Matthew Alan Thyer's Blog, page 55
February 17, 2014
Zombie Nets
One of my favorite hacks last year was Samy Kamkar‘s RaspPi modification SkyJack which autonomously seeks out, hacks, and wirelessly take control over other drones within wireless distance. This single project points the way to a host of highly hackable projects and systems that we take granted because they’re so much a part of our daily lives.
Wirelessly managed systems are all around us and the zombie paradigm that Kamkarleverages with a toy could be the beginning of an entirely new industry...
February 14, 2014
Interview with Author Michael Bunker
Michael Bunker‘s biography only grants the reader a momentary glimpse of a truly innovative and unique mind. He has been grinding out an amazing list of stories which includedystopian sci-fi, the WICK series, The Silo Archipelago, The Last Pilgrims, and the Amish/Sci-Fi novella Pennsylvania. His latest short, the excellent REDOUBT, is part of FROM THE INDIE SIDE and is a bit of a prequel to some of his longer form fiction. It is also an excellent example of short fiction done well.
I sat down...
February 13, 2014
Interview with Ian Nichols, author of “In The Dark”
Interview with Ian Nichols, author of “In The Dark”.
Right there, that’s why I enjoyed meeting Andrea Johnson. Stuff like this makes me happy I interviewed her too.
If you haven’t read her interview I recommend that you get on it pronto. And then, when you’re done with it head on over to Little Red Reviewer and read this excellent piece with Ian Nichols. Your comments are due on Friday. Don’t give me the dog ate them, or you’ll flunk out and have to do the whole year over again.
February 11, 2014
Good News! From the Indie Side is #2
Yes, you saw it here first (or not). I was checking rankings on a couple of books and just happened to notice that FROM THE INDIE SIDE is currently ranking second in Science Fiction & Fantasy > Anthologies & Short Stories. That’s great news for a lot of very cool Indie authors out there.
In other news, I’m going to be interviewing as many of the contributors to FROM THE INDIE SIDEas I can. Michael Bunker is first on deck, expect his answers to appear magically on the Internets this Friday.
Tales from the DC Area: Who Dropped DC on Me?
Good grief! This morning Aral and I left the apartment with Tess and stopped for coffee and a pastry. Yep still working on my waistline (although I got up this morning and did 100 sit ups). Nothing so lovely as LE PAIN QUOTIDIEN, but, you know, serviceable coffee. Or at least there weren’t flavor crystals in it.
Not something you usually want to see parked outside the National Archives
We parted ways, Tess went to the office, and Aral and I walked to the Metro. We rode it north and across the P...
February 10, 2014
Writer’s Tool Box: Not Facebook Part Zwei
“So where ever you’re targeting advertising your page on Facebook is a waste of money. I wish Facebook would remove all the fake likes from my page and from all the others, but that would mean admitting that they have generated significant ad revenue from clicks that weren’t genuine which then supress the reach of of page which had low engagement. Forcing those pages to pay again to reach unauthentic fans. So the truth is that Facebook benefits by maintaining the status quo. Because the reali...
Interview: Andrea Johnson, Reader Primus
I met Andrea Johnson at Legendary ConFusion and over the course of a couple of days at the convention we had some exceptional conversations mostly about things science fiction. It turns out she blogs about science fiction, and I mean all of science fiction, starting with the really old stuff ranging up to the latest releases being considered for awards right now. After our impromptu introduction in the convention bar I went and read a handful of her reviews and let me say, if there can be suc...
Tales from the DC Area: Day Two Report
FYI: We’re moving to the District of Columbia (or as reasonably near Tess’ new job as we can manage). This represents a huge change for all three of us. Tess has been working in the area for about the last month and Aral and I flew out this weekend to spend some time with Mommy and get introduced to our new digs.
Flying
Aral has never flown before. He has also never been introduced to the great variety of public transit systems we took to get here. Early Saturday morning, I plopped his butt, wr...
February 7, 2014
Sunstones?
I’ve been outlining a fantasy of sorts. Nothing I have the time to work on right now, but I’m happy with the story idea and it has been something simmering for a long while.
I came across this article looking for a way to navigate without a magnet or the invention of a sextant and clock. Very interesting. I sure would love to try it out sometime.
British and French scientists have long argued that the find is a sunstone — a device that fractures the light, enabling seafarers to locate the Sun e...
February 6, 2014
Free Market Parenting
Ask just about any parent and you will quickly learn that there is a fair amount of give and take, an exchange if you will, in the small acts of parenting. There is an economy to it. Not the kind where we agree on a price for said service, but an on going negotiation nonetheless.
With a toddler I find my self constantly coming to the table. “If you give me a potty on the toilet I’ll let you watch an episode of Lunar Jim on my iPad.” Or another favorite “Aral, can you use your words (so I have...
