An amazing emergence right from the depths of the 19th century

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

No really connected to my horrifying common cold adventure, just today this weird thing happened which I felt I had to share though surely no one would believe it.

Anyway, just this day I was woken up on an ungoldy hour, so early in the morning my smartphone refused to show the time. On the phone was this driver of a load of bricks I had to receive (No kidding. Really a load of bricks.). So he asked me where to deliver the bricks and I gave him the address.

No, he told me. How do you reach it? Do you turn right or left from Main Street.
Just put the address in your GPS, I tell him, somewhat naively.
I don't have a GPS, he tells me.

So, I ended up having to explain to him how to turn right on Main Street, left at the traffic lights, then after a quarter mile take the left lane ... I didn't do this in something like ten or twenty years.

So, I had to share this experience. There still are some people out there without smartphones or even GPS, even people who drive shipments for their livelihood. Amazing.

As I said, it is not really connected to science fiction or fantasy, except when thinking of the concept of the survival of the dinosaurs to this day ...

Wilder than any science fiction plot or fantasy day dream - the day I was jump started!

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

And so it came, that awful enemy worse than any science fiction mad scientist or fantasy's evil warlock. It came without notice and it lay me low with a fell blow against which I had no defense.

The common cold.

Yea, laugh as you will but the common cold that hit me was anything but common. It hit with a vengeance and stayed put, finding its new accommodation to its liking. In other words, it infected me with its nefarious illness and would not leave.

Again, laugh as hard as you wish but neither the farthest reaches of space nor the deepest pit of hell failed to spawn such an evil common cold.

I can deal with a sore throat, a running nose and sneezes just like everyone else but the low blow in this case was the fact that hellish common cold did not allow me to sleep.

The demonic common cold took a hold of my nose and sealed it shut. And I need my nose to breathe! No amount of cures, medicines, curses, blessings and prayers helped. And I cannot sleep with a nose sealed shut. I breathe through my nose when sleeping!

I slept about four hours in four nights, one hour every night. Try walking around even after one night in which you sleep only one hour and you may start to get the first glimpses of my sorry state. And I went through four!

The situation was desperate. Never had any homicidal robot, sociopath artificial intelligence or evil wizard placed me in such a desperate plight before.

And then, it dawned upon me. The solution. Something no science fiction or fantasy author would dare put his character through. But I had to do it. It was the only way.

More about this a bit later, after I fortify my soul against the rigors of this horrible story.

And the tale of woe goes on Wilder than any science fiction plot or fantasy day dream - the day I was jump started! - Part 2.

A breakthrough in that rivals any Artificial Intelligence and Blue Brain advancement: Dragon Programming !!! Science Fiction and fantasy becoming true life!

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

Well, you might remember I already wrote about my own little personal dragon, age 3 years old and thousands of years in cynicism.

So, I was asking her the other day whether she liked her old dad. Naturally, she said she liked her mommy, because "she is cute", she liked her little baby brother "because he is cute" but she didn't like her daddy (i.e. me!) because I wasn't cute.

But war is fought by trickery and complex plots. She really likes my smartphone, especially the recording app, which she uses to record herself.

I taught her to use it about one year go by saying repeatedly "Daddy is cute! Daddy is cute!". Today, she keeps saying that even a minute after she said her daddy wasn't cute.

Get the point? by using the smartphone and the recorder in it, I managed to program her! This is not science fiction or fantasy, this is true life!

I see great applications for this procedure for dragon programming ... I will update on the results of the continuing research into this fascinating subject ...

 

And a recent development right from the battlefield. She told me "Daddy is cute!" today without any prompting. Hurrah for progressive education methods ... Hurrah for science fiction derived methods ...

 

 



Railgun, Mass Driver and Linear Accelerators - The Dark side!

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

So, if this is the effect of a railgun shot:

Another railgun test footage:

What problems can there possibly be with this weapon type? In other words, why is this still a pure science fiction weapon?

Actually, there are several problems with railguns, mass drivers and linear accelerators in general. Which is kind of obvious since you can't see them in military forces yet, except a US Navy trial weapon.

Well, the first and foremost problem is the energy required. In convensional firearms, the energy to launch the projectile is provided by chemical reactions from explosive proplellants such as cordite gunpowder. But railguns require a direct electrical power source, in fact a power source so large currenlty only US Navy battleships can provide it.

Until ways to carry and minimize the power source are found, railguns will remain exotic weapons found only on battleships.

Another hurdle that needs to be over come is recoil. Newton has explained to us hunderds of years ago that if we push something away, it will push us right back. Since a railgun projectile has so much kinetic energy, the recoil forces will be huge. Again, it may be that only something as large as a battleship will be able to realistically use a railgun.

And last but not least, the magnetic signature. Since a railgun uses huge magnetic fields to propell its projectile, the magnetic fields created are relatively easily disovered. In effect, the platform mounting and firing a railgun will be shouting "I'm here! Come and get me!" as loud as it would be able.

So, there's still some work to be done before fielding battlefield worthy railguns will become a reality but I have no doubts this science fiction weapon will become reality.

The Ultimate Science Fiction Weapon - The Rail Gun

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

The railgun has also been called a mass-driver or a linear accelerator. What is it and what makes it such an exciting weapon, at least for science fiction authors ...

Well, the railgun actually has a very simple working principle. It propells projectiles by using a very strong electromagnetic field along an elongated barrel. The magnetic force pushes the projectile out and gives it a tremendous amount of kinetic energy, energy which can be translated to a huge range or extereme penetrating power.

So, what is the railgun good for? Why is it considered the weapon of the future? Why does many science fiction books consider it the ultimate weapon ?

First of all, the railgun is a true revolution in the technology of war. It is a departure from current firearms technology which has served in war for more than one thousand years, if you count various rockets used by the Chinese.

