A News Story About the Iranian Nuclear Program hit by Malware Relates to the Suki Series

Recent story and comments at SukiProject.Blogspot.Com.
In the news today is a story (at the link above) about a worm/malware attack affecting various industries in several countries, including Iran. Not many details yet and the idea is a familiar one: Shut down an infrastructure by disabling the automated systems that control it.

What I did in the book was guess a little bit at the future, using my almost five decades of life experience with evolving technology, as to what the Iranians might have in the 2030s. Since I do not have a clue now, nor at the time of the outlining and writing, what the Iranians have, I took a stab at what might be around in general twenty years from now and had the Iranians ripping-off systems that are slightly dated.

I started with a view of US forces in the Continental US (CONUS) and gave my male lead some credit for the systems being used by US/Israeli Allied forces. Autonomous aircraft and trucks were a big thing, makes for a good visual for the mind.  There needed to be a supply scheduling system tying all that together, so I made one up and to illustrate it, I had a US Marine with a small staff monitoring the Eglin Air Force Base deployment operations.

One thing I was trying to avoid was having the couple involved in brutal, horrible, violent encounters like were in the books that preceded Suki IV.  The "drama" for this book was their work with the government and John's son being in the war zone.  By this time, John's son and Suki's best friend are a couple too. That was enough emotional tension for me.

John's muscle-car building and aviation program management skills come in handy, since he is one of the "geeks" assigned to defeat Iranian cargo aircraft and he gets to help out with the rolling stock.  However, one thing I did differently than what has been described in the current story about Iran, the Allies are actively targeting specific functions within Iranian machines.

Not to be left out, I gave Suki a breakthrough. She discovers the "Allah Hack" to bypass the biometric locks on all of the Iranian equipment.

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Suki IV: Finally A Vacation (War With Iran) on sale in Paperback and only $2.99 on Kindle.

Washington, DC in the Suki Series

Interesting picture forwarded by one of my military fact-checkers. A stripped bicycle, vicinity 12th & N, NW:

I was passing I & 7th and met this nice young lady distributing Street Sense "Where the poor and homeless earn and give their two cents." It began in 2003 and it is certainly and contains some interesting stories. If you see these folks, give a donation and take a look at their paper.

Zoom in on the green sign on the corner. This is where all that Stimulus Money went!

All this only generally relates to the 2030s environment of the Suki series.  Some feedback I have gotten about how I depict DC is that nobody there has any manners in the 2030s.  I am here to tell you, they are generally short on manners now and I don't see it changing for the better in the future.  In Suki I some of the overly regulated nature is mentioned. It may be mentioned in the first three books in that series.  I may have give the impression that DC and MD are impoverished, which was not my thought at all. What I was trying to bring out is if people live in a nanny state it does not matter what their income, they have a a tendency to behave badly when not under the watch of the authorities and sometimes right in front of the police.

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License Plates and Parking in the Future

In Suki With A Twist: Part One, I describe a concept for parking garage traffic control. A quite simple system, actually. John is returning one of Suki's cars, a vintage Jaguar, as soon as he enters the underground parking garage he is guided by arrows that illuminate in the floor and on the posts of the garage. Suki's car has a reserved parking space and the system reads the radio-frequency tag (RF Tag) in the license plate of the car.  The tag still has a visible number and does not appear any different than a 2010 Virginia license plate.

John uses a different system for his vehicles. The paints he uses on his vintage muscle cars are infused with nano-tags that report corrosion, ruptures in the paint system, leaks, etc.

Today I got a little video of a 2010 parking ticket and the current technology behind that. The video is pretty bad (my fault for being a bad camera operator), but you may be able to see the handheld device the Arlington County Parking Officer uses to record information and issue the ticket to a silver Mercedes convertible, VA tag XJL-2173:
Part One


The driver arrives and is none too happy, for something he must have known was wrong when he parked there.



There are several competing views on the government charging for parking on the street. In my opinion, that street was already paid for and people in the area pay for its maintenance through various other taxes. This is especially true in Arlington County, VA, where the streets are paid for through fuel taxes and an annual vehicle tax. One problem that arises with free street parking is employees of the local businesses take those spots before patrons can get park there ans spend money.  A counter to that is, the neighborhood has plenty of underground parking, at reasonable rates during the week, free on weekends and evenings.  For my books, I think I will stick with plenty of "free" parking in the area.

In Suki I, John parks one of his muscle cars across the street from Suki's apartment over night.

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Vintage Crystal in Crystal City

A new event in the 2000s and '10s, Vintage Crystal continues into the 2030s of Suki and John's world.

The Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) is turning up the heat with the return of the flavor-filled fourth annual Vintage Crystal. The spice is back with more wines, food, music and dancing. Building on last year’s Latin-themed success, Crystal City will once again be serving up tasty tapas, tempting tequila, and a ton of fun.

This is what I call a Libertarian neighborhood party. Everything is on private property and the local businesses provide all of the entertainment.  If I mention this in any of the Suki series books, the security will be privately contracted and professional in the 2030s, rather than the arrangement Arlington County is involved in as pictured.

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Protests and Demonstrations on Suki's Street in Crystal City

From the original Suki Site:

Activist groups protest in Arlington, Virginia, frequently, against the “new plantation system”. In Virginia, the police cannot use “voyeur cam” evidence, nor government security cam evidence, as the only evidence against people for traffic violations. An officer must be present to issue a ticket. This results in a “misunderstanding” with drivers from DC and Maryland having the impression that they can do anything if a police officer is not present.

Northern Virginia and Manhattan have the highest concentration of voyeur cams in the USA and their images can be used in civil suits. When DC and MD drivers injure people or, in most cases, damage very expensive vehicles of their victims, they are held liable in VA courts. They frequently do not have enough insurance coverage to cover the damage and lose their homes. Then the protestors come in and disrupt traffic for hours or days because of the “plantation boss” who just “won” a house in DC, to pay for their ongoing medical treatment, of course.

Above is part of the 2030s setting for both Suki series novels. The budding Arlington County 'libertopia' is surrounded by jurisdictions full of people who are used to government handouts and not used to individual responsibility.  When working through how the concept was going to be presented in the books I only mentioned a demonstration in front of Suki's apartment and the couple spends time in John's neighborhood of Rosslyn instead.


Below, some pictures from my friend, Kourtney "Coach" Young and his video record of Crystal City Under Siege, 12 March 2009:

In this case, from 2009, the ANSWER crowd has some beef with KBR. Video is available on YouTube, mostly uploaded 22 March 2009, if you are interested in more of what these demonstrators had to say.

See Suki's neighborhood on the map of Suki's World:

View Suki's World in Suki I; Suki II: Sunshine Returns; Suki III; Suki IV; Suki V and Suki: Fan Fiction in a larger map

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Suki's Street and Property Rights

Before I began the outline for Suki I, I set down some rules for the environment the characters would be living in.  Being set in the USA just a few years in the future, I decided that the country would be no more legally homogeneous than it is now. That ties into something I have noticed across the country, when people get used to their local laws they seem to think that they are the same everyplace.  Certain laws anyway, which has run people into problems for decades, even centuries when it comes to Eastern vs. Western property rights rules.

In this case, a simple towing of a vehicle that happened a few days before this post:

Nothing particularly exciting there, on the face. The land owner has designated certain parking spots reserved for this-or-that. The land owner has made an arrangement with a wrecker company to monitor parking and remove vehicles that are parked without permission on the land.

Now imagine that adjoining jurisdictions, Washington, DC and most of Maryland, have different rules, where parking in areas like the one this vehicle was towed from being mostly controlled by the government and must be marked in a certain manner.  Just for fun, imagine that the tow trucks in these areas are government trucks, not contractors, so being towed is less of a risk. When the drivers from that environment arrive in Virginia and just grab a spot because they think they can get away with it with maybe a ticket, they get a rude awakening when they discover their vehicle has been privately towed and is going to require a substantial payment to retrieve.

The above example is too minor for the short novels that I write, so there is a mention of a demonstration in Suki's neighborhood over someone from DC or MD losing their home for destroying a Virginian's property with their under-insured vehicle and bad driving habits.

The video above was taken from across the street from Chipotle, 2231 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202.

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Fireplace at the Concord Starbucks is Lit

Today was the first lighting of the fireplace (that I know of) this season. Books for the joy of all to read can be seen to right, by the wooden chair. They include paperbacks from both Suki series.

Suki I: The Story of Suki

Suki IV: Finally A Vacation

Suki With A Twist: Part One

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Watching Someone Read One of My Books, Interesting

At the Crystal City 2600 Crystal Drive Starbucks I saw a guy reading Suki I just a little while ago. Was interesting, bordering on thrilling, as I glanced his direction and saw him turn a page with a look of interest on his face. He read it for several minutes.  I never anticipated any thoughts or feelings I might have if I saw someone reading one of my books.

Looks like others enjoyed Suki With A Twist: Part One and Suki IV: Finally A Vacation enough to walk away with them.

The Concord Starbucks, as it is known currently, is the one that inspired #OpBookDrop by Ami Hendrickson, on Twitter.  Actually, that man was reading the book that I left that day. It is also a location in Suki I that the couple visits on an early date. The pictures below are recent at that location.

"Cafe with the fireplace" from "Suki I", where John and Suki relax the morning after their first date.
I have the location loosely described as two blocks away "near 28th Street" in 2030s Crystal City.

The fireplace in "Cafe with the fireplace" from "Suki I", where John and Suki relax the morning after their first date.
I have the location loosely described as two blocks away "near 28th Street" in 2030s Crystal City.
In the right side of the picture, on the table between the fireplace and the man with his legs crossed, can be seen copies of "Suki I" and "Suki With A Twist: Part One." Noted on Twitter under #OpBookDrop (operation book drop).

Photos of other locations from the books and other area pictures are here.

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John Tagliaferro's Neighborhood - Rosslyn, Arlington County, VA

I placed John's condominium in Rosslyn, a community in Arlington County, VA, for several reasons:
- Several fantastic condominium buildings were being constructed around the time I began writing the outline for Suki I, in 2008. They had features like private elevators for each unit, ample parking, modern amenities, and high-level security.
- Close to a METRO station.
- Easy access to I-66 and other major highways.
- A generally quiet, safe neighborhood with a generally dense population of women within his dating age range within blocks.
- A great view (the view from John's balcony is borrowed from the view from Rep. Charlie Wilson's (D-TX) apartment, see Charlie Wilson's War).

The book begins in "the mid 2030s" and several years before that John's building was under construction. The contractor uses some unconventional techniques, advanced even for the future, that create problems with the inspectors (even though that is much less of a problem than in the current day) and slow the pace of filling the building.

John gets his premium unit at a great discount, good because he had a financial setback due to a fire in his old building and getting laid off from his defense contracting job. He started a new business, bought a bare condo and started building everything out, including his own furniture.

John Tagliaferro lives on an upper floor of a building like this, in 2030s Rosslyn (Arlington, VA) close to where this building is located.
John's building has private elevators, from the garage and lobby to each unit. He has multiple parking spaces for the several cars he keeps there at any one time, plus a guest spot.
His balcony is visible from several other residential buildings, constructed around the same time as his.
The interior was finished almost entirely by John.

Glimpse of a Building that Inspired the Fictional Condo Building John Tagliaferro Lives In

Rosslyn METRO:
These are the turnstiles Suki passes through on her first trip to John's building for her first Astronomy tutoring session.
These are also the turnstiles that she and Jackie cross paths in a few days after meeting John. Jackie does not recognize Suki in more exotic makeup and a fashionable dark suit.

The way I write the METRO system of the future, there is a one-time (low) fee to purchase a SmarTrip card, that is supposed to identify the user.  However, privacy advocates swap the cards in the old Food Court of Pentagon City Mall. The idea is to let METRO officials know ridership, but not know exactly who is going where.  Transportation professionals doubt the story that the system cares about ridership at all, since all trains are eight cars long and they run 24 hours per day, seven days per week.  Maximum capacity is always available and new techniques allow for track maintenance with minimal disruption.

The Cafe John likes to visit in his neighborhood.

In the 2010s, the closest Starbuck's Cafe to John's condo is the one pictured above. By the time he moves to the neighborhood, it is much larger and the building he lives in is closer to this location than the one that inspired my description of his building.

Another view of John's neighborhood and the cafe.

Yet another view of John's neighborhood.

This is just stupid and I am not putting anything like it in John's neighborhood.  It is a solar powered trash compactor.  In the future, valuable varieties of trash from buildings like John's is sold to keep condo fees down.  The unsellable trash is removed, for a fee, by trash companies and eventually ends up in landfills. The landfills are located in places that can't use the land for much else and they profit from the refuse of others.  Buildings lining the streets have trash receptacles that pay for marketable trash and there are severe community fines for leaving unmarketable trash on the street.  Scroungers scour the few public trash cans for marketable trash.

