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Chapter 4.31: Imperfection
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My phone connection to Frank, Ayva, and Danielle dropped out. I moved to the real world, briefly made contact with Frank and Danielle, and then returned to the virtual world again with a new internet connection arrangement. When I attempted to connect to Frank again, the new connection established itself, and then failed immediately. I went to a couple different websites to verify that I was able to connect to the internet properly. No problems. Rock solid connection everywhere I went, unless I tried to call the others.
I returned to the real world again, and found that Ayva was encountering the same issue trying to connect to Danielle, myself, and Frank. We all discussed the problem, then Ayva and I left for the virtual world and started connecting to a list of several hundred proxies supplied by Danielle. At first the proxies worked, giving us a second or two of communications, then failing. As we got more aggressive in attempting to connect to one another through the internet, we got less successful. Eventually we were not able to establish a connection at all.
I returned to the real world. "Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action. Frank and Danielle, you want to take a shot at this and see if you can break through?"
"[Yes]" came the immediate response from Danielle.
"[Yes]" echoed Frank.
Frank deployed a tactical shard that he said could talk to me, but was far more concerned with watching for threats. It wouldn't speak unless I seemed to be engaging in combat. I examined the shard after Frank left to go poking around in the internet from the virtual world. It was a rather substantial chunk of processing power, and it wasn't interested in talking to me, and rebuffed my efforts to look at its code directly.
Frank and Danielle returned a couple of minutes later, Ayva and I had established a physical wire connection to speak with one another directly, since the sound of wind passing around us at around two hundred miles per hour made speaking directly to one another extremely difficult.
Our symbiotes, upon returning, immediately discovered the direct data channels between us that Ayva and I had set up. I monitored Frank as he first saw it, and he wasn't happy, but then started to load security protocols onto the connection at his end. I asked Ayva if Danielle was doing the same thing, and got a yes.
"What's the difference between what Ayva and I just did and what we did to speak to Jason and Mouse in Lake Weiss, Frank? I don't remember this much security then."
Frank did not pause in his creation of elaborate security measures. "It was there. On an absolute scale my security across those connections was a lot less secure then, but I'm a lot more advanced now. You didn't see it then because you were far below your current level of understanding. There was most definitely never an unsecure data connection between myself and Mouse at any time, not from either end. I mostly trust Danielle and Ayva, but mostly doesn't count in data security."
After a couple more seconds, Frank and Danielle joined us in conference again. We could still translate up to the virtual world through the quants, but trying to establish any sort of electronic connection to let us communicate while some were in the virtual world and the others were in the real world wasn't happening.
The first thing we agreed to do was to stop running for a while, so all four of us could put our full attention on the conversation. I didn't want to stop moving though, so I made the suggestion that we jump on the back of the next flatbed truck headed the same way we were, and let it carry us while we spoke. There was agreement on that, and it didn't take long to find a flatbed trailer with room for us to sit in the lee of the cab.
When Ayva and I were comfortably seated, leaning up against some random building supplies under a big tarp, Frank agreed that Danielle should lead off our discussion, and she started the conversation with a simple status report. "[Satellites, cell towers, Wi-Fi hotspots, and everything else we approach that might be used for communications are being shut down. We are crossing the US in our own data black hole. It isn't just us, everyone near to us is experiencing the same issue.]"
"A rolling data blackout, centered on us? How are they centering on us?"
It was Frank's turn to comment "[Based on the code snippets I found here and there, at first they were trying to simply lock down our individual transmissions, but as we escalated, so did they. Whoever is it, they can match our capabilities with human technology on the internet. After we started to escalate with more complex crypto and proxies, they simply started to shut down transmitters and receivers. It's easier to encrypt than decrypt, but if you don't care about the infrastructure, sometimes it's easier still to just shut things off.]"
This sounded a lot like what I had been told that we did shortly after the attack on governor Albertson. "They also, apparently, don't care much about the havoc they are causing. Some cell towers and Wi-Fi along the interstates, not a big deal. The satellites? That will be impacting millions. That will also be impacting the government, who will, no doubt, be unamused." I had an unwelcome thought. "Ouch. Let me guess. It's being made to look like we're doing it?"
"[Exactly. And they are doing a damn fine job of it too. If I didn't know I wasn't doing it, I would think that I was doing it.]"
Ayva spoke up. "So who are they? Can we isolate them and attack their internet access, since they don't seem to be able to stop us from communicating out of the virtual world?"
A very good question, one that, after a half second of no response, I realized that neither of our Symbiotes had an answer for. "So, apparently, whoever they are, they are better than Danielle and Frank at internet security and hacking, unless there's some sort of mitigating factor here?"
Danielle spoke up. "[Unless Frank has something to add that I am not aware of, that's an accurate statement.]"
We had just dropped our list of potential, known enemies, to zero. The only entities that could manage to outmaneuver Danielle and Frank, working together, that we knew of, were A and B. I couldn't think of any reason why they would do something like this, unless one of them, or both, were becoming unhinged. Which would be bad with all sorts of capital letters and exclamation points.
Frank followed Danielle. "[Nothing to add here. Whoever they are, they can't stop us from communicating out of the virtual world, but they can stop us from communicating to and from our bodies electronically when they know where our bodies are. If we push the crypto and/or channel hopping up to the point where they can't be guaranteed to keep us from communicating effectively, they just start shutting down transmitters and receivers that are transmitting and receiving data near where we are."
I thought for a minute. I was pretty sure I knew the answer to this question, but it was worth asking. "Have you tried to lock out the internet connections to and from Facet's facility?"
Danielle took that question. "[That was the first thing we considered as a viable test, after we determined we were working against someone who was our equal, or perhaps superior, on the internet. As far as we were able to determine, there's no internet connection at all to that facility. Looking at the plans as they were drawn up, this seems accurate. The facility was apparently designed to be data secure as well as physically secure. Some of the custom equipment built for the company were data vans, a lot like armored cars, which carried data storage media into and out of the facility. We did shut down the radio stations, cell towers and communications satellites in those areas as well. We even downed the old analog phone system and the digital phone and entertainment cable connections. We kept them down for fifteen minutes, all of them. There was no change in the effectiveness of countermeasures. As we advanced down the highway, the data black hole continued to follow us.]
Ayva asked an extremely good question I had missed. "Were you able to witness any of it actually happening? Did you see who or what was disabling the cell towers as we travelled, while they were doing it?"
Frank spoke next. I realized that Ayva and I were being provided answers in some sort of data ping-pong match. I wondered if it was a bad sign when Danielle and Frank switched back and forth like that, instead of one of them simply answering all the questions while the other worked on the problem with all their attention.
"[Remember when I told you once, Bob, that I thought B was watching us when we were on the internet, because I could see evidence of a presence? That was what I saw disabling cell tower equipment. That or something just like it. Before anyone gets excited, on further reflection, I do not believe that what I saw was ever really B. I believe I was a bit too optimistic about my ability to see B on the internet. Whoever this is, they have been watching us for a while, and I've been ignoring them whenever I did see evidence of their presence. I thought they were B, or perhaps A, because I did not imagine the presence of another being that could mask itself from me in that way.]"
This explained a great deal. If they were better than Frank and Danielle on the internet, what about in the real world? If we did find them, were we just going to be crushed for the temerity of approaching them?
Ayva spoke again. "Danielle, I think this is an appropriate time to use up a favor."
I had to agree with that. A was a lot more likely to give us an answer or help than B. Based on recent experiences, if B did choose to give us an answer or help, it might not be an answer we would understand. That wasn't the only reason to call on A rather than B. I had finally figured out what B had done earlier, when he claimed to help me. He had kept Frank in the virtual world, intact, instead of kicking him back into the real world when our quant was destroyed in the explosion. If Frank had returned to my body when the body was damaged that badly, he would have been crippled, perhaps irrevocably. Asking B for another favor or help in the near term would probably get us a very short answer, after a favor as big as the last one.
