"People Are Reading History, but We Shall Know It; We Shall Do More Than Know It, We Shall Change It."

TODAY'S story was published in 8 B.G., that is, eight years Before Gernsback inaugurated Amazing Stories, the first magazine devoted exclusively to science fiction. We thought at first that it might be a mystery story in the modern sense, but it turns out to be a mystery in the 19th century sense, a comprehensive category that included pure fantasies, ghost stories, and "scientific romances" of the kind produced by Verne and Wells. While we think that the story is ingenious and compelling despite its faults, both the author and the editor could 

have been a bit more diligent, and tighter editing on both their parts would have greatly 

improved . . .

"The Haunted Corridors: A Mystery Story Based on Science."

By William Hamilton Osborne (1873-1942).

First appearance: Mystery Magazine, October 1, 1918 (cover story).

Short story (12 pages; 2 illos).

Online at Archive.org (HERE; go to text page 3).

(Note: Text very faded.)

   "With his electric flash he hastily adjusted his machine, swinging into place the concentrator cone, and with a rapidity that had come from long practice, he carefully fitted the accelerator, the aggravator with its super-magnifier, and finally the reverberator. Then he adjusted the dial screw with careful accuracy, and pulled the lever."

POLONIUS advised Laertes to "Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice." A brilliant inventor has done Shakespeare one better; he can get every man to give their voice 

to his ear . . .

Comment: Science fiction requires a willing suspension of disbelief, and, believe us, 

you're going to need a lot of it.

Main characters:

~ Gum-shoe Mixley, McMurtry, Garthwaite, Paul Champenois, Virginia Garthwaite, Iras, Cleopatra, Ptolemy, and the landlord.

Typo: "Your rear"; "tngues"; "crcoked"; "substittue".

References:

- "the just and the unjust":

  "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45; Bible Gateway HERE.)

The rest of these are linked to Wikipedia:

- "the anxiety of a Paul Revere" (HERE)

- "Thackeray (HERE), Dickens (HERE), Balzac (HERE)"; "Meredith" (HERE)

- "lamp chimneys" (HERE)

- "wireless telegraphy" (HERE)

- "the Spanish war" (HERE)

- "Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden" (HERE)

- "Cleopatra" (HERE)

- "Queen Elizabeth" (HERE)

- "Charles Martel" (HERE)

- "Salome" (HERE); "Herod" (HERE); "Saul of Tarsus" (HERE)

- "bastinado" (HERE)

- "Mark Antony" (HERE)

- "Ptolemy" (HERE).

Resources:

- The New Jersey Historical Society's archives have this thumbnail of William Hamilton Osborne:

  "A native of Newark, N.J., Osborne studied law at Columbia University Law School, began to practice as an attorney in the 1890s and subsequently served as counsel for the Authors League of America. Osborne began his literary career in 1902 by writing short stories for such magazines as Harpers Monthly Magazine, McClure's, the Saturday Evening Post and many others. The collection includes numerous manuscripts, galley proofs, and published versions of Osborne’s novels, plays, motion picture scripts, essays and short fiction ranging from love stories to detective tales written between 1902-1937. The correspondence in the collection consists primarily of business letters between Osborne and his publishers. A detailed inventory is available." (The New Jersey Historical Society HERE.)

- Isaac Asimov also considered eavesdropping on history with "The Dead Past" (HERE; go to text page 6).

- Bob Shaw had a similar idea but using a different medium with his "Light of Other Days" (WARNING! SPOILERS! Wikipedia HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"The Great Experiment Will Take Place at Once! I Have Locked the Door; You Cannot Get Out."

"The Man Who Stopped the Earth."

By Henry J. Kostkos (1900-77; ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: Amazing Stories, March 1934.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at The Pulpgen Archive (HERE).

   "You have truly evolved a stupendous theory. And I have unwittingly proved it for you, though there be none left to profit by it."

IT isn't just in war that a Pyrrhic victory can be achieved, as that self-described "great scientist" Kirkland Rizzert is about to prove . . .

Principal characters:

~ Markrum, Rizzert, and Wirrtel.

References:

- "atom isolagraph":

  No idea.

- "galvanometer":

  "A galvanometer is an electromechanical measuring instrument for electric current. Early galvanometers were uncalibrated, but improved versions, called ammeters, were calibrated and could measure the flow of current more precisely. Galvanometers work by deflecting a pointer in response to an electric current flowing through a coil in a constant magnetic field. The mechanism is also used as an actuator in applications such as hard disks." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "wave atomic theory":

  When our story was published, whether atomic particles were solid or waves was still unsettled:

  "In 1924, Louis de Broglie proposed that all particles—particularly subatomic particles such as electrons—have an associated wave. Erwin Schrödinger, fascinated by this idea, developed an equation that describes an electron as a wave function instead of a point. This approach predicted many of the spectral phenomena that Bohr's model failed to explain, but it was difficult to visualize and faced opposition. One of its critics, Max Born, proposed instead that Schrödinger's wave function did not describe the physical extent of an electron (like a charge distribution in classical electromagnetism), but rather gave the probability that an electron would, when measured, be found at a particular point. This reconciled the ideas of wave-like and particle-like electrons: the behavior of an electron, or of any other subatomic entity, has both wave-like and particle-like aspects, and whether one aspect or the other is observed depend upon the experiment." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Our earth moves in a complex path; it rotates, travels in its orbit around the sun, the sun carries us through the galactic system, the galactic system speeds us amid the spiral nebulae":

  "Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi), or 8.317 light-minutes, in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from above the Northern Hemisphere. One complete orbit takes 365.256 days (1 sidereal year), during which time Earth has traveled 940 million km (584 million mi)." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "The Solar System travels alone through the Milky Way in a circular orbit approximately 30,000 light years from the Galactic Center. Its speed is about 220 km/s. The period required for the Solar System to complete one revolution around the Galactic Center, the galactic year, is in the range of 220–250 million years." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "How fast is Earth's orbit around the sun?

  "Earth orbits around the sun at a speed of 67,100 miles per hour (30 kilometers per second). That's the equivalent of traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town (or alternatively London to New York) in about 3 minutes.

  "Other than in its orbit, how else is Earth moving through space?

  "As well as moving around the Sun, the Sun and Earth are orbiting around the dense center of our galaxy at some 447,000 miles per hour (200 km/s). Our galaxy, in turn, is moving relative to the other galaxies around us, and so all the mass in the universe is continuously dancing around." (Space.com HERE).

Click on image to enlarge.

- "the night wind outside whistled under the eaves of the frame building. A flash of lightning foretold the coming of a storm and distant thunder rumbled menacingly above the tearing of the wind"; "By this time the storm outside raged with fury. The laboratory was lit up brilliantly by flashes of lightning. The three old men instinctively drew closer together."

  These are examples of the pathetic fallacy:

  "The phrase pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human emotion and conduct to things found in nature that are not human. It is a kind of personification that occurs in poetic descriptions, when, for example, clouds seem sullen, when leaves dance, or when rocks seem indifferent." (Wikipedia HERE.)

Resources:

- Our author, Henry J. Kostkos, generated a remarkably few science fiction stories, most of them for Amazing Stories and a couple for Astounding. Otherwise, we know practically nothing about him.

- The Pulpgen Archive collection of 63 tales from Amazing Stories is (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"He Knew Better—Better Than To Think He’d Get Out of This with His Life"

"Twenty Clocks for Death."

By Cyril Plunkett (1905-66).

First appearance: Ten Detective Aces, February 1937.

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at The Pulpgen Archive (HERE).

   "He wasn't such a smart fellow."

WOULDN'T you agree that arrogance is the downfall of most, if not all, criminals? Based on recent experience, Ed Turner certainly would . . .

Main characters:

~ Ed Turner, Elise Turner, Charlie Garth, and Mr. Swayne.

