Nanowrimo - In Progress!

Hello my bitches. I need to proof it still, it's in a rough form, but a story is delveloping nicely.

I am in the middle of Nanowrimo a.k.a. November Novel Writing Month.


It's an anyone can join type deal and you have 30 days to write 50,000 words...I am way behind, but I am determined to finish.


You can write literally anything you want. So I'm writing a sort of a mash-up of genres I like. It's all love, sex, drugs, robots, rock and other things that are generally awesome.






Here's an excerpt of the book. It's chapter two of Robot Work Force Inc.

Enjoy!

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Rena Beaton’s terrible apartment. ValueTown™ Sea-scrapers, Sub Unit 314 of block 10 -. Mechtropolis, Robotica.      8:12am, Monday August 7^th 2344.

–TWO-
___________________________________
She knew it right away. She knew that this particular Monday was out to kill her. The first sign was the loud music that must have been blaring for an hour that she had programmed to wake her up. The mind crushing headache was probably the next giveaway that this Monday had full intentions to kill her. So many things felt like they had gone very wrong last night. Rena’s sense of time had become non existent since she moved into the low-block. Her apartment was in a new experimental Valuetown™ complex. She lived in a sea-scraper. Sometimes she could see some bio-luminescent sea animals, but mostly just that deep dank darkness when the lights were off. The government subsidized the shit out of her place so, it was cheap at least and she could play her drums in here. Her front door was still open a crack, her clothes scattered in haste before sleeping. A half empty tallboy of Quanta Lite just out of arms reach, a water bottle way out of arms reach and the time of day being holographically being painfully projected directly into her eyes. “Ungggggghhh… someone kill me.” She felt a familiar the throbbing sensation which meant she hooked up with someone…she honestly couldn’t remember who or when… or even how she made it home. Her wall screen was left on, she was still wearing one of her heels and her apartment door was left wide open.


She knew she was late. She had to get her ass in gear. Rena popped an instant espresso, lit a cigarette under the industrial sized air vent(that is NOT its intended use Rena!) and hit the showers. She felt a pretty major wave of regret mid-shower. Her band opened for a real band for the first time. Rena vaguely remembered the first three songs from the show. The music was pretty great actually, but that’s also what got her in the mood to party like a rock star. Rena remembered ditching Yuki and Morgan pretty early on, right after her set was done…the rest after that. A total blur. While trying to scrub away the few memories of last night Rena’s shower lights dimmed and flashed red for split second. “Really? Already... whatever fine, play my message.” Rena washed her hair while her apartment played back the message. It was Yuki, and from last night, Yuki was drunk as hell, “Rennnnna you’re such a monster you bitch….okay…okay….okay buddy oh god. K…Ok. I maybe forgot to mention last night that yer supposed to be training a newbie tomorrow at nine AM…I know right. Twist ending….Yeah well you ditched me and Momo, so yeah. BYE BYE BYE!”



Rena was not impressed. She put on some clothes that had taken up landed immigrant status on her floor, but looked okay enough for basic societal standards, she still decided to throw on some kind of deodorant on…you know…for the good of the people. She kept on the forearm she had on last night, she usually puts on her work arm before bed anyways, and really didn’t have time to calibrate another one, besides this one was ready synced up and ready to go. She sprayed on a little cheap perfume and was out the door. The lighting in her hallway was almost as equally dank as her apartment. Ganbatte! Inc. Bots patrolled the hall ways of her building on tracks on each floor, doing maintenance, opening door for tenants and greeting them as they come and go. They’re great units, but fuck they must be like 80 year old units and they are so boring to look at. Just grey metal boxes with skinny arms and a boring face-form screen. One unit opened the door for Rena and told her it looked like she didn’t get much sleep. She wanted to know what kind of asshole would program a robot to talk to women like that. Rena didn’t know it at the time but later she would incur a misdemeanour for spray tagging that particular robot. She took the Valuetown™ Lift to the surface lobby (the slow leaky lift that scared the shit out of her) and was out into the streets, which were being illuminated by the horrible and indifferent sun.



She reached into her pocket to fish out her sunglasses and only found a pack of cigarettes. She sighed, lit another cigarette and looked at the time display on her prosthetic arm, her eye opened wide when she saw how goddamned late she was and ran her ass off to the Heisenberg Rapid Transit station. She also discovered that smoking and running at the same time is a really bad combination. She felt sick as she arrived and went to fish 6.75-RC from her pockets, only to realize any change she should have was spent at the bar last night. The train pulled into the station on it’s silent magnetic tracks and Rena make the decision to hop over the turnstile, she could make it if she ran. Rena was just about the make doors when a guy in a vest ran past her, bumping into her to the side and spilling the contents of her purse onto the tracks. He yelled back to her “I’m so sorry, spent to long chatting with my cabbie, can’t be late, SORRY!” Rena grit her teeth and as the train pulled away Rena shrieked “You’ll be fucking SORRY IF YOU EVER SEE ME AGAIN GODAMNIT, YOU FUCKING HEAR ME!!!!” She was sick, breathless and very angry as her tried to recollect the scattered contents of her purse. Two security drones quietly made their way over to her “I am really terribly sorry to bother you miss, but our records indicate you have failed to pay your fare, come with me to the booth and I can help you complete your payment.” Rena’s heart sank and she went on the defence. “Listen dude, don’t even start with me, if you had any idea what the hell I am…”


A loud interruptive beep came from the drone, cutting off Rena’s sorry excuse for an excuse. It politely said “You have 5 seconds to comply…5…4…3…2..” Rena tried to book it out of there, but both unit restrained her with ComfyConvict™ soft cables and dragged to her security. Rena did not have the ambition to kick and scream this time.

Movies.....again? YES!

Sorry about the lackluster number of updates. This will be change. I'm currently attempting a novel writing competencies and it's eating my time.  Well looks like we made yet another film.   This one is for the Toronto Film Challenge.  This group had disbanded for a couple of years, but it's changed management and it's back in black baby!

This time around we had to work with the following;
Prop: sparkly wand
Theme: bad luck
Location: doctor's office
Line: "put a cork in it"


We had six to eight minutes as a time line. Well sadly we were two min late and got disqualified.  It sucks but it happens and life goes on.  We are going take on the next challenge with a vengeance.

This one is totally fucked, just watch and don't try to think to hard about it. 

Two words; Urinal Shark.


myWand | Toronto Film Challenge | 48hr | Fall 2010 from Mark Driver on Vimeo.

Shade of Death - A creative meat joint. (I madez a mooovie)

Oh Snap! It's movie time again!

So the team I work with (Creative Meat) to make short films has created a new monster baby;

SHADES OF DEATH. This was done for the Philadelphia based  Project Twenty 1 film competition.  We are the only team from Canada involved.  They saw one of our previous films Faceopener: The Bloodening and they liked it enough to invite us to their competition!  The only criteria we had to adhere to was using the line OR theme "Between the lines"

We actually shot this badboy (bad girl?) on Digital SLRs, the 5DMkII and a 7D.  They shoot in high-def at 24 fps sooo it looks sexxxxxxy.   I was involved with the concept, the writing, did a little horrible acting and recorded audio. We walked away with the best visual effects award and we were nominated for the Best Editing and Best Sound Design awards.  Have a look!


Shades of Death | Project Twenty1 | 2010 from Mark Driver on Vimeo.

I thought you were the sweetest kill

(I didn't write this, I wish I had. It's off the the newest Broken Social Scene album. It's good stuff.)




I thought you were the sweetest kill
Did I even know?
And all the time we thought we did
Was it just for show?

If they try to pull you out
Would you even go?
I thought you were the sweetest kill
Did you even know?

I held your hand until the light
The scars were on the back
And all the time we were the right
Was it just retract?

And they can try to put you down, wear you out
Get you through the idea of the luck

I thought you were the sweetest kill
Did we even know?

All the time, we get by, trying to figure out our lives
Like a fade out
All the time, we get by, trying to figure our lives
Like a fade out

When we took the level ten
Was it just a twelve?
And when we went to where we've been
Was it just for self?

And they can try to wear you down, put you out
Get you through your will, that won't work

I thought you were the sweetest kill
Could I even know?

All the time, we get by, trying to figure out our lives
Like a fade out
All the time, we get by, trying to figure our lives
Like a fade out
All the time, we get by, trying to figure out our lives
Like a fade out
All the time, we get by, trying to figure our lives
Like a fade out

I break you through this world
I break you through this world
Let me break you through this world
Can I break you through this world?

