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the library What are you currently reading?

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posted 2/19/2023, 6:34 am

joined feb 17, 2023

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joined feb 17, 2023

Just finished the Hyperion Cantos series by Dan Simmons. Can't believe I'd never read it before. It's got everything: Catholic theology, 19th-century Romantic poets, Teilhard de Chardin, space battles, Norse mythology, morally ambiguous AIs, time travel, literary framing devices, 4-armed time-manipulating demons, poorly-researched interpretations of Buddhism!

posted 2/19/2023, 4:22 pm

joined feb 17, 2023

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Remember the funny imgburn status bar messages?

joined feb 17, 2023

in b4 "this thread".

Neuromancer by The Gibson, though. Really digging it.

posted 2/19/2023, 5:27 pm

joined feb 16, 2023

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joined feb 16, 2023

The Healing Power of Forests: The Philosophy Behind Restoring Earth's Balance with Native Trees - Akira Miyawaki, Elgene O. Box

Came across this in a second hand book store. It is a surprisingly good read about how forests/trees have a far greater impact than we give them.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1303609.The_Healing_Power_of_Forests

posted 2/19/2023, 6:13 pm

joined feb 17, 2023

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hmm....yes...hmm...

joined feb 17, 2023

Neuromancer by The Gibson

Fantastic book. What's really interesting to me about Gibson though is that his later books are kind of the same as his earlier books, but with the Sci-Fi replaced with present day tech...which is not so different from what he was writing about in the 80s. Specifically, his book Pattern Recognition is basically Mona Lisa Overdrive, but without the AI. He could write it again today, though, with far fewer changes!

posted 2/20/2023, 12:38 am

joined feb 17, 2023

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bad dancing, it's a killer

joined feb 17, 2023

currently a brazilian friends's rec: the posthumous memoirs of bras cubas

up next is: mount analogue

posted 2/20/2023, 1:20 pm

joined feb 17, 2023

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. - Emo Phillips

joined feb 17, 2023

Previous: Walkaway - Cory Doctorow (Goodreads) Enjoyed this book but his style of writing is very odd. Had a certain Brave New World/1984 vibe.

Current: The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure - G. Lukianoff, J. Haidt A lot of interesting corollaries and solid points, provides a lot of background information as well as many studies to support their conclusions and so far I agree with what I have read. It is a VERY dry read though.

posted 2/21/2023, 3:40 pm

joined feb 17, 2023

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Put the money in the bag!

joined feb 17, 2023

"Teach Yourself Serbian"!

It's been a lot of months of making and memorizing flashcards, getting my ass handed to me by grammar, and meeting extraordinarily slavic people on FaceBook. I'm having a great time.

posted 2/21/2023, 4:19 pm

joined feb 18, 2023

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Apprentice keyboard warrior

joined feb 18, 2023

quoting mydriasis:

meeting extraordinarily slavic people on FaceBook. I'm having a great time.

that seems.. awesome.

I've been trying to teach myself french for about ~5 years, and haven't met a single person yet (french or otherwise) to conversate with. Feels antisocial, man.

la grenouille triste

posted 2/22/2023, 11:58 pm

joined feb 22, 2023

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joined feb 22, 2023

How To Attract A Leather Daddy by jk rowling

posted 2/23/2023, 12:33 am

joined feb 17, 2023

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Put the money in the bag!

joined feb 17, 2023

quoting guites:

that seems.. awesome.

I've been trying to teach myself french for about ~5 years, and haven't met a single person yet (french or otherwise) to conversate with. Feels antisocial, man.

There are forums out there for people just like you who are learning languages and want to chat! You should scope it out. I'm lucky -- I have Serbian family. I've been talking to them a lot, and they're just excited that I exist. If you have French family ( even distant relatives! ) they might love talking to you, too!

posted 2/23/2023, 3:26 pm

joined jan 14, 2023

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i'm straight-up not having a good time rn

joined jan 14, 2023

just finished The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. lots of turns and foreshadowing. really recommend if you like mystery!

posted 2/27/2023, 5:38 am

joined mar 13, 2023

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joined mar 13, 2023

I finished "Why fish don't exist" by Lulu Miller recently. I really enjoyed the philosophical discussion within it, especially the post-nihilism thoughts.

Just started "Accelerando" by Charles Stross. It feels futuristic yet slightly dated at the same time. Can't quite put my finger on which parts are which though.

posted 3/13/2023, 8:45 pm

joined feb 22, 2023

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I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I liken myself to the robber barons.

joined feb 22, 2023

Antifragile

  • Nassim "Fat tailed" Taleb aaa

posted 3/14/2023, 9:51 am

joined mar 14, 2023

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joined mar 14, 2023

meditations by Marcus Aurelius

posted 3/14/2023, 3:00 pm

joined mar 16, 2023

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joined mar 16, 2023

digital minimalism by cal newport (sort of ironic that I'm on here)

posted 3/16/2023, 11:09 am

joined feb 17, 2023

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Put the money in the bag!

joined feb 17, 2023

quoting moluccensis:

digital minimalism by cal newport (sort of ironic that I'm on here)

Interested! Been thinking about doing some backoff on my computer usage. This sounds like it's right up my alley. How do you like it so far?

posted 3/20/2023, 2:10 pm

joined mar 20, 2023

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joined mar 20, 2023

quoting moluccensis:

digital minimalism by cal newport (sort of ironic that I'm on here)

Nice. I'm a big fan of Cal Newport. He's the reason I have the exact job I have, in fact. I learned about the company through a blog post on his site and got involved in it.

edited 3/20/2023, 5:54 pm

joined apr 12, 2023

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based? based on what?

joined apr 12, 2023

i just started reading 1984 (second attempt, i got bored of it because i was reading it in school) and i have already ran out of sticky notes that denote examples of propaganda. literally only got through the first chapter

posted 4/15/2023, 3:54 pm

joined apr 16, 2023

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pronouns in bio, what will they learn?

joined apr 16, 2023

Currently reading Discovering Scarfolk by Richard Littler, rather peculiar and surreal book but i like it

posted 4/16/2023, 5:57 am

joined may 24, 2023

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one of the ten fools

joined may 24, 2023

Non fiction:

Started docker deep dive today.

Fiction:

Leviathan wakes (first book of the Expanse). The blade itself (book 1 of the first law trilogy)

Recently finished Words of Radiance.

posted 5/24/2023, 5:27 am

joined feb 17, 2023

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joined feb 17, 2023

just finished Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway, great noir cyberpunk detective story

posted 5/30/2023, 10:01 pm

joined feb 16, 2023

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joined feb 16, 2023

Less is More - Jason Hilkel.

A book all about a possible future of Degrowth in the economy.

Only about 2/3rds of the way through and it is... ok. I have said for a long time that when ever someone mentions Capitalism, 98% of the time you are going to get an ear full of a one sided ideology about it. This is another example of this and I felt like it is best to skip the first 2 sections.

Otherwise it isn't terrible, just a little to grim on some sides and far to optimistic in others.

I am not a firm believer in the overall goals of Degrowth being achievable but I do think the movement can shift the overton window to start people thinking and talking about these issues before they become forced into some segments of society. As modern philosopher Daniel Schmachtenburger says, "We need to bend not break".

posted 6/5/2023, 7:10 am

joined jun 15, 2023

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[ 𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒓 π’Šπ’” 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 ]

joined jun 15, 2023

Having never experienced anything related to The Witcher, my boss did recommend the books but so far I had a hard time getting into the first one. Hard time wanting to just read a book in general, even though I can get really into them.

I got a couple books within the last day, a Ruby-centric "Learn to Program" 3rd edition, and The Communist Manifesto. I'm not sure what I'll think about the latter, but I have taken a recent interest in Ruby programming and the reviews plus my skimming make me really confident I'll enjoy working through that one.

posted 6/23/2023, 12:25 am

joined feb 17, 2023

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A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing. - Emo Phillips

joined feb 17, 2023

Today I started The Official Rules (kobo.com) by Paul Dickson. Below is the synopsis.

This new, vastly expanded and enriched version of The Official Rules presents precisely 5,427 laws, principles, rules, proverbs, and aphorisms collected by Paul Dickson and the esteemed Fellows of the Murphy Center for the Codification of Human and Organizational Law. This often amusing, sometimes profound, collection of "official rules" was gathered one rule at a time over more than forty years from pundits, prophets, and everyday folks. It provides a means of coping in a world of human error and foibles where nothing is ever as simple as it seems, everything takes longer than expected, and inanimate objects possess an innate perversity. In sum it is rich testimony to the resiliency of the human spirit in facing the pitfalls and potholes of modern life. Though the vast majority of these life lessons were gathered in the 20th century, they are still timely and concise enough to fit inside the framework of a tweet. Recognizing the humor in adversity, these comic truths encourage acceptance of life's little imperfections. For example, Agnes Allen's timeless law: Almost anything is easier to get into than out of.

posted 7/6/2023, 9:33 pm

the library What are you currently reading?