FreedomTM – Daniel Suarez

Highly recommended. The plot of the Daemon (book series) is brilliant. And important.

Picking up a few months after the end of Daemon (2009), Suarez continues his popular technothriller and SF saga.

The computer program Daemon has taken over the Internet, and millions have joined its virtual world. Now the effect is spilling into the real world as Daemon assumes control of financial institutions, and the program’s real-life converts flock to small towns to re-create a sustainable lifestyle amid the agribusiness monoculture of the Midwest. …

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It would make a great movie. But nothing is in the works yet.

who’s honouring my brother now?

Seems he’s collected an Aurora Award (say that fast 3 times) for Best Fan Organization for WWC.

You know it’s true when you see it in Wikipedia:

Best Fan Organizational: Randy McCharles, Chair and Programming, When Words Collide, Calgary.

Randy Aurora

Congrats Bro.

Auroras 2013

The Prix Aurora Awards are given out annually for the best Canadian science fiction and fantasy literary works, artworks, fan activities from that year …

Rebus – Saints of the Shadow Bible

Saints of the Shadow Bible (2014) is 19th in the Inspector Rebus series. More evocative Scottish intrigue.

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Rebus is back on the force, albeit with a demotion and a chip on his shoulder. He is investigating a car accident when news arrives that a case from 30 years ago is being reopened. Rebus’s team from those days is suspected of helping a murderer escape justice to further their own ends.

Malcolm Fox, in what will be his last case as an internal affairs cop, is tasked with finding out the truth. …

SAINTS

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Good. But not as good. More complicated than the plot deserved.

book review – Daemon

I’ve decided to read this book again, something I do not often do.

It’s stayed with me, frequently coming to mind. We need this kind of technology in the future in conjunction with hardware like Google Glass.

___ original post Aug 2010:

A daemon (pronounced /ˈdeɪmən/ or /ˈdiːmən/) is a computer program that runs in the background, rather than under the direct control of a user.

Daemon (2006), the book, by Daniel Suarez, has a cult following amongst geeks. It was recommended by Leo.

Matthew Sobol was a legendary computer game designer–the architect behind half a dozen popular online games. His premature death from brain cancer depressed both gamers and his company’s stock price. But Sobol’s fans weren’t the only ones to note his passing. He left behind something that was scanning Internet obituaries, too–something that put in motion a whole series of programs upon his death. Programs that moved money. Programs that recruited people. Programs that killed.

Confronted with a killer from beyond the grave, Detective Peter Sebeck comes face-to-face with the full implications of our increasingly complex and interconnected world–one where the dead can read headlines, steal identities, and carry out far-reaching plans without fear of retribution. Sebeck must find a way to stop Sobol’s web of programs–his Daemon–before it achieves its ultimate purpose. And to do so, he must uncover what that purpose is . . .

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Loved it.

I guess I’m a geek. It’s dense, complicated and has a plot line that kept me guessing from cover to cover.

Masons love Hornblower

Hornblower is the umbrella title of a series of British television films based on three of C. S. Forester’s 10 novels about the fictional character Horatio Hornblower, a Royal Navy officer during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

The series ran from 1998 to 2003, with Ioan Gruffudd in the title role.  …

We watched the 1st of the movies – The Even Chance (US title: The Duel).

Horatio is only 17yrs-old. The year is 1793.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Rebus – Standing in Another Man’s Grave

Exit Music was the 17th and last crime novel in the bestselling Inspector Rebus series, written by Ian Rankin. It was published on 6 September 2007.

I was sad to see him retire. 😦

Happily, Rebus returned 2012 in Standing in Another Man’s Grave:

Having been retired from the police for five years, Rebus continues to investigate as part of the cold cases unit. The mother of a missing girl enlists his help in finding out what happened to her daughter, leading Rebus to uncover the truth about a series of seemingly unconnected disappearances stretching back to the millennium …

Standing
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I’m next on to #19 – Saints of the Shadow Bible 2014.

I mostly READ audio books these days. My average cost, taking advantage of specials as they come along, is about $11 / book from Audible.com.

I’ve yet to get Kindled.

Calgary’s new $245m library

Calgary must have the crappiest library in Canada for a city this size.

By crappy, I mean there are hardly any functioning toilets left in the old building. 😦

But the new library, hopefully opening 2018, does look sweet. It will include a public train line for access.

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related – Free library cards a ‘key tactic’ of Calgary Public Library rebranding set for 2015

Eliminating card fees will have a relatively minor impact on the library’s roughly $54-million annual operating budget. Membership brought in $1.4 million — slightly less than Calgary branches raised in fines.

Think Like a Freak

I’m a fan of Freakonomics Radio, the audiocast.

… hosted by journalist Stephen Dubner, with economist Steve Levitt as a regular guest. Freakonomics Radio occasionally hits No. 1 on iTunes, with 4 million downloads a month …

Dubner and Levitt have 3 Freakonomics books, the most recent of which I just read.

Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain

It’s short. But good.

Freakonomics attempts to shed light on topics misunderstood by the general public.

cover

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The Martian – book and film

Rockin’ Ronnie recommended me a good one.

The Martian is the first published novel by American novelist Andy Weir.

It was originally self-published in 2012 before Crown purchased the rights and re-published it in 2014. A science fiction novel, it follows the fictional American astronaut Mark Watney as he becomes stranded alone on Mars and must improvise in order to survive.

It has been described as an Apollo 13 meets Cast Away. A film version directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon is scheduled for release in November 2015. …

A wise cracking goofball avoids the cliche of going mentally ill in solitary confinement.
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