Matthew S. Williams's Blog, page 182

Total Recall: The Original

Wow, it seems that I have Mars on the brain today! How else am I to explain the constant deluge of Mars-related news and my insistence on publishing Mars-related posts? Not to mention the fact that a few nights back, my wife and I finally sat down and watched Total Recall together. the original, not the remake. And interestingly enough, the whole reason we watched it, aside from my insistence that it was a classic, was the fact that she expressed some desire to see the new one.

As for myself, I had little interest paying theater prices to  see the remake. But I figure I’ll have to catch on DVD (or download) sooner or later, if only so that I can provide a comparative review. My compromise with on this with el wifey was that she watch the original first, just so she’d know what she was missing when we finally did get around to seeing it

Word around the camp fire is that the remake has made its share of money (it’s purpose from the get-go) but that the critical response has been pretty iffy. In fact, it received a 29% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.com and was generally panned for lacking all the elements that made the original a hit. Of my friends and fellow armchair critics, the consensus seemed to be that it boasted cool action sequences, but lacked originality and depth.

So to be fair, and in preparation for my eventual exposure to the remake, I thought I’d give the original movie an official review. I mean, you have to know what makes an original movie awesome before you say that a remake fails to deliver right? Of course you do! And I apologize in advance for all the terrible puns, but this is an Anry movie dammit! They are to be expected. Okay, here goes. Cue the Arny noises:

“HLALALALALAL!”

Total Recall (1990):

Loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”, the story deals with the subject of false memories, identity, and free will. Although Dick’s original story did not take place on Mars, much of the plot had to do with Mars, Martians, and the fact that the main character was a hero who was in possession of secrets even he didn’t… (ahem) recall. In the end, the movie adaptation was faithful to the spirit of the story, if not the letter, and managed to expand on it greatly.

The film was a box office success, grossing over 250 million dollars and receiving largely positive reviews. In addition to its classic sci-fi themes and motifs, it boasted some very cool and cunning set designs, special effects, and action sequences. Plus, it possessed that rare and awesome Anry quality, where everything had a certain comical, cheesy element to it, even the somewhat gratuitous violence.  but of course, much of this was due to the directorial style of Paul Verhoeven, director of such gory over-the-top cinematic splatter fests as Robocop, Starship Troopers, and Showgirls!

Plot Synopsis:

The story opens on the apartment of a blue collar worker named Douglas Quaid (Arny) who is unhappy with his workaday life. At night, he dreams of being on Mars with a strange woman he doesn’t recognize, and interprets this as a latent desire to move there and become something more than he is.He asks his wife about moving to Mars, which she promptly shoots down given the violence between a mutant resistance faction and the Mars government, which is led by a man named Cohaagen (Ronny Cox).

Eventually, his desire to experience a trip to Mars leads him to seek out a company called Rekal, an organization that specializes in false memories. After hearing the sales pitch, he decides he wants to live out a fantasy where he is a secret agent who is sent to Mars, a scenario which resonates with him for some reason. Unfortunately, things go awry when Quaid begins his “implant procedure”, as it seems that he begins acting out his fantasy even before its been implanted in his mind. Naturally, the company is frightened and decides to dump Quaid in a cab and erase all traces of his visit from their computers.

When he returns home, a work friend finds him and asks about his visit, which he does not (ugh!) recall. The conversation then turns ugly as thugs grab him and his friend pulls a gun, telling him he must die because he “blabbed about Mars”. Quaid has no idea what he’s talking about, but quickly kills him and all the thugs with ease. Running back to his apartment, he tells his wife Lori (Sharon Stone) about what happened, insisting that it’s not a delusion. After washing the blood from his hands, he is shocked to find that another gunman is trying to kill him. This time it’s his wife!

After disarming Lori, he learns the truth. His name is not Douglas Quaid, and he and Lori were never married. His true identity was erased for reasons she does not know and she was to keep an eye on him, posing as his wife. When he realizes she is stalling and men are on the way to get him, he knocks her out and runs. He is pursued by an agent named Richter (Michael Ironside) who is apparently Lori’s boyfriend and works for Cohaagan. He is determined to kill Quaid, something which Cohaagan doesn’t want. He reveals that he is the one who erased Quaid’s memory and dumped him on Earth, and asks that he be returned to him alive.

After escaping, Quaid ends up in a dingy hotel and is contact by a man claiming to be his contact from Mars. He warns him that he has a trace bug in his skull, and tells him how he can muffle the signal. He then leaves Quaid a case with various items, such as money, ID cards, a device for removing the bug in his nose, and holographic device which projects a mirror image of himself. On top of all that, there is a laptop-like device that contains a recording which he made for himself, which begins to explain the situation…

Turns out his real name is Hauser, and that he was working for Cohaagen up until a few months ago. Then, he defected and joined the resistance, a move which prompted Cohaagen to erase his mind and dump him on Earth. The recording tells him to go to Mars and find the resistance, and that his mind contains enough info to ruin Cohaagen forever. Quaid escapes mere seconds before Richter and his men show up, and does as the recording tells him and gets his ass to Mars!

Once there, he has a bit trouble getting through security, as the disguise he brought begins to malfunction. Richter is in the vicinity and realizes it is Quaid, and a firefight begins. Quaid narrowly escapes thanks to a stray shot which shatters the dome, causing decompression. When the emergency doors begins to close, he manages to slide underneath one and make it away.

