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Books written by Ray Sullivan

Thursday 28 February 2013

Amazon Improves Payment Options for Authors

As a self published author I have mixed feelings about Amazon.  On the one hand they have made the self published eBook market what it is today.  That they have done so using strong arm methods and resorting to outrageous bribery only diminishes them as they would do well in the eBook economy without resorting to these methods.

But, regardless, they have made self publishing, warts and all, a reality and there's no going back now.

One of the things that Amazon have done is break eBooks out of being a purely US occupation, they led the field in liberalising the market.  In the traditional book publishing world you have to negotiate individual publishing rights country by country, region by region.  And it is the publisher who has the biggest sway in which markets you can pitch in.  With Amazon, and with the other eBook retailers it is trying to oust, you can publish world-wide. You can opt not to sell your books in specific countries, if that is your wish, and I suspect part of that is related to those traditionally published authors who are still contracted to specific countries but retain the rights in others.  I can't think of any other reason why you'd want to restrict selling your books in any given country, unless you're trying to make a statement.  Or avoid a Fatwa.  And who wouldn't want to make a statement?

Amazon haven't got the international sales right at the moment; if you sell through all their international outlets then you sell to the US (and India via the US?), the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Canada and Brazil.  Their Createspace subsidiary breaks the sales down to the US, UK and Europe, with payments in Dollars, Sterling and Euros respectively.  That makes monitoring your sales much easier, especially as it is presented on one page.

Apple, however, appear to have trading stores in pretty well every country on the planet, with plans to expand to the international space station, no doubt.  I'm not sure how they pay their authors directly, but I sell through Smashwords which collates all payments made to them in whatever currencies, then converts them to US dollars and that sets the payment. Smashwords does the same with the likes of Barnes & Noble, Sony and so on, as well as selling directly themselves, and then pull all the payments together.

But the downside of all of the Amazon payment method for the author is that they tend to fragment them in that US sales are paid separately from UK sales.  Apart from Smashwords, which converts UK sales to US dollars and mashes them all together.  Although the Smashwords model is simpler than Amazon's, it does have one major drawback, in that none-US authors have to be paid their royalties less 30%, which is withheld by the US Government.  If your country of residence has a bilateral agreement with the US, which the UK does, then notionally you can have 100% of the royalties but it does involve a lot of form filling being witnessed by notaries who charge more than the 30% amounts to, unless you're a very successful author.  And of course the remaining 70% is subject to UK income tax.  The irony is that most of my Smashwords sales are split between the US and the UK, with a small amount originating in Canada, so a reasonable percentage of the money held back by the US Government relates to sales made in the UK.

Now Amazon have made a change that breaks the mould a little.  UK authors can elect to have any or all of their payments made by electronic fund transfer to a UK bank.  Not only does it seem to avoid the problems with the US tax withholding issue, but it also addresses another bugbear - up until this change Amazon only paid funds outside of the US by cheque and the minimum cheque payment is $100.  For many authors this is a lot of royalties to earn, especially if they are pitching their books at the economy end of the market as Amazon only pay 35% royalties on books retailing at under $2.99 (but bizarrely £1.49 in the UK and 2.60 Euros in Europe) so building up $100 can take a long time.  The EFT payments, in contrast, are anything above £10.

Time will tell if the next payments from Amazon from the US are free of US tax - it may be a step too far given that they already partition the UK origin sales anyway, so the US Government may not be amenable to the concept, but it should set a new standard for the other eBook sellers to follow.

Hopefully I will be able to report more in the near future.


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I can be followed on Twitter - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Parallel Lives chapter 64


