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Josh Smith
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Posts by Josh Smith
Strange Future – Dead?
May 8th
Hello! Just a quick note to let you know what’s going on with Strange Future. I realize it’s been AGES since I’ve posted any content, and I don’t really use Twitter often enough to make it relevant… As of this moment, Strange Future is NOT dead. I’ve just been very busy with other projects, so I’ve not had a lot of time to work on the sequel.
This past November, I participated in NaNoWriMo, so that basically pushed Strange Future to the back burner. I “won”, and really enjoyed it. I feel really good about the story that I came up with, too, so I do intend on trying to do something more with it. I also started working full time, which has majorly cut back on the time I have for writing in general. Excuses aside, I miss writing, and I miss the characters I came up with for Strange Future.
I still intend on finishing up the Sequel this summer, hopefully for a fall release.
In the meantime, you can follow my exploits over at jfade.com – my personal blog. I’ve not talked much about my writing there, but do intend on doing so as I get back to it. That’s all I More >
Around the Internet: Hyperbole and a Half
Apr 28th
Despite the fact that my internet was down way more than it was up this past week (an issue I’ll have to rant about in a future post), I still had some time to browse the web and see what was new and exciting in the world of funny websites. And boy, did I ever hit the jackpot this time around. It started with an innocent enough looking link in a thread on a message board: The Alot is Better Than You at Everything. Intrigued–mostly by the strange use of “a lot” put together in one word and used in a strange context–I clicked. Once the page loaded, I noticed the funny image just below the first paragraph. I looked at the image and got confused, then read the first paragraph and understood clearly:
As a grammatically conscientious person who frequents internet forums and YouTube, I have found it necessary to develop a few coping mechanisms. When someone types out “u” instead of “you,” instead of getting mad, I imagine them having only one finger on each hand and then their actions seem reasonable. If I only had one finger on each hand, I’d leave out unnecessary letters too!
Sure enough, the More >
NFASF: Chicago Re-elects Davidson Posthumously
Apr 16th
Chicago Re-elects Davidson Posthumously
Residents say there was no other good alternative
Story by Loretta Sikes
Denizens of Chicago have once again re-elected Tom Davidson mayor, granting him his tenth consecutive term as mayor of the city. There’s only one problem: Davidson died two weeks before the election.
“Everyone knew he was dead,” Andrea Shooter said, her voice full of frustration. Andrea had been the only person to run against Davidson in the election, and when she died most people assumed it would be a landslide victory in her favor. But residents of Chicago had an unexpected trick up their sleeve. Despite the fact that Davidson had died, his name remained on the ballot.
“The ballots had already been printed, and since no other contestants made an effort to run after Davidson’s death, we decided to keep the existing ballots,” Carrol Dean, head of the election committee said in an interview. “We didn’t think having his name on there would have been a problem. After all, everyone knew he had died.” That didn’t stop residents from showing up to the city elections in droves, many of them casting their ballot in support of Davidson.
“Honestly, you know, Davidson was the best mayor we’ve ever More >
NFASF: Controversy Brews over Plan to Publicize Memories
Apr 4th
Controversy Brews over Plan to Publicize Memories
History buffs applaud publishing memories of those deceased, privacy advocates cry foul
Story by Ned Dion
When the personal memory and DNA backup system was first released over fifty years ago, it was hailed as a great advancement, ensuring that people all over the world could be restored to their original condition if something were to ever happen to them. Unfortunately, the price tag meant that most people would never be able to take advantage of the devices, and as time went on, it became clear that there were some longevity issues with the standalone units.
“It’s what drove me to start my service,” Don Donaldson said, referring to the aforementioned problems. “I wanted to make memory backup affordable and reliable.” Donaldson’s service, dubbed MemorySpace, has been in business now for nearly fifteen years. MemorySpace’s services are run by two main components: the memory reader–a small, relatively inexpensive device that interfaces with the firetooth connection on your computer–and the MemorySpace portal. It was the inexpensive reader device that put MemorySpace on the map.
