Re: On Listmail
John wrote: > I agree with most of what you say, but I just haven't felt like > starting any discussions on this list recently. The two main things > that I have previously been interested in discussing here are SF and > politics. From my point of view, the current political situation in > the US is a disaster and just too depressing to even think about. So I take it you're not behind Obama's Wall St. reforms... One interesting thing, apropos to the list, has been the prevalence of the term transparency. I'll bet DB gets a chubby every time he hears Obama use it. The thing that bothers me the most is that purveyors of propaganda (Fox) are so influential. > As for science fiction, it seems to me that there has been little good > science fiction coming out lately. If only David Brin would write a > book about Tom Orley and the skiff, that would be fun to discuss here. > > I normally do not read much fantasy, but with the dearth of science > fiction coming out I have been reading some fantasy novels. I recently > finished "The Desert Spear" by Peter V. Brett. That is the sequel to > "The Warded Man" (aka "The Painted Man"), which is the first book in > the series. I'm really enjoying the series so far. Peter really knows > how to build a fantasy world and tell a story. And the characters are > great, Unfortunately, the next book is not due out until 2012. Maybe we've already had this discussion, but have you read Banks' Transition? I like history too, so I've been reading a history of the American Revolution and Hume's history of England. For pure pleasure (and because a complete works collection for my Kindle was dirt cheap) I recently re-read Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. I also bought Dune as I haven't read that in probably 30 years, and a collection of Mil Blogs from the Sandbox http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/ Doug ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: On Listmail
Bruce wrote: > Facebook is a pretty terrible forum for almost anything serious. I've never > seen a site that seems to discourage any kind of in depth discussion so > effectively by design. The "notes" feature is the closest thing it has to > an actual writing-based feature, and even that is hidden away from the main > page out of sight and only quoted there in brief snippets. > >> Not that that has stopped me from expressing my opinion there now and >> then. 8^) > > Nor has it stopped me. :D I've never even tried to use the notes thing, AFAIK. I just post something political and hope for the best. Doug ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: On Listmail
On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 9:07 PM, Doug Pensinger wrote: > Ahem. Hello? Anyone here? I agree with most of what you say, but I just haven't felt like starting any discussions on this list recently. The two main things that I have previously been interested in discussing here are SF and politics. From my point of view, the current political situation in the US is a disaster and just too depressing to even think about. As for science fiction, it seems to me that there has been little good science fiction coming out lately. If only David Brin would write a book about Tom Orley and the skiff, that would be fun to discuss here. I normally do not read much fantasy, but with the dearth of science fiction coming out I have been reading some fantasy novels. I recently finished "The Desert Spear" by Peter V. Brett. That is the sequel to "The Warded Man" (aka "The Painted Man"), which is the first book in the series. I'm really enjoying the series so far. Peter really knows how to build a fantasy world and tell a story. And the characters are great, Unfortunately, the next book is not due out until 2012. ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: On Listmail
On Apr 28, 2010, at 11:07 PM, Doug Pensinger wrote: Facebook is the only social network I frequent and while I think it's great and has its place, it's a terrible forum for any kind of serious political debate. For one thing, many of the people you know intimately are probably there, and if they are people you wouldn't want to debate at the dinner table (because you don't want to promote discord) then you probably don't want to get into it with them on Facebook either. And really, that's not what Facebook is for anyway, its more of a hey look at these pictures of my kids or hey isn't this a funny video or (for some) hey I just trimmed my toenails kind of place. Facebook is a pretty terrible forum for almost anything serious. I've never seen a site that seems to discourage any kind of in depth discussion so effectively by design. The "notes" feature is the closest thing it has to an actual writing-based feature, and even that is hidden away from the main page out of sight and only quoted there in brief snippets. Not that that has stopped me from expressing my opinion there now and then. 8^) Nor has it stopped me. :D "It's Throw Open Our Doors to People Who Want to Discuss Things That We Could Care Less About Day." -- Toby Ziegler ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
On Listmail
Ahem. Hello? Anyone here? I'm kind of curious about what happened to the volume of mail in groups like Brin-L and the Culture list. I have an idea that at first, several years ago now, the emergence of blogging sucked a lot of people away from list mail. And now social networking sites have all but killed them. I could be wrong, I only belong to the two lists. There may be lists that are thriving, but I'm guessing that most of them have seen a serious decline in traffic. Its a shame really because I think that lists are a much better forum for the exchange of ideas than either personal blogs or Facebook type forums. Blogs seem far to solipsistic to me; Here's what I think, you can comment if you'd like but I can delete your comments or block you if I don't like what you say and what are you doing here anyway if you don't agree with me. I know that that's a generalization, but I think that in general, blogs discourage discussion and debate. Facebook is the only social network I frequent and while I think it's great and has its place, it's a terrible forum for any kind of serious political debate. For one thing, many of the people you know intimately are probably there, and if they are people you wouldn't want to debate at the dinner table (because you don't want to promote discord) then you probably don't want to get into it with them on Facebook either. And really, that's not what Facebook is for anyway, its more of a hey look at these pictures of my kids or hey isn't this a funny video or (for some) hey I just trimmed my toenails kind of place. Not that that has stopped me from expressing my opinion there now and then. 8^) In any case, poor old Brin-l seems to be as dead as a door nail, and I think that that's a shame. Is anyone out there? Doug ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Oil Rigs
So Dan,. are you still here? Do you still want to talk me into putting rigs off of Big Sur? Doug ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Weekly Chat Reminder
The Brin-L weekly chat has been a list tradition for over ten years. Way back on 27 May, 1998, Marco Maisenhelder first set up a chatroom for the list, and on the next day, he established a weekly chat time. We've been through several servers, chat technologies, and even casts of regulars over the years, but the chat goes on... and we want more recruits! Whether you're an active poster or a lurker, whether you've been a member of the list from the beginning or just joined today, we would really like for you to join us. We have less politics, more Uplift talk, and more light-hearted discussion. We're non-fattening and 100% environmentally friendly... -(_() Though sometimes marshmallows do get thrown. The Weekly Brin-L chat is scheduled for Wednesday 3 PM Eastern/2 PM Central time in the US, or 7 PM Greenwich time. There's usually somebody there to talk to for at least eight hours after the start time. If no-one is there when you arrive just wait around a while for the next person to show up! If you want to attend, it's really easy now. All you have to do is send your web browser to: http://wtgab.demon.co.uk/~brinl/mud/ ..And you can connect directly from the NEW new web interface! -- William T Goodall Mail : w...@wtgab.demon.co.uk Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/ "This message was sent automatically using launchd. But even if WTG is away on holiday, at least it shows the server is still up." ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
