fact or fiction
Is it a fact or is it merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the lesser known truths in the geek universe.
The Magic Guitar
It was a crazy night. I didn’t know how much trouble I could get in, I knew LSD was illegal, but I didn’t know EXACTLY how illegal it was, or how rare it was to end up at parties, let alone people doing it. I had no idea. The back of the sheet had a painting, that Jerry Garcia did himself, so I knew that it was made with great care and love. I did it before a number of times, this was one of the most memorable, I had a sheet, and word spread through town that I was the man to talk to, within an hour, I had people I’d never met before who knew my name, and what they were looking for. I was 17, but I was far away from being in school, and the people I was hanging out with were still in school, and not quite used to this drug.
By Noel Chrisjohn Benson5 years ago in Geeks
The Man in the Dark Trench Coat
I sat in the back. I was told that I could observe and so that’s what I did. The woman with red manicured hands to my left gripped her Hermès bag and looked at me through the corner of her eye, she tried to be discrete, but it didn’t work. A moment later she zipped it open and pulled out a compact to powder her nose.
By Mel Chesneau5 years ago in Geeks
System Online
And so the very thing his government forced him to create would be their doom. Li unplugged the drive and continued running down the corridor -he had to make it to the south-west door if he had any chance of leaving the facility, let alone the country, alive. After running for what felt like way too long, Li could finally make out the door at the end of the hallway. It was a solid metal door with a code activated lock and a terminal beside it. Li plugged his hard drive into the terminal and fired up his bypass program. Five percent. His heart racing, he glanced behind him, squinting to see as far down the corridor as he could to make sure none of the guards were aware he had left. Although his plan was perfectly executed, he still had no idea how long his simple deception of looping the security feeds would work. Li turned back to the terminal: twenty percent. The real genius was in his undetectable virus that he planted in the facility's network, and then ultimately every computer. He had turned the entire building into a mining operation that sent all of the rewards to one Virtual Wallet Address; his. Checking the terminal again he saw it was only at fifty percent. Li might have been impressed by the software encryption on the door had it not been the only thing between him and freedom. In the 6 months and 18 days he was kept here, he managed to accumulate 1.2 million Bitcoins by letting his virus work, all of which were stored on the hard drive in his pocket; He wasn't going to leave them a single coin. Seeing the terminal was at eighty percent, Li fired up his second program, Blackout.EXE. He smiled when he pressed the execute button, happy with the name he coined for his death-to-all-computers program. Both programs would finish at the same time, one would open his door to freedom, and one would ensure he was untraceable. Blackout.exe was simply a time bomb that would render every computer in the facility useless after 72 hours; enough time for him to be out of the country. Ninety-eight percent. Li braced himself against the door, his ear up against it, ready to burst it open and make a run for the horizon. His wife and two children were waiting for him in their jeep just passed the horizon under the cover of trees. He had been dreaming of seeing his family for too long, and he was going to make sure that in completing his work, his family would live a peaceful life where they would never be separated again.
By Marshall Jull5 years ago in Geeks
Mysterious Notebook
As I look through all of my dad's belongings, trying to hold back my tears, I see a strange notebook on the floor of the attic. It has been three months since my dad passed away and I am finally able to sort through the things left to me in his will. So here I am, in a hot attic a few weeks before my birthday, looking at a bunch of junk that my dad never threw away. Yet, this notebook does not look like junk. I bring it downstairs and sit on the couch to look at it. It looks like whatever is in it was quite important to my dad. The front of it has a weird title on it called 'Bitcoin'. "Isn't Bitcoin that virtually currency?", I think to myself. "Why would dad have a notebook with 'Bitcoin' on it?". I never thought of my dad as savvy with technology. I had to set up his first smartphone for him and teach him how to use it. So for him to have something potentially connected to Bitcoin is intriguing. Once I open the notebook I am shocked at what I find. The first page is packed with names and contact information, but the one that sticks out the most is 'Satoshi Nakamoto'. I have never heard of this name before, so I take out my phone and dial the number underneath the name. "This number does not exist? Why would my dad have a number that does not exist?" I say to myself. That is when I start to flip through the pages of the notebook and a piece of paper falls out. The paper says:
By Gabrielle Greetan5 years ago in Geeks
Bay Area Logline
Bay Area Logline: The Viral Foundation Bay Area News Article: Oakland Mom meets Zendaya, posts hilarious video for son Movie Logline: After a Hollywood street performer gains national attention for recording inspiring videos with celebrities to help his daughter fight cancer, he uses his influence to enact change.
