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| | Interesting Review of Unholy Domain in BookHuntersBlog | | | | Wednesday, May 14, 2008 (7:32 AM) | |
Review: “Unholy Domain” by Dan Ronco - Thought-provoking What If
May 13th, 2008 Posted in Book Reviews, Sci-Fi, Thriller No Comments
By Mary Menzel: “Unholy Domain” is a very entertaining yet very thought-provoking novel. Many times during the course of history technological advances have made those in power feel threatened. Galileo and Copernicus were commanded to renounce their discoveries and modern scientists are challenged as they work with genetics and theories relating to the creation of the universes simply because their facts and experiments do not adhere to the church’s religious doctrine. Dan Ronco has challenged us to look ahead and imagine the conflict between scientists and theologians in our future. “Unholy Domain” details a power struggle between the religious leaders who denounce the use of robotics as unnatural and the scientist, who through their technological knowledge, want to be in complete control. With clear, concise details and strong characterization of each participant in the novel, Dan Ronco has given us a plausible if not probable look into our future.
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| | Where Will the New Engineers Come From? | | | | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 (12:09 PM) | |
I was browsing through a number of online magazines, and I came across an article that was all too familiar: the shortage of engineering talent in the USA. I have read similar stories for many years, but nothing seems to improve.
Here’s the situation, briefly and maybe too simply. Engineers --- chemical, electrical, nuclear, and all the rest --- are the people who take basic science and turn it into products or services required by our society. We need engineers, lots of them. As our world grows more complex, as the human population continues to increase, we need people who can design products and find solutions that improve our standard of living. Without a body of talented engineers, America and every other country will suffer with a declining standard of living.
There are plenty of engineering jobs out there, more so than most other professions. But who will fill those jobs? According to Industry Week, US graduation rates for engineering students declined by 23% between 1985 and 2000. So what’s going on here?
You may not know it, but my first career was in engineering, followed by years in the information technology business, and then my current passion as a novelist. I graduated Columbia University with a shiny new master’s degree in nuclear engineering and went to work designing nuclear reactors for a giant corporation (which shall remain nameless) with a bunch of very bright young men and women. Should have been a great job, but it didn’t work out.
First of all, there was a lack of respect for the engineers. Senior management believed in the mushroom theory – keep everyone in the dark and drop fertilizer on them periodically. Not good for morale.
One day, a few months into the job, a senior engineer took me aside and explained the facts of working life to me. A woman, one of the few female engineers in those days. She explained that the young engineers were hired in with a fairly high salary, and would receive a good raise for the first year or two, but the money would dry up to at best a cost of living increase after four or five years. If I wanted a better salary, move from engineering to management.
Great but sobering advice for a young engineer. Lack of respect and lack of compensation. I loved computer programming, so I decided to move into IT, which was the right decision for me.
Also according to Industry Week, Americans continue to hold engineering in fairly low regard among a range of occupations. Harris polls show just a third of respondents consider engineering a prestigious occupation, a figure that has changed little or for the worse since 1977.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
So how does industry maintain an adequate supply of engineers? We import them, mostly from Europe, India and Asia. And they are excellent engineers, so industry comes out all right. But things are changing. An Asian engineer does not have to come to the USA to find work anymore; there’s plenty of work in their native lands.
I should finish this article with a call for more respect and better compensation for today’s young engineering graduates. Okay, I will. But it doesn’t matter. If a bright young person can make much more as a lawyer, it will be impossible to lure a sufficient number of Americans into engineering. And if we can’t import big numbers of foreign engineers, well, we’re in deep you know what.
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| | Podcast on Fascinating Authors | | | Friday, May 9, 2008 (7:18 AM)
(I'm feeling restless) | | | I was recently interviewed by Penny Sansevieri for the Fascinating Authors podcast site. In addition to Unholy Domain, we covered a range of topics including Second Life, religious violence, and emerging technology issues. Listen to the podcast --- it was fun to do and I believe you will enjoy it. | | | | 40 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | The 100 Year Lifespan is Coming | | | Wednesday, May 7, 2008 (9:35 AM)
(I'm feeling busy) | | I’m not sure I would want to live forever, even if I could. Immortality, it just doesn’t seem right, somehow. Would I want additional years? Absolutely, as long as the quality of life was there.
