Jackson Allen's Blog, page 8

Sunday Morning Scifi #1 – Microfiction

Welcome to Sunday Morning Scifi – microfiction to help you wake up and greet the day with a smile. I started by posting the following to Mastodon and Bluesky:

And two people got back to me right away – good times! To honor their Sunday Morning Scifi Microfiction request, I’m doing both – I hope you enjoy:

Knerpfball – Courtesy @noam

“This is impossible!”

Hirohito didn’t want to admit it, but xrp!gjul was right. He wiped the sweat from his face and looked to Jane, their Knerpfball team captain. The trio enjoyed a legacy of victories forged in human skill and xrp!gjul’s eight-armed Black Widow pitch. How was it possible that Zeepzeep and team – never advancing beyond the semi-finals – could be in spitting distance of conquest?

Jane shook off her misgivings, patting xrp!gjul on one of eight shoulders. “One more pitch, make it count.”

xrp!gjul knew – he knew – as soon as the ball left his fingers that it was one of the best Black Widow’s he’d ever pitched. The knerpfball should have curved, over and under, unenerringly into Hirohito’s mitt. He watched, slow-motion horror, the ball obediently pointing toward into Zeepzeep’s bat. Their opponent’s bratty lip curled with cruel dominion. He was going to win and there was nothing they could do about it.

“Time out!” the umpire screamed in English and xrp!gjul’s native tongue. “Review of play due to multiverse interference!”

“What’s that mean?” Jane asked xrp!gjul. “‘Multiverse interference?'”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Hirohito said.

xrp!gjul watched four umpires study a tablet carefully, pointing at something the three teens couldn’t see. “The detectors found something,” xrp!gjul answered, the brow of his third eye narrowed. “I thought something was off.”

“You think …?” Jane asked. “Some kind of performance enhancement?”

“Zeepzeep’s people are known for tricks.”

Suddenly, the four umpires raised up, blank eyes and vacant expressions. xrp!gjul’s second mouth fell open. It was bad enough that Zeepzeep used telekenesis to steer the ball toward his bat – now their team was using mind control, too! For once, Zeepzeep had beaten the humans Jane and Hirohito at their own game. It was time for the Black Widow pitch to save the day.

xrp!gjul planted his hoofs carefully, straightened his cap, eyes finding the mind control projector – a small black orb plugged into a laptop – on top of the dugout. He wound up, as though practicing his pitch. At the last second, xrp!gjul turned and threw the ball with all of his might. One last Black Widow pitch to save the game, and their reputation.

xrp!gjul could only pray that Zeepzeep was too busy practicing his victory dance to recognize what was about to happen. His Black Widow pitch was an angry wasp of energy that could break bones or pierce flesh. The next .025 seconds would determine the rest of their Knerpfball career.

Poof! The result was everything xrp!gjul had hoped for – a 500-kilometer per hour pitch – the projector exploding into a cloud of glass, metal, and plastic. The four umpires jumped as if stuck with pins. Jane saw the recognition, understanding in their eyes. Zeepzeep’s team made their last mistake. What would the umpires say?

“After careful review of the play, and thanks to some last-second tactical support – official ruling is that Zeepzeep’s team forfeits due to unsportsmanlike conduct. Rules of Knerpfball are very clear about multiverse interference. Set – match – game – championship – awarded to team Black Widow. Congratulations, kids!”

The crowd hoisted the three teens to thier shoulders over the strains of ‘the Washington Post March.’ In Zeepzeep’s dugout, angry parents argued with resolute umpires – nothing would change the fact that Zeepzeep used, not one, but two illegal devices to change the outcome of the game. “I’ve never seen a team stoop so low in the history of Knerpfball. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Jane called to xrp!gjul over the jubliant crowd. “How did you know what he was doing?”

“I knew he was going to cheat, I was just waiting to figure out how he would do it.”

“You knew he would cheat, but you played him anyway?”

“Jane, that’s just part of the game.”

The End

Thanks for the suggestion, Noam – I hope you enjoyed this Sunday Morning Scifi Microfiction called ‘Knerpfball.’ I’m going to get started on Round #2 here in a second but this was a lot of fun to do. Thanks again!

The post Sunday Morning Scifi #1 – Microfiction appeared first on Inkican.

Last Night of the World?

Based on what I’m seeing on social media – the entire world has a ‘Last Night of the World’ vibe going on today. If you’re also feeling it – don’t worry, you aren’t alone. I’m sitting with my feelings now and then we’ll have some ‘puppies and kittens’ time at the end. Ready? Here goes.

