T.C. Weber's Blog, page 2
November 17, 2020
The Last Hole
My golfing/climate change short story "The Last Hole" was just published on the Extinction Rebellion Creative Hub:
https://xrcreative.org/2020/11/16/the...
https://xrcreative.org/2020/11/16/the...
September 19, 2020
MediaCorp and the control of information
The overturning of net neutrality by the FCC, headed by former Verizon lawyer Ajit Pai, opens the door to big Internet service providers intentionally favoring websites and content that they own, or pay them a premium, over others. This would essentially end free speech and competition on the Internet. Then there’s the consolidation of news, books, and other media under fewer and fewer mega-companies, which leads to the layoff of journalists and the closing of newspapers (as is happening in Maryland). Even music is falling under monopoly control. Live Nation, iHeartRadio, SIRIUSXM, Ticketmaster, and Pandora are now all under the control of one man, a right-wing billionaire named John Malone.
Sleep State Interrupt, The Wrath of Leviathan, and Zero-Day Rising examine a plausible outcome of these trends—a single company (MediaCorp) controlling nearly all information, and using that to control society. In the books, semi-ordinary people take to the Net and take to the streets to fight this ultimate peril to democracy. To quote the Washington Post’s slogan, adopted after President Trump began his assault on free press as ‘the enemy’, “democracy dies in darkness.”
Sleep State Interrupt, The Wrath of Leviathan, and Zero-Day Rising examine a plausible outcome of these trends—a single company (MediaCorp) controlling nearly all information, and using that to control society. In the books, semi-ordinary people take to the Net and take to the streets to fight this ultimate peril to democracy. To quote the Washington Post’s slogan, adopted after President Trump began his assault on free press as ‘the enemy’, “democracy dies in darkness.”
September 13, 2020
Some more advice for writers
To write a good story (no matter its length):
1. Don’t bore the reader!
2. The story should make sense.
3. It should have high stakes (as far as the main character is concerned).
4. It should have main characters that jump off the page--either sympathetic, unpredictable, passionate, gutsy, resourceful, complex, noble, or all of the above.
5. Finally, a story should be immersive. The reader should feel like they’re in the setting and one with the character.
1. Don’t bore the reader!
2. The story should make sense.
3. It should have high stakes (as far as the main character is concerned).
4. It should have main characters that jump off the page--either sympathetic, unpredictable, passionate, gutsy, resourceful, complex, noble, or all of the above.
5. Finally, a story should be immersive. The reader should feel like they’re in the setting and one with the character.
September 9, 2020
Some general advice for writers
1. Write something every day, preferably at a set time.
2. Make lists of ideas. Jot ideas down as they come to you (always have paper & pen handy).
3. Expand your best ideas into story synopses. From the best synopses, write stories. Finish them.
4. Join a critique group and get feedback on your writing.
5. Never be afraid that your work isn’t good enough.
6. Read books on the elements of storytelling, and recognize you’ll always have new things to learn.
7. Have fun.
2. Make lists of ideas. Jot ideas down as they come to you (always have paper & pen handy).
3. Expand your best ideas into story synopses. From the best synopses, write stories. Finish them.
4. Join a critique group and get feedback on your writing.
5. Never be afraid that your work isn’t good enough.
6. Read books on the elements of storytelling, and recognize you’ll always have new things to learn.
7. Have fun.
August 18, 2020
Final cyberpunk book coming out Oct. 1!
Zero-Day Rising, the final book of the BetterWorld cyberpunk trilogy, will be released on Oct. 1! Paperbacks can now be pre-ordered. E-books probably available Oct 1.
July 12, 2020
Some quotes
Some quotes from Waylee Freid:
"Why play a fixed game when I can kick the table over?"
“There’s plenty of money and resources to solve the world’s problems. But the handful of people who control most of the world’s wealth and power live in their own stratosphere and want to keep it that way. And [the media] is their biggest mouthpiece, manufacturing fake realities and keeping people distracted and divided.”
"Aliens could bombard the city with carnivorous Pikachu and even that wouldn’t tear people away from their sports fixations."
"Fingers twine
For the first time.
Past we pass,
Our skin aligns.
It’s not fate,
We self-activate.
Awake our dreams,
The world can’t wait."
Even though it barraged her with propaganda, Waylee always kept a national news portal open in the lower right corner. ‘Know thy enemy,’ Sun Tzu advised across three millennia of dog-eat-dog history.
“Get ready, you bastards! I am gonna stick the biggest firecracker on Earth up your ass and light it with a flamethrower!”
Too bad she wasn’t really Storm from the X-Men. Or anyone with superpowers, able to right the wrongs of the world merely by existing outside the confines of science.
Every nerve in Waylee’s body tingled when they entered the data center. Murky blue-lit walls of processors stretched into the distance, alive behind millions of green and red eyes. Her lyrics homunculus stirred:
Do not go quiet into Luxmore’s night.
Rage, rage against the machines’ false light.
"Do you feel like plankton in the sea,
Tossed helplessly or devoured
By a voracious Leviathan?"
"The few cannot constrain the many.
Especially when we transform
Self-mutating
Into legions of heroes."
