Boonoo Boonoo River, New South Wales Superthread

[coolian2]

I spend too much time at a screen, and so all books have to be paper books. They just have to.

I'm probably 70/30 paper to digital. It's a bit like if I'm researching an essay - I prefer to have a hard copy of journal articles or chapters. Even if they're just printed out copies of something only available online, damn it I'm going to print it.

 

[Axver]

I spend too much time at a screen, and so all books have to be paper books. They just have to.

No kidding.

I just find paper books to be more comfortable too. I may be ardently pro-MP3, anti-physical music, but I'm the exact opposite on books (well maybe not exact, because I'm not militant about it, while I do think the whole vinyl revival is hilariously stupid).

When I can't find the physical book for love nor money, I compromise.

Also if I want to refer to or check something without always lugging a lot of books around, it's handy to have a digital copy.

Oh yeah, I can see the advantages to it. Whenever I travel there's a bit of a dilemma over what books to pack.

But for professional purposes basically nothing I would need has an ebook version so it's a moot point anyway.

 

[coolian2]

I was once with two of Australia's most senior history professors having a race like little kids to see who could enter an appointment quicker, the one using a phone and the one with a paper diary. The one with a paper diary had it entered before the one using a phone had even opened the calendar to the appropriate date.

Yep. There's a reason I do the electronic option when I'm sitting down, essentially captive.

 

[Axver]

Well I could add to that that it might not be different if it was coming to my town, either. I'm a bit of a homebody, and being self-employed, not going anywhere saves a ton of money. I cope ok. I'd probably cope ok anywhere that had acceptable internet access and a good public library - which in fairness is probably Toowoomba-scale.

For me there's definitely some of, as the kids would say, FOMO about it. But I also find live shows a good way to relax, especially when I'm teaching. A good way that doesn't involve getting sloshed at home.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Old mate Jeffrey Sachs! Gee wasn't he a little hero around here once upon a time when Bono could barely appear in public without him. I remember being most amused during my first year of a PolSci major to discover basically everybody who knew anything about topics related to areas in which he was involved thought him a great simpleton.

I do wonder if China's economic growth is actually sufficiently sustainable to maintain it as a