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Project Reality #1
Firmware
HF-Tech's chips have changed the world. Embedded into the heads of over 90% of the world's population, they have cured autism, dementia, provided intelligence boosts, and helped to ease some of the more mundane tasks in life.
Daniel Blair works in the Workshop, creating ROMs and hacking the chips to further increase their usefulness, an activity that is deemed illegal. But Rouge, his favoured ROM, is better than the official firmware; it simply does more. And besides, who knows what really goes into HF-Tech's official software releases? What is it capable of sending? And what can it receive? Dan doesn't quite trust them, not least of all because of the flaws in the system.
And when the day comes that HF-Tech releases a software update that allows a terrorist attack to take place, Dan begins to distrust the company even more.
But is there a threat closer to home that he should be paying more attention to..?
Daniel Blair works in the Workshop, creating ROMs and hacking the chips to further increase their usefulness, an activity that is deemed illegal. But Rouge, his favoured ROM, is better than the official firmware; it simply does more. And besides, who knows what really goes into HF-Tech's official software releases? What is it capable of sending? And what can it receive? Dan doesn't quite trust them, not least of all because of the flaws in the system.
And when the day comes that HF-Tech releases a software update that allows a terrorist attack to take place, Dan begins to distrust the company even more.
But is there a threat closer to home that he should be paying more attention to..?
- GenresFiction
136 pages, ebook
First published March 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Stephen J. Sweeney
13 books37 followersStephen J Sweeney is an author, software developer, and video game designer. He currently resides in England.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 15, 2019
Good idea and first half, but the end was weak.
September 19, 2013
Excellent premise and well written for the most part. Mandatory programmable microchips inserted into everyone's brain at birth. I felt the conclusion was rushed and was too far fetched for what came before. It felt as though the author only decided the novel's direction when he was 3/4 of the way done and the appropriate character development was missed.
A couple of things jarred. On one hand, there's a huge amount of what lay people would describe as jargon. This is fine for this genre. At other parts though the author seems to go to great pains to dumb down and explain relatively simple concepts. Know your audience. If we made it past the first chapter we don't need the tech explained.
I was disappointed with the stereotypical, one dimensional, characterisation of women. The main character's attitude to Meg, the student, was condescending. Bless her for knowing what Unix is despite the focus of her dissertation and the location of her work placement. Vix, the only other female character (save for the mum, who really doesn't feature) is an artistic nymphomaniac who readily accepts a large amount of money to record a lesbian sex scene. When Meg and Vix interact it's so we can be told that IT is a man's world and Vix only got involved to make money.
This book should've been longer, at least the door is open for a sequel. Let's hope the next one gets better proof reading!
A couple of things jarred. On one hand, there's a huge amount of what lay people would describe as jargon. This is fine for this genre. At other parts though the author seems to go to great pains to dumb down and explain relatively simple concepts. Know your audience. If we made it past the first chapter we don't need the tech explained.
I was disappointed with the stereotypical, one dimensional, characterisation of women. The main character's attitude to Meg, the student, was condescending. Bless her for knowing what Unix is despite the focus of her dissertation and the location of her work placement. Vix, the only other female character (save for the mum, who really doesn't feature) is an artistic nymphomaniac who readily accepts a large amount of money to record a lesbian sex scene. When Meg and Vix interact it's so we can be told that IT is a man's world and Vix only got involved to make money.
This book should've been longer, at least the door is open for a sequel. Let's hope the next one gets better proof reading!
January 3, 2015
The scary thing about this book is that it isn't too hard to imagine...
At the moment people are concerned about the loss of privacy associated with the internet and smart phones. Some people hack and root their phones to get extra features or make them better (including improving privacy). This story tells of a future where people have chips implanted in their head. A few people have learned how to hack these to give extra abilities and talents.
Unfortunately the company running the chips (and the software) aren't as transparent as we would like, and it is down to a group of hackers to guess what they are up to.
I enjoyed this book and whilst it isn't very long (or it didn't take long to read) I would recommend it to my sci-fi fans. Unfortunately you have to be prepared to read the sequel to find out how it ends but don't let that put you off!
At the moment people are concerned about the loss of privacy associated with the internet and smart phones. Some people hack and root their phones to get extra features or make them better (including improving privacy). This story tells of a future where people have chips implanted in their head. A few people have learned how to hack these to give extra abilities and talents.
Unfortunately the company running the chips (and the software) aren't as transparent as we would like, and it is down to a group of hackers to guess what they are up to.
I enjoyed this book and whilst it isn't very long (or it didn't take long to read) I would recommend it to my sci-fi fans. Unfortunately you have to be prepared to read the sequel to find out how it ends but don't let that put you off!
February 9, 2014
"He could now see them starting to deploy the yellow tape that marked a police cordon around the parameter" was my only significant error located in this intriguing story. Sadly, novels that end this way don't often appeal. British, fascinating in its detail but, upon reading the final page I came away unfortunately unsatisfied.
October 20, 2014
I found the characters hard to believe and the technology over-simplified and all to much breezed over. Had great promise but had too much of a badly filmed 'outer limits' episode feel to it. Was recommend as hard sci-fi genre but was disappointed.
March 24, 2015
Devastated, Great premise, interesting set of characters and at 75% thought my only complaint about this book was going to be how short it was. Sadly the ending is far too rushed and terribly executed, almost like the author couldn't be bothered anymore. Deeply disappointed.
July 29, 2013
An extremely good book by this author, with a decent view on future tech. The ending sets itself up for a sequel
July 31, 2013
I really enjoyed this book. The story was believable and the characters were interesting.
It sets itself up for a sequel which I hope is coming!
It sets itself up for a sequel which I hope is coming!
December 2, 2013
Pretty good read, had me gripped but too short!
June 22, 2014
In my opinion this and Malware alone are really novellas. But if you read them together you get a decent length novel that is an enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews