28/04/2007

Frightening facts about GM foods

Remember when the European Union put up a fight against Canadian genetically modified canola exports but lost its case with the WTO and was ordered to accept the frankencrops anyway?

Well, it seems Euro governments are more frank about the dangers of GM foods than their North American counterparts.

Read about the dangers of GM crops from Responsible Technology:

http://www.responsibletechnology.org/utility/showArticle/?objectID=212

Sample quote:

"Foreign genes jumped to human gut bacteria in just one meal of a GM soy burger and soy milkshake."

Visit also: SEEDS OF DECEPTION

01/04/2007

Instant Novelist

A small software company CreativeVein has released un updated version of its flagship package: "PoeticVein", version 2.01.

The software allows would be novelists to instantly create novel-length stories of publishable quality.

How does the software work?

Simply ingenious.

The user fills out a form that is as detailed as one wants it to be and may take several days to go through. It is possible to complete the form over a weekend! Imagine this: write a novel in a single weekend.

Questions range from choice of genre, goriness, and pace to locales, names, and language intricacy... and thousands more.

The more details the user provides the more detailed and rich the final output.

For example, under Mystery as the chosen genre one can choose the number of characters, how detailed should their bios be (and what should be included), how many murder victims, how many twists in the story, how long the story needs to be (differs from publisher to publisher) etc. Admittedly, the more you enter the more background you may need to provide, and you may spend a week filling the form. But, you can choose the Simplify or Random function.

Does it work?

Well, if you keep in mind that all Mystery / Suspense / Thriller books are stereotypical to some degree (and they are) then the output is extremely gratifying. You will not be able to distinguishe a generated novel from that written by a writer.

A 95,000 word novel takes only minutes to generate, but as said before it does take several days to fill out the particulars. Would be novelists are encouraged to read through the generated work before submitting to publishers in order to ensure satisfaction. I second that: some editing will be required. But, hey, it is nothing compared with 2 years you'd spend writing a novel by yourself.

Then, you may want to consider this: Love to read books but are tired of books you don't enjoy? Fill out the form and one will be created for you. You can have as many alternative endings as you wish. You can have as many stories in all imaginable genres as you wish.

Now, the software isn't cheap at $899.00 US, but think how many novels you can create. Novels for life.

My first novel was generated by the "PoeticVein" version 1.01 and was snatched by the publisher. Can you tell it was generated?