“As jury members, the Constitution gives you the right to vote your conscience. If a law isn’t just, or is being used unjustly, you can reject it. Juries rejected the return of slaves in the 1800’s and acquitted peace activists in the 1900’s. You have the right to acquit [the defendant], to make a statement."
“The thing about power is, even dictators can only rule with the cooperation of the people. Stop cooperating, and the power transfers to the people.”
“With [just] 3.5% of the population actively involved, change is inevitable.”
"You may feel like a dust mote, completely inconsequential. But that’s not true. It’s just what they want you to think. They give you two options—to support the team in power, or to withdraw and mind your own business."
"One thing they forget is, there’s only a handful of them and billions of us. All we have to do is stop being passive. Stop listening to MediaCorp’s lies and dig for the truth, think critically, ask tough questions. Hell, don’t take me for granted either."
"Power, both political and economic, can’t be allowed to accumulate in the hands of a few. We need to replace top-down control with collaborative democracy in government and the workplace. A utopia is unrealistic—humans have too many bad tendencies. But we need the ability to correct course whenever things go bad."
"We’re ninety nine percent the same,
Our basic needs a common frame.
They’re not gods or beings enlightened,
They’re just people with thoughts misguided..."
"Without solid proof—often, even with it—believing lies that affirm one’s ingrained beliefs feels better than believing truth that contradicts them."
"Why play a fixed game when I can kick the table over?"
“There’s plenty of money and resources to solve the world’s problems. But the handful of people who control most of the world’s wealth and power live in their own stratosphere and want to keep it that way. And [the media] is their biggest mouthpiece, manufacturing fake realities and keeping people distracted and divided.”
"Aliens could bombard the city with carnivorous Pikachu and even that wouldn’t tear people away from their sports fixations."
"Fingers twine
For the first time.
Past we pass,
Our skin aligns.
It’s not fate,
We self-activate.
Awake our dreams,
The world can’t wait."
Even though it barraged her with propaganda, Waylee always kept a national news portal open in the lower right corner. ‘Know thy enemy,’ Sun Tzu advised across three millennia of dog-eat-dog history.
“Get ready, you bastards! I am gonna stick the biggest firecracker on Earth up your ass and light it with a flamethrower!”
Too bad she wasn’t really Storm from the X-Men. Or anyone with superpowers, able to right the wrongs of the world merely by existing outside the confines of science.
Every nerve in Waylee’s body tingled when they entered the data center. Murky blue-lit walls of processors stretched into the distance, alive behind millions of green and red eyes. Her lyrics homunculus stirred:
Do not go quiet into Luxmore’s night.
Rage, rage against the machines’ false light.
"Do you feel like plankton in the sea,
Tossed helplessly or devoured
By a voracious Leviathan?"
"The few cannot constrain the many.
Especially when we transform
Self-mutating
Into legions of heroes."
“As jury members, the Constitution gives you the right to vote your conscience. If a law isn’t just, or is being used unjustly, you can reject it. Juries rejected the return of slaves in the 1800’s and acquitted peace activists in the 1900’s. You have the right to acquit [the defendant], to make a statement."
“The thing about power is, even dictators can only rule with the cooperation of the people. Stop cooperating, and the power transfers to the people.”
“With [just] 3.5% of the population actively involved, change is inevitable.”
"You may feel like a dust mote, completely inconsequential. But that’s not true. It’s just what they want you to think. They give you two options—to support the team in power, or to withdraw and mind your own business."
"One thing they forget is, there’s only a handful of them and billions of us. All we have to do is stop being passive. Stop listening to MediaCorp’s lies and dig for the truth, think critically, ask tough questions. Hell, don’t take me for granted either."
"Power, both political and economic, can’t be allowed to accumulate in the hands of a few. We need to replace top-down control with collaborative democracy in government and the workplace. A utopia is unrealistic—humans have too many bad tendencies. But we need the ability to correct course whenever things go bad."
"We’re ninety nine percent the same,
Our basic needs a common frame.
They’re not gods or beings enlightened,
They’re just people with thoughts misguided..."
"Without solid proof—often, even with it—believing lies that affirm one’s ingrained beliefs feels better than believing truth that contradicts them."
July 10, 2020
The Questioning Monkey
“Maybe we can’t use force,” Kiyoko said, “but we still need the equivalent of an army. Do you have a plan other than making videos that not many people will see?”
“We’ve been talking about that,” Waylee said. Do you know the Monkey Master fable?”
“Um... no.”
Waylee wracked her brain for the details. “This old man kept a group of monkeys in a stockade and ordered them to go into the forest and collect fruits for him every day. Each monkey had to give a portion of their fruit to the old man, and if they didn’t meet their quota, they were ruthlessly flogged. But none of the monkeys dared to complain.
“One day, one of the monkeys asked the others, ‘Did the old man plant all the fruit trees and bushes in the forest?’
“The others said: ‘No, they were provided by nature.’
“The questioning monkey then asked, ‘Why do we need the old man’s permission to come here and gather fruit for ourselves? Why do we have to give him a portion while he sits at home doing nothing? Why do we go back to the stockade and let ourselves be flogged?’