“We wanted to make sure that the device was not only inexpensive, but free to share,” Donaldson said, showing off one of the More >
Around the Internet: Welcome to April Fools
Apr 1st
Oh, hello there! You must be new here. What’s that? Yes, I know, it can be extremely confusing. How long have you been a netizen, now? Only two days? Where on Earth have you been for the last decade, under a rock? Oh. I see. Sorry about that, just a … anyhow, I can see you’re clearly lost and confused. You see, every year on April 1st–typically known as April Fools Day–the denizens of this magical place you yourself have recently become a part of celebrate by posting ridiculous news stories, changing their names, making horrid redesigns, and more. I can see you’re still confused. Here, let me give you some examples of this year’s pranks:
Google Topeka-based Pranks:Google announces new company name: Topeka
Youtube adds new text-based mode for videos called TEXTp (I must say, seeing certain videos in TEXTp mode can blow your mind…)
Google Wave adds new methods of notification
Google Docs allows you to upload physical objects to the cloud
Strange News Stories:French Government Bans use of “2.0″
Ferrets key to bridging the digital divide
High Energy Collisions Reveal a Paleoparticle
Man arrested at Large Hadron Collider claims he is from the future
New Features at Popular Websites:What’s Up With Strange Future?
Mar 28th
So, in case you’re wondering what’s going on with the first book (since you’re visiting this site I’m assuming you’re at least somewhat interested, otherwise you wouldn’t be here) here’s the quick scoop:
Being Made Free at More Places:Thanks to the awesome folks at Smashwords, the eBook version (which is free, as you all know) will soon be available for free at even more places. This includes Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Sony, and Amazon. (The current version that’s for sale there will be removed soon.) In addition to all these places, Smashwords just sent out an email notification that it will also soon be available on Apple’s iBookstore for the iPad at or close to launch day. You all might not think it’s that cool, but it’s awesome and pretty exciting. I’ll let you all know as soon as it’s up at each site.
A Few New Reviews:Though I’ve been meaning to make a review page containing links to several reviews, I’ve not gotten around to it just yet. Meanwhile, the copy that’s up on Smashwords has gotten a couple of reviews I’d like to take the time to share:
Review from Mike Collins on March 13, 2010, 3/5 stars:
I liked it … quite a More >
NFASF: Woman Upset Over “Unauthorized Cloning”
Mar 25th
Woman Upset Over “Unauthorized Cloning”
Claims donating her husband’s body to science didn’t authorize them to clone him
Story by Marshall Grey, Op-Ed Writer
A local woman, exasperated and running out of other options, is bringing her story to the media, and it’s quite a story. Joann–Jo, as her friends call her–Willman is a sixty-one year old widow who has lived in this city her entire life. Don’t let her age fool you: she’s still as spry as she used to be, and is determined to fight this “sad circumstance” as long as she can. You see, a little over thirty years ago, Jo’s husband Rex passed away.
“He was always so into technology,” she said, looking at a picture of him forlornly. “He was a first adopter for everything.” It was true. Rex worked hard and saved his money so he could afford the latest and greatest offerings from the world of technology. As she showed me around her apartment on the upper east side, I spotted all sorts of devices that were top-of-the-line when released. Rex had collected several versions of different DNA and memory backup systems, both of the memory disk players put out during the studio wars More >
Around the Internet: “Sarah Palin: Vampire Hunter”
Mar 17th
While I don’t usually take a lot of time to read eBooks (I prefer traditional, dead tree books) I stumbled across an interesting looking book on Smashwords last week when I was getting my own book put up on there. At the time, it was simply titled “Twinkle”. With the name and cover being an obvious play on the Twilight series (no, I’ve not read them, but have seen the cover image on the top of both the “Worst Books Ever” and “Best Books Ever” lists over on Goodreads simultaneously) it intrigued me. Initially I thought it must be some sort of fan fiction, but didn’t think fan fiction was allowed. After reading the first review, I decided it was definitely worth a shot, and downloaded it.
I just finished it last night, and I must say I really enjoyed it. Quite funny, and well worth the small amount of time it takes to get through it. I think I’m going to have to check out some other things by the author (Dan McGirt, blog here) when I get the chance…
Teaser Tuesday: Cloning
Mar 16th
For this week’s Teaser Tuesday I bring you two paragraphs from a chapter that has a brief discussion on cloning (why, specifically, I will not reveal). This is only part of the narration from this section, and is part of my efforts to make more of the revelations about future life and tech come from the narrator and/or the character’s personal experiences rather than having Darin, Lyla or someone else explain things directly. Enjoy!
The major problem with clones is not so much the feelings of deja vu one experiences after encountering several of them in rapid succession, but rather in the semantics involved with keeping track of them. When the technology to clone first came into use, the scientists involved briefly experimented with numbering, lettering, even code-naming each clone to try and distinguish them from one another. This practice was quickly discovered to be rather ineffective due to the fact that as soon as the clones moved around the room, it was impossible to know which of them was ‘Alpha’ and which of them was ‘Beta’. It was rather disheartening for the scientists because the idea had seemed so good on paper, but in use was rather futile. This realization More >