Start thinking about these issues, especially you folks under thirty. You will have decisions to face for yourself and your children.
Scientists are working hard to increase the human life span. And they are making progress in a number of fields. I’m not writing a research paper, but here are a few snippets of exciting advances.
People in most western nations are living much longer than their ancestors. A century earlier, the average lifespan in the US was about forty years. Now it’s in the late seventies. The keys have been more and better food, a more nurturing society, and vastly better health care. But this is just the beginning.
Hormone therapy shows promise. Scientists have successfully slowed down the aging process in laboratory animals with a hormone known as DHEA. Insects treated with DHEA live up to 45% longer than normal. Mice treated with Melatonin live as much as 25% longer than typical mice.
Genetic engineering may also lengthen the human lifespan. By manipulating genes, the lifespan of some roundworms has been increased by a factor of six.
Biologists know that the telomere, part of the chromosome, is shortened each time the cell reproduces. When about 20% of the telomere is lost, the cell dies. However, with an appropriate enzyme treatment, the telomere can be regenerated. This opens up the possibility that the cell may be able to grow and divide for a much longer period than is presently the case.
All this is encouraging, but I have to admit as yet there is no hard evidence that advanced science can significantly increase the human lifespan. But many fields show promise, and I believe that a normal lifespan exceeding 100 years is likely for people born in the US two or three decades from now.
Okay, let’s get back to the question: Do you want to live much, much longer? Maybe not immortality, but a very long lifespan. Surprisingly, most people aren’t convinced. Immortality seems to go against the natural order of things. Who wants a world overstuffed with old geezers using up all the resources? Just look at Social Security and Medicare in this country. How are we going to support all the aging baby boomers? Something has to give. Will taxes go through the roof on young workers?
It seems to me most senior citizens will have to continue working far beyond the normal retirement age of 65. So what happens to all the young people entering the workforce? Will they have to linger in lower level positions until the seniors retire?
Sometimes I think I’m awfully glad to be living my life in the present age. But I would love to see the future unfold, if I have my health. Even with all the issues, it’s going to be an exciting time to be alive.
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| | Lifelogging - a Way to Augment Your Memory | | | Thursday, May 1, 2008 (2:36 PM)
(I'm feeling amused) | |
Man, what was that guy’s name? Met him a few minutes earlier and I’ve forgotten already. What if I have to introduce him to my friends? This could be embarrassing.
Our memory, it usually works okay, but not always. Wouldn’t it be great to have a photographic memory! Just concentrate and pull up whatever you need. Michael Kingman --- that’s his name! Two kids, lives in Philadelphia, an attorney for Morris and Stengle, was telling me about this great Italian restaurant on Walnut and 18th, …
Well you get the idea. Total recall. Remembering EVERYTHING that happens to you. And not just images --- sounds, voices, temperature, emotions --- EVERYTHING.
Lifelogging, sometimes called lifeblogging, is the name of this capability to record and recall every aspect of the flow of your life. Scientists believe that technologies developed over the coming years will provide total recall. We will be able to share our personal experiences with others, too. Sounds great, huh? Well maybe, but there’s a downside, as you might expect.
Let’s start at the beginning. Lifelogging is possible today, but it’s primitive. For example, Microsoft Research has invented a lifelogging device called a SenseCam, which hangs around your neck and automatically snaps a picture once a minute. As an alternative, the SenseCam may be triggered by a change in light, temperature or movement.
The SenseCam provides a digital record of virtually everything you see. If you combine images with a digital recording of everything you hear, well, then you really have something. That conversation with Mr. Kingman, for example, could be replayed to provide all the information you picked up from him.
Okay, this is a pretty trivial example, but you get the picture. In theory, every aspect of your life could be digitized, but is it worth it? Will these technologies make our lives better, richer, more fulfilling? Should we provide the capability to relive portions of our lives and experience the emotion of the birth of our first child, the excitement of winning the big game, or the quiet pleasure of exchanging wedding vows? Or maybe we just want rapid access to information for business purposes? Or memories to leave for your children after your death?
Have you read Dune by Frank Herbert? A society of women, called the Bene Gesserit, have the ability to pass along their entire lives to a younger Sister at the time of their death. Over the centuries, these Sisters accumulate many lives, which they may call on for guidance or information. What if you could call up not only your own memories, but the memories of others, such as ancestors, scientists, explorers, jet pilots and many others? Would that be a high or what? Isn’t the future full of surprises?
Now for the downside. Privacy might become a thing of the past. Think it’s bad to see an unauthorized personal video on Youtube? What if your whole life could be put on the net for anyone to browse? Even more frightening is what the government could do with a disc containing your memories. What if all citizens were required to record their lives into a government controlled storage? Hello, 1984.
Lifelogging is just one of many developing technologies that will have a massive impact on our lives over the next few decades. And we are far from ready. That’s why I write cautionary novels like PeaceMaker and Unholy Domain.
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| | Book Review from BookPleasures.com | | | Saturday, April 26, 2008 (11:06 AM)
(I'm feeling amused) | | For those who read Dan's first novel, "Peacemaker" this will be a must read sequel. For others, it will be a good introduction to Dan's excellent writing skills and an invitation to go and get Peacemaker and look forward to a sequel to Unholy Domain.
Dianne Morgan continues her stop-at-nothing attempts to take control of the whole world through her Domain and is being opposed by an equally ruthless opponent Adam Jordan. Adam tries to mold common man's aversion to technology after the bitter experience with Peacemaker (a ghastly malevolent computer program that was intended to shut down all internet systems and give Dianne power over the world but which was aborted albeit with a huge loss of people and property) into a religious cult and he too stops at nothing to gain control over people (that is the aim of all power hungry people isn't it?). David Brown, son of Ray Brown, a colleague of Dianne is the hero in this sequel, which takes off where Peacemaker ends and we know what happened to Ray Brown in this book. But new readers need not worry since the story is self-standing without reading Peacemaker.
The story is excellently written and the style is as usual gripping. The editing and printing are again excellent. All in all, an excellent read and we are kept anticipating the release of Dan's sequel to Unholy Domain to know what happened to David Brown and to Adam Jordan, whom Dianne succeeds in capturing and whose religious cult is more or less broken thanks to some brilliant technological successes of Sentinel, the next generation Artificial Intelligence System developed by Domain.
Dan's books are disturbing because what he describes is possible and plausible with today's technology. So, if you are either a technophile or a technophobe, read Unholy Domain. | | | | 33 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | What Makes A Great Thriller? | | | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 (2:25 PM)
(I'm feeling amused) | |
Every once in a while you read a novel or see a movie that keeps you glued to the story with such excitement that you can't turn away until you know how it turns out. Everything is moving so fast, and you're so swept up in rapidly unfolding events that you don't dare leave the story for even a moment. The tension builds; you feel every jolt until a breathtaking climax leaves you exhausted.
That, my friend, is a thriller.
How did that movie grab you by the neck and take control? Why that novel and not a hundred other novels?
There isn't a simple answer. There never is when you're examining a work of art. I don't pretend to know all the secrets of a great thriller, but I've learned a few things I'll share with you.
The first and most important ingredient is emotion. If you don't feel the story in your gut, it's not a thriller. And not just any type of emotion. A great romance can break your heart, but that's not the emotion that fuels a thriller. Not that romance can't be part of a thriller, but it's not the what's-going-to- happen-next excitement of a thriller.
A great thriller builds up to an emotional high that lifts you up and takes you along for the ride. Consider Rick Deckard "retiring" androids in Blade Runner or Clarice Starling hunting Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. At first we tag along with Rick or Clarice, then gradually bond with them and feel every emotion they experience. They are both vulnerable, flawed characters, but we can feel for them, and ultimately, feel with them. Their highs and lows become ours.
A great thriller is unpredictable going forward and completely logical looking backward. Who would have guessed that a creature would burst out of a guy's chest in Alien? Or that the FBI agent in charge of the investigation would be the killer in The Poet? On the other hand, as you look back, it's believable that this alien creature could be so dangerous or that the FBI agent was the killer.
The plot also features deadlines. If they don't capture the villain soon, something terrible --- an assassination, a virus outbreak, a nuclear explosion - is going to take place. You can almost hear the clock ticking. Or is that your pulse?
A great villain is a necessary part of a first-rate thriller. Perhaps a charming psychopath such as Dr. Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs or megalomaniac Dianne Morgan from Unholy Domain. The villain must be more than a match for the protagonist, who battles overwhelming odds while in constant danger. A great villain will stir feelings of hatred, fear, revulsion and maybe a little admiration in the reader or moviegoer.
The setting and all the action must be believable. For example, if the action takes place in a specific locale, then all the details (streets, landmarks, major buildings) had better be correct. If bad writing forces the reader to stop believing, then all the air comes out of the story.
And, of course, there is the climax. It must be exciting, unpredictable, resolve the major issues and yet remain consistent with the storyline. Fatal Attraction and Jaws have terrific climaxes that bring the story to a thrilling conclusion.
So that's it --- a few insights as to what makes a great thriller. Difficult to describe, but when you see one, you know it.
About the Author:
Dan Ronco is a writer of technology thrillers and near future science fiction. PeaceMaker, his first novel, was published in 2004 and his second, Unholy Domain, was released April, 2008. Dan mixes visionary ideas with a touch of romance and humor. Learn more about Dan at http://www.danronco.com
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| | Safeguard Your PC | | | Saturday, April 19, 2008 (11:00 AM)
(I'm feeling amused) | |
While it’s a great tool, using the Internet carries a certain amount of risk. We read about virus and worms destroying information, we’re annoyed by those pesky ads that keep popping up on our display, and we see TV shows about identity theft. It’s easy to become worried. Heck, I’m guilty of scaring people,too; my first novel, PeaceMaker, is about an intelligent virus that shuts down the Internet.
While the risks are real, there are a number of steps to mitigate the problems. And you don’t have to be a techie, either. This article contains common-sense suggestions that the average home computer user can employ.
Identity theft, a growing problem, usually results in the loss of social security numbers, bank or investment account information, or passwords. A typical scam is an email that states that there is a problem with your account and asks you to log into a fake website that looks just like the official one. You are asked to update your information, and the scammer captures all the data as you enter it.
The common sense solution is to never click on an email into a sensitive account. Always go directly (or through your favorites list) to the real website.
As we all know, the Internet is riddled with viruses and worms. A virus is a program that attaches itself to another program, usually riding email from one computer to another. The virus is activated when the email is opened, and it may consume your computer resources, destroy important information, attach a copy of itself to every email you send, or carry on any number of unpleasant activities. A worm might be as dangerous as a virus, and it can spread all by itself.
The best defense is a comprehensive anti-virus software product provided by firms such as Norton or McAfee. These AV products check every email message entering or leaving your computer and search for every known virus or worm. When it finds software that matches the signature of a known virus or worm, it isolates the virus or worm and warns the user. The usual course of action is to erase the offending software.
Although you should keep your virus definitions up to date(automatic updates should be utilized), a brand new virus could sneak past the AV product and infect your computer. Even though the AV product received the virus definition too late to prevent the infection, it might catch it later. The AV product checks every file as it’s accessed, so there is a good chance it will detect the virus that infected your system. A weekly scan of your entire file system is a good idea, just to be extra careful.
Spyware is another pesky problem. Ever wonder where those annoying popup ads come from? It’s adware, a form of spyware, which is tracking software installed on your computer with little or no notification, consent or control. Spyware monitors your activities and may displays ads based upon the websites you’ve visited. Furthermore, it may keep track of all your activities and then report the results to some other party across the net.
Spyware is designed to be difficult to remove. Often, these programs are impossible to delete through the Windows Add/Remove function. Many AV products now incorporate anti-spyware functionality. In addition, it’s not a bad idea to install a dedicated anti-spyware program to back up the AV software. Anti-spyware products may prevent spyware from installing, and they warn the user of installed spyware. As before, a weekly scan of your files is a good practice.
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is by far the most frequently used browser. As a result, most virus and spyware writers focus the bulk of their efforts on IE. As a result, third party browsers, such as Firefox, are not vulnerable to all the viruses that infect IE. If you are having a bad time with infections, consider moving to another browser.
