Culture and Technology

            I’m a person who thrives on technology. Not that I know how any of it works – and some of it, I can hardly ever get it to do what I want – but I can’t imagine a life without all the technology I have at my disposal. Yet, at the same time, I wonder what impact it will have on the natural progression of our society.

            For the last two hundred years, technology has advanced at an astounding rate. Along with it has grown our ability to preserve and display our own history and culture. At the same time as preserving, we’re reinforcing our own cultural identity.

            Through movies and internet, the various concepts, values and beliefs important to our culture are expressed over and over. We watch these and pass them on to our children; our history and ideals are passed on as they never were able to be before. We preserve so much, and yet, I wonder if we aren’t causing cultural progression to grow stagnant.

            On social media, on several occasions I’ve come across a video showing the standards for human beauty as they have changed over the years. But, when was the last time these standards truly changed? With all the movies and videos out there reinforcing our current standards, how many generations will it take before we move on?

            A character in one of the Assassin’s Creed video games once commented on a preserved city that “history is the study of change” and that when change stops, death occurs. It’s the same with culture – it is meant to be forever changing and growing.

            So, I wonder, is how much we strive to preserve things good or bad? Will our current technologies preserve our generation in a way that will make simple work for future archaeologists, or will it become the gospel by which future generations live?

            I guess only time will tell.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Augmented Reality and the Future

            In the past couple of weeks, the internet (and, indeed, the world) has exploded about the new augmented reality game, Pokemon Go. There are two major opinions – the people who love the game and those who think it’s stupid. To me, though, the important thing to look at is what this game means for the future.

            Last year, I shared the story of the Zombies, Run! app and how it got Colleen and myself out exercising regularly when otherwise we could hardly dream of it. Pokemon Go has done the same thing across the whole world – people who would normally be inside all summer playing video games are now outside, exercising, exploring and socializing. People with mental health issues, such as depression and PTSD, are reporting improvements.

So, what do those two games have in common? They make exercise fun, rather than a chore.

            Now, the term “Augmented Reality” is something I’ve become quite familiar with over the past year. Why? Because one day, while out running from zombies, I said to Colleen, “Wouldn’t it be cool if someone developed a technology that would let us actually see the zombies that are chasing us in the story?” I then went on to hypothesize that you could take a virtual reality headset, mount cameras to feed in the scenery and then add in the digital characters.

            I figured I couldn’t be the only one to come up with this idea, so I did some research. What I found was astonishing – in particular, a company called Magic Leap that is working on a piece of technology far beyond what I had been imagining. My brain was flooded with ideas for the possible uses of this technology – yes, games were at the forefront, but there are so many practical purposes as well. It functions as an immersive mobile computer, an art platform, a communications device. With it, people have the potential to holo-comute to work.

            To me, though, the best application of augmented reality is the ability to combine work and play. Imagine being able to go into work and have the work you do become part of a game. You could have high scores that you try to beat each days, achievements and awards for completing a certain amount of work at a certain speed. Goals and praise that can break up an otherwise dull and tedious work shift. From an employer’s standpoint, it could be used to improve worker output and even work quality through turning work into a game.

            Pokemon Go is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re entering a future where science fiction is becoming a reality, and it has great potential for improving life in innumerable ways. All it takes are some deceptive photons and a little imagination to make the world a better place.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Songs of Khrull

            Unfortunately, Colleen and I have fallen behind on Of Dice and Glen, so this month’s episode will have to wait for another day. However, on a related note, we’ve been having a great time playing D&D with a group at our local board game cafe. Out Dungeon Master has been keeping a blog record of our adventure, so if you’re interested (and starved for our D&D adventures), you can click here to check it out.

            One thing I’ve been having a lot of fun with while playing this adventure is writing songs. My character is a minstrel when he’s not moonlighting as an assassin. In order to subtly gather information about an assassination target, he claimed to be writing a song about them. So, to hold to the character, I actually wrote a song.

            And, since I’d written one, why stop there? Once we completed the first adventure, I whipped together a second one to summarise everything our characters had done. So, here they are!

Livinia the Mage (Sung to a tune adapted from “Ragnar the Red” from Skyrim)

Oh, Livinia the mage was the worst kind of scum,

With her half-orsine offspring, all four of them dumb.

They raided and looted the roads of Chiswell,

Til the King's Guard arrived to bid them farewell.

But Livinia the mage and her sons ran away,

To the south and the bridge leading to Gannaway.

