at 5:16 am

    Russian translation of Scroogled: http://www.jetstyle.ru/scroogled/

    Русский перевод "Scroogled" — «Выгуглен»: http://www.jetstyle.ru/scroogled/

Cory Doctorow’s craphound.com is proudly powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS).