Undawntech: Innovative Creativity
Posted: January 5, 2024 Filed under: Creative Arts, Technolgy, Undawntech, Writing | Tags: Creative Arts, DL Mullan, technology, Undawntech, Undawnted, Writing, Writing to be Read 2 Comments
Since technology is ubiquitous in our modern lives, sometimes it is nice to peel back the layers and see how devices serve us, to identify when we are serving them and break that negative feedback loop. Technology in its proper place enhances our life experience. That brings us to the scope of this column. Our discourse will range from computers, writing and image software, artificial intelligence, video creation, social media, and other applications, as well as our handy peripherals.
Creators are barraged with advertisements and gadgets to make their lives as writers easier, but do they really make our lives better? When faced with the new versus the old, which one wins out in the end? And are expensive items just a gimmick when a tried and true device will do? Or, is this situation another case of buying a different waffle maker each holiday season to the point where the cupboards are filled with old versions of the same gadget, but they no longer serve a real purpose? Let’s clean out the storage, make a list, and remove what no longer serves our ability to do what we love. Then we will have what we need to create from our imaginations, instead of worrying about the next waffle maker.
For instance, spellcheck and grammar programs, I have two different ones on my computer to see which one serves my needs. One tells me that I require a comma for a clause. The other one tells me to remove the comma from the sentence. Which one is correct? Could both programs be right? Wrong? In the age of technology, sometimes the simplest answer is to read the language rule to decide, if the comma is necessary or not. There is nothing like computer program arguments to wish for a time without them.
Technology can be foreboding, yet indispensable in the creative arts. In the coming months, we will work together to build a knowledge base that helps unleash the creator in us all while working with technology and allowing it to serve our greatest and highest good.
I look forward to Writing to be Read readers joining me on this new adventure.
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DL Mullan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology. Her lecture, Spacescapes: Where Photography Ends; Imagination Begins, debuted at the Phoenix Astronomy Society, which then led to her Sally Ride Festival lecture invitations. Her presentation, Bridging the Gap between Technology and Women, won her accolades at a community college’s Student Success Conference. She has been a panelist at speculative fiction, science fiction, and other regional conventions. Her digital exhibition pieces have won awards at convention art shows, as well as garnered her Second Premium at the Arizona State Fair. Currently, Ms. Mullan’s artistic renditions are seen on book covers, blog sites, video presentations, and various merchandise. As an independent publisher, she uses her technical background to innovate the creative arts.
As a writer, DL Mullan loves to stretch her imagination and the elasticity of genres. She writes complex multi-genre stories in digestible and entertaining forms, be it poetry, short fiction, or novels. Her science, history, mythology, and paranormal research backgrounds are woven into her writings, especially in Undawnted’s Legacy Universe. Ms. Mullan’s creative endeavors are available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. She is also an award-winning poet.
Be sure to subscribe to her newsletters and follow her on social media. For further information, visit her at www.undawnted.com.
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Obsession: Craving Flashlights
Posted: August 28, 2020 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Cree LEDs, flashlights, technology 5 CommentsFlashlights. Who would think of flashlights as the subject of a passionate obsession?
I had no idea what was coming as I scanned the pages of Amazon for ordinary household flashlights. Things have changed and I was about to discover another dimension, a new subculture of obsession. Flashlights!
It began when I bought a slender black flashlight from the local hardware store. It cost thirty bucks; a bit pricey but it was rechargeable via a USB cable, and it looked really cool. The battery was included. The word “TACTICAL” was splashed all over its package, like this was some kind of ninja self-defense weapon. Indeed, it was solid black. I liked its weight and heft, its balance and setup. As evening fell I took the gizmo into my office, turned off the lights and pressed the switch.
Holy Shit! A circle of brilliant radiance spilled across the room like the light from a movie projector. I was not expecting this. The flashlight had features like “zoom” and “strobe”, and, for all I knew, “kill” or “maim”.
I had, in effect, a Magic Wand. This was my introduction to the world of modern flashlights and those who love them. The tech has changed. Teeny LED bulbs can now emit awesome degrees of light, powered by modest Double A batteries. Some devices have multiple LEDs in specially designed arrays. A handheld flashlight can light up a stadium. This is power, which is hypnotically attractive. I needed another flashlight. Maybe two, maybe three flashlights. I went into the almighty catalogue, AMAZON, to peruse the flashlight market.
Now we get to the reviews. There are astonishing numbers of reviews for every goddam product on Amazon, from diapers to defibrillators. It is possible to get a consensus about anything at all. Want to buy a dildo? Look up the many devices and their reviews. Did this particular dildo do the job? Was it flexible enough or too unyielding? Here is a real product with nearly 700 reviews. It’s called “Rechargable Personal Wand Massager with 20 Vibration settings, variable thrust, flexion, USB port, realistic texture, suction cup, money back guarantee.” The pictures leave no doubt. Personal wand massager my ass!
Why are these dildos so huge? Where are the normal sized penis replicants that won’t cripple you? I don’t know. What does this priapic gigantism say about our culture? Never mind. Let’s return to flashlights.
The reviews sometimes run to pages. Everyone wants a voice, wants to be heard. Maybe these reviews give people their voice.
Some of these new death-dealing tactical flashlights run to six hundred bucks. What do you get for six hundred dollars that’s different from the thirty dollars I paid for my Litezall field flashlight? Let me read the reviews. Yes, the light is extremely bright. Among its features there is an emphasis on self defense. “Blind an attacker with the sudden flash of the Thrunite AB9000.” Or, “The Fenix L20,000 will stun an assailant better than pepper spray.” Yes, they are brighter than shit. You can’t use them at home if you have children. Take one to an empty stadium. Another benefit of the six hundred dollar flashlight is its amazing battery life. You could turn it on and leave it on for a week. I don’t know when such a demand will arise: maybe some disaster will call out this flashlight’s virtues. Who needs a week of 9000 Lumens?
I have so much fun looking at flashlights online! I love it. Just writing this article threw me back into my obsessive mode, as I compare the specs of hundreds of black anodized titanium flashlights. I have six of these hand held monsters but my favorite is still the first one, the Litezall USB S2000. I’m also fond of my Gearlight ArcFlash, with its zoomable front lens, with its maximum light circle diameter of thirty feet. Awesome!
These flashlights are made in China. They’re well made, beautifully crafted. They’re impressive yet they’re affordable. Thirty bucks for a light that can stop an advancing hippo? Do it.
(For help withdrawing from flashlight addiction, contact “Nameless Flashlight Addicts, at the following website: http://www.myeyesmyeyes.com)
