The eclectic learner

I love the way my art transforms when the right hands handle it! You've gotta LOVE how Nancy has coloured my doggy! Karen has bought a cute bird in my Etsy shop. Here it is, it looks much better now… I love her shadows and choice of colours! Supreme! Keep colouring, everyone! I can almost see these magical creatures around me in the studio now!

This is Dondi Ratliff‎'s version. I love the rainbow colours! So happy and imaginative. Thanks Dondi! Keep colouring! Karen has done two versions! This was to good to be missed. Well done, Karen!

As you might know, I enjoy artwork and illustration very much. Lately, I've been working on a colouring book for adults and I've also joined Adult Colouring book pages on Facebook (Although I do not like using Facebook for personal friends and to check on their lives). So, last week I posted a horse and some ladies have posted their interpretation; it's amazing how we all see things differently! I love both versions, but especially the golden one as gold is a favourite colour of mine. I'll post them here as I don't have a current art website apart from my shops in Zazzle, Redbubble and Etsy. Enjoy! Franz This one has been coloured by Marilyn And this one has been coloured by Sherry

Shall we be able to sense brainwaves in the future? In my novel, The Strangers, two cyborgs named Naadir and Ashante are able to communicate with one another by using an EEG device which is implanted by their brains. With EEG, they have a virtual gate that can be kept ajar indefinitely so each can perceive a buzz of what the other is thinking, without being disturbed. When one of the cyborgs wants to communicate directly to the other, he pushes that virtual gate and full communication commences.  I have always assumed that this was just my idea, simple science fiction. Mistake! As I can see in today's article from CNN, a basic device is already able to achieve a similar result, although for now restricted only to controlling a small flying drone. In this article,  futurist Tiana Sinclair says that the drone she controls is a huge biosensor. She also believes that problems in our world can sometimes be fixed with the use of technology. One can only wander what the fut

Will robots help the elderly in the near future? The answer is a resounding yes , at least by looking at the news reported by Komo News, in the article here: http://www.komonews.com/news/offbeat/Robocoach-Your-cybernetic-personal-trainer-336440471.html A collaborative idea from Singapore's IDA and MSF, Robocoach was developed by Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP). The robot is part of a larger effort to help various segments of society including seniors, enhance their quality of life through infocomm. Due to the rise in the ageing population, there has also been high demand for healthcare and eldercare professionals.  T he first Robocoach is currently being tested at a Senior Activity Centre (SAC), the Lions Befrienders.  Trained volunteers are also present to help seniors during the routine. This exercise robot, has been well received by seniors who have been able to enjoy physical exercise in a novel way, while enhancing cognitive abilities. This is very interesting for me,

What DARPA scientists are working on is 10 to 20 years ahead of the technology that's out in the public domain. As the author of a novel about Strangers (both cyborgs and humans) I keep my eyes open for all the new stories regarding cyborgs and the science behind them. Today I read this article about cyborg warfare today - here: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/darpa-double-edged-sword-us-military-industrial-complex/6854474 I will quote just 2 paragraphs because they made me think! 'Science fiction writers might set that kind of cyborg warfare in a distant future. But as Jacobsen writes, at any given time, what DARPA scientists are working on—especially in the agency's classified programs—is 10 to 20 years ahead of the technology that's out in the public domain.' 'DARPA's movement is towards coupling man and machine, so putting neuro-prosthetics in the brains of soldiers so that they can have what is called augmented c

https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/the-retail The Retail by  Joshua Danker-Dake   Fiction - Humor   318 Pages   Reviewed on 09/19/2015              Author Biography Joshua Danker-Dake lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his wife and two children. A writer and editor by trade, he also serves as the Strategy and Tactics Editor for Diplomacy World, the flagship publication of the Diplomacy hobby. Other things he gets rather excited about include He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, bombastic European power metal, and St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Book Review Reviewed by  Franz Sidney  for  Readers' Favorite The Retail by Joshua Danker-Dake tells the story of a would-be Christian author, Penn Reynard, who works returns in a hardware store after gaining his English degree. Writing in his journal, Penn describes with dry humour how some customers try to run scams with their returns and talks about his difficulties in dea

