There is a common saying in my social circle (europe, data engineering) - 'being fired is the best thing that can happen to you', the market is still hot, plenty of jobs available, you often end up with a severance package and ... you'll finally have time to backpack through the country.
Having a month for yourself, just to chill, do hobbies, backpack, mountains sometimes is a blessing.
Yeah, it felt so wrong to see Lem up there. The fact that he was renowned in Soviet Union does not make him any Soviet. From what I've read of his works + his biography, he reminds me more of early US science-fiction writers than any of soviet ones.
I've had similar thoughts regarding the roadside picnic, the older I am, the more depressing it feels.
I would highly recommend another Strugatskys book - 'Monday starts on Saturday', it is pure humor, as opposed to other works of theirs. It's about a soviet scientist that joins government's study on magic. Bureaucracy never been funnier, of course outside of 'The Twelve Tasks of Asterix', 1976.
Of the Ender series books, I've read the whole quintet - Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender in Exile.
I've enjoyed all five of them, although the quality drops which each of the instance. Speaker for the Dead is worth the time for sure, the other three I'm not entirely convinced. Speaker won a Hugo award in 1987.
Of Card's novels, the Shadow Saga, is a pretty good read thou. I've enjoyed it more than the Ender's one. It is set in the same universe, and focuses on Bean - another child from the Battle School. It drifts towards political fiction.
If I were to choose three fiction, those would make the cut.
Fiction:
The Invincible by Stanislaw Lem - It shed light on me in regards to microelectronics, swarm intelligence. Nothing ever eased my learning curve more for genetic algorithms like this short novel! It is also a good read in general. It also taught me that the difference in scientific vs force vs emotional approach to unknown. Would recommend as a springboard from a day-to-day acitivities.
Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky - a Soviet sf classic, I've read it 3x already. It tells a story about a closed zone where 'aliens' left their artifcats, and how that changed people around them.
Ender's Game - I don't think there is an explanation needed. It is a total classic. It helps a lot to understand outsiders, not just aliens but a humans too.
It's actually refreshing to read about airport that has been properly decorated with signs. Without proper information it can get really messy. This plus the stress that often comes with visiting airports makes it a really tough UX case.
I'm glad that this terminal was tested properly, I wish some airports could do the same in following months!
Also, worth nothing,
“wide enough to open the door and roll in a bag without bumping into anything,”
This sounds like an absolute opposite to hostile architecture trend that spawns public places nowadays.
Disco Elysium is a piece of art! A lot of text, but what a fulfilling experience.
It is, sadly only a one timer. For continuous entertainment I can recommend Into The Breach - the best UX of a strategy game I've ever seen. It is replayable for hours and hours, and is great at every moment of gameplay.
In Poland we have a different name for that phenomenon 'pilnowanie domu' which translates to 'guarding the house / watching the house'. It does have a implication in the name, that those who are affected tend to do nothing productive or organized, they just sit and watch.
It's a sad reality for some people, I do know some people that are living this way.
"One does not simply walk into Mordor," Boromir says. "Its black gates are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep. The great eye is ever watchful."
I'd assume the great eye w/o all the distraction caused by war would've easily sniped the eagles.
The title of he article caught me off guard, but there is no wrong, per the definition UFO - unidentified flying object. Due to influence of popular culture, the UFO acronym is easily mistook for 'alien craft' in some parts of the world.
I do wonder what those UFOs are, intuition would say rockets or satellites.
Free to Play (2014) [1]
I've enjoyed this documentary a lot. It follow three DOTA players and theirs life prior to 'The International', a first million dollar e-sport tournament.
What caught my attention the most, is that, despite the three main characters (Dendi - Ukraine, Fear - USA, hyhy - Singapore) come from very different backgrounds and cultures, they treat the game almost the same - as a way of living.
I've read an article about Japanese policeman that've lost a floppy disks with personal data of some Japanese men, it was a story from this January.
This data leak, due to obscurity and the volume was more of a joke in my country, than a serious news. I do however wonder, what it was back in the day? I've never heard of any large scale data leaks involving floppy disks, perhaps I'm too young.
Well, that doesn't sound surprising. I'm glad that my country have gotten past soviet-era drinking. Nowadays the issues are just about the whisper marketing on social media which I hope soon will be regulated.