The Fine Print: The Un-wired Challenge

Thursday, September 29, 2011

The Un-wired Challenge

By : Dennis Stein

The last couple of articles I have written have been more ranting than anything else, but if you thought I was finished, think again... This time I won't yap about Hydro One's delivery charges, Enbridge's massive rates for heat which in this climate are a necessity, or how the Ontario government strangleholds us with taxes, namely the HST. No, I have a different plan this time around. A Challenge.
When was the last time you went for a day without answering your cell phone? 'Smartphone' indeed... If it were smart, it would answer the call for you, or text back some mundane reply to the silly question you were texted. Do you wake up each morning to get your cup of coffee, and peruse the latest news in front of the computer? Check the weather? Do a little checking in on your bank account? Then you get in the car to head to work, checking the route to the nearest Tim's on your in-car GPS? Honestly, did you get lost before you had one of these useless devices? Texting through your day, home later only to hear the children fighting over the computer, wanting to get on Facebook.
It's like quitting smoking. Just go cold turkey! Try it for a day or two, just to see what it was like. Before cell phones, the internet, texting. Unplug yourself from all of it. You might be amazed how quickly your stress level goes down. I recommend that you only do it for a day or two, especially if unplugging means you cut off the entire household. You might find the children threatening to run away from home, and your significant other handing you a divorce, if you go on for too long. Not to mention the angry messages from your boss, family, and associates online as to where you have been! But give it a try, go tech free, stop by the bank, go to the teller, and take out the CASH, you may need for the week. Leave your cell at home, and go for a drive without the GPS. I admit, it isn't for the feint of heart, but give it a try, and watch how quickly you can relax a little more.
My wife and I went to Cuba last fall, and to access the net, you bought a coded coupon from the main desk, and sat at a group of PC's tucked into a far corner of the lobby. Although I am guilty of sitting and briefly sending an email or two to family about the odd thing, I was dumbfounded to come into the lobby one evening and see every computer filled, by young people on Facebook of all things... Pathetic. See you later all, I am heading back to the beach! No cell, no pager, no stress...

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New Stuff!

Space Mail

The main console came to life, and LEDs began to light up everywhere in the darkened cockpit. It had been three months in cruise mode, and an audible beeping woke her from cryogenic sleep. Kara was drowsy, not with it yet. The computers came back online slowly, and the bay where she slept lit with a faint light. She was cold. Yawning and rubbing at her eyes, she sat up, sweeping blonde hair out of her face. The console was flashing with an indicator for a message waiting. Can’t even wait for me to be conscious, she thought sarcastically. There were several hours to spare before there was any need to make corrective maneuvers in her ship’s course in order to dock with the atoll, so she reached for her housecoat and told the galley computer she wanted her tea. It was ready in an instant, and she held the acrylic mug in both hands, feeling the warmth promised by her favorite morning drink. Was it morning? she mused briefly. It certainly didn’t feel like it. Reading the incoming messages, Kara shook her head. They knew she was the only one inbound to them, knew that she had their precious spares aboard. Still, the bullshit. She tapped out a quick reply, and headed to get dressed, the shower on board being little more than a tight closet. Kara spent a lot of time to make sure she was as well groomed as possible, an ingrained idea that she followed on a daily basis. It was better than nothing, and she always arrived smelling much better than her male counterparts. ‘Mailers’ were a group that were different than most others. Tough. Able to weather any storm. She hadn’t even glanced out at the stars today, she suddenly thought. Something she normally loved about these long runs between humanity when Kara first took this job. As the shower door closed and sealed, the small ship sped forward, having dropped from lightspeed, gliding effortlessly through the vacuum of space…

The atoll ‘Constellation’ was a massive vessel, well over two miles in length at this point in time, and carrying almost three thousand people. Massive solar sails stood erect off the cruiser’s surface, feeding power to all of it’s internal needs. The atoll was one of several, spread throughout the galaxy, and it’s interior had become home to humankind. The hum of the ion drives could be felt even out in the coldness of space. Pinpricks of light pierced the hull, windows out on the only solace that humans had now. The bridge of the ship stood up on a spire above the main body of the hull, like an eye on it’s surroundings. The commander sat here. It had been a long day for everyone, and he sat in the command chair, reviewing the day’s logs. Food shortage. Problems with waste disposal. Electrical relays that had begun to fail. He needed those replacements, or it would soon be a dark atoll, regardless of the output of the sails. Danek put his face in his hands, tossing the tablet aside. Too much today… All of the critical systems strung together throughout the ship were showing their age, and he wondered if it wasn’t simply the sheer size of the vessel that still made it habitable at times. Today alone the power had failed on part of the concourse level, the atmosphere generators dropped their output levels, and the waste recycler had stopped for several hours. If one of the main ion drives suffered a failure, the atoll would be adrift, helplessly tumbling through space. He stood up from the command chair, walking forward to check on the sensor banks, flat screens laid out on a desk-like console. Nothing but the service drones, flying around the hull to perform inspections. He needed those spare parts. The other atolls were just as desperate, their mining and manufacturing just as taxed as the constellation. He looked up briefly, everyone was at their post. The dozen or so people still on the bridge looked at their panels, working diligently.

New Stuff!

The White Room

He had not slept again. Days and nights were the same here, after all. No changes in the amount of light, and everything was devoid of colour. For his own safety, and that of others. His room was very carefully designed, round with no edges, even the locked doorway was seamless, the lighting a harsh bright white glowing from behind translucent panels in the ceiling. Color was not a good thing for him. The table he sat at was of course entirely white. The same for his chair. A bed at the other side of the room was little more than a futon, but again, white. No color anywhere. His hair had been shaved, a precaution against him pulling any of it out and seeing it's brown strands, and he was clothed in white, a simple t-shirt and pajama pants, white pull-on sneakers and gloves. Without any mirror in this cell, he could not even look upon the color of his own eyes. He sat at the table quietly, waiting. A voice over some hidden loudspeaker had told him to do so a short while before.