References:

- "Mohammed must come to the mountain":

  Phrase Finder (HERE) tells us: "The proverbial phrase ‘If the mountain will not come to Muhammad ...’ means that, if one’s will does not prevail, one must submit to an alternative."

Resources:

- Cyril Joseph Plunkett was all over the detecfic magazines starting in 1930 and going all the way to 1949; see FictionMags for a looong list of his short works.

- The Pulpgen Archive has six of Plunkett's stories online (HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"I Know This May Be Hard To Grasp, but I Assure You, I Am, Indeed, Reaching Out From the Future"

"Seeking Time Traveller."

By Danny F. Santos (ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: Polar Borealis, May 2024.

Short short short story (5 pages).

Online (HERE; go to text page 34).

   "Are you a time traveller? Help settle a bet! In search of credible evidence that time travel exists. If you are a time traveller, or know someone who is, please contact me . . ."

YOU never know what you'll get online. For SLW it seemed harmless enough, but things have a disturbing tendency to spin out of control . . .

Principal characters:

~ SLW and Edward Braun. 

References:

- "Powerball":

  "Powerball is an American lottery game offered by 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands . . . Powerball is known for producing some of the largest lottery jackpots in history, including the record-breaking $2.04 billion jackpot won by a ticket purchased in Altadena, California, in 2022." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Quantum Temporal Entanglement":

  "Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon wherein the quantum state of each particle in a group cannot be described independently of the state of the others, even when the particles are separated by a large distance. The topic of quantum entanglement is at the heart of the disparity between classical physics and quantum physics: entanglement is a primary feature of quantum mechanics not present in classical mechanics." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Kardashev scale I":

  "The Kardashev scale (Russian: шкала Кардашёва, romanized: shkala Kardashyova) is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy it is capable of harnessing and using. The measure was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev in 1964, and was named after him . . .

  "A Type I civilization (planetary) is able to access all the energy available on its planet and store it for consumption.

  "A Type II civilization (stellar) can directly consume a star's energy, most likely through the use of a Dyson sphere.

  "A Type III civilization (galactic) is able to capture all the energy emitted by its galaxy, and every object within it, such as every star, black hole, etc." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the twin towers"; "the September 11 attacks":

  "The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Built primarily between 1966 and 1975, it was dedicated on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed on September 11, 2001. The complex included the 110-story-tall Twin Towers, at the time of their completion the tallest buildings in the world." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "The attacks killed 2,977 people, injured thousands more and gave rise to substantial long-term health consequences while also causing at least US$10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack in history, as well as the deadliest incident for firefighters and law enforcement personnel in American history, killing 343 and 72 members, respectively." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "the 'Personals' section":

  "A personal advertisement, sometimes called a contact ad, is a form of classified advertising in which a person seeks to find another person for friendship, romance, marriage, or sexual activity. In British English, it is commonly known as an advert in a lonely hearts column. In India, it is a dating ad or matrimonial ad." (Wikipedia HERE.)  

The bottom line:

Click on image to enlarge.

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"You Done It"

"A Tooth for a Tooth."

By Peter Fraser (Alexander Peter Fordham Watt, 1915-65).

First appearance: The Evening Standard, October 13, 1953.

Reprinted in The Saint Detective Magazine, July 1956 (today's text).

Short short short story (4 pages).

Online at Archive.org (HERE; go to text page 68).

(Note: Text very faded but legible.)

   "He switched on the light to investigate the possibilities of a snack."

EVEN the best laid plans are likely to go astray when you're hungry enough . . .

Main characters:

~ Eliot, Macavity, Mr. Fry, Detective-Sergeant Broadwood, Morley, and the Inspector.

References:

- "Macavity":

  "T. S. Eliot was a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle and the character of Macavity is a literary allusion to Professor Moriarty, the criminal mastermind in the Sherlock series. Evidence that Macavity was based on Moriarty was first presented by H. T. Webster and H. W. Starr in 1954 and later rediscovered by Katharine Loesch. In a letter to Frank Morley, Eliot wrote, 'I have done a new cat modeled on the late Professor Moriarty, but he doesn't seem very popular; too sophisticated perhaps.' The name 'Macavity' is thus a pun on 'Moriarty.' The word 'cavity' also implies a hole or void or absence of something, and Macavity is described in the poem as being 'not there' at the time or location of any crime." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- The field of forensics from which our story derives its solution is discussed in Wikipedia (HERE) and at the NIH (HERE).

Resource:

- FictionMags has a respectable list of short fiction by Peter Fraser running from 1948 to 1965, the majority of it appearing in The Evening Standard, with infrequent side trips to MacKill's Mystery Magazine.

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"No Opportunity, Really, for a Flight of Fancy Brainwork”

WE'VE looked but couldn't find out anything about our next author, E. C. Marshall. Even so, we've randomly selected three of his stories, all of them different from each other, but each a prime example of how effective pulp writers could be with the short form. (See "Resources" below for three more.)

(1) "Murder After the Fact."

By E. C. Marshall (?-?).

First appearance: Ten Detective Aces, September 1945.

Short short short story (5 pages).

Online at The Pulpgen Archive (HERE).

   “The world of the brilliant, clever criminal never was,” he continued with an air of discovery. “All that stuff of LeCoq, and Poe, and Doyle—the scheming, cunning brain, quick, infallible, always two paces ahead of the police. Well, maybe in a London fog. But not in New York, not in Chicago, and not here in Westworth!”

Principal characters:

~ Professor Bayliss, Detective Tupps, Nick Cardini, Mike O’Grogan, Harry Capsan, Pete Cardini, Louisa Cardini, Scanlon, and the coroner.

(2) "A Snitch in Time."

By E. C. Marshall (?-?).

First appearance: Ten Detective Aces, November 1945.

Short short short story (4 pages).

Online at The Pulpgen Archive (HERE).

   “Let’s say rather that I knew the man who paid him to do his work—the second man in the room, the man with the mask. He was the real criminal. Dressed in a nondescript suit, muffled, absolutely disguised beyond recognition, except for one thing . . ."

Principal characters:

~ Bryant, Martin, Jackson, Hopkins, Goldwater, Schroeder, and Fownes.

(3) "The High-Powered Corpse."

By E. C. Marshall (?-?).

First appearance: Ten Detective Aces, June 1946.

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at The Pulpgen Archive (HERE).

   "Lenihan whirled to see Wong Sung who had entered the room scream, clap his hands over his head and faint dead away on the floor. The cop’s eyes popped when he took in the spectacle of six pairs of pallbearers’ legs quaking dismally, while Chinese oaths broke out upon the air. The rattan chair stopped abruptly just before it hit the coffin top. Tom Ching grimaced with the effort, tossed the chair aside and drew his revolver."

Principal characters:

~ Detective Tom Ching, Lu Tai, Anna, K'ang Ho, Wong Sung, Patrolman Lenihan, and Ku Sui. 

Typo: "Tom Chang".

Resources:

- Here's the FictionMags list for E. C. Marshall (ss = short story; vi = vignette; lr = letter):

  "Lunacy Legacy," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, April 1945

  "Jailbreak Jackpot," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, June 1945 (online HERE)

  "Blaze of Gory," (vi) Ten Detective Aces, July 1945

  "Murder After the Fact," (ss) Ten Detective Aces, September 1945 (above)

  "A Snitch in Time," (ss) Ten Detective Aces, November 1945 (above)

  "X-Ray Justice," (vi) 10-Story Detective Magazine, April 1946 (online HERE)

  "The High-Powered Corpse," (ss) Ten Detective Aces, June 1946 (above)

  "Carve Me a Coffin," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, July 1946

  "Chinatown Checkmate," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, September 1946

  "Six Little Scoundrels," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, January 1947 (online HERE)

  "Appetite for Homicide," (ss) 10-Story Detective Magazine, May 1947

  [letter from New York 14, NY], (lt) Astounding Science Fiction, May 1948

  "Foiled by Time," (ss) Cavalcade (Australia), September 1954.

