Privacy Lost

John Milton wrote "Paradise Lost". This is about "Privacy Lost".

Almost nothing is private these days. Apparently, the legal standard for invasion of privacy is that a reasonable, modern person viewing ...whatever it is that is revealed about you without your consent... would be shocked and highly offended. Standards are gutter level, these days.

Moreover, there are internet sites that reveal (usually for a fee) a great deal of information about your full names, aliases, address(es), birth date, friends, business, education, employment, criminal record (whether you have one or not), so it is not easy to prevail in a complaint against an individual who doxxes you, since you cannot stop Spokeo.

Authors who write under pen names should take note. 

Legal blogger Tammy Winkler writing for the law firm Faruki Ireland Cox Rhinehart & Dusing PLL explains in "Snoops On A Plane: Looking For Privacy In All The Wrong Places"  how little an expectation of privacy the unwilling subject of someone else's photograph has --or should have-- when travelling. Even one's trip to the loo is fair game for comment and speculation in the Twittersphere!

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a2a6a8a1-2765-4fb5-83bc-e9f356e59241&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-08-30&utm_term=

Notice the neat riff on a movie about legless members of the squamata order of reptiles and also on a lovelorn country song by Johnny Lee.

Talking of planes, airplane mode on your smartphone is no protection of your privacy. According to a Tucker Carlson analysis (use Bing and search for "Tech Tyranny" and August 31st), your phone may be tracking you, whether it is on or off, regardless of the mode, and as soon as it is connected to the internet, it will send all your movements, locations and even biometric data (whether you are riding, driving, walking, sitting etc) back to its mothership, logged to the millisecond.  Even if you visit a hospital, a church, a private school...you are snooped upon.

And do you know who founded 23andMe?  Perhaps big brother has our spit, too!

Authors might do well to think of other people's privacy, too.  Emily R. Lowe and Susan Milyavsky, blogging for the law firm Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP discusses much-overlooked website Terms of Use.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a06a2a60-acd9-459c-9886-4c219abfa55a&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-08-30&utm_term=

Authors and other website owners who are still using this boilerplate:

 We may, at any time and without notice, modify these Terms of Use by revising them on the Site. Your continued use of the Site constitutes your acceptance of any such revisions. You should periodically visit this page to review the current Terms of Use.

....  should consider adopting the wording suggested in the Morgan Lewis article.

To end on a positive note, the internet can cut both ways. The Trichordist exposes the fact that, while a well organized corps of internet savvy individuals can vote with the voices of millions (and across borders, too), their smoke and mirrors don't necessarily translate into a good turn-out for in-person demostrations.

https://thetrichordist.com/2018/08/28/dismal-turnout-for-anti-copyright-directive-protests-in-eu-suggests-little-real-opposition/

Happy Labor Day holiday!

All the best,
Rowena Cherry

The Purpose of Pain

This title doesn't refer to the metaphysical question of why suffering exists. (My favorite book on that topic is THE PROBLEM OF PAIN, by C. S. Lewis.) I'm talking about the biological and evolutionary reason for the sensation of pain. That subject comes to mind because, with age, I've started collecting a variety of physical aches and pains, none of them disabling yet (thank goodness) but cumulatively annoying. Are we biologically fated to put up with this nuisance, which in many cases can escalate to the level of extreme distress? Of course, I know why it evolved. Without that warning signal, we wouldn't notice when our bodies are being damaged. People born with congenital insensitivity to pain tend to hurt themselves a lot and often die prematurely. But does the process have to work as harshly as it does? Why can't the pain stop when the cause of the damage has been discovered and addressed? Instead, it may hang around throughout the healing stage. Also, some people suffer for years without any definite cause being identified. And women, at least, are stuck with some pains that seem completely pointless, as in severe menstrual cramps and the contractions of the advanced phase of childbirth. Why couldn't labor signs consist of mild cramps that get only closer together, not more intense, as the moment of delivery approaches?

