Outside of a Dog

Barbarius finished reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

The Last Unicorn is a fantasy novel by American author Peter S. Beagle and published …

I have to be honest, it was good, but not as good as I thought it would be...

Barbarius finished reading B.P.R.D., Vol. 1: Hollow Earth and Other Stories by Mike Mignola

B.P.R.D., Vol. 1: Hollow Earth and Other Stories (2004)

B.P.R.D., Vol. 1: Hollow Earth and Other Stories by Mike Mignola

Barbarius replied to Paul Barker's status

@pbarker@bookwyrm.social that's interesting you say that. I just finished his recent "Technofuedalism", where he recaps the broader arguments of this book. It made me want to read this, but now I'm not so sure.

Barbarius reviewed Techno-Feudalism by Yanis Varoufakis

No cover — Techno-Feudalism (2023, Random House Children's Books)

Heavy, but very interesting

4 stars

This was a fascinating read. Essentially Varoufakis argues that capitalism is actually over, and that we are now in an era where rent derived from "digital fiefs" is dominant (e.g.: Amazon doesn't produce goods or acquire capital in the tratitional sense, but because no seller can survive without selling on Amazon, it operates like a fief extracting rent from the vassals (sellers) who have no option but to use their site). It's pretty heavy economic theory, but he frames it as a conversation with his late father, and does a good job at simplifying and explaining what he talks about.

Very interesting, and very convincing.

Barbarius finished reading Techno-Feudalism by Yanis Varoufakis

Techno-Feudalism by Yanis Varoufakis

Barbarius rated Amazing Screw-On Head: 4 stars

Amazing Screw-On Head (Paperback, 2021, Dark Horse Comics)

Amazing Screw-On Head by Mike Mignola

Barbarius finished reading Amazing Screw-On Head by Mike Mignola

Classic.

Barbarius reviewed Pwning Tomorrow by Charlie Jane Anders

Pwning Tomorrow (EBook, 2016, Electronic Frontier Foundation)

As part of EFF’s 25th Anniversary celebrations, we are releasing “Pwning Tomorrow: Stories from the …

Mostly excellent

5 stars

This free collection of futurism/dystopian fiction was pretty much excellent from start to finish. For the most part, each author/story takes a current issue, idea, or topic (e.g.: copyright law, patent trolls, crowd sourcing, etc.) and extrapolates it into a possible future whereby it was left to go unchecked and how that would possibly look, giving you a Wellesian warning of why these seemingly innocuous issues are important to consider and/or deal with in our present here-and-now. The stories are excellent, and the list of included authors are top-quality!

...and then there's the final story... which has nothing to do with any of the aforementioned issues at all, and is mostly a fantasy erotic romp. It has no futurism, dystopian, or tech themes at all, except that one of the two main characters is a hacker, apparently, and it's mentioned (twice, in a completely unconnected fashion) that he has a …

This free collection of futurism/dystopian fiction was pretty much excellent from start to finish. For the most part, each author/story takes a current issue, idea, or topic (e.g.: copyright law, patent trolls, crowd sourcing, etc.) and extrapolates it into a possible future whereby it was left to go unchecked and how that would possibly look, giving you a Wellesian warning of why these seemingly innocuous issues are important to consider and/or deal with in our present here-and-now. The stories are excellent, and the list of included authors are top-quality!

...and then there's the final story... which has nothing to do with any of the aforementioned issues at all, and is mostly a fantasy erotic romp. It has no futurism, dystopian, or tech themes at all, except that one of the two main characters is a hacker, apparently, and it's mentioned (twice, in a completely unconnected fashion) that he has a server room in his house. It honestly feels like it's the author equivalent of "I'm a bunny, duh!":

Editor: Hey! Yeah, thanks for your submission. Umm... We're not quite sure it aligns with the theme of the collection though... Author: He's a hacker, duh!