Author Archives: smellincoffee

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About smellincoffee

Citizen, librarian, reader with a boundless wonder for the world and a curiosity about all the beings inside it.

Doctorow duo on digital rights activism

Posted on June 2, 2022 by smellincoffee

I recently read two short titles by Cory Doctorow, a SF author and internet freedom activist. For  at least the last twenty years, Cory Doctorow has been thinking about the future of intellectual property, copyright, and the open internet. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Warmer

Posted on June 1, 2022 by smellincoffee

I’m currently without internet (going on a week now) because AT&T is as efficient as one might expect a bloated former monopoly with decades of entrenched bureaucracy and labyrinthine phone trees to be. I’m still reading, though: I recently finished … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 10 Comments

CS Lewis and the Catholic Church

Posted on May 26, 2022 by smellincoffee

C.S. Lewis and the Catholic Church© 2013 Joseph Pearce280 pages When C.S. Lewis began writing on Christian belief and practice in the mid-20th century,  reviewers at the time took it for granted that he had joined the Catholic church, despite … Continue reading →

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Optimal

Posted on May 23, 2022 by smellincoffee

Optimal© 2020 J.M. Berger355 pages Jack has known nothing but the System his entire life.  He rises when it tells him to, he dresses in the outfit its algorithms choose for him, he follows prompts to a selected diner and … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Excellence requires work

Posted on May 23, 2022 by smellincoffee
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Cloud Judgement

Posted on May 20, 2022 by smellincoffee

Cloud Judgement© 2022 Kat Wheeler193 pages Cam Caldwell was a conscientious saleswoman whose interest in a product defect inadvertently threw her into the middle of a murder mystery.  The culmination of that drama in There is no Cloud cost Cam … Continue reading →

Posted in science fiction | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Dogfight

Posted on May 20, 2022 by smellincoffee

Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution© 2013 Fred Vogelstein272 pages Fifteen years ago, Apple inaugurated a technical and social revolution when it released the first iPhone.  It did so in close partnership with Google, … Continue reading →

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Channeling my inner Veruca Salt

Posted on May 13, 2022 by smellincoffee

“Gooses! Geeses!”

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Commandos, Inklings, and powershell

Posted on May 11, 2022 by smellincoffee

If you can’t tell, dear readers, I’m in something of a reading funk — nibbling at many books but not immersed in any. Life has gotten busy recently: I’m now officially on a transplant list, a friend was just married, … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, historical fiction, Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

I’m going to do it again

Posted on May 8, 2022 by smellincoffee

Welcome to the world, baby boy, I’ll paint you red and white and blue The indoctrination starts as soon as you come out the womb Pretty quick we’ll make you stupid with curriculums at school And if the classroom doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in General | 3 Comments