Toi Thomas's Blog, page 75

Wormfest 2014! – Cloud Atlas Quote

2014 National Wormhole Week and Blog Hop! 3/10-16/2014

Click to learn more.

This blog hop and blog tour are brought to you by: Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and Stephen Tremp- the author of Escalation.

For 2014, the theme is to name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning. With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?

Feel free to reference movies and books too. These provide no shortage if inspiration. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires. I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have.

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Each day this week I’ll be sharing quotes from sci-fi movies or books along with my thoughts on how far technologies still needs to go and where I think it will go too far.

from Goodreads

Check my side panel daily to see the quotes added each day. Today I’m focusing on the technology that’s in our food.

The book I’ve picked for today is Cloud Atlas (similar to the movie, but better). This is not a straight-up sci-fi read, but it does have major sci-fi elements and themes.

From the book, Cloud Atlas I give you…

“This isn’t an interrogation or a trail. Your version of the truth is the only thing that matters.

Truth is singular. It’s ‘versions’ are mistruths.”~can’t recall the characters names

― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas ~ (from Goodreads)

I don’t know if you’ve seen this movie or read the book, but it is worth experiencing at least once (of course the book is much better). I’m going to throw in a spoiler here so look away if you don’t want to know.

In this metaphysical tail of alternate realities, reincarnation, the consequences of the past, and warnings for the future- in a dystopian high-tech future it is dramatically revealed that the major source of protein comes from recycled cloned humanoid beings which serve as living machinery, free labor, and any other horrible thing you can think to use a “soulless” person for.

As shocking as this was to read and then see in the movie (which was lightened significantly) I could totally see something crazy like this happening. Have any of you ever heard of pink slime? We’re not that far from this already, but maybe I’m over reacting. How far is too far to go when it comes to feeding the masses at a reasonable cost? The truth is out there, but do people want to hear it or do they not think it’s a big deal?

This also brings up the timeless debate about preservatives and food additives. I enjoy eating all natural food whenever I can, but sometimes it’s nice to have those food advancements that keep my milk from spoiling after three days or my peanut butter from turning into lumpy oil. This is another topic to which I mostly agree with one over the other, but I’m not completely sold out to one just yet.

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If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the other ideas and theories about where technology is heading and going wrong.

Powered by Linky Tools Click here to follow this hop or enter your link to join in.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: BlogHop-Promo Tagged: advancements, Alex J. Cavanaugh, author, blog hop, books, cloning, Cloud Atlas, Escalation, food additives, goodreads, L. Diane Wolfe, movies, National Wormhole Week, preservatives, promotion, quotes, sci-fi, science, Stephen Tremp, technology, Toi Thomas, Wormfest

Tea and Conversation 09: Nook

Today I’m sharing a picture of a “keep calm” print.

Please do not copy this image. Click image to share on Pinterest.

Today in my meditation on the Eternal Curse, I’m writing about: Why a nook?

First I must make it clear that I am not speaking of the e-reader associated with .epub files and Barnes and Noble. When I speak of nook I’m speaking of a small room or corner of a room usually set aside for more familiar and intimate gatherings. In Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel, the nook in the kitchen is the place where family and friend time occurs.

I moved around a lot as a kid, but I didn’t exactly have the nomadic lifestyle of many military families. My parents were simply always engaged in finding better opportunities for them and their children. In the places we lived in for more than two or three years, the places that really felt like home, there was always a little nook and round table to gather around.

To me the nook is the place where the ones you care about the most get to spend the precious moments of their lives with you. When strangers or less intimate acquaintances come around for a visit or meal, you would entertain them in your formal dining area or your living room.

There are so many aspects of me and my life sprinkled throughout this work of fantasy that anyone who knows me would be able to figure out that I wrote this book, even if my name wasn’t on the cover.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: EC: Giovanni's Angel, Tea & Conversation Tagged: conversation, Eternal Curse, family, fiction, friends, nook, stories, tea, writing

I’m sharing today @shewritesdotcom !

