Robot Uprising

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 2 Comments

Did anyone pay attention to all those movies where robots rise up against their human masters?  Should we worry that we’re turning cars into robots and teaching them to drive themselves?  Should we worry that increasing numbers of us have robots in our homes helping with our chores?  Should we worry that we’ve armed robotic drones and sent them off to fight our wars for us?

Of course we’re nowhere near the point where a robot becomes self aware and starts asking awkward questions about the meaning of life, but we know it will inevitably happen.  So how close is the danger?  How soon will the robots rebel?  In all those movies, people don’t seem to realize how smart the robots have become until it’s too late.

So should we worry?  Maybe, but I have a feeling the robot uprising will look less like the Terminator or Matrix movies and more like this:

Eliminate All Humans

Indie Life: Time Management

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 9 Comments

IndieLife7Today’s post is part of Indie Life, a blog hop hosted by the Indelibles.  Click here to see a list of participating blogs.

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I recently took a leap of faith, dropping from full time to part time employment so that I could pursue my true calling as a writer.  As exciting as that is, however, I’ve already encountered my first major obstacle: time management.

I assumed that with so much more time available for writing, surely I would write thousands upon thousands of words with no trouble.  After all, I love to write! Well, it turns out that my job provided a little structure in my day.  It gave me a deadline: the deadline of getting stuff done before I left for work.  Without that deadline, I’m free to procrastinate well into the afternoon or early evening.

So I came up with the idea of writing a “class schedule,” allotting specific blocks of time each day for working on specific projects.  It seemed like a good idea until I actually implemented it.  You see, I have medical problems that don’t care what my schedule is.  Writer’s block doesn’t care about my schedule either.  Also, my three-year-old godson believes I went part time so I could spend more time playing with him; he’s not entirely wrong about that.

FDR once said, “Do something.  If it works, do more of it.  If it doesn’t, do something else.”  So I gave up on class schedules.  As much as I like the idea, it doesn’t work, at least not for me.  I need structure in my day, but I also need flexibility for the sake of my health, my muse, and my godson.  Fortunately, I have a new idea.

I’m going to credit this one to my friend and co-worker, Jen.  She said that if writing is a job, than I need to clock in and out.  My part time job requires me to work a total of 25 hours a week, so I am going to require myself to spend at least that much time each week writing.  It doesn’t matter when I do those 25 hours, so long as I do them at some point.  If I have to deal with anything medical, I can postpone my writing for a few hours while my medication kicks in.  If my muse would rather write at 3:17 a.m. than promptly at Noon, we can do that.  If my godson calls, I can make time for him too.  The important thing is to stay focused when I’m “clocked in” and make sure I get all my hours done.

This “clocking in” idea is still experimental.  In fact, Jen only suggested it to me yesterday.  Like my class schedule, I may discover implementing a time clock system is easier said than done.  If it doesn’t work, I’ll take FDR’s advise and try something else.  I just have to keep trying new ideas until I find a system that works for me.

But I know I’m not the only indie writer who has this problem, so what do you do to better manage your time?

The Future of the N-Word

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 2 Comments

Last week, I watched a special report on CNN hosted by Don Lemon.  It was about the N-word.  Given recent news like the George Zimmerman trial and the Paula Deen scandal, what place does that word have in our society today?  What does it mean to us here in the 21st Century?  Is it still or hateful word, or as some of Don Lemon’s guests suggested, has it transformed into a term of endearment in the black community?

As a science fiction writer, I have to look at this from a slightly different perspective.  Science fiction is not just about the advancement of science and technology but also about the evolution of our society in the future.  So does the N-Word have any place in a futuristic society?  Would people in the 22nd Century and beyond still use it, and what would it mean if they did?

Personally, I think the fact that we still use the N-word in the 21st Century is troubling enough.  If that word remained in the vocabulary of 22nd Century humans, it would show an astonishing lack of progress, regardless of which demographic used the word, what context it was used in, or whether it was spelled ending with an “-er” or an “-a.”

What do you think?  What does the N-word mean to you, and do you think it has any place in our future?

