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September 18, 2007
A New Prior General
The General Chapter has met and the Carmelite family welcomes a new Prior General. May God guide him and help him. With all these Carmelites running around, he'll need all the help he can get!
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Request for Prayers
To anyone who may read this today before two o'clock, please remember the team I work with as we have an important presentation before officers of the company. I don't expect any difficulty, but I also don't expect it to be particularly easy.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 8:43 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 20, 2007
Appreciation
Deepest thanks and appreciation to all who said prayers for me on Tuesday. The presentation went far better than I had expected in my wildest dreams. The results have been galvanizing and envigorating. It feels like a new world opening up--so once again, thank you.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 1:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 21, 2007
Rainbows End
Vernor Vinge's teenage bildungsroman is this year's Hugo winner for best science fiction novel of the year. I have to admit that I haven't kept up with science fiction the way I used to do; however, I did find this an enjoyable read.
Vinge builds a very believable near-future world in which computers dominate the landscape. There are "wearables" which respond to gestures and overlay mundane reality with "all the colors of the wind." Vinge makes these devices very likely, very believable, very complex, and best of all very comprehensible. Unlike Gibson and his ilk, who rely upon sheer confusion for much of their effect, Vinge is committed to making his world real.
In this world cures have been found for most common ailments, including many types of dementia. Our hero has been returned from near-death to the appearance of a seventeen year-old boy. And with his return to health, also his return to an absolute tyrrany of emotional abuse. His son puts a stopper in it and Robert Gu, our hero, gradually adjusts and joins an international Cabal designed to preserve the integrity of libraries. However, this plot is simply a cover for another deeper plot that may or may not involve artificial intelligences, international conspirators, and a plot to subjugate the world's people by a clever juxtaposition of (literally) viral memes.
Characterization is fine, although we never get a sense of Gu as both old and young. His perspective is always one of being older. There is no resolution to one of the central emotional points in the book, and several hints and asides are left completely unresolved.
Overall, an interesting fun read for those who like their science fiction Cyber.
Posted by Steven Riddle at 7:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack