“It seems like I always wrote, I just didn't think of it as a career choice. I just liked to tell stories ... to myself, to pen pals (I had a lot of them, all over the world). Of course this was in the days before computers were everywhere, and anyone could access the Web. You had to make an effort keeping up a correspondence, and the arrival of the mail once a day was a big deal. I think if modern technology had been around when I was a kid, I would never have left my bedroom except to take the dogs out for their run three times a day.” IfsThinkingWorldStoriesBigsSeemsRunningKidsChoicesThreeCoursesLeftDealsEffortCareersTechnologyModernDogComputerAccessPensMailBedroomThree TimesBig DealArrivalsCorrespondencePalsModern TechnologyCareers Choices Author:Charles de Lint
“Suppose aliens invade the earth and threaten to obliterate it in a year's time unless human beings can find the Ramsey number for red five and blue five. We could marshal the world's best minds and fastest computers, and within a year we could probably calculate the value. If the aliens demanded the Ramsey number for red six and blue six, however, we would have no choice but to launch a preemptive attack.” IfsWorldYearsMindHumansEarthValuesChoicesHuman BeingsNumbersFiveSixComputerRedBlueAliens Author:Paul Erdos
“Capital burns off the nuance in a culture. Foreign investment, global markets, corporate acquisitions, the flow of information through transnational media, the attenuating influence of money that's electronic and sex that's cyberspaced, untouched money and computer-safe sex, the convergence of consumer desire--not that people want the same things, necessarily, but that they want the same range of choices.” PeopleWantDesireChoicesCultureSexInfluenceMediaInformationSafeComputerFlowInvestmentConsumersCorporateRangeAcquisitionNuanceConvergence Book:Underworld: Picador Classic Source: Underworld: Picador Classic
“Indeed, being a beginner is very difficult right now. Book publishers are in a crisis, sales are dwindling, and publishing houses are losing money, doing their best to survive. It's a sign of the times, the emergence of new kinds of entertainment -- there's nothing we can do about it. I don't think books will perish for good. They could become less widespread, though, falling even further behind movies and computer games. But we shouldn't be afraid of this, because books will always remain the entertainment of choice for intelligent people, of whom there are still many in this world.” PeopleThinkingWorldKindStillsBookChoicesFallGamesHouseDifficultCan DoBehindsThis WorldRight NowComputerLosingIntelligentCrisisEntertainmentPublishingPublishersEmergenceBeginnersComputer GamesLosing MoneyPublishing House Author:Sergei Lukyanenko