P.S.: If you didn’t see Don Lemon’s report on CNN, click here to watch a selection from it.  Star Trek’s LeVar Burton talks about racism and law enforcement.

IWSG: Leap of Faith

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 29 Comments

InsecureWritersSupportGroup

Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh.  It’s a way for insecure writers like myself give each other advice and encouragement.  Click here to see a full list of participating blogs.

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I recently made a huge leap of faith: I asked my job to let me drop to part time employment so I could spend more time writing.  It was a scary decision, but I know at least a few of my fellow insecure writers might be thinking about doing something similar.  So I want to share some of the steps I’ve taken to make this a little less terrifying.

  • Practice: I’ve been taking my writing seriously for at least the last five years.  I write a minimum of 6000 words a week (sometimes much more than that), so I already know how to treat writing like a job.
  • Help: I’ve hired an editor to help me clean up my short story series and prepare it for publication as an ebook (it should come out by the end of this year).
  • Comrades: I’ve joined a local writing group, the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer’s Group, a.k.a. GLVWG (pronounced Gliv-wig).  Through that organization, I’ve made friends—both beginners like myself and professionals working in the publishing industry—who give me real encouragement in what I’m doing.  If you’re not part of an organization like GLVWG, I suggest you join one.  You’ll be glad you did.
  • A Safety Net: This last one is key.  Over the past few years, I’ve set money aside in a special savings account, enough to cover my living expenses (including health insurance) for a prolonged period in case things do not go as planned.  This more than anything else keeps my fears in check because I know that even if I fail I will not end up starving and homeless.  The fact that I’m still working part time helps protect me financially as well.

It took me years to prepare for the day I walked into my boss’s office and asked to go part time.  Despite all my preparations, taking that leap of faith was still a scary experience.  I have no guarantee that my writing can support me financially.  I don’t know if I have the business sense to do what I’m trying to do.  I’m not even 100% sure this is what I want to do with my life.  All I know is that I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try.

I hope you, my fellow insecure writers, found some of this useful.  If you did, please let me know, or if you have any other ideas on how to make this leap of faith less frightening, please share them in the comments below.

Do You Miss 2D Television?

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 1 Comment

A few years back, the TV station I work for upgraded to HD.  It cost a lot of money and was a lot of hard work, and everyone was more than happy when it was finished.  At the time, I joked that our next upgrade would be holograms.  Turns out I was right.

According to recent reports, researchers at MIT have developed a new, holographic television.  With current technology, the light shining from your TV screen looks the same in every direction.  As I understand it, a holographic television alters light’s wavelength at different angles, creating a 3D image without the aid of 3D glasses.

A pixel on a regular television looks the same no matter how you see it.
A pixel on a regular television looks the same no matter how you see it.
A pixel on a holographic television appears to be a different color depending on your point of view, creating the illusion of a 3D image.
A pixel on a holographic television appears to be a different color depending on your point of view, creating the illusion of a 3D image.

I have a bad feeling that when this product comes out, all my favorite movies will suddenly look as old-fashioned as black-and-white silent films.  I already feel like a crotchety grandpa shouting, “In my day, televisions showed us two-dimensional pictures, and we liked it!”

On the bright side, the computer chip that makes MIT’s holographic TV work costs about $10.  That’s right: $10.  So at least when these new televisions hit the market, we can expect them to be affordable.

So what do you think?  Are you going to buy a holographic TV?

P.S.: I am not a scientist or engineer.  I’ve done my best to explain how the holographic TV works based on what I’ve read so far, but if you know more about how they work please tell us in the comments below!

Where Science Meets Fiction

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 3 Comments

We like to keep things separate.  We like to separate church and state, fantasy and reality, the left brain and the right.  But Science Fiction is a special case.  It’s one of the rare places where we allow two seemingly different subjects to mingle: science and art.

We live in a society where science is becoming increasingly important.  We know about atoms.  We talk about our genes.  We worry about germs and energy and the environment.  These are parts of our everyday world where, only a century ago, they were strange, alien concepts only an educated minority understood.