Readers Favorite I review books for Readers Favorite https://readersfavorite.com The fastest growing book review and award contest site on the Internet  Recipient of the "Honoring Excellence" and "Best Websites for Authors" awards by  the Association of Independent Authors, and BBB Accredited with an A+ rating. I love reading, escaping in a different world where the impossible can happen. What's better than playing some piano music (maybe jazz?) and curling up with a good book? Maybe drawing …but for me that's another story altogether! Happy day everyone!

Cyborg Chips Boost the Brain - sounds like somebody read my manuscript! Three years ago I wrote the first draft of a novel. I am now on the fifth draft and the 4th is circulating among ten beta readers who will hopefully point out where my prose or plot need improving. I'll talk about my novel in the next few day but for now I will let you know that it tells the love story of a man and a woman who live in Norwich and work for a robotics company. Although mine is a speculative, contemporary romance novel, there is more than a touch of sci-fi in it. Except, I refuse to label as  sci-fi what is actually happening daily under our eyes: the embedding of technology in each layer of our lives and all over our body, when not directly implanted in it. My lead characters work in a company where cyborgs are created and employed just like anyone else. Three years ago it was science fiction, but now, reading the news, I realise that my predictions were not so impossible after all. A

Home-made Powdered fruit smoothies Nowadays we are spoilt for choice when it comes to the so called healthy foods and their recent marriage to convenience foods. Browsing the net for fruit powders I found a delicious powder here: http://www.squires-shop.com/uk/product/sk-real-fruit-powder-strawberry?gclid=CP799pC0-8UCFSPItAodrSEAIg Sounds good huh? All the hard work is done for us. Health at your doorstep! Eating healthily is possible and cheap. Boy, was I wrong! This powder costs £10 X 100 g! Which means £100 - US$152 per kg!!!!! That's $69 USD per lb. This is how much we are asked to spend for a strawberry powder from an average company. (Some are cheaper, some a tad more expensive than the one above.) I wen into 'Back to Basics' mode and tried to make my own version. Here is the result.  If you want to save ££$$ and make your own, go ahead, you deserve it! Ingredients: a blender jar full of your favourite fruit (no added water or j

Tesco "free from" ginger cookies  http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=268624669 Hello everyone! Winter is here and it's been snowing in Norfolk - as well as in the rest of the U.K.  This is the time when all the resolutions of eating only fresh, nutritious food, raw and healthy, disappear at the same speed that the outside temperature decreases. Two weeks ago I decided to go wheat free - just like that - or cold turkey, someone would rather say more idiomatically. Anyway, after reading the first 90 pages of The Wheat Belly recipe book by Dr. Davies, anybody with a brain will start wondering if wheat is such a healthy food after all. This is not to say that Dr. Davies is 100% correct in his assumption, but let's discuss this in another post - suffice to say that in the middle of January, when most people enjoy wheat-based dishes such as pasta, bread, pasties, cakes etc. I suddenly decided to see if I would feel any different by dit

Good afternoon! Today we went to Tesco and for some reason we wandered in the dairy free, or 'Free From' as they call it, department…and lo and behold…there was a new vegan cheese there. A bit pricey but tempting…I bought all three types, block, slices and spreadable. (They are around £2.45 per pack). We tried the sliced cheese for lunch. Mamma mia!  These are the BEST ever vegan cheese slices we've tried. Thumbs up from all the family at the first bite! Here is their website address:  http://www.violife.gr This cheese looks like real cheese, has the same texture and taste (mild and not salty) and is completely different from the other Free From cheese that Tesco stocks. I read some review in vegan websites and it has five stars - it even melts as the temperature of traditional cheese. Here are the ingredients for all of you health conscious fellas! VioLife Creamy (spreadable) Water, coconut oil 24%, starch, modified starch, sea salt, stabilisers, vega