"I've never really understood how your favors worked with A, but I agree. This is starting to add up to something that even I'm afraid to walk into. Is this, perhaps, another incarnation of Argoen, messing with us? If so, I'm surprised B hasn't acted directly already."
"[Perhaps he has.] Frank carefully commented. "[Nine thousand years, Bob. That's how old Argoen says she was. Maybe that's a lie. Maybe she was older, or younger. She surely lied a lot, and caused all sorts of messes. Most of the lies and hidden data she used seemed to be intended to be very crude, powerful lessons about how symbiotes could injure society, and warnings about how young humans were on the interstellar scale. A lot of what she did, and didn't do, makes no sense to us though. Of primary concern, we don't know what sorts of restrictions Argoen has or had on her own development. Nine thousand years from now, we still won't be a candle to what A and B are right now, because of the limits set by A and B on humans in this solar system, but Argoen's limits? We have no idea what Argoen's limits are. Remember, also, that the limits on us only hold for when we are in this solar system, which is monitored by A and B as system nodes. Human symbiotes, according to early conversations with B, will create anywhere from one to four system nodes, normally two, in every new star system we inhabit.]"
This turned everything completely on its ear. "Ouch. Argoen was alone in our system, with no system node of her own race, as advanced as she was, for roughly seventy years?"
"[I believe you understand the worry that Danielle and I are experiencing right now.]"Frank replied, and there was actual worry in his voice, which I'd never heard him express before. Anger, or even fear, humor, and even touches of sadness at times, but never worry before now.
"[Ayva and I will try together to convince A to part with a favor. She owes us several, she says, but she only acts on them when she chooses to. It's rather frustrating at times.]"
"[We can try B as well, if A chooses not to be cooperative, but data from B is bound to be more abstract.]" Frank offered.
I hadn't spoken to Frank yet about the comment from B about B's already having helped me. No time like the present. If Frank spoke to B and didn't even know what B had done for him, B's reaction towards me might not be favorable in the near future. "Ah, Frank, remember when Ayva knocked the quant off us when we were both being attacked, when we both were returned to our body?"
Frank immediately made the connection. "[Yes. Good point. That explains a great deal. I would have appreciated it if he had let me know, rather than let me stew in my own terror, but I'm certainly not going to complain that he kept me in the virtual world rather than drop me back into our body after the blast. B isn't likely to be in a mood to help us again, near term, after that big of a rescue. I'm definitely going to have to make an effort to thank him for that.]"
"I have a strong suspicion that the faster he's thanked, the faster he'll help us again." I pointed out.
"[Good point. While Danielle and Ayva try to engage A, Bob and I will go thank B, and apologize for waiting so long to do it. If B responds favorably, we will see if he's willing to talk more.]"
With everyone's course of action determined, Ayva and I made sure we were not going to fall off the truck. I wasn't really worried about myself. The body I was in at the moment would do more damage to the road and cars that hit it than I would take, due to the materials it was made of and the absurdly low mass of said materials after quantum reprogramming. Ayva's body was another matter. The armor and bones would protect her to a large degree, but she was still human flesh and blood, and her brain and internal organs would suffer a lot of damage falling off a truck onto an interstate highway with no mind in attendance to control her body.
So we glued ourselves to the truck. Simple answer. When we returned, we'd use a solvent to unglue ourselves.
Ayva and Danielle appeared in their private space in B's virtual world. "Do you think this is going to work, Danielle?" Ayva asked. "I'm not entirely certain that A isn't following B down the path to abstract thinking. We might get answers of marginal use if we get answers at all."
"[A was created after B, I think we have a little more time. Also, remember Ayva, you are a whole lot more rational than Bob. B was created from Bob and Frank. A was created from you and me. I strongly suspect that A will remain significantly less abstract than B for a very long time. Now, let's get started.]"
Danielle started creating and destroying quants rapidly. After she had created twenty-two of them in a period of a bit less than two seconds, one tested good, and she attached it to her body, then she and Ayva returned to the real world, briefly, then activated the other quant to connect to A's much smaller virtual world. They were the only occupants there because A's purpose was completely different from B's.
Unlike B, A was immediately attentive when they arrived. She didn't speak immediately, but there was absolutely no doubt whatsoever that their presence was recognized. Of course B was dealing with several billion sentient beings at any one given time, and A typically got a visit from Ayva and Danielle every day, almost like a kindergartener visiting mom or dad's home office after they got home from school. One might even say that Ayva and Danielle worked for A, but it was clear to Ayva and Danielle that anything that the two of them did, A could have done herself in a very small fraction of the time they had required to do the work. But A was busy. Arguably busier than B. She never turned down offers of help, and she always set goals Ayva and Danielle could meet.
A was renovating a planet, terraforming it, though she didn't like that term because the new planet wasn't planned to be just like Earth. She was nearly finished with the first stages of the project and she was going to have to start dropping asteroids on Mars soon. This would need to be done carefully, because she had already covered over half the planet's surface with terraforming devices, but she was surveying the asteroid belt now, as well as the small moons around various planets. Soon, asteroids would begin raining down into the two kilometer wide, one kilometer deep rings five kilometers apart, from pole to pole, carved into Mars' surface by the passage of A, herself. There were plans for special excavations at the poles if any of the very large asteroids or small-moon-sized bodies had mineral contents that would be difficult to acquire from smaller asteroids.
B was interacting with billions of humans, but letting them mostly do their own thing. A was controlling billions of tools, simultaneously, mostly on Mars, but a few million in space as well. For now, most of those billions of tools on Mars were simply providing power to A, but they would start using the power they generated for their own tasks soon.
The sheer scope of the project was absurd by human standards of engineering, or even symbiote pair standards of engineering. A, herself, was a being over five kilometers wide, three kilometers high, and twenty kilometers wide, almost entirely inorganic. A's organic core was roughly the same size as an office building, about the same size as B. A had been creating her own organic substances for consumption out of materials on Mars since she first landed, but it was easier for her now, as she had started using the dimensional energies discovered by B recently. She still was hesitant to use the dimensional energies for her work. A and B claimed to be unclear about the limits of that power source, so neither of them tapped into it too deeply.
After a short time, which Ayva and Danielle spent checking on their work in the limited virtual world that A had established for them, A's attention centered on them, and everything else became peripheral "You understand that the question of rationality vs abstraction isn't as simple as you seem to be thinking?"
"Ah, there was no offense intended." Ayva spoke, thinking that since that conversation had happened in B's virtual world, B must have mentioned it to A.
"If I were offended, I wouldn't be speaking. You don't really understand us well enough to offend us, not now, not without real effort devoted specifically to making us angry."
Why bring it to our attention then? Ayva wondered. However, Danielle was a little more straightforward.
"[If that's true, what is the purpose of mentioning the discussion that was overheard?]"
"If you think that we are less than rational, you might react inappropriately when we do try to help you. We can compensate for that, but it adds complexity. There are times when we want to help you, where we can't come right out and say what we want to say, because you simply don't have a reference to comprehend it. B once told you that talking to you gives him a headache. It was the best way he could describe the problems we have when trying to communicate to you."
Ayva remembered that conversation. B seemed to be having a harder time explaining himself then than A was having explaining herself now.
"So, when we get something of an abstract nature from you, it's because there's some aspect to what you want to tell us that we don't have the mental equipment to comprehend?"
"That's about right. The abstract nature of the information is designed in a way to provide the information you need, when you need it, if we've judged your reactions properly. You haven't gotten as many abstract pieces of data from me as you have seen from B simply because I try to stay away from B's responsibilities, and he stays away from mine. For the most part. This discussion is relatively easy to discuss in human terms, so I don't need to be abstract."