The lovely Zetta Brown of Reality Check invited me to share over at SheWrites today, and after I regained consciousness, I had this to offer:

Does redundancy work in social media?

Please go check it out and leave comments. You’ll be glad you did.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Author Insights Tagged: Reality Check, SheWrites, social media marketing, Toi Thomas, try this, Zetta Brown

Wormfest 2014! – Frankenstein Quote

2014 National Wormhole Week and Blog Hop! 3/10-16/2014

Click to learn more.

This blog hop and blog tour are brought to you by: Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and Stephen Tremp- the author of Escalation.

For 2014, the theme is to name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning. With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?

Feel free to reference movies and books too. These provide no shortage if inspiration. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires. I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have.

****

Each day this week I’ll be sharing quotes from sci-fi movies or books along with my thoughts on how far technologies still needs to go and where I think it will go too far.

from Goodreads

Check my side panel daily to see the quotes added each day. Today I’m focusing on what happens when people play god.

The book I’ve picked for today is a true sci-fi classic. Frankenstein: The modern Prometheus was the beginning- the book that officially gave this genre its name.

From the book, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley I give you…

“I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.” ~ Frankenstein’s monster (from Goodreads)

So the questions at hand here are, if you could raise the dead should you; if you could create life would it be pure and natural; if you could harness the power of creation would you willingly take on the full responsibility of what you’ve created.

There is no much to consider here that I don’t feel I can begin to break it all down. If you have never read the original story, please do. It’s probably not what you think it is.

One last question; would it be right or good to actually cheat death and live forever?

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If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the other ideas and theories about where technology is heading and going wrong.

Powered by Linky Tools Click here to follow this hop or enter your link to join in.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: BlogHop-Promo Tagged: advancements, Alex J. Cavanaugh, author, blog hop, books, cloning, creation, Escalation, Frankenstein, goodreads, L. Diane Wolfe, movies, National Wormhole Week, promotion, quotes, Reanimation, sci-fi, science, Stephen Tremp, technology, Toi Thomas, Wormfest

WWW Wednesday 3/12/14

WWW WEDNESDAYS… is a weekly meme hosted by Miz B of “Should Be Reading”, where you share: (1)What you’re currently reading, (2)What you recently finished reading, and (3)What you think you’ll read next.

As I am only contributing to this meme on a monthly basis, while comments and shares are welcomed here, be sure to visit Should Be Reading each week to see who’s reading what.

1. What am I currently reading?

I’m naturally a busy personal, but things have gotten out of control. In any case, I’ve slowly rolling through my TBR list while also beta reading and reading for reviewing…Oh, and I do try to squeeze in some writing when I can. Here’s what I’m currently working on.

   

Life is Difficult…image from maryrpagano.com

2. What did I recently finish reading?

It took me a while to setting onto Seraphina, but only because I had such a hard time finding time to read it. I breezed through Legend afterward, but now I’m back to reading at a snail’s pace.

 

3. What do I think I’ll read next?

Who knows when I’ll get the chance, but these are the books I’ve been thinking about.

 

What is your WWW Wednesday?

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: WWWWednesday-Blogdom Tagged: books, Toi Thomas Reads, try this, WWWWednesday

Wormfest 2014! – The Terminator Quote

2014 National Wormhole Week and Blog Hop! 3/10-16/2014

Click to learn more.

This blog hop and blog tour are brought to you by: Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and Stephen Tremp- the author of Escalation.

For 2014, the theme is to name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning. With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?

Feel free to reference movies and books too. These provide no shortage if inspiration. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires. I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have.

****

Each day this week I’ll be sharing quotes from sci-fi movies or books along with my thoughts on how far technologies still needs to go and where I think it will go too far.

Google search-
geekynerfherder.blogspot.com

Check my side panel daily to see the quotes added each day. Today I’m focusing on what happens when you teach something how to be destructive and then it becomes self-aware. In other words, this is about Artificial Intelligence gone bad (but wait, I’m throwing in a political twist).