Now, along come our heroes, with some other plan,

Mhurrun, Luna and Lumi, Cididel and Phann.

Evil Livinia, she plans out an ambush at night,

With an old man as hostage, she thinks they won't fight.

Our heroes did charge in and slay all her brood,

They set Livinia running and our heroes pursued.

By the time that they caught her, Livinia was deaaaad...!

With a mysterious arrow shot right through her head.

The Heroes of Tolvir (Sung to a tune adapted from “The Hero of Canton” from Firefly)

Now, Tolvir was a village in trouble,

It lately been plagued by a skulk.

It raided and pillaged the houses,

Everyone stayed inside to sulk.

Then along came some heroes, quite mighty,

They were hired by old Papa Kurst.

They set out to solve all their problems,

Preparing to deal with the worst.

(CHORUS)

The monsters are slain,

The skulks are no more,

The heroes of Tolvir,

It's one for the lore!

Luna's a barbarian tiefling,

She delighted in finding a spoon.

She hacked up some lions in battle,

The map she found proved quite the boon.

CHORUS

[Deleted verse]

[Cididel was really a coward,

Some illusions made him full of fear.

When assassins attacked in the night,

Cididel charged right for the rear.]

When assassins attacked in the night,

It was Lumi who levelled the field.

The elf, with cunning and stealth attacks,

Gave the villains not a chance to yield.

CHORUS

Cididel charged right into battle,

At a ramshackle villa, I'm told.

Blasting monsters with all his magic,

The tiefling proved himself quite bold.

CHORUS

In battle with hideous ghouls,

The elf Phann cut them down with his steel.

Whenever a friend became injured,

He was right by their side for to heal.

CHORUS

When attacked by a whole tribe of xvarts,

Half-orc Mhurren was eager to fight.

He slew goblinoids by the score,

With his maul fling left and right.

CHORUS

At long last they came to the skulk,

Its mind broken and wretched to see.

They took away its glove and slayed it,

Its death was an act of mercy.

(CHORUS)

The monsters are slain,

The skulks are no more,

The heroes of Tolvir,

It's one for the lore!

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Truth or Satire?

            A few years ago, I found myself reading an article about a recent study. The article talked about how this study, funded by a major oil corporation, had found that an increase in solar power would kill the sun faster, literally sucking the energy out of it to make our electricity.

            At the time, I was unaware that this was a satirical journalism website. Nothing clearly labelled it as such. However, as I simply couldn’t believe what the ridiculous article claimed, I started doing research to find out the validity. Before I discovered t was a satire site, I found myself going through the comments, seeing if people were believing what the article claimed.

            Most didn’t. Likely, many were aware that the whole article was a joke. However, there were some who fervently believed that this was true – solar energy was sucking energy out of the sun and would cause it to burn out faster.

            Since then, I have seen numerous satirical articles shared on social media by people who think they are real. Because they share some of the views being mocked by the satirical tone, they readily believe the articles without taking the time to check the information.

            It is so indicative of society. We see something official looking, so we automatically believe it. Researching takes too much time and effort. So, if we want or fear it to be true, we’ll believe it.

            On the rare occasion that someone wants to look into the validity of what they’re reading, it’s nearly impossible to get a confirmation unless you can get to the source. With the internet, information is right at our fingertips – but so is misinformation.

            Sarcastic and satirical people often make the mistake of thinking others understand their sense of humour. Unfortunately, there are a whole lot of literal people in the world, who take everything at face value. It’s no wonder there are so many people with no understanding of each other.

            Adding to the trouble is the requirement for news to be entertainment. I saw an episode of Gilmore Girls the other day where the main character, aspiring to be a journalist, had her writing criticised for not having her opinions in it. It’s the sad truth about our news these days – it’s all about the opinions of the people presenting it.

            What we really need is a news service called something like “Just the Facts” which presents nothing but the facts of a situation. Then people are given the freedom to decide what they think for themselves.

            But, that wouldn’t be entertaining enough, would it? And it sounds like a lot of work. Why would we want to make up our own minds about things when it’s so much simpler to agree with someone else? There’s no need to think when you can blindly follow.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Magic of Shiny Objects

            I spent this last weekend selling chainmaille at the Oxford Renaissance Festival and there were a few things I simply had to share. Namely, the magic of shiny objects.

            Friday was the first day of the festival, at least for school kids. It was Education Day, so a bunch of schools came out on trips to have some fun, watch some jousting and maybe learn something. Only a few of the vendors were present for the show – in fact, we were the only ones in the indoor location (our tent is annoying to transport – plus it is still broken from last year).