Organisms too "primitive" to have brains with which to be aware of discomfort nevertheless recoil from hazardous stimuli. A robot could theoretically be programmed to avoid potential damage without consciousness. Why can't our nervous systems be programmed that efficiently? Yes, we need a warning device. But does it have to inflict discomfort or agony? Couldn't we experience a mild zap, like static electricity, which would recur every minute or so until we fixed the problem? Why didn't we evolve the ability to turn off pain as soon as we've found the source and started fixing the problem? Wouldn't it be nice to have a control panel in the brain with a "red alert" button we could switch off after acknowledging it?

The obvious catch is that if the damage signal didn't cause extreme distress, we might ignore it. Most of us know people who act as if powering through sickness or injury makes them tough guys (or gals). A highly rational being such as a Vulcan would respond appropriately to pain stimuli and wouldn't abuse the ability to suppress it at will. If we can't possess the rationality and control over autonomic body functions that Vulcans enjoy, couldn't we at least have some less agonizing system? Maybe if we ignored damage signals for too long, we could abruptly lose the use of some minor appendage or function, to jolt us into taking action. I'd accept that alternative over severe cramps or stabbing pains. For instance, this relatively mild but annoying chronic ache in the arms from shoulder tendinitis. I adjust positions for sleeping and computer use, conscientiously perform recommended exercises, avoid muscle strain, and apply ice to the affected areas. What more does it want from me? Why isn't there a handy diagnostic screen where I can check the status of the condition and respond accordingly? In some respects, the design of the human body leaves a bit to be desired.

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Reviews 39 Souls of Fire Series by Keri Arthur

Reviews 39

Souls of Fire Series

by

Keri Arthur

In Reviews 38,
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2018/08/reviews-38-jack-campbell-genesis-fleet.html
we looked very quickly at 3 series of Military Science Fiction novels by Jack Campbell for the way his Hero, Black Jack Geary, strives to create the Happily Ever After conditions that do not exist in his universe (yet).

His motivation is fueled by his love of his wife (a hacker called Ninja for a reason) and his children.  Geary sees a future for them all, as a strong family, and pours all the skills and strength he has into crafting that future.

Though in both his life segments (before suspended animation freezing, and after being awakened), he has lived in awful conditions, he has always driven himself and others toward better conditions.

Today let's look at another best selling author, Keri Arthur, who is as good a writer as Jack Campbell (which is saying a lot) but is world famous for her Romance treatments of various topics -- dozens of novels to her byline, she's perfected her "Voice" and style.

We touched on "Voice" of a writer recently:
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2018/07/theme-character-integration-part-13.html

The Souls of Fire series is about a supernatural person who is a Phoenix -- literally rising from her own ashes.

The most fascinating concept introduced in this series is the co-binding of a male and female in the Phoenix process.

In Ashes Reborn,
the male counterpart of the Phoenix duo, Rory, is just now Rising, after a magical ceremonial summoning him from the core of fire.  He is in  dire need of a roaring fire and a lot of privacy for sleeping off the effects of rebirth, for days or weeks.

Meanwhile, the female of the duo, Emberly, is after the one who ordered Rory killed.  She got the shooter by firing the building where the shooter perched to fire at Rory (and her).  But there's more to the story.

In this Fantasy universe, we also have Vampires and other supernatural creatures.

It is a complex universe, with 4 novels extant.  There is a plague virus derived from Vampire blood, and the world knows enough about the supernatural creatures to have a Paranormal Investigation Team.  That team has plenty to do in a world with dark witches, other powers, and all the tangled power politics humans everywhere generate.

These novels are a spectacle waiting to be cast onto your living room big screen.

The most interesting thing Keri Arthur is playing with here is the Immortal Phoenix's love life.  The only ongoing Character in her existence is Rory, but she always falls for someone -- and this time, it's beginning to look serious when Sam finds out what Emberly is and how that relates to Rory.

So the Relationship dynamic among these Characters turns on thematic issues of Trust.  The Phoenix pair have to trust their lives to each other to pull off the rebirth trick, and have to keep that vulnerability from others.  Sam is one of those others.  Now Sam knows.

And they can only hope the Phoenix fire has beaten the Vampire virus.

Keri Arthur is one of the writers who delivers a steady stream of engrossing novels that have a recognizable Voice telling the tale.  But she also has the skill to bring you into the middle of a series and hit the ground running without being confused.

Part of the trick is that the universe Keri Arthur crafts for you is familiar but unique at the same time.  You know the Phoenix legend, then she gives it a twist.

