Tag: Technology

  • The Ghosts of Computer Viruses and John von Neumann

    Not sure how or why it happened, but computer viruses, at least the subject of them, popped into my head today. It seemed like in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, computer viruses were everywhere. Plenty of news stories, and hacker stories, in the media. There was that movie “Hackers” which wasn’t any good, but hey… I remember buying virus protection for my computers, as it seemed like at any moment something was going to get on my machine and crash it. Then, computer viruses went away. I know ransomware is still out there and a big problem, but I’m talking about those news stories about how “the Melissa virus is out there, and will activate on a certain date” – you know, that kind’a stuff – no one talks about it anymore.

    So, even though I should be working on other things, I started puttering around and reading up on the history of computer viruses, and I came across this guy – John von Neumann. The reason he is here with computer viruses is because he, for lack of a better explanation, came up with the idea of machine self-replication, and then helped create a model for it. Which, in essence, and feel free to correct me, is what a computer virus basically is.

    But then I started reading more about this guy. John was an expert in mathematics, physics, economics, statics, game theory, and he worked on the Manhattan Project. Hell, there is a creator on the moon named after him. Not for nothing, but why haven’t I head of him before? He seems like he was a person of great intelligence, and did just about everything one could do with a huge analytical brain.

  • Goodbye, Twitter or X

    I have been thinking about it this weekend, and I have come to the conclusion that it is time for me to leave Twitter, or X. Not that I have a huge presence on Twitter/X, as I think half of my followers are Russian bots, but it just isn’t the same on there anymore.

    I join a long time ago, and would only pop in occasionally, but with the onset of Covid, I found myself using the app more and more. In fact, I had come to appreciate the app for being able to connect with so many different writers, at different stages of their careers, and I was starting to feel like I was a part of a larger community.

    That changed with Elon taking over. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, as Twitter always had a cesspool side to it, and trolls abound in darkness. But, since Elon told us that he was a champion of free speech, I began to notice more and more vitriol, hate, and the lies started to boil to the surface often. Now that Elon is using Twitter/X as a platform for boosting Trump’s agenda, and hate, I cannot sit by.

    Though I know I am not a large amount of bandwidth on Twitter/X, I do know that the one commodity I have on this site is my content. And all of us put our content out here for free, which allows Elon to make more money and reach more people. Because of that, I will no longer be complicit. I will use my content, and my dollar, and go somewhere else.

    That platform will be Threads.

    And I am painfully aware that I am swapping out one billionaire for another, which doesn’t sit the best with me, but this is the world we live in. I fear that it will only be a matter of time before I will have to question if using an app is the same as making a moral choice.

  • Short Story Review: “ProCess” by Abigail E. Myers

    (The short story “ProCess” by Abigail E. Myers appeared on September 26th, 2023 in Rejection Letters.)

    image: MM Kaufman

    I remember how when I was a kid, I was told in school that technology, someday, would solve all our problems, thus making the world a better and perfect place. My dad, when he was a kid in the 50’s, was told how there would be flying cars in 1980. Yeah, that never happened, but we sure did get loads of new tech which has changed the world – just no flying cars. Sometimes I think the real role of technology is to create new problems while solving old problems. The things that annoy us, will still annoy us, just not as much.

    I feel that was the starting point with “ProCess” by Abigail E. Myers, a tight, efficient and humorous flash fiction piece in the form of a rejection letter. The rejection letter is from the App Store, informing the developer that their new app, “ProCess: The App for Funeral Processions” will not be accepted, with a suggestion of next steps for the developer.

    What I enjoyed most with Myer’s piece was its full commitment to the flash form. Yes, the work is short, but this isn’t a short-short story; This isn’t an uber-condensed form of a hero cycle, or a quick character study. This is flash fiction in the form I like to see; quirky, unconventional, but a story that still moves from a starting point to an ending point, firmly rooted in honesty.

    The quirkiness is apparent by this app for funeral processions, and it’s unconventional in the form of a rejection letter, but what I was most impressed with was how Myer’s moved the story forward. The building and movement of the piece is accomplished in the three bullet points which use syntax and formatting of the text to accomplish this goal. The first point is formatted normally with no additions, but in the second point, italicized letters are used to highlight the developers thoughts. By the third point, the italicized and normal formatting seems to have been reversed, implying an urgency and irratition toward the situation. It’s an effective choice that I didn’t notice on my first reading, but I felt its implication immediately. It causes the narrative to move towards a conclusion, which is the app store stating, “all must yield.”

    I admit that I am thinking very hard about a very short flash fiction piece. Yet, when someone accomplish the feat of executing a very good story, in what I think is a great example of what makes flash fiction an original form of literature, it should be applauded. “ProCess” makes its point on how some situations cannot be avoided, even with technology, and that’s just life. A complete, honest thought, that rings true.