Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

The forum started talking about driverless cars. And I remembered why I have no confidence in such devices

I have a battered old book published back in the USSR. This is a collection of science fiction stories, all of them with a detective bias. There are stories by writers from Great Britain, the GDR (at that time), Poland, the USA, France, Czechoslovakia (then there was) and Japan. The book is called "The Dying Night", after the title of the short story by Isaac Asimov included in the collection.

Among the 16 stories there is one about a car with a human mind, written by the Japanese writer Koji Tanaka. Naturally, it did not lead to anything good I still don't trust driverless cars.

Among others, there are a few more that I remember. For example, the story "A Kind of Homo Sapiens" by the Polish writer Konrad Fialkowsky. Interestingly, Fialkowsky was a programmer operator of the first Polish computer and a specialist in the field of computer science and computer technology. Perhaps @puppy_apprentice has read not only Lem, but also remembers Professor Konrad

Also in the book there is a story by Pierre Boulle called "How much does a sonnet weigh?" The essence there is this. The writer dies at his desk and drops a match, which destroys his work. The heroes of the story are trying to restore the lost work. Not quite like Sherlock Holmes in the story "Dancing Men", but also interesting By the way, the author is the same Pierre Boulle who wrote "Planet of the Apes" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai".

The rest of the stories are also good, but I need an incentive, some spark to remember them quickly. It is best of course just to re-read it again

Grey wrote: Thu Aug 04, 2022 8:04 pm

The rest of the stories are also good, but I need an incentive, some spark to remember them quickly. It is best of course just to re-read it again :)

I've been rereading Ray Bradbury. The spark has been seeing just how much I missed the first time almost 60 years ago.

The Star Trek series (I to XII) of collected episodes written by James Blish has been in my library for many years.

"Fail Safe" was required reading in JHS. Other summer list books I have include "2001", "Andromeda Strain", "Lucifer's Hammer", "V", "Fantastic Voyage", "The Man Who Fell to Earth" among others.

8Geee

The Star Trek series (I to XII)

I've actually read the whole series not too long ago. This is actually just an adaption of the script for the tv series written in book form. They did a marvelous job with the tv series. The Bond films are also so much better compared to the Ian Fleming books

"The Bridge on the River Kwai".

One of the best films ever.

amethyst wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 3:02 am

"The Bridge on the River Kwai".

One of the best films ever.

It's David Lean and Alec Guinness. The movie just couldn't turn out to be bad or average

Here in the uk and im speaking of the late 70s early 80s i read an awful lot of small war books called "commando" which were relatively small in size but highly addictive.They were pictorial with speech bubbles and i literally had thousands of them..world war 2 was the main subject of these but rarely do i see them now.

xenial wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 4:25 pm

small war books called "commando" which were relatively small in size but highly addictive.They were pictorial with speech bubbles and i literally had thousands of them..world war 2 was the main subject of these but rarely do i see them now.

Are these the ones? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_(comics)

Are these the ones? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_(comics)

Yes, got through quite a few of them myself.

rockedge wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 6:30 pm

xenial wrote: Fri Aug 05, 2022 4:25 pm

small war books called "commando" which were relatively small in size but highly addictive.They were pictorial with speech bubbles and i literally had thousands of them..world war 2 was the main subject of these but rarely do i see them now.

Are these the ones? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commando_(comics)

Good grief yes indeed.!
Those are the very ones..i had thousands of them.
can they ever be acquired again or are they even sold anymore.

thanks rockedge that brought back so many good memories.

@xenial this looks like it is possible to still get them!

https://www.commandocomics.com/

here is a free example : https://edition.pagesuite.com/html5/rea ... 8320cdc7b7

At the end of last year I wanted to buy in Kharkov (Ukraine) the complete collection of books by Clifford Simak in 18 volumes. But some circumstances prevented me. Now I'm looking in Russia.

No, it is clear that it is possible and better to read in the original language, in English. And cheaper on an electronic reader

However, I have the first six volumes of the collection that I managed to buy once. I really want to put together a complete set after all. Besides, there is a good translation into Russian. This complete collection of all Simak's works was released in Riga (Latvia) before the collapse of the USSR (or rather right during).

And besides, you can cover your face with a paper book and snore under it. Plus the smell of paper. It's all important

I already have the complete collection of Abraham Merritt. It remains to find the Isaac Asimov collection. And then the three classic American science fiction writers will be in full force.

@Grey
https://za1lib.org/s/clifford%20simak
https://za1lib.org/s/clifford%20simak%20collection
and so on...

Thanks, amethyst, for the link. Great collection.

amethyst wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 10:42 am

and so on...

Thanks. But you're just forcing me to TRY to reread two books in English "All flesh is grass" and "They walked like men".

A little bit about the film adaptations of fiction.

I watched a new movie about a Predator. Prey. On the way to the store, I even participated in an impromptu discussion of the film on a bench

The essence of the discussion:
The first participant: you don't know anything about the life of Indian tribes. From a historical point of view...
The second participant: everything is clear, a proud, independent woman proves to the men that they are suckers! And why the men of the tribe...
The third participant: but how did she understand from the explanation what a pistol barrel, bullet and gunpowder are if she has never seen a pistol? What a...

The fourth participant (me): guys, it's okay, it could have been worse!

Such things

Grey wrote: Tue Aug 09, 2022 9:07 am

A little bit about the film adaptations of fiction.

I watched a new movie about a Predator. Prey. On the way to the store, I even participated in an impromptu discussion of the film on a bench

The essence of the discussion:
The first participant: you don't know anything about the life of Indian tribes. From a historical point of view...
The second participant: everything is clear, a proud, independent woman proves to the men that they are suckers! And why the men of the tribe...
The third participant: but how did she understand from the explanation what a pistol barrel, bullet and gunpowder are if she has never seen a pistol? What a...

The fourth participant (me): guys, it's okay, it could have been worse!

Such things

Movie mistakes? What mistakes? It's made for your entertainment and should not be taken seriously.
The alien warrior is sometimes really strong in the films https://characterprofile.fandom.com/wik ... character),
sometimes gets destroyed by a short and skinny fashion model.