Ray Kurzweil @ TED talks: Technology's accelerating power will transform us

(Spell check pending...I'm busy damn it!)

So recently I’ve been pretty obsessed with learning as much as I possibly can. No real specific topic, but I’ve always been inexplicably drawn to certain topics. Science (especially physics), technology, music, videogames, politics whatever…so anyways I often find myself fumbling around this wacky world wide web looking into all kinds of subject (always with a healthy degree of cynicism of course.) I’ve discovered a series of interesting video from an Annual conference known as the TED talks (Technology, entertainment, design) every year they have two annual conferences, one in Long Beach and on in Palm Springs. They basically gather tons of big movers and shakers from all kinds of facets of industry, science and politics…so naturally this shit is right up my alley.

The TED organization has a pretty simple but noble mission statement. I quote from their website “Our mission: Spreading ideas. We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.”
There is so many amazing and/or worrying things happening now in 2010. I firmly believe that this truly is the most exciting era to be alive. People sadly take the world for granted. Anyways I’m also on the bandwagon of spreading ideas. There are discussion that people should be having, but are not. So I am periodically going to be posting videos on topics that are important to me. Since I’ve already mentioned Mr. Ray Kurzweil a few posts ago, I’m going to post a video from a session he did for TED talks. This is once again regarding the exponential increase in computing power and the huge impact it’s going to have and how it will shape things to come. Have a look. Spread this stuff around if it’s interesting to you, people really need to start talking about things that matter. Like my dick yo…just checking to see if your still paying attention…to my junk. Here it is holmes. (Run time 23min 42 seconds)

A conversation about the Nature of Wikileaks. *Not for the faint of heart*

What the hell is Wikileaks? Really bro...you should know.


For the unfamiliar I shall directly quote  " WikiLeaks is a multi-jurisdictional public service designed to protect whistleblowers, journalists and activists who have sensitive materials to communicate to the public. Since July 2007, we have worked across the globe to obtain, publish and defend such materials, and, also, to fight in the legal and political spheres for the broader principles on which our work is based: the integrity of our common historical record and the rights of all peoples to create new history.
We believe that transparency in government activities leads to reduced corruption, better government and stronger democracies. All governments can benefit from increased scrutiny by the world community, as well as their own people. We believe this scrutiny requires information. Historically that information has been costly - in terms of human life and human rights. But with technological advances - the internet, and cryptography - the risks of conveying important information can be lowered.
In its landmark ruling on the Pentagon Papers, the US Supreme Court ruled that "only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government." We agree.
We believe that it is not only the people of one country that keep their government honest, but also the people of other countries who are watching that government. That is why the time has come for an anonymous global avenue for disseminating documents the public should see."

So there that is. I'm sure you can formulate your own opinion based on that alone.  But here is a brief video example of what they are offering to our world.  This is a video of an American helicopter on duty seeking justification to engage the enemy in Baghdad, Iraq. The American soldiers phone in that 5 to 6 of these individuals are armed but the footage does not add up in my view.  There is an obvious twist of the rules of engagement to justify the murder of this group of people.  I can understand that in this region there is an obvious Anti-American sentiment, but this is just fucking disgusting.  This is needless murder. 





So based on the existence of wikileaks I posed this question to Facebook...




"I'm curious about what people think about Wikileaks. (http://wikileaks.org/) As per wikipedia (no actual affiliation between the two) 'Wikileaks is an amorphous, international organization, based in Sweden,[1] that publishes anonymous submissions and leaks of sensitive documents from governments and other organization...s, while preserving the anonymity of their sources.' Does it keep companies or governments in check or subvert our saftey for disclosure? What do you think??"






My buddy D stated this;
"Here's what I think. I agree that the public has a need to be informed in certain areas, and sometimes the red tape can be a bit too much. A site like wikileaks can be a good place to bring attention to important matters that shouldn't be a... cloud in people's minds. There is; however, a limit. It is the responsibility of wikileaks to guarantee the authenticity and the ability to sanitize intelligence such that it does not create a larger problem. That may sound hypocritical, but consider that national secrets can often have broader impacts than most can appreciate or even comprehend. Lives could be placed at risk, and international turmoil or panic could ensue."


Nick Gaston said "I think more disclosure is always a good thing, esp. in the 21st century when things can change as fast as the information flow.

