I don’t know if Clifford D. Simak is lesser known, but his work is pretty foundational for a lot of more modern sci-fi. Before there was “I, Robot”, there was “City”. Before there were Ewoks, there was “Little Fuzzy”. Before there were living ships like in Farscape, Lexx, or Xenogenesis, there was “The Visitors”.
I should have remembered that was H. Beam Piper. Also great.
A good environmental philosophy class would cover these same topics and more. My syllabus included works by E. O. Wilson (The Diversity of Life), Lynn Margulis (Microcosmos), and Rachel Carson (Silent Spring), and others. There’s probably and entire Dewey decimal section of you ask a librarian. Stewardship vs leaving nature to itself was a pretty hot topic with lots of debate. But generally anything we can do to support biodiversity is a net good specifically because species go extinct. There’s lots of explanations out there, but like LeVar Burton said, “You don’t have to take my word for it.”
Meditation (for a lot of people) is an exercise in learning that even doing nothing is active. Doing nothing is still doing. Rest is an important part of being productive. Rest is not a waste of time, so you don’t need to feel guilty over it. These are all lessons that the brain can understand on its face immediately, but the body requires reinforcement and practice.
And if stillness is a problem you struggle with, walking meditation or meditation through movement can be a more approachable way to get started. There are lots of ways to meditate, find the ones that work for you. Meditation isn’t a cure all, but it does have wide ranging impacts and it doesn’t hurt to try it.
“Secret Links”, Like that one scene in that Sandra Bullock hacker movie, The Net.
https://triviahappy.com/articles/welcome-to-the-net-every-webpage-from-the-1995-movie-the-net
Wildest dystopian cyberpunk movie ever made. In an underground dinosaur society once ruled by a benevolent fungal king and taken over by corrupt corporation developing trans-dino de-volution technology to control the masses, two sanitation engineers from Brooklyn become heros. To do so they must hack the mycelial network to find the lost king, survive an electric vehicle demolition derby style car chase, and save the princess.
The absolute best are rainy days without lightning in a place with some nature and privacy. I feel like dancing naked in the rain and being able to come back in to a dry house, a towel to dry yourself, a good book, and a hot tea, is a very rare experience these days. Thunderstorms are great too when you have safe shelter. But dancing naked in a thunderstorm feels a bit like tempting fate too much, which is thrilling too in a way but also I’ve got creatures inside depending on me staying safe.
A relevant xkcd bot is really the only AI I want in my life.
I replied to a couple comments that they seemed to imply had been removed. We’ll see what happens. These were also comments in which they claimed reading was unhealthy, so I don’t expect much coherent discussion.
Is this the comment you claim got removed in the post edit?
Is this the comment you claim got removed? Maybe read up on the issues piefed seems to have.
We’re stealing memes from Disney nostalgia cash-in sequels now?
“See you later.”
“Not if I see you first!”
That’s why I don’t delete contacts. I have a special voicemail black hole for the people I’m making a point to forget.
Common names of animals often describe phenotype not genotype. If it looks like a ducks, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s common name is duck. There are lots of animals with common names grouping them by physical characteristics and ecological niche rather than genetic relationship, especially animals named longed before we had any real scientific study of their genetics.
This is America. Cars, tactical gear, and military vehicles are cheaper than an employee with benefits like healthcare, workers comp insurance, etc. way way way cheaper.
Did you have to send an actual physical photo through the post?
I ask because that was a unique time of tech transformation. I might have had a digital camera then, but being able to email a photo wasn’t yet common enough to be assumed to be possible or convenient for everyone. Just the fact that it was an 800 number and not an email for customer service says a lot. I’m reminded of watching the first Scream movie recently, where cell phones existed, but were rare enough that having one fall out of character’s pocket made them immediately suspicious. A detail that would be totally inconsequential today.
I too liked it better than I thought I would. It felt like a classic Ray Bradbury story.
Late guerilla marketing for The End of Oak Street?
I just wish it was more nuanced than good/up or bad/down. I really miss the old /. style of being able to classify how a comment added to the discussion or not (insightful, troll, offtopic, interesting, etc.). Not sure the implementation ever was perfect on /. either, but it FELT more meaningful, especially because the ability to vote wasn’t given to absolutely everyone on everything all the time. When I got the chance to vote, I tended to put some genuine thought into it. I’d like to think that meant less impulsive and reactionary voting and it was a constant reminder about what that site wanted you to value in a discussion.
Correct. My mistake.