The film I’ve picked for today isn’t so much a sci-fi masterpiece as it is a classic. The film itself has all the earmarks of an action film, but it’s the sci-fi warning of the advancement of intelligent machinery that fuels the impact of this blockbuster.

From the film, The Terminator I give you…

“Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.” ~Kyle Reese (from IMDB)

So the question at hand here is, should machines be given intelligence?

I want to take a slight step back and a brief tangent to consider the correlation between the possible rebellion of machines against their human masters and the human phenomena of slavery. I don’t claim to be anything close to an expert on the animal kingdom, but no examples of animals taking other animals as slaves spring to mind. What most North American citizen should have figured out by now, is that slavery only worked for as long as it did because the slaves hadn’t become self-aware. Once slaves started to understand and value their humanity and equality, the fight was on.

Back to this matter of A.I.

Why wouldn’t humans expect the same kind of reaction from other intelligent entities? I have no problems pushing the limits of technology to better the human race, but how far is too far? Is it possible to program intelligence without the risk of a greater awareness and understanding developing? You can exclude the words love, hate, sorrow, and oppression from a dictionary, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Any intelligent entity would be able to figure that out eventually.

So is it worth the risk to endow machines with intelligence and hope they do better with it than we humans have or are we naïve to think that at some point there won’t be a power struggle?

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If you haven’t already, be sure to check out all the other ideas and theories about where technology is heading and going wrong.

Powered by Linky Tools Click here to follow this hop or enter your link to join in.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: BlogHop-Promo Tagged: advancements, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Artificial Intelligence, author, blog hop, books, Escalation, IMDB, L. Diane Wolfe, movies, National Wormhole Week, promotion, quotes, sci-fi, science, slavery, Stephen Tremp, technology, The Terminator, Toi Thomas, Wormfest

Character Files from the ToiBox 50: Leo-Preferences

Preferences:  Subject EC:GA 5-Leo

Favorite Color: green

Favorite Food: pasta

Favorite Movie: unknown

Favorite Music: rock’n roll era

Favorite Pastime: fishing

Other: Simple man with a simple life. Does his job and tries to keep his opinions to himself.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Character Files, EC: Giovanni's Angel Tagged: #thetoiboxofwords, angels, blogging, character, demons, Eternal Curse, fiction, Giovanni's Angel, Leo, meme, preferences, profile, reading, Toi Thomas, wip, writing

Brummet Media Group

Award winning author of 5 published books Lillian Brummet produces and hosts the Conscious Discussions talk radio show, and manages the Brummet’s Conscious Blog in partnership with her husband and business partner – Dave Brummet. In those few stolen moments when she is not in the office she can be found spending time with her husband gardening, indulging in nature, camping and walking the many trails in BC’s (Canada) wilderness. The main focus of everything the Brummets do, whether in their personal life or in business, is to inspire hope in individuals – helping them realize the value of their efforts and encouraging them to become more positive, proactive in life.

The Brummet’s Conscious Blog has new posts published every single day, each with its own inspiring quote. We feature submitted articles and poetry, and regular post topics under the headings of: Positive News, Referral Corner, World of Writing Interviews, Conscious Living Events, Brummets in the Media, and Conscious Discussions Talk Radio Show. Readers will find links and banners on the sidebars, and a section called: Green Tip of the Day. The blog has been recognized by Brighter Planet Organization, Regional District of the Kootenay Boundary, Green Providers, and Versitile Bloggers associations.

This PR3 blog has a highly targeted audience who also want to live a more conscious, green, proactive and positive lifestyle. Advertising and networking options are available; the Brummet’s welcome articles or poetry submissions and people can also query for a World of Writing Q&A interview.

More information about the blog can be found at: http://www.brummet.ca/radio.html

Looking for stats, demographics and advertising information? Go here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Guest Posts Tagged: author, blog, book, Brummet Media Group, environmentalist, green living, guest post, Lillian Brummet, promotion, radio

Wormfest 2014! – The Prestige Quote

2014 National Wormhole Week and Blog Hop! 3/10-16/2014

Click to learn more.

This blog hop and blog tour are brought to you by: Alex Cavanaugh, L. Diane Wolfe, and Stephen Tremp- the author of Escalation.

For 2014, the theme is to name one thing where science advances mankind, and one where technology with unforeseen consequences will go too far and set mankind back. Example: De-Extinction, or bringing back extinction species through back breeding, genetic engineering, and cloning. With all the breakthrough discoveries mankind is on the cusp of, are we playing God?

Feel free to reference movies and books too. These provide no shortage if inspiration. Speaking of de-extinction, the book and movie Jurassic Park comes to mind where science takes a huge leap forward, but also backfires. I’m looking forward to all the amazing responses everyone will have.

****

Today I’ll be stopping by Alex’s blog to drop-off my dishes for the potluck party going down today. I’m bringing three out-of-this-world courses.

I’m starting off with my Fire ’fly’ roasted Jayne ‘corn on the’ Cobb

Then I’m moving on to my Fifth Element Mangalores Surprise (not as scary as it sounds: a meatloaf in the shape of a chicken)

And finally my world-famous, lick the plate, Dean Winchester Pie.

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Each day this week I’ll be sharing quotes from sci-fi movies or books along with my thoughts on how far technologies still needs to go and where I think it will go too far.

Google search-
http://www.theosidle.com

Check my side panel daily to see the quotes added each day. Today I’m focusing on how desperation turns technology dangerous.

The film I’ve picked for today is not a sci-fi masterpiece, but it’s pretty scary to consider the misuse of technology within it.

From the film, The Prestige, I give you…

“Now you’re looking for the secret. But you won’t find it because of course, you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to work it out. You want to be fooled.”~ Cutter (from IMDB)

Here we have a magician who is so desperate to seek revenge and out do his competition that he’s decided to create real magic with the use of new and unstable technology. The baseline argument here is, what do you do with a human clone? If you haven’t seen the movie, watch it, see what this guy does with it, and then decide for yourself.

I personally don’t think people should be playing around with forces they don’t understand, but I also realize that many advancements are made just that way. If you get the results you want, is the way you got them important? There are so many ethical issues concerning the story within this film and only half of them deal with the misuse of technology. (Watch it!)

Sure it would be great to clone food and be able to feed people in starving nations, but where would it end? Would there be side affects to eating cloned food? Would there be an imbalance in the ecosystem if plants and or animals were cloned?

So many questions?

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Be sure to stop by and see what everyone else is bringing to the potluck (here) and also be sure to check out all the other ideas and theories about where technology is heading and going wrong.

Powered by Linky Tools Click here to follow this hop or enter your link to join in.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: BlogHop-Promo Tagged: advancements, Alex J. Cavanaugh, author, blog hop, books, cloning, Dean Winchester, Escalation, Fifthe Element, Firefly, IMDB, Jayne Cobb, L. Diane Wolfe, movies, National Wormhole Week, promotion, quotes, sci-fi, science, Stephen Tremp, Supernatural, technology, The Prestige, Toi Thomas, Wormfest

Top 5: 09 Movies

This is a list of my top five something. Most of the time my lists are pretty static, but sometimes I do change my mind. While I do try to apply some logic to my choices, sometimes I pick things that make no sense and for no good reason other than “I like it.”

Google search-
www-personal.umich.edu

Movies

1. Star Wars Episode IV

2. The Wizard of Oz

3. Batman 1989

4. Love Actually

5. Princess Bride & Clue (a tie)

-Honorable Mention- Die Hard (the 1st one)

This is really hard for me because I enjoy so many movies so much. Needless to say, you’ll be seeing tons of lists pertaining to movies down the road.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Filed under: Listography-Top5-MyLife Tagged: author, biography, likes, movies, personal, Toi Thomas, top 5