This is what Hollywood is always looking for -- "The same, but different."

The Souls of Fire series should be studied for the world building as much as for the entertaining read about people (supernatural or not) striving to become better people, and make the world hospitable to the Happily Ever After ending.

This is the key ingredient in enticing those who can't believe in the Happily Ever After to read Romance.  Agree the world as they know it can't sustain an HEA -- but we can fix that.  Fixing the world is what heroes do. 

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Hacking Your Toilet and your Sex Toys

This last weekend, I was unexpectedly "trapped" away from home, without my computer.  I thought that I'd be able to blog using a borrowed computer, but Google wouldn't allow it.  The only way I could verify that it was me on a borrowed device was by a phone call to my home, and since I was not home.... I could not blog on time.

I think that the problem is the settings set up by the owner of the computer I had borrowed. She has "linked" all her accounts for the convenience, but with convenience comes tyranny.

And risk.

How convenient is it to be able to control your sex toys... remotely? Apparently, some people do that. How inconvenient would it be if a mischievous stranger could activate your smart Ben Wa balls during a serious moment, for instance when you were appearing before a judge and jury?

The mind boggles as to why someone would want to remotely flush their own toilet. A germaphobe, perhaps? There is an app and a smart toilet for that.  However, a malevolent hacker could take over the toilet and cause it to overflow and flood the home, because it is Bluetooth enabled.

Christoper A. Ott, blogging for the privacy and security law blog of Davis White Tremaine LLP discusses "Data Security Issues Posed by the Internet of Things.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f9b96473-237d-4b8d-84c9-30da1d77526b&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-08-24&utm_term=

Do you know how to disinfect a toilet by rebooting it?  Has it occurred to you to reset the password on your smart toothbrush?

This may be shocking stuff,  but it is not new.  In 2916 CNBC wrote about 12 shocking things hackers "are targeting right now".

https://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/26/12-shocking-things-hackers-are-targeting-right-now.html#slide=4

Heena Tandon blogged for media guru about "When Your Toothbrush Is Hacked."

http://www.mediaguru.com/when-your-toothbrush-is-hacked-iot-in-media/

Finally, and nothing much to do with advocating for unhackable toilets and sex toys, the Authors Guild is asking the US government to allow publishers and self published authors to bargain collectively with internet platforms, and hold internet platforms responsible for targeting piracy on their platforms.

https://www.authorsguild.org/industry-advocacy/authors-guild-comments-to-ftc-on-internet-monopolies-impact-on-creators/

All the best,
Rowena Cherry

Thought Floating on Different Blood

I've been rereading a couple of Mercedes Lackey's Elemental Masters novels. Magicians in this series work with one of the classic four elements (air, water, earth, fire). People with those powers can see and talk with elemental creatures (sylphs, salamanders, gnomes, fauns, and many others) invisible to non-magicians. Many elemental entities have human-level intelligence; some are more intelligent and powerful than human mages. Elemental magicians, able to communicate with nonhuman creatures, must surely have a different view of the world from us ordinary mortals. People in ancient times believed in a host of intelligent beings who populated the natural realm, such as nymphs, satyrs, dryads, minor gods of rivers and mountains, dwarfs, faerie folk, trolls, etc. I suspect, however, that few ordinary people ever expected to meet one of those creatures. How different our world would be if such entities existed openly, where any of us (not just magicians) might encounter them in our daily lives.

In C. S. Lewis's PERELANDRA, the protagonist, Professor Ransom, travels to Perelandra (Venus), where he finds three intelligent species (not counting the life-form of pure spirit who rules the planet). One of his Perelandran acquaintances expresses surprise upon learning that Earth's ecosystem has only one sapient species. How can we fully understand ourselves, he wonders, if we can't compare our thoughts to "thought that floats on a different blood"? How would our view of our own species and the world we inhabit change if we weren't alone on our planet?

Although I've often wondered about a hypothetical alternate history in which other human species or subspecies, such as Neanderthals and the "hobbits," had survived to the present day, I sadly suspect that the prevailing attitude toward other races wouldn't be very different. Neanderthals and other hominids, and maybe Yeti if they existed, would look too human. They might well get treated as inferior beings, similar to the way Europeans historically treated other races, only worse, because some anthropologists might classify such hominids as "animals"—a bridge between Homo sapiens and lower species, intelligent enough to be useful but inhuman-looking enough to justify enslaving them.