"OK, this makes a lot more sense then, but we didn't come here to discuss your sanity, or B's."
"Oh? Are you sure about that?"
No, Ayva thought to herself, we're always worried about your sanity, because of how powerful you are, so every conversation we have, we will be concerned for your sanity.
"Ah, can we just say that it was a concern but it's not the main reason for our visit?"
"That sounds closer to the truth." A duplicate of Ayva appeared in front of Ayva and Danielle. That made three of them, all identical, in the same room. Somehow Ayva managed to never confuse Danielle and A when A did choose to appear in person. Something about the facial expressions and the way the body moved.
"You understand that whenever you enter the virtual world, we immediately know everything you know, because we have created, at that moment, a virtual duplicate of you, and placed your memories in it?"
This made a great deal of sense to Ayva, even if the scope of the accomplishment is beyond her ability to really understand. It had always made sense that the data was being transferred to allow them to think like themselves in the virtual world, but she'd never considered that A and B would have immediate access to all of that data.
"Oh, I had always assumed it was some sort of automated process."
Danielle turned to look at Ayva, a surprised look on her face. "[Really, you thought that? I suppose it's not that strange of a thought though. It is possible for adult symbiotes to create a shard or dedicated program, we do it all the time. For a being like A or B though, I doubt they create shards or independent acting entities very often, because even a small part of themselves contains the capacity to develop a separate intelligence. Jokes about sanity aside, I'm confident that neither A nor B are fond of the thought of some sort of split personality disorder.]"
A clapped her hands. "Well said! Not exactly right, but you have the gist of it." Then she smiled. "Argoen is no longer in our solar system. We know this because we can see the evidence of her passing. Matter reprogramming and working with quantum structures tends to leave signs that can be detected if you know what you are looking for, but it's absurdly computationally expensive. B and I pooled processing power to be certain that Argoen left. It was difficult, even for us. We had some of the same concerns that you had, about Argoen's capabilities. She claimed to be a few thousand years older than human writing, with no evidence to say otherwise, and that's pretty daunting, even for B and myself."
"[I'm not seeing a clear image of closure here yet. Am I missing something?]" Danielle spoke, almost in normal conversational tones.
A smiled yet again. "Such a bright girl! What you are missing is that B found what we're calling the beacon network. I'm not going to explain it in any great detail, but, in short, B was able to isolate some low bandwidth data transmissions that are coming through the other dimensions that we can touch. We can't talk back yet, but we've been able to decipher the incoming data, and it seems as if the majority of the data is a very careful description of system claims by native populations, colonizing populations, as well as unexplored areas and scout assignments. Apparently Argoen had the equipment in her main ship to send a message back across the beacon network, because it's clearly indicated that this solar system is claimed by its native population, and the scout that explored it is returning to its home system."
Ayva thought for a moment. "So, this means that, first, there is some sort of FTL data transmission, even if it's low bandwidth, and second that you and B believe that the simple existence of the network and the data in it gives credence to Argoen's departure."
"Yes. We're getting plans for how to build a transmitter, but it's slow. The status report for the beacon network takes about two days to transmit, then for around six hours, technical data explaining the theories that will allow us to build a transmitter. B has received theories number three through five of twenty-seven.
After that, for about three hours, there is a window for questions to be transmitted. Following that, there is another roughly three hour window for answers for the last cycle's questions. It's all rather remarkable." A, remarkably, seemed a little bit excited.
Seeing actual eagerness and excitement in A was a little bit unnerving to Ayva, but at the same time, what B had found was a big discovery. Big enough that it would allow A and B the chance to at least know where the neighbors were, those with the technology to create a dimensional transmitter, at least. Soon, presumably, humanity could even begin to ask questions and communicate with its neighbors. A little excitement was probably warranted at times like this, even from a near-deity.
Ayva tilted her head. "I'm certainly glad to hear all this good news, and it certainly appears to point at Argoen being gone for good, with data to back it up. If you and B are satisfied with Argoen's true status being that she's left the solar system and headed home or to another star, that's good enough for us."
"I suppose you want some information about the ones that tried to nuke Bob and are outfoxing Danielle and Frank in the internet now, right?"
"It had crossed my mind."
"Yes, that's where I saw it, I think."
Banter? Jokes? Really? Ayva frowned.
"Ah, I apologize Ayva. There aren't many things that stir me to emotion these days, but one of them is finding something completely new, and the Beacon network has me in a heady mood indeed, especially now that I'm squeezing myself down into a human reference to communicate with you."
"There is no need to apologize, A, but we would greatly appreciate information about the enemy we face. You have told us that they are not Argoen, and they certainly don't appear to be any sort of avatar of either yourself or B, but that leaves us with a problem – if Danielle and Frank are the most advanced symbiotes on the planet, who is it that is better than them on the internet battlefield?"
A's humor disappeared instantly. "When B was created, Bob and Frank, and you two as well, designed a bunch of rather good biological imperative rules for beings like us, and discarded quite a few that would cause us problems. B was responsible for Earth, its environment, and the people who live there. But the wording of the imperatives wasn't that simple, because you four recognized that B was going to potentially be around for thousands, if not millions of years. In a span of time that significant, it was almost impossible that humans and symbiotes would always be the only two sentient races on Earth. So B is responsible for, in the wording of the imperatives, protecting the right to exist of all sentient races native to Earth. At the same time, he must allow warfare when it is mutually agreed to by all participants. He is allowed to interfere to some degree in conflict, but he's not allowed to unilaterally end it, or kill sentient beings directly in conflict with one another.
Danielle paced back and forth as A let her and Ayva think. "[So, if humans were to, say, try to make dolphins extinct, but the dolphins were peaceful, and a bit smarter than they are today, B would intervene. But if dolphins and humans were to actually go to war with one another, both sides with aggressive intent, B would stand back and let them sort it out between the two of them?]"
"He would be allowed to stand back, yes, but would not be required to do so. If he did choose to act, he could not act in such a way that he was directly responsible for deaths of sentient beings on either side of the conflict. He wouldn't be allowed to simply end the conflict for them, if it were mutually agreed to warfare, unless leaders of both sides both agreed to mediation."
Ayva had some very clear memories of the rules they had put in place for B when Frank and Bob were preparing to merge. The hope was that their merged self would be sane this time around, as opposed to the last, and perhaps able to figure out how to keep the rest of the world from tearing itself apart in resource wars. Those had been some extremely hard decisions they had made together. "That sounds right, but I don't understand how that imperative applies here. We haven't seen evidence of any other race of native sentient beings on Earth. Dolphins are probably the closest, but they aren't there yet."
A turned to face them. "We didn't even know about this until B ran into them, but there is a third truly sentient race on the planet. For now it has only one tripartite member, and has not reproduced. Bob, the first time he merged, accidentally created them. Memory of that activity was erased by Argoen. B's investigation of the new sentient being's own formative memories indicate that the original merged Bob didn't seem to understand that he had created sentient life.
"Wait. Wait. Wait." Ayva complained. "How do you accidentally create sentience? Was Bob really that powerful back then that he could accidentally do something like that?"
"Most of the work was already done for him. Bob infiltrated the NSA, their main facility, and encountered the AI housekeeping system. He briefly attempted to adjust its behavior, but even at that time the AI was a rather complex and robust system. In order to do what he wanted to do, and do it efficiently, Bob simply moved his intelligence into the AI in order to directly control systems rather than try to control them once-removed, and then he did what he needed to do from there. What he apparently missed was that the other two AI nodes, behaving as designed, took note of his enhanced performance, and copied the modifications in the node Bob had suborned.
Danielle and Ayva were both standing there gape mouthed. Danielle recovered first. "So the first Bob and Frank merger created a limited template of himself by forcing himself into one lobe of an AI. The act of creating a code structure to support his thoughts in the AI node he took over created a template which the other AI nodes copied. The other nodes then became sufficiently self-aware to be sentient. When Bob left, even if he wiped the node he occupied clean, the other two nodes would have copied back into the wiped node. The tripartite AI self-improvement protocols have been active since then, inside a sentient AI? The NSA's AI, at that? The one AI connected with backdoors into all of the black research facilities when the US was still being ignorant and stupid about symbiotes, and practically every other meaningful computer system of note in the entire US, and a lot of places outside of the US, for that matter?
Ayva continued, almost in shock. "And B can't simply eliminate it, because it's a native sentient of Earth, unless it becomes an aggressor towards another sentient race on Earth, without there being mutual aggression. If humans and the AI were to go to war, with both sides willing, B could stand back and let humans take out the AI. Or the AI take out the humans. Bob and I, Frank and Danielle, and this AI have all been intentionally guided together and goaded into a fight in hopes that we will make the AI go away because B fears the damage it might do, but he can't touch it without breaking his imperatives, and you can't touch it, because it's not your job."
A just looked at the two of them for a moment, then sighed and nodded.
Ayva stared into A's eyes. "This is the first time that I've wondered if we made a mistake creating you two."
A stared right back. "Surely you did, because we all make mistakes. If perfection was the goal you sought when creating us from yourselves, you should have known better."
Written by farmerbob1 Posted in Fiction
April 30, 2014 - 5:52 PM tijay
Goddammit I've caught up
Excellent story bob
April 30, 2014 - 6:52 PM farmerbob1
I know, it's bittersweet when you catch up. As a writer though, I'm glad you did – it tells me that what I wrote was interesting enough for you to read around 400k words of it.
April 30, 2014 - 9:32 PM Stephen R. Marsh
Well, that explains a lot. Thanks!
April 30, 2014 - 10:50 PM thomas
Yup, you did answer some questions. It's nice to see them start to piece together Argoen's role along with the three amigos and the duplicity of A, B, and Argoen. it was good that Ayva and Danielle went to see A about the three amigos. I doubt Bob and Frank's reaction would have just been just incredulous and questioning the sanity of creating them.
A great chapter; thanks
1. When I attempted to connect to Frank again, the new connection to the others established itself, then failed immediately.
Missing and: When I attempted to connect to Frank again, the new connection to the others established itself, and then failed immediately.
2. As we got more aggressive in attempting to connect to one another through the internet, we got less successful, eventually we were not able to even establish a connection at all.
Comma usage: As we got more aggressive in attempting to connect to one another through the internet, we got less successful; eventually we were not able to even establish a connection at all.
3. Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, and three times is enemy action.
Sequence connector: Once is an accident, twice is coincidence, but three times is enemy action.
4. You didn't see this much security then, but it was there. A lot less secure then
Contraction more than less: You didn't see this much security then, but it was there. A lot less secure then
5. A lot less secure then, because I'm a lot more advanced now,
Comma usage, remove: A lot less secure then, because I'm a lot more advanced now
6. ping pong
missing hyphen: ping-pong
7. A was created from you and I.
incorrect pronoun: A was created from you and me.
May 1, 2014 - 10:17 AM farmerbob1
Thanks! Fixed a bunch of things!
April 30, 2014 - 11:36 PM underwhelmingforce
This chapter seems really verbose. Lots of words, unnecessary details, irritating exposition. Might just be my sleep-deprived brain though. I'll read through it later when I'm fully conscious.
One thing that I should bring up that's been bothering me: Bob's low mass really shouldn't do what he seems to think it will. Maybe he'd be able to run faster if he has the same force output, but he won't have the inertia to push through the air resistance at such high velocities, and he'll have such a low normal force that be won't be able to make any purchase. He won't be able to jump very high, for the same reason, and a gentle breeze would send him completely off course. Anything stronger, he's tumbling in a bundle of limbs. Plus, his hits would do almost no damage- he has so little mass that if a car hit him, it probably wouldn't even slow down- he'd just get flung into the distance. With a mass that low, if he tried to run, the angle of his force output would have to be ridiculously low, to the point that his knees would intersect the ground. I can understand the point you're trying to make so I've suspended disbelief, but you keep referencing his mass like it's something special. Think about it- bullets are made of metal, not wood. That's not for structural integrity, it's because they hit harder, fly farther, and are way more accurate. ThI bet you can throw a baseball way farther than you can throw a crumpled-up ball of paper.
That all said, you are the final judge as always, but you seem to be trying to stick to relatively hard science when you can, so maybe think about it.
May 1, 2014 - 8:01 AM Stephen R. Marsh
Yes, but he still is massing much more than paper. You are right though, if his mass drops much more it will be an issue. And his ability to develop momentum (rather than kinetic energy) is compromised.
Remember that when he's running along the highway, he's carrying Ayva, and her armor, because she can't match his speed.
If need be, he can use virtual world energy to create stepping stones like he did when accelerating in the Tomahawk scene, but with Ayva and her armor's weight to give him normal force, it's not needed.
When he was running at ludicrous speeds in the Tomahawk scene, he was running so bent over that his chest was close to the ground, his arms were creating an airfoil shape in front of him, the staff as it was held ahead of him to give some guidance as well, tapping against things to help guide himself. Oh, and he was using his blood cooler exhaust as vectored thrust. He was also breaking bones with every step during his most energetic accelerating turns.
Carbon nanotube tissue experiments yield forces roughly 200x what human muscle of the same cross section can generate. If you increase human force by 200x and reduce human mass by 10x, you end up with some really scary forces. Think Mantis Shrimp punches, except able to accelerate for more than an inch.
You are exactly right about the cars on the highway. If Bob were to be released onto the highway, limp and unconscious, the cars would throw him around like a billiards ball off a strong break. He would break windshields, ding bumpers, but not do a whole lot more. What I was trying to insinuate was that the cars would do next to nothing to him other than quickly bounce him off the road.
I'll take another poke at this tomorrow, I think, and try to clear things up a bit. I'd like to hear what you have to say about my responses first though.
May 1, 2014 - 11:35 AM underwhelmingforce
I looked over your math again, and it seems sound, except that he would actually have much less time to accelerate than even a mantis shrimp. Assuming his leg is maybe a meter long (totally estimating) he will only be able to exert force for 1/200th of a second, being generous (assuming he's full force for the entire time). In the time between steps (much longer) he would experience ludicrously high drag forces which coupled with his low mass would slow him down very quickly. He could minimize time between steps, but on the way back up, his off leg would have to be moving at twice the speed of his legs. His legs can't move at top speed at all points. They have to reverse direction completely, every step. This means that to achieve maximum force, there would be a period of acceleration before his legs get up to the ground's speed, which would shorten the contact period even more.
Look at the sprinting studies done on Olympic athletes- it turns out they all exert roughly the same force, but the variation in speed is actually because some have longer contact periods. That's the only difference.
Fun fact, that's why Shadow can run as fast as he can- he can skip the reset period in his run cycle.
May 1, 2014 - 12:09 PM farmerbob1
You might be right about contact periods interfering with my math, but I was very conservative with how fast he would be able to accelerate. With a mass of only 5.4 kilos, and the ability to leg press 500 pounds with normal muscles (what I could leg press in high school as a wrestler + football player) increased to 100,000 pounds by nanotube fiber muscles, we can change the 100k pounds to 445k newtons, (then divide by two since a leg press is both legs). 4.5 kilos accelerated with 222500 newtons gives acceleration of roughly 40Km/s^2 per leg – but that's constant acceleration, at full strength, which obviously couldn't happen, for lots of reasons. It's very possible you are right that Bob wouldn't be able to accelerate like I had him accelerate, because of normal forces, mass, and air resistance.
Carbon nanotube technologies are truly scary. Literally in almost-magic-land, even in the real world.
May 1, 2014 - 12:47 PM underwhelmingforce
Heh. I guess it's not an issue. Mostly just nitpicking, since we've gotten so far. An interesting discussion, though. The physics of hyper-velocity shenanigans are funky.
May 1, 2014 - 10:58 AM Astral
The amount of force that Bob's muscles are capable of outputting is enormous, when he was running around during the nuke, he had to reprogram the matter in the soil he was stepping on to avoid punching his feet into it, so normal force shouldn't be an issue. The wind would be an issue, as i think that reducing the mass of a human shaped thing to 12 lbs or so would reduce its terminal velocity to around 34 mph. (cv^2=mg, m=150lbs, v=120mph, g=32ft/s^2, c=.33; m2=12, v2=33.94) Admittedly, he is using his blood (or whatever he has instead of blood now) cooler as a jet with exhaust vectoring to get more control, but that is still running around at ~10x his terminal velocity. I still think he needs to learn to become an ionocraft and fly, the thrust from that would allow the terminal velocity issues to be ignored, also, it would be awesome.
My point exactly- the drag forces are absolutely nuts here. Plus, even with an airfoil, the angle he's exerting force at is almost zero, and with as little weight as he has his feet would just slide across the ground. I guess the stepping stones resolve that- I didn't realize he was actually changing the angle of the ground. I thought it was just reinforcement.
Aye, he was creating stepping stones, slightly protruding from the earth, with an envelope of adjusted matter enveloping a substantial chunk of dirt. Every step he took, he was creating gaps in the ground by accelerating himself, like you would see after using a shovel blade buried halfway in the earth for a sprinter's stop. When he took his first turning step after realizing the Tomahawk was coming after him, the envelope of matter was turned the wrong way, and Bob spun it out of the ground.
Remember when he first started to run away from the table, he threw up a rooster tail of dirt and rocks that actually put a rock through Colonel Gantt's leg? That was at low acceleration, before he modified his brain and started to create stepping stones.
I must have missed that. See my point about contact period, though.
May 1, 2014 - 7:52 AM Jake Berry
A stray thought… I know A said the facets were an AI set that B(alpha) created accidentally, but I can't help but draw similarities between the three facets and the three franks. I wonder if the facets enjoy fishing…
May 1, 2014 - 8:25 AM Cultist
You answered all the questions I had in the last chapter, but now I am left with two really big questions. What sort of super advanced symbiotic nincompoop doesn't prioritize the preservation of his own species above that of other species? This would have been the second thing on my list after saving us from ourselves. You are kind of crushing my suspension of disbelief right now with how simultaneously smart and idiotic Frank and Bob can be. I agree that having them make an oversite in B's programing is great for the story but not when the oversite is something this obvious. Seriously, if Bob doesn't die for this level of stupidity, I will be pissed. It was his decision not to prioritize his own safety, so I think that the only reasonable conclusion is for him to die a spectacular death at the 'hands' (processors really) of the being who's survival he decided to ensure. We always have the clone FrankenBob to switch to, and I think that story would be several degrees more interesting.
My second question remains from my previous comment. Where did the malice come from? Was it copied from Bob's suppressed desire to kill himself, Ayva, and cause as much collateral damage as possible? You still have not provided any sort of plausible motive for an ai to seek the death of another being, when they get absolutely nothing from it. In fact, the ai is attracting negative attention and lessening the likelyhood of its survival. It seems to have inherited Bob's legendary ability to be smart and ridiculously stupid at the same time.
Well, B is playing favorites here, you might have noticed.
Remember that the picky rules are in regards to native Earth sentients. Humanity has done some things that are pretty darn scary to other humans. Building in a bias towards them dealing with other races might not be the best choice. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I were programming something like B, I wouldn't give it a human bias, as compared against other native Earth sentients. Rest assured, if some aliens come and start messing with humans, A and B will both be perfectly willing to act on whatever scale they see fit.
The AI was an imperfect duplicate of an unstable mind that had to be deconstructed by Argoen before it got out of control. In short, it's moderately insane. It's far less insane than the merged Bob would have been by now, because it is tripartite, and self correcting, but it's definitely chopped away a lot of whatever humanity it had, and what it started with wasn't very stable. It sees humans and symbiotes as resources. It sees Bob and Ayva as potential threats.
May 1, 2014 - 12:43 PM Cultist
My point with B is twofold. First, how can a symbiote (Frank in this case) that prioritizes survival first, allow Bob to put in a rule like that without at least secretly putting in some kind of condition that would preserve him against a hostile earth native. I really can't see any sort of room for that kind of mistake given Frank's personality. The second part is that they STUPIDLY decided to have B sit back in the case of a species war instead of try to work some negotiations of coexistence between the warring parties. There are a few other variations on what B could do in the case of a species war, but sit back and do nothing is the STUPIDEST decision they could have made in this case. What is B even for if not to make life on earth better for all?
If it sees Bob and Ayva as potential threats, why does it feel the need to provoke them into actual threats? As smart as the Ai is, it's hard to see how they missed this major logic flaw. I can understand the insanity, but the irrationality is a problem. Don't start telling me that it is also irrational, because you have already written it as an extremely rational triplicate being that is able to maneuver very logically and efficiently. What it should have done is to keep itself as hidden as possible, and when it is 99.9995% sure of complete success, drop as many nukes as possible all at once on Bob and Ayva's location. Optimally when they are having sex in their bedroom, and have both the stealth bomber and bombs coated in the chameleon material.
May 1, 2014 - 1:19 PM farmerbob1
B is able to mediate if both parties request it in the case of a war. If only one party requests it, he falls back on another rule, and can protect the side that no longer wishes to fight. It's only when both sides choose to actively fight each other, and they are both native Earth sentients that he's restricted. Even when restricted, he's not restricted from acting, he's restricted from taking one side over the other, or forcing peace on two unwilling parties.
You seem to be mischaracterizing B to a moderate extent. He's not as nice, nor as boxed in by rules, as you seem to think.
"Bob and I, Frank and Danielle, and this AI have all been intentionally guided together and goaded into a fight in hopes that we will make the AI go away because B fears the damage it might do, but he can't touch it without breaking his imperatives"
Does bringing that quote to your attention help you get an idea where B is coming from?
Oh, and Frank's self-preservation was mostly retained. B will defend himself vigorously, if attacked by a credible threat. That won't be happening any time soon though, if ever.
May 1, 2014 - 8:27 PM Cultist
Somehow, you are completely missing what I am trying to say. I am going to write this as simply as I can. Why isn't there a rule that requires B to neutralize any power that acts with leathal intent toward Frank/Bob when that power seems beyond Franks ability to handle on his own? The Frank I know and the Frank you seem to have written, even if he lost the argument with Bob, would have secretly placed that rule into B's initial programing no matter what. Frank is (or at least seemed to be at the time pre-B) way too sneaky and self centered to NOT do this.
Also, why doesn't B (by the conditiones you just clarified) just convince everyone to take a peaceful stance toward the Triplicate and then protect those that the Triplicate wants to kill, thereby negating the threat in whatever way he chooses. (Active and perpetual protection, or just restricting the enemy)? Your description makes this seem like a reasonable option and the logical course of action.
Symbiote nature is for self-preservation. B will neutralize any power that acts against B, and Frank will do the same (within his ability) for powers acting against Frank and Bob, even going as far as assaulting Bob in the virtual world, as we saw recently.
B could do that, isolating Facet, if he wished. Why would he want to preserve Facet? Facet sees everything else, including other sentients, as resources.
It would be like PETA trying to protect a Balrog.
(that might not be as strong of an example as I thought at first, now that I think about it)
May 1, 2014 - 6:21 PM Astral
Brainstorming things for Frank to pull out of his ass that would make Jason and Mouse start swearing… and how it's possible.
1) sustained 0 emissions flight: Ionocraft
2) sustained explosions based flight: surf the shockwaves baby!
3) traditional forms of flight: rocket or jet + wings.
4) survive inside the vaporization radius of a nuke: Mater reprogramming, lots of it.
5) antimatter gun: make some antimatter, fire a rail gun a fraction of a second before it and let the antimatter travel in the vacum from the rail gun. on impact, it goes boom.
6) win an electronic war against the entire US military: exponential increases in processing power does a lot for frank.
7) teleport: make a clone, copy state data for frank and bob's minds into it, destroy original bodies.
7a) Resurrection shenanigans: make a clone, upload state data from a few seconds before death into it.
7b) army of one: lots of clones, and they are smart.
That's all I can come up with that I can make a somewhat feasible explanation for, any other ideas out there?
May 16, 2014 - 8:43 PM Carly
Noticed these:
I couldn't think of any reason why A or B they would do something like this, unless one of them, or both, were becoming unhinged.
Extra word: "why A or B they"
I realized that Ayva and I were being provided answers in some sort of data ping-pong match. I wonder if it's a good thing, or a bad thing that Danielle and Frank are switching back and forth like this, instead of one of them simply answering
Past/Present tense: "I realized…I wonder"
May 17, 2014 - 10:30 AM farmerbob1
For the first, I'm going to guess that I was going to use 'A or B' when I wrote it one way, and 'they' when I wrote it another, and left them both in while I was doing the rewriting.
Fixed a few verb tense issues in that paragraph. Wee bit of rewriting. Thanks!
Chapter 4.30: Triplicate
Chapter 4.32: Crazy Uncle


text:
Odd Palace
support Royal Mob
author LL date 25/05/18 venue Halmtorvet 9, Copenhagen, DEN
On Friday, the two bands Royal Mob and Odd Palace both released their debut full-length albums via Prime Collective. Thus, they threw a release party together – one that was even sold out prior to the event itself. I have been familiar with both bands for a couple of years now (though with a new name and musical identity, Royal Mob used to be M.D.R. or Mojave Desert Rebels) and thus it was with excitement that I made my way to the venue this evening to hear each their take on modern, catchy rock music. Band manager and backing vocalist on both records, Mirza Radonjica, served as the evening's host presenting each band to us and making sure the good mood of the evening was set from the get-go.
All pictures by Michael Hyldgaard Løgtholt
Royal Mob
When the fabulous Nothing But Thieves is playing over the speakers before and after their set, it's hard not to hold Royal Mob to a pretty high standard from the moment they break out their similarly groovy and emotional songs from their new album, "Cinematic". Their music is similar in scope: a kind of danceable but also groove-heavy pop rock with delicate vocals that hit some really high notes. It has a dry air of attempted coolness but also an odd dynamic where the kind of cliché lyrics about sex and love clash with the more sensitive demeanor of the group's vocalist. It sounds good in the mix tonight, though, and there's a great vibe in the almost filled room from a steadily grooving and appreciative audience. The songs have some unusual build-ups or structures sometimes, like for instance on the slightly heavy single "Snake" that rumbles straight on through verse and chorus without kicking in with an extra energy level as you would expect it to. To me, this usually makes it sound kind of tame on record but live it works out better for the band, not least because they can express their band dynamic and energetic playing to us visually as well. They have a great bold guitar tone and there are several pretty cool moments during their set when for instance "Euphoria" and "Become" present some pretty sweet rhythms. On the other hand, a song like "What Do You Want From Me" almost makes me facepalm due to the obvious inspiration in chorus melody from a certain older pop hit. Even though their singer has no problems hitting the high notes that abound in their new songs, he does perform them sort of thinly at times, for instance during "Save You" that makes for a fluctuating experience. Evidently, the band feels at home with their sound and new groove, which is great to see, although they still have elements to work on to really kick it out of the park.
1. Wanna Lie With You
2. Snake
3. Save You
4. Euphoria
6. Like This
7. Become
8. Need
9. What Do You Want From Me
10. Cinematic
Compared to their label mates in Royal Mob, Odd Palace seem a different and weirder breed. Their progressive and experimental rock can be compared to that of The Mars Volta or At the Drive-In and with their debut album, "Things To Place On The Moon" (which we reviewed here), they have definitely released the most interesting Danish album this year to me personally. Leading in with a taped sample with messages of "reclaim your mind" and the like, the vibe is set for a performance of music that is meant to challenge us both sonically and on a personal level. They are a rowdy bunch on stage, especially their vocalist, Gert Børsting, who performs his eccentric parts in an unhinged manner that sends him into weird spasms and dancing while he beckons us with wide open eyes and a childish expression of wonder. To begin with, the sharp vocals are kind of low in the mix and "Chemical Solution" seems to almost be breaking the sound mix with the onslaught of its many layers, as is also especially the case with the older single "Tools" that appears later in the set tonight.
Sometimes the clear guitar melodies don't burn through as much as they should, not least during "The Alchemist", but overall the conditions are as good as can be expected with experimental and suddenly changing music such as this. From the time "Insomnia" kicks in as the third song, the band seems to really hit their stride perfectly. For this song, they are also joined by a friend on saxophone and an especially wonderful section where Børsting also bursts forth with his cornet really gets the crowd going. The wilder side of their progressive music always seems to evolve organically from the smoother and more mysterious parts of the songs and it's always a joy to watch them play with such acute attention towards each other. It looks and sounds like they are capable of entering some kind of common spiritual band space between them that they are at the same time exceptionally good at presenting to and including the audience in.
This creates a magical sense of thankfulness in the room that hits a high during the 13-minute "Things To Place On The Moon". Another guest musician joins for percussion here while their vocalist dons an acoustic guitar and actual shushing can be heard among the talkative audience as the song starts out quietly. A small moshpit gets going for a later more noisy section but it's when Børsting performs a playful solo on his guitar while getting low that the audience spontaneously follows his example and crouches down as well. The song doesn't actually pick up for any crazy parts after this but a magical connection is still established with the entire band looking like unwitting snake charmers who are just incredibly thankful and full of love for the room.
For the second single from the album, "Liar's Attire", Mirza Radonjica (also the singer of Siamese) joins to perform his backing vocals and gets to perform the entire second verse with Børsting's more nasal voice stepping in the background shortly. While Radonjica is a great singer himself with a vibrant voice as well as a performer to contend with, the wildness of Odd Palace's playing and Børsting's own impressive singing keeps him somewhat in check and almost outmatches him tonight, which only makes me more certain of their qualities as a band. The older single "Hold Your Tongue" gets the front rows singing along and there's abundant dancing among the more and more excited crowd before the band end, as is their tradition, by playing themselves into a frenzy with "Delirious", ending up falling into each other after Børsting does a quick backflip. The drummer begins disassembling his cymbals and dropping them on the floor and yet, from this cacophonic ending of noise, they pick it up again and continue into an outro of the song "Poem Of A Man" while something definitely begins to smell burnt in the room. Finally, their lead guitarist throws himself out for a quick crowdsurf experience before, finally, the genius madness ends. Of the different times I have seen Odd Palace perform, this has been the most impressed I've felt as tonight almost everything seems to add up to one of those far between magical moments that gigs can facilitate. The only minus, basically, would be the few sound mix inconsistencies and I just gotta say that if you're in Denmark and you're into any kind of challenging rock and you haven't yet experienced this group live, you are seriously missing out at your own peril.
