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: Bingham's Notebook
At 2:37 a.m. on January 1, 1990, Hank Raglan welcomes Addison Moore into his Ben Avon apartment. After the Rosebud brawl, the warmth offers refuge; the dirty laundry, battered furniture, and improvised shelving offer a less flattering introduction to Hank’s private life. Addison is appalled and attracted in almost the same breath. His defense of Danielle has strengthened her interest, even as his housekeeping tests it.
- Hits: 37
Read more: Chapter Profile: Midas Protocol - Chapter 7 - "Hank's Apartment"
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- Category: The Scratching Post
My editor Dean recently finished reading The Midas Protocol. He did much of the heavy lifting on Call of the Minotaur, and I had assumed he had read the first book years ago. Apparently, he had not. His reaction was interesting: compared with Call of the Minotaur, The Midas Protocol almost reads like a prequel.
- Hits: 72
Read more: The Scratching Post: The Midas Protocol – Dare I Rewrite the Past?
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- Category: Quantum Soup
Every once in a while, physics wanders into a room, turns off the lights, lights one candle, and says something that sounds completely insane. Here is one of those ideas:
What if every electron in the universe is actually the same electron?
- Hits: 76
Read more: Quantum Soup: What If There Is Only One Electron?
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- Category: Bingham's Notebook
When Danielle confronts him, the argument becomes violent. Jack strikes her in full view of the party. Hank immediately answers with a punch of his own, and Jack’s attempt to retaliate ignites a sprawling club-wide brawl. The sequence moves from ugly domestic cruelty to farce and pandemonium: overturned food, flying chairs, shattered glasses, accidental punches, and a charge through a flimsy wall into the men’s room.
- Hits: 116
Read more: Chapter Profile: Midas Protocol - Chapter 6 - "Rosebud"
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- Category: The Scratching Post
Labor Day always feels a little bittersweet to me. Around Western Pennsylvania, it is the unofficial last call for summer — one more long weekend to fire up the grill, sit outside with friends, crack open a beer and pretend we are not already noticing that the evenings are getting shorter. Today, I plan to do exactly that.
- Hits: 373
Read more: The Scratching Post: The Polish Prophet’s Salsa and the Last Taste of Summer
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- Category: The Funny Newz
MOJAVE DESERT — Local officials say they have had enough of extraterrestrial developers dropping cheap black monoliths in the desert and calling it a civilization.
- Hits: 88
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- Category: Cool Filmz
Some old movies age. Others sit patiently until the real world catches up with them. Wag the Dog belongs to the second group. Barry Levinson's political black comedy came out in late 1997, but when I reviewed it for CoverUps.com in 2007, it already felt less like a farce than a field manual for manufacturing reality. Revisiting that review now, the machinery looks dated. The idea behind it does not.
- Hits: 108
Read more: Cool Filmz: Wag the Dog (1997): Because It Says So on TV
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.