The railgun does not use any propellant or rocket engine. The entire driving mechanism resides in the shooter and stays with him. So, a ship or a shore installation would have no problem shooting thousands of railgun projectiles, if enough power exists.

Another thing is the energy the railgun's projectile has. In effect, it is bound only by the amount of power the shooter has, subject to the technological limits of actually projecting the necessary magnetic fields. But, once this is done, the projectile would have so much energy, a railgun cannon would be able to easily fire over ranges of hundreds of miles and penetrate almost every bunker.

Weather immunity. The railgun, unlike the laser, is not subject to weather conditions. It does not matter if its raining, snowing or if a dust storm exists. A railgun would punch through anything. True science fiction fantasy here - the weapon that no one can defend against.

Last but not least, the railgun has a staggering amount of application, pending technology availability and development. It can be used to bombard enemy forces, penetrate deep bunkers, hurl projectiles over entire continents, and of course, launch satellites.

Railgun Impact from a US Navy Test - Try not to be on the receiving end ...

So, what are we waiting for? Where are the railguns, mass-drivers and linear accelerators today?
More on this later ...

Finally, the weapon every artificial intelligence should have has been declared operational - US Navys LAWS Laser

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

And the video:

Lasers seem to be the weapon of the future, don't they? A classic science fiction weapon come to life today!

But why? What is so good about a laser as weapon that science fiction authors have put it in books for years and even the navy deploys it on its ships (one warship for now).

Well, the laser obviously travels in the speed of light, which makes aiming and hitting the target much easier. Just point and shoot. Of course, its not really that simple because you have to maintain lock on your target,

The other good thing is ammo. You don't usually run out of laser ammo and even chemical lasers have cheep ammo that a ship can easily store for hundreds of shots.

Okay. and now what about drawbacks? Actually, the laser as a weapon does have a few drawbacks, which most science fiction authors would not tell you about. To create a significant effect on a large target, an enemy airplane or a missile, you need to have a laser in the kilowatt to megawatt range, which today still presents a technological problem.

So, if you have a weaker laser, you can point it at the enemy longer, thus gathering destructive energy over time. This however requires complex tracking and locating systems.

Last but no least, weather. Even for IR laser such as the Navy's LaWS, it needs a clear weather to operate. It is doubtful how much good it can do if the target hides in clouds or in a storm.

Even with these problems, the US Navy's LaWS laser is a technological breakthrough and an important new addition to the arsenal.

And what's the connection to Artificial Intelligence? There really is none, but it is a cool weapon nonetheless.


So, what is the alternative? The Ultimate weapon? The Rail Gun!

Cold Thinking - From Classical Greek Dragons to Artificial Intelligence

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

Power is not really as frightening as it seems to be. I mean, sure, dragons are amongst the most fearsome creatures in mythology and fiction but their sheer power is not the thing people find most frightening, deep inside.

What powers do they have? Usually, especially Greek dragons in mythology, have a wide range of powers. Usually poison in some sort or other. Eyes, even hundreds of eyes. The ability to never sleep. The ability to see the future. Sheer size that puts them on a level with a national catastrophe rather than just a monster with fangs.

On a side note, Greek dragons usually don't breathe fire ...

Artificial Intelligences are also considered some of the most fearsome things, fortunately enough, only in fiction so far. But just like dragons, their most frightening feature is not their sheer power.

What power do Artificial Intelligences usually possess? Taking cue from real projects such as The Blue Brain, they usually have vast computing power, which may be put in various uses, from cracking and hacking to calculating intricate plots and inventing horrendous things.

For an example, the time travel device used in the Terminator series films was invented by the Skynet Artificial Intelligence and not by humans.

So, dragons and artificial intelligences, though usually residing in very different types of stories, one in science fiction and the other in fantasy books, have awesome powers but this is not what makes them so fearsome to us mere mortals.

What makes them so fearsome is their way of thinking.The cold thinking. The Virus Thinking.

What does that mean? It means thinking beings, be they dragons or artificial intelligences, that can think and reason and plan but have no compassion, nor feelings nor any kind of understanding or empathy with humans, with us.

And that's frightening. A fearsome predator that sees us only as food source. A cold artificial intelligence that sees us only as tools to maintain its devices and computers. In all those cases, these things will wipe us out on an individual or planet wide scale without giving this another thought.

Think of some of the worst dictators the world has ever seen. I think these cold thinkers, these dragons of myth and artificial intelligence in science fiction stories will be worse.

But wait, we are trying to build artificial intelligences in real life. Maybe we will get the chance to see cold thinking in real life. I don't think this would be much fun ...

Dragon's Circular Logic

by Bruno Flexer, Author of: Dragon Over Washington for Kindle,  Dragon Over Washington Paperback The Fire At The Gates Automatic Rebellion UK Amazon: Bruno Flexer's Works

Just wanted to showcase the kind of very personal, very draconic, very three years old logic - my own little dragon possesses.

So the other day the dragon says a boy had hit her at kindergarden.
When I asked why, she said becasue she didn't want to play with him.
When I asked why she didn't want to play with him, she said because he hit her ...

Another example.
Little dragon, I ask, would you like to make salad with me?
She said yes and actually jumped up and down in excitement.
So, what would you like to help me with?
I'll sit next to you.
So, I will prepare the salad, what will you do?
I'll eat it! she said without batting an eyelash ...

And another fine example of that tiny dragon's way of thinking.
When going to sleep, I turn off all the lights and the shutters and such and she complains that she wants light. Naturally. She wants to stay up and play with her dolls in bed ... So I firmly say I have to turn off the lights so she can sleep. A few minutes later she calls me.
Yes, I ask. Is everything ok?
Daddy, I want a flashlight ... And she is three years old ...