My dreams have been ominous as of late. A few days ago, I dreamed of an evil Western movie where Kevin Costner and a family friend were forced to witness a tribe of captured Indians be killed and turned into beef jerky by the conquerors. No joke, I was stuck there for every grisly detail. I hate my brain sometimes.

‘But that happens to everyone,’ you’ll say. Yeah – every single night? Here’s my next example – happened last night. In last night’s dream, me and my dream family (I don’t have a family) were somewhere on a trip in Eastern Europe. The juggernauts of war arrived, and we were caught in the crossfire on a beautiful sunny day as these city-sized behemoths groaned ashore. In their path were prisoners, chained or wired in place, human shields. I was forced in my dream to watch them be crushed under unforgiving treads – hopeless, resigned eyes – a final, omnious crunch of cornsilk hair.

So yeah – I’m dealing with some stuff right now and I think it’s the collective grief and fear of an ambigous horror that may or may not be awaiting us in the near future. We’re not the first group of humans to deal with that kind of existential fear, but I think it’s important for us to figure out how to support each other. That leads me to the ‘puppies and kittens.’

Mr. Fred Rogers – your friend and mine – built a career out of one question: “How do we make goodness attractive?” He was inducted into the TV Critics’ Hall of Fame in 1992 and the moment speaks for itself. Take a look:

You can feel the entire mood change when Mr. Rogers comes on stage – the man was a walking, talking ‘puppies and kittens’ moment for everyone. The palpable joy he brought to everyone in the room reflects the kind of joy I want to put out there into the world. As Mr. Rogers says in the clip – ‘We are chosen to help meet the deeper needs of those who watch and listen. We can choose to bring courage to those whose lives move near our own. We can create joy, compassion, and connection by treating our neighbor at least as well as we treat ourselves.’

What can I do to put this human moment into context? Two things – one is to say ‘I see you, I feel what you feel, and I’m sorry you’re in pain. Please sit with me, and let’s go through this together – even if it’s a virtual moment.’

The second thing is to put what’s happening to us into some historical context. This interview between Jon Stewart & Jon Meacham gave me some historical perspective I didn’t have before. Take a watch:

Hopefully this gives you a space to ponder and reflect. This isn’t the Last Night of the World – this is just the last night of what we used to have. Something new is coming – we’ll make the best of it together.

So I wanted to share this moment with you today – the parts that make me feel vulnerable, sad, and hopeful about tomorrow and the next day. I’m so pleased that you chose to spend time with me here today. Thank you for all the good that you do – and the good you help me do – in this unique enterprise.

The post Last Night of the World? appeared first on Inkican.

Sci-Friday #218 – Free Scifi Movies on YouTube

Hooray – free scifi movies on Youtube! I can’t think of a better way to celebrate an otherwise awful week (LA Fires, David Lynch, SpaceX Starship 7 breaking up over the Caribbean) than watching some indie scifi you might not otherwise know about. A lot of people slept on Midnight Special – so if this is your first time hearing about it, give it a shot. Does not disappoint. Here’s a clip:



You can watch the entire movie here.

Midnight Special features Michael Shannon, Jaedan Liberher, Kirsten Dunst, and Adam Driver. Shannon stars as a father who goes on the run to protect his young son (Lieberher), and uncover the truth behind the boy’s special powers. What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement quickly escalates to a nationwide manhunt involving the highest levels of the Federal Government. Ultimately risking everything to protect his son, together they help fulfill a destiny that could change the world forever, in this genre-defying film as supernatural as it is intimately human.

I loved this move from the first time I saw it eight years ago – it’s one of those scifi films that takes an idea out of the box, plays with it, and then puts it away in better condition than we found it. Standalone, thoughtful scifi is just another way we can communicate ideas like curiosity, innovation, and insight to the next generation.

So if you’re looking for something to take your mind off everything – give Midnight Special a try. If you need something different, go check out Capitive State – that was another low-key banger too (John Goodman in a stellar role as alien overlord collaborator? Sign me up!)

That’s Sci-Friday for this week – I h0pe it brings a smile to your face. Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great Weekend. <3

The post Sci-Friday #218 – Free Scifi Movies on YouTube appeared first on Inkican.