I generally don't trust governments, always concerned with keeping their power and positions or corporations, a...lways looking out for their bottom line. I think it's obvious, esp. in the last 10 years or so, that there is too much even basic info that is swept under the rug in the name of national security and what information *is* released can be very misleading and manipulated. History has shown how information is manipulated at home and abroad to garner public support and the self proclaimed "intelligence agency of the people", WikiLeaks, has proven that this manipulation has gotten worse not better. I think it's a good thing that individuals within these towers of power can have an avenue and option to stand up for what they believe is wrong and let others know.

Don't take this next comment as a direct attack on the last part of your comment, D , but you bring up a good point I want to make. As far as turmoil and panic, I just can't make up my mind. On one hand, it smacks too much of the ever popular rational of: we need to suppress some of our activities for *your* own good. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth and insults my and a great many other people's intelligence. On the other hand even the best of us are not immune to faulty decision making, to put it nicely.

I think it's important to scrutinize every source that information comes from. Even WikiLeaks itself has a decidedly political mission and bias which should also be kept in mind, just as the bias of more mainstream sources should be scrutinized." 






Matt Tobin responded "I think all information should be free and those causing harm in the world to be held accountable. Telling everyone what is going on will bring about a majority consensus...since we're all in this world together, the majority of people who agree with things will cause less problems in the world...hopefully"



and then


Patrick Adler  had the following response. "Good q kev. I take a pragmatic approach to government leaks.
They should not be illegal and we can't really punish leakers for publishing information that they believe is moral.

At the same time, we should allow that some information, rela...ted to security and defense, be guarded. If there are governments making nuclear bombs than they should have every right to keep their methods secret.

So the defacto system, a kind of cat and mouse system between "leakers" and governments is acceptable. It allows for a soft check on abuses of power (like war crimes), it allows for activities that rely on secrecy, and actually it provides incentive for really sensitive information to be strictly kept"

I hope what people take away from this is the nature of the discussion. Things are changing so fast. SO FAST.  We're entering this really trans formative period of information proliferation and things changing very quickly.

Please people, TALK ABOUT THIS... this is the very world we live in...things are a changing!!



 I will edit this tomorrow...cus I'm sleepy.



Edit: Here is the longer version of the video for those who are interested. Name changed upon request.

P.W. Singer: Military robots and the future of war (TED talks session)

I posted last night something I wrote a few months ago regarding Robots and warfare. I stumbled upon this video that totally expresses my points much more eloquently.

Mr. Singer is a Sr. Fellow and Director of the 21st Century Defence Initiative run out of the Brookings Institution. CNN has named this guy to their "New Guard" List of the Next Generation of Newsmakers.

Our friends at the Financial Times have previously noted him as "Guru of the Week" for the thinker who most influenced the world that week and by Slate Magazine for "Quote of the Day."

Mr. Singer has also served as coordinator of the Obama-08 campaign’s defence policy task force. In '09, Singer was named by Foreign Policy Magazine in the Top 100 Global Thinkers List, of the people whose ideas most influenced the world that year.

SO, anyway…most of that info came directly from his website, but I've read up on him, this guy has some serious clout. I think this is worth watching. These are issues people need to start to discuss. Its 2010 people, the cold war is over and technology is changing us in almost unimaginable ways. New ideas and frank discussions are sorely needed to grapple with the new intellectual and philosophical challenges that we face, and will be facing increasingly in the future.

Visions Of The Future: The Quantum Revolution

The last part of this documentary. Oh shit, this is the shit that I love. A dive into the weird and wonderful quantum world. We are now just beginning to realize that our human consciousness is having a direct impact on reality. Just simply being an observer changes the world around you. We have also been exploiting our new tricks to create properties not found in nature through meta-materials, quantum computing and new states of matter...love it!

Visions of the Future: The Biotech Revolution

Part 2 of this BBC doc. This is a look at how just in recent years, man has finally really started to see the big picture of genetics and how our bodies function. Huge strides towards almost unimaginable medical treatments are becoming a reality.

Visions of the Future: The Intellgence Revolution

Here's a sweet documentary about some of the things we are heading towards. This section discusses our mastery over computing and coming to terms with our abilities to mimic reality. From virtual worlds to Robotics...here it is.