Demonstrably sapient but clearly nonhuman creatures, on the other hand, would probably evoke a different response. What if we shared Earth with centaurs, merfolk, or intelligent dragons? Or the semi-civilized talking animals of Narnia? Tolkien (in his essay on fairy tales) says animal fantasies satisfy the perennial human yearning to reestablish communication with the natural world from which we've been cut off. Would a common experience of living alongside other sapient species—or extraterrestrial visitors—make human racial differences seem insignificant, as STAR TREK optimistically postulates?

The TV series ALIEN NATION explored this question in thoughtful detail. It portrayed human-on-alien prejudice and hatred, human-alien friendships and love affairs, and the mind-expanding experience of exposure to another species' view of the universe. This series about a shipload of extraterrestrial refugees settling in California, all of whose broadcast seasons and follow-up TV movies are available in DVD format, deserves multiple viewings. Also, a number of tie-in novels were published, most of which I thought were quite good. If nothing else, the fact that the Newcomers have three sexes would give them a different outlook on life from ours. The body and the senses inevitably shape the mind's perceptions of reality. An intriguing spec-fic example of "thought that floats on a different blood."

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Reviews 38 - Jack Campbell The Genesis Fleet Series

Reviews 38

Jack Campbell

The Genesis Fleet Series 

This is the 38th post focusing on reviewing books in print.

The Genesis Fleet started in 2017 with Vanguard, and book 2, Ascendant, came out in 2018.

 


I've often referred to the various novels or series I review here as examples of one or another writing craft skill or technique.

And I always elaborate on the reasons writers of one genre should read genres they do not like.

Jack Campbell does not write Romance -- but he understands the place of the Love Story in the unfolding of governmental affairs on a galactic scale.

He is famous for The Lost Fleet Series, and The Lost Stars series -- which I've mentioned many times as examples of the best way to structure an adventure with a Love Relationship driving the action.

The Lost Stars focuses on a subset of Characters who are in an intimate Relationship that affects the vast political landscape in a Stellar Cluster.  These events spin off from the Events of The Lost Fleet series, which I also recommend because the Relationship thread of the Main Character's life (Geary) deeply affects the course of the Plot.

The Lost Fleet Series is about Commander Geary, Black Jack Geary, a young man with a background in space warfare who has awakened to find himself in an era when the war he fought in has long been settled, though it is not over.

The initial colonization effort Geary had been a part of grows into two opposed factions fighting a war of attrition over a good part of the Galaxy.  Geary had gone missing in the first part of this galaxy spanning conflict, but had thus generated a Legendary Reputation that grew and grew.  When he wakes, he doesn't recognize the Identity his rescuers impute to him.

He is rescued from a suspended animation capsule, and immediately finds himself an officer on a warship, and very quickly becomes in charge and then commanding the whole war fleet, desperately trying to get home because it is "Lost" as in the title.

As Geary uses strategy and tactics from his own, long forgotten, era to get the Fleet home, bits and pieces of who he was are mentioned along the way.  He pulls off miracle after miracle, seemingly by magic, and the readers keep asking for the story of how he became this man.

The Genesis Fleet is the story of Black Jack Geary's early life, before his long cold sleep, and of the forces that annealed his Character into the leader he is when we first meet him in The Lost Fleet.

The first book of The Genesis Fleet is Ascendant.  Geary arrives on a new Colony planet founded by a small group, operating on a shoestring budget.  The Colonists apply for jobs, and buildings are erected by machinery.  It's a nice world, good potential –– so along comes a warship from another colony looking to take over.  Geary is handed the job of getting rid of that Warship -- but he doesn't have a Warship of his own to throw against it.  He takes the meager resources available and kicks butt.  Whew!  And he goes back to work at the job on the space station in orbit around the new colony.

The second book of The Genesis Fleet picks up Geary's life after his wife has had one child and is pregnant with a second -- he has a huge stake in this new colony, keeping his family safe.  But he doesn't want to go off taking wild risks because there are children to think about.