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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Two Futures That You Might Want To Avoid

TODAY we have a couple of stories, a grim one that got nominated for several Major Awards and the other a satirical tale that deserves the same fate:

(1) "Five Views of the Planet Tartarus."

By Rachel K. Jones (Wikipedia HERE and the ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: Lightspeed Magazine, January 2024.

Reprints page (ISFDb HERE).

Short short short story (3 pages).

Online at Lightspeed Magazine (HERE).

   "Are you trying to hit all of them?"

THROUGHOUT history every culture has struggled with what to do with those who can't—or won't—conform to their society, up to and including the ultimate sanction. The culture that runs Planet Tartarus, however, seems to have come up with what could be considered the ultimate solution to that problem . . .

Main characters:

~ A prisoner, the shuttle pilot, and "the new Orpheuses."

References:

- To get the full effect of today's story, you might benefit from knowing about these:

  "Hesiod asserts that a bronze anvil falling from heaven would fall nine days before it reached the earth. The anvil would take nine more days to fall from earth to Tartarus. In the Iliad (c. 8th century B.C.), Zeus asserts that Tartarus is 'as far beneath Hades as heaven is above earth.' Similarly the mythographer Apollodorus, describes Tartarus as 'a gloomy place in Hades as far distant from earth as earth is distant from the sky'." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "The Sibylline Oracles (Latin: Oracula Sibyllina; sometimes called the pseudo-Sibylline Oracles) are a collection of oracular utterances written in Greek hexameters ascribed to the Sibyls, prophetesses who uttered divine revelations in a frenzied state." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "In Greek mythology, Orpheus was a legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, and descended into the underworld to recover his lost wife, Eurydice." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Nanobots":

  "According to Richard Feynman, it was his former graduate student and collaborator Albert Hibbs who originally suggested to him (circa 1959) the idea of a medical use for Feynman's theoretical micro-machines (see biological machine). Hibbs suggested that certain repair machines might one day be reduced in size to the point that it would, in theory, be possible to (as Feynman put it) 'swallow the surgeon.' The idea was incorporated into Feynman's case study 1959 essay There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "cleaning off plaques, lengthening telomeres, repairing neurons":

  "An atheroma, or atheromatous plaque, is an abnormal accumulation of material in the inner layer of an arterial wall.

  "The material consists of mostly macrophage cells, or debris, containing lipids, calcium and a variable amount of fibrous connective tissue. The accumulated material forms a swelling in the artery wall, which may intrude into the lumen of the artery, narrowing it and restricting blood flow. Atheroma is the pathological basis for the disease entity atherosclerosis, a subtype of arteriosclerosis." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "Amyloid plaques (also known as neuritic plaques, amyloid beta plaques or senile plaques) are extracellular deposits of amyloid beta (Aβ) protein that present mainly in the grey matter of the brain. Degenerative neuronal elements and an abundance of microglia and astrocytes can be associated with amyloid plaques. Some plaques occur in the brain as a result of aging, but large numbers of plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are characteristic features of Alzheimer's disease." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "The relationship between telomeres and longevity and changing the length of telomeres is one of the new fields of research on increasing human lifespan and even human immortality.

  "It is predicted that the knowledge of methods to increase the length of cell telomeres (stem cell and quasi-stem cells, control the regeneration and rebuilding of different tissues of the body) will pave the way for increasing human lifespan." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "Neuroregeneration is the regrowth or repair of nervous tissues, cells or cell products. Neuroregenerative mechanisms may include generation of new neurons, glia, axons, myelin, or synapses. Neuroregeneration differs between the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the central nervous system (CNS) by the functional mechanisms involved, especially in the extent and speed of repair.

  "The nervous system is divided by neurologists into two parts: the central nervous system (which consists of the brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system (which consists of cranial and spinal nerves along with their associated ganglia). While the peripheral nervous system has an intrinsic ability for repair and regeneration, the central nervous system is, for the most part, incapable of self-repair and regeneration. There is currently no treatment for recovering human nerve-function after injury to the central nervous system." (Wikipedia HERE.)

