Author, Podcaster, and Programmer
James Moore left work at 4AM, as usual. The foyer of the building was completely empty. Even the guard station was unmanned. This was not exactly common, but not that unusual either. He pushed the interior glass door open then waited for the click of the exterior door locks to open. Then he shoved his way through the tall glass exterior door.
Oh my. What has changed? What has changed. Anybody who wants to, can just look on Wikipedia to see what life used to be like, but ever since I turned 80, people have wanted to know what life used to be like. For those of us geezers who lived through it, the world still seems a little weird. A little sci-fi, I suppose. I think that, when we talk, some of that slips out, and kids can feel how different it was.
It seemed like everybody had seen Death Note before me. I knew there was a manga about it. I knew there was an anime based on it. I even knew there was a live-action version coming. I knew my co-workers had seen/read it. I knew my daughter had seen/read it, but I didn’t see the point.
This is how it was described to me: A school kid finds a notebook. If he writes someone’s name in the notebook, that person will immediately die. So, it gets into moral questions about capital punishment and religion. . .
(warning: plot discussion. I don’t know that it’s a spoiler, because I think knowing this would actually enhance viewing)
So, Garry Trudeau made a TV show. Yeah, THAT Garry Trudeau. It’s political, of course. It’s called “Alpha House” and the main conceit is that it’s about a home where four Republicans senators live. I thought it was cute, but not really enough to watch. Allie gave it two episodes, then told me I had to catch up, or she was going to mainline the whole thing without me.
I’ll level with you. This book is taking far too long to finish. This is made all the more distressing due to the fact that I left the previous book on a “Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel” kind of cliffhanger. It bothers me.
You deserve better.
So, for those who want to know the secret, here is the first chapter of “The Absent Emperor”, which answers the main, burning question that we were left with.
I promise, the rest will come within the year.
I wish that Bill Murray would come and explain Wes Anderson movies to me. As the star of several such films, I feel he would be eminently qualified to answer my reservations. Mr. Anderson would, of course, be a better source of explanation, but I think all would agree that he is too close to the subject for a truly objective explanation.
I believe Mr. Murray would come in on the Northeast Regional Amtrak train, as he is not a pretentious man, and would enjoy the opportunity to travel incognito among less notable commuters. The Northeast Regional which leaves New York City at 2:02PM, and arrives in Baltimore at 4:32PM. This would give him ample time to sit and discuss the as-yet unrecognized genius while allowing time for questions and perhaps a congenial dinner.
Yesterday afternoon, I took my entire bitcoin holdings (0.1352 BC) and transferred it to my CEX.IO account. CEX.IO allows me to trade my BitCoins for units called GHS (Gigahertz/second). This payment is used to buy time on a system that is mining new BitCoins. Every quarter of an hour, it returns a portion of a new bitcoin to me in “rewards” (think of that as a stock dividend).
I used the 0.1352BC to buy 5.64GHS, and then started receiving those BC rewards. After about 12 hours, I gained 0.00046365BC in rewards. Converting that into US dollars, I gained $0.28 in half a day.
Four people in India have downloaded a copy of “The Hidden Institute”. Despite the fact that I’ve given away nearly two thousand copies in the last four days, those four in India seem really amazing to me.
See, we all know that the Internet is everywhere. That’s old hat by now. If I post something public in Maryland, there’s the potential for it to be read in Dubai. But the chances against it are huge. That’s just the way the world works. But those four are different.
You can find the audio version here
Let me know in the comments what you think of the chapter (and the cover). And throw a buck or two in to support the book, if you like it.
Also, if you’d like to buy the full e-book, you can find it here.
“Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.”
— Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
You can find the audio version here
Let me know in the comments what you think of the chapter (and the cover). And throw a buck or two in to support the book, if you like it.
Also, if you’d like to buy the full e-book, you can find it here.
His majesty, King Augustus the third, began his reign in a tumult. The wars, of course, would seem to wreak havoc upon any leader, but this was not the greatest of his concerns. Much of what is known is apocryphal, with wild tales of shootings and bombings, police chases and music. There is even one story that say he let a queen take his place while sitting high above the world.
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