Proxima by Stephen Baxter (2015)

One of my kids described the series and world building.  I was intrigued so I bought the first book.  It is very good!  I shall try to read the others. 5/5 Stars.

Kant ist 300 Jahre alt

 

Am 24. April begann ich, diesen Beitrag zum Gedenken an Immanuel Kants 300. Geburtstag zu schreiben. Insbesondere stieß ich auf diesen Aufsatz, den Kant als Reaktion auf eine Schreibanregung aus der Berlinischen Monatsschrift im Jahr 1784 schrieb.

https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Beantwortung_der_Frage:_Was_ist_Aufkl%C3%A4rung%3F

Die Aufforderung lautet: „Was ist Aufklärung?" Seine Antwort ist typisch für Kants tiefes Denken und regt zum Nachdenken an. Aufklärung ist unser Auftauchen aus unserer selbst auferlegten Unfähigkeit, unser eigenes Verständnis ohne die Anleitung eines anderen zu nutzen. Kant sagte uns, die Lösung sei „Sapere aude", was ich glaube, bedeutet „Wage, weise zu sein" oder „Habe den Mut, deinen eigenen Verstand zu nutzen" . Kant sagte uns, wir sollten selbst denken. Der Aufsatz geht detailliert darauf ein, wann und wie wir den privaten Gebrauch der Vernunft vom öffentlichen Gebrauch trennen. Es beschreibt, wann es angebracht ist, andere für uns denken zu lassen. Kant erklärte, dass eine aufgeklärte Zeit dann gegeben sei, wenn unabhängige, gebildete Gelehrte ermächtigt und ermutigt würden, ihre Vernunft öffentlich zu nutzen. Und Kant wollte, dass dieser Maßstab die Art und Weise ist, wie wir Persönlichkeiten des öffentlichen Lebens und andere, die uns Ideen verkaufen, beurteilen.

Trotz vieler Freiheiten, die wir heute genießen, können Kants Argumente über den öffentlichen Gebrauch von Vernunft und unabhängigem Denken uns dabei helfen, uns eine bessere Welt vorzustellen, in der unsere Gedanken und Reden nicht durch öffentliche Beschämung, Algorithmen, Annullierung, politische Korrektheit, Zensur oder scheinbar schwerwiegende Fehlanreize eingeschränkt werden um uns einzuschränken.

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky (2024)

I enjoyed this story and the world of cooperative symbiotic evolution. The struggle of scientific method and enlightenment ideals against the tyrannical ruling ideology is also fun. 5/5 Stars.

Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO) - SEO -> LLMO

Many of us know about search engine optimization (SEO). These techniques and methods "game" the major search engines to place results higher so that the authors or vendors get more visits, attention, ads, or purchases.  Now that generative "AI" (genAI) is taking over, publishers, advertisers, and vendors are, of course, creating LLMO.  But the phenomenon is much worse than useless search results, too many annoying and useless ads, or scammy vendors.  It's the end of the Web as we know it and incorporates our trusted source for advice.and recommendations.  Judith Donath and Bruce Schneier have published this thought provoking piece in the Atlantic.  It's worth a read.

Revisiting the wisdom of W. Edwards Deming as it applies to Cybersecurity

 

Here is another link to an article I read over the weekend.  Although I disagree with about a third of Willis' recommendations about how we should approach cybersecurity, the (long) monograph is an interesting read.  Deming's principles are frequently applicable to new situations.

 

DevSecOps to "Platform Engineering" WTH?

 

It seems as if every few years, the Software Engineering Communities start hyping the next "Great! New! Thing"^TM We had Agile in 2001, DevOps in 2007, DevSecOps (almost), and now the hype cycle for "Platform Engineering" has become the popular mantra for faster, better, cheaper software development and maintenance.  I am grateful to Dan Bryant for writing this explanation; it's cogent and succinct.  Check it out.

 

 

 

 

 

Terminus by Peter Clines (2020)

Not nearly as terrible as the third book, but not quite as good as the first two books, 3/5 Stars.  I don't really recommend the last two books in the series.  The Lovecraft homages are not worth the bad story-telling.

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (2006)

Fantastic!  I really enjoyed this story.  I didn't care about the terrible celestial mechanics or the inconsistencies in the magic system.  5/5 Stars.  I need to hunt down the sequels now.

Permutation City by Greg Egan (2014)

Greg Egan is  among the hard sci-fi authors I have been meaning to read for several decades (since the 1980s).  But I never got around to reading a single one of his books.  I really enjoyed this book, despite the overwhelming barrage of mind-blowing ideas per second.  I love the author's science and math.  I love the Australian slice-of-life personal relationships, values, and dialogue. The story is also amazing. 5/5 Stars.  I shall definitely read more of his books this year. I am also satisfied that I am now reading some good books after a string of bad ones.

Mehr als nur Atome von Sabine Hossenfelder (2023

Ich habe dieses Buch wirklich genossen. Der Autor macht einige absichtlich kontroverse und bissige Behauptungen. Sie kritisiert Physiker und ihre Finanzierungsquellen. Sie geht tief in die Metaphysik und die Philosophie dessen ein, was wir glauben sollten. 5/5 Sterne.

Fool me once by Harlan Coben (2016)

Fun, entertaining, interesting story with a big heart. 4/5 Stars.

The Forever World by Ethan Rhodes (2024)

This book is terrible.  I stopped reading about 1/3 of the way through. Bad physics, bad economics, cardboard characters, terrible cliché tropes, yuck, blech. 0/5 Stars.

Hacking the Hacker by Roger A Grimes (2017)

I know much too little about cybersecurity and this dense, simple, approachable book is a good overview with some useful information.  It's not really technical enough for me and there is too much attention to the older material of interviews the author had conducted previously. I am disappointed. 3/5 Stars.

New Earth by Ben Bova (2013)

In the last millenium, I used to read magazines that published Ben Bova's stories and I would sometimes read one of his books.  I am not a big fan of his characters, style, or world building because there are frequently too many pivotal moments that change everything too suddenly and I can't sustain my disbelief. I don't know why this one appeared in my stack; it is the 21st novel in a series, very few of which I read.  It's not that bad, but still not great. 3/5 Stars.  I shall not read the others.