Abrash's Zen of Graphics Programming was my first programming book I really loved.. still thanks, but no thanks. > Well, Google has some new, ridiculous thing,

Abrash's Zen of Graphics Programming was my first programming book I really loved.. still thanks, but no thanks. > Well, Google has some new, ridiculous thing, they're marketing glasses which have a small computer on them. So you can be on the internet 24 hours a day, just what you want. It's a way of destroying people, http://grittv.org/?video=noam-chomsky-on-secret-trade-deals-killing-polio-workers-fighting-for-the-commons-in-turkey-the-heroism-of-bradley-manning http://grittv.org/?video=noam-chomsky-on-secret-trade-deals-... Call him an old fool for not liking your toy, but I think he has his priorities straight, which not a lot of people can say for themselves. > smart, motivated people who want to change the world People who do things like invent penicillin don't talk about "changing the world" or "inventing the future" all the time. Orwell enhanced our perspective on a lot of things but I think he simply wanted to get it out of his system. Kafka? Wanted his stuff burned. Konrad Zuse? Was painfully aware of the pacts with the devil, something the "greats" of today just take as axiomatic. I could go on. Yes, there were also a lot of great people totally full of themselves, and they still were great. But generally, changing the world for the better happens in hindsight. Rosa Parks didn't want to end segregation -- not that she didn't want it to end, my point is she was just sick of being pushed around. That's where most meaningful change happens, humble and concerned with the thing and not with the change, and then some needy assholes swoop in and take credit. These engineers may be exceptional in their fields, but this and all it rubs shoulders with, in the bigger scheme and considering really great people, both big and small, is highly driven mediocrity, constantly touting its own horn. Entertainment and ads, ads and entertainment. Everything's so awesome and paradigm shifting, as new avenues to fill more landfills with old product are created. People have specific questions, concerns, needs, desires. Those keep getting ignored or twisted for profit, while more gimmicks and tools of surveillance and control are pushed and rationalized. These days, everybody is aligned with marketing. I'm slightly sorry for being negative but only for those normal people who are excited about this stuff. I don't want to pee on your parade. Everybody has their hobbies, but when people talk about the future and the world and the human condition and whatnot they're in the territory of greats, and in this case it's like bringing a footgun to a nuclear war. At any rate, this isn't some guy starting out in his garage, he'll live and prosper either way. To be honest, what triggered me mostly is how I cherished that book, just because it was the first cool one I had. Now it doesn't feel cool anymore. Otherwise I still have the above thoughts with plenty of stories or comments, but I just roll my eyes. But this is a master of his field laying it on so very thickly.