He then travels to the Hilton Hauser told him to seek out, where he finds a message in a safety deposit box written in his own hand. It tells him to go to a club called “The Last Resort” in the red light district (“Venusville”) and ask for a woman named Melina. A newfound friend named Benny, a cab driver with “five kids to feed”, picks him up in the midst of a resistance attack and explains that this is commonplace. Once in the “Last Resort”, which appears to be a front for the resistance, Quaid meets Melina; who as it turns out, is the woman from his dreams. They have a brief reunion, in which she slaps him and tells him they thought Cohaagen killed him. He replies that he doesn’t remember who he is, to which she replies that he was only ever using her to “get inside” and kicks him out.

Back at his hotel, Quaid receives some strange visitors: Rekall’s President, Dr. Edgemar, and his wife, Lori. He explains to Quaid that he is dreaming his experiences and never left Rekal, which makes some sense since everything that has happened to him is what he specified in his travel package. He offers him a way out by presenting a pill, which he claims is a symbol that will allow him to wake up from his self-sustaining dream. Quaid is about to comply, but notices that Edgemar is sweating and shoots him. Lori then attacks him with the help of some more thugs, and Quaid is beaten to near-unconsciousness.

However, Melina shows up to rescue him, and the two kill the thugs, shoot Lori, and then make a getaway. Once again, Richter shows up and is unable to capture them before they slip away. They run to the Last Resort and escape through a series of underground tunnels which lead to the resistance headquarters. Meanwhile, Richter and his men attack the club, but are told to pull back by Cohaagen. He then shuts down the ventilation shafts, slowly depriving Venusville and the mutant population of air.

In the resistance HQ, Quaid is taken before Kuato, leader of the resistance, who apparently lives within the stomach of one of his lieutenants. He helps Quaid to remember what he saw that made Cohaagen erase him memory, which turns out to be an underground reactor built by aliens millions of years before. He wakes up to discover that Cohaagen’s forces have found them and are coming through the walls. They escape into a airlock, but Benny betrays them and shoots Kuato’s host dead. With his final words, Kuato tells Quaid to start the reactor.

Captured, Quaid and Melina are brought to Cohaagen’s facility where he tells them the last of the story. It turns out Hauser was not a double agent at all, but a loyal member of Cohaagen’s inner circle who volunteered for the memory implant procedure so he could get close to Kuato and lead their forces to his lair. They knew that Hauser would not be able to fool Kuato unless he sincerely believed himself to be a double-agent, hence the implanted memories and feigned cover up. Quaid does not believe it, until Cohaagen shows him another recording where Hauser tells him himself that he’s been played.

Cohaagen orders them both placed in memory-implant chairs where Hauser will be restored and Melina will be turned into a willing supplicant of his. He then leaves with Richter, and Quaid manages to break his bonds and kill the scientists before the procedure can take effect. He pulls Melina out, who also appears unaffected, and they begin to fight their way to the reactor. Benny tries to take them out using a drilling machine, but Quaid manages to disable the machine and kill him with a drill!

Once they reach the reactor assembly, Richter attempts to stop them with a small army. But relying on the holographic device and some kick-ass shooting, Quaid and Melina manage to take them out. Richter tries to escape using the underground lift, but Quaid jumps aboard the and the two fight it out. Quaid manages to overpower Richter and tosses him over the edge. Richter grabs hold of Quaids arms and threatens to take him with him, but he loses his arms when they are crushed against the shaft, and he falls to his death.

Quaid reaches the reactor room where Cohaagen tries to stop him, telling him that the reactor will detonate the planet’s precious minerals. However, Quaid doesn’t believe him, and Melina arrives shortly thereafter to shoot Cohaagen. However, Cohaagen indicates that he has planeted a bomb on the device, which Quaid narrowly manages to toss down a shaft before it goes off. Once it explodes, it breaches the room’s seals, causing decompression and sucking Cohaagen out onto the surface where he dies of asphyxiation. Quaid manages to activate it mere seconds before he and Melina are sucked out as well and begin to suffocate.

The reactor fires up and begins to plunge a series of red hot rods into Mars’ core. This causes the ice core at the heart of the planet to melt and explode in plumes of air to the surface. This air leads to the creation of an atmosphere and a blue sky within seconds, saving Melina and Quaid from asphyxiation and destroying all pressure domes on the surface. The Red Planet has now become a habitable world, which is apparently what the Martian aliens had intended all along.

Quaid and Melina walk up to the nearest hilltop and look out at the sky. Quaid wonders aloud if he is in fact dreaming, to which Melina replies that he had better kiss her before he wakes up. The movie ends with the sunshine becoming a blinding flash of light, leaving viewers to wonder if it was all a dream, or actually happened.

Summary:

To cut straight to the chase, I really liked this movie. I saw it back when I was a surly teen, and appreciated it for what it offered – action, guns, and plenty of creative nudity! Remember that scene in the Last Resort with the three-breasted hooker? Scarcely a boy who grew up in the 80′s doesn’t know about her! But as I got older, I came to see the plot as something rather creative and complicated, which inevitably drew me back to the story again and again over the years.

