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So, now I have viro-bots and the general story idea. Now, I need to figure out who my scientist is. So far:
-I think he has a background in medicine, but more on the research side
-PHD in… not something made-up or “futurey”. Maybe Molecular Biology?
-He’s a bit of an under achiever, brilliant, but unfocused.
-He broke his arm as a child, which inspired him to become a doctor. Before completing his degree, he turned to research.
-Married? Single? He’s a loner, immersed in his research, obsessed with the minutia of his theories. It doesn’t matter if he’s married, he would ignore them anyway, single or divorced, then.
The diary would be in the form of a video or audio commentary… the written story would have to be a transcript of that commentary. The voice should be conversational. Informal language, but not colloquial.
He’s a technical guy. He thinks in terms of ratios, correlation and causation. He’s writing a fractal operating system delivered by cell sized messengers. He has a meticulous, but chaotic personality. He may be subject to mood swings. He’s a patient person, who always wants to discover the source of a problem. That is the trait that will keep him investigating until it’s too late to change the outcome.
He has to be infected with virobots, but unaware of what the consequences will be. It’s important that he realize what’s happening slowly over the course of the story. The trigger for the accident will be an interaction between his old broken arm and something he’s working on. An unanticipated interaction. Two harmless ingredients combine to form something new, different. It’s a good mechanism for flashbacks and technical explanations.
I still need to come up with a purpose for the virobots. The scientist (leave him unnamed?) has to have a plausible reason for either injecting himself, or…… I don’t know, slipping in a puddle of the stuff. Think about this later.
I have a scientist that through accident or intention, injects himself with a nano technology that he has been developing.
I’ve been thinking about the nature of this nano technology. What will the nature of nano technology be? I think it will take the form of a viral carrier with a stem cell payload. The bots would “infect” the host. Instead of creating symptoms like a normal virus, this one is programmed to replicate itself, and manufacture new building blocks for the nano bots. (I need a new name for them, pretty sure people will confuse nanobots with other stories) The stem cells are tailor made to combat a specific problem. The virus controls the growth and development of the new cells. They could even gather together in a tumor-like structure to make manufacturing more efficient. This “tumor” can provide hormones or drugs to treat a specific disease. In the case of a broken bone, the virus would direct the manufacturing cells towards the area, then begin building lattices of progressively stronger materials. This would first pull the bones together, then knit them up. Supposedly, the technology would come with some kind of sunset, disbanding the whole operation when some criteria are met.
The nature of this story isn’t so much the benefits of viral medicine. This would be an established branch of medicine in the time of the story. What our scientist is experimenting with is applying cooperative, goal seeking qualities to the nanobots. Instead of following a simple viral program, he is trying to apply artificial intelligence to the collective mass of viro-bots(?!) Perhaps he could be experimenting with some kind of fractal OS system. Where the program (intelligence) progresses in complexity as the density of viro-bots increases. Each bot brings a representative piece of information to the whole. Combining that information with other existing bots adds another level of complexity to the entire program. Now, I need to think about this scientist guy for a while.
Still no name for this thing, driving me nuts "short story" "short story" :(
I’ve been thinking about cognition all day. How does something as big as the human mind fit into such a compact physical form? We really do seem to be squashed into a tiny cell sometimes. Our minds encompass so much more than we can describe through language or physicality. So, I’ve come to this idea that we’re all in some kind of prison. Take Godel, Escher, Bach, String Theory, Escape from NY, Hindu Mysticism; mix well, and there you go… Our true form is some kind of energy, or spirit, or WHATEVER… doesn’t matter… What matters is that we’re stuck here, in these inarticulate bodies, grunting at each other across the cellblock. We can’t even rattle the cage to get a guard’s attention… unless you believe in ESP or transference. How do I explain the rest of this little theory to you? It’s not so easy to put into words. Kurt Russell reads the Bhagavad Ghita upside down in a time machine? Sounds crazy when I write it down, but it’s all in my mind, anyway ;)
That’s the point, I suppose. We can never express our true natures because of the limitations of language, science, art, and all the other contrivances we invent to express our true natures. The circumstance that made me think of all these things at once is a solitary experience, indescribable to an outsider, like you :)
http://www.warriorprincess.com/
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/hst_xena_20060410.html