Alan felt he had drawn the long straw. The simple solution was for all three to travel to Bristol together, but that made getting away from the Jackson group more difficult. Travelling in two cars ensured that at least one of the cars could get away. It also meant Alan had to drive one of them - only he was insured to drive his - and he didn't know the area they were headed for. Consequently he was travelling with Karen and determined to enjoy every single minute of the experience. Karen, however, felt she had drawn a very short straw indeed.
As all three crossed the main road to the car park they noticed that Sam Jackson and the other two men responded by also crossing. The short man, the one who had had his mobile phone more or less welded to his ear since leaving the Council Hall snapped it shut and pushed it deep into his jacket pocket. Alan noticed that the young ginger haired man clutched his left side as he jogged across the road, dodging traffic. The thought crossed Alan's mind that it was unusual for someone so young and fit looking to get a stitch that easily.
As Alan and Karen belted up in his car he nodded to Karen.
'You were right, they’re all in one car, that's got to help,' he said, watching the three men close the saloon car's doors.
'As long as they are the only ones here. For all we know they may have other people waiting in the car park,' Karen replied, the nervousness edging in her voice.
'Maybe, lets see if we can't even up the odds then,' said Alan with a smile. He looked in his rear view mirror and saw that Jack was ready to move, his exhaust belching a combination of diesel fumes and cool condensing moisture from the atmosphere. Alan watched as Jack pulled away, encircling both his and the car enclosing Sam Jackson, as if taunting the doctor. As Jack approached the exit lane Alan engaged first gear and followed closely behind. Karen, spinning in her seat, reported that the doctor's car had joined the fray and was closing. At the exit they watched as Jack leaned out of the driver's door window, speaking briefly to the attendant while passing the parking fee to him, then driving off, turning left once he had cleared the raised steel barrier.
With deliberation, Alan moved unhurriedly towards the barrier, now returned to the lowered position. As he wound down the window the attendant approached, flashing out his leather pouch, rattling loose change with his left hand.
'Two pounds fifty, mate,' he said, rolling a ticket off an antiquated machine. Alan smiled, not attempting to offer any money now he was effectively blocking the exit. Jack's car disappeared around a bend several hundred yards away.
'No problem. Look, I was wondering if you could help us. The driver of the car behind is my sister's ex,' he said, flicking absently towards Karen, 'he's being a bit of a pain, trying to track her and the kids down, despite the court order. Flamin' police are no use either, never take any notice,' he continued, pulling a ten pound note out of his wallet, 'so I was wondering if you could delay him through the barrier for a couple of minutes so that we can get away and not reveal where she’s staying now. You can keep the change, if you like,' he concluded. The attendant smiled.
'Just leave it to me, mate. My cousin had a husband like that, violent an' all. Kept tracking 'er down, makin' 'er come back to 'im for more. Bloody tragic it is. Here, take your change. This'll be my pleasure mate,' he replied, handing Alan a note and some loose coins before raising the barrier.
Alan pulled out and quickly found a break in the traffic. In his rear view mirror he saw the attendant fulfilling his promise, deliberating every action.


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Copyright Ray Sullivan 2011


The characters, places and events described in this novel are fictitious and any resemblance to persons, places or events, past or present, is coincidence.  All rights reserved

Parallel Lives is published in paperback and as an eBook


I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me


Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Tuesday 26 February 2013

It Takes Two


A little diversion from my normal blog format – it's not eBook related, it has nothing to do with technology and it's not even international – in fact it's an unashamed plug for a specific venue in the North West of England and for a Motown legend. So perhaps a little international.

I'm on holiday this week, in a town called Ambleside in Cumbria, home of the Lake District, one of the National Parks in the UK. If any of you find yourself in this neck of woods and are partial to walking, scenery, music and beer then Ambleside could just fit the bill.

The Lake District really has grasped the tourist aspect of a National Park – it has fantastic walks that range from local bimbles to full scale mountaineering, with every grade of walk in-between. Perhaps more importantly the whole district is geared up for walking, with graded routes furnished with signage and supported by literature that guides the novice and the expert walkers alike from start to finish.

Every aficionado of the area has his or her personal favourite destination, and I have a few on my list, but my go-to location is Ambleside. Less touristy than Bowness down the road, slightly more accessible in cost terms than Grasmere a few miles' hike away, Ambleside has a mix of accommodation, pubs, restaurants and other leisure activities to amuse the visitor when not hiking over the hills.

One such location, and a frequent target for myself and my family, is a complex named Zeffirellis, named after the film director and home to an independent cinema complex spread over several locations in Ambleside and also a vegetarian restaurant. Now I'm not a vegetarian by any measure, however the food is so good and varied in this restaurant it took until my third visit before I realised it was meat free!

They also have a jazz bar and feature free gigs on Fridays and sometimes Saturdays. You can drink, eat from their bar menu or just savour the atmosphere while at the Jazz Bar. You may not be surprised to learn that I do all three while on holiday in Ambleside. I'm not a jazz fan in general – regular readers will know that my leanings are towards the blues – but I can take jazz in its many forms in irregular blasts and anyway, Zeffs (as we tend to call it) aren't wholly Catholic in their jazz tastes and I've heard a few good blues acts there for free on my visits.

I was at the jazz bar on Friday just gone, the first night of my vacation, listening to a talented trio named 'The Pete Major Trio' who provided a fun night of accessible jazz. However the lead – presumably Pete – kept hinting that there might be a guest singer later in the set. And so it turned out when Motown singer Kim Weston, who famously duetted with Marvin Gaye on 'It Takes Two' turned up and performed a clutch of songs, including her international hit. Kim later posed for photos and provided autographs to all and sundry. Call me sundry.

Kim might be in her sixties now, but boy, can she sing. She has a powerful soul-filled voice that made the PA at Zeffs almost unnecessary.