However, when pressed into service, he captains their only defensive warship to escort a vital freighter across enemy infested space.  This universe Jack Campbell has created uses several bits of science to move ships through space -- there are local Newtonian mechanics engines but they can achieve appreciable fractions of the speed of light.  There are "jump points" which seem naturally occurring, and eventually there are "stargazes" -- structures that create artificial jump points.

The power of this ships is by "fuel cell" -- large objects that act like batteries.

Geary takes it on himself to stretch his orders (well, to the breaking point) when his gut tells him he has to follow his cargo freighter all the way to its destination, not just through the enemy territory.

And he jumps his ship right into the midst of an all-out attack on another planet.  He can't risk his little warship because it is all that can defend his home and family (besides, it's expensive), and he can't let the enemy take over this neighbor planet because then the enemy will have a grand staging area to launch an attack against his family.

These two novels are about Geary.  The point of view and focus are tight and precise.  The writing is excellent.  Geary's motivation is to seek out or create the HEA -- he's got part of it, wife-and-kids, but they aren't safe and secure, so it's not a Happily Ever After yet.

If you don't understand why readers refuse to believe in the Happily Ever After ending, read all these Jack Campbell novels to glean a counter-argument that can convince your biggest skeptics.  The HEA is not something that just happens.  It is something that is created -- by heroic actions fueled by deep love and absolute commitment to the welfare of others.

I particularly like the Newtonian mechanics limitations on space-war tactics, and the reliance on automated systems for firing solutions.  The time-delay in communications caused by light speed and distance complicates everything.

Maybe the least plausible part of these novels is Geary's continued (but not continuous or easy) success at diplomacy.  It is very rare to find a polymath human who has both combat ready strategy and tactics plus political savvy.

We see that in our Pentagon Generals, and retired Generals who go into politics, so we think it is a common combination.  But it is not.

Black Jack Geary is a Legend, created out of real people, but a Legend nevertheless.

Create some Characters who are the material from which Legends grow.  Consider how their Legends distress the Characters themselves.

Military Science Fiction is a sub-genre that is the natural home of the hottest Romance.  Watch some old World War II movies, and read some Military Science Fiction.  Create yourself a Legendary Character.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

What's Yours?

Authors, do you own your own books' cover art?

You do if you created it yourself, or paid to have it created for you as a clear work for hire, providing you (or the person you hired to do the art) had the correct licenses to use the font(s), the image(s), the photographs.

Yes, that back matter photograph of yourself might not belong to you, unless you took it, or unless you acquired the appropriate rights in writing from the person who took the photo of you. The copyright of a photograph always belongs to the photographer.

If your traditional publisher has reverted your rights, before you self-publish the book, you may need to create or commission new cover art.

The same may apply to your website, depending on who designed your website. Your website might not be as portable as you suppose it is.

This last week, legal blogger David Oxenford, blogging for Wilkinson Barker Knauer LLP (whom I cited in last week's blog) discusses ownership of blogs and webpages:

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=37f114cd-26f1-447d-9128-356f8005e27d&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-08-17&utm_term=

Although branding for authors is the topic for Emily M. Haas, blogging for Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, consistency in fonts, logos, and other visuals are important to an author's brand, but are also elements that may not necessarily "belong" to the author, unless she is conscientious about clearing or acquiring the necessary rights.

See, "If You are an Author Looking to Build a Brand, Here are Some Items to Consider" (sic)

Authors, if your artist is quite laid back, for now, you might nevertheless fill out and have them sign a license template, such as THIS which is generously provided courtesy of THE ARTREPRENEUR (on the understanding that you give them written credit).

https://artrepreneur.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Artist-licensing-agreement.pdf

On the positive site, not all copying is infringing. Legal blogger Brian Murphy writing for Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC discusses the case of the "ghost" building that appeared to be a copyright "gotcha", but wasn't.

When Copying Isn't Infringement.

I think I'd have made a Haint pun!

Finally, for those who find their rights being violated on or via CLOUDFLARE, (which is not a web hosting site) here is a place to start if you wish to file a DMCA notice.
https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200167716-How-do-I-file-a-DMCA-complaint-

All the best,

Rowena Cherry