Court House METRO: Suki runs, crying, past this METRO stop after John orders her to leave his home during their second tutoring session. She runs full speed, non-stop, in 4" heels to Patricia's apartment between here and the Clarendon METRO.

Another view of the Court House METRO.

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John Explains the Universe to Suki

In Suki I, a part-time pursuit of John's is tutoring Math and Science to college students.  I enjoyed doing that when I was in college and noticed more than a few people in their 30s, 40s, and older who enjoyed tutoring college and high school students.  In cinema and books, the writing arts seem to be more frequently represented by older mentors and tutors.

Suki has hired John as an Astronomy tutor, but she is long out of college, with a PhD in Robotics, a Masters in Bionics and an MS in Mathematics.

This passage from a recent Stephen Hawking article captures a bit if the instruction in Suki I, during their first tutoring session.  However, the couple sticks with science without launching into religion:

The tale of how the primordial universe of hydrogen, helium and a bit of lithium evolved to a universe harboring at least one world with intelligent life like us is a tale of many chapters. The forces of nature had to be such that heavier elements—especially carbon—could be produced from the primordial elements, and remain stable for at least billions of years. Those heavy elements were formed in the furnaces we call stars, so the forces first had to allow stars and galaxies to form. Those in turn grew from the seeds of tiny inhomogeneities in the early universe.

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John's Muscle Car Restoration Business

In the 2030s, John's automated muscle car restoration shop is located in this building complex.

The location above is where the couple is attacked and Suki saves John from probable death in Suki III: Never Let Us End.

In the 2030s, these shops have evolved into small-batch machine shops that handle everything from classic engine block machining to large scale metal work. The posts for John's stainless steel bed will be made here.

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Slashdot | Self-Powered Parts Are the Future

Another one for cross-posting:
Slashdot | Self-Powered Parts Are the Future

"The idea is that the parts will make external power sources redundant — because they can convert energy from body heat, light and vibrations straight into electricity. Self powered electronics have already sporadically been used in technology like wall-mount remote control units for air conditioners, says Nikkei, but existing parts are bulky and cost a couple thousand yen a piece. 3,000 yen is about $35 — which means they're not the best bet, financially, yet."

In all of the Suki series romance novels, the 'gogs' and earbuds are powered by body heat, or a combination of body heat and saline (contact lens gogs). Gogs contain computer screens and sometimes cameras, earbuds have more advanced processors, speakers and possibly microphones.  Most anything worn on the body is powered by the person's body heat, movement, chemical interaction or a combination.

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Pilotless Commercial Aircraft Becoming Reality

Slashdot News Story | Ryanair's CEO Suggests Eliminating Co-Pilots:
"Ryanair's miser-in-chief Michael O'Leary now suggests eliminating co-pilots as a way to save money. Will airliners be powered by drones, or is it actually viable to have just a single pilot on passenger planes?"

Cross-posted to Suki Project. In Suki II: Sunshine Returns, pilotless commercial aircrafr, cargo only, are mentioned. In Suki III: Never Let Us End, John reveals that he worked on an Army project that advanced the concept to reality (TEC: The Effortless Cockpit). In Suki IV: Finally A Vacation (War With Iran), the couple watches pilotless aircraft and driverless trucks moving supplies for a looming war. In Suki With A Twist: Part One, the couple rides in a pilotless, retrofitted Cessna Citation from Reagan National Airport (DCA) to San Francisco (Berkeley Airport (JBK) during one of their earlier dates.

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Crystal City Restaurant (CCR) South 23rd & Eades, Arlington, VA 22202

Crystal City Restaurant, Arlington, VA 22202

View Suki's World in Suki I; Suki II: Sunshine Returns; Suki III; Suki IV; Suki V and Suki: Fan Fiction in a larger map

This is "The Restaurant" from all of the Suki novels. In the 2030s it has gone through several expansions and covers the entire block, with a multi-level parking garage behind it (occupied by a CVS in the 2010s).

This location is referred to in both the original Suki series and the new "Suki With A Twist" series as "The Restaurant". Cinful is the waitress whenever the couple stops there (at least once in each of the four original series books).
John and Suki have an erotic lunch there in "Suki III: Never Let Us End."

This is "The Restaurant" from all of the Suki novels. In the 2030s it has gone through several expansions and covers the entire block, with a multi-level parking garage behind it (occupied by a CVS in the 2010s).

"The Restaurant" is mentioned in the first three Suki adult romance novels, Suki mentioned it in her fan fiction story, Suki: Settling the Score and it is mentioned in Suki With A Twist: Part One. The only waitress at this location named in the books, Cinful, is a fictional character from the 2030s, but a real dancer from the Crystal City Restaurant (the inspiration for the fictional location) talked me into naming a character after her.

In Suki I, Jung and Cinful talk about The Restaurant while Jung has a Scotch at The Sports Pub.  Cindy, the name she goes by as a waitress, mentions to Jung that she will be dancing at The Restaurant soon.

Suki II takes place mostly in Suki's apartment. The couple does not have an opportunity to go there in that book.

In Suki's fan fiction story, Suki: Settling The Score, the Suki character tries to get an extra job there. In Suki III: Never Let Us End, Suki treats John to lunch there.  Later two women, impersonating entertainers, engage John while Suki and the bartender are in the ladies room.  They later attack John and Suki in John's shop down the street and Suki saves the day.

In Suki With A Twist: Part One, Suki offers John her contract of "formal submission", a ritual in the future Domination/submission erotic play world of the 2030s.

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Suki's Cleaning Bots

Early in Suki II: Sunshine Returns, Suki mentioned her "cleaning 'bots" to the security manager in her boyfriend's condominium building. The bathroom cleaning system became a key part of a scene that soon followed. The 'bots had been modified by Suki, since she is a robotics researcher in that series, and she was making sure nothing happened to disturb the neighbors while they were away.

View Suki's World in Suki I; Suki II: Sunshine Returns; Suki III; Suki IV; Suki V and Suki: Fan Fiction in a larger map

The concept has been used by many before and is incrementally improved in reality, great examples come from iRobot in the form of Roomba and other products of theirs. My vision was for even the most common residence in the 2030s robots would do most of the cleaning while their owners were away. They would be programmed to the owner's taste to stop and await instruction, continue, or stop and put themselves away when a person entered their work area.

I wasn't thinking Jetson's style "human approximation" robots either. I was going for smaller, specific purpose robotic devices.

Slashdot has some interesting coverage on the 'Robot gap' (as some call it) with Japan leading the way.

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Crystal City Water Park, 1700 Block of Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA 22202

Not long after meeting John in Suki I, a stranger offers to light Suki's cigarette near here. The water park is one of Suki's favorite spots in Arlington and she hopes to have her wedding ceremony here one day, if she ever finds a man who wants a Libertarian wedding (no wedding license).

A park that Suki enjoys in the first Suki series. She walks past this park between her apartment and work at her mother's office at 23rd and Crystal Drive.

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Suki's Crystal City Apartment: Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA, 22202

Suki's apartment appears in most of the books.  Located near the intersection of 15th Street South and Crystal Drive, in Crystal City, Arlington, VA 22202.

View Suki's World in Suki I; Suki II: Sunshine Returns; Suki III; Suki IV; Suki V and Suki: Fan Fiction in a larger map

In the original series (Suki I, Suki II: Sunshine Returns, Suki III: Never Let Us End and Suki IV: Finally A Vacation) her apartment was decorated with furniture, mostly cherry, that she customized herself with ornate carvings.

In Suki With A Twist, everything is store bought of the finest quality available in the 2030s.

Suki and John's first night together is in Suki's apartment, in Suki I.  In Suki II: Sunshine Returns, almost everything happens in Suki's apartment from the point John rescues Suki from Sunshine.  Much of Suki III: Never Let Us End happens in her apartment too.

Suki's apartment is at this intersection in both series. A previous apartment of John's, from the first series, is near here too.
Suki's apartment faces the river and airport, to the right of the shot. In the Suki With A Twist series, Suki keeps her import sports car collection in the underground parking garage.
In both series, the buildings on the west side of Crystal Drive (left side of shot) are much taller. In Suki With A Twist a covered pedestrian overpass crosses Crystal Drive, connecting the apartment buildings to The Underground.

Mentioned in the first series, occasionally there are protests in Suki's neighborhood by people from Washington, DC and Maryland.  In the 2030s, Virginia requires people to be financially liable for damage they cause, especially while driving.  When a DC or MD motorist loses their home the usual activists arrive in force to protest the "plantation mentality" of Virginians.  These protests resemble this video (shot in DC, 2010, near one of John and Suki's favorite restaurants):

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