Finally, set up a firewall on your computer. A firewall regulates the inbound and outbound connections between your PC and the Internet. It prevents unknown outside computers from connecting to your PC. Hackers and automated software are constantly searching for unprotected computers, but a firewall should prevent them from breaking in. Windows includes a firewall, as do many of the comprehensive AV products. Firewalls are not foolproof, but they add another line of defense.
This article is not a comprehensive description of ways to protect your PC, but it’s a good starting point. A good AV package, including anti-spyware and a firewall, properly used is a great tool. Combined with common sense, you will dramatically reduce the risk to your PC.
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| | Win a Free Copy of PeaceMaker | | | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 (9:41 AM)
(I'm feeling cheerful) | | Readers of Unholy Domain, my compelling new thriller, can win a free copy of PeaceMaker, my first novel. Just post a review of Unholy Domain on Amazon or another online bookseller and notify me at danron@danronco.com. That’s all there is to it. Two compelling novels for the price of one.
UNHOLY DOMAIN delivers all the excitement of a technological thriller while also delving into provocative themes: the bioethics of genetic engineering, the question of what limit (if any) should be placed on technology, the problem of reconciling faith in God and respect for his creation with the technological promises of artificial intelligence, and the age-old issue of family ties and the loyalty of a son to his father.
UNHOLY DOMAIN features David Brown, a brilliant but troubled young man raised in the dark shadow of his long-dead father, a software genius who unleashed a computer virus that murdered more than a million innocents. When David receives a decade-old email that indicates his father may have been framed, he plunges into a gut-wrenching race with the real killers to discover the truth about his father ... and himself. As David tracks through his father's startling history, he stumbles into a war between the Domain, a secret society of technologists, and the Army of God, a murderous cult with a sacred mission to curtail the spread of technology and roll civilization back to a simpler era.
PEACEMAKER, a start-at-a-dead-run thriller, is set in the near future, where software revolutionaries are pushing artificial intelligence to the brink of terrorism. The prologue plunges software architect Ray Brown into a life-or-death contest with PeaceMaker, a deadly artificial intelligence that has infected most of the world’s computing devices. Ray’s determination to eliminate PeaceMaker leads him into a dangerous conflict with the Domain - a clandestine organization dedicated to a new world order
Website and Blog of Dan Ronco | | | | 38 Views | 0 Thumbs Up | 0 Comments | |
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| | #1 Amazon Reviewer rates Unholy Domain Five Stars | | | Tuesday, April 15, 2008 (9:30 AM)
(I'm feeling grateful) | |
I am pleased to report Unholy Domain was rated five stars by Harriet Klausner, Amazon’s top reviewer. This is the latest of a series of favorable comments from authors, reviewers and readers. Unholy Domain delivers all the excitement of a technological thriller while also delving into provocative themes: the bioethics of genetic engineering, the question of what limit (if any) should be placed on technology, the problem of reconciling faith in God and respect for his creation with the technological promises of artificial intelligence, and the age-old issue of family ties and the loyalty of a son to his father.
Following is Ms. Klausner’s complete review:
In 2012, the PeaceMaker virus destroyed the Internet; causing pandemic catastrophes as so much of the world was tied to cyber space with millions dead as a consequence. Over the next decade since this debacle destroyed the global economy, the government has banned the development of new technology outside of what the Feds create. The Technos strongly object to the taboo while the Church of Natural Humans want all technology outlawed.
The Domain has developed new illegal technology with the intention of a coup d’etat to take control of the government; the Church wants to expand its hold on the government. These two groups are ready to take their cold war hot. At the same time David Brown, the son of software guru Ray Brown, the person universally blamed for unleashing PeaceMaker, wants to prove his dad is innocent of these charges. He does not care one iota about the power struggle.
The second PeaceMaker tale (see THE PEACEMAKER) is an exciting follow-up warning to the premise that the destruction of the Internet will lead to many direct deaths and a global collapse exponentially worse than that of the Great Depression. The story line is fast-paced, filled with plenty of action as David (apropos first name) is a human sharing space with two five hundred pound battling gorillas. Although the rampart sexism seems unnecessarily comical and ergo out of place UNHOLY DOMAIN is an entertaining futuristic cautionary thriller.
Harriet Klausner
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