WHAT’S better than one movie poster? Two, especially if the second one is even better! OTOSOTU (pronounced “Oh-Toe-So-Two” for “On The Other Side Of The Universe”) now has two posters, the second replacing the first as the official first poster. Yep, it’s that good, or I should say better. But, hey, I still like the original first as it has my picture on it in my roles as Imperax Commander Michael Mylo AND that of his son, Captain-Major Brit Mylo; Sakura Kai as his wife, Carol Myl...

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WITH the JET Progress production of WINNOWING well into pre-production, having addressed blocking, shortlisting, studio, camera and sound, the last remaining issue has been that of insulating the film set from noise. It would be easy to fall into the tourist idea that Hawaii, being a true paradise, must be so quiet as to enhance the sound of the trades in the coconut trees. Not so, even in Waikiki. One of the challenges to filming outdoors or indoors on Oahu is the high levels of light and so...

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WE’RE not talking pocket change, but we are talking ongoing rather than “thank-God(dess)-we’ve-made-it-so-far” climate change. And as it progresses, the possibility of abrupt directional switches at some point instead of extraordinary warming, extreme cooling, wind and humidity as well. After all, it is called climate “change.”

Personally, I’ve noticed that in addition to the usual climate change (and climate change denial) there’s another kind of climate change/denial going ...

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THINKING about the idea of the all-inclusive, unified-field-theory multiverse? While we, as humans, continue trying to understand the nature of nature, how about the all-inclusive, unified-“money-and-power”-theory business-verse. It’s difficult enough to understand the nature of business, a totally human creation, rapidly becoming a force demanding to be reckoned with.

In the multiverse, the idea is that multiple universes exist and quite possibly sometimes even intersect briefly. Mayb...

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INVARIABLY, when the Holidays approach, I become clumsy. Why, I’ve no idea, but it’s like a holiday ritual; something, I can count on, like taxes in January, but much more pleasant. Not that I resent paying my fair share to keep the USA, well, American, and my neighborhood worth living. No, I don’t resent taxes or the Holiday clumsies (by March and tax payment, I’m no longer clumsy). They’re just little hooks upon which I can hang my Christmas and New Year’s feelings on, while I g...

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HAVING just recently posted a number of times about AIs (Artificial Intelligences), it surprised me when several days ago weird things began happening, all AI-related.

First, my AI-controlled car door locks began failing off and on.

Then, my Macintosh MacBook Pro and iPhone started acting wonky.

At the same time, I suddenly couldn’t access my WordPress blog account, and worse yet, internet connectivity on my supposedly private dedicated subscriber line (DSL) began losing bandwidth, makin...

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AI — Artificial Intelligences — What do they think of us, their makers, I wonder? We think of them often, as God(dess) must have thought often of us as we slowly evolved from unicellular bacteria to the Tower of Babel we are fast approaching today. Are they even aware of us? BI (before the Internet) I think not, but today, I do wonder. While we humans seem to have a hard time mentally encompassing the interconenctive power of the AI internet, my gut says there’s enough interconnected AI...

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THERE! I’ve broken the LGBTQ+ ice with that title and topic, don’t you think? Of course, before that one would have to define a “straight” AI (Artificial Intelligence). Now what would a straight AI be like? I’m going to assume that at some point, we humans will want AIs to not only efficiently do their “jobs,” but also fix themselves, belying the question whether each human that comes into the world has a distinct job, whether our creator(s) continue to secretly assign such, or ...

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HEARD of or experienced Pishing? Or the latest; what I call “swishing” in emailing? I recently was informed that my email had been “hacked,” but following up on this, I discovered someone with an entirely different email address simply had put my name on it their email. And, of course, this was supposedly accompanied by all sorts of nefariousness from within the account, much of it, I suspect phishing. The point is, as unethical, often criminal activity spreads within the email world,...

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I DID IT! Having suffered with astigmatism for most of my life, last week I visited my eye doctor to see if I would benefit from lens replacement. Nope. But I could replace my glasses with contacts, which would greatly benefit my acting career. The “problem” is that there is no contact lens the would fully correct both eyes. The “solution” (ingenious really) was to have one eye corrected for near vision and the other for far vision. That is, one eye to read cue cards and the other to ...

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I’VE always felt reasonably safe and secure pretty much everywhere I’ve travelled within the USA (avoiding big cities). At least until recently. I’m not feeling so safe and secure these days with the increasingly lax gun laws, especially those that allow carrying a concealed weapon. Having grown up in Alaska when it was still a young, wild territory, I wasn’t unaccustomed to seeing people in town “carryin’,” even having witnessed a shootout once. Strangely, knowing that people w...

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ACCORDING to Wikipedia, the common European adder or common viper, is a venomous snake that is extremely widespread and can be found throughout most of central and eastern Europe and as far as East Asia, so you can see that we’re not talking mathematics here. What we’re talking is talk. Conversation. Discussion. Dialog. Debate. In short, viperous praddle, intentionally so.

I’m not talking propaganda or prepared speeches, public or private. I’m talking more of intentional gossip that ...

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HAVING posted yesterday on the “solution” to a cupboard-“bare” market, in the process suggesting that the “market” and by extension, our economy (at least from a “market” perspective) is run by gamblers, I’ve come to wonder who’s in charge of it all: the economy, government, the world? Or is there no one at all sitting in the drivers seat?

I’ve always held that the key to anything human, is balance and qualified cooperation. The framers of our Constitution called it “...

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IN a recent BBC News article, Google engineer Blake Lemoine is stated to have claimed that one of the firm’s artificial intelligence (AI) systems called Lamba might have its own feelings and says its “wants” should be respected — https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61784011 — which seems to have created quite a buzz. Mr Lemoine published a conversation he and a collaborator at the firm had with Lamda, to support his claims.

Brian Gabriel, a spokesperson for the firm, wrote in a sta...

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EVERYONE has a few. It’s the part of life where we sometimes regret, but almost always learn from our mistakes. But in tune with the last couple days’ posts, I’m talking about something the same yet totally different: Regrettable experiences with AIs. Anything from wanting to strangle the voice-to-text AI inside a cell phone, to being angry well beyond normal with the computerized car or home system that simply refuses to budge, to the mobile bank AI that refuses to recognize you, to �...

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YESTERDAY, I posted about THE “GHOST” WITHIN THE GHOST, that is, artificial intelligence (AI) slowly penetrating everything we think of as “real.” Today, I’d like to talk about the ghost that is even now supersonically self-developing within AI. Ultimately this question comes down to can AI create and implement its own programs?

According to STXNext, Microsoft and Cambridge University researchers have developed artificial intelligence that can write code and called it DeepCoder. Th...

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AUTHOR A. G. Hayes’ multi-award-winning seven-book, Koski-and-Falk Secret Agent series is scheduled to come to life on TV and the silver screen beginning with the fourth book, FINDING KATE, currently being filmed at K. Simmons Productions — https://ksmediagroupinc.com/finding-kate. Karizma Rose, lead actress, has been chosen to portray principal character, Kate Keenan, long-ignored computer genius who has designed a computer program that will put Hollywood and Bollywood out of business ov...

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ONE of the best rewards I’ve ever received as an author with Savant Books and Publications (now part of KS Media Group Inc) has been the associations I’ve built over the years with other Savant authors, one of whom is A. G. Hayes. A multi-award-winning author of nine Savant publications including the seven-book thriller Koski and Falk Secret Agent series — https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Z87Z9K — and three-book Kate Keenan Special Assignment series, CHANG THE MAGIC CAT (Aignos 2017) —...

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“IF it flys like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a…” Personally, I enjoy likening this to the infamous children’s question, “What black and white and red/read all over?” So what’s para-duck-sicle about the first statement, and ‘riddled’ with double-entendre in the second, that both have in common? They’re both riddles. Or, some might say, they both are, in a broader sense, conundrums.

