Sorry hugo... you lost me at glass ladders and bolts of lighting that could kill everyone sent from the states to a small house around the world to save a woman who has glass chairs to stand on........ That scifi is a little to old, and not very well thought out, for me
So on to Book one of Nexus: mankind gets an upgrade by Ramez Naam
had me at "[ activate: peter_north mode: full_interactive priority: 1 smut_level: 2 ]" lol and what came next........
I'm hooked
I'm reading The Hobbit. :)
Finished A Brave New World. I couldn't believe I'd postponed this work of art for so long. It may be for the better. And going even further back I'm going to have to read Zamyatin as well, to get a full picture of the future imagined by minds sandwiched between two world wars.
Currently doing a follow-through with A Brave New World: Revisited. The Huxleys were a very interesting bunch. This is an overview of the direction the world is heading, issued in 1958, 25 or so years after ABNW. Aldous reflects a lot of ideas parallel, and even similar, to those set by his brother - Julian Huxley who formulated this optimistic 20th century gem. Both are a worthwhile read.
Metro 2035 just came out!
The connection output on my BBS freak out.
Gonna finish this
Finished the Brave New World Revisited. Wow. Everything is against me. No shit. :)
Jokes aside, this book is an excellent window into the inspirations and opinions of Aldous Huxley. It provides a good overview of the first half of the 20th century (along with some dubious solutions to future problems), and an even scarier prediction of the 21st century. For me it also has immense value as a sort of directional signpost for literature (the book is quote heavy and points the reader in various directions for further study of discussed topics).
The most unpleasant surprise was the total absence of Edward Bernays and his literature and opinions. He was already in "top form" when Huxley was writing this so I have no idea why he and his works and dealings in the USA were left out.
I'll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes (excluding the really long ones, which are ironically even more important):
"If the first half of the twentieth century was the era of the technical engineers, the second half may well be the era of the social engineers"
"History is not yet a science, and can only be made to seem scientific by falsifications and omissions."
"Science - that wonderfully convenient personification of the opinions, at a given date, of Professors X,Y and Z"
"Free as a bird we say, and envy the winged creatures for their power of unrestricted movement in all three dimensions. But alas, we forget the dodo. Any bird that has learned to grub up a good living without being compelled to use its wings will soon renounce the privilege of flight and remain forever grounded. Something analogous is true of human beings."
"The quaint old forms -- elections, parliaments, Supreme Courts and all the rest -- will remain.
The underlying substance will be a new kind of non-violent totalitarianism. All the traditional names, all the hallowed slogans will remain exactly what they were in the good old days. Democracy and freedom will be the theme of every broadcast and editorial -- but democracy and freedom in a strictly Pickwickian sense. Meanwhile the ruling oligarchy and its highly trained elite of soldiers, policemen, thought-manufacturers and mind-manipulators will quietly run the show as they see fit."
...
Started reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.
Reading neal stephenson's Anathem again.
Nexus was a good read btw
Silence on the Wire, picked it up on a humble book bundle a couple months ago, which I cannot recommend checking regularly for good reading material.
Just finished Welcome To NightVale novel, just like the podcast, book in dead tree media form. It was good.
Also just a week ago finished 13 Things That Don't Make Sense, a science book looking at the things that we ignore and overlook because we simply don't know how they work or it is more convenient to not acknowledge them. Stuff like 96% of the galaxy being essentially completely unknown and currently unseeable, everything we see consitiutes about 4% of stuff out there. Or that we still cannot say what life is, try as we do there is no clear definition. The book offers no answers but does go into very good detail on the topics and has a full appendix with all the papers and sources. It is a great thought book, something to just take some time and think about.
Currently starting Robot City 3, Asimov, but I believe it is a collection of story's from other people based in his world.
I really liked it too, have you read the other one yet?
No just that one. One if thenithers is a collection or stories right? Reads in play form? I have not seen it anywhere here either. I got lucky with the novel it was 7 euro on sale.
"Gedrängte Wochenübersicht" by Jochen Malmsheimer
A Rumor of War --- Philip Caputo
Headcrash
again.....
Bernard B. Fall ---- Street Without Joy
Michael H. Hunt ---- A Vietnam War Reader
Mark Philip Bradley ----- Vietnam At War
Some pretty heavy stuff, to be honest. Gave up light readings altogether since last year... time is limited.
Philology, The forgotten Origins of the Modern Humanities --- James Turner
Making the Social World , the Structure of Human civilization ---- John R. Searle