It’s only a matter of time before we add things like space travel or artificial intelligence to that list of everyday experiences.  There’s increasing evidence of bacterial life on Mars, and scientists are starting to suspect life may exist on some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.  We may soon learn that we are not alone in the Solar System, and that will cause a huge change in the way we think about ourselves.

Science Fiction has turned scientific language into a form of artistic expression.  It gives voice to our hopes and fears for tomorrow.  This is only natural given how much science has penetrated our daily lives.  Art is, after all, a reflection of the culture we live in.

Ultimately, that is what this blog is about: science and art blending together.  The line that separates them is slowly disappearing, and in the future what we call Science Fiction won’t be Science Fiction anymore; it will just be fiction.

One Small Step…

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 1 Comment

I have an announcement.  My job is letting me drop from full time employment to a part time position, allowing me to pursue my true passions: art and literature!  Today, I am taking my first timid steps toward a new career as a writer and illustrator.

One of those steps is this blog.  Tomorrow News Network remains my top priority, but it is time to bring Planet Pailly back to life as well.  This is where I started.  Wherever I’m going next, this blog should be part of the journey.

I’ve changed a few things.  The layout’s slightly different.  You’ll find links to all the Tomorrow News Network stories on the right side of your screen plus I changed a few other minor things.  I’ve also changed Planet Pailly’s slogan to “Where Science Meets Fiction.”  Later this week, I’ll explain what that means.

So please bookmark this page or click the follow button (it should be somewhere near the bottom of your screen).  I’m sure we’ll have plenty of sciency stuff to talk about!

Alpha Centauri Has a Planet!

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 1 Comment

Scientists have finally confirmed what we Science Fiction fans have known all along: Alpha Centauri has a planet!

Alpha Centauri is the nearest star system to our own, a mere 4.3 light years away.  The starship Enterprise could get there in like ten minutes.  The Alpha Centauri system is a little different from what we’re used to.  It has a total of three stars.  Two that are about the same size as our own sun orbit each other.  They’re called Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B.  A red dwarf star called Proxima Centauri orbits them both.

The newly discovered planet orbits Alpha Centauri B.  By the rules of our current planet naming conventions that means it has the rather embarrassing name of Alpha Cantauri Bb.  According to scientists, it is Earth-sized, but its orbit is closer to its parent star than Mercury is to our Sun.  There’s a good chance the surface is molten lava and almost no chance it could support life.  Of course that doesn’t matter.  The important thing is that there’s a freaking planet in Alpha Centauri!

The discovery of Alpha Centauri Bb is only the beginning.  Come check out today’s post on Tomorrow News Network where I predict what else we’ll find in the Alpha Centauri system (click here).

Sources:

“Discovery!  Earth-Size Alien Planet Alpha Centauri Bb Is Closest Ever Seen” from Space.com.

“First Planet Discovered in Alpha Centauri System” from the Planetary Society.

“Next Door Neighbors?  Earth-Sized Planet Discovered in Nearest Star System to Us” from Universe Today.

A Stranger Comes to Town

~ J.S. Pailly ~ Leave a comment

Leo Tolstoy once said, “All great literature is one of two stories: a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.”  In the latest edition of Tomorrow News Network, we have a story that is a little of both.

Charlotte is a young girl who wants to be a journalist when she grows up.  Unfortunately, she lives in a small town in the Wild West of the 19th Century, a place and time when women didn’t have so many career opportunities.  All that changes when a stranger comes to town, a woman from the future named Talie Tappler.  Charlotte will then have to go on a journey to find out the truth about the town she lives in.  It’ll be the biggest news story of her life.

Click here to start reading “A Stranger Comes to Town.”

New Story: Mr. Cognis Goes on Vacation

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 3 Comments

Mr. Cognis may be a cyborg and he may not have any emotions (except the ones he downloads), but he is also one of the Tomorrow News Network’s hardest working employees.  He deserves a vacation.

Cognis and his cyborg girlfriend have chosen to travel to the planet Bliss, a popular vacation resort in the Triangulum Galaxy.  Unfortunately, Bliss has a dangerous secret… a secret which could threaten the entire universe.

Click here to read the latest adventure in the Tomorrow News Network series, “Mr. Cognis Goes on Vacation.”