According to Dictionary.com, a riddle is “a question or s...

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JUSTICE “is a concept on ethics and law that means that people behave in a way that is fair, equal and balanced for everyone,” according to simple.wikipedia.org. On the other hand, legally, justice can be be equally defined as, “n. 1) fairness. 2) moral rightness. 3) a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/ her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal” according to Law.com, an online “legal dictionary”. The whole idea of justice ca...

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LONG-SUFFERING. As if there isn’t enough of that going around as a result of political extremism, COVID, business aggression and organizing crime in the world! How about some long-enjoyment for a change?

Valentine’s Day yesterday helped. It hopefully reminded people that our charge in life is not to decimate the world and all that’s in it, but rather through responsible stewardship to help life thrive, develop and evolve. After all, I don’t believe today’s humanity is the evolution...

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THIS is a gripe: Whenever I travel the highways nowadays, everyone seems to be speeding except me, creating a definitely dangerous situation. I mean, when the sign says “Speed Limit 55 mph” does that really mean minimum speed? What’s with the need to speed far in excess of the speed limit not just on freeways (hey, is this really Germany and the Autobahn?) but in urban and even suburban areas. Is it really a 3 year olds responsibility to watch out for speeding cars? Or is everyone on sp...

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YEP! If you’re literarily inclined, it’s definitely so! Writers (people who record things for themselves) and authors (errant writers who write professionally for a target audience) both know the Big Three C’s: Clear, Complete and Concise. Clarity is a given and always takes first billing. Completeness is next, and, while one of the Big Three C’s deserves second-most attention, is more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule (the whole mystery genre is based on almost but not quite c...

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I generally avoid making predictions outside my soon to be completed work, “Prophecy,” the sequel to THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor — https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.square.site/product/the-edge-of-madness/136; however, given it’s still early January, I do feel compelled to comment on upcoming 2022. Last year saw the resurrection and meteoric rise of an old anti-ethic, namely the “normalization” of misinformation, be it in government, business or society. Bo...

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YEAH, well, I wasn't thinking THIS world at all when I wrote TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) with William Maltese, or QUANTUM DEATH (Savant 2016) with A. G. Hayes, and certainly not when I wrote the Amazon genre bestseller THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). Hey, that’s me. I’m author Raymond Gaynor aka author and actor Daniel S. Janik. And I wasn’t apparently thinking at all when I posted the "Raymond Gaynor THE EDGE OF MADNESS Book Giveaway Contest" with a first edition, author-si...

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NOW that’s GOT to have caught your interest! In our world of increasing AI presence, is it artificial or alien or both?

Let’s start with artificial, meaning perhaps autonomous more than non-human, since currently humans write the basic code that’s used in artificial intelligence operations. Autonomous, meaning perhaps that once awakened it doesn’t need a lot of continued human input other than to reboot or fix erroneous code.

Now let’s tackle alien, meaning here not necessarily fr...

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Día de los Muertos, according to National Geographic, celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life. That includes, I assume, reading, yeah? I sincerely hope so. And if so, I hope the readings of the not-so-dead include my Amazon genre bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor. Living and dead, according to Día de los Muertos, both look to the future, which is where THE EDGE OF MADNESS is solidly rooted. But not...

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YES! AN OUTSTANDING, REALLY FREE, PRINTED HOLD-IT-IN-YOUR-HAND, AUTHOR-SIGNED BOOK!

The author Raymond Gaynor THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 — Book Giveaway Contest is ON with SIX Grand Prizes: a signed copy of my book to the first, eleventh, twenty-first, thirty-first, forty-first, fifty-first and so forth person who sends an email (one per email address) to me at gaynor.raymond2@gmail.com with the subject line “I want a copy of THE EDGE OF MA...