In the unlikely event that you find yourself in the region of the Lake District, specifically the town of Kendal, on the 8th March then you can find Kim performing at an informal evening with Pete and his two cohorts at Kendal Town Hall. Tickets cost £10, which is a snip, and more information can be obtained from mikecritchley@talk21.com.


---------------------------------------------------------------------

I can be followed on Twitter - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Monday 25 February 2013

Parallel Lives chapter 63


Sam was becoming increasingly irritated with the whole affair. Martin was more of a pain in the arse than ever before, constantly on the phone to his people, apologising, crawling, creeping. The Howells woman and her gang were clearly plotting something and almost certainly knew where Staples had been taken to. The airforce guy just stood like a wet lettuce. Christ, why had Martin insisted in bringing him along in the first place, it now sounded as though the man was a liability. And they were down to one vehicle, which made following the Howells people a tad problematical if they were in more than one car. As Martin hung up on his latest phone call Sam rounded on him.
'What the fuck is the plan? These people look like they are about to move on, can't we call in some of your people to give us some back up?' he asked, louder than he intended. Martin was visibly irritated by this outburst.
'I'm arranging back up, but it takes longer than the movies would have you believe. We've also got an added complication with this guy,' he threw a thumb towards Jim, 'because he's armed we can't leave him and we've got to make arrangements for him to be picked up by his own people.
‘Quick,’ he said, ‘I think they're on the move.’


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Copyright Ray Sullivan 2011


The characters, places and events described in this novel are fictitious and any resemblance to persons, places or events, past or present, is coincidence.  All rights reserved

Parallel Lives is published in paperback and as an eBook


I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me


Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Sunday 24 February 2013

Blinding Logic

There's been a lot of disparate reports coming out this week gone by, reflecting both innovation and bloody mindedness.

Regular readers of the blog will know where I stand on the ping pong law-suits being played between Apple and Samsung; an unholy war being fought by two innovative companies who have clearly felt no moral issue with borrowing technological concepts off each other, or indeed other firms, in the past but have reached a point of frustration that is being played out in the courts.

Mostly the legal arguments seem to have the effect of keeping sharp suited lawyers in the top earnings league as the court cases just seem to see-saw.  On paper Apple are winning the numbers game with their $1billion award by a Californian judge, but it's far from certain Samsung will ever have to pay it.  It will take quite a few more court hearings over the next few years to determine the final outcome.

In the latest twist, Samsung have chosen the German courts to challenge Apple over a technology it claims to have developed that allows the blind and visually impaired to  use smart phones by running their fingers over the icons and having a voice describe the function they are over.  It seems that Apple have utilised a similar technology in their iPhones and Samsung have been asking the German judges to rule against Apple's continued use, much to the dismay of organisations that support the blind.  As one spokesperson put it, anything that reduces access to information  is the biggest barrier to inclusion in society.

The German judge ruled against Samsung, and patent lawyers have offered the opinion that if Samsung had gone for Apple's pocket, which is overflowing with cash anyway, they might have won.  But then again, Samsung probably don't worry about financial penalties in a world where it takes years and several appeals before anything is paid, whereas a ruling that compromises a product's usability is effective immediately.  Hopefully Samsung will drop this action completely now and limit their legal actions to those that don't impact on the blind, deaf or anyone else with a sensory restriction.

On the other hand, there have been a couple of announcements that are very interesting but on the surface not to those with visual impairment.  But perhaps there is some scope to mull over later in this article.

The use of clear materials  as displays has been in the news a fair bit.  First there was the see-through smart phone shown off this week.  To be fair, it looked like a lump of clear plastic with a sim card and Li-ion battery embedded in it and, given that the firm agreed that it was actually inert it would seem my description isn't too unfair.  However the designers claim they are confident that by the end of this year they will have a working model that will show up the necessary images when the phone is in use, and then return to clear when idle.  Apart from the obvious issues around finding the phone - let's face it, we all lose them most weeks when they're not transparent - I'm not sure the world is crying out for a see through phone.

But Google have been banging the see-through drum this week as well.  As has been revealed in a number of reports in recent weeks, including this blog, they have been working on glasses that allow the wearer to control computers and other devices through the use of an eye level mounted sensor.  Again I'm struggling to see what Google are ultimately aiming at, and to be fair they are inviting developers to pitch ideas so perhaps they are having a struggle too, but here's my ideas.

First, take the transparent phone, scale it up to tablet size.  Now mount it in your car in front of the driver and bring up Google maps - suppress all but the essential data so the driver can still see where he or she is going and when they have reached their destination they can un-dock it and read their eBooks while keeping an eye on the kids.  To make this work then cash rich Google might have to buy the company touting the inoperative smart phone - I suspect they won't be too gutted to be made millionaires before their product actually works.  It might not dispense with the ubiquitous white stick, but it sounds like a step forward towards greater independxence.

Now take the Google glasses themselves and integrate them the kind of technology that Samsung want to prevent Apple using, except instead of running a finger over an icon, point a sensor at a screen or even a real life image.  In the case of screen, the glasses can help the wearer to identify icons or data on a screen, read it out if that's what is wanted or allow manipulation by eye movement.  In the case of reacting to real life stimuli, then the software can assist those with visual impairment by identifying items it recognises.

Both applications are do-able but require effort and funding.  Money that would be better spent than engaging in legal squabbles.  Google have been noticeably absent from the courtrooms so here's hoping they can use their considerable technological might and wealth to do something positive for the visually impaired.

And perhaps Apple and Samsung could take notice and invest in sharing technology for the greater good.


Saturday 23 February 2013

Alien Life Forms Seen As Global Risk

It's a dangerous and unpredictable world we life in.  In terms of natural disasters I guess it always has been, although those on the right of the Climate Change fence insist that the planet is more unstable than ever in terms of natural disaster potential.

That may or may not be correct, I'm not stepping inside that debate in this posting, but it is clear that the planet is more dangerous today than it was one hundred years ago.  There are military conflicts in multiple regions permanently, the internet presents increased international and personal risks and I'm guessing we haven't seen the end of the global financial meltdown yet.

It's not surprising that an entire industry has grown up around the analysis and management of risks.  Many of you will be aware of the term Business Continuity, some of you will be involved in it for your organisations.  If you work at a governmental level you may be involved at some level in National Resiliency, the arrangements that analyse the risks and attempt to ensure that the National Interest is looked after.  As citizens of whatever country we live in - this blog does seem to stretch quite wide these days - we should think that it is a good idea our governments are looking after our interests in this way.

But the biggest risks are global; if the UK or US banking industry collapsed completely then the repercussions would be felt worldwide.  If China catches a cold in manufacturing, everyone sneezes.

One of the organisations that looks ahead at global risk is the World Economic Forum, a think-tank of academics and industry experts from around the world.  They have been producing annual reports on their projections for potential global risks and have recently published their eighth annual report, covering the next twelve months.

The approach is to analyse perceived risks in a variety of headings to determine the potential for damage.  For industries that span continents this is necessary reading; the effects of disparity of wealth, the rise in terrorism, the reach of cyber crime, the adverse effects of bio engineering, the potential for pandemics and natural events are all topics that are considered and while some of these will give you the Heebie Jeebies as you read how exposed we can be, I expect many of you will be familiar with the broad risks presented by many of the subjects.

While most of the risks identified in the document are unlikely to reach their full potential in any given year, some will and lives will change as a result.  For example, in 2001, terrorism in New York changed everyone's life to some degree and still does.  Around the same period SARS was forecast to portent the end of the world and clearly that didn't happen - at least not yet.  This latest report takes a SARS like event very seriously as the world has hardly become less susceptible to such a pandemic in the last ten years.  Interestingly, for those of you following Parallel Lives as it is serialised on this blog, you will recognise that I've had more than a passing interest in pandemics - and for the record, Parallel Lives is over ten years old.

However, this year the World Economic Forum have taken their crystal ball gazing one step further, engaging with Nature, the scientific journal, to look at the potential effects of scientific research as risks.

The extended crystal ball gazing has turned up something that probably most of us wouldn't have expected in such a document, and that is the discovery of alien life forms.  They're not saying that 2013 is necessarily the year the such life forms will be confirmed but they point to the high numbers of potentially life bearing planets being discovered, with the discovery rate accelerating year-on-year.  So where's the risks?

Well, one risk is that global belief systems may well be challenged by the confirmed discovery of life on other planets, which could lead to destabilisation of some cultures.  Ironically, it may give some credence to Scientology, the pseudo religion supported by the halfling Tom Cruise.  I guess anything that challenges religious beliefs is a recipe for strife. Another issue is that such a discovery could skew national and international funding as there would be a race to increase the space exploration programmes to the detriment of other necessary projects.  There may even be an increased arms race as the planet gears itself up to defend itself from the newly confirmed aliens.

The report provides food for thought to anyone who is interested in the risks facing the planet and even without the identification of alien life forms is a fantastic resource for people like me who write science fiction thrillers.  But throw in the alien angle and you have what should be a best seller on our hands, and it's free to download.  I've only started dipping in and out of it so far, but what I've read is suitably well written yet easily digestible.  The PDF is on my Nexus and next in line to be read cover to cover.




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I can be followed on Twitter - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Friday 22 February 2013

Parallel Lives chapter 62


Giving Sam Jackson and his associates the slip had been easier than Jack had expected. He had been re-interrogating Karen, trying to get his head around how she had ended up passing the man they had contrived to rescue across to one of the people they had contrived to rescue him from.
'He stepped out of his car in front of me and asked me outright if I was trying to rescue John Staples. Naturally I was taken aback as I didn't know this man from Adam, but he explained he was concerned for John's safety and he asked me if I could help. We didn’t have a plan, but when the fracas started in the hall he nodded to me and we just played it by ear. As I said earlier I didn't have much of a choice, it was the only opportunity we had.' Jack took all of this in.
'So now we have to make our way down to my mother's home in Bristol avoiding motorways and the use of mobile phones. Assuming we can get away from those creeps it'll take us the rest of the day to get down there. If we've been conned then we will be 200 miles away and without a clue as to where John is,' he ranted, turning deliberately so that Sam Jackson's team couldn't overhear him. Alan pitched in.
'It doesn't matter whether we're in Bristol, Manchester or Timbuktu. We actually don't know where he is now, so going through with the plan is our best chance of completing what we started. All we've got to lose is a few hours and some petrol money.' Alan paused, looking across at the three they had to elude.
'Look, here's what we do,' he said, drawing them together.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Copyright Ray Sullivan 2011


The characters, places and events described in this novel are fictitious and any resemblance to persons, places or events, past or present, is coincidence.  All rights reserved

Parallel Lives is published in paperback and as an eBook


I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me


Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Thursday 21 February 2013

Charging for Coffee

Until fairly recently WiFi in UK hotels was a novelty.  Some of the larger budget hotel groups offered WiFi for a fee, targeting the business community who could expense the facility but I suspect I wasn't alone in shunning the deal.

Then some hotels and B&Bs started to offer free WiFi as a Unique Selling Point and their target audience was also the same kind of person who would use Trip Advisor to select a hotel.  As the free WiFi experience drove customers to certain hotels, others followed, making the selling point less unique, more commodity.  Like pillows and towels.

In the UK we're not fully there yet - there's still a disappointing number of  hotels and B&Bs that don't have WiFi at all, let alone for free, but this is likely to be the last year I'll be grumbling about that.

Employers are starting to wake up to the free WiFi idea as well.  They can lock their employees out of Facebook and webmail from the company intranet - quite rightly too - but that won't stop the determined few from trying, and that leads to exposing the intranet to outside risks.  Provide free WiFi, especially in dedicated areas, then you remove the temptation to abuse the work network and help to contain web surfing to times when the employee is legitimately away from their desk.  And critically, it is the employees' hardware that is being risked if the sites being visited are dubious.

Coffee shops were early adopters of free WiFi - what better reason to sit with an over-priced latte than to surf the net on your tablet.  They could be in the forefront of the next step.  Better start saving up for a frappachino.

You see, all the devices we carry around with us, our smartphones and mini tablet computers are great but they all need charging frequently.  Great while based at home, most of us just plug them in at night and use them throughout the day.  However, take your smartphone somewhere with a flaky signal and watch the battery drain as it hunts for the elusive one or two bars.  And when we're travelling on business or on holiday then I'm sure I'm not the only one who unpacks his bags to find the occasional power adaptor missing.

Wireless battery charging is getting close to becoming a standard feature in many appliances.  The technology is pretty new - it only seems like a couple of years since I read about university experiments in charging  remotely; now it seems we have at least three competing systems vying for supremacy.  The principle is that you place your device needing a boost near a remote charging point and the battery gets topped up while you read the paper or sit staring onto space with a coffee in your hand.  Which is  why the likes of Starbucks are trialling fitting remote charging points into some of its tables.

This is a big deal and one too big to waste time on developing competing systems.  Hopefully the big manufacturers will agree on a standard and start producing the next generation of smart phones, tablets, laptops, cameras etc with remotely chargeable batteries.  I'm sure each of the remote charging system designers will insist that their design is better than the competition but usually, in the long run, these things are like coffee - we all have our favourite blend, but in essence coffee is coffee.  To have our preference is an indulgence that is relatively easy to satisfy in most big cities, but is limited in towns and villages, but if your favourite isn't available then I'm sure you'll have no issue in using any caffeine laden drink to satisfy your needs.

A lack of a standard will only lead to market fragmentation and increase costs while slowing adoption.  Let's hope the main players can get together and agree on a standard.

Perhaps over a coffee.


