![]() (The word has a Slavic root, with the same meaning as labor, but with a strong stress on serfdom.) ![]() „And that was it," Karel Čapek himself later described it. "'Name them Robots,' the painter muttered with a brush in his mouth and continued to paint. Josef Čapek was a respected painter, they had already written a few things together, so Karel gave a lot to his opinion. When he racked brains how to name them, first he came up with Labors (inspired by the English word labor, with Latin etymology labore – work, but also hard work, hardness, fatigue, even pain). Its heroes would be "artificial workers" or "living and intelligent working machines". Isaac Asimov later became so famous that he is known all over the world.Īround the same time the boy was born, thirty years old Karel Čapek, an emerging literary star of the newborn Czechoslovakia, was thinking about a new play for the National Theater in Prague. ![]() Nevertheless, the family, which arrived on RMS Baltic from the newborn Soviet Russia to New York on February 3, 1923, gave as the official birthday of the eldest of their three children Januand altered “z” for “s” in his name. The exact date of his birth is unknown it was sometime between October 1919 and early 1920. ![]() Robot, the Most Famous Czech, Celebrates 100 YearsĪbout a hundred years ago, in the village of Petrovichi near the Russian-Belarusian border, a baby was born in the Jewish family of Azimovs. ![]()
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![]() ![]() Only after reading Orlean’s book, did I learn that this photo was most likely of Rin Tin Tin IV from the 1950s television series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.ĭiscovering Rin Tin Tin’s World War I roots, learning my fascination started with Rin Tin Tin IV and finding out how the legend of Rinty continues into the 21st century were just a few of the surprises of Rin Tin Tin: The Life and The Legend. For me, it was an “autographed” black-and-white publicity photo of Rin Tin Tin left in a desk handed down from my older brother. In the book, Orlean writes about her grandfather’s Rin Tin Tin desk statue as a spark to her childhood fascination with America’s most heroic dog. It was on September 18, 1918, that Rin Tin Tin, his mother, and littermates were found by in the war-torn French countryside by American soldier Lee Duncan. And from now on, September 18 will always be Rin Tin Tin Day to me. Last week, I finished reading Susan Orlean’s Rin Tin Tin: The Life and The Legend. ![]() ![]() ![]() There is no way in which to understand the world without first detecting it through the radar-net of our senses… Our senses define the edge of consciousness, and because we are born explorers and questors after the unknown, we spend a lot of our lives pacing that windswept perimeter: We take drugs we go to circuses we tramp through jungles we listen to loud music we purchase exotic fragrances we pay hugely for culinary novelties, and are even willing to risk our lives to sample a new taste. ![]() That plurality is what science historian and poet Diane Ackerman explores with unparalleled elegance in A Natural History of the Senses ( public library) - her 1990 masterwork of science and poetics, which gave us the fascinating inner workings of smell. The same sliver of “reality” - a table, a flower, a city block - is experienced in a wholly different way by a bird, a dog, Blake, and you. Out of such seemingly simple discoveries across the animal kingdom sprang the rattling realization that our notion of “reality” is really a plurality of radically divergent impressions, shaped by the singular biases of perception that each of us brings to our experience of the world. “How do you know but that every bird that cleaves the aerial way is not an immense world of delight closed to your senses five?” So marveled William Blake two centuries before we had the tools to confirm that, at the very least, every dog is a world of delight closed to our limited powers of sensorial perception. ![]() ![]() So, right from the beginning, I was glad to see the diversity and that it was somewhat ahead of its times. The main character is a female technologist working for a male head of the NSA (okay two male heads, one is African American, one is Caucasian). I was excited to solve the very last puzzle and work out the answer on my own… so that was a nice ending. What that actually means is very different from what we come to learn in the book. A man dies, he threatened to reveal all the US secrets from the NSA site. I admit fully, it was a little too technical at times… not that I didn’t understand it, but I couldn’t focus on the story. ![]() Much of the theory and approach is different today, and while you don’t need to understand technology to enjoy the book, it helps… and if you know a bit about it (I work in the field), you will feel a different connection. ![]() Published in 1998, the key thing readers must remember is that if you’re devouring it now, remember how much technology and security has changed in the last two decades. Before I head there, let’s chat about this book. ![]() I’m determined to make that a 2021 reading goal. I enjoy thrillers and suspense novels, but I haven’t figured out my favorite authors in this genre yet. I am now up to date and awaiting whatever comes next (outside his newer children’s release). ![]() Digital Fortress is the first book Dan Brown published, and it’s the last of his that I read. ![]() ![]() Maurice Broaddus's Sweep of Stars is the first in a trilogy that explores the struggles of an empire. Lewis George Orwell Mary Pope Osborne LeUyen Pham Dav Pilkey Roger Priddy Rick Riordan J.