            Now, it should be mentioned that the festival was at a new location this year, which means that there is a lot of trial and error in figuring out what will and won’t work. For example, having a barn with only one vendor off to the side of where the majority of the festival’s activities take place doesn’t work.

            Because we were the only ones there, Colleen and I moved our whole setup right into the doorway of the barn, where we could be seen from outside. There were plenty of kids there, but because there was nothing else where we were, no one even looked in our direction (except one bus driver, who dropped by to chat for a bit).

            Until the end of the day. The sun had shifted enough to shine into the barn, glinting off the armour shirts at the front of our display. Finally, a few groups spotted us and came over. They didn’t buy anything, but that’s okay – the rest of the weekend made op for that with the normal festival days.

            Ah, yes. The rest of the weekend. The first thing that needs to be said about it is that it was hot. Outside, the sun was beating down – though a nice breeze kept the heat from being unbearable.

            Inside, there was no breeze. The barn we were in wasn’t one of those wooden barns, no. It was a metal barn, with metal roofing that the sun was beating down upon. Inside, it was an oven – even with doors open at both ends in an attempt to catch some of the breeze.

            A number of the events attendees commented on the heat in the barn, but there was one couple that went a step farther. After noticing we had an electrical outlet behind our table, they actually went home and brought a fan back for us. Isn’t that amazing? They left it with us for the whole weekend and came back to pick it up at the end of the show the next day. Needless to say, we were enormously grateful.

            Anyway, back to the magic of shiny objects. Along with the event’s move, the festival got some new partners – namely the local(ish) Boys and Girls Club. One of the new people involved came up with a wonderful idea. He’d grown up in an underprivileged household and he remembered loving events like these, but being sad that he never had any money to spend with the vendors. So he made “Coins of the Realm” that were given to underprivileged families along with special festival packages.

            All the vendors were asked to accept these “Coins of the Realm” at a value of $5 – which we’d be reimbursed for at the end of the festival. From the moment I heard the idea, I thought it was an incredible way to bring a little joy to people who have difficult lives. I can’t express how happy I was when they were used to make a purchase from me. Not only was I proud to be able to help these people, but the gratitude I could see in the eyes of the parents who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to buy something for their child – it was truly the best part of my weekend.

            Shiny objects really do have a magic all of their own.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Perseverance for Data

            This week, I was talking with my wife about promoting her business. Starting a new business is a challenging and frustrating process, but spreading the word about it is the hardest part. A lot of time and energy gets put into figuring out how to reach potential customers and it can be disheartening when it doesn’t pay off.

            The important thing to remember, though, is that a business is a long-term prospect, as is figuring out what works for you. Perseverance is extremely important, as well as collecting additional data before jumping to conclusions.

            Colleen was disappointed in a couple of marketing techniques she’d tried, without seeing any improvement in her business. She compared what she’d done to the one method she know has worked, which was getting listed on a website – far less time and work than her other, more creative attempts. I told her that these new attempts needed more testing before she ruled them out as effective. She didn’t have enough data to make the decision.

            To demonstrate my point, I pulled out a coin and told her to make a tally chart – heads vs tails. I explained what I had learned about probability in grade five; if you flip a coin enough times, it will eventually land on both sides the same number of times.

            I started flipping the coin. The first three flips were all heads, and we finally got a tails on the fourth flip. At this point, I asked Colleen what side the coin was most likely to land on next, based on the data we had. She said heads, of course – and that’s what we got.

            We kept on flipping the coin and the heads column kept a lead, but tails did catch up a little. With heads at seven and tails at six, I asked again – based on the data, what is the most likely side of the coin? Heads again.

            Tails finally caught up with heads when they had both landed nine times. At this point, I explained again that, however many times we flipped the coin, it would eventually even out. However, until we had gathered enough data, we had no way of knowing that – or, in our case, knowing if it was true.

            Applying this to marketing methods, I explained (or would have if Colleen hadn’t already figured out on her own) that having a clever marketing method not yield any results once or twice does not provide enough information to call it faulty. Perseverance is required so that enough data may be gained to determine what does and doesn’t work. Then, a decision to continue or discontinue the method may be made.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Bargains

Of Dice and Glen is a story being written following D&D 5th Edition rules and using Minecraft as the battle mat (and to set the scene). Each of the two writers control their own characters and share the job of Dungeon Master (controlling the environment, story, monsters and background characters). As a result, neither of us has any clue of what's going on or where this is going. So, let's have fun!