How to Help Someone Leave X

Ugh, not again – it’s time to talk about how to help someone leave X. I hate doing it, but I’ve been reading about the ongoing nightmare of X and thinking ‘why don’t they just leave?’ Then I had to take a step back.

Not everyone has the same experience as me when it comes to abusive relationships.  If you’re outside of the relationship, the red flags are so obvious that it feels like the person is deliberately self-destructive. Inside of the relationship, the person is scared, confused, and ashamed. What will they do if they leave? What kind of risk are they facing? Will they be able to survive outside of this relationship they have nurtured and tolerated for so long?

The answers to all the last question is: yes, of course you can survive. You may have had your reasons for staying on X, but now that you’ve seen the danger signs, you must act to protect yourself. Not protecting yourself is not an option – you’re a human being who deserves love, respect, and autonomy. You won’t find love, respect, and autonomy on X. 

Let me go one step further – it’s not your fault that you’re being abused on X. Everyone has disagreements, everyone has differing levels of tolerance when it comes to Elon Musk. However abuse is a consistent behavior used to assert power or control over another in a relationship and Elon Musk crosses that line every day.

So if you’re in that ‘Should I leave?’ space – sit with what I said for a minute. For everyone else – let’s talk about how to help someone leave X. We don’t have to be sold on leaving – we’re already out. How do we help everyone else?

That’s where this becomes a tribal effort. I’m commenting on this and then I’m moving on. I have stories to write, cats to rescue, and a life to live. Helping is definitely part of the roadmap, but it’s not the only road. I can imagine that you can’t afford to make this a full-time job either. What do?

While some have made a business out of leaving X, the reality is that some of us can’t afford to hire professional help. Moreover, leaving a toxic social media platform isn’t just an X thing – I’ve had to re-boot my social media presence about four times in the past nine years (Twitter / X, Reddit, Fedia, Kbin.Social). It’s painful every time – but do-able. What if you’ve already left and you don’t know what to say to people who insist on staying?

If for nothing else – reminding people that they are tolerating an abusive relationship can be cleansing for everyone else who chose to leave. “I’m not talking about Elon Musk today. If you want to leave, I’ll help you leave. I’m not listening to you complain if you’re making the choice to stay.” That’s one idea.

It’s important to remember that social media relationships can be toxic, exploitative or abusive. The issues with Twitter / X might be happening in 2024, but we’ve been studying how to leave bad relationships for over fifty years and the lessons learned there easily apply there. If you understand that being on a social media platform is a parasocial relationship, you become very aware of why someone would continue to stay despite the obvious fact that it’s not good for them. So, we’re not judging people for staying. Instead, here are some tips for How to Help Someone Leave X:

Supporting someone who refuses to leave an abusive relationship can be challenging and emotionally draining. While it’s important to remain supportive, there are some key points to consider:

Understand that leaving is a process. Research shows that it can take approximately 7 attempts before a survivor permanently leaves a toxic social media platform. It might seem like inaction to you, but this could be part of a longer journey.Recognize the complexity of their situation. There are numerous reasons why someone might stay on X, including fear for their professional livelihood (financial dependence, concern for their audience, or hope that X will change).Set boundaries for yourself. While continuing to offer support, it’s crucial to establish limits to protect your own mental health. This might include: Limiting the frequency or duration of conversations about the abuse (“I don’t want to hear about what Elon Musk did on X today”), being clear about what kind of support you can offer (“I will help you leave – I will *not* help you justify staying”), encouraging them to seek help (see below for resources)Avoid judgment or ultimatums. Phrases like “Why don’t you just leave?” can be harmful and may push the person into staying on X due to ‘sunk cost fallacy.’Focus on empowerment rather than rescue. Instead of forcing them to leave X, help them build confidence and self-esteem. Encourage small steps towards independence from toxic social media platforms and safety planning. Show them how to build audiences elsewhere (like Bluesky or Mastodon).Provide resources consistently. Continue to share information about X transition support services, and counseling options. Even if they’re not ready to use these resources now, having the information may help in the future.Take care of yourself. Supporting someone in an abusive parasocial relationship can be emotionally taxing. Seek your own support network or consider talking to other social media platforms to manage your own feelings and frustrations.

Remember, while you can offer support and resources, ultimately, the decision to leave must come from the person experiencing the abuse. Your consistent, non-judgmental support can be a crucial factor in their journey towards safety and healing.

As I said earlier – this is a tribal effort. I’ve started socializing and you can help do the same:

Let’s start a crowd-sourced solution for people trying to get off X – people still on the platform are in an abusive relationship and may need support and advice on escaping. Can you volunteer to provide post-X support?

#eXitCounseling #BlueSky #GetOffX #Mastodon #ElonMusk #Bluesky #Fediverse

— Inkican Books (@inkican.bsky.social) January 16, 2025 at 6:00 AM

I’m going to continue talking about this but it’s not my full-time job. I have things to do and so do you – if we all put in a little, we can accomplish a lot. Here are links to the conversations on Mastodon and Bluesky: #eXitCounseling on Mastodon | #eXitCounseling on BlueSky

In closing – I want you to remember that you aren’t alone and that there’s a life beyond toxic, abusive, manipulative people and social media platforms. If you need help to leave, we’re here for you.

The post How to Help Someone Leave X appeared first on Inkican.

New Scifi Short Story – Superhero Shrink: Alpha

Happy to announce that I’ve put a new short story to publishing – Superhero Shrink: Alpha. Doctor Nathan Christopher is back and you aren’t going to believe where he’s going – Jail!

That’s right – superheroes have a prison, too. Why would a superhero end up there? That’s the real story. You’ll be pleased with the results. Here’s a quick description:

Unleash your imagination with Superhero Shrink Alpha, a thrilling short story that plunges into the heart of power, ideology, and the human psyche. Step into the shoes of a therapist at Prison Alpha, where he must confront a billionaire playboy turned revolutionary, whose radical vision for justice could reshape the world. As you navigate their intense psychological battle, you’ll question what it truly means to be a hero or a villain in a society riddled with corruption and greed.
Superhero Shrink Alpha invites you to explore the motivations behind extraordinary powers and the consequences of wielding them. Will you dare to uncover the truth behind a billionaire villain’s dangerous manifesto? This emotional rollercoaster challenges your beliefs about justice, loyalty, and sacrifice.

Currently, Superhero Shrink:Alpha is only available at the following six stores:

But more will be coming online shortly.

When you read this story, you might be tempted to say that I was inspired by Luigi Mangione. The truth is a little more simple. I’ve been bouncing around a ‘what if Batman was a real-live person’ idea for years. I finally found a way to tell that story in Superhero Shrink:Alpha and – happily or unhappily – current events wrote themselves into my story. I hope it goes without saying that I deplore violence in all forms, regardless of your motivation.

So feel free to read the story and know this isn’t some kind of manifesto. And I have more good news! This story is going right into production as an audio short story featuring Jeremiah Jones and two new players I think you’ll love. Until then, I hope you enjoy this scifi short story – Superhero Shrink: Alpha – as much as I did writing it. Talk more soon!

The post New Scifi Short Story – Superhero Shrink: Alpha appeared first on Inkican.

Sci-Friday #217 – Save Your Tears – LA Fire Music

Woke up to the horror stories of the LA firestorm – let’s use this Sci-Friday to express empathy with some LA Fire Music, a live version of ‘Save Your Tears’ by The Weeknd and Ariana Grande. Seems oddly appropriate given the news we’re getting about loss and grief to thousands of now-homeless people in Los Angeles:

Before I say anything else – just enjoy the cool, cyberpunk-y vibe of The Weeknd. Love his music – would totally put ‘Blinding Lights’ in the movie version of Mesh if I could. It’s a nice, momentary respite from the horror to dive into another world and I love how The Weekend does that for us. Vibe for a bit, and then let’s talk about the LA firestorm.

Number one – Yesterday, today, and probably tomorrow’s disaster is emblematic of the threat of global warming. Climate change is real and we’ve ignored the danger at our peril – now we’re down to wheeling our vulnerable grandpas and grandmas across the street because the fire is at their doorstep. Can we take a moment to feel the sad inside ourselves that this is happening – that we could have done more?

Feel the sad – don’t run from it – sit with it. It’s easy to point fingers, or say ‘welp, this is what you get for overlooking climate change’ but that’s neither helpful or appropriate. Folks are just living their lives, you know? Doing the best they can? I agree with Josh Johnson – empathy, compassion, and kindness are the way forward. We can and we should at least honor our own humanity by saying ‘hey, bro – sorry this happened to you.’

Feel the sad – feel the fear – sit with those emotions. Then get up tomorrow and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. This is simultaenously the worst it’s ever been, and the best it’s going to be until we acknowledge our power and responsibility to show empathy, compassion, and kindness to ourselves and the marvelous planet we live on.

