gregjwild

Well, he's probably one of the worst in recent memory. It will be many, many years before the fallout from the Iraq invasion fades.

Not the only example of this: Towards the end of the Vietnam war, the US had developed a fairly comprehensive counter-insurgency (COIN) program. By Iraq 2, they were pretty much only equipped for state on state warfare again and had to relearn COIN - and were actually doing an okay job by 2008. Ironically, given the withdrawal from Iraq, they're probably going to have to relearn it again the next time they're forced to put boots on the ground.

It happens quite regularly. Military forces have to adapt to the problem of the day.

I don't think that's the case - the article clearly points out how enthusiastic the people involved were at first. To me it feels more focused on a lack of proper planning by Amazon for just how hard it is. Things like most of the work being night-shifts is definitely indicative of a lack of prior-research.

Agreed.

The problem with companies getting involved in social issues is that social issues take a degree of tact, planning and prior-research. You can't just wade in and play with peoples lives.

Good on them for trying - and I hope they don't feel burned by it - but there's a reason public entities and charities are better placed to addressed these kinds of problems, even if they're not well resourced for it. Hopefully they'll continue to refine how they approach it.

Anecdotally speaking, in the past month or so I've seen people ask doctor friends about their maladies, lawyers asked to look at contracts and accountants asked about mortgages - all off the clock and without pay. It's not just a tech thing.

Easy to say on paper, but people quite understandably have friends, family and other attachments that tie them to a place... and that's even if they can get remote work. Most people still need to be physically present. Especially down the lower end of the pay scale.

I can't help but wonder if this is a case of correlation != causation.

I'm thinking particularly because the focus is on patriarchal, unequal and heavily stratified societies. That makes me wonder if it would make for a different study if it compared with gender neutral polyamorous societies with many-to-many relationships. I'm not aware that such societies exist in socially significant volumes outside of small groupings though. Still, it smacks a little of Eurocentricism.

> It has to start from the ground, with 'militant moderate Muslims' willing to show people another way; one that does not involve in slavery, beheadings, suicide bombings, and crucifixion.

Problem with this is that the most prominent moderate Islamist organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, was utterly smashed by the military counter-coup in Egypt. To many Islamists, it seemed to prove that a political route to power was untenable.

Though I agree that we have to bridge the gap. The us vs. them rhetoric is toxic.

Heh, I guess they're banking on someone having a thing for snooping on other people's porn habits than they are getting paid.

A perfect storm of incompetence and ill-intentions.

I think it's probably something that's hard to assess like that. I've been learning to program on-and-off for about 2 years. It's only through sheer bloody-minded persistence that it is starting to see the pieces fall into place.

There's plenty of different types of software development too; some require a stronger programming ability than others. If you enjoy solving problems, and making life easier for other people, then it's something you'll get to eventually with enough persistence.

I think this statement nails it: "we are imprisoned within our own cosmos of meaning. We cannot imagine a universe without meaning. We are not talking necessarily about some grand cosmic meaning, or a divine meaning bestowed by God, or even a lasting, eternal meaning. "

"Special" is a human construct. If something is special, it's because we say it is. Life has no relevance to anything beyond that which we ascribe to it.

Unless, of course, you believe that life was designed according to some kind of grand design. But even that presupposes that we mortals have a chance of understanding an intelligence that can shape reality. I'm sceptical any human interpretation of 'special' in that context is useful.

Reality just is. It has no moral weight.

Interestingly, there is pressure on both sides there - greater automation means that new skills are needed for the few jobs left, but the fact you're talking about training a handful, rather than training at scale makes for more expensive training per head.

The right wing press just loves to fain Marx when it suits their own narrative.

That said, I often wish the mainstream left would diversify their own font of knowledge. Especially given most don't read him.

heh. And here I am feeling guilty when I will occasionally send a single follow up now and then.

Those are fair comments, sure.

I think the rationale is really that Haldeman was really commenting on the pace of social change, especially for service personnel, particularly those who served multiple tours. The protagonist hates the horror of war as much as the alienation from the society he is allegedly being forced to defend.

Though I can see why that puts some people off :)

'“To say that The Forever War is the best science fiction war novel ever written is to damn it with faint praise.” It’s one of the best books about war, period'

I'd probably raise that on Gibson. It's one of the best books, period.

"The protagonist, an almost-anagrammed stand-in for Haldeman named Mandella, is hurled across far reaches of the galaxy to fight a poorly understood, apparently undefeatable foe."

In that regard, it's as much a commentary about war today as it is the future.

Manning Publications editor here.

Truth be told, we go to early access largely because we think it helps us make sure the book is delivering the goods, collect feedback, and hopefully improve the book as a result. We try to make it very clear how much of the book has been written - indicating what chapters have been written, and make it very clear that the book is unfinished.

All the time.

The days of long-form writing are definitely over, but I think noting things down will remain a constant for many years to come.

For me, I find it helps me think more abstractly and plan my thoughts better, because it's just more fluid to scribble ideas down.

IMO, just do whatever is right for you. Nobody should be held back from pursuing academic interests. Just like nobody should be held back from learning on the job.

The only thing that we should warn people away from is doing nothing. You've got one life, just live it!

As a member of the publishing world, I'm naturally sad to see book stores like this go. But I also know that most of our own sales are direct or via Amazon.

As a customer, while I frequent book stores regularly I almost always find myself thinking "I can probably save a few pennies on Amazon".

While Kickstarter clearly need to get sharper about identifying fraudulent pitches, I think as a whole Kickstarter is a "hate the player, not the game".

The main thing to remember with this is that even if you do end up with a % of people who do just bum around on basic, a lot more still would rather earn enough to live a more interesting life. And wages will probably go up to incentivize people to do the crap jobs - or encourage someone to find a way to automate it.

> In the very beginning, it might be okay in terms of economics. However, as the years go on, more and more people will start relying on this basic income and we will have entire generations of people depending on it to live.

The problem here is the rate of job automation vs. job creation right now. There's a lot of indicators suggesting we're reaching - or have reached - the tipping point here. We need a strategy for giving people breathing space to adapt to job destruction. That might be a basic income, or a government backed re-training program perhaps. But the latter supposes that there are enough jobs to go for when they re-train. And the one big growth area, IT, is really limited to those with some some degree of innate talent. Think about all those truckers and taxi drivers who are going to see their jobs eliminated by maybe 2030.

... this feels beyond absurd.

Attention and focus is important. Sounds like start-up kool-aid to me.

Fiction - currently waiting on Poseidon Wakes, by Alastair Reynolds.

Non-fiction - Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware, by Andy Hunt