Who says I can't have a little fun . . .
. . . at my own expense?
This is from the rejected trailer series for our latest Rogue Warrior; as you can tell if you watch the promo patch at the end, it was done before the book came out in the fall.
It never made it to full production; I guess you can see why.
Happy April Fool's - it takes one to know one . . .
IBM - always on the cutting edge . . .
They do this so well, they want to patent it:
Full story here. Note that they dropped the patent application - not plans to outsource or help others do it.
IBM was once one of the best companies in the U.S. to work for. Now it's the leader in figuring out how to screw Americans, whether they're employees or simply taxpayers.
They do this so well, they want to patent it:
IBM drops patent application for out-sourcing
The same day the Times Herald-Record reported IBM had applied to patent a computerized system to help businesses outsource offshore jobs while maximizing government tax breaks, Big Blue did an about-face.
The application "was filed in error and will be withdrawn," IBM spokesman Steve Malkiewicz said Monday.
IBM's filing with the U.S. patent office describes a "method and system for strategic global resource sourcing," weighing such goals as "50 percent of resources in China by 2010" against such factors as labor costs, infrastructure and the "minimum head count to qualify for incentives."
Full story here. Note that they dropped the patent application - not plans to outsource or help others do it.
IBM was once one of the best companies in the U.S. to work for. Now it's the leader in figuring out how to screw Americans, whether they're employees or simply taxpayers.
Speaking of Deep Black
Why not a shameless plug?
Unfortunately, book one is difficult to find - unless you order the hardcover, which is actually a UK edition, though you can get it in the states.
You can order Jihad, which is one of my favorites, here.
Actually, they're all my favorite.
Why not a shameless plug?
Unfortunately, book one is difficult to find - unless you order the hardcover, which is actually a UK edition, though you can get it in the states.
You can order Jihad, which is one of my favorites, here.
Actually, they're all my favorite.
Deep Black in the news . . .
Item:
The story goes on to describe the high degree of control the educated virus has over the computers it infects. The Times story is here.
The operation is undoubted Chinese, though there are others around.
If you're looking for a partial description of how it works, check out the first Deep Black book I wrote.
After developing the series, it was always somewhat amusing to get notes from readers who thought the technology was pure fantasy.
Item:
Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries
TORONTO — A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded.
The story goes on to describe the high degree of control the educated virus has over the computers it infects. The Times story is here.
The operation is undoubted Chinese, though there are others around.
If you're looking for a partial description of how it works, check out the first Deep Black book I wrote.
After developing the series, it was always somewhat amusing to get notes from readers who thought the technology was pure fantasy.
Planning for success
Overheard at the other end of the bar:
Writer One: We're having a big meeting on publicity and the launch for my new book next week.
Writer Two: Why bother? Publishers really have only two plans: A) Throw the book out there and hope it sells, B) Wonder why the hell they bought this book in the first place.
Writer One (taking a long hit from her drink): Maybe I'll get a good lunch out of it.
Overheard at the other end of the bar:
Writer One: We're having a big meeting on publicity and the launch for my new book next week.
Writer Two: Why bother? Publishers really have only two plans: A) Throw the book out there and hope it sells, B) Wonder why the hell they bought this book in the first place.
Writer One (taking a long hit from her drink): Maybe I'll get a good lunch out of it.
The bonuses are just a symbol
For all the so-called analysis replacing reporting on facts these days, there have been few if any stories that actually point out why the matter of bonuses for AIG, et al, are such a hot issue.
People are reacting to the vast difference in wealth the bonuses represent, and inequity in society and power. Much of that inequity was glossed over or unacknowledged during flush times, when it could be said - if not quite proven - that the vast amounts of money "awarded" to a small fraction of the population was due primarily to success in the marketplace, etc. But the recession - and dwindling balance sheets - has exploded that myth, showing pretty decisively that in most cases there's a rather large disconnect between reward and risk, reward and achievement, etc.
The anger shouldn't be particularly surprising. Anyone who follows baseball knows that the disgust at players' outsize salaries is pretty much a given. Ironically, at least in their case the connections between pay and achievement are pretty transparent - you can look up the batting average or see the home runs.
The question is, what happens to this anger? A really smart politician can channel into something extremely destructive: see Europe during the 1920s and 1930s.
I'm not smart enough to know what the solution is. Retroactively selective tax laws are a bad idea on too many levels to even consider. And socialistic wage ceilings are worse. Part of the answer is surely a moral attitude that acknowledges that greed is bad . . . but how that translates into the real world where us sinners live is an open question.
For all the so-called analysis replacing reporting on facts these days, there have been few if any stories that actually point out why the matter of bonuses for AIG, et al, are such a hot issue.
People are reacting to the vast difference in wealth the bonuses represent, and inequity in society and power. Much of that inequity was glossed over or unacknowledged during flush times, when it could be said - if not quite proven - that the vast amounts of money "awarded" to a small fraction of the population was due primarily to success in the marketplace, etc. But the recession - and dwindling balance sheets - has exploded that myth, showing pretty decisively that in most cases there's a rather large disconnect between reward and risk, reward and achievement, etc.
The anger shouldn't be particularly surprising. Anyone who follows baseball knows that the disgust at players' outsize salaries is pretty much a given. Ironically, at least in their case the connections between pay and achievement are pretty transparent - you can look up the batting average or see the home runs.
The question is, what happens to this anger? A really smart politician can channel into something extremely destructive: see Europe during the 1920s and 1930s.
I'm not smart enough to know what the solution is. Retroactively selective tax laws are a bad idea on too many levels to even consider. And socialistic wage ceilings are worse. Part of the answer is surely a moral attitude that acknowledges that greed is bad . . . but how that translates into the real world where us sinners live is an open question.
Copy edit hell
I got a manuscript back today that has been mauled - there's no other way to put it - by a copy editor from hell.
It's not the changes for no reason that piss me off - it's the words changed for no reason that change the sense and/or introduce errors that kill me. And so far, we're averaging three of those changes for every ten pages.
The question is - will I resort to physical violence before I finish reading the edit, or after?
I got a manuscript back today that has been mauled - there's no other way to put it - by a copy editor from hell.
It's not the changes for no reason that piss me off - it's the words changed for no reason that change the sense and/or introduce errors that kill me. And so far, we're averaging three of those changes for every ten pages.
The question is - will I resort to physical violence before I finish reading the edit, or after?
They get, all right . . .
Sometime during the next week, Goldman Sachs is going to make headlines by paying back the federal money it was loaned to help it through the financial meltdown. It'll be a supposedly feel good moment, with a lot of emphasis on the firm's financial health and how the taxpayers picked up a quick five percent interest on the dough.
There's a lot more to the story, though. Most importantly, the people who run Goldman don't want to function under the scrutiny of the public, and don't want to have to limit their pay to something less than obscene. (Thirty million for the boss seems pretty obscene to me.)
The attitude on all Street - and beyond - remains: we'll take whatever we can, until things sour, then you can rescue us. But if you want to impose rules that will keep us from screwing you in the future, you're shit out of luck.
They get it - and so do we. Unfortunately, what we get is the shaft.
Sometime during the next week, Goldman Sachs is going to make headlines by paying back the federal money it was loaned to help it through the financial meltdown. It'll be a supposedly feel good moment, with a lot of emphasis on the firm's financial health and how the taxpayers picked up a quick five percent interest on the dough.
There's a lot more to the story, though. Most importantly, the people who run Goldman don't want to function under the scrutiny of the public, and don't want to have to limit their pay to something less than obscene. (Thirty million for the boss seems pretty obscene to me.)
The attitude on all Street - and beyond - remains: we'll take whatever we can, until things sour, then you can rescue us. But if you want to impose rules that will keep us from screwing you in the future, you're shit out of luck.
They get it - and so do we. Unfortunately, what we get is the shaft.
Oh, those French
From the news:
If he doesn't shape up, they'll start drinking his least favorite wine . . .
From the news:
French protest by reading Nicolas Sarkozy's least favourite book
On the eve of national strikes, the French have found a new way to show their dislike of Nicolas Sarkozy: by reading a 17th century tale of thwarted love that the president has said he hates.
If he doesn't shape up, they'll start drinking his least favorite wine . . .
Another crock of crap
The IRS yesterday announced new "rules" which will allow victims of Ponzi schemes to immediately deduct nearly all of their losses this year.
They didn't say it was for Madoff victims, though that's pretty clear.