Resource:

- "In January 2024, Jones published 'Five Views of the Planet Tartarus' in Lightspeed. According to Jones, it began as a piece she wrote years earlier as part of a flash fiction challenge. Upon rediscovering the draft, she was able to reformat the story and compose an ending. 'Five Views of the Planet Tartarus' was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards for short story." (Wikipedia HERE.)

(2) "How To Set Up Your Mourning Robot."

By Angela Liu (ISFDb HERE).

First appearance: Lightspeed Magazine, November 2025.

Short short short story (5 pages).

Online at Lightspeed Magazine (HERE).

   "Clean your robot only with the provided wipes. Be careful of grime that has collected in the eye units—this may lead to reduction in facial recognition accuracy and increased probability of accidents and unwarranted hostility."

LIFE was a lot easier when the most challenging thing we might have to deal with was setting a VCR clock . . .

References:

- "firmware":

  "In computing, firmware is software that provides low-level control of computing device hardware. For a relatively simple device, firmware may perform all control, monitoring and data manipulation functionality. For a more complex device, firmware may provide relatively low-level control as well as hardware abstraction services to higher-level software such as an operating system.

  "Firmware is found in a wide range of computing devices including personal computers, smartphones, home appliances, vehicles, computer peripherals and in many of the integrated circuits inside each of these larger systems." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "haptic":

  "Haptic technology (also kinaesthetic communication or 3D touch) is technology that can create an experience of touch by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user. These technologies can be used to feel virtual objects and events in a computer simulation, to control virtual objects, and to enhance remote control of machines and devices (telerobotics). Haptic devices may incorporate tactile sensors that measure forces exerted by the user on the interface. The word haptic, from the Ancient Greek: ἁπτικός (haptikos), means 'tactile, pertaining to the sense of touch.' Simple haptic devices are common in the form of game controllers, joysticks, and steering wheels." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "Shanghainese"; "Mandarin":

  "The Shanghainese language, also known as the Shanghai dialect, or Hu language, is a variety of Wu Chinese spoken in the central districts of the city of Shanghai and its surrounding areas. It is classified as part of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Shanghainese, like the rest of the Wu language group, is mutually unintelligible with other varieties of Chinese, such as Mandarin." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "cultural appropriation":

  "Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of culture or identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. Charges of cultural appropriation typically arise when members of a dominant culture borrow from minority cultures. Cultural appropriation can include the adoption of another culture's religious and cultural traditions, customs, dance steps, fashion, symbols, language, history and music.

  "The concept of cultural appropriation has also been subject to heavy criticism, debate, and nuance. Critics note that the concept is often misunderstood or misapplied in popular and academic discourse. Others state that the act of cultural appropriation, usually defined, does not meaningfully constitute social harm or that the term lacks conceptual coherence. Critics also say that the concept sets arbitrary limits on intellectual freedom and artists' self-expression, reinforces group divisions, and promotes enmity or grievance rather than liberation." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "facial recognition":

  "Since their inception, facial recognition systems have seen wider uses in recent times on smartphones and in other forms of technology, such as robotics. Because computerized facial recognition involves the measurement of a human's physiological characteristics, facial recognition systems are categorized as biometrics. Although the accuracy of facial recognition systems as a biometric technology is lower than iris recognition, fingerprint image acquisition, palm recognition or voice recognition, it is widely adopted due to its contactless process. Facial recognition systems have been deployed in advanced human–computer interaction, video surveillance, law enforcement, passenger screening, decisions on employment and housing, and automatic indexing of images." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "paramnesia":

  "Paramnesia is memory-based delusion or confabulation, or an inability to distinguish between real and fantasy memories." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "AI Crimes Unit of the FBI":

  "Artificial intelligence provides a number of tools that are useful to bad actors, such as authoritarian governments, terrorists, criminals, or rogue states." (Wikipedia HERE.)