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![]() ![]() That book showed YA readers what it may have been like for someone who had to take refuge in the Superdome. Until yesterday, I had only read one of those books, Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi. Even now, we wonder when the next big storm will hit and if the lessons learned from Katrina prepared people–especially the powers-that-be–for the worst.Īfter Katrina, many books, both fiction and nonfiction, were written talking about people who made it through the storm. ![]() In many ways, Katrina opened everyone’s eyes to the damage that Mother Nature was capable of…and how the best and worst in people could be revealed from such a tragedy. I recall watching the news reports, donating to food and supply drives, and seeing new people–those who had lost their homes in the storm–move into the apartment complex I was living in at the time. I can remember the feelings of horror when everyone learned of the devastation on the Gulf Coast, particularly in New Orleans. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been almost nine years since Hurricane Katrina hit. ![]() ![]() ![]() Thank you for purchasing this Pocket Books eBook. If you enjoy shifter books, then this is a must-add to your reading list.” “A fast-paced story that’s got both humor and heat. possesses humor and a protective male character similar to those of Katie MacAlister. “The adorable relationship between Bathsheba and Beau drives the story and will leave readers eager for more.” Add a heroine who is plucky and brave, and a hero who is sexy and powerful, and you get a story filled with sizzle and spark!” “A world that is both dangerous and humorous. The wolf leader’s face contorted with rage. “In accordance with the law of the Bjorn and the were-bear clans, I claim this one as my mate.” ![]() Then, Ramsey spoke the longest sentence I’d ever heard from him. My entire body tensed and I waited.Ī colossal hand clasped my shoulder and yanked me backward against a massive, firm body. The alpha smiled, a possessive, smug look. “All right,” I said, “I’m now part of the wolf pack.” ![]() ![]() With the Empire fracturing, both the Emperor and others with the power to challenge him can summon the Mandate of Heaven.Ī local fortune teller describes the fate of two children from a peasant family. ![]() In this historical reimagining, the Mandate of Heaven is a literal flame that can be summoned by the Emperor. The novel is set in 14th century China, during the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty and the Red Turban Rebellions. ![]() The book won both the Best Novel and Best Newcomer awards at the British Fantasy Awards, and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction and the Hugo Award for Best Novel, making Parker-Chan the first Australian to be nominated for the latter award. Parker-Chan's debut novel, the work is a re-imagining of the rise to power of the Hongwu Emperor in the 14th century. ![]() She Who Became the Sun is a 2021 historical fantasy novel by Shelley Parker-Chan. ![]() ![]() Is he the victim's guest? The Detective's assistant? The narrator himself? Lupin's status as a criminal is balanced by his trademark gentlemanly behavior, allowing him to come off as heroic rather than a villain, though his actions do often earn him a fair share of What the Hell, Hero?. Part of the books' success is due to Lupin's status as a Master of Disguise: When opening a book, one is never sure who is Lupin in this story. Other stories even have Lupin looking for lost treasures. Stories tend to vary from following various detectives in their attempts to stop Lupin or figure out what he did, to Lupin facing other villains. The Lupin stories were meant as a reversal of the detective stories that were massively popular at the time - Lupin is instead the criminal. ![]() Maurice Leblanc's ' Gentleman Thief' who is part crime-solving (and crime-committing) mastermind, part prince of romance and the Trope Codifier of Phantom Thief, first appearing in novels and short stories, starting in 1905. Odds are he sent them a copy of the letter. Calling police after reading is heavily disadvised. ![]() |