Of course, the number of twists and explanations might seem a bit contrived, and even I thought so for awhile. But that was before I saw it again recently and actually thought them through. Basically, Hauser was himself when he found the resistance and posed as a defector. But Melina didn’t let him in, thinking his intentions weren’t pure. It was Cohaagen’s attempt to remedy this by staging his capture, circulating rumors of his torture and death, and then planting false memories and dumping him on Earth and setting him up to find his way to Mars and the resistance. It was only in this way that his sincerity could be seen as genuine, and the psychic Kuato wouldn’t be able to detect his true intentions. For all intents and purposes, he was Quaid when he met him, and his desire to learn the truth and help the resistance was genuine.

Sure, the overall twists, turns, and explanations for them all still present some degree of confusion, but that’s part of what’s good about this movie. Even after multiple viewings, audiences still debate whether or not everything was just a dream or real. They cite various tidbits of evidence, like the fact that Dr. Edgemar was sweating, that the story was exactly what Quaid asked for, that this coincidence was due to the fact that Quaid was looking to reclaim the life he lost, or that he had dreams of Melina before he went to Rekal. It all makes for a cool debate.

The plot also managed to make some rather cool commentary on the nature of identity, memory, false consciousness and free will. If it were possible to implant memories in a human being, then would they really cease to be who they were and become someone else? Would this be a possible remedy to the problems of criminal behavior and psychosis? Kuato offers a resolution to all this when he says to Quaid, “a man is defined by his actions, not his memories.” This is then thrown for a loop when Quaid discovers that his true and original self was an agent of Cohaagen’s, but he responds to this by embracing his new identity and fighting to free Mars.

And of course, the special effects and sets were all very well done. Sure, there are plenty of people who would say that they looked cheesy, especially the animatronic heads that were used for the asphyxiation, robotic head, and bug-removing scenes, but they were pretty state of the art for the time. The mutants were also very well done, molded plastic imitating the effects of radiation quite well. And the animatronic limb that Benny showed and Kuato’s body-within-a-body was also pretty convincing! And this was done without the benefit of any CGI.

What’s more, it was original, which is a claim the remake can’t possibly make. though I have yet to see the movie, one thing that I hear from just about everyone is how the sets and effects seemed very much borrowed. The robot forces look like Storm Troopers and droids, the flying cars look like something out of Minority Report, and the cityscape seemed ripped from Blade Runner. In the case of the original, there was a latent cyberpunk 80′s feel to much of it, but nothing had been copied or borrowed, much as I can tell.

It was also well cast and ably acted. Cox and Ironside brought their usual awesomeness to their villain characters, Stone was convincing as the assassin/seductress, and the supporting cast was pretty solid. And let’s not forget, it was an Arny movie, which meant that it was automatically fun, cheesy, and full of hilarious one liners and his signatures “Hlalalalalalal!” And seriously, some of the lines he said: “Consider that a divorce”, “You blew my covah!”, and “See ya at the party, Richter!”. They rank right up there with “Get to tha choppa!”

The only real weaknesses were the many cheesy scientific implausibilities. For one, the scene where he removes the bug from his nose was impossible, as it would have broken his nose. Second, there’s no way anyone could create an atmosphere on Mars by simply evaporating water. Sure, it might be a good step in the right direction, but there’s no guarantee it would work, and it would take centuries, not mere seconds. Last, if you were already asphyxiating due to exposure to near-vacuum, you wouldn’t be instantly saved once breathable oxygen started pouring out. But of course, all of this could be dismissed by saying that it was all a dream. Or it can be simply written off as part of the cheese factor.

Overall, I’d say this movie deserves to be placed in the sci-fi classics section, between guilty pleasure movies and the films that actually have something to say and will make you think a little. If you haven’t seen it, then do so! And if you’re planning on seeing the remake, or already have, then get your ass to the video store and ask for Total Recall! And until next time, here’s a three-breasted hooker to keep you company! See ya at the party! Halalalalalalal!

Update on Curiosity

More news from Mars! It seems that after a full month of being on Mars, running routine checks on its equipment and snapping some breathtaking photos, Curiosity is ready to begin the first leg of its study mission. This consisted of finding a Martian rock, the first sample in Curiosity’s extensive contact surveys.

And, after a week of searching, the NASA team piloting the rover found a pyramid shaped rock that they feel will be perfect for their surface analysis. The rock is described as a pyramid-shaped hunk, likely composed of basalt, which they nicknamed “Jake Matijevic” after one of the rover engineers who died back in August.

The sample was located just three meters from Curiosity’s landing zone, now known as the “Bradbury Landing” in honor of the late, great Ray Bradbury, author of the Martian Chronicles. On Saturday, it will extend its arm, take possession of the rock, and begin chemical analysis to determine the rock’s primary mineral and precise composition.

Another important aspect of Curiosity’s mission began this week, as the rover set it’s camera eyes to the skies and captured photos of Phobos making a Solar transit. To be fair, this was not the first time a Martian eclipse was captured on camera. In fact, the Opportunity and Spirit rovers both snapped similar images back in December of 2010 and 2005. However, the images taken by Curiosity were of such high resolution that experts will be able to estimate the consistency of the interior of Mars itself for the first time.

Apparently, this is done by measuring the tidal forces these moons exert on Mars, examining how the planet changes shape ever so slightly as a the moons orbit about it. By measuring this “deformation bulge”, along  with the precise spatial orientation provided by Curiosity’s photos, experts at NASA and abroad will be able to conjecture what the core of Mars is made of based on how much the planet deforms. I always wondered how scientists were able to guess what lay at a planet’s core. Now I know, go figure!