  "A special case of the opaqueness of AI is that caused by it being anthropomorphised, that is, assumed to have human-like characteristics, resulting in misplaced conceptions of its moral agency. This can cause people to overlook whether either human negligence or deliberate criminal action has led to unethical outcomes produced through an AI system." (Wikipedia HERE.)

Resources:

- Is it too much to expect remorse from a machine?

  "Despite his [Bender's] often immoral attitude, he has a softer side; he can feel guilt and remorse over his actions if he goes too far (even by his own standards), indicating that he is not as selfish or unkind as he appears to be. In 'Bendless Love,' Bender intends to murder Flexo in order to win the love of fem-bot Angelyne, but when Flexo gets stuck under a gigantic steel girder, Angelyne shows sorrow for him. Bender decides that her happiness is more important than his own, and ends up saving Flexo. Also, in 'Jurassic Bark,' when Bender becomes jealous of Fry's petrified dog, Seymour, he decides to throw him in magma. But when he realizes how his actions hurt Fry, Bender apologizes for his behavior and rescues the dog. In 'Godfellas,' he becomes the god of a microscopic alien race and abuses this position by commanding them to produce beer for him. When his abuse of power causes the entire species' demise, however, he cries in mourning and remorse." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- Affective computing:

  "Affective computing is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer science, psychology, and cognitive science. . . One of the motivations for the research is the ability to give machines emotional intelligence, including to simulate empathy. The machine should interpret the emotional state of humans and adapt its behavior to them, giving an appropriate response to those emotions. Recent experimental research has shown that subtle affective haptic feedback can shape human reward learning and mobile interaction behavior, suggesting that affective computing systems may not only interpret emotional states but also actively modulate user actions through emotion-laden outputs." (Wikipedia HERE.)

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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"Disguise and Misdirection"

"Again the Chameleon."

By Arthur Porges (1915-2006; Wikipedia HERE.)

First appearance: Shell Scott Mystery Magazine, August 1966.

Short short short story (5 pages).

Online at The Luminist Archives (HERE; go to text page 127).

   "I'll let him get his big, hot paws on it, then, zowie! we lower the boom."

WHAT'S most annoying about these criminals who pull off spectacular crimes is that they enjoy it too much. Equally annoying is how some cops think they can outguess and outmaneuver them, usually leading to spectacular failures. Fortunately for the thief and unfortunately for the police detective in today's story, it's not hard to guess where this is going . . .

Principal characters:

~ Lieutenant Corey, Dick Winton, Baker, Marcel, and, of course, The Chameleon.

References:

- "the Chameleon":

  "The English word chameleon is a simplified spelling of Latin chamaeleōn, a borrowing of the Greek χαμαιλέων (khamailéōn), a compound of χαμαί (khamaí) 'on the ground' and λέων (léōn) 'lion'." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "a book Napoleon or somebody wrote":

  "The Napoleonic Code (French: Code Napoléon), officially the Civil Code of the French (French: Code civil des Français; simply referred to as Code civil), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since its inception. Although Napoleon himself was not directly involved in the drafting of the Code, as it was drafted by a commission of four eminent jurists, he chaired many of the commission's plenary sessions, and his support was crucial to its enactment." (Wikipedia HERE.)

- "by J. Edgar Hoover":

  "John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895–May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

  "President Calvin Coolidge first appointed Hoover as director of the BOI, the predecessor to the FBI, in 1924. After 11 years in the post, Hoover became instrumental in founding the FBI in June 1935, where he remained as director for an additional 37 years until his death in May 1972 – serving a total of 48 years leading both the BOI and the FBI under eight presidents." (Wikipedia HERE.)

Resource:

- Another story in which the bad guy brazenly announces his theft before he does it is Ellery Queen's "The Adventure of the Dauphin's Doll" (Number 16 in a collection reviewed HERE).

The bottom line:

Unless otherwise noted, all bibliographical data are derived from The FictionMags Index created by William G. Contento & edited by Phil Stephensen-Payne.

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