So basically, if you had tons of money but were exceptionally stupid/greedy/and foolish . . . you get a tax break. But if you only lost half your kid's college fund or retirement because the index fund in your 519 or 401k went down, you're shit out luck and have to play by the rules.
WTF?
Oh wait, the people who were screwed by Madoff weren't just stupid/greedy/and foolish -- they were also a hell of a lot richer than the middle class people who are depending on 401ks and the like to fund their retirement.
And forget about working stiffs who are lucky if their retirement plans include a few lottery tickets.
I'm not saying that victims of Madoff - and every other ripoff - don't deserve sympathy. And yes, I realize that the tax breaks will in no way compensate for the real loss of the money.
What I am saying is that changing the rules for them is just one more sign of the vast inequality that is the real heart of what's killing this country.
Two questions:
1) What right does the IRS - as opposed to congress - have to change the regulations?
2) Where's the "change"?
The IRS yesterday announced new "rules" which will allow victims of Ponzi schemes to immediately deduct nearly all of their losses this year.
They didn't say it was for Madoff victims, though that's pretty clear.
So basically, if you had tons of money but were exceptionally stupid/greedy/and foolish . . . you get a tax break. But if you only lost half your kid's college fund or retirement because the index fund in your 519 or 401k went down, you're shit out luck and have to play by the rules.
WTF?
Oh wait, the people who were screwed by Madoff weren't just stupid/greedy/and foolish -- they were also a hell of a lot richer than the middle class people who are depending on 401ks and the like to fund their retirement.
And forget about working stiffs who are lucky if their retirement plans include a few lottery tickets.
I'm not saying that victims of Madoff - and every other ripoff - don't deserve sympathy. And yes, I realize that the tax breaks will in no way compensate for the real loss of the money.
What I am saying is that changing the rules for them is just one more sign of the vast inequality that is the real heart of what's killing this country.
Two questions:
1) What right does the IRS - as opposed to congress - have to change the regulations?
2) Where's the "change"?
Of Starfighters and fiction
One of the difficulties for a fiction writer, especially in a thriller genre, is the constant need to come up with situations that are plausible if not entirely true to life.
Like getting Starfighters to Moscow ten years after the last one has flown.
The trick is not so much being able to bend reality or even being able to fig leaf a solution; the problem is more one of generating an emotion in the reader that allows you to get away with stretching the story. Because after all, a reader who wants to see a Starfighter in Moscow won't particularly care how you accomplished it.
This is a tricky thing to try to explain, even to editors, especially ones who either don't read the genre at all - and thus don't know the readers - or are deaf to emotional tones. (And yes, there are editors like that. In fact, you tend to run into the problem more with editors than readers, since the latter often self-select out and know what to expect. They also tend to be more forgiving.)
We're all deaf to some things, and we all draw the line on believability in different places, depending on what we know, what we think we know - and most importantly, how we feel.
How much a fig leaf do those Starfighters need? Probably depends on whether you've seen one rush by you in the night . . .
One of the difficulties for a fiction writer, especially in a thriller genre, is the constant need to come up with situations that are plausible if not entirely true to life.
Like getting Starfighters to Moscow ten years after the last one has flown.
The trick is not so much being able to bend reality or even being able to fig leaf a solution; the problem is more one of generating an emotion in the reader that allows you to get away with stretching the story. Because after all, a reader who wants to see a Starfighter in Moscow won't particularly care how you accomplished it.
This is a tricky thing to try to explain, even to editors, especially ones who either don't read the genre at all - and thus don't know the readers - or are deaf to emotional tones. (And yes, there are editors like that. In fact, you tend to run into the problem more with editors than readers, since the latter often self-select out and know what to expect. They also tend to be more forgiving.)
We're all deaf to some things, and we all draw the line on believability in different places, depending on what we know, what we think we know - and most importantly, how we feel.
How much a fig leaf do those Starfighters need? Probably depends on whether you've seen one rush by you in the night . . .
On newspapers . . .
I can't say it better than Dvorak . . .
http://nydailynews.pcmag.com/article/Newspaper+Publishers+Are+Idiots/238042_1.aspx
And they won't be published on paper, either, but that's another story . . .
I can't say it better than Dvorak . . .
http://nydailynews.pcmag.com/article/Newspaper+Publishers+Are+Idiots/238042_1.aspx
And they won't be published on paper, either, but that's another story . . .
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