In 2003, a 10th planet was discovered in our Solar System. It was unveiled in 2005 as 2003UB313, nicknamed Xena, after the TV show. After a moon was discovered, they nicknamed it… you guessed it, Gabrielle. This discovery brings up a question that has been lingering for decades over the designation of Pluto and the other bodies at the very edge of our Solar System. Pluto acts a lot like a comet, but to humans, it’s been a planet for over 50 years. Now that we have a 10th “planet” trying to join the club, where do we draw the line? I think Pluto and Xena are part of the Kuiper belt, just large rocks floating around at the edge of our yard. It's just what I think, doesn't hold much weight in the astronomical community. Planet, Comet, makes no nevermind to me… but they’re still comets ;)
OSTH – Fossils
This is part of the Open Source Treasure Hunt
Hemlock Visitor brochure and permit
Mapquest Hemlock, NY
History of Canadice
1904 Map of Hemlock
Canadice Trail Guide
I would like to discuss some of the geology that exists in the Hemlock/Canadice Lake region near
This unique creation process has created some excellent opportunities for fossil and rock hunting. As you can see in this picture, there is a significant runoff in the spring. This area loses bridges to runoff every few years. This runoff has the effect of cutting deep channels into the surrounding hills, continuously cutting into new strata in the hills. There are many smooth rocks for collectors in the creek bed, with fossils mixed in. The hills have several fossil bearing strata that feed into the creek bed. So far, I’ve found minor fossils all over the road and creek beds. I’m not proficient in identifying fossils, but everything so far has been of the shellfish variety. You don’t have to go very far from the lake to see what’s up in the hills. There’s a good layer of quartz up there, somewhere. I think it will take a couple more trips before I find a really good example, but I’m expecting a good find eventually. The streams act as concentrators for the geology up on the hill. Instead of climbing every creek bed to see what’s up there, you can scout at the mouth of the stream, and then decide if climbing that steep hill is worth it.
Each lake has dozens of channels feeding down the hills. Since the majority of the creeks are seasonal, it is very safe to explore them in summer, fall and winter. The hills are very steep, so bring good hiking boots and BUG REPELLENT. By the time July hits, the place looks like an OFF! commercial.
The Hemlock and Canadice lakes are owned by the city of
Hemlock Visitor brochure and permit
Mapquest Hemlock, NY
History of Canadice
1904 Map of Hemlock
Canadice Trail Guide
A hand drawn map made by a member of General Sullivan's army. It shows the path that they took through the area during a campaign against the Seneca Tribe. Haunyauga is called Honeoye today. Conyeadice, is Canadice.
There's a local legend about a treasure in Gold and Silver Excerpt: Persistent of the sparsely settled hills is the belief in buried treasure, hidden it is alleged, by General Sullivan's officers, while crossing the narrow ridge northwest of the lake as a precautionary measure against being captured by the Indians. Sporadic fits of digging extended over a period of a century and a half have yeilded nothing, however, in the way of silver and gold .Source Article (wemett)
Here are some links to writings and letters by General Sullivan. The 1779 Sullivan Campaign emerged as one of the larger of the Continental Army's offensives during the American Revolution, yet remains relatively unknown. It was an act of reprisal to break the Iroquois Confederation, a Native American political and military alliance that included the Seneca, Cayuga, Mohawk, Onondaga, 0neida, and Tuscarora tribes. The Iroquois, with the exception of the
Revolutionary War Letters
Profile by FReeper
I took a 1904 Topo map of the area, and combined it with the hand drawn map above. Sullivan forded
I know that the hand drawn map shows Sullivan "crossing the T" on Canadice Lake, but having fished that lake for some years, I think they followed the Canadice outlet until it met up with the Hemlock outlet. That area is just too rugged to follow any other path, and still arrive at the North end of Conesus on the next day. Remember, Sullivan was moving 2,000 men and at least a few canons. I think they would have gone after the Indian settlement on the outlet, but sent scouts to the nearest promontory. That high spots in the area command views of both Canadice and Hemlock lakes. Sullivan could engage the village while his scouts watched for any Iroquois of British reinforcements. Most of this is pure speculation on my part, anyway. My feeling is that most of the searching has been NW of HEMLOCK lake, not Canadice. This promontory is out of the way, so it's unlikely that anything buried there would be found by natives walking on the Indian path hundreds of feet below. So, if Sullivan was concerned enough about being attacked that he buried part of his plunder, why not on the "nose of Bald Hill". It's easy to find when you come back for it years later. (Sullivan didn't return to NY as far as I can tell).I'll take some pictures of the area next time I'm down there. I think that the best time to take pictures will be this winter when all the leaves are off the trees.
