If science could fix one thing, what would you choose?

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Hey everyone! Andrew here.

This week’s newsletter is dictated to you from my hospital room.

As cosmic luck, karma, or the will of the heavens has dictated, I have ended up in hospital due to my right eye having a total meltdown. Not only did it have two holes in the retina, after surgery apparently it was riddled with holes, none of which sounds good to me, so I’ve had to have a full medical procedure and am currently in the hospital recuperating. As such, this will be a very short newsletter brought to you by the dictation app on my phone and my lovely wife.

Writing update:
Before this disaster of untold proportions actually happened and took my eye offline, I have done a lot of work on my short story called Card. Those of you who have been reading this newsletter will recall that the story is a post-apocalyptic AI-related story. The theme of the story is, (I think), related to truth. And the implications of a super intelligence when it comes to telling stories about history.

I’m not quite sure exactly how that story is going to end yet, although I do have an ending for it. Endings tend to change in the telling. I’m up to the final scene. The story was going to be a 3,000 word story. It’s currently 12,500 words, and I think it’s going to end up as a very short novella. So that’ll be something, hopefully, to look forward to. If I can’t type it, then I will dictate it, and hopefully that will work.

That’s it for this week. Thank you.

All the best,
Andrew (ZZ)

Zero-Point Awakening – The Complete Series Books 1-8

While it’s definitely very busy with a lot of plot lines, it also takes the time for a good, strong twist here and there to keep the hooks really digging into you. And the books only get better as the series goes along.

– Amazon 5 Star Review

A distress call could mean a lone survivor—or a pirate trap. A hardened UPA Spec Ops captain must hunt down the missing crew through bug-infested space.

Hunted and betrayed, Devon and Jadsia flee across the stars in a salvaged warship. Their only hope lies in the ruins of Krylon IV—a world destroyed by a mysterious cataclysm.

Ellayne wakes with no memories or identity. Haunted by dark figures and hunted by a deadly hooded archer, she must run for her life.

Lhorak is an unlicensed assassin who learns the hard way that sometimes, you have to kill twice to get paid. In Dhent, warlords and sinister forces rule the streets.

What medical breakthrough would make you happiest? Restore perfect vision Regrow damaged organs or limbs Cure any heart disease Cure genetic diseases Stop or reverse aging Other (let us know your view by replying)

Survey Result

And now, let’s take a look at last week’s poll results. We asked, “Your car can finally drive itself. What’s the first thing you’d do?“
Here are the results:

• Still keep my eyes on the road! –> 52%
• Other–> 27%
• Read a book –>14%
• Relax and enjoy the ride –> 6%

Andrew: Apparently, trusting a self-driving car is harder than inventing one! 

A whopping 52% of you said you’d STILL keep your eyes on the road. I can’t blame you—after all, just because the car says “I’ve got this” doesn’t mean you’re ready to close your eyes!

And I love that 27% chose “Other.” Clearly, some of you have plans you’re not ready to share with us…

Respect to the 14% who’d read a book. And to the brave 6% who’d simply relax and enjoy the ride: I admire your confidence.

Your Thoughts

Thank you to everyone who wrote in with good wishes and suggestions. As always I cannot mention everyone or this will get too long, but I have read all of your emails and greatly appreciate every one of them. Thank you!

A’Ryen, Jan and Beth all suggested dictation. Well, here we are. This newsletter is the experiment, with my wife helping to make it readable.

Andrea suggested changing “I gotta go to work” to “I GET to go to work!” I think that is a useful distinction. At the moment I would be very happy just to get back to it.

On the self-driving cars, Chris and Mike would turn off auto-drive and drive themselves. Patti wouldn’t trust a self-driving car either. Her wider point about technology was to have backup. Gail said she would sell it. David would start with parallel parking, then let the car help on longer trips without giving it all the fun. I like that distinction. Let it do the awkward parking, keep the enjoyable driving. Would you trust it with the bit you dislike, even if you still wanted the wheel for everything else?

See you in a fortnight!

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