“The others realized he was right. They returned to the stockade and tore down the walls. They reclaimed the fruits the old man had taken from them, and never returned.
“The moral’s obvious, I hope,” Waylee concluded.
Kiyoko exhaled. “People don’t need to follow the orders of a tyrant, and as soon as they realize that, they can free themselves.”
“That’s as good an interpretation as any. Dictators and oligarchs can only rule as long as people let them. I thought our Super Bowl video would be like the questioning monkey, but unfortunately MediaCorp drowned out our message. But they can’t do that forever. The more lies they tell, the more they ultimately discredit themselves to the point where no one will believe them. We have to keep at it, and at the same time, encourage people to organize.”
Shakti nodded. “A quick solution was unrealistic.”
-- from Zero-Day Rising
“We’ve been talking about that,” Waylee said. Do you know the Monkey Master fable?”
“Um... no.”
Waylee wracked her brain for the details. “This old man kept a group of monkeys in a stockade and ordered them to go into the forest and collect fruits for him every day. Each monkey had to give a portion of their fruit to the old man, and if they didn’t meet their quota, they were ruthlessly flogged. But none of the monkeys dared to complain.
“One day, one of the monkeys asked the others, ‘Did the old man plant all the fruit trees and bushes in the forest?’
“The others said: ‘No, they were provided by nature.’
“The questioning monkey then asked, ‘Why do we need the old man’s permission to come here and gather fruit for ourselves? Why do we have to give him a portion while he sits at home doing nothing? Why do we go back to the stockade and let ourselves be flogged?’
“The others realized he was right. They returned to the stockade and tore down the walls. They reclaimed the fruits the old man had taken from them, and never returned.
“The moral’s obvious, I hope,” Waylee concluded.
Kiyoko exhaled. “People don’t need to follow the orders of a tyrant, and as soon as they realize that, they can free themselves.”
“That’s as good an interpretation as any. Dictators and oligarchs can only rule as long as people let them. I thought our Super Bowl video would be like the questioning monkey, but unfortunately MediaCorp drowned out our message. But they can’t do that forever. The more lies they tell, the more they ultimately discredit themselves to the point where no one will believe them. We have to keep at it, and at the same time, encourage people to organize.”
Shakti nodded. “A quick solution was unrealistic.”
-- from Zero-Day Rising
July 3, 2020
Subconscious manipulation
A quote about subconscious manipulation in the media:
"People are surprisingly easy to influence once you know how their minds work. For starters, people make most decisions using their guts, not logic. That’s just the way we operate. Back in the 1980's, psychologists studied how news anchors changed their facial expressions when mentioning presidential candidates, and how these subtle cues influenced voters. Peter Jennings, an anchor for ABC News, was downright enthusiastic about Ronald Reagan. You could see it in his face. And his viewers voted overwhelmingly for Reagan, much more so than viewers of other news programs. That was decades ago. We’ve learned and refined since then, and know exactly how to push emotional buttons so people will do whatever we want without having the slightest clue about it.”
-- Rick Mustel, Special Advisor to the President for the Media, from Sleep State Interrupt
"People are surprisingly easy to influence once you know how their minds work. For starters, people make most decisions using their guts, not logic. That’s just the way we operate. Back in the 1980's, psychologists studied how news anchors changed their facial expressions when mentioning presidential candidates, and how these subtle cues influenced voters. Peter Jennings, an anchor for ABC News, was downright enthusiastic about Ronald Reagan. You could see it in his face. And his viewers voted overwhelmingly for Reagan, much more so than viewers of other news programs. That was decades ago. We’ve learned and refined since then, and know exactly how to push emotional buttons so people will do whatever we want without having the slightest clue about it.”
-- Rick Mustel, Special Advisor to the President for the Media, from Sleep State Interrupt
June 29, 2020
What is a sustainable society?
From a panel I was on last year:
A sustainable society is a society that persists indefinitely, or at least over many generations, by not using resources faster than they can be replenished, by living in harmony with the environment, and by ensuring that all members of the society have their needs met. In a sustainable society, decisions are made to achieve a “triple bottom line”-- economic benefits, environmental benefits, and social benefits. A sustainable society can, and probably should, change and adapt over time, but such changes should not increase the probability of social or environmental collapse or transition to an undesirable condition (e.g., desertification).
A sustainable society is a society that persists indefinitely, or at least over many generations, by not using resources faster than they can be replenished, by living in harmony with the environment, and by ensuring that all members of the society have their needs met. In a sustainable society, decisions are made to achieve a “triple bottom line”-- economic benefits, environmental benefits, and social benefits. A sustainable society can, and probably should, change and adapt over time, but such changes should not increase the probability of social or environmental collapse or transition to an undesirable condition (e.g., desertification).
June 23, 2020
Support of authoritarians depends on perceived strength
The low attendance at the "super-rally" in Tulsa (100,000 predicted, 6,000 attended), along with snubs from former allies, removes Trump's mask of power. Even his most irrationally fervent supporters may drift away, unwilling to associate with a proven loser. While many people (including many Americans) are drawn to authoritarian power, they will only do so if their figurehead appears strong.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