---------------------------------------------------------------------

I can be followed on Twitter - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Wednesday 20 February 2013

Parallel Lives chapter 61


Michael had booked into the motel located three miles from the rendezvous. The twin bedded room, paid again using John's credit card, was substantially more basic than Michael was used to when on DTRU business. Leaving John in the room Michael returned to the rental car and drove the final few miles to the address supplied by Karen.
Standing outside the crumbling facade, lit by wall mounted halogen spotlights all around the frontage, Michael drew a deep breath and approached the front door.
*
The nursing auxiliary approached the dozing woman, shaking her shoulder gently.
'Mrs Howells,' she said, 'you have a visitor.' Jack's mother opened her eyes, a flash of anger flickering in them.
'It's Miss Howells, how many times do I have to tell you people? Is it my son?' she asked. The nurse shook her head.
'No, he say he knows your daughter-in-law. His name is Michael Watson,' she said.
'I've never heard of him,' answered Jack's mother truthfully.
'He said that,' replied the nurse, fussing over the cushions, 'he has asked to speak with you. Would you like me to send him away?'
'No, I'll see him. Send him in.'
*
Michael looked around the warm, plush sitting room, taking in the various dozing people dotted around. In one corner, roughly where the nursing auxiliary had indicated, sat a woman sat upright, glowering.
'Mrs Howells?' he asked. The sudden flush of anger took him by surprise.
'What is it you want, Mr Watson,' she snapped, 'I understand you are acquainted with my daughter-in-law,' she continued. Michael sat down carefully in front of the ageing woman.
'Your son and daughter-in-law are visiting me in Bristol, on business. I believe they are travelling down as we speak and may even arrive in the district any time now,' said Michael, desperately hoping that this battleaxe didn't want him to supply any proof of knowing her son or Karen. He was acutely aware that he didn't know her son’s first name, where he lived, whether he had children, the kind of things a mother might well expect their child's acquaintances to be aware of.
'It's news to me,' she said, rattling the newspaper lain on her lap, 'but then again I seem to be the last to know whenever they do decide to call these days. Anyway, if they have business with you, why are you here telling me?,' she asked.
'I don't think I told them where I would be, I'm from out of town and hadn’t booked my accommodation last time we spoke,' Michael stated truthfully, 'I remembered that they had told me that you lived here so I wondered if you could pass on my contact details when they turn up?'
'Why don't you phone and tell them yourself,' she asked, 'they've both got mobile phones. I've got their numbers somewhere if you need them,' she said. Michael had expected this.
'I've tried them both, either they're switched off or they are travelling through a poor reception area,' he said, only lying about attempting to contact them. 'If I give you the contact details of my accommodation, could you pass it on when they arrive, please,' asked Michael.
Jack's mother scrutinised the face of the young man carefully. She had half believed this man to be some sort of confidence trickster, was certain that he had to have the silver tongue to get inside the home as easily as he had. Residents had experienced greater problems getting in, she thought. However, this offer of leaving contact details must be safe, if they didn't turn up, or if they did but denied any knowledge then she needn't pass the information on.
'Very well Mr Watson, give me the details and I'll pass them on when they turn up.'


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Copyright Ray Sullivan 2011


The characters, places and events described in this novel are fictitious and any resemblance to persons, places or events, past or present, is coincidence.  All rights reserved

Parallel Lives is published in paperback and as an eBook


I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me


Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Twisted Logic

Many moons ago, when I was a child, there was a dance craze called the Twist. Quite a few artists cashed in on the concept, but one, Chubby Checker, did better than most.  He had a world-wide hit with 'The Twist' and followed up with 'Let's Twist Again.'  He did record quite a bit after that but the twisting preoccupation had passed and he never made it big again.  However his early records do get a lot of airplay, certainly a disproportionate amount, so he probably gets a suitable amount of recompense from them.

Now I hadn't realised that Chubby had a certain reputation in the male appendage region.  Perhaps that's why he was nick-named 'Chubby', although I understand the girth isn't the issue under dispute.  I'm hoping that his call to 'twist again' is a reference to a pointless dance craze rather then a boast about how much slack he has to play with.  This has come to public notice because tech firm Hewlett Packard, who now own Palm, have recently launched a Palm app that name-checked Mr Checker.  The app was designed to help calculate the size of the male appendage by applying a mathematical algorithm - or more correctly in this case a rough guesstimate - based on the shoe size of the person being considered.  I'm a seven and a half UK size, size 42 or maybe 43 in European sizes, God only knows what in US measurements, BTW.

Chubby, if I may call him that - I'm not sure I could look him in the eye any more due to the allegations about his build - has served a 'Cease and Desist' injunction against Palm over the app, which I understand they have complied with.  So if either of the two people who still use Palm devices had failed to download the app then their opportunity has passed by.

Which brings me to the secondary string to this ramble, the primary being about the ridiculous legal claim being brought by Mr Checker.  You see, I was a huge fan of Palm products in their heyday and believe they were robbed of the glory they deserved.  the Tungstun T5 was a beautiful device that I used to use on transatlantic flights with a nifty fold away wireless keyboard to write large tracts of 'The Journeymen' on during a particular phase of my working life.  It wasn't perfect - I can remember one such trip when I'd written the battle between the Sons of Arlgon and the Journeymen on board the comet hurtling towards Earth and the Palm crashed, losing six hours of work with it.  I hastily wrote down a synopsis of the story on the last leg of the flight and typed it all up in a hotel room in Little Rock.  But apart from that, I loved Palm products and it's a shame they are so marginal nowadays.

Anyway, Mr Checker has quite rightly decided to stop Palm using his name without his permission, and perhaps more importantly without paying him a royalty.  In fact he's claiming that the app has done irreparable damage to his reputation.  He wants to try going through life as a size seven and a half.  It seems that if HP or Palm or anyone who wants to dig deep can see their way to paying him $500 million he'll let it slide.  Now I don't want to sound mean here, but until I stumbled across the article on the web I didn't know Chubby was still alive, let alone performing (I'm still clueless about that part).  I certainly didn't know he had a reputation for being well served in the manly appendage department and having looked him up on the fount of all trivia, Wikipedia, neither did they.  Or at least they suppressed the information if they did know.  I was prepared to accept unreferenced entries, but there was zilch about his endownment levels, which sounds like a huge oversight.

So, if Chubby hadn't complained about an app that implied he was more of a man than most of us (and who really should complain about those kind of allegations?) then apart from the two people still using Palm products, assuming they were aware of the app, nobody else would have known about them.  But he's determined to milk this one and has engaged a lawyer named Willie Gary - I don't know if the name Willie has the same alternative meaning outside of the UK but fair to say he couldn't have done worse if he'd engaged a lawyer called Dick.

If Mr Checker has suffered reputational harm then fair enough, but half a billion dollars?  Even Apple would blush at claiming that much.  Personally I think most people reading the allegation would just think 'respect'.  Chubby doesn't need the money - it would appear that life has dealt him a disproportionate benefit and in this economy it's likely to be the next thing to be taxed, either by the inch or the pound.

And at least I can look forward to a tax rebate.


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I can be followed on Twitter - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Monday 18 February 2013

Parallel Lives chapter 60


Simon Crow stood at the back of the briefing room, next to his nearest departmental colleague, Gerald Evans. Between the two men they had day-to-day administration of the Near and Middle East intel desks for the Secret Service. Simon's sphere was principally the Middle East but the two areas were so intertwined that the two men worked together as if running one department. Each held the briefing document that had been hurriedly compiled tucked under their armpits, awaiting the invitation to open at such and such a page. The Head of Regional Intelligence had started with the usual preliminaries, thanking all for attending at such short notice, then continued.
'The document you have all been issued with is not, I repeat not, an intel report in the classical sense. I want you all to peruse the various documents contained within for information concerning your own areas of expertise. What I want you to do is to cross reference each of the entries to any known intel, both from the public domain and through your own channels. Of priority is establishing the timelines for this information, both from the times and dates claimed in the documents and the times the documents are known to have been filed on our system.
'What we want, and pretty rapidly too, is to know which information can be determined as confirmed, which is believed to be partly correct with specifics outlined and of course anything that is patently incorrect. Along with each piece of information that is confirmed I want an indication as to whether the time you received this intel through your normal channels was earlier or later than the claimed times. This may be harder than it sounds as you will have received your information from more than one source and not all at the same time.
'This exercise may be something or nothing, but believe me the requirement to stop all other activities has been determined at the highest level. Any questions?' he asked, scanning the assembled faces. Several hands shot up and in essence the only real question asked was regarding the origin of the documents. After a pause the head of intel declared.
'This information has been derived from an unusual and unconfirmed source. I will be briefing the sub heads immediately following this briefing, and they will be more fully appraised of the source derivation. In time it is hoped to release further information, but for now we must expect the usual fog of the intelligence world,' he said, smiling. After a few more questions, none of which revealed any more substance to the assembled sifters of intelligence information, all but the sub department heads were dismissed. Simon and Gerald flicked through the briefing documents as the officers dismissed exited the room. Simon was just commenting to Gerald that the intel he had read so far wasn't very detailed when the briefing room door was closed carefully. The Head of Regional Intelligence spoke again.
'Gentlemen, what follows is for your ears only. The information in the briefing documents has been garnered by a method devised by the DTRU,' he declared to a low moan across the room. The DTRU did not have a particularly good reputation with the intelligence departments, mainly because most of the projects funded through the Secret Service budget had failed to bear any fruit worth having. The head continued.
'We are trying to establish an exact timeline to determine whether this new method will give us an advantage in gathering intelligence over other methods. We aren't expecting any new revelations from the information contained in your documents, the methods used so far are unlikely to provide that, and are more likely to be off beam by some degree.
'We have been hampered in this project by one of our own people acting in a, er, misguided fashion. We are also experiencing a bit of a problem with one of our DTRU colleagues, but that is being addressed separately by another department.
'Simon,' he declared, looking over to the Middle East head, 'I understand you have had dealings with Martin Loftus in the past?' he asked.
'Obnoxious little toe rag, if I remember correctly,' replied Simon, 'is he our liaison on this project?' he asked.
'He was until this afternoon. The reports you all have were compiled by Loftus, but left encrypted on his network drive. No doubt he has had reasons for his actions, but he has now managed to lose a couple of crucial personnel in this project. What we need to know is whether this intel warrants a full scale manhunt or whether it is a red herring.
'The fact is, if we need to track these people down it will tie up a lot of our resources. Obviously there is a great cost associated with this but more importantly it may divert resources from other areas and in particular from your project, Simon. I believe your follow up to the Israeli suicide bomb is critical, but I'm fighting an uphill battle at the moment as it is seen in the upper echelons as an internal Israeli affair.
'My concern is that this will divert the funds needed for you on one hand, but also that it may deprive you of the vital intel you need to make progress if we fail to follow up. So there we are, probably damned whichever way we jump, business as usual,' he concluded. Simon shuffled uncomfortably, aware that the spotlight was on him.
'I'll get that evaluation carried out as soon as possible,' he promised.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Copyright Ray Sullivan 2011


The characters, places and events described in this novel are fictitious and any resemblance to persons, places or events, past or present, is coincidence.  All rights reserved

Parallel Lives is published in paperback and as an eBook


I can be followed on Twitter too - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me


Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!

Sunday 17 February 2013

Driving Me Round the Bend

I've discussed self drive cars before - Google have been trialling a self-driving car for a couple of years and have recently applied for a driver's license for it from the State of Nevada.  There's been a number of other attempts, too, and we're all aware of those cars that can parallel park themselves.  Judging by the view from my office window, there aren't too many in circulation right now.

The attraction of designing a viable self drive vehicle is obvious - humans are pretty adaptable with technology and it will take a very advanced computer to improve on the anticipation skills we all see and utilise daily on our busy roads, but when they do then we may see a real decline in the carnage that unfortunately we still see on our roads from time to time.  Because we are imperfect, we do make mistakes driving, we really can't anticipate every manoeuvre on the road and, of course, we get frustrated with delays and diversions.

So a computer that can operate a car as effectively as a human but is also capable of taking in information about the surroundings as well as about the route ahead should make our roads safer, especially if all cars are talking to a master network.

The mechanics of making a car's controls respond to inputs from a computer model seem to be pretty well cracked, as the parallel parking examples demonstrate.  They also demonstrate a certain capability to monitor the external environment.  But the aim for all the research is for the car to carry out complete trips unaided.

A British university, Oxford, has been testing their concept for a self drive car and like Google are hoping to get permission for it to be allowed on British roads.  Their approach is quite different from Google's though.  They are developing a car that learns, so it is useful for repetitive driving tasks such as the school run or the annual trip to the family holiday destination.  When it doesn't know the route, it passes control back to the driver, otherwise it advises when it is content to take over the driving role.

The development team don't use GPS, the technology that is core to most self drive vehicles, but instead use a learning algorithm and external sensors.  While I don't think this is the answer, there is good reason to shun GPS.  Although GPS is very accurate in military hands - they can pinpoint a position to within a metre which is very handy when you are delivering a $1M Hellfire missile at an adversary, but the commercial version is  a lot less accurate - deliberately so and liable to be turned off in the event of a major war.  In the words of a recent BBC article on commercial GPS it is 'capable of accuracy to within 15 metres in a field, much less accurate in built up areas.'  Come on, if you've ended up in a field, it isn't that accurate.

But a European research team has found a way to augment GPS using inertial sensors so that it is close to military accuracy, and it is believed that the next generation of commercial GPS units will incorporate this hybrid approach and make Sat Nav units more accurate.  If the learning skills being developed by Oxford are merged with the hybrid GPS and whatever Google have been building then we may start to see the first really usable self-drive car.

After all, most of us don't want a car that does all the driving.  Just the return trip from the pub.

If you want to read a novel where a Sat Nav goes rogue with devastating results then why not take a look at Digital Life Form


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I can be followed on Twitter - @RayASullivan
or on Facebook - use raysullivan.novels@yahoo.com to find me

Why not take a look at my books and read up on my Biog here

Want to see what B L O'Feld is up to?  Take a look at his website here

Worried/Interested in the secretive world of DLFs?  Take a look at this website dedicated to DLFs here, if you dare!