Day 21: TECHNO FEAST
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Day 21 of #scrypthalloween brings #artificialintelligence to a whole new level in my #novel TECHNO FEAST. Some facts about the #book: 1) it was published on March 9, 2014. 2) this was perhaps the most difficult of my novels to write because it had to be something unlike what’s been done before, but also be timeless in an age where #technology runs our lives. 3) there is a robotic mannequin in the plot that I based loosely on the innovative and life saving products that @techlinetrauma creates. 4) the book was considered for #movie treatment but shot down by the studio because in their words it needed to be “portrayed as a series.” They loved the concept but couldn’t do it justice in a two hour movie. 5) there is a scene I wrote which details a mother dying giving birth. I wrote the scene after almost losing my wife and son in a similar situation. Thankfully they are with me now and all is okay, but it was definitely a frightening experience. What are some of your favorite #ai stories?
On the 6th day of Christmas…
ON THE 6th DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY TRUE LOVE SENT TO ME… 6 Corrupt files…
…5 demon spawns! 4 lost souls, 3 werewolves, 2 vampires, and zombies in a story.
Artificial Intelligence and computers have come a long way. Just look at Sophia on the right. She’s an AI robot that can communicate as if she were human. You need to look up the videos if you haven’t yet. Is technology our next step in evolution? Do you think we’ve gone too far or should we push farther? What are your thoughts? My novel TECHNO FEAST and its spinoff VIRAL UPGRADES addresses some of these things.
Order a copy of my novel or short for yourself or a friend. If you want personalized copies then shoot me an email (Rickpipito@hotmail.com), otherwise they can be purchased in print or digital at Lulu.com or on Amazon.
Day 18 – Cosmic Orbits
Day 18 of #scrypthalloween looks at my short story COSMIC ORBITS. I wrote this one after multiple readers asked if the Network Entity was really destroyed at the end of Techno Feast. It was an ending I’d written to keep the audience wondering, but I decided to move forward with this concept after writing “Devoured Universe”. This works as a spinoff to both novels…
official description: You gaze at the night sky and see something move. Wondering what is out there keeps you awake at night. Countless forms of life are between you and the farthest star, but there’s also something else. It watches and gathers information, growing more powerful along the way.
available in print and digital at lulu.com or on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as part of the Beyond Human Trilogy.
Day 12 – Viral Upgrades
Day 12 of #scrypthalloween looks at my short story VIRAL UPGRADES. This feels less like a spinoff and more like an expansion of my novel “Techno Feast.” When I wrote the source material I cut out a lot of scenes that I thought would be redundant to a larger book. Some of them were great scenes but I felt like they could tell a story on their own. This contains those parts and more to really give the reader a full immersion in that world of artificial intelligence take over….
official description: Mankind has taken advantage of technology for ages. Life has become simple, but so has the human mind. I’ve come to change that. Your phones, televisions, computers, transportation, communications, and vehicles are all connected to a network. That network is now controlled by something far superior than flesh. I am the Network Entity, and the planet is now under my control. Any who resist will be terminated…
#book available in print at lulu.com and in digital/print on Amazon and Barnes and Noble sites as part of the Pandora’s Chaos trilogy.
Day 11 – Techno Feast
Day 11 of #scrypthalloween looks at my novel TECHNO FEAST. Although it’s science fiction, it isn’t that far fetched. The cover art by @dpipito resembles the AI satellite in the story. My approach for this wasn’t about machines taking over. It was about our technology suddenly not being available. Imagine a totally inconvenient world where we are forced to survive without luxury or assistance from computers…
official description: Humanity has survived through countless threats, but when a super computer begins to think that the human race is flawed, survival may prove an
impossibility. In order to conquer the self proclaimed “Network Entity,” differences must be put aside. Every person on earth will be put to the test. Alliances must be forged, obstacles must be eliminated, and sacrifices will be made to ensure a future for the entire planet. Forget everything you know about the past, as technology becomes our greatest enemy yet. The Network Entity’s plan to take over everything that
makes life simpler is executed in various stages. While a team of disjointed specialists race to stop each digital upgrade, a sinister man lurks in the shadows with his own plans for the future.
Available in print and digital at lulu.com and Amazon as well as part of the Pandora’s Chaos trilogy on Barnes and Noble #technology #computer #digital #artificialintelligence
Day 18 – Robotic inspiration
#scrypthalloween is passing quickly. For today’s post I wanted to talk about the franchise that really made me think about advancements in technology. Obviously it is still science fiction (in most cases), but we come closer to this every day. While writing my novel TECHNO FEAST, and its spinoff VIRAL UPGRADES, I went back and rewatched the entire Terminator series for inspiration. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t duplicating anything that had been done, and it helped to get the gears turning. I’d include the Matrix in this list, but it never held up the way this series has.
THE TERMINATOR was one of the first R-Rated movies I ever saw. For its day it was a chilling piece of work, and despite some out dated special effects it remains near the top of my list of greatest science fiction movies. The T-800 that Arnold Schwarzenegger played (and has played since) is something I’d never want to face in real life.
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY took that concept and made it even better. If anyone said this wasn’t their favorite of all the movies in this series, then they’d be lying. I’m pretty sure the possibility of a T-1000 type robot would make anyone afraid.
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES was my least favorite of the franchise. I still enjoyed parts of it, but it felt forced to me. The T-X or Terminatrix was a nice change in cyborg threat, but she didn’t really feel like an evolution of the machines to me. The fact that Arnold had to personally fund one of the best scenes in the movie says all there is to say about this one.
TERMINATOR THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES was a short lived series that introduced the T-OK715, a female infiltrator bot that brought a new twist to the story. This basically ignored Terminator 3 as time travel changed the future (not for the first or last time). Being on a tv budget and writing that lacked in substance really hurt the series, but the cast did a great job with what they were given.
TERMINATOR: SALVATION was not as bad as people say. I thought it was a great movie in fact, until the ending which made me shake my head. Marcus was introduced as a human terminator hybrid designed by Skynet, and gave a different feel to the overall continuing plot. While some creativity was shown in the making of the movie they could have done more with the ending. Overall though I was pretty happy.
TERMINATOR GENISYS was met with mixed reviews, but when I say it’s damn good I mean it (from a nostalgia POV). This movie basically hit a reset on the whole timeline, and in a good way. We can keep Arnold in his best role as an aging terminator has been explained. We also get him as more of a badass if the series continues because he’s now more than just a T-800. And Jason Clarke as John Connor aka the T-3000 was a great twist that makes you forget easily about the T-1000. It’s like they learned what was done wrong and took into account everything up until this point. It’s my second favorite of the whole franchise.
All in all, I really hope we get another Terminator film sooner rather than later. There was even talk for a while there about having a Robocop vs Terminator film. That has been popular in comics and video games, but I’m not sure its needed quite yet. They need to bring back their core fans first by making the rest of what Genisys started great.
What did you think about the Terminator movies? What’s your favorite computer or artificial intelligence related movie? Let’s discuss.
short story – Viral Upgrades
I received a request a couple of months ago to do more with the Network Entity, which was the main antagonist in TECHNO FEAST. At the time I was wrapping up a storyline that would appease such a request. I felt that one final twist could be included in the story. This is NOT that story, but should appease the request until the actual follow up is released in a few days. (Spoiler to my #scrypthalloween posts? Yes)
Here’s a few things that the Network Entity did during the novel, that weren’t elaborated upon. They are now presented in standalone print form at Lulu.com or you can get them as part of the Pandora’s Chaos trilogy extras on Amazon.com
Mankind has taken advantage of technology for ages. Life has become simple, but so has the human mind. I’ve come to change that. Your phones, televisions, computers, transportation, communications, and vehicles are all connected to a network. That network is now controlled by something far superior than flesh. I am the Network Entity, and the planet is now under my control. Any who resist will be terminated…
Direct link to the print: http://www.lulu.com/shop/rick-pipito/viral-upgrades-a-techno-feast-accessory/paperback/product-22863155.html
It is also available as part of the Pandora’s Chaos Trilogy extras download on Amazon.
Day 16 – Techno Feast
Technology is a great asset to society, but the advancements have made life a little scary at times. For day 16 of #scrypthalloween I decided to repost about my novel TECHNO FEAST.
Humanity has survived through countless threats, but when a super computer begins to think that the human race is flawed, survival may prove an impossibility. In order to conquer the self proclaimed “Network Entity,” differences must be put aside. Every person on earth will be put to the test. Alliances must be forged, obstacles must be eliminated, and sacrifices will be made to ensure a future for the entire planet. Forget everything you know about the past, as technology becomes our greatest enemy yet. The Network Entity’s plan to take over everything that makes life simpler is executed in various stages. While a team of disjointed specialists race to stop each digital upgrade, a sinister man lurks in the shadows with his own plans for the future.
TECHNO FEAST is available in print at lulu.com and in digital on Amazon.com
What’s your biggest fear about technology? Make sure to use the above hashtag when responding or posting.
Day 7: A Shift in Genres for TECHNO FEAST
31 Days of Halloween continues with my 6th novel, TECHNO FEAST. What started out in horror had to graduate slightly for a novel about technology turning against humanity. We depend so much on electronics of all kinds, that society has become spoiled in a way.
I am just as guilty as the next person to find myself staring at my phone reading articles or text messaging. I also enjoy playing video games on occasion, and the luxuries of modern cars and household items. So I thought to myself, “What if technology was gone? What would we do?”
In what has been called by fans as “The Terminator meets The DaVinci Code,” TECHNO FEAST gives us a look at what could occur based on research. If an intelligent computer took over everything tied into a network on the planet, we’d be fighting against an antagonist that is an all controlling, all seeing machine void of human emotion.
Keeping the horror type feel of what I had written to date was my goal, but the elements within give it a slight sci-fi/horror tone. There are some technologies that are in development, and in a few years most of what is in the book will most likely be standard. The horror of it is not necessarily the drama played out, but the thought of this happening, while the sci-fi elements back that tonality. Throw in a touch of thriller and uncovering secrets hidden by various groups such as the Illuminati and the Freemasons, and you’ve got a wild ride that’ll have you questioning whether the humans will succeed by the end of the book.
Enjoy the novel TECHNO FEAST in paperback or on the Kindle via links on the right of this page. Be sure to stay tuned for the graphic comic book spinoff, FINAL UPGRADE.
sCrypt Publishing 