BC CULTURE
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

1/18 Looking back at some of the most notable books I've read in 2020. It's a pretty eclectic mix!
I don't keep track so I am sure I forgetting something, especially if it was in deadtree form. Also, omitting the ones I started and abandoned.

 2/18 The Supernova Era

I am a big, big fan of Cixin Liu- love his fiercely imaginative prose in the 3-body series and short stories... but I was bummed by this book.
The plot unfolds so preposterously that the large scale backdrops are grotesque. Pity. https://t.co/m8ZWRNJhx4
3/18 How the Internet Happened

Beautifully written chronicle describing key actors & events that led to the internet as we know it today (almost).
I was a freshman in computer science in '92, saw a lot of that 1sthand, yet there was so much I didn't know! https://t.co/H0QyB4KPkx
4/18 Agency

A @GreatDismal in great shape. Getting back to that universe was fascinating, tho remembering all the characters frm th 1st book was hard.
His view of the Jackpot is disturbingly plausible, I am sure every reader wondered whether we are in it.
https://t.co/AgmYFrChq5
5/18 The Case Against Reality

Fantastic book. Evolution optimizes for fitness, not truth (whatever that is), and this book does a much better job explaining it than I ever could, to myself and others.
Skip the last chapter, tho...

https://t.co/yvBkEfc4v7
6/18 Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy

I loved this book. The sheer joy of discovering the story of many mundane objects/concepts and above all to connect the dots that show their true significance. Easy to read in bites, too! Recommended

https://t.co/XsIIcEeJ08
7/18 Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

Really interesting. Lots of stereotype-defying info, beautifully interwoven in the author's personal journey. Hoped it would be more directly actionable, it inspired me to learn & do more about breathing anyway.

https://t.co/FvSuX2tqxz
8/18 Atmosphæra Incognita

This was a nice, ultrashort pill of @nealstephenson - daring and plausible the way the Expanse world feels. No large number of exotic names to remember is a +, but 50+ pages aren't enough to weave his usual complex tapestry.

https://t.co/wH6GFXEcaG
9/18 AI Superpowers

I thought I knew something abt China tech after presenting there many times.. nope. Loved how this book describes the ruthless selectivity of their market n competitive threat. Less fond of his personal epiphany, didn't blend in IMO.

https://t.co/DdWRnOCeRa
10/18 The Intelligence Trap

Wonderful book on how sheer IQ isn't th inherently positive factor ppl think. Chock-full of concrete examples of failings n techniques 2 prevent them. The smarter u think u t, th more u need ths book.
Evidence based wisdom FTW

https://t.co/ayMB2l8kgl
11/18 The Saints of Salvation

A space opera triumph, pure @PeterFHamilton1 except for less sex scenes. Maybe easier resolution than I would have expected.
Grandiose finale of a saga whose universe deserves more exploration, a la "second chance at Eden"😉

https://t.co/UyGRsnmp6p
12/18 Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story

Unusual book for me. Really made me reflect on storytelling, taught me many fundamental concepts I was only vaguely aware of. The author's obsession on 5-acts theory doesn't get in the way.. too much😛

https://t.co/maO2YwdEOf
13/18 The Gene: An Intimate History

Why did I wait so long to read this book? Absolutely fantastic retelling of the epic that lead humankind to discover its own source code (some of it anyway).
The author's personal history adds color. Great storyteller.

https://t.co/xk7MN0Lc2E
14/18 Concepts in the Brain: The View From Cross-linguistic Diversity

Incredible. An in-depth view of the conceptual differences between how languages describe th world.
Will change what you view as natural or fundamental.
Skip the physiology sections.

https://t.co/jKrvmBDFXD
15/18 Final Jeopardy!

Had this book sitting on my shelf for years- sad recent events brought it back in focus.
It's the fascinating story of a difficult technical challenge and th people behind it. The tech being a bit stale doesn't detract from the plot

https://t.co/YTKHowBbqK
16/18 Crossing the Chasm

Read it decades ago, picked it back up x a book club.
The revised edition features FB and Tesla, feels as relevant as it was back in the day- with more proof points backing its theories. If you didn't read it yet, now's the time

https://t.co/F4l0w3QmLx
17/18 Exhalation: Stories

Smart, engaging, thought-provoking narrative. Delightful.
It's like a mix of Greg Egan and Stanislaw Lem, taking the absolute best from both.
No analogy is perfect, but it's to Black Mirror what Umberto Eco is to Dan Brown 😛

https://t.co/8nKMtaY55H
18/18 Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity

Still in progress. Obviously super relevant for the times, I love the "system thinking", no-nonsense approach @profgalloway brings to the discussion. The little charts interspersed between sections do help.

https://t.co/nhJZffGTOK
19/18 Bonus comment

When in-person events & associated flights disappeared, I worried I would not read at all in 2020 - butt in seat & droning engines is my main reading hall. I am grateful I did manage to read after all.
Best wishes for a 2021 full of books.. and more flights!

More from Culture

dan spaceman
dan spaceman
@ohlaika
ugh i wanted to do a thread about the wars in Star Wars and how the two outlying wars (the clone wars in the prequels and the cold war/civil war in the sequels) are really weird but i don't feel like it any more.

my first argument is that the Clone Wars were a really complex morally gray moment in Star Wars canon in like, 5 different directions and I'd kind of like to know why Lucas did that.

especially with the direct line that's drawn in the OT with the allegory of WW2 and Vietnam with the rebels being the Vietnamese and the Empire being America. That...doesn't exist in the Clone Wars.

for starters: it's weird it's called the Clone Wars. I get why, because that's what Kenobi calls it in STAR WARS, but the clones are a small facet in the larger story of the war.

the clones basically only exist as a macguffin in AOTC that is...extremely confusing ultimately. Because if you accept that Sidious has this grand master plan to use this war to destabilize the Republic and form an Empire...it's way too complex.
CULTURE
Nielo\U0001f98d\U0001f985
Nielo🦍🦅...
@only1nielo
A thread of business related TV series..... Which is your favorite?

1. Billions vs Suits


2. Better call saul vs Ozark


3. Madmen vs The profit


4. Start up vs shark tank


5. Ballers vs Dirty Money
CULTURE
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Cory Doctorow #BLM
Cory Doctorow #BLM
@doctorow
Inequality requires narrative stabilizers. When you have too little and someone else has more than they can possibly use, simple logic dictates that you should take what they have.

1/


The forbearance exercised by the many when it comes to the wealth of the few isn't down to guards or laws - rather, the laws and the guards are effective because of the STORY, the story of why this is fair, even inevitable.

2/

Think of the story of monarchy and its relationship to the Church: the Church affirms that the monarch (and the aristocracy) was chosen by God ("dieu et mon droit") and the monarchy reciprocates by giving the Church moral and economic power within the kingdom.

3/

Capitalism replaced the story of divine will with a story of a self-correcting complex system: humans are born and raised with a variety of aptitudes and tastes, and at any moment, historical exigencies dictate that some individuals are better suited than others to do well.

4/

When it's railroad time, there are people who were born to oversee the laying of track and the coordination of rail networks: markets find those people, allocate capital to them, and allow them to mobilize that capital to produce shared prosperity for all of us.

5/
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Country Universe
Country Universe
@CountryUniverse
A quick primer on the #MorganWallen fallout for country radio:

To those stations that have pulled Wallen's music: You've done more than I expected the country industry to do at all. That matters.

But you have taken only the *first* step here. You do not get to now act as though you've washed your hands of a problem that is bone-deep.

This is, as our friend @AndreaWillWrite has noted, a moment for action. Not for hashtags or vague social media posts about how "this" is "not who we are."

Because you, country radio, know damn good and well that it is who "we" are. And it always has been.

So now you have giant racist sized holes to fill in your playlists.

What you do *not* do right now is fill those holes with other white dudes. Particularly not other white dudes you know are exactly like Chucklefuck McMullet but just haven't been caught on video.

You do *not* fill those holes in your playlist with callow calls for "unity" or bridging a "great divide" that come from white dudes who benefit most from the status quo because you, country radio, protect them at the expense of literally everyone else.
CULTURE
Plan On FIRE \U0001f1ec\U0001f1e7
Plan On FIRE 🇬🇧...
@PlanOnfire
9 Lessons From 'The Magic Of Thinking BIG' by David J. Schwartz

THREAD 🧵


1. Believing that you WILL succeed is one of the most essential traits of successful people

Think success, not failure.

Remind yourself regularly that you are better than you think you are.

Believe Big.

The size of your success is determined by the size of your belief.

2. Stop Making Excuses

I’m too young/old
I’m not well enough
I’m not smart enough
I’m not lucky enough

Eliminate the habit of making excuses; instead see reasons why you can succeed.

The right attitude and one arm will beat the wrong attitude and two arms every time.

3. Build Confidence & Destroy Fear

Indecision feeds fear.

Action cures fear.

Focus your mind on only positive thoughts and use daily affirmations to help build belief in yourself.

4. Think & Dream Creatively

Big people monopolise listening.

Small people monopolise talking.

There is a reason why the top leaders of our world spend more time requesting advice than they do giving it.
CULTURE

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1. Now that Stan Lee is being eulogized far and wide, it's important to remember how marginal Stan Lee and his collaborators (Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko) were in the 1950s and 1960s.

2. Marvel Comics (before that Atlas) was just a cog in the machine of a bottom pulp publisher run by Martin Goodman, the husband of one of Lee's cousins. It was the lowest of the low in the publishing world.

3. Now Mario Puzo (not yet the author of the Godfather) shared offices with Stan Lee in the 1950s and 1960s. Puzo wrote for garrish men's adventure magazines and, like Lee, dreamed of writing a novel & breaking out. But Puzo looked down on Lee.

4. Flo Steinberg, 1960s secretary at Marvel: "They were always making jokes about us. They'd come in and giggle. mario Puzo would look in and would see us all working on his way to the office and say, 'Work faster, little elves. Christmas is coming.'"

5. When JFK was killed, the whole office of Magazine Management was stunned and quiet. Except Lee. He continued working. "He was still working on the comic books," Puzo said. "Like that was the most important thing in the world."
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Tip from the Monkey
Pangolins, September 2019 and PLA are the key to this mystery
Stay Tuned!


1. Yang


2. A jacobin capuchin dangling a flagellin pangolin on a javelin while playing a mandolin and strangling a mannequin on a paladin's palanquin, said Saladin
More to come tomorrow!


3. Yigang Tong
https://t.co/CYtqYorhzH
Archived: https://t.co/ncz5ruwE2W


4. YT Interview
Some bats & pangolins carry viruses related with SARS-CoV-2, found in SE Asia and in Yunnan, & the pangolins carrying SARS-CoV-2 related viruses were smuggled from SE Asia, so there is a possibility that SARS-CoV-2 were coming from
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THE STRUCTURE, IMPORTANCE AND ADVANTAGES OF VISHNU PURAN.

Vishnu puran has twenty three thousand shlokas. It has the power to destroy all your sins. In its first part it contains the dialogue between Parashar rishi and Maitrey rishi.


The main topics discussed here are Aadikaraan sarg, origin of devtas, Samudra manthan, the vansh of Daksh, stories of Dhruv and Pruthu, Prachetas analysis, Prahlads story, the distribution of different powers to the various sections of society.

The second part consists of description of Priyavrat vansh, description of Dweeps, Varsh, Swarg, Narak, description of various planet movements, Bharat charitra, Muktimarg and dialogue between Nidhag and Ribhu.
Next is the description of Manvantars, avtaar of Vedvyas,

and ways to get freedom from Narak. Then we find a dialogue between Sagar & Aurva rishi, structure of Dharma, Shradh Kalp,Varnashram dharma, good behavior and story of Maya & Moha.

In the 4th part we find the description of Chandra vansh along with the description of its rulers.

Next are the questions regarding Krishnavtar, Gokul, the slaying of Putna, atrocities of demon Aghasur, Killing of Kansa, leela in Mathura, demons slayed by Krishna in order to ease the load of Prithvi, Krisha's marriages and sermon by Ashtavakra.
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Reagan Gomez
Reagan Gomez
@ReaganGomez
Black movie goers know which movies are for us and which films aren’t. We really don’t like our stories being made into films that center (and humanize) people that hate us. The filmmakers/studio know that by naming the film “The Green Book”, black movie goers...

...are going to be expecting a story about black people trying to safely navigate the country (real history) and instead will get a white savior film. Like folks went to see Detroit thinking it was about the riots...

Anywhoo, I know Mahershela is fantastic in it. He was the best thing about the trailer. As rich as the history behind the creation of ‘The Green Book’ is/was, as amazing as Dr. Don Shirley’s story is, WHY is this film about a random, racist driver and his family?

This feeds into the ignorant anti-Black American stereotype of “Black Americans don’t have any culture/history/mythology” or whatever. That our stories are still both being used while simultaneously erased in 2018 is wild to me. It’s gonna clean up come award season. 🤦🏾‍♀️

And now, if black filmmakers WANTED to make a film about The Greenbook, guess what it can’t be called🙃. Just like if someone wanted to make a film about the actual Detroit riots, guess what it can’t be called? Then those filmmakers would run into...
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श्रीमाली हितेश अवस्थी ...
@HiteshAwasthi89
#Thread
An interesting story of Kamala Devi hazarika for all Sanatanis...🙏

A Xtian missionary was sent to Assam for the promotion of religion. His name was Cruz. He came across to one the boys from an influential family in Assam to teach him English.
@noconversion

Cont 👇


The p@stor slowly began to study the house and he learned that the boy's grandmother was the most influential person in the house. So he thought 'Corrupting the grandmother's mind can make the whole family Xtian as well as the whole village.

Cont 👇


The p@stor began to tell Grandma the stories of how J€$u$ cured leprosy of lepers, how He gave sight to the blind, etc..But after listening to him, the strong Sanatani grandmother said. A stone turned into a living woman (Ahalya) for our Rama when he touched the stone.

Cont 👇


She spoke of Rama setu where stones floated in sea just by writing his name on the stones and that they are still floating today.
The p@stor continued his efforts but all his tricks went in vain.

Cont 👇


One day he had brought a cake from the church and he thought of offering it to grandmother but he was doubtful that she would eat it. But contrary to his expectation, she took the cake and ate it.

Cont 👇
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