This story is split between episodes being posted on the second Monday of every month. You can find the first episode here and the previous episode here.


Of Dice and Glen Episode 14: Bargains

Looking from her dragonborn friend to this new and fascinating figure, Luna frowned slightly.

“Go back and talk to the short one,” she said quietly to Shaddar. “Lemme try.”

“It’s no use,” Shaddar grumbled. “Drow would probably just lie anyway.”

He headed back to the table to speak with the halfling.

The tiefling waited for the dragonborn to leave, then she shuffled sideways along the bars, looking up at the elf.

“Hey, psst...”

The drow hesitated a long moment, but Luna had lured and earned the trust of squirrels and similarly skittish creatures. A calm, innocent smile remained on her face.

After a time, the drow turned, slowly, and cast a suspicious and narrow gaze back at the halfling and dragonborn. Then, she looked down at the little creature outside her cell. Impatient movements of her hands wiped away the moisture that had gathered on her cheeks.

“What do you want?” she demanded, her tone once again harsh and strident.

“Do you really want to know?” Luna asked, tilting her head. “‘Cause it doesn’t sound like it.”

Narrowing her eyes, the drow took a few imperious paces across her cell. Turning, it seemed as though her eyes were trying to look anywhere but at the tiefling.

“I... Do...” She said, forcing the words out.

A sudden, wide smile belied Luna’s next words.

“I want to find out why somebody wants to invade and burn down my home,” she said. “And then I want to lash them with my tail! And spear them on my horns! And scratch out their eyes!!”

Prancing around like a toddler, she made a great show of whipping her strong tail side to side, then running forward, horns foremost, like a charging bull. Finally, she raked the air with grubby fingernails, teeth bared and a sparkle of fire in her eyes.

Watching this display in open dismay, the dark elf didn't respond until the tiefling came to the mentions of violence. Her face moved into a hungry smile, and she nodded.

“Yes!” She hissed, excitement infusing her voice. “And revel in the feeling of their warm blood running down your arms, the sweet sound of suffering caressing your ears...”

“I’ll make them pay,” Luna agreed, softly, that same small smile remaining on her face. “Will you help me?”

“I-” began the drow, then she stopped speaking and looked toward the dragonborn. “Don’t you believe what that male said?”

“What?” the tiefling asked. “That you’re evil?” Shrugging she turned a circle, as if dancing. “Do you want to be?”

“I don’t know,” she said, the drow’s face moving with conflicting emotions as she stared down at the little devil child.

“Seems to me you can do whatever you want,” Luna said. “Please, will you help? Maybe you’ll find out if you help.”

The dark elf’s face grew pensive, a cheek or brow occasionally twitching. Then, slowly, she nodded.

“Very well,” she said. “I will assist you. And if I discover I truly am evil, I will kill you both.”

“You can try!” giggled Luna, lashing her tail again. “You’re fun! Shaddar is a good man… Dragon… Lizard… Thing… But he doesn’t really play with me. Shaddar!” she called, suddenly, to her companion. “You should be more like- Wait, what’s your name?”

“My name is…”began the dark elf, then she swallowed and turned her face away. “Urravyll Noqumtor.”

Shaddar looked up from his conversation with the halfling, tongue flicking irritably. “What are you on about now, imp?”

“She says she’ll help!” The tiefling exclaimed, skipping a little on the spot and beaming toward the dragonborn.

“She does know.” Shaddar was back by Luna’s side in a flash. “Who’s behind this? Where do we find them?”

“Shaddar!” Luna said, poking her friend in the scaly ribs reproachfully.

The dark elf cast the dragonborn a sidelong glance and remained silent, looking toward the tiefling.

“I thought you said she would help?” Shaddar said.

“Be nice to her!” Luna said, pointing to the elf. “Like this: excuse me, pretty elf lady... Would you please tell us all about what you know? Then you can try and kill me! Does that sound like fun?”

Urravyll looked from Luna to the dragonborn, and nodded imperiously.

“The devil child knows the way of things much better than you, male,” she said. “Respect. And I've seen the symbol on a tower, half sunken into the ground.”

Shaddar’s tongue flicked as he looked disbelievingly at Luna. He liked the odd tiefling, but it seemed strange that an evil drow had taken to her. Also a little concerning.

