Aqua-Soft ForumsWhat Are You Reading?
I must say i hated "Cien anyos de Soledad" (One Hundred years of Solitude) Magic realism is just not my thing... whats with Amaranta Ursula anyway?! 
yeah, we shared the same ideas, seph. see? language isn't a barrier to thought. 
actually, i'm working on several works. one is an existentialist novel, another is a collection of treatises and aphorisms (think: russell, heidegger, nietzsche), and then another is a novel based on chaos theory and complex systems.
silencedge, i think that's the book. a lot of things can be reduced to simple mathematical equations, but it's always interesting to see how processes play out on the macroscale or in the longrun.
Currently, "The Python Cookbook", previously, "The Picture of Dorian Gray".
Currently, pr0n.
Reading it? Really? Oh.
Originally posted by Keith@Jan 27 2004, 03:04 PMReading it? Really? Oh.
Yeah... he's one of those "I read it for the articles" types 
Originally posted by hax0r_foX@Jan 27 2004, 02:32 PMCurrently, pr0n.
I just finished The Sperm Engine, by Stephen Greco. I reccommend (sp?) it if you like autobiography/fiction/erotica.
It's kind of like Me Talk Pretty One Day, by Dave Sedaris, with sexuality added in.
Originally posted by dreamz@Jan 27 2004, 08:07 PMyeah, we shared the same ideas, seph. see? language isn't a barrier to thought.
actually, i'm working on several works. one is an existentialist novel, another is a collection of treatises and aphorisms (think: russell, heidegger, nietzsche), and then another is a novel based on chaos theory and complex systems.
silencedge, i think that's the book. a lot of things can be reduced to simple mathematical equations, but it's always interesting to see how processes play out on the macroscale or in the longrun.
We're speaking English, aren't we? 
Anyway, you're absolutely right, Dreamz. 
It's really interesting to see how local chaos can still possess global self-organizational behaviour.
Oh, but there's another book on 'The Collapse of Chaos' (can't remember tha author, too long ago. Last year I think.) which the author considers events the other way round, where highly complicated rules give rise to simple systems.
Maths is just amazing, how (almost) everything can be modelled...
Edit: I remember the authors now. Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart.
Chaos is as unorganized as Atheism is posible you guys will understand
i'm reading ender's game saga by orson scott card. read the first three books the past couple weeks. half way through shadow puppets now. its an excellent scifi series and my favorite one so far.
here are some good books i got through recently:
'cryptonomicon' (i just started this one now, dreamz, seph, silence, you guys might dig this... it's like science fiction/history with cryptography, mathematics by Neal Stephenson)
'music for torching' (think of the movie american beauty but taken 10 steps crazier)
'bringing down the house' (quick read about some MIT students who mastered blackjack countinng, but still interesting. makes you want to go to vegas when you're done and blow your savings)
'mysteries of pittsburgh' (good author, like how he writes, Michael Chabon... also wrote the novel 'wonder boys' which was the movie with Michael Douglas, Tobey McGuire, Robert Downey Jr... one of my personal best movies, but that's for another thread one day)
i dig this topic, i've got a lot of new suggestions for books to get to.
someone asked, by the way, terry pratchett is a fantasy writer, i only read one book of his, it had a range of comedy with it... not bad, but not my cup of tea.
last book: Anne Rice "Servant of the bones"
Now: Tom Clancy "Rainbow Six" which will be followed by "The bear and the Dragon", then hopefully "the DaVinci code".
I am a very quick reader.
Originally posted by RoyalPain@Jan 28 2004, 03:01 AMlast book: Anne Rice "Servant of the bones"
Very good book i love anne rice's syle
Read also the Vampire Chronicles with the official vampire companion by her as well (one of my most precious possesions )
What are you talking about Juno, it has not gone to hell, threads seem to go to hell really quick in your eyes.