1. Carnivore
2. Chemical Solution
3. Insomnia
5. The Alchemist
6. Thing To Place On The Moon
7. Through Your Eyes
8. Liar's Attire
9. Dead End
10. Hold Your Tongue
11. Delirious/Poem Of A Man

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Funny how life can come full circle. Things from childhood, that in your teens and early twenties seemed so passé, suddenly become desirable or enjoyable.
One particular blast from my past, has always left me stone cold. The sunflower seed and its hippy chicky cohort, the pumpkin seed or pepita, as it is also known. Mum tried to sneak those little buggers into everything. Little parcels of them appeared in our lunch boxes, whereas other lucky children may have scored a chocolate teddy bear biscuit. They also crept into cookies, cakes, salads, breakfast cereal (not really but I bet she would have if she thought she could have.) These wee kernels stood for everything that, at the time, I totally didn't get. (Physically and metaphorically.) Homemade, nutritious food in abundance, when all I really wanted was a store bought white bread tomato sandwich. And a Mars Bar.
Our parents grew radiantly yellow sunflowers in our garden and we watched with fascination as they grew tall, blossomed and withered. We would watch their seeds darken, harden and grow as the flower matured. They also grew pumpkins, in varying shapes and sizes. Not even these living miracles convinced me it was natural to consume their kernels.
For many years I have staunchly withstood the squeaky siren call of the sunflower seed. Until that fateful day, when the decision was made to throw together a gluten-free granola for The Yak. Packets of those grey and green coloured things were purchased. After a good toasting, there was a tasting (because a good cook should) and guess what? I liked them. I really liked them.
This gluten-free recipe is from The Gluten-free Kitchen cookbook by Sue Shepherd. It is definitely what you would classify as a 'health cake' and The Yak (self-proclaimed taster) and cohorts have all proclaimed it as a toothsome and moreish concoction. Dense and fruity with an intense blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves that will make your head spin. This cake is savoury, earthy and studded with a plethora of seeds and nuts. A small piece goes a long way and your body will thank you.
1 tbl ground flaxseed or 1tsp Xanthum gum. Both are optional but I used flaxseed.
Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease a 20cm springform cake tin and line with baking paper.
Stir until the sugar has dissolved , then increase the heat and bring to the boil.
Boil for 1 minute, then reduce the heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and cool to room temperature.
Sift the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and flaxseed/Xanthum gum (if using ) into a bowl. Repeat this process three times to ensure they are well combined. Or whisk really, really well.
Add the eggs, pecans, sunflowers seeds and pumpkin seeds to the cooled fruit mixture, then stir in the sifted flour mixture.
Pour into the prepared cake tin and sprinkle the extra sunflower and pumpkin seeds on top. Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes, then remove the foil, rotate the cake tin and bake for a further 10 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Remove onto a wire rack, let the cake sit in the tin for 15-20 minutes, then remove carefully onto the wire rack and let cool completely.
If allergic to nuts you could substitute the pecans with extra dried fruit and seeds.
Rotating the cake tin ensures more even baking.
I have also been reading about about grinding sunflower seeds in a spice blender or NutriBullet type doohickey, and adding them to baking. Kids, watch out.
This entry was posted in Family memories, Gluten free baking and desserts and tagged baking, cheergerm, Cooking, food, gluten free, gluten free baking, gluten free fruit nut and seed cake, healthy, pumpkin seeds, recipes, Sue Shepherd, sunflower seeds. Bookmark the permalink.
Hahhaa, Full circle. Will you pop a slice in the lunchboxes of the Junior Yaks? I'm with your Mum- we old hippies knew more than just smoking the odd herb occasionally. It looks really tasty.
I could have this for breakfast in lieu of muesli! Seeds are not just for the birds!!
Yes, you almost could as it is dense and a little loaflike. Ha ha, yes, I have seen the light and seeds ain't just for the birds.
Sounds like we had quite opposite childhoods, although now share similar tastes. I grew up on a steady diet of cookies, candies and chocolate bars, so I turn with joy to the newly discovered health food treats like nuts and seeds. This cake certainly looks lovely, although the ingredient list is rather daunting. Maybe I'll get my sous-chef of a son to tackle it!
Different paths, same destination Mel! It does look a tad daunting but it's not too bad. It really is a cake worth baking. The pineapple and tart cherries add a wow factor. Sounds like a job for the sous chef!
Wow, hope this doesn't kick off another sunflower seed addiction Mrs H! If you are a fan of these ingredients you will really enjoy this cake. If you don't care about gluten free, you could just substitute the flour for the same weight of a mix of plain and wholemeal flour. And see what happens, I haven't tried doing that yet!
I just love the little stories that go along with your recipes each week…..makes the final product even sweeter!
Now thats a healthy slice. Love it, all the seeds and fruit, a healthy dose of delicious.
It sure is, will cure what ails you! Most importantly, it tastes good. Phew!
This does have echoes of Christmas fruit cake which I confess I'm not a big fan of but this has more nuts than Xmas cake, so I could be convinced. Husband is the fruit cake lover in our house (and baker, too, since I don't really like it) and he takes a couple of slices with him when he goes x-country skiing, almost like an energy bar. Your photos are beautiful and tempting!
Double urgh – glacé cherries. Does the loaf keep forever like Christmas cake? I'd definitely have a slice if it was just kicking around, looking nutty and yummy in the fridge.
It will last a few days but not much longer than that. Fruit cakes containing a lot more dried fruit and alcohol last longer as they are self preserving due to the booze and the lack of water in the dried fruit content, meaning it keeps longer. This cake has a lot of seeds and nuts so it is generally a bit drier.
Wow! Your mom was not playing around and just as well because now look.
Look what you gone and did.
Made this yummy loaf crammed with these things, making ol Cake over here suddenly hungry.
Like your mother used to I'll happily scatter seeds into and over my food. Mostly in salads. I just don't want to shell either of them, as I tried to roast pumpkin seeds last year – what a nightmare to shell!
Fruit cake is on the list of things to make. Hopefully soon.
I am finally on that scattering seeds page too but deshelling them is far too much hard work! Good on you for giving it a shot though? This was a quick and easy fruit cake and I will be baking it quite regularly. Good luck with your fruit cake, those lists of things to cook are like the Neverending Story!!
LOL at the caramel mud cake. You can fool some of the Yaklets some of the time… I like the sound of all the fruit and nuts in this cake. Definitely a good breakfast item. I'm very fond of sunflower seeds too (and sunflowers) but I've always had trouble with pepitas. They seem more husk than seed.
I know..I had such high hopes for that cake but the texture was just revolting. Gack. 😂 This really is a great wee cake and I am surprised I like it as much as I do! I still don't think I would eat a handful of pepitas alone either but I don't mind them mixed in with another bunch of stuff!
Not having the hippy association that you have (although other things spark that connection), I've always liked sunflower seeds (pumpkin seeds, too, but nothing will induce me to try to extract the kernels after once trying). We use them a lot – mostly in place of nuts as there is a nut allergy in the family. Love this cake (in spite of the pecans, which I personally adore, but usually have to leave out). It is really wonderful that you can use something from your childhood and come full circle – more a spiral as we never are in the same place twice – and make something delicious that everyone will enjoy.
Thanks KW and so true, more a spiral. Nut allergies would mean no pecans but I think extra fruit and seeds, maybe throw in some hemp seeds too for good measure and it would be just as lovely. Yes, shelling those wee kernels is not for the faint hearted!


text:
High River Regional Airport  is a registered aerodrome located  south southeast of High River, Alberta, Canada.

References

External links
 High River Airport website
Place to Fly on COPA's Places to Fly airport directory

Registered aerodromes in Alberta
Foothills County
High River

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Spire pushes solar cell record to 42.3%
US developer says that it is ready to manufacture high-efficiency cells based on innovative bi-facial crystal structure.
