The Midas Protocol
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- The Midas Files
In 1983, brilliant Unalco researcher Dr. Lawrence Bingham and his wife are murdered, and Bingham’s greatest...
Magazine
Ideas don't always become novels. Sometimes they become essays, reviews, observations, conversations, or simply stories worth sharing.
Scratch Magazine is the editorial home of Scratch Writing—a collection of articles exploring storytelling, hidden history, emerging technology, films, humor, and the creative process. Whether you're interested in the lore behind The Midas Files, the future of artificial intelligence, a great movie recommendation, or a laugh at the day's absurdities, there's always something new to discover.
Explore the channels, follow your curiosity, and enjoy the journey.
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- Category: The Funny Newz
MOJAVE DESERT, CALIFORNIA — Adrian Covarrubias of the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation and Development Council was rattling across the desert Thursday in a government-leased Jeep Commander when he spotted yet another suspicious alien artifact on the distant horizon.
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Read more: The Funny Newz: Mojave Officials Crack Down on Cheap Alien Monuments
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- Category: The Funny Newz
KATHMANDU, NEPAL — Studies show that a high percentage of online dating encounters end in disappointment, usually because of exaggerated profiles, outdated photos, suspicious hobbies, or the phrase “entrepreneurial mindset.”
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Read more: The Funny Newz: Snow Leopard Has Online Woman Purring
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- Category: The Funny Newz
BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA — Dr. Emilio Disaronno, a one-armed senior robotics researcher at the Virginia Polytechnic School of Robotics, says the 2024 International Robotics Competition was rigged after a novelty chattering-teeth robot beat his highly advanced killing machine for a major defense contract.
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Read more: The Funny Newz: Chattering Teeth Robot Wins $1 Billion Defense Contract
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- Category: The Funny Newz
CAIRO AND BAGHDAD — In a bizarre turn of events that sounds like a rejected action movie script found in a gas station DVD bin, Angel First Class David Harper was reportedly rescued this week after a heavenly mishap during a routine soul patrol between Cairo and Baghdad.
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Read more: The Funny Newz: Captured Angel Rescued by Former Navy SEAL Turned Used Camel Dealer
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- Category: Cool Filmz
Every so often, I dig through old files and find a movie review I forgot I wrote. This one goes way back to 2007, when I was writing for a now-defunct site called Coverups.com. Since Cool Filmz gives me a place to dust off these older reviews, I figured Richard Donner’s Conspiracy Theory was worth revisiting.
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- Category: Bingham's Notebook
Welcome back to Bingham’s Notebook, where we explore the hidden corners of the world surrounding The Midas Files.
This week, we’re looking at a shadowy organization that may help explain some of the more esoteric aspects of Dr. Lawrence Bingham’s research: the Order of the Crescent Star.
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Read more: Bingham's Notebook: Inventing The Order Of The Crescent Star
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- Category: The Funny Newz
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA — As the golf world prepared for warm-up rounds leading into the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, a group of troublesome women golfers reportedly snuck onto the famed course to test the latest innovation in women’s golfing accoutrements: Wilson’s High Heel Shoe Tee.
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Subcategories
The Scratching Post
The Scratching Post is Matt De Reno’s personal corner of Scratch Magazine, featuring author updates, creative reflections, Pittsburgh-rooted storytelling, house-project avoidance, writing life, book news, and friendly notes from the world behind The Midas Files.
Bingham's Notebook
Bingham’s Notebook explores the lore, characters, artifacts, hidden history, timelines, and behind-the-scenes mythology of The Midas Files, Matt De Reno’s Pittsburgh-rooted sci-fi thriller series about ancient power, impossible technology, and dangerous secrets.
Cool Filmz
Cool Filmz is Scratch Magazine’s movie and TV room, featuring essays, reviews, lookbacks, and story-minded reflections on sci-fi, thrillers, action classics, pop culture, character arcs, genre storytelling, and the films that shaped Matt De Reno’s imagination.
The Funny Newz
The Funny Newz is Scratch Magazine’s humor section, featuring fake headlines, sci-fi satire, UFO nonsense, cryptid chaos, ancient-alien absurdity, local parody, bad technology, and ridiculous reports from a universe that probably should not be trusted with advanced tools.
Quantum Soup
Quantum Soup explores strange science, future technology, space, AI, cybersecurity, fragile systems, hidden knowledge, and real-world ideas that sound like they escaped from a sci-fi thriller — all through the curious lens of Scratch Magazine.