Stay tuned for more news from the Curiosity and the Red Planet!

Source: Popular Mechanics

Curiosity Captures Martian Eclipse

Yes, it seems that Mars has eclipses too. And thanks to the presence of Curiosity and other rovers, we here on Earth are now in a prime position to watch them. As part of its mission to Mars, Curiosity recently turned its cameras to the Martian sky to photograph the Martian sunset, the panoramic landscape, and even managed to capture these photos of Phobos (one of Mars’ two moons) passing in front of the sun. Teams at NASA captured all the photos and compiled a video of the footage, which shows Phobos just hovering at the edge of the sun.

This is just the first step in Curiosity’s planned mission to study Mars’ two satellites – Phobos and Deimos – in greater depth. More in this in a coming post, so stay tuned for that and other news from the Red Planet. Go Curiosity!

Source: Universe Today.com, Space.com

Whiskey Delta – Chapter 18

“The bastards burst through my door and tried to tear into me. And I used this very gun to blow the c—suckers heads off! Not one showed up since…”

-Commemorative Plaque, Legion Bar

“One, two, three!” The glasses went up and the countdown began. So did the cheers, the incessant “drink! drink! drink!” from everyone at the table who wasn’t currently slamming a pint down their throat. Within seconds, Kobayashi came up victorious. The others, which at this point included Whitman and Cobb, took a few more seconds to finish or conceded, coughing up their remnants.

“Man! Every time!”

“Relax, Billy. He’s got a bit of an advantage,” said Mill.

“Hey!” Whitman protested. “Nobody’s got shit on me, I’m a fucking Whiskey Tango! Like y’all jeep saying!”

Dezba groaned and looked at the table. “Set em up again?”

Cobb pushed his glass away and waved his hands. After the last four, he’d had his fill, at least of what they’d been drinking at this point. Dezba had lost track after the last round of whiskey sours. Seemed a bit girly, but it had been Saunder’s turn to order. She insisted they’d thank her tomorrow for the injection of Vitamin C.

“Guess it’s just us,” Dezba said, indicating Kobayashi and Whitman. He waved to the server.

“I… think I’m good,” said the big man.

“Oh yeah, what about you, trailer park?”

Whitman took a deep breath and checked his pulse. “What the hell, I’m still good.”

“Alright, what the boy lacks in speed, he makes up for in longevity,” Saunders said, drawing every eye at the table towards her. ‘That didn’t come out right.”

“That’s what she said!” Cobb interjected. Everyone howled, saved Dezba.

“Jesus, shut up and let’s get some more drinks!”

The server arrived and Dezba placed an order for two more pints, shouting to be heard over the general din. She strained to hear but nodded eventually. Dezba took a look around and shook his head.

“Fucking plebes got no respect for grunts. You’d think they’d keep things down a bit. HEY, PEOPLE! SHUT UP ALREADY!”

Mill reached out and put his hand on Dezba’s shoulder. “Sarge, take er easy. We got no beef with these folks.”

“Fuckers take us from granted. Nobody thanked us, nobody got us pints. What the hell do they think, all this peace and safety is free?”

“Hell no, Sarge. Everybody knows what its costs to stay safe around here.”

“Not in my book. These folks are fat and lazy and just as soon forget about all of us.”

“Oh, yeah?” Mill said, firmly and pointed to the bar. “Then what’s that then?”

Dezba obliged and saw the ceremonial M9 hanging above it. Ol’ Grizzly had had it decorated and mounted with his old medals, five bullets sitting below, indicated the five Whiskeys he had killed with it. Dezba sighed and stowed the righteous mad he had been working on. Suddenly, the local folks didn’t seem so despicable. At the very least, he wasn’t about to disrespect anyone in Grizzly’s domain. The man was an old bear, and you never poked an old bear.

Groaning, Dezba got to his feet. “I gotta go drain the gizzard. Don’t nobody touch my drink while I’m gone.”

He left the grunts manning the table and headed to the mens room. Just about everyone got out of his way. Fear wasn’t the same as respect, but it’d do in a pinch. He had stoked himself up enough already, he didn’t need anybody stepping up and making things worse.

He was hit by the terrible smell of antiseptics and piss as soon as the door swung open. Sidling up to the urinal, he ripped his pants open and let er rip! Relief quickly followed, and a minor improvement in his mood. He knew he was just delaying the inevitable. He knew ever since they had been told by the Doc. Pounding drinks was just a way to numb it. Picking a fight was just a way to delay it.

He gave it a shake and took a deep breath. There was no more waiting to be had. It had to be done now, before they shipped out. Before anyone could find them…

Shoving the door open again, he head back to the table and caught sight of the grunts. They all looked the slightest bit wary as he made his approach over. A tall, cold glass of amber-colored lager was waiting for him. Whitman had already made a dent in his.

“Sarge, man! You gonna catch up or let this little redneck beat you?”

He eyed the pint. The cold emanations seemed to calm him, however temporary the effect might prove to be. He took the glass in hand and slammed it hard. When he opened his eyes, twelve eyes were staring at him through tempered glass. He slammed it down and quietly belched.

“I’m gonna go, I got something to take care of.”