I hope you enjoyed poignant Sci-Friday and the LA Fire Music – even if it’s only on an emotional level. Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great Weeknd. <3

The post Sci-Friday #217 – Save Your Tears – LA Fire Music appeared first on Inkican.

Mike.Sierra.Echo – He-3 Reactors and the Moon

Ran across an interesting ‘He-3 Reactors and the Moon’ discussion and naturally thought of Mike.Sierra.Echo. Let’s talk about clean power, He-3 reactors and the Moon. Futurology time!

Yes, I talk about clean power as a plot point in Mike.Sierra.Echo because I’m a fan of any greentech innovation. I want the solarpunk future we were promised as much as you do! Lofty motivations aside, we’re reward-based creatures. The idea of cheap and/or limitless energy to serve the world’s growing desire to make stuff and not starve to death is a pretty strong reward. TL;DR – we need to shift into carbon-neutral or negative technology, like yesterday.

How do we get there? Clean power! That’s why I’m listening to anyone who can get us there – or talk about engineering problems we need to solve. One of the common clean power / greentech ideas we’re pursuing is fusion energy. A fusion reactor could provide the power for thousands of homes from a single decentralized power source. The problem is, current fusion reactors run on tritium – which costs around $30K/gram. Helium-3 AKA He-3 and 3He – would be a simple alternative. Most scientists say you can mine He-3 on the Moon, but then someone on Reddit said: ‘Since it *can* be produced on earth, I see almost no way that mining it on the moon could ever be economically viable.’

Ooh, ooh – is the ‘Grandma got rich off of rocket shipping’ plot point in Mike.Sierra.Echo nothing but a bad joke? Let’s do some investigation.

Whenever I’m confronted with a question like this, the first thing I want to do is ‘get the data.’ Basic Google-fu and use of research AI (Hello, Perplexity) can save you hours and hours of backbreaking homework.

So let’s define the rules of our research. We’re working with two givens here: yes, we’ll get our fusion reactors and yes, we’ll use He-3 to run them. How much He-3 will we need to run nuclear reactors on Earth? No one knows yet, although it’s safe to say the the world’s current supply of He-3 (less than 1M liters) probably won’t be enough. Even Congress is talking about this, so let’s skip ahead.

So will we need He-3? Yes. Can we synthesize it on Earth? Will it be better to find He-3 on the Moon or just synthesize it? Here are the pros and cons of each.

Getting He-3 from Earth

The United States has stockpiles of He-3 right now, thanks to decades of nuclear weapon production. “Tritium is a critical component of nuclear weapons and historically it was produced and stockpiled primarily for this application. The decay of tritium into helium-3 reduces the explosive power of the fusion warhead, so periodically the accumulated helium-3 must be removed from warhead reservoirs and tritium in storage. Helium-3 removed during this process is marketed for other applications.” This method provides a steady, albeit limited, supply of He-3.

So yes, we’ve got He-3 and yes, we can synthesize it on Earth. But what if we need more of it? Other methods of ‘making He-3 on Earth’ might appear, but we should start thinking about other supplies. That’s when we start talking about:

Getting He-3 from the Moon

It’s a cool idea, no? Getting all our energy ‘free’ from the Moon sounds cool but let’s break it down:

The moon contains more He-3 than Earth due to solar wind bombardmentHe-3 concentration in lunar regolith is extremely low, estimated at 20 parts per billionTo extract 1 ton of He-3 would require processing about 60,500,000 tons of lunar regolith – by comparison, you’d need 160,000 tons of earth ore to produce one ton of gold (at 5 tons ore / ounce).  If we had to compare He-3 on the moon to today’s current gold price based on ore extracted (5 tons of ore to get one $2,677.00 USD / oz), we’d be around $900K / oz. Close to a million dollars, per ounce.The infrastructure needed for lunar mining on this scale is currently non-existent and would be extremely costly to develop

So when you start looking into the nuts and bolts of it – it’d cost us $900,000 for one once of He-3 material to power nuclear reactors. Will that be an acceptable price? Will we find ways to bring that pricepoint down? Only time will tell.

For the purposes of Mike.Sierra.Echo – it’s conceivable that humans are willing to pay that price, and so I’m going to keep this part of the story in place. And now we have some numbers to drive our research – I’m glad we could do this together.

I’m glad we took the time to research this ‘He-3 Reactors and the Moon’ discussion, I hope you are, too! If space travel is economically unviable as some suggest (“Conquest of the solar system without Mars is useless, unsustainable and simply unnecessary.“), that creates a number of philosophical questions I don’t have a clear answer for.

Sometimes it’s not about having the answer, but asking the right question. Hope you enjoyed this little sci-fi investigation as much as I did. Have a great evening. 

The post Mike.Sierra.Echo – He-3 Reactors and the Moon appeared first on Inkican.

Titanic Steel – Meta AI – Authenticity and Integrity

Meta got roasted like a coffee bean on Friday – reminding us of ‘Titanic steel’ and how authenticity and integrity are everyone’s problem in 2025. But never mind that now.

Three days into 2025 and things suck. Internationally, neverending war and nationally, home-grown terror. Locally, Eugene’s new year madness includes police brutality and vehicular manslaughter, the impending doom of HN51, and several new short stories on the production board. The beauty of our burgeoning future against the exigency of our existence. Soft rains, or soul-sucking exsiccation, or both?

I don’t know the answer. What I do know is that Meta’s 2023 AI profiles are an indication of brittleness within the superstructure of this massive organization. Human connection needs to the integrity of authenticity, and Meta seems to have decided to abandon that cause. Here’s what I’m talking about:

What are these? Why, they’re AI profiles. Unreal people, pretending to be real, for the purpose of interacting with real people. Why? It’s ‘a chance to make its apps more engaging.’ Uh, good for Meta, I guess?

They’ve long since deleted the profiles but the damage is done. ‘Meta says it will continue to push AI generated content on all of its platforms … Instagram users reported that they were not able to block, restrict or report the AI characters that Meta created.’

So, What?

First off, what is social media for? Is social media for the authenticity and integrity of human connection? That’s what it was supposed to be for right? Get us all together in a virtual room and talking – along the way monetize connection by analyzing behavior and offering products, right?

That’s what I thought it was for, anyway. That’s why I’m on social media vs standing on W 11th Ave & Oak Patch with a sandwich board that says ‘I tell stories.’ Connecting with people cannot be faked – that’s why I’m out here doing it very day. I trade on the integrity of my authenticity.

The Facts About Fake

I’d be very upset to learn that the ‘people’ I connect with are fake. Why does Meta think authenticity and integrity of connection can be faked? Why do they think we’re okay with it? The introduction of AI profiles and AI content mean that Meta no longer thinks we’re here to be connected – we’re here to be ‘paid attention to.’ It seems Meta thinks we’re only here for the dopamine hit of ‘attention.’

Um, ‘kay … that’s not what I’m here for. If I’m being honest, that was never the mission to begin with. The purpose of ‘social media’ is TO BE SOCIAL. This is a mechanism of human connection – full stop. Social media fulfills our fundamental need to feel connected, authentic, and accomplished. Social media works on autonomy, competence, and relatedness fuel motivation. We can’t fake that connection – communication without connection is fatal. The best things in life resist automation. Like trust. Like love. Like culture.

I’m saying all this to say, Meta’s premise that AI profiles will ‘increase engagement’ is flawed. Human connection and meaning only happen with humans in the room. To suggest otherwise is an assumption built out of arrogance. If you think interacting with AI characters is ‘just fine,’ strap yourself into a chair to only interact with your created AI profiles forever. Sound like fun? I didn’t think so – why would you do it to someone else? Now let’s talk about Titanic steel.

It Didn’t Bend, It Shattered

Did you know that Titanic was built using brittle steel? I read about it years ago. Titanic might have been built with the best-available steel at the time, but it was very brittle by modern standards. I’m not a metallurgist, but the Journal of Metals in 1997 pointed out that ‘the metal was much more brittle than modern steel but the best available at the time … Impact tests conducted by Felkins show that the steel from the Titanic was about 10 times more brittle than modern steel when tested at freezing temperature — the estimated temperature of the water at the time the Titanic struck the iceberg.’

The sinking of the Titanic was a cascade event – a disaster of several bad ideas going wrong all at once. Ductility of steel was unknown around 1912, “but most engineers … just had a ‘feel’ for avoiding undue stress.” The ability of the steel to fracture instead of bend was one of the reasons 1500 people died in the frigid waters of the Atlantic on April 15, 1912.

Meta and Metal

Like the D. Colville & Company in in Scotland that forged the steel that built the Titanic, Meta is working with assumptions. “We’re only here for ‘attention'” is one assumption. ‘The authenticity and integrity of human connection can be faked through AI,’ is a second assumption. A third assumption is that people will tolerate putting their basic human needs behind a paywall. I suspect there is more brittleness in these assumptions than we know.

Meta AI tinkering with integrity and authenticity – it’s going to be painful for them, but instructive for all of us. If you’re unable to figure out how to create organic connection on your platform, that’s a sign you should be figuring out how to create organic connection on your platform. “If you piss in the soup for long enough, eventually it stops tasing like soup.”

You can’t fake the authenticity and integrity of actual human connection. Meta seems determined to go broke trying to prove you can fake authentic human connection. Okay, good for you, I guess. White Star Lines survived the sinking of Titanic – we’ll see if Meta survives this.

The post Titanic Steel – Meta AI – Authenticity and Integrity appeared first on Inkican.

Sci-Friday #216 – Space Sheriff Shaider – Fun Scifi

Scifi is supposed to be fun, kids – take a look at Space Sheriff Shaider. Chicken Nugget would be one example, but here’s another. This wacky tokusatsu television show ran during the 80s but lives forever in our hearts. Watch the episode below and then we’ll talk more about fun scifi:

As

Space Sheriff Shaider lived on – Action footage from Shaider was used for Season 2 of VR Troopers. As you watch Space Sheriff Shaider (SSS), you’re probably thinking ‘this is *so* weird,’ and you’re absolutely right. SSS *is* weird – by design. Wikipedia tells us that ‘Tokusatsu shows [like SSS] have their origins in early Japanese theater, specifically in kabuki.’ Kabuki theater products are famous for being ‘weird’ or ‘offbeat.’ Tokusatsu shows date back – over a hundred years ago – and helped invent Godzilla and the kaiju genre.

“But, but, it looks so … lame and cheap!” Yes, it does. Think about that for a second and read this Redditor’s explanation: “Just the art of the medium itself. People have said it better than me in this thread already, but just the magic that was born out of limitation to resources that the entire genre has become synonymous for.”

What does that sound like, kids? It sounds like us. We’re also of limited resources, we’re also the people they don’t take seriously. Yet, we love what we do and we’re fighting every day to prove our worthiness. We’ll get there, just like Tokusatsu – we just have to keep going.

I hope you enjoyed this dive into Space Sheriff Shaider and fun scifi. Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great weekend!

 

The post Sci-Friday #216 – Space Sheriff Shaider – Fun Scifi appeared first on Inkican.

Lessons Learned from Smashwords

Welcome to 2025 – let’s take a moment to discuss lessons learned from Smashwords. Drumroll please – final score from Smashwords is ….

353 books! That’s right, I gave away 353 books this month – over double what I gave away last time. Huzzah! Some interesting takeaways from the experience before I move onto the business of writing other stuff. Here’s what they are:

Focus on promotion instead of creation – You’ll notice that I was pretty dry on the blog posts (sorry!) but I made a decision: I can’t be everywhere at once. The Smashwords success had a direct correlation to the amount of times I was posting about it on social media, or looking for meaningful ways to talk about it. Blog posts don’t sell books, it seems.It’s not about the money – So yeah, the giveaway resulted in big giveaway numbers – how much did I actually make? A number so low that I’m embarrassed to share it (but it isn’t zero … so there’s that). It’s gratifying to rise from regret, validate my vision of being a storyteller that made people feel better – even if only for a few minutes.The story about my stories is changing – The feedback is becoming more positive. Instead of ‘how dare you spam us,’ the community is becoming more positive (e.g. “Always looking for new authors, you are now in the backlog. Looking forward to a new voice out there.” and “gratz on 1st writing the book, 2nd on getting it published, 3rd on selling them.“) Awesome that this is happening, it’s important to express gratitude for the wins you get.

So now that we’ve talked about that, let’s discuss what’s next:

New short stories – I’m working on two new shorts, one of them to be converted into an audio book almost immediately and the other is a bit of a professional risk. You’ll understand what I mean when you see it.New year, new focus – I’m still pushing toward the future where good stories help good kids do great things. Everything I do and say here in 2025 is built around that idea. More on that later. Continuing to make new friends on Mastodon and BlueSky – please feel welcomed to say ‘hi!’

That’s the news for now – thank you so much for being a part of this journey – please invite your friends to come along with us.

 

The post Lessons Learned from Smashwords appeared first on Inkican.