Originally posted by wookietv@Jan 27 2004, 10:52 PMhere are some good books i got through recently:
'cryptonomicon' (i just started this one now, dreamz, seph, silence, you guys might dig this... it's like science fiction/history with cryptography, mathematics by Neal Stephenson)
You reminded me, wookietv.
I remembered reading this book last year entitled 'Decipher' and it's a really cool book. It's contained within its 900 pages of text some really obscure knowledge, as well as loads of research.
Basically, the beautiful part of it is the way it weaves together science and technology, the concept of end-of-the-world, myths and legends, as well as history. And probably some other things which I might have forgotten about. Fairly much as diverse a regime any author could have possibly covered.
Some slow portions to the book, but all in all, I think they contribute to the final build up. Great read.
Back to books, i just finished reading fahrenhiet 451. good book.
Originally posted by juno@Jan 27 2004, 05:41 PM*MODS PLEASE DELETE THIS THREAD*
It has gone to hell and is NOT about aqua related topics.
@Juno : This is the GENERAL discussions forum, and if you notice at the top of each page under this forum, it says "Post anything BUT aqua emulation related posts.
For anyone who is reading/has read The Da Vinci Code, might I suggest Angels & Demons? Once again, about a secret order, this time the Illuminati. It's by the same author, Dan Brown (I think?); it actually comes before The Da Vinci Code.
He also has a new one out, The Digital Fortress. Anyone read it yet?
Keep the porn talk out of the thread, and its OK.
Remember though: No politics and religion. We are NOT and NEVER will be that kind of forum.
Originally posted by dreamz+Jan 27 2004, 06:15 PM-->QUOTE(dreamz @ Jan 27 2004, 06:15 PM)wow, a nice discussion.@seph, his method is pretty erroneous, though. it is impossible to doubt everything and compare beliefs with truth a posteriori, and how he arrives at his conception of the individual presupposes some intuitive consciousness. in any case, i really love existentialism, but i also love reading logic. i'd recommend:
c.s. peirce - the fixation of belief, how to make our ideas clear. two interesting essays on belief structures.
heidegger - being and time (his most famous work), what is called thinking?
sartre - being and nothingness
nietzsche - beyond good and evil was a fun read
russell - his works are good, and very lucid
@silencedge, wow, i didn't think anyone would've read that book, but it's really nice. you might be interested in wolfram's ideas about cellular automata, although some people seem to dispute his ideas. i'm really interested in game theory (my thesis), locked-in functions and loops, dynamical chaotic systems, and theoretical mathematics. i'll check out that author.
i'm currently fishing through wolfram's 'A New Kind of Science' and i have to say,
the worst introduction ever written. ever.
I'm interested in the ideas(and have been for years), but he is such a bad writer. Who would've though a programmer would be such a horrible writer
He must say 'a new kind of science' somewhere around 1000 times in the intro.
Yay on the logic comment, it is damn interesting. Douglas Hofstadter is very interesting to read if your into logic. I still think Kurt Godel's mathematical proof on the inconsistency of 'complete' logic systems is the number one discovery of modern man.
He left Betrand Russel sulking for decades :cry: .
edit:
Originally posted by Timan@Jan 28 2004, 03:23 AMCurrently Reading
The Art of Deception
Good book.
I've got a book entitled 'The Art of Seduction' in my collection. Extremely interesting... with an extensive reference to literature and history.
Originally posted by realitybath+Jan 27 2004, 07:15 PM-->QUOTE(realitybath @ Jan 27 2004, 07:15 PM)i'm currently fishing through wolfram's 'A New Kind of Science' and i have to say,the worst introduction ever written. ever.
I'm interested in the ideas(and have been for years), but he is such a bad writer. Who would've though a programmer would be such a horrible writer
He must say 'a new kind of science' somewhere around 1000 times in the intro.
Yay on the logic comment, it is damn interesting. Douglas Hofstadter is very interesting to read if your into logic. I still think Kurt Godel's mathematical proof on the inconsistency of 'complete' logic systems is the number one discovery of modern man.
He left Betrand Russel sulking for decades :cry: .
edit: