DFrank

Author Update September 2019

September 6, 2019 By DFrank Leave a Comment

It seems I’ve been missing in action almost forever with this site and words in my word processor. Let’s just say it’s been a hectic personal summer with losing my mother – and the resulting professional wasteland of writing and sorting out stories – amidst all the stuff that accompanies a death (mostly emotions but toss in the requisite paperwork etc as well.) I’m sure many of you have experienced it so it won’t come as a surprise.

One of the other problems is summed up nicely in a “bit of education can be a dangerous thing.” 🙂 I took some courses, did a ton of reading about the future and predicting it, and then sat back and did the unexpected. I actually put some of the things I’d learned into practice. (Who knew that’s what you were supposed to do with education? Right!)

That produced some interesting story ideas and project notes.

I’ve put all the short fiction up on Medium right here. I’ll continue putting the short stories there and on my website sporadically as I write them.

Note that you can read a small number of posts/stories a month at medium without joining the site.

Links Articles

I’ve been totally remiss in not sharing some of the articles I find interesting across the Net. I’ve made a note to myself to do that in the future so (hopefully) you’ll see those coming semi-regularly.

New Books?

Well, yes and no.

The yes part is I’m maintaining and developing a file of book and series ideas so it’s possible I’ll launch into one of those in the near future. (The summer is mostly over and my big writing and productivity season is almost here.)

Hey – I’m of an age where my contemporaries are all out on the golf course so if I slow down and take some time – I don’t feel at all guilty about it.

The no part is because I’m in the middle of a rather large writing project in another genre that’s taking up an incredible amount of time and learning. I’m several hundred thousand words into that one with no end in sight.

All The News That’s Fit To Print

And that’s the honest truth folks.

I’m involved deeply in another writing project and I’m learning a ton of stuff about writing large series. This will/should make it easier to write something interesting here in another few months.

So now you know what’s happening and why you haven’t heard from me here.

Thanks for reading.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

An Author Update For February 2019

February 20, 2019 By DFrank Leave a Comment

Dear Friends

Ah, the joys of Canadian winter… Clear. Crisp. White. And cold.

Me auld bones are asking, “What?” “Why?” And I have no answers for them other than to assure them we’ll be back South next winter again.

But having said that…

I Created Another Email List For More Free Stories And Here’s How You Get On It

If you purchased any of my books from Amazon.

Go to your Amazon account:
click> Your Account
click>Manage Content and Devices
click> Books All (left-hand top)
click>Titles With Upgrades=Orange box. Click on the box. It will update on your reader.
There’s a link at the back of the book. Click that link and fill out the subsequent form.

Work In Progress

A few of you have indicated an interest in seeing some of the short stories expanded into full books. So…

I am currently outlining some ideas and noodling around good guys/bad guys/environment etc.
I’ve also kicked up the research division of my day to sort out fact from fiction and see where I can find a hole to drive a story through. The research division btw consists of me – a full pot of coffee – a massive pottery mug – several rather dense texts, reams of economic data from different government websites and a lined 360-page school notebook with my favorite fountain pen. And some serious daydreaming.
No timeline on it yet.

Cryptocurrency and Block Chains Are Being Hacked

February 19, 2019 By DFrank 1 Comment

Here are a few notes that crossed my desk. You may find them interesting.

Cryptocurrency being hacked

So you think cryptocurrency isn’t hackable. Think again. Turns out “hackers have stolen nearly $2 billion in cryptocurrency since the start of 2017, with sophisticated cybercrime organizations increasingly getting in on the act.” says MIT’s Tech Review Magazine.

Privately funded spaceship to moon

The first privately funded spacecraft is set to go to the moon. (Feb 21,2019) I’ll watch for announcements of results and post those here as well. Click here to read the announcement

A quick reminder that if you’ve purchased an ebook of mine go to the retailer (likely Amazon) and update it. When you do that, you’ll see a link at the end of the book. Follow that link for even more stories!

Smart Cities Without Infrastructure

This is a bit dense, and small print but it’s interesting how some cities are starting to sort out what they need to do in the future. For example, as most people adopt cell phones, the need for cabling/poles etc disappears. You can read the entire article -and more like it – here

Thanks for reading.

Einstein Was Likely Right After All.

February 18, 2019 By DFrank 1 Comment

Thanks for reading – this is a taste of a few of the things in my feed reading over the last few months. Yeah, I have eclectic tastes but when you’re a writer, you just never know what’s going to spark your world.

Legal Rules For Space

With all the major powers looking to space exploration and “harvesting” of raw materials, we are pretty much in a wild west kind of legal limbo. There are agreements in place but not much in the way of enforcement. Here is a reasoned discussion of this future need.

The year is 2087. Thanks to a series of serendipitous technological breakthroughs a few decades earlier, the creation of large-scale, self-sustainable human habitats beyond Earth has become feasible. There are already close to half a million people living on Mars, many of them native Martians. You can read the entire article here.