By Justin Amey5 years ago in Geeks
Once, Twice, Three times and counting upon a couch
I consider myself an adult. Too often too willing to blow off responsibilities and chores, naturally, but 33 nonetheless. I wouldn't say it would be accurate to chalk up my fascination with magic and my belief in it to living a second child hood, either. I consider myself more of a realist than an idealist, and insist upon my reasonable reasoning of my beliefs based upon the chills I get up my spine when discussing them aloud, with or without others around. Not to mention, it's been 7 years since I discovered a show that reinforced the serious considerations of my inner world. And I still watch Once Upon a Time like a little girl who trusts that fairy dust isn't hard to find, you just have to know where to look. In the first episode of this quite remarkable and intuitive source of entertainment, they get straight to the heart of what I consider to be a lifestyle choice, and a rather rewarding one. One of the main characters, Henry, replies "that's exactly what makes it true," in response to an adult living in denial that "just because you believe something doesn't make it true." Stories are important. They are healing. We find parallels to our lives in them, be they lore of folk from long ago or modern day matrices. They help us process our own flaws and fears. I was raised on Disney and other precious adaptations featuring real people and impressive set designs, considering it was the eighties. The symbolism of each story never escaped me. It was encouraged that I repeat kindergarten, for many reasons, but the straw that turned the idea to gold was me asking my teacher, "You know when Belle got the beast up on the horse? How did she do that?" I always knew, deep within, the answer. The answer to strength, the answer to breaking a curse, the answer to surviving this "reality." Sure, the correct answer in the particular situation involving a four year old's distracted thought process is "that's just how it was drawn." But I was after something more meaningful. I was after what all the characters in this childish,to the point of cringing,yet enchanting series fumble for through each and every episode. The power of love. Real love. Not that self pitying poetry people spew out. Love is not pain or ache or fear. Love is the cure, the antidote, the answer. Love is magic. And magic is real. Once Upon a Time isn't actually that long ago. It's this morning, when you watched S3: E1 for literally the hundredth time and still, as if watching it for the first time, you get chills in what feels like every cell when they stop fighting and the weather clears. The fight within caused the fight without. And the title, "The heart of the truest believer," is enough to bring me to my knees. It doesn't even matter what it was they were believing in. That is part of the beauty. Pick your truth, and insist upon it. It is not unlike a shooting star. It will come true. Your nose won't grow and you won't turn into wood. You might get laughed at, but that's what makes being a single adult so special. You don't have to care or agree. You are old enough to make choices without considering the input of another. No one to talk you out of your experiences or laugh at you for honoring what you have seen and felt. No one to walk in on you at four in the morning after you've done your makeup to look like Rumplestiltskin and your laughing maniacally and mocking him, saying, "Congratulations on your little war!" in the reflection of the tv screen. True story. The point is, whether you have Peter Pan syndrome or you just remember what it was like to be a child realizing adults have lost their joie de vivre due to a loss or ignorance of sixth senses, "make believe" works and it's important to remind those grown. Pretending is the act of paving the path to the place you want to be. Even the evilest of queens can't fool or deter the wisest among us, not to mention they come around, sooner or later. I am forever grateful to the honoring of these timeless characters, where for forty three minutes at a time, I can be entertained by those that speak my language. They may be paid actors but the message they deliver is worth more and more real than all the riches in the realms.
By Lindsey Belleau5 years ago in Geeks
Tales From The Void
Gabriela moved slowly down the stairway taking note of the pictograph carvings. Some are of what looks to be stories of hunters tracking down dragons and wyverns. Until coming to the end, there she sees a large Blue dragon that kills the hunters. As she stops to look closer its eyes shimmered, two sharp protrusions shoot out from the wall one of them grazing her left cheek. Falling backward against the wall behind her she begins to tumble down the stairs.
By Nathan Cleve Durham5 years ago in Geeks
