S2.12 Superstition Ain’t The Way
A Canticle for Leibowitz
by Walter M. Miller Jr.
In a nightmarish ruined world slowly awakening to the light after sleeping in darkness, the infant rediscoveries of science are secretly nourished by cloistered monks dedicated to the study and preservation of the relics and writings of the blessed Saint Isaac Leibowitz. From here the story spans centuries of ignorance, violence, and barbarism, viewing through a sharp, satirical eye the relentless progression of a human race damned by its inherent humanness to recelebrate its grand foibles and repeat its grievous mistakes.
The City & the City
by China Miéville
When a murdered woman is found in the city of Beszel, somewhere at the edge of Europe, it looks to be a routine case for Inspector Tyador Borlú of the Extreme Crime Squad. But as he investigates, the evidence points to conspiracies far stranger and more deadly than anything he could have imagined.
Perdido Street Station
by China Miéville
Beneath the towering bleached ribs of a dead, ancient beast lies the city of New Crobuzon, where the unsavory deal is stranger to no one--not even to Isaac, a gifted and eccentric scientist who has spent a lifetime quietly carrying out his unique research. But when a half-bird, half-human creature known as the Garuda comes to him from afar, Isaac is faced with challenges he has never before encountered. Though the Garuda's request is scientifically daunting, Isaac is sparked by his own curiosity and an uncanny reverence for this curious stranger. Soon an eerie metamorphosis will occur that will permeate every fiber of New Crobuzon--and not even the Ambassador of Hell will challenge the malignant terror it evokes.
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister's place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weight survival against humanity and life against love.
Gov. Greg Abbott bans TikTok on state phones
Following the lead of several other GOP governors, Abbott said banning the social media platform, which is run by the Chinese company ByteDance, would protect state information from the Chinese Communist Party.
Texas bans use of DJI Drones for government research
As part of an economic development plan of the Chinese Communist Party, Da Jiang Innovations (DJI) was started and is based in the Shenzen province, the same area where high-security risk company Huawei is based. China Daily, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda arm, hailed them as “a startup legend for many young entrepreneurs.”
Blockchains and Cryptocurrencies: Burn It With Fire (Nicholas Weaver)
Dr. Nicholas Weaver is a technologist and academic who has been following the development of cryptocurrencies since the inception of Bitcoin. He holds a BA in Astrophysics and Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, where he is also a professor. His primary research focus has been network security, among other topics, and he has several published papers under his belt concerning cryptocurrency technologies.
Quantum Computing and Qbits
There are two possible outcomes for the measurement of a qubit—usually taken to have the value "0" and "1", like a bit or binary digit. However, whereas the state of a bit can only be either 0 or 1, the general state of a qubit according to quantum mechanics can be a coherent superposition of both. Moreover, whereas a measurement of a classical bit would not disturb its state, a measurement of a qubit would destroy its coherence and irrevocably disturb the superposition state. It is possible to fully encode one bit in one qubit. However, a qubit can hold more information, e.g., up to two bits using superdense coding.
Web3 is going just great
Web3 is Going Just Great is a project to track some examples of how things in the blockchains/crypto/web3 technology space aren't actually going as well as its proponents might like you to believe. The timeline tracks events in cryptocurrency and blockchain-based technologies, dating back to the beginning of 2021.
Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough
Earlier this week, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) announced a momentous breakthrough in harnessing controlled nuclear fusion. The LLNL’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved “ignition” — a fusion experiment that produced more energy than consumed by the lasers needed to drive it. This piece of scientific news received significant publicity, even briefly capturing the front pages of major news outlets. What does it all mean?
Post.news
Post News has some similar basic functions to Twitter: you make posts, you like and repost other people’s posts, you follow interesting accounts. Yet in its beta stage, it still lacks basic functions like DMs, a native app and accessibility features like adding alt text to images (and, sparking concern for some users, the company said it was not prioritizing accessibility at this time).