“Whoa, Sarge!” said Mill, standing up beside him. “You okay to get home? Shuttle doesn’t take people off-base.”

“I know, bud. I’ll cab it. I just need to get home.” Mill nodded and sat down. He looked to the rest of the grunts. “I’ll see you bunch of miscreants at the base in two days. Now excuse me while I’ll sleep this off.”

“Goodnight, Sergeant!” they called, one after the other. More people moved out of his way as he headed for the door. It swung open into night, a cool gust of air hit his face.

*                    *                    *

The coup erupted in a burst as noise as soon as he stepped through the gate. Unused to nocturnal disturbances, their instincts must have been telling them this wasn’t going to go well. They were right. On an ordinary day, their eggs might have sufficed; but tonight was a special night.

Reaching into the coup, he struggled to get a hold of two unlucky necks. Not an easy job in his current state, but snapping their necks wasn’t any harder than usual. He slung the bodies over his shoulder as soon as they stopped flapping and marched into the house.

The back door took him into the kitchen, dropping the chickens on the table. A quick trip through the living room gave him access to the liquor cabinet, where he grabbed a bottle of ten year old whiskey. Seemed somehow appropriate. He put both sets of items down on the kitchen table and headed for the bedroom, looking for the final item for his manifest. Amanda hated that he kept it there, but he always said she slept better knowing that her man was armed.

The bullets lay beside the weapon. He picked up both and slapped the magazine in. SLiding it into his pocket, he head back to the kitchen and fetched the chickens and whiskey bottle. They were still warm to the touch, their hot blood still in an uncongealed state. That was important, so they were told…

“Ah, fuck me!” He eyed the lock on the basement door. His hands were full and he refused to put everything down again and turn on the lights and fiddle with the damn thing. He doubted he would even be able to find the key in his current state. Luckily, all the hootch in his system inspired another, simpler idea. Pitting only the whiskey down, he pulled the gun from his pocket and aimed at the lock. A few labored blows in slow succession managed to wrench the mechanism from the door’s frame and sent it clattering to the ground.Not the most elegant solution, but he doubted anyone in the area would hear.

He kicked the door open and began to descend…

Each footstep was a thunderclap. Heavy and drunken footfalls echoing trough his body. He could hear other sounds building too, the rising noise of gnashing and clawing. He drew in a deep breath, resisting the terrible stink as best he could.  The noise grew louder the closer he came to the landing, and the motions began to appear in a small sliver of moonlight. By the time he hit bottom, he could make out more than he wanted to.

“Hello honey… hello baby…”

The gnawing was practically deafening, their voice filling the tiny, soundproof space. Gorey locks flashed in the light, the sight of white globes. Ordinarily, he would have recoiled. Not now. A strange calm was coming over him. The sight of them like this no longer seemed to bother him.

No fear, no lament.

He felt nothing.

Numb.

“Brought you both a snack.” He flung the chickens by their necks onto the floor. He flicked the top of the bottle off with his thumb and began taking a long haul. “Though you might appreciate a full meal.”

One set of terrible noises replaced the other. The din of them scraping against the floor and their restraints turned to the gnawing of flesh and snapping of bones. He let them devour, and sat down on the last step above the landing. He took another swig and watched them. The moonlight captured their little Iina, her own eyes caught in its glow. She paid him no heed, her attention focused entirely on her meal. Amanda was the same, any capacity to acknowledge him also gone.

They were reaching the end of their repast. He took a final swig and pushed himself to his feet. As expected, they went back to fighting their restraints once the last bite was down. Their hands and feet made a gory mess of the remains on the floor.

“Still hungry, huh?” he said, chuckling. He took one final swig. He could feel something hot and moist forming on his face. He finished the last of it and tossed the bottle aside, shattering it in the corner. He removed the pistol from his pocket.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said, cocking it. “I couldn’t keep my promise. You’re going to a better place… both of you.”

The growled one last time. He made a note of their exact locations and closed his eyes.

The gun sounded twice, and then the noise was gone…

How to Hack a Drone

What is the best way to test your security systems when you work in computers and/or software? Simple, ask the experts to hack it for you! That’s what IT firms have been doing for years now, and recently, the Department of Homeland Security decided to adopt the same tactic. Using a team from the University of Texas at Austin, the DHS asked them to test security on one of their infamous drones.

The team, led by professor Todd Humphreys, was offered $1,000 if they could successfully hack into a drone and order it to fly off course. Using this money, they invested in some simple off-the-shelf electronics and got to work. In the end, they were successful and were able to “spoof” the GPS on the Drone and send it into a dive, forcing it to level out shortly before crashing.

Naturally, this raised some obvious concerns. If a few specialists with $1,000 worth of equipment could hack the navigation system of a security drone, then foreign armies could do the same to military drones could likely do it with ease. What’s more, earlier this year, Congress ordered the FAA to draft laws and regulations for the commercial and government use of the drones in American airspace.

Airmail is another option, where companies like FedEx would use drones to deliver parcels all across the country. And of course, domestic surveillance drones are something that are being widely adapted for use. With this mind, Humphreys and the DHS are wondering how hard it might be to turn a domestic UAV into a terrorist weapon, much as US planes were on 9/11.

Scary stuff! But then again, this is why these exercises are conducted. By paying others to find the holes, its that much easier to patch them and ensure no one else ever can. As such, I think we all sleep a little safer knowing that drones are just spying on us, and not trying to kill us… yet!

Zombie Apocalypse Training Underway!

Back in June, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that, in spite of the rash of cannibalistic attacks, there was no zombie apocalypse on the way. This was a slight change-up from their periodic “zombie warnings”, which were really just a bunch of disaster preparedness stunts. But given the recent upsurge in biting and flesh eating, it seems that some people are beginning to treat this as a serious problem.

One such organization is the HALO corp, a security firm which is based in San Diego, California. The first round of training will involve a disaster-crisis scenario at the company’s annual Counter-Terrorism Summit in San Diego. The five-day event will provide hands-on training, demonstrations, lectures and classes geared to more than 1,000 military personnel, law enforcement officials, medical experts, and state and federal government workers.

Granted, the entire scenario is cheesy as hell, but it’s actually considered a pretty good basis for conducting worldwide pandemic scenarios. That’s always been the CDC’s excuse, and even Homeland Security announced earlier this month “The zombies are coming!” Here too, the announcement was part of a public health campaign to encourage better preparation for genuine disasters and emergencies. As the theory goes, if you’re prepared for a zombie attack, the same preparations will help during a hurricane, pandemic, earthquake or terrorist attack.

So… what is to be made of all this? Is this a clever way to teach citizens and government personnel how to be prepared? Or it is a sign that a far greater apocalypse is upon us, one where people take fictional apocalypses more seriously than actual disasters? Hard to say, but if its possible to actually channel weird hype and paranoia into something productive, what the hell, right? And honestly, sounds like it could be fun!

External Links: Military Times, Huffington Post

Hello Hyperbike!

Thanks to Popular Mechanics for turning me onto this recent invention! Back in 2007, an inventive engineer named Curtis DeForest created a contraptio nas a safe and effective alternative to the traditional bike. He called it the Hyperbike, and one look at the contraption will tell you why! Featuring three wheels, the vehicle is a full-body machine that utilizes hand and foot motions to generate speed. Since it does not require forward momentum to stand up, a rider is incapable of falling off, and can reach speeds of up to 50 mph.

DeForest also designed the prototype so that the rider’s center of gravity is below the spinning axis of the wheels – as opposed to above it, like in most bikes. This difference, along with its additional front wheel, increases stability, and also caught the attention of NASA. Impressed with its design and its possibility for use in low-gravity environments, the space agency invested in a new prototype. However, no updates have been made available on the progress of this development, and rumor has it NASA has moved on.

Too bad too! Tell me something like this wouldn’t be useful in a number of different environments. And I’m sure there’s plenty of military applications for something like this. Maybe add a gasoline engine, 800 hp, some missiles and some jump jets. Make a lovely Hyperbike, that would!

 

GOT Theme On Eight Floppy Drives

Just came across this recently. I know, it’s kind of old news at this point, but any fan of Game Of Thrones, or anyone who remembers using a computer with a floppy drive, cannot afford to miss out on this!

100,000 Hits! Best-Milestone-EVER!

Wow. I’d like to thank my family, my wife, my cat Jasper, all my lovely friends, and of course, all the people who’ve helped to make this possible. Those would be the people who have chosen to follow my blog and even just come by to read what I’ve had to say over the past few years. Lord knows you’ve had plenty of choices in how to spend your internet time – which as we all know, costs way too much – and I’m pleased that you’ve chosen to spend some of it on me.

Over the next few weeks, I hope you stick around to see what else I’ve got on store. There’s plenty more Whiskey Delta on the way, plus a series of posts dealing with advances in technology – not to many though, I feel like I’ve been on a real nanotech and singularity bender lately! – and some (hopefully) big news regarding a certain novel named Data Miners. Possibly some anthology news too…

Thanks again, y’all. As far as milestones go, this is the biggest one I’ve experienced yet. Couldn’t have done it without you, so please feel free to stick around as I continue to unwind my pedigree. And if you yourself are an aspiring writer or are just fascinated with expressing your thoughts, let me know where I can share with them with you. Take care and see you real soon!

Whiskey Delta – Chapter 17

“Strain shows extreme resistance to all forms of anti-viral medication. All previous attempts at invasive treatment have failed. All attempts to kill the virus through subjecting the subject to extremes of heat, cold, and transfusion have failed. At the present time, no means exist to combat the virus without killing the subject in question. Recommend terminating all attempts to find an anti-virus, refocusing efforts on inoculation. Early tests indicate that anti-bodies show promise.”

-Cooper Ross, M.D., B.Sc. Microscopic Analysis

An annoying sense of deja vu struck Dezba as they made their way into the hangar bay. Once more, chairs were arranged for them, and the brass was nowhere to be seen. No doubt they wanted to make a big entrance again, maybe show them some more last-minute additions to their arsenals. Or perhaps they were just looking for a suspenseful way of revealing something they already knew.

They had reached the end of their training stint, now all that was left was to hear where they were being shipped off to. No more details were expected beyond that, just the destination. But the LT did say to expect a few surprises…

“God… who else is sore as fuck?” asked Mill.

Just about everyone grunted their agreement as they limped their way in. Saunders wouldn’t admit to it, but Braun could tell she was hurting too. Her mouth had written some pretty big checks prior to them getting to the Skyhooks out, checks her body was having a hard time cashing. But he couldn’t judge. A half dozen successful ground to air pickups had left him severely sore and wondering just how the hell special ops types did this sort of thing.

“C’mon squad, one more briefing and done with this insane regiment.” Dezba motioned to the chairs that were arranged before them. No one seemed to want to take on. “Squad, c’mon! What the hell’s the matter?”

Cobb raised his hand. Dezba nodded to him.

“I think I speak for everyone sir when I say that my legs don’t want to bend.”

People moaned and Dezba grumbled. He looked to Whitman, his usual whipping boy for incidents like this.

“Private, you wanna show these people how to execute a basic sitting maneuver?”

“I’m afraid to, sir. My balls just descended and I don’t wanna crush them.”

Dezba slapped Whitman on the arm and took the nearest seat. The effort nearly killed him, but as soon as he shifted his weight to the folding chair, he was sitting happily. Now all he had to do was get up again later.

“There, not so hard. Now fall in beside me. I don’t want the LT thinking he’s raised a bunch of pussies!”

It took longer than he would have hoped, but by the time the LT came walking in, next to the Colonel, they were all poised and ready to be briefed to. The former took a spot to their right, letting the Colonel grab center stage before them.

“Good morning, squad. Did everyone get a good night’s rest?” The squad issued a solid “yes, ma’am.” She nodded. “Good. Because I don’t imagine you’ll be getting any rest in the next few days. Today’s the day… you’re training is complete. And as such, we’ve decided to issue you grunts a three day pass before we finally ship out.”

There was a pause as everyone in the squad looked to one other, trying to confirm that others had heard it as well. As soon as they were sure, they shared a short shout of approval, and then quickly shut up. They didn’t want to interrupt the flow of good news.

“But before that can happen, there’s the little matter of the mission you signed on for. You’ve trained hard, and now it’s time to know why. No doubt you’ve tried to figure that out for yourself…” she paused for a second and let her eyes dart around the room. To the squad, it was unclear if this was in jest, or out of genuine suspicion. “Still, I can imagine you had a hell of a time guessing what it could be. Well… to put it simply, you folks are headed into one of the hottest theaters of action since the First Wave struck.”

She let that resonate with them for a bit. Slowly, it dawned on everyone where she meant. Naturally, it was only a matter of time before someone had to ask. Kobayahsi was the one who proved bravest and raised his hand.

“Ma’am? You mean we’re heading into…”

“Downtown LA, yes. The heart of the First Wave and ground zero for every attempt by our government to push the infection back from whence it came.”

A hush fell over the hangar, intermittently broken by low gasps and a whistle of surprise. Dezba looked over to the LT and noted the complete lack of reaction on his face. If anything, he looked relieved and kind of smug. He felt a slight surge of anger as the LT noticed him staring and their eyes met.

How long did you know? his glare said.

The entire time, LT’s passive expression replied.

Dezba redirected his baleful eyes at the floor. A moment longer and the LT would probably have cried mutiny on him. Worst of all, he knew they still had one more info session before they hit the target area, which he now knew was going not only going to be hot, but fucking smouldering! All the equipment they were bringing the lengths they were going to keep this mission neat and tidy made perfect sense now.

Whitman was next to raise his hand. Apparently, they had entered into question period now.

“Ma’am, I heard that the major cities were supposed to have cooled down since the First Wave.”

The Colonel nodded and hummed approvingly. “A common rumor, Private. Many of our top analysts predicted that the Whiskeys wouldn’t last long once they took over a densely populated area like an urban center. However, every bit of intel we have says that LA, much like DC, Houston, Dallas and even New York remain highly congested. We can only assume that they have made do with lesser food sources, or have greater longevity than we previously thought.”

Shit, Dezba thought, and saw similar appraisals on the faces of the others. Suddenly, a Stryker and a FFW suit didn’t seem like enough protection. As the saying went, “Get enough Whiskeys together, and soon they’ll find their way through a brick wall.” That applied to reinforced steel and armored joints, so long as there were seems to be found.

“One last thing,” the Colonel said. “The General insisted that we declassify a few things for this mission. It was his hope that a specialist could go along, however, said specialist has proven somewhat intransigent and refused to release any members of his staff to go along. However, he agreed to provide a full report to all of you, which we will make available on your tablets. I expect you to assimilate the info while on leave, so be sure to listen. It might prove informative.”

Dezba bristled. Something about that description, it put him in mind of someone he had met not too long ago. Few people could inspire that kind of reaction in a person…

“May I present Doctor Cooper Ross, our resident Whiskey specialist.”

“Shit,” he muttered. The LT shot him an angry glance. Dezba only shrugged in reply. How else was he to express his displeasure at the ensuing presence of that little man? Word around the camp fire was the Mage had stuck him in a cage for a little “motivational therapy”. From the sound of things, it hadn’t corrected his attitude any.

A passing look at him told him the same. Entering with the all the haughtiness of the upper-class twit of the year, Doctor Ross took center stage in front of them and sighed. He cast a look around of his own, and didn’t look too impressed.

“Good morning, everyone. I have been asked to brief you on this… mission of yours. For reasons you are not yet entitled to know, the biology of Whiskeys will play a crucial role in the upcoming mission. Hence I am here to familiarize you with the more intimate aspects of there make-up.”

No one failed to notice the special emphasis on the word I.

