M Thomas Apple Author Page

Winner of “Best Short Story – Sports”! 🥇

May 11, 2024
MThomas

My short story “Two Strikes Against” was selected as the Winner in the inaugural Next Generation Short Story Awards! (Official list to be available next week.) UPDATED: Link here https://shortstoryawards.com/winners.php?year=2024

Basically it’s a story about a Japanese baseball player on Mars, with a twist. It got rejected a couple of years ago by several scifi magazines, so I figured why not try the sports category.

Especially since there was no scifi category.

Just grateful and thankful for the award. I hope you all get a chance to read the story!

(FWIW “Marsball” is mentioned by characters in an early chapter of Bringer of Light. In fact, I was going to call the story that. Very glad that I didn’t in the end!)

Now available! Bringer of Light

March 27, 2024
MThomas

For more ordering details: https://mthomasapple.com/science-fiction/children-of-pella-series/

Dear Diary – October 5, 2003

March 6, 2026
MThomas

I feel as if I have two personalities, one which speaks English and one which speaks Japanese. The one which speaks English can never get past being a high school geek. The one which speaks Japanese cannot get past being a “strange foreigner.” The only time I feel comfortable now is when I am teaching. Only there can I be an actor and change who I am any time I want.

Hacker finds he can control 7000 vacuum cleaners..

March 5, 2026
MThomas

I did not expect the machines to take over quite this way…

Incredible! What did he do with such power? As I said, he took his findings to the Verge. One of its reporters gave Azdoufal the serial number of a DJI Romo vacuum he’d just been testing for review; within minutes Azdoufal could see it cleaning the reporter’s living room, that it had 80% battery life remaining, and had it generate and transmit a floor plan of the house.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/feb/24/accidental-hacker-how-one-man-gained-control-robots-

And the Internet of Things seemed like such a good idea…

Who is this “WE” and what do “WE” want AI to do?

March 5, 2026
MThomas

“WE will decide the fate of our Country – NOT some out-of-control, Radical Left AI company run by people who have no idea what the real World is all about,” Trump wrote.

Hmm. OK, what did this “Radical Left AI company” want?

US defense officials have pushed for unfettered access to Claude’s capabilities that they say can help protect the country, while Anthropic has resisted allowing its product to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input.

So the WE is actually just ME, then.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/27/trump-anthropic-ai-federal-agencies?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I’ve written repeatedly about the dangers of AI: it’s not really AI, it repeats very human bias and mistakes, and it will become potentially extremely dangerous to humanity if left unregulated.

But go on, keep using these programs. I’m sure it’ll all work out…

And today’s writing prompt is… ✍️

March 4, 2026
MThomas

You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

It’s only every so often that you die.

(Inspired by a legendary quote by former not-so-great Cubs catcher Rick Wrona about his first MLB hit.)

And the real reason Class D missions are a complete waste…

March 4, 2026
MThomas

Lunar Trailblazer blazed so hard that NASA completely lost it immediately…

Software that was supposed to point the spacecraft solar panels toward the sun instead pointed them 180 degrees away from the sun.

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/26/nx-s1-5727622/nasa-lunar-trailblazer-moon-new-report-what-went-wrong

It took a year to figure this out.

A year.

To find out that the outsourced company in charge couldn’t even be bothered to test the product. They just happily pocketed $72 million of taxpayer dollars and laughed all the way to the bank.

Another symptom of a nation in decline…

Blood Moon tonight! And..

March 3, 2026
MThomas

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/mar/03/total-lunar-eclipse-tonight-blood-moon-2026-what-time-when-date-march-full-worm-moon-sydney-australia-new-york-america

Lunar eclipse, tonight from 6:30 to 11:00…

Except it still raining here in Japan, and we’ll see nothing.

Rats.

At least we’ll visit JAXA tomorrow…

Here we (don’t) go again, NASA…

February 22, 2026
MThomas

Just one day after NASA said it was eyeing a potential March 6 launch date for the Artemis II lunar mission, the space agency said Saturday that complications with the rocket could delay all launch attempts in March from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/21/nx-s1-5722339/nasa-artemis-ii-march-launch-delay

Looks like you get what you pay for…

(Btw, WordPress, the “quote” field used to have a separate area where you could put a link to the quote’s source. Where did that go? Nothing like helping the spread of unverified fake news…)

Dear Diary – April 30, 1999

February 20, 2026
MThomas

All we are, is passages, avenues through which other people travel. We are each others’ byways, highways, continuously passing through each others’ lives. Passengers, drivers, hitchhikers all.

Billions and billions of wasted dollars’ worth of samples…

February 19, 2026
MThomas

NASA’s plans for Mars sample return are effectively cancelled as part of a bill approved by the U.S. Congress, ending efforts to collect Perseverance rover samples that could contain evidence of alien life.

https://www.livescience.com/space/mars/nasas-mars-sample-return-is-dead-leaving-china-to-retrieve-signs-of-life-from-the-red-planet

Congratulations, America. You’ve managed to give Mars to China.

But do tell me how this makes America great again…

…and just how ironical the rover’s name is at this point…

And also WordPress, could you please fix the “quotation” block style? It refuses to turn off…

Holy smokes, how many months??

February 17, 2026
MThomas

Um. Yeah. Like, I’ve, uh, never done this before…

Back with more science, space, and etc. posts soon!

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