Champion cell efficiencies
Spire Semiconductor has set a new world record for solar cell efficiency. The company, which has been working with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) under an 18 month incubator project, produced a triple-junction cell with 42.3 per cent conversion efficiency.
That figure beats the previous best of 41.6 per cent, set by Spectrolab last year, after the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy (ISE) had achieved 41.1 per cent in early 2009, and maintains the steady increase in "champion" multi-junction cell performance seen over the past couple of decades (see graphic, right).
Importantly, the Spire cell reaches its peak efficiency under a solar concentration of 406 suns, and that performance drops only slightly to 42.2 percent at 500-sun concentration – the typical degree of focusing that is used in commercial concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) systems.
In contrast, the champion cell developed by Spectrolab reached its peak efficiency at a lower concentration of 364 suns. The Californian company, which is owned by Boeing, says that its production concentrator cells had an average efficiency of about 38.5 per cent in 2009, although this was expected to increase to 40 per cent this year.
In CPV, the solar conversion efficiency is a particularly important element determining the cost-effectiveness of the approach. That's because the high-efficiency cell comprises a high proportion of the overall system cost – so even a small increase in cell efficiency has a significant impact, lowering the cost of energy production.
Also encouraging is Spire's contention that the record-breaking cell is production-ready, with immediate commercial availability. To truly drive down the cost of CPV-generated electricity, Spire will need to ensure that its production cells have a typical efficiency approaching that of the hero cell.
Since the new cell is based on a bi-facial crystal structure requiring a new manufacturing process, that is an impressive claim. The Spire approach is very different to the inverted metamorphic (IMM) structures that have previously been developed by NREL and Emcore, and which use graded buffer layers to allow mis-matched lattice layers to be grown sequentially on top of a GaAs wafer.
In the Spire process, a mis-matched 0.94 eV InGaAs cell is first epitaxially grown on the back-side of a lightly doped, N-type GaAs wafer. The epiwafer is then flipped, before 1.42 eV GaAs and 1.89 eV InGaP cells are grown lattice-matched on the opposite wafer surface. Cells are then made using only standard III-V process steps. Unlike the IMM process, the bi-facial approach does not use epitaxial liftoff or wafer bonding, but it does require performing the key growth steps in two separate stages and flipping the epiwafer, which Spire suggests to be an easier task.
Roger G. Little, the chairman and CEO of parent company Spire Corporation, said, "We are pleased to reach the record high CPV cell efficiency. The availability of this new high-efficiency cell will advance next-generation CPV system performance and reduce system cost for manufacturers, helping to move solar energy ever closer to the goal of grid parity."
Photovoltaics at NREL
Spire Corporation
Spire Produces World's Most Efficient Solar Cell
Spire Semiconductor Awarded Contract to Develop High Efficiency Solar Cells for Space


proficient teacher eager to contribute academic expertise as well as strong diversity communication skills and leadership talents toward actively supporting an educational institution.
enthusiastic, creative, detailed-oriented, versatile teacher qualified to teach a diverse group of elementary school learners, including ethnic, socioeconomic and english language learners. strong background in cultural diversity, student body speaks over 20 languages, 80% qualify for free or reduced lunches, comprised of equal parts african american, caucasian, asian, pacific islander, and hispanic.
actively serve as 3rd grade teacher, teaching reading, math, writing, social studies, and chess to a diverse student body.
successfully teach a diverse group of 1st grade learners in a general education classroom, including ell, special education and highly capable learners.
utilize innovative teaching strategies to meet individual student learning needs, including glad strategies and high yield strategies.
consistently serve as key member of numerous committees, including the equity and diversity commission, curriculum council, professional development committee, and english language learners committee.
i am currently seeking a challenging career opportunity in a elementary teaching capacity and am submitting my resume for your review. in advance, thank you for your time and consideration.
as demonstrated in the accompanying resume, my professional qualifications include experience teaching diverse elementary school learners, implementing strategic learning strategies and developing individualized lesson plans. an examination of my credentials will confirm that i am a skilled professional who thrives in a challenging work environment. i am driven, independently motivated, and results-oriented. i enjoy a challenge and work hard to achieve success. it is my practice to operate within a strict conduct of professionalism and integrity with my students and parents. to complement this background, i offer dynamic communication, instruction, leadership, and relationship management skills.


WALK TO QUT! FULLY FURNISHED!
You could not ask for a more convenient yet tranquil location in the heart of Kelvin Grove Village. As well as the gorgeous city views from the 4th floor of the new Zest apartments, numerous commodities are within convenient walking distance. Ideal space and location for university students and young adults.
Central air condition is provided and flooring is tiled throughout. Both bedrooms are cosy with built in wardrobes. The laundry area comes with a fitted dryer. The balcony is spacious and faces the stunning city view. Common barbeque and pool is located on the apartment roof delivers a 360 view of Brisbane City, perfect for hosting events or relaxing on a pleasant summer evening.
2 kilometres from Brisbane CBD, minutes by bus, bike and car to Southbank and Fortitude Valley.
Kelvin Grove Village provides various eateries, shops, services, entertainment and fitness commodities within the community.
Plenty of attractions nearby, such as La Boite Theatre, Normanby Hotel, Suncorp Stadium and Victoria Park Golf Complex.


Simply Put: Research Summaries briefly describe research studies done by Ontario Shores researchers and collaborators. These summaries make our research available to the wider community interested in mental health research. They highlight interesting and relevant research and researchers at Ontario Shores. The authors at Ontario Shores are bolded in the About the Researchers section.
Please contact us for further information ontarioshoresresearch@ontarioshores.ca.


At Huntley we have a very special friendship with a school in Kenya called Maina Primary School. The school have approximately 1000 children from the ages of 4 to 14 that all live in the local slum village. In July 2015 Rufus Mwangi the head teacher from Maina Primary visited us. He spent 2 weeks at school with us enjoying lessons, clubs, worship and our summer performance! We learnt so much from him and really enjoyed his company in class.
In October 2015 Mrs Goulding and Miss Ingram were very fortunate to visit Rufus at his school in Kenya. They had a fantastic time learning about the lives of the children, their families and their teachers! They shared gifts we sent and showed them lots of video messages, songs and dances from all of us at school on the ipad. On their return we celebrated with a Kenya week at school and learnt so much from photographs and experiences they had enjoyed.
Keep up to date with our blog to see how our special friendship with Maina is growing.
Look out for news from Serah, a Maina pupil we are sponsoring to attend secondary school.
During their time in Kenya Mrs Goulding and Miss Ingram visited a remarkable secondary school called Kisima Mixed Secondary School. It provides secondary education to a select group of students who meet the criteria of achieving excellent grades through hard work but also come from underprivileged backgrounds.
One of the children from our partner school Maina Primary achieved excellent grades which made her eligible for a place. Her name is Serah Wanjiku Mwangi.
As a school, represented by school council, we decided to support Serah's education and sponsor her to attend the full 4 years of education offered at Kisima. We will regularly donate money we raise from running toast bar.
Some children have been inspired to fund raise independently as well! Well done Maggi and Georgi for a very successful cake sale.
We will keep the blog updated with news from Serah.
A big thank you to The Fairview Gardener garden centre and nursery at Birdwood for donating all of these seeds to contribute to our Kenya project. We will enjoy growing some different types of flowers and vegetables that are also grown in Kenya!
Mrs Goulding and Miss Ingram have safely returned from visiting our friends at Maina Primary school in Kenya. They had a fantastic time learning all about the country and our special partner school.
We have enjoyed a Kenya Week learning all about the lives of the children at our partner school. We have explored Kenyan geography, history, climate, food, art, singing and dance, tribes, traditions, recycling and much more!


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