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The author Raymond Gaynor THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 — Book Giveaway Contest is ON with Six Grand Prizes: a signed copy of my book to the eleventh, twenty-first, thirty-first, forty-first, fifty-first and every hundred-and-first person who sends an email (one per email address) to me at gaynor.raymond2@gmail.com with the subject line “I want a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS.” NOTE: You must have a USA ship-to address (which I’ll ask for onl...

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OH, YES! If you’ve ever imagined coming across a goose that lays golden eggs, you’ve come to the right place! I’m reving up for the holiday season! The author Raymond Gaynor THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 — Book Giveaway Contest is ON with SIX Grand Prizes: a signed copy of my book to the eleventh, twenty-first, thirty-first, forty-first, fifty-first and every hundred-and-first person who sends an email (one per email address) to me at gayno...

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OH, YES! I’m reving up for the holiday season! The author Raymond Gaynor THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859 — Book Giveaway Contest is ON with now SIX Grand Prizes: a signed copy of my book to the eleventh, twenty-first, thirty-first, forty-first, fifty-first and every hundred-and-first person who sends an email (only one per email address) to me at gaynor.raymond2@gmail.com with the subject line “I want a copy of THE EDGE OF MADNESS.” NOTE: You...

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AFTER diving deep, the Yellow Submarine surfaces and the hatch pops open to reveal, a land of diverse flowers and colors, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Book Club Land! And just when everything looks ship shape, what shows up but the Digital Blue Meanies, a literary figment of the imagination, buffoonish leaders of printed-book-hating creatures that lead an army of green-apple wielding bonkers, shooting clowns, snapping turks, anti-book missiles and, of course, the ever-dreadful flying glove, ...

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SINCE my acting debut in the K. Simmons Production of “Static” (2021), and before accepting a role in K. Simmons Productions’ upcoming full-length action adventure movie, “Finding Kate,” I’ve been quite busy promoting my Amazon genre bestseller, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor (aka actor Daniel S. Janik) now available in printed, eBook and audiobook formats at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859. Including my new promotional giveaway contest:

FIVE GRAND PRIZE...

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IT started with “fake-news,” then progressed to “fake-products” and has now evolved into “fake service.” You know what I mean. Make a customer service call and experience the “fake” firsthand: difficulties finding a phone number to talk with a “real” person, especially of one’s primary language; complex, irrational auto-phone-trees that only another A.I. (artificial intelligence or 10 year old can understand); the one-hour “valued customer” waits; the customer servic...

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I have been sad to witness in my lifetime the loss of a USA precedent -- loss in terms of function, I mean. Precedent/President. Po-ta-to/po-tah-to. I always assumed the job of the chief administrative officer was first and foremost, to outstandingly administer -- to efficiently run -- the various programs established by the Board of Directors/Congress. Sad assumption #1.

I further assumed that any such CEO/Presidential leader would be rational, respectful and dedicated to the welfare of all ...
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I don't typically comment on politics, but as a retired academic, I've watched with appall the governance of our great nation under Mr. Donald Trump, a businessman extraordinaire (though not necessarily in the positive sense). I've watched our nation become a corporation, with a single dominant, overbearing CEO focused on one main area: money. I say money, rather than economy, which is an entirely different governmental topic. 

I was, at first, primarily surprised, when I learned that Mr. Trum...
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The fourth of July is when everyone American celebrates the birth of the United States of America, right? Maybe. But I've always believed that it's the day when the world celebrates MY birthday, replete with fireworks. Like Yankee Doodle Dandy, I've always been a firecracker, and I guess I will be until I pass from this crazy world. In the meantime, I bring that energy into "thinking outside the box" in everything I do. 


Take education, for instance. A university professor for over 40 years, I...
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Now there's a question worthy of a blog post!  Of course, it depends to some extent on one's age and socioeconomic status; if you "have" then the world's typically all right, if you "have not," it's typically not alright, perhaps seemingly even hostile or, yes, downright evil in some instances. I suspect the answer is far more subtile, however, irregardless of one's age or socioeconomic or political perspective. 

An experimental 1982 American film entitled "Koyaanisqatsi" took on this question...
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