“Thank you,” he said to Urravyll. “Might you be able to tell us where it is?”

“I'm afraid not,” she said. “However, I am perfectly capable of leading you to the very spot.”

“Let's go!” Luna squeaked, with excitement, tail twitching. “We’re gonna... What was it? Splash around in the oozing blood?”

“No!” The halfling came back from the table. “Nuh, uh, not a chance! She’s an evil, house-burning, kidnapping drow. If we let her out, we’ll never get her back in there.”

Shaddar looked between the three, tongue flickering.

“I’m afraid she’s right, Luna,” he said. “She’s dangerous.”

“Well I'm dangerous too!” She said, baring her teeth in a way that entirely failed to look intimidating but did manage to look slightly pathetic and cute. “Are you gonna lock me up, too?”

“If yer burn down houses, yeah,” the halfling said. “We can’t let criminals walk free. Especially not this one - I’d sooner have a dragon roaming our village. Erm… no offence.”

Shaddar chuckled and shook his head.

Luna giggled along with her friend. Then her face grew somber as she remembered her dear forest.

“All right,” she said, squaring off with the halfling. “What's your name?”

“Bree Thorngage,” the halfing said, facing the tiefling with arms akimbo. “What’s it to yer?”

“Bree Thorngage,” Luna began again. “We told you what we want, and you said no. But I have to ask you again. Please let us take the criminal. I don't think she could escape; Shaddar and I are really strong.”

“Yer may be strong, but yer only two and she’s devious,” Bree said, sticking a thumb in the drow’s direction. “Yer should see that weapon she carries. Besides, yer friend lacks yer confidence.”

“It’s not safe,” Shaddar agreed. “What do we do when we need to sleep? Or when we get to the tower and her allies ambush us?”

“The path is dark,” the dark elf spoke to the tiefling, then moved away, to the furthest corner of her cell.

“No!” Shouted Luna, stamping her foot petulantly. “She's coming with us. Do you hear me?”

The halfling took a step back.

“Not unless we can trust her,” Shaddar insisted, tongue flicking at the impetuous tiefling. “We’re likely to have enough enemies without one in our midst.”

“You’re so mean!” Luna whined. “Everybody thinks you’re bloodthirsty because you’ve got scales and everybody thinks I’m evil because I’ve got horns! But you’re gonna just keep all that nastiness going because of what she looks like?”

“No,” Shaddar said. “I’m choosing to believe the evidence of my own eyes. Beyond that she is in jail for kidnapping children, her attitude is clearly that of an evil one.”

“The house was on fire...”

“What?” Luna’s head whipped around to stare at the elf, who had not moved, but whose quiet words had reached the tiefling’s ears.

“I do not claim to be many things,” Urravyl said. “But I will have the truth spoken about me. I laid the children carefully beside the house as it burned.”

“Yes.” Bree snarled. “So you could slit their throats and bathe in their blood.”

“No!” stated the elf, forcefully, her foot coming down hard in sudden anger. “It was an act of mercy. However it is clear to me that no words of mine will sway you from your stubbornness.”

As the elf turned to the tiefling’s mind went into frantic motion, the end of her tail twitching with the effort.

“Wait!” she wailed, then turned to Shaddar. “What if she sweared, to her god-thingy?”

Shaddar considered for a moment. He gave a firm nod and snap of his jaws.

“She seems wholly devoted. Only a fool would break a vow to a god, even if it is an evil god.”

“Well?” Luna enquired, turning shining eyes to the elf, who began to shake her head.

The elf’s eyes grew wide and she continued to shake her head as she backed away from the friends. Turning, both fists came down to clench by her sides.

“Swear to Lollth,” she whispered, her voice shaking to match her hands.

She stood for a long moment, her barely trembling outside masking a soul in utter turmoil.

“Yes, swear to my lady, the Queen of Spiders, Lollth,” she stated at last, in a sudden burst of volume, turning back to the people outside her cell. “And in so doing, she may very well abandon me for all time.”

“Is someone going to open the cell now?” asked the tiefling, growing bored of the drama.

Aghast, Bree looked from the Dragonborn to the Tiefling.

“Crazy. Yer both crazy,” she said. “Very well. I’ll release her to yer charge, but know yer responsible for her! If she causes our village any more trouble, it’s on yer heads. And she’s not to have her gear while yer still in sight of the village!”

Grumbling to herself, the halfling stalked over to the cell and unlocked the door.

Discover what happens next in Episode 15: On the Road Again

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.