“What you are about to see is highly sensitive information, the result of tireless work by myself and my staff over the past few months.”

Was that a note of bitterness in his voice? There was a sudden sound of squeaky wheels coming from behind. The squad strained to turn and look, every muscle in their upper bodies straining from the exertion. However, they were able to get far enough around to see that some of the Doc’s lab geeks were pushing a cart with a display module into position. In front of them, two hangar grunts were similarly pushing a white board into place. For a moment, the hangar was filled with the terrible noise of ungreased wheels.

The lights dimmed a second later and the image of a grainy, black and white picture appeared on the board. In the center, a strange cluster of malicious-looking shapes seemed to be moving about in a sea of flotsam. It might have been his imagination, but the shapes looked inherently hostile, which he knew had to be the point.

“This is an image of the virus known as ambulans mortuus, the thing that turns an average human being into the walking horror shore you all refer to as Whiskey Deltas.”

He twirled his finger, and the geeks changed to another video. This time, it was two frames, poised side by side. On the left, a video of a cellular cluster could be seen with more of the same violent cells amongst them. On the right, there was a color video of a patient lying on a table. Both appeared to be time-lapse footage, since time indicators were busily ticking away in both frames.

“This is was prepared by the CDC and dispatched to all medical labs in the country. The time-lapse shows the progression of the virus on both the cellular and external level.” He paused and let the recording speak for itself. On the left side, the image panned out to show the expansion of the hostile cell cluster as it overtook larger and larger sections of tissue. On the right, the person on the table began to turn pale, began to grow sickly, and very soon, turned into the very thing they had seen in combat and their nightmares all too often.

The image on the left went dead as the patient came back to life, if it could be called that. They grew violent and began to struggle against their restraints, their eyes opening to reveal the milky globes.

Dezba put his hand to his mouth and drew a deep breath. It was one thing to see the end result, but the transition… He knew that better than most, and didn’t need to see it again. He snapped out of his reverie when he heard the sound of a gunshot. When he looked back, the patient was dead, their skull broken open by a small, circular wound.

“Jesus Christ…” said Saunders. “They killed that man.”

“They had to,” replied Ross. “The entire point of the study was to examine the progression of the virus, and they were well aware of the outcome. They also knew a terrible secret that… certain parties are trying to keep under wraps.”

He made a chopping motion and the image disappeared.The lights came up, the presentation over. Dezba wiped a small slick of sweat from his forehead and looked around to make sure no one was looking directly at him.

“What secret is that?” asked Cobb.

“That the virus is incurable,” he said unrepentantly. “The CDC determined rather quickly that traditional anti-virals, invasive treatments and blood swapping did nothing to deter the progression of the virus. Treatment, perhaps, but there’s no way to bring a patient back once they’ve returned. Nothing, short of killing the patient by either subjecting them to extremes of heat and cold could stop it entirely. And since the virus leads to the creation of necrotic cell cultures, any damage caused by its spread would be irreparable. Any fool knows that, so whatever talk you’ve heard about potential cures is complete idiocy!”

That caught Dezba’s attention. His tone was already putting the others in a bad mood, but Dezba felt something entirely different. Inside, something we lifting, and something else was dying…

“Why are you telling us this, Doc?” asked Mill.

“Because…” he said with a sly smile. “It’s important that you know the truth, and because there’s something else which we are just starting to realize. The virus seems to be having a new round of effects on its subjects…” He let the words hang to draw things out before making his final revelation. “ In its first stage, it causes the death of the infected. In its second, it restores life and brain activity, but only to the extent that primitive and base urges are unleashed and enhanced. Now, it would seem, there is a third and final stage…” Another pause. “Where brain activity once again begins to increase, leading to the resurgence of abstract reasoning and basic logic. In short, they’re getting smarter, and more dangerous.”

Dezba would have muttered”shit” again, but his mind had already settled on the previous revelation. It was up to the others to express their indignation at the news, having finally heard that the worst was true.

Finally, the LT took to the floor and ushered the Doc out of the way. Ross retired to the corner, where he began eyeing the LT rather angrily. This too, Dezba failed to notice, lost in his own headspace.

“As the Colonel said, we’ve been given a three day pass before we finally ship out. I recommend everyone use that time effectively. See whatever family you have in town, tilt a glass, sit on your porch. Just remember, we’re still under strict orders to remain silent on the particulars of this mission.”

Dezba felt a lump forming in his throat. Everything after “family” went right by him. He didn’t even noticed when the LT appeared to be wrapping things up.

“Sergeant?” he said, finally. Dezba looked up with a start and cleared his throat.

“On your feet, squad.” They obliged quickly, surprisingly. They snapped their feet together and issued a tight salute. The Colonel and LT returned it and dismissed them. They filed out with the Doc, and all their equipment in tow. Alone, the squad broke and started working their way to the exit. Very quickly, the news of leave began to overtake them again and several began to hoot cheerfully.

“Alright, what do we do first?”

“I say drinks tonight, followed by all that shit the Lieutenant was talking about!”

That seemed to be meet with general approval, cutting across the old divide. Most things did ever since they pulled off exfiltration maneuvers. Nothing like putting people together like shared pain!

“Hey, Sarge? You in or no?”

Dezba looked at Mill, then at his feet. It took hi, some time to get around to nodding his assent.

“Sure, why not? I could use a drink… or several.”