Reader's Corner

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Stuart
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Stuart »

Is Google making us stupid?

Not a book, and reasonably old, but an interesting read nonetheless.
When the Net absorbs a medium, that medium is re-created in the Net’s image. It injects the medium’s content with hyperlinks, blinking ads, and other digital gewgaws, and it surrounds the content with the content of all the other media it has absorbed. A new e-mail message, for instance, may announce its arrival as we’re glancing over the latest headlines at a newspaper’s site. The result is to scatter our attention and diffuse our concentration.

The Net’s influence doesn’t end at the edges of a computer screen, either. As people’s minds become attuned to the crazy quilt of Internet media, traditional media have to adapt to the audience’s new expectations. Television programs add text crawls and pop-up ads, and magazines and newspapers shorten their articles, introduce capsule summaries, and crowd their pages with easy-to-browse info-snippets. When, in March of this year, TheNew York Times decided to devote the second and third pages of every edition to article abstracts , its design director, Tom Bodkin, explained that the “shortcuts” would give harried readers a quick “taste” of the day’s news, sparing them the “less efficient” method of actually turning the pages and reading the articles. Old media have little choice but to play by the new-media rules.

Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives—or exerted such broad influence over our thoughts—as the Internet does today. Yet, for all that’s been written about the Net, there’s been little consideration of how, exactly, it’s reprogramming us. The Net’s intellectual ethic remains obscure.
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by jee »

Reading my mind Rattie? I have just read Carr's article (and posted on it)
Perhaps this needs a thread on its own, but here in the readers corner....
what I have been reading this morning:

multitasking
hmmmm
innerwebs cognitive effects on your brain
"Integrity" and "integer" both contain a Latin root meaning "whole; complete." The root sense, then, is that people may be said to be acting with integrity when their beliefs, words, and actions have a sense of unity or wholeness.
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Stuart »

jee wrote:Reading my mind Rattie? I have just read Carr's article (and posted on it)
Perhaps this needs a thread on its own, but here in the readers corner....
what I have been reading this morning:

multitasking
hmmmm
innerwebs cognitive effects on your brain
Certainly not on purpose. Your mind is not a place I'd choose to hang around volitionally.
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jee
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by jee »

*wonders if she should take offense or just feel sad*
"Integrity" and "integer" both contain a Latin root meaning "whole; complete." The root sense, then, is that people may be said to be acting with integrity when their beliefs, words, and actions have a sense of unity or wholeness.
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Tribble »

Neither jee - the mouse is not able to handle what truths you hide. ;-)
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by jee »

to be totally honest, my mind is like the Faraway Tree....
"Integrity" and "integer" both contain a Latin root meaning "whole; complete." The root sense, then, is that people may be said to be acting with integrity when their beliefs, words, and actions have a sense of unity or wholeness.
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Tribble »

Oh how I remember those stories :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faraway_Tree

I would agree with you
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Stuart »

jee wrote:*wonders if she should take offense or just feel sad*
:lol:

:hug:
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by freeboy »

Tribble wrote:Freeboy - long time no see :D

Estoril books is having a 20% off all books on Monday 26 July. I cannot go :( I will be onsite at a client - far far away :(
Ahoy Lady Tribble :) It's been a while. The freeboy is too busy fighting imaginary dragons to tend to 'real' life's affairs doncha know ;)

Book sales? Always a good time and somewhere to spend all the money I've been hoarding :)
Last edited by freeboy on 25 Jul 2010, 13:50, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Tribble »

Think of me while you do. My to read pile glares at me daily.
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by freeboy »

I will do that :) I'm in the same boat though, I buy more books than I read. I haunt book stores!
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Of the Voyage of Eärendil , The Silmarillion
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Tribble »

I do to. The guy at our bookshop knows me now and knows that I generally always buy something
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by RuadRauFlessa »

Well I hit a sale this weekend got myself

R.A Salvatore - Homeland
Frank Herbert - Dune
Raymond E. Feist - The Magician
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Mystical_Titan »

Man, David Gemmell was a master of fantasy. Waylander is brilliant. Will be done with it by tomorrow!
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by freeboy »

I want to get started on Neil Gaiman's American Gods and Orson Scott Card's Tales of Alvin Maker... How I wish the days were longer.
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Of the Voyage of Eärendil , The Silmarillion
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by UrBaN »

Ok guys I'm looking for a REALLY good series to read. It's my birthday coming up, so I'm hoping to get something good to read, that is lengthy and interesting.

Any suggestions? I like all genre, but mainly Sci-Fi, Fantasy, adventure, crime, whodunnits and so forth...
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by KatrynKat »

jee wrote:to be totally honest, my mind is like the Faraway Tree....
i love that book, we used to read it every night, miss those days, gotta find it somewhere in the house, nearly time to read it to my kids...
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by StarPhoenix »

The Enchanted Wood? I used to listen to that on Soundbox [old Springbok Radio]
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by UrBaN »

Oh hell yea, with Moonface!
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Re: Reader's Corner

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UrBaN wrote:Ok guys I'm looking for a REALLY good series to read. It's my birthday coming up, so I'm hoping to get something good to read, that is lengthy and interesting.

Any suggestions? I like all genre, but mainly Sci-Fi, Fantasy, adventure, crime, whodunnits and so forth...
Sorry man, looking for the same thing myself, but maybe someone else here can help you.
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Tribble »

ROFL The magician by Raymond E Feist (The Riftwar Saga) - three books I believe - are awesome.
The Books of the new sun - Ursula Le Guin <sp> (Shadow of the Torturer is the first one.) 4 or 5 books there I believe
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by UrBaN »

Sounds good - what genre etc are they?
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by senile »

UrBaN wrote:
UrBaN wrote:Ok guys I'm looking for a REALLY good series to read. It's my birthday coming up, so I'm hoping to get something good to read, that is lengthy and interesting.

Any suggestions? I like all genre, but mainly Sci-Fi, Fantasy, adventure, crime, whodunnits and so forth...
Sorry man, looking for the same thing myself, but maybe someone else here can help you.
Top shelf in the left cabinet. Take two every hour :)

But seriously, try Catcher in the rye by J. D. Salinger if you haven't yet.
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by UrBaN »

I haven't yet - good idea.

I've heard much of The Dark Tower series - is that good?
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Re: Reader's Corner

Post by Tribble »

Dark Tower is awesome.

The ones I mentioned are fantasy. The Shadow of the Torturer is darker than the Magician series. But they are both my fav sets.
(Never read Catcher in the Rye. Something about it being a school setwork put me off.)
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