General Sullivan’s Correspondence related to his transit of the Hemlock and
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/1998/sullivan.html This page describes Sullivan’s campaign in
TIMELINE:August 29:
September 5: Took
September 10: Sullivan reaches Canandaigua
September 11: Sullivan reaches Honeoye
September 13: Boyd’s scouting force is nearly wiped out by an ambush, Boyd is missing
September 14: Army enters Genesee: They found Genesee deserted, but in the town's center, they found the mutilated bodies of Boyd and one of his men. "It appeared that they had whiped them in a most cruel manner, pulled out Mr. Boid's nails, cut off his nose, plucked out one of his eyes, cut out his tongue, stabbed him with spears in sundry places, & inflicted other tortures which decency will not permit me to mention; lastly cut off his head & left his body on the ground."47 The barbarity outraged the men, who set about destroying the town "with great cheerfulness."48
Sullivan turned back at this point
September 17: Sullivan reaches Honeoye. At this point, Sullivan exited my target area. His campaign wasn’t over, though. He continued to the East. The campaign can be seen in some ways as a prototype for
Is making an attempt to recover General Sullivan’s treasure rational… or even reasonable? General Sullivan’s army was in this area for several days. That’s 5000 troops, hundreds of Iroquois all moving franticly into and out of the area. Sullivan won his greatest victory just two weeks earlier. His army was moving up to 10 miles per day. Up the Chemung river valley. Burning every native village they came across. The effect must have been to drive the entire population up the river valley in confusion. When they reached the western
Looking at the different parts of the passage, I’ve confirmed several things from other sources.- Sullivan was constantly aware of ambushes. His British and Iroquois counterparts had attacked him before. An ambush discovered by Boyd led to the Battle of Newtown, his greatest success. Now, an ambush had led to his greatest loss, the barbaric death of Boyd. Now that he was turning back, I think he would have wanted to travel as light as possible. Especially now that his best ambush scout was dead.- Sullivan was also constantly concerned about supplies during this part of the campaign. To Sullivan, I think the plunder his army was gathering was less important than the food.
The real treasure may not have been buried by Sullivan after all:- As Sullivan pushed the wave of natives and British before him, they may have buried the important things that they couldn’t lose, but couldn’t carry. These things may be near the old native villages.- The speed with which the Continentals over ran the area is remarkable. There are contemporary reports of fully cooked meals in empty houses. Several people were left behind and questioned by Sullivan’s advancing army.- There are also contemporary reports that the natives knew Sullivan’s position and progress. They posted scouts on high points between the lakes.- So a controlled panic might be descriptive of the mood in the Hemlock/Canadice villages. They knew that they had to leave to the West. After having 1 or 2 days to prepare for flight, several native caches may exist in the hills overlooking village sites.
Tags: OSTH, Canadice and Hemlock, Metal Detecting, Rochester, Hemlock Lake, Canadice Lake
I’m thinking about a subject for a short story. I would like to tell it in the first person, assuming the identity of a fictional scientist. He develops a nano technology that promises to heal wounds, increase life spans, etc. At some point, either purposefully or accidentally, he is exposed to the “nanobots” At first, he experiences all of the benefits of this new technology. As time passes, he begins to understand that the development of this technology within him will eventually supplant his own mind.
The story is written in the form of a diary, like Flowers for Algernon, but with no arc. The character describes the complete failure of independent cognition. At the end of the story, the diary is being written by the new artificial intelligence which now animates our fictional scientist. I still can’t think of a name for the story… Symbols from Daniel Keyes’ story keep floating through my head. Maybe I should be reading something more technical.
I was on a bus a couple years ago. There was a FedEX truck in the lane next to me. Not much of a view, but all I had to look at. FedEX uses a subtle form of subliminal advertising that’s built right into their logo. Between the E and the X, an arrow is formed. It’s a simple sign, and not necessarily devious. It just is. A group of psychologists at Federal Express developed a new logo that conveyed the impression of movement to anyone who looked at it. It suits a company that prides itself by being on time. I wonder if there are unintended consequences for their experiment. Do you think FedEX trucks get more speeding tickets than UPS trucks? UPS after all, has developed an image of classic dependability. Rounded trucks, safe colors. Father knows best how to get your package to
I find myself “falling asleep” at times, not paying attention to the subtle clues that are all around me. I’m too tall to be really swayed by kid cereals. All I see in the cereal isle are Special Ks and Bran muffin cereals. My back hurts when I bend over to look at the Sugar Barons. Don’t hide down there! Come into the light, Count Chocula!
We all have our own subliminal advertising that we try out on each other. She blinks rapidly at me, I smile more at her. The way she walks away is supposed to tell me if I should follow. I’m still working out how to recognize that one.
The point isn’t so much that you should be paranoid about subliminal messages. It’s more that you should be aware that those messages represent a large part of what we see every day. Those messages vary in power and intent just as the people who make them do. For the more insidious ones, it’s a real pleasure to recognize them. Nothing diffuses manipulation like knowledge.
I'm a network administrator for a school district in upstate NY. I take care of their computers and the networks they connect to.
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