There was a time, when I dearly loved #TerryPratchett and #DouglasAdams, and they will always have a sweet spot in my heart for the many laughs and for all the cultural heritage, they left us.
However: Whenever I now grab one of their #books, their style and language feels terribly outdated and, frankly, boring to me.
"Sie haben also einen Master in Computer-Science in Harvard gemacht, danach bei Oracle, Apple, Microsoft, SAP mehrere Großprojekte erfolgreich durchgeführt und wollen trotzdem für 1800€ Brutto bei uns als Senior-Developer arbeiten?"
"Ja total gerne."
"Dann kennen Sie doch sicher auch die Antwort auf die Frage nach dem Leben, dem Universum und dem ganzen Rest?"
I read Bob Mortimer's 'Satsuma Complex'. It is a cute book, silly, funny and very readable. It is also a book about loneliness and the need for imagination to create connection. I liked it. It reminded me a little of #DouglasAdams, though kinder
Spent a very pleasant 40 minutes or so listening and watching this old video lecture by Douglas Adams. Highly recommend. I wish all makers, manufacturers and tech folks would take the time to see it early in their careers. The last 10 minutes is intense. #DouglasAdams#Extinction
#FinishedReading This book was pretty much the funniest thing ever when I first read it as an adolescent, and it's been fun to see my 11 year old son discover it. Re-reading it now is a rather different experience as the surprise of the jokes has mostly gone, but even that is testament to how effective #DouglasAdams was at inserting his gags into my long term memory. A comfort read for sure #Bookstodon@bookstodon
42 lautet die Antwort auf alle Fragen des Universums. Geliefert hat sie der britische Schriftsteller Douglas Adams in seiner Geschichte "Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis". Am 11. März wäre Adams 72 Jahre alt geworden.
🌌 On this day in 1978 the very first episode of the very first version of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy went out on Radio 4. We can't tell you how proud that makes us.
Here's a lovely programme about Douglas and his creation, presented by his friend John Lloyd, that went out on the 40th anniversary.
“Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.”
I need your help #bookstodon. One of the classes I'm taking at the graduate level this semester is Religion & Science Fiction. I read more fantasy, and would like to do my research paper on something that's not obvious (like ST/BS5/Matrix/etc.) & I'd love to use more modern sf rather than the golden age classics.
Anyone have any interesting ideas for my research paper on regarding the intersection of religion and science fiction?
I'll mention #DouglasAdams as well. But point you toward Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. It's goofy and fun and not terribly deep, but the conceit that Earth was built as a computer to figure out the ultimate question strikes me as an answer to religion.
"Die Pläne für die Hyperraum-Expressroute lagen 50 Erdenjahre in dem für die Erde zuständigen Planungsamt auf Alpha Centauri aus, so dass genug Zeit für eine formelle Beschwerde gewesen wäre. Doch die Erdlinge kümmerten sich nicht darum, obwohl es doch nur vier Lichtjahre entfernt liegt."
-- Douglas Adams - Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis
I don't normally share prompts, but I wondered what #StableDiffusion
would do with an indirect quote from The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy...
The prompt was:"a movie still of alien space ships of the Vogon destructor fleet that look more like they have been congealed than constructed, hanging in the air in much the same way that bricks don't, above Los Angeles,"
I don't normally share prompts, but I wondered what #StableDiffusion
would do with an indirect quote from The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy...
The prompt was:"a movie still of alien space ships of the Vogon destructor fleet that look more like they have been congealed than constructed, hanging in the air in much the same way that bricks don't, above Los Angeles,"
@opencage You forgot to credit Slartibartfast for his award-winning design:
“Did you ever go to a place… I think it was called #Norway?”
“No,” said Arthur, “no, I didn’t.”
“Pity,” said Slartibartfast, “that was one of mine. Won an award, you know. Lovely crinkly edges. I was most upset to hear of its destruction.”
— ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’ by #DouglasAdams