How To (Stand on Zanzibar) (nonfiction)

This article is an excerpt from Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner.

HOW TO
"Hydroxy fuel-cells of the type used to power GM trucks up to 2?ton capacity and certain foreign imports, notably the Honda series 'Fuji' and 'Kendo', can be turned into either a flame-gun or a bomb. In the case of the GM version, a file-cut should be made at base of valve A (see diagram) and pipes B and C re-routed to follow the dotted lines. A slow-match attached to a piece of string should be placed at point D, suspending a carborundum whetstone. When this falls into contact with brake-disc E it will spark the leaking gas and
"The plastic insulation marketed by General Technics as 'Lo-Hi Sleevolene' is recognisable by its pink-pearl colour. Macerate each pound weight of the stripped insulation in 1 pt. absolute alcohol. The resultant doughy sludge is heat-stable up to 20?below the average flashpoint of commercial butane but thereafter dissociates with release of approx. 200 times its original volume of gases . , .
"A large number of recent manufactured products employ honeycomb aluminium sheet bonded with a European adhesive sold here under the name 'Weldigrip'. This tends to fail when exposed to gamma. Radio Test Sources Inc.'s catalogue item BVZ26 incorporates a cobalt-60 emitter designed for inspecting high-carbon steel castings up to 9" thick. It should be placed close to a critical joint.. .
"GT's catalogue item RRR17 is a heavy-weather sealant applied to the underside of public transport vehicles. A little battery acid held in place with a sac of tackythene will cause it to attack the metal it's in contact with ...
"Minnesota Mining's new sulphur-reclaiming bacterium, strain UQ-141, can be caused to sporulate simply by with-holdng sulphur compounds. The organisms can then be kept in a domestic freezer for up to two months. Suggested uses include ...
"GT is currently offering lox in quart flasks at a price 10% below its competitors. Wind the flask with magnesium flash-wire (16 turns/inch) and connect suitable igniter and tinier. Applications will be numerous ...
"Japind's LazeeLazer monochrome unit can be modified as shown in the diagram. Depending on what grade of multiplier plug is incorporated in the circuit, voltages of up to 30,000 can be obtained. At full load the unit burns out in 1.5 sec., but careful pre-sighting will...
"A tailored bacterium from the British ICI list, catalogue . ref. 5-100-244, is exceptional in that it can be mutated at home. A solution of 1/1000 HC1 in distilled water breaks one of the RNA bonds. Application of the modified form leads to rapid plasticisation of virtually all thermo-setting plastics . . .
" 'Sterulose', Johnson & Johnson's new medical wadding, makes an ideal stabiliser for home-brewed nitroglycerine. Wrap each wad in paper soaked and dried in a solution of potassium nitrate or use fulminate caps for detonators ...
"The soles of Bally of Switzerland's new 'Stridex' shoes are made of a compound that, ignited, emits dense clouds of choking black smoke. Certain grades of pot burn with a hot enough tip for the roach to start the process, to wit...
"Wrap a piece of flexion (preferably blue, as the dye helps) around 1 carton of 12 compressed-air bulbs of the type used in a General Foods whipped-cream dispenser. Coat with 'Novent' plugging compound to make a ball about 1" diam. The covering prevents the detectors at the garbage plant from reclaiming the metal of the bulbs. On a test run at Tacoma the resulting shrapnel put the disposal furnaces out of action for six hours ...
"You probably heard the Bay Area Rapitrans was stalled for a full day. The diagram shows what did it Placed on the track-bed, the device emits signals that tell the line computer a train is permanently stuck in that station ...
"A signal injector powered by two dry cells can be left in a public phone-booth and without interfering with normal operation of the phone (thus delaying detection) will cause up to 250 random calls per hour over the area served by the local exchange ...
"A parasite emitter light enough to hang under a child's kite or 2-ft. diam. hot-air balloon will repeat a 10-sec. slogan for up to 1 hour on regular TV sound wavelengths. See schematic ...
"Empty one self-heating 'Camp with Campbell' soup-can by perforating it at the point shown in the picture, NOT conventionally at the top. Refill with any explosive or flammable compound flashing below 93?C. Close hole with surgical waterproof tape. On puncturing the can will become a grenade with a delay of 7 to 12 sec. according to contents
"The adhesive used to seal capsules containing GT alumi-nophage is vulnerable to acetic acid, A delay-timer can thus be made by mixing water and vinegar in suitable ratio ...
"United Steel's monofilament reinforcement yarn V/RP/ SU is magnetosensitive. A timer activating an electromagnet could give the stuff applications e.g. on power-lines or in computers, inducing random cross-connections . . .
"An aerosol suspension of Triptine in peanut oil acquires interesting electrical properties. Try smearing it on a dust-precipitator ...
"There are static-dischargers on the metal frame of the bridge at Kennedy Loading Point, Ellay. There should be a use for two or three hundred unwanted volts . . .
"The missile-bombardment doors on the North Rockies Acceleratube are sensitive to gamma. The sensor is in a large black container at the eastern entry and at the western it's in a green conical thing. Those doors weigh over a thousand ton apiece ...
"Near the junction of Eleazar Freeway with Coton Hudson Drive the computer cables serving the traffic signals over 120 sq. mi. pass within a foot of the surface. There's a hydrant sign ...
"Eastman Kodak is offering an interesting new collapsed-benzene compound. Wherever there are strained bonds there's energy waiting to be tapped. Pass the word when you find out how to spring the poor captives ...
"Don't scrap your last-year's model Frigidaire! Units 27-215-900 through 27-360-500 employed a coolant liquid that was quietly withdrawn when they discovered it was capable of being mixed with Vaseline to make a gel - and the gel burns at over 500? We suggest using it for paint. It turns a nice pale green colour and will sustain its own oxidation in films thinner than .001 inch ...
"If you have re-evacuation facilities, note that the electron gun in current Admiral TV sets can be modified to deliver a linear instead of a fanned jet, What it does to a sensitive circuit is nobody's business, but it ought to be ...
"Table salt in GTs solvent 00013 does very interesting things to copper, aluminium and brass ...
"Try cross-connecting leads 12 and 27 on a Wontner electroplating unit. But make sure you're not in the building when the power goes back on. Cyanide is fierce stuff ...
"They've precautioned most traffic-carrying tunnels out this way against smoke, aerosol radio-sources, control-circuit jammers and incendiaries. They still haven't coped with Minnesota Mining's strain RS-122, which turns concrete into a fine powder, nor GTs 'Catalight'. an oxidising catalyst for asphalt and related compounds. Thought you'd like to know
-- From a selection of duplicated, photocopied, holographed, offset, lithoed and printed leaflets on file at Ellay police HQ