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.