Technophobia

Jason Munroe, a lawyer and a friend of the Clarkes, is a self-confessed technophobe. Yes, you’re right. That quality of his is partially modeled on somebody I know. I’m lucky enough to have my parents share and understand my passion for computers. It’s my grandparents who remain to be convinced that using Skype and a webcam is far superior to a good old landline (especially pricewise on international calls). You see, my granny seems particularly intimidated by The Computer thing. And yet, she used to be a well-qualified doctor, a person with a very demanding job, responsibilities, and a fare share of medical equipment. Still, The Computer is a scary beast to her.

Uncle Jason is very similar. He’s a successful lawyer with a long list of powerful clients. During his twenty-year career he dealt with a variety of criminal cases, helping thousands of people get out of a legal deadlock. Yet, he knows very little about computers. Apart from Word and email, of course.

He’s embarrassed of being a technophobe, but I wonder if technophobia exists as such. Isn’t it part of a bigger fear? Fear of change, or maybe fear of failure? And isn’t it, sometimes, a case of mistaken identity with the lack-of-time problem we all face more and more often? I appreciate that if you are reading this, then you are likely not to be afraid of computers. That’s great, but remember that fear is also a great protection mechanism and is therefore useful. We lock our front doors because of fear of an intruder, so we should remember to lock down our operating systems for that same reason. That little bit of caution can go a long way.

It’s alive!

Well, not quite alive yet, but the vital signs are there. Amanda, for one, answered my question of ‘What else does a kid need?’ rather firmly.

‘A puppy. A yellow lab would do just fine, thank you.’

You see in real life puppy is one of those things that is often promised, but never quite given. So, I’ve decided for once to grant the child’s wish immediately.

Amanda gets the pup – Sparky seems to be the name – as a birthday present from Uncle Jason, a lawyer and a close friend of the family. I’m not going to tell you about the screams and cuddles that followed. Those are self-evident. At this moment in time, Jason is much more of an interest to me. He wasn’t planned, but rather cruised into the story on his own accord. What nobody is aware of yet is the major impact his appearance is going to have on Clarkes’s future.

First characters are born

March. The spring is here. And, though British spring deals out good weather grudgingly, I feel its presence and I feel its call. My first characters are beginning to sprout from the small seeds I’ve planted over the last months and I can’t wait to see how they are going to turn out. Let me introduce them to you.

Present day. An American family in time of change. Congressman Leo Clarke has been given a new assignment as the Chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources. The family moves to their nice new house in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Sally Clarke is forced to give up her University job and become a schoolteacher. Ten-year-old Amanda Clarke, Leo’s and Sally’s only child, is least affected by the move. She lives and breathes computers, hangs out on the Net and her virtual world moves seamlessly with her. Besides, she’s still surrounded by love and care of her parents. What else does a kid need?

Snowflake, The story

I’m back and I’m still on my own. I’ve spent the last week twiddling with my thought organizing/book writing software program and it’s now much more suited for novel rather than short story development. Once that done, I settled down to flesh out the original plot line, but before we move onto that, I want to share my ideas behind the whole thing. Bear with me; I’ll try to be brief.

World of computers is my world. And a world you know, you feel secure in. Not because you know it’s safe, but because you know where the dangers are and how to avoid them. Recently more and more people let computers into their worlds, accept them as friends and rely on assurances of salesmen that that brilliant topnotch antivirus software is all they need to be safe. I must agree, it does do a great job protecting against viruses. But what about targeted attacks…

I want to write a book about something that can happen to any one of us. Location, age, social status, connections are not important. A computer linked to the Internet and an asset that somebody else wants, are. A convenient thing in computer crime is anonymity. A virtual criminal doesn’t have to face you, doesn’t have to feel guilty, doesn’t have to care. This breeds a new type of attacker. Completely impersonal and completely in control. Your personal qualities, your achievements, your family and friends are unimportant. You and your life are irrelevant. You are a target, your computer is a weapon and your money is the motive!

Will you be able to even spot the attacker before it’s too late? And if you do, what will you do about it. In our crazy world of schedules, commitments and overflowing TODO lists, how many of us really know about computers? Things that matter. Security. Protecting your family, your wellbeing, your livelihood. Sometimes, your children – defenseless and naïve otherwise – can understand and deal with digital matters much better that you can. But, will anyone listen to them, will anyone care? They are, after all, just children.