Tag Archives: technology

Tweet Tweet

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While browsing the Telegraph’s website earlier today I came across the following article, by Celia Walden which resonated with me, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/9831941/My-husbands-cheating-on-me-with-three-million-people.html. Walden argues that Twitter is about forsaking the present moment in order to brag about it later. For example the author points to the craze which is, apparently prevalent in America where people tweet pictures of their meals rather than sitting down and simply enjoying them! As I’ve remarked before technology is wonderful. It has, however lead some to be enslaved by the technology rather than allowing it to act as their servant.

I’m off now to make a cup of hot chocolate. Please watch out for the photograph of the steaming mug on Twitter. If you are lucky I may even include a full length video of yours truly drinking it. I’m sure you can hardly wait …!

 

Kevin

The Mechanical Lover

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Human relationships, particularly those entailing love are complex and often messy. They require a good deal of commitment and hard work to maintain. What if, in the future a robot where to be invented with the capacity to demonstrate love or, at the very least to give the appearance of doing so? Let us further suppose that this robot could be produced relatively cheaply bringing it within the reach of a mass consumer market. How popular would such a robot be and what would be the impact of it’s creation on society as a whole?

As I said at the start of this post, relationships require love and commitment. They need to be worked at. In contrast a preprogrammed robot would not, presumably need commitment, the user could programme the machine to replicate his (or her) desires at will. Your own ideal man or woman could be yours in the future for the price of a car and not, necessarily the most expensive model of vehicle.

Doubtless such an invention has the potential to cause great social disruption, however if free citizens in a democracy choose to purchase such artificial persons in the future what right would society have to prevent them from doing so? In modern democracies there is an acceptance among most people that individuals have the right to pursue their own conception of the good/happy life provided that they do not interfere with the equally valid rights of others to strive for their own conception of happiness. Given the prevalence of this liberal perspective what right (if any) would a future society have to place limitations on the development of artificial persons designed to fulfil the emotional and/or sexual needs of future generations? These are interesting issues and ones which I mean to address in future stories.

Hemlock

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Hemlock

 

The girl approached Malcolm and taking his hand in hers intoned in a soft musical voice “Darkling I listen; and for many a time I have been half in love

with easeful death, called him soft names in many a mused rhyme, to take into the air my quiet breath; now more than ever seems it rich to die, to cease

upon the midnight with no pain, while thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad in such an ecstasy! Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain – to

thy high requiem become a sod”.

The audience, hard bitten venture capitalists all, gaped with wonder at this beautiful girl with her long blonde hair falling in cascades down her back,

at her deep blue eyes and her slender figure.

“OK Professor, the jokes over. Who is this young lady? What is her name?” asked the chairman of the board, Sir Steven Carter.

Professor Steel smiled indulgently and speaking in a manner which he usually reserved for his more obtuse students said “As I explained at the start of

this demonstration the lady you see before you is Becky the first ever truly intelligent robot. Becky is designed for the discerning gentleman, for the

man who wants to be around a beautiful and intelligent lady but who, for whatever reason is not in (or does not wish to be in) a relationship with a flesh

and blood female. Imagine the potential of this invention gentlemen. No more need for the man of means to wine and dine a girl, buy her expensive presents

and (god forbid actually marry her)! If you gentlemen can come up with the finance then your company will be world famous. Imagine being known as the firm

who launched the first ever artificial woman of culture!”

A hand was raised “Yes, the gentleman at the back of the room with the red tie and white shirt”. “Can she er … I mean can Becky do other things”. The Professor

smiled (he smiled a lot but the smile never reached his eyes), “Indeed she can. Becky has a very convincing set of female organs all of which are in perfect

working order. Even gentlemen of culture have their needs and Becky is designed to cater to your, sorry I mean their every whim”.

“I want one” said the chairman. “I’ve often wished to switch off my wife and now this robot has come along it is, at long last possible for me to do just

that”! Miss Mortimer the only female board member looked daggers at the chairman who vissibly shrank in his seat and coloured deeply, “I was only joking,

no offence meant” he mumbled turning as red as the curtains which flanked the stage on which the Professor stood.

Another hand was raised. It was that of Malcolm Fisher the journalist who had been the recipient of Becky’s attentions. “Yes Sir, the gentleman with the

press pass sitting in the front row”. “Isn’t there something sacrilegious about Becky?” “Sacrilegious, what do you mean?” Malcolm thought of Jane, of how

they’d walk for hours in the countryside. One day, as dusk was falling the song of a nightingale had reach their ears. Jane’s eyes had become moist and

turning to Malcolm she said “It’s to beautiful, I want to cry and she quoted those self-same words that that “thing” had just intoned. He’d taken Jane

in his arms and softly kissed away the tears from her gentle brown eyes. With a jolt Malcolm pulled himself back to the present, the Professor was staring

expectantly at him. “I don’t know how to put it accept to say that this invention seems to have crossed some line. Once we have crossed the Rubicon who

knows what will happen”. The Professor suppressed a sigh, “My dear sir man is but a machine. He takes in food to fuel his body and his very mind is but

a highly intricate mechanism for processing thoughts and emotions. Becky is a machine, why should not two machines come together. This invention will enhance

the sum of human happiness by enabling those who can not find (or do not want for whatever reason to find) a human companion and from the perspective of

you gentlemen it will to borrow a phrase mean “loads of money”!

“Well Professor we are certainly very interested in your invention. I’ll discuss it with the board but I’m sure that you will be hearing from us in the

very near future. Many thanks for your informative presentation” said the Chairman.

As he left the building those words of Keat’s popped into Malcolm’s head “As though of hemlock I had drunk”. “I need a drink” he thought turning his steps

in the direction of the nearest pub but perhaps not hemlock.

 

(The above story can be found in my collection of short stories, The First Time. For this and other stories in this collection please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-First-Time-ebook/dp/B00AIK0DD6 or http://www.amazon.com/The-First-Time-ebook/dp/B00AIK0DD6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363296273&sr=8-2&keywords=the+first+time+kevin+morris).

 

The First Time Available For Sampling Or Purchase On Amazon

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My collection of short stories, The First Time is available in the Amazon Kindle store for £0.77 http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-First-Time-ebook/dp/B00AIK0DD6. In the first story, The First Time, we meet Becky a young graduate with a first class degree in English literature. Becky runs up a large credit card bill and fears losing her home. In order to solve her financial problems she becomes a professional escort (prostitute) and the story explores the effects of this decision on Becky and her fellow escort and friend Julie. Other stories look at what happens when machines attain human-level intelligence. To sample or purchase The First Time please visit the above link.

Mind Reading App Released

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Imagine the chaos which would ensue if a machine with the capability to read minds was released onto the market. I have an idea for a story which I may take further at some point in the future.

The London tube train has just left Hammersmith. The passengers are lost in the daily papers while others beat time to the music playing on their iPods. The only sounds are the rustling of papers and the chug chug of the train. Suddenly the sound of a slap echoes around the crowded carriage, “What the hell was that for. If you weren’t a girl I’d break your f … nose”! a young guy in a suit shouts at a slim brunette who’s hand print can clearly be seen on his reddening right cheek. “You where thinking that you would like to f .. me you filthy perv!” “You should be locked up. You need help lady. I was thinking no such thing and even if I was since when has fantasising been a crime?!”

Incidents such as this had sky rocketed ever since the release of the mind reading app which was earning it’s developers a fortune. Apple had stopped selling it in it’s iStore following a plea from the government, however it could still be downloaded for a few pounds from sites in countries over which the UK government had absolutely no control.

The cells where full of women (and a few men) who had reacted violently when the app picked up the amorous thoughts of persons in the vicinity of the app’s user. Secretaries had been fired for hitting their bosses while young ladies flew into a rage when the app detected the amorous thoughts their partner was directing towards their girlfriend’s best friend. What was to be done? Society tetered on the edge of collapse.

Perhaps I will write my story one day.

Cyborg?

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I became blind at 18 months old. My blindness is as a result of a blood clot on the brain (it could have killed me or rendered me severely mentally impaired, however, fortunately the clot only caused the loss of my sight). Although I am registered blind I possess some residual vision. I can see outlines of objects and I put the lights on when it gets dark as light helps me to avoid colliding with objects. As a child I was taught how to use a white cane however, as an adult I rely on my Labrador/retriever cross, Trigger for mobility when travelling outside.

Being blind I was interested to read an article in today’s Daily Mail (9 February) regarding the development of a bionic eye which possesses the potential to enable some visually impaired people to see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2275981/The-blind-soon-science-soon-market-high-tech-cyborg-eye.html#axzz2KOAWg0Do. The article is worth a read despite the terrible typographical errors! However I am not about to put Trigger out to grass (or whatever one does with retired guide dogs)! The causes of blindness are complex and not all of them are amenable to treatment. For those for whom the bionic eye works it is, obviously a wonderful and liberating invention but for many other visually impaired people this invention is of academic interest only. We will continue to live and enjoy our lives as unenhanced humans, no bionic eyes for us.

(Kevin Morris is a writer. For his collection of short stories, The First Time please visit the Kindle store on amazon.com or amazon.co.uk).

Please Like My Author’s Facebook Page

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In order to promote my collection of short stories, The First Time and my forthcoming book, Samantha I have an author’s page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/newauthoronline). Please like my page on Facebook. Many thanks, Kevin

Avoiding computer nasties

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Over the last week or so I had been periodically receiving the following message while using my Windows 7 laptop “warning, potentially harmful software detected. Click here to review and take action”. I have the free versions of Avast anti-virus and Zone Alarm on my computer and as the message was not generated by either of these products I began to wonder whether my PC was infected with malware and/or a virus. A system scan with Avast detected and successfully removed a number of threats, however the above message continued to plague me. My next step was to download the free version of Spybot Search and Destroy. The scan took about 40 minutes and lead to the detection of several nasties lurking in the depths of my PC. I’ve now successfully deleted the offending malware and my computer is running much faster and just (if not more importantly) I’m no longer concerned about unauthorised persons poking about in my PC and stealing data!

I like the company who provide Spybot Search and Destroy. Unlike many companies who offer free anti-virus or malware deletion products, the manufacturer of the software provide a prominent link to the free version of Spybot Search and Destroy on their site so no digging around for the free version or accidentally downloading the paid for product. For Spybot Search and Destroy please visit http://www.safer-networking.org/.

 

(Kevin Morris is the author of The First Time. For his collection of short stories please visit the Amazon Kindle store).

Google Plus

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I am on Googleplus (https://plus.google.com/103288647937368753912/posts). I am just getting to grips with the service, consequently not all of the posts on my other blog (http://newauthoronline.blogspot.co.uk/) may have found their way across to Googleplus. I’ll get there, eventually!

Quacking ducks and poetry reciting robot women!

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What is it to be human? Surely one of the many and highly complex capacities which converge to form the human animal is our ability to create and appreciate art whether in the form of painting or literature. My dog has many admirable qualities but I’ve never seen him take down a book from my shelves and lose himself in it. No the ability to derive pleasure from literature and other high art is confined to we humans, or is it? Some proponents of artificial intelligence (the theory that we can create machines which equal or perhaps surpass us in intellectual capacities) contend that robots and computers will, one day possess the capability to understand and create high culture. Indeed the inventor and technological guru, Ray Kurzweil argues that machines will be able to create and comprehend art in precisely the same manner as we humans do. In the same way in which we can be moved to tears by a profound poem or other expression of artistic prowess so, in years to come will our artificial creations be moved to tears by the self-same cultural expressions.

In “Hemlock”, the final story in my collection of short stories, “The First Time” we are introduced to Becky, a robot who recites Keat’s Ode to a Nightingale with passion. She truly feels the beauty and sadness of Keat’s magnificent poem or does she? Perhaps Becky’s apparently genuine responses to Ode to a Nightingale are mere tricks stemming from clever computer programming. Becky is according to this perspective a mere shell with no thoughts and emotions of her own, she is in the true sense of the word a robot. However others would contend that we are all products of our genetic programming. Becky’s responses are therefore no more or less genuine than those of any other “programmed” creation whether of the biological or the non-biological variety. “If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck then it is a duck”, or is it? I will leave you, my readers to decide.

 

(For “Hemlock” and the other stories in “The First Time” by Kevin Morris please visit http://www.amazon.com/The-First-Time-ebook/dp/B00AIK0DD6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357854695&sr=8-1&keywords=the+first+time+kevin+morris. For John Keat’s Ode to a Nightingale please visit http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173744