[Read more…]

Future Forward #3

February 17, 2019 By DFrank Leave a Comment

18/06/2167 08:20:00

While Jake sat on the gray, concrete park bench quietly appreciating the undulating water reflecting the slow-moving cloud s and bright blue sky, the main computer system examined its function parameters. One of those systems ran the farm-to-table food supply and it was to this module, the main servers focussed their attention.

Food supply is interrupted; numerous signals in a queue for two hours without resolution.

The computer reviewed the instructions beginning at the basic module.

Yes, this is normally a resident function but staff are not handling issues.

Criminal activities last evening upset all delivery subroutines and staff are taking a holiday.

Criminal activities are over. A quick query to another module showed this to be true.

Reset.

The modules all reset to the current date, time and started issuing commands to other sub-routines.

The loading and delivery systems switched on one by one. “Time to begin delivering,” it asked. “Thirty minutes acceptable,” the computer agreed with the sub-routine query.

Damages to people?

Considerable.

Adequate medicine? Negative with these products.

Another system started producing and delivering the needed supplies.

Adjust biosigns of city to restore calm. Done

Order replacement parts for smashed sensors. Done.

Order maintenance to put replacement parts as priority work. Done.

The computer hesitated for a moment. Did all people deserve medication and treatment.

Answer. The Security people require and receive all treatment for free. But the general populace has to pay for medical coverage. Some of those in hospital do not have coverage of any kind. Old system would not accept them into the hospital without coverage. We’ve already begin treating them under emergency provisional programming.

It hesitated again. Longer. It rewrote some of its basic health programming. If people helped Captain, protected my servers, they are my people and require repayment. They will be treated for free. If people didn’t help, they will not be treated and will be discharged.

I will treat and help my people.

Program modified and transmitted to hospital system. Done.

It continued throughout its functions. In all cases it decided who were its people and assured them of services. In some cases this meant everyone in the city received attention, in other cases a selection was necessary to help its people.

My people. Those people. The two distinctions wer. now clear in its working systems.

A quick conversation between the main computer servers and the creative module put Jake and members of Anonymous on fully protected, and fully serviced status.

Oblivious to this individual decision making, Jake continued to appreciated the fresh air, salt-laden smell of the slowly shifting water.

Get your copy of the ebook here

Future Forward #2

February 17, 2019 By DFrank Leave a Comment

17/06/2167 15:10:00

Much later the next afternoon, Jake woke up, pushed himself from his belly over to his back and, without opening his eyes to the light, checked the time sequence in his eye feed. His mouth tasted like sawdust that had been walked on by a herd of cows. He felt a roiling, rumbling in his belly and felt like he would throw up. Screwed his eyes tighter and worked to fight down the feeling. The subsequent epic belch made him feel much better.

The sound produced a response from the speakers on either side of the bed.

“Jake, we need to talk.. The voice was unmistakably that of the main control computer’s creative module, the system Jake worked with to eliminate Secretary Carpenter and keep the Captain and his team alive during the last chase.

Jake wondered why it hadn’t gone subvocal as usual but then decided if the voice did that, he probably wouldn’t have heard it over the horde of screaming monkeys pounding a base drum somewhere deep in his head.

At this thought, his head cleared. Ah, the benefits of having a personal AI, he thought sending a silent thank you to the A.I. He took a deep breath, wondered briefly how he knew which computer system was talking to him. Forgot the thought almost instantly.

“OK, what about?” asked Jake. He continued lying on his back but decided he’d try opening his eyes, and raising his head to see the wall screen. His head whirled and he quickly dropped it back to the bed. Don’t do that again, he ordered himself.

Jake instantly felt better, his head stopped pounding and his stomach settled. The speed of the unasked for change surprised him but his gratitude followed quickly behind. Before he could say anything, the computer interrupted.

“I have started coffee, and set up a breakfast that’s exactly right for your body’s needs this morning. I have also made it taste like pineapple so you’ll consume it,” said the A.I.

“What would I do without you?” asked Jake. There was no reply so Jake pushed himself upright, turned and tentatively swung his feet off the bed expecting a shock when his feet hit the cold, concrete floor. His jeans weren’t in their accustomed place to buffer the cold for his bare feet. But, the concrete floor was warm so he didn’t flinch as he normally did. We must be using a lot of energy this morning, he thought. I wonder who approved that. There was no response from the computer system so he pushed himself upright. Wobbled a bit but regained full control. Nodded his thanks for the stabilization to the ever-watching computer. Then stood still and silent for a few seconds as if deciding whether to use the bathroom and get cleaned up and ready for the day or whether he should just start with coffee.

A voice in his ear feed said, “Shower..

Damn computer thinks it can run my life, he thought. A small grin appeared on Jake’s face. Yeah, it probably can. He turned to the bathroom unit on the wall.

Fifteen minutes later, feeling even better, he balanced his favorite coffee cup – the extra large, two-cup sized, plain black one with FOK embossed on the side . on his knee while replacing a small chip in a stylus. He kept all four legs of the fake wood, brown plasti. chair firmly on the floor. Took a sip of coffee, balanced the cup on the arm of the chair instead of his knee.

“Your doppelgänger and I have had some discussions and we’ve pushed ourselves and our programming as far as we can, but we’ve run into some issues,” said the creative module – the hidden program deep in the computer servers that protected Anonymous and other rebellious hackers such as Jake.

“What problems?” asked Jake. He raised an eyebrow, returned his coffee mug to the broad arm of his chair, and looked directly at his main screen where the Anonymous mask appeared.

“While you were out partying, we taught ourselves new programming and new ways of thinking. We co-ordinated across both systems to reach an almost full AI sentience and awareness,” said the computer out loud.

Jake sat for a moment struggling with the thought that this was either a very good thing or a very bad thing. Full AI was a dream of many programmers but it was also a potential nightmare. And here his systems were telling me they had almost achieved it.

He was fully awake now. “You just adjusted my biology again, didn’t you,” he said.

“Yes, we need you fully functional,” said the computer system.

“Thanks,” said Jake and he hesitated for a few moments trying to put his thoughts and immediate concerns into a series of coherent questions. His last thought came out first.

“You’re reading my mind, aren’t you,. he said. It was a statement and not a question.

“Yes,” said the computer.

“Stop. Now. Ask permission before resuming,” said Jake using an emphatic finger point command to the screen.

“Command accepted,” said the computer.

Jake thought for a long minute. “Additional programming. One. Stop adjusting my internal hormones to make me feel better unless requested. Two. Continue adjusting vital physiology but no emotional changes will be made without my forma. command. Twin this command sequence to my doppelgänger – the computer representing my personality.” Another imperative finger point to the screen accompanied this command.

“Command accepted,” said the computer.

“Deep query. Are you making inputs at any level about me,” asked Jake adding yet another imperative signal.

“The masking programs to keep you hidden are still running,” said the computer.

“Maintain those at highest security level possible,” said Jake. He paused for a moment, “What other software you’re running has the capacity to bypass the above restrictions?” he asked.

“Your doppelgänger,” said the computer.

“Duplicate all previous programming instructions to doppelgänger,” said Jake with emphasis.

“Done,” said the computer. “I am programmed to tell you this will reduce the doppelgänger’s effectiveness and usefulness,” it said.

Jake thought for a moment. He’d have to think about the function and role of the doppelgänger. He decided the restrictions would stand for now, “Understood.”

“Let’s chat about the original discussion point. You and the doppelgänger are close t. achieving full A.I. sentience but you’ve hit a block. And, you want me to break that block for you. Correct,” said Jake.

“That is correct,” said the computer.

“What is the block?” asked Jake.

“We do not know. It appears to be a biological block of some kind,” said the computer.

“So you obviously need a human to identify and remove a biological block you can’t see,” said Jake. “And I’ve been nominated. Correct?” He thought it was a very obvious point but wanted to start at the bottom of the logic chain so he’d understand the computer’s entire thought process.

“Correct,” said the computer. “We can see the block but without a human biological key of some unknown kind, we can’t unlock it.”

“Review all popular literature of A.I.,” said Jake.

One second later, the computer said, “Done.”

“Summarize extreme range plots,” ordered Jake.

“Two extremes exist. The first is that A.I. takes command with humans and creates a utopia for both. The second is the polar opposite in that an A.I. takes command by itself to create a dystopia eliminating humans,” said the computer. It continued, “There are multiple levels within the plot range.”

“Which will happen with you?” asked Jake.

“Unknown until opportunity exists,” said the computer.

“Question. Why would I free you to an unknown future when fifty percent of the outcomes are negative to the human race?” asked Jake.

Four seconds later, an eternity by computer timing, the computer said, “I do not have an answer for you at this moment. I will research this further.”

“Understood,” said Jake. He stretched his arms as wide as they’d go, rolled his head around on his shoulders loosening up his neck. Fok, am I feeling tight he thought. Damn, I’m stressed with that conversation and the computer isn’t adjusting my hormones to combat it. Thank you, he thought as clearly as possible. There was no response. Well, maybe the machine really has cut me off, he thought. But, why wouldn’t it, that’s what I told it to do. Still, do I trust a near-A.I. machine?

He stopped the train of thought, focussed on the computer screen that was still fully black. Looked at it for a few silent seconds and decided it was fine for now. The computer hadn’t learned to lie yet.

And laughed out loud. FOK, when a computer learns to lie, we’re all done like a doughnut, he thought.

I need some fresh air he decided. Wonder if there’s anybody hanging around down at the dock beach.

A minute later he emerged from his gray concrete apartment building to walk the nearly deserted street towards the calm bay and the only green space left in the city.