July 2011
31 posts
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“When the mind or ruling principle is properly regulated, it can with ease and at...”
– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
June 2011
30 posts
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Frederic Chopin - “Mazurka in D minor, Op....
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“With such deceits he gain’d their easy hearts, Too prone to credit his...”
– Dryden’s Æneid
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Givers - “Ripe” In Light
From an...
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“Truth, Sir, is a profound Sea, and few there be that dare wade deep enough to...”
– George Farquhar, The Beaux’ Strategem
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“They have also ascribed divinity, and built temples to mere accidents and...”
– Hobbes, Leviathan
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Ms. John Soda - “Elusive” No P. Or...
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The Inverted World (Christopher Priest, 1974)
The progenitors of science fiction had more right to call it “speculative” than the technobabblers of today who flinch at the apparently derogatory term sci-fi. Novels like Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea showed how man and the world would naturally react given the novel stimulus of an impossibility turned possible. Change one thing and watch events...
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Surveillant Society →
What happens, exactly, when every individual is not only a node connected to a worldwide network, but is also able to take anything they see and cause it to be made public and (efforts are made in this direction) unable to be taken down? The consequences are complex and far-reaching, and we would do well to start thinking about them now.
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“‘Tis one thing to copy, and another thing to imitate from nature. The...”
– John Dryden
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Sister Crayon - “(In) Reverse”...
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The Internet Archive To Archive Itself On Paper →
“Internet Archive is building a physical archive for the long term preservation of one copy of every book, record, and movie we are able to attract or acquire. Because we expect day-to-day access to these materials to occur through digital means, the our physical archive is designed for long-term preservation of materials with only occasional, collection-scale retrieval. Because of this, we...
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Vocabulary: Apophthegmatic Raillery Edition
apothegm: a cryptic or pithy, yet instructive, remark or phrase venditate: to announce or cry out, or to exhibit or blazon cicisbeo: the escort or lover of a married woman cark: to care or worry, or a care or worry disembogue: to discharge or flow forth badinage: playful banter or raillery tontine: a type of shared annuity emmet: archaic term for an ant tetric: harsh, sour, or rough halser: pope
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“There are surely other worlds than this: other thoughts than the thoughts of the...”
– Poe, The Assignation
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The Windup Girl (Paolo Bacigalupi, 2009)
The Wind-Up Girl came highly recommended by my family, and of course the usual breathless praise from within the sci-fi community made it out to be nothing less than a Neuromancer for this modern age. Biopunk, a dystopian future made from the fresh fears of today. It partially delivers on this promise, but also fails in the ways modern books tend to fail.
The premise is certainly the best part...
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“As for the herd of mankind, he [i.e. the rational man] is too well acquainted...”
– Marcus Aurelius
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“Out of nothing, nothing can be brought; And that which is, can ne’er be...”
– Persius