Fowler’s ragged reflection in the bathroom mirror said it all. Steam rose from the sink and slowly hid the truth of the Tank. He wiped the condensation away from the mirror and saw the man that he had become. He had clearly aged. The stress lines on his face told their own story. This was the price which Citynet had exacted from him. He looked at the tips of his fingers, checking out his N-Tek implants and examined the others dotted about rest of his body. He’d need all the implants to cope with what lay ahead of him.
Towelling down, he walked back into the company apartment and looked out at the other corporate buildings, all of which were smaller and less impressive. Citynet was the preying mantis of Erstol. It would not permit any young pretenders. Fowler looked at the external monitor and saw the guards waiting outside his door. Only one step out of prison, he thought. A few more to go before I’m home free, he realised. He flicked on the apartment console.
“Directory listing,” asked Fowler, drying his hair, looking to see if he could contact any old friends.
“Service unavailable,” replied the console. Sandra had him bottled up like her very own genie. But Fowler wanted out.
“List all available services,” requested Fowler, sipping some water.
“All services unavailable,” replied the Console.
He was locked out completely. He walked into the middle of the room and crouched down. Slowly, he began doing his Tai-Chi routine using it to harmonise his mind with his body, working on his stress levels. He closed his eyes and just concentrated on the movements. As he performed the intricate actions, he felt how weak his body had become and moved slower but with the same intent. Speed and strength were not the issue for now, he thought and kicked out one leg, which shook a little, then brought his right arm down in a curving movement. Accuracy is the issue.
**
Having rested and exercised, Fowler was brought to Systems. On this floor, the real world of Erstol connected to the virtual world of Citynet. The door buzzed as Fowler walked up to it and it opened. Once, Fowler recalled, he had been in charge of this entire floor. The guards were finally left behind and Delcass waited on the other side, dressed in his neat corporate suit. Fowler had always felt himself to be Delcass’ superior in every way but he had been outdone in the days before his arrest and then imprisonment. Delcass could have worked in any industry and the result would have always been the same: Delcass controlling people, manipulating them and forcing them to undermine his competition. Often when things went badly wrong, careers were sacrificed to save Delcass’. Politics for Delcass were his lifeblood. Work had been Fowler’s. Delcass however had found a chink in Fowler’s technical armour and that had caused his downfall. Fowler had been secretly performing illegal experiments with the N-Teks while doing his research work.
“Mezzler will show you what the problem is,” said Delcass.
Fowler was surprised. “Mezzler?”
“He’s in charge now,” said Delcass.
“Mezzler’s in charge!” he repeated with disbelief. “What about Mirsky and Jacobs?”
“It’s been three years, Fowler. They’ve moved on,” replied Delcass, hiding his quiet satisfaction. “Is there a problem?”
“No.”
“Good.” Delcass turned and left, checking his agenda.
Fowler watched Mezzler approaching, his obese body trundling under his weight; a man whose existence paid testament to the fat content in junk food. He’d been the joke of Systems during Fowler’s tenure and now he was in charge. Fowler saw Mezzler’s fake smile spread across his face and began to realise the shit Citynet was in.
“Jesus Christ Almighty, Lazarus has arisen! How the hell are you, Fowler?” said Mazzler.
“Well, considering,” he replied. Technically Mezzler had always been a struggler. Fowler had always imagined that working was Mezzler’s way of paying for his eating habits and nothing else. However, as a player in Delcass’ team, he was a character assassin extraordinare. Turn your back on Mezzler and expect a knife in your back. All with the tacit approval of Delcass.
“No hard feelings about what happened, huh?” asked Mezzler, seeking absolution for his part in sending Fowler to the Tank.
Fowler recalled Mezzler’s damming evidence of his secret work with the N-Teks. Mezzler had never seemed so precise. Dates, experiments, locations. Some people found spying too easy.
“Water under the bridge,” said Fowler, swallowing his words.
“Great, great,” he said vacantly. “You still got your friends with you?”
“Never leave home without them,” replied Fowler. “So what’s your problem?”
Mezzler looked confused. “Problem?”
Fowler lifted his eyebrows. “With the Citynet server.”
“Oh yeah, that,” said Mezzler. “Come on, I’ll show you. Quite a situation. Don’t know how we’re going to sort it out.”
**
“I figure they must have come in through the air conditioning,” said Mezzler. “Hell of a mess.”
Fowler looked around the room. Mezzler’s words had been the biggest understatement he’d heard in his entire life. The N-Teks were everywhere, growing on the walls, ceiling and machines serving Citynet. They had even formed what looked like a termite mound near one central server.
“When did it begin?”
“About a month ago. Nothing too serious at first. Just a couple of pencil lines on the ceilings. Around power points and heat sinks. Standard stuff. Then they just went apeshit. Took only a week to get this bad.”
“Impressive,” said Fowler.
“That’s not what Delcass said,” smirked Mezzler. “And this is only the half of it. They made the Cyberspace jump. The server is compromised too.”
“Yeah I know,” said Fowler.
Mezzler was surprised. “How’d you know?”
Fowler looked at Mezzler. “The warden told me. Besides, it was in my research paper. I predicted it would happen. The old meeting the new.” Or more appropriately, the ancient meeting the new, thought Fowler.
“Oh.” Mezzler winced. “So how are you planning to fix it?”
“I don’t know yet. I didn’t get a chance to finish the paper. Remember?” He looked pointedly at Mezzler who looked away.
“Where do you want to start?” asked Mezzler.
“I’d like to take some samples for examination first. I’ll deal with the Citynet server later when we know what we’re dealing with.”
“You going to try to interface with them?”
Fowler nodded.
“That’s what Walt did and now he’s a vegetable.”
“Where is he?” asked Fowler.
“In MedLab. You won’t get anything out of him. He’s brain dead.”
“I’ll pay my respects then,” said Fowler and left Systems.
**
Mezzler had managed to buy a doughnut on the way down to MedLab. Fowler wondered why the N-Teks would harm Walt. It was Walt who had turned a blind eye to Fowler’s work. At the trial, he had apparently caught a very bad flu and had been unable to make it into the witness box to testify against him. Fowler had appreciated Walt’s tacit help. Now he lay on a company bed in a room all to himself. A machine regulated his breathing.
“How long has he been like this?”
“‘Bout a week,” replied Mezzler, chewing his doughnut. “Funny, I thought it would me before him. He was always so damn health conscious.”
Fowler nodded. Walt had always said garbage in, garbage out while watching Mezzler eating his meals. Walt had been an unabashed health freak. Fifty laps of the company pool every morning followed by an aerobic workout. A vegan. Lean and mean to work with. Lightning fast response times. Even Fowler had been impressed with Walt. Fowler knew, if anyone could have solved the problem with the N-Teks, it would have been Walt.
“Did Walt try to interface with the N-Teks via his spinal tap?” asked Fowler, tilting Walt’s head sideways.
Mezzler nodded. “Yeah and he used your software to interface with them. When he jacked in and the software set up the comms, he popped just like a bulb. One guy claimed he could hear his brain frying.”
There was a hint of innuendo in Mezzler’s voice. Fowler looked over his shoulder and glanced at Mezzler. It was clear that Mezzler was going to be no help to him. Fowler knew Mezzler would hang him out to dry given half a chance.
Fowler turned his attention to Walt and ran his fingers down the back of his neck, looking for the Tap, using his index finger. He stopped suddenly.
“Are you sure?” whispered Fowler. He and ran his finger along Walt’s skin again.
“You say something?” asked Mezzler.
Fowler suddenly stood up. His face had hardened like stone. It wasn’t just anger in Fowler’s eyes. It was rage.
“What?” asked Mezzler. “You find something?”
Fowler walked forward and knocked the doughnut out of the Mezzler’s hand.
“What the hell is going on?” shouted Fowler. “You take me out of the Tank to screw me over again, you son of a bitch!” Fowler grabbed Mezzler by the neck and forced him against the wall.
“Jesus, Fowler,” coughed Mezzler, spitting out bits of half-chewed doughnut. “Calm down! What the hell is going on?”
“One of my little friends, as you call them, told me something very interesting,” said Fowler, showing Mezzler his index finger. “In the tip of this finger, I have an N-Tek which specialises in poisons and toxins. Can tell me whatever I want just from a single touch.” He brought it slowly towards Mezzler’s forehead and rested it there. “You want to know what it found?”
Mezzler nodded, his mouth wide open with the half-chewed food.
“Drybozene residue.”
“What the hell is that?” gasped Mezzler.
“It’s a reside left over from a toxin which screws with your brain. It’s odourless. It’s tasteless. Spray it on some food. You’ll never know you’ve ingested it until you jack into the net. Causes your synapses to burn out when you synch. You can’t buy it some store. This is a highly specialised substance. Are you tring to set me up again, you son of a bitch!”
“You think I had something to do with it?” shouted Mezzler. “Hey, I just work here! I put my hours in and then I’m gone. Hell, I didn’t even want his job!”
Fowler hated to admit it but Mezzler was right. Mezzler was too stupid to do something like this. He released his grip on Mezzler’s neck. “Come on, we’re going to talk to Sandra.”
“Aw Jesus, Fowler, do we have to?” asked Mezzler, knowing the shit had hit the fan. “Can’t we talk to Delcass first?” He was perspiring heavily.
“No!” shouted Fowler.
Mezzler followed after Fowler and saw his doughnut on the ground then stalled momentarily, looking at it.
“Just leave it!” shouted Fowler and pulled him into the elevator.
....................................................................................................
About the Podcast story and the author
In 2005 I
purchased an iPod and listened to some music on it. I got my hands on a
piece of software called iPodder which allowed me to subscribe to audio
episodes called PodCasts. Then within a year, Apple integrated PodCasts
into iTunes and I moved over to that format for subscription. I started
listening to Audio Novels while I commuted to work and I really enjoyed
them. Then one day I listened to Scott Sigler who is the pioneer in the
area of episodal novel writing along with J.C.Hutchins in my mind. For
me it was a rebirth of radio in a modern context. The power was in my
hands to listen to what I wanted. Then while driving to work, I began
to think about my dust-gathering writing. I had been a member of the
Irish Science Fiction Association and been part of a gang of wannabe
writers who eventually went their separate ways. There was close
collobaration between the artists and writers and we even published our
own Magazine. In the end, the ISFA dissolved and I with it but I'd
written a short story called Digby's Bluff which had been set on a
place called Erstol. For me, this was my idea of a classic SciFi world.
In 1997 I wrote Engines Under Ursus and completed it in one year. I
sent it off to TOR and they sent me a response six months later
scrawled on a piece of paper which I couldn't even make out. I'd
suffered years of this type of reply. I was pretty cheesed off to put
it mildly. So, I put my manuscript away and decided to keep on writing
because it's what I do to relax. I have other stuff which I won't go
into here but suffice to say, in 2006 there is finally a way for an
author to find out if your stuff is really any good! To a certain
extent I feel like the Internet represents democracy in its truest
form. Here, an individual - if one chooses to - can attempt to make a
difference. Millions of us 'ordinary folks' can have our voice heard if
we choose to, literally. All it takes is a little know how and a lot of
desire. We're storming the modern day Bastille buildings. Are we really
making a difference? Who knows, only time will tell. I've seen the
Internet grow from a small seed to a billion dollar industry. If it
frees us up to do cool stuff and make new communities, it can't be all
bad. Anyway, rant over, here's the story. I hope you enjoy listening to
it as much as I have making it.
History of the Digital Camcorder
The first camcorders were introduced in the early 80s, and they were expensive and bulky but efficient. They were operated by using one's arms or a tripod. Later, miniaturization allowed camcorders to get smaller and smaller. By the time the 90s arrived, camcorders had their own recording format called VHS-C, or a tape called 8mm that was less compatible with VCRs. It wasn't until the late 90s that the first digital camcorders started arriving with the MiniDV (1996). This was an even smaller tape than before that allowed one to edit the tape on the computer. It's much easier to use and made higher quality tape than previous recording formats. Most new digital cameras use MiniDV, though new formats and cameras continue to arrive. The history of the digital camcorder is sure to change as time progresses.
Camcorders are important becuase of the convergence of media and can be used for publishing your own PodCasts. There are techniques required to make good program which require an understanding of timelines and how to keep a video presentation entertaining which is more difficult than it seems. A Camcoder I bought recently was the Panasonic NV-GS150. This camcorder has three CCDs. These are normally only available in professional models but I was able to buy this digital camcorder on EBay in the US. The Camcorder came with a bevy of extra such as a tri-pod, filters, hook for a microphone, remote control and so forth. The only misgiving I have about this camcorder is that I record onto a tape and not a disc. On looking up the reviews, it appears that the disc technology is not quite mature in the world of camcorders however the picure quality is excellent for a camcorder of this price range. Camcorders are very useful for example if you want to record your own show for PodCasting and so forth and are one of the creative tools at your disposal.
Today we take for granted the fact that we can buy a Camcorder at a reasonably inexpensive price. It's not so long ago that only television cameras were capable of recording our images and the humble 8MM tape based camera. The Camcorder was introduced in the early 1980s, first by Sony and then by Kodak. VHS won out this battle although it was technologically inferior but was more available. You could use 8MM becuase the quality was higher but lost the compatability with the VHS device. The introduction of the first handy-cam changed all that and added portability to the format. These days we have miniDDV format and has improved audio and video quality. Digital Cameras still have their place even with this format. Camcorders have not replaced the Digital Camera but complimented them. Next we move into an era of solid state Camcorders and all the promise that it holds.
Technology Behind the Camcorder
CCD (converts the photons to a signal), Imager (viewing the picture in question) and Lens (for focusing). Modern Camcorders are Digital storing their data as electronic bits.
History of the MP3
The German company Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft developed MP3 technology and now licenses the patent rights to the audio compression technology - United States Patent 5,579,430 for a "digital encoding process". The inventors named on the MP3 patent are Bernhard Grill, Karl-Heinz Brandenburg, Thomas Sporer, Bernd Kurten, and Ernst Eberlein.
In 1987, the prestigious Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen research center (part of Fraunhofer Gesellschaft) began researching high quality, low bit-rate audio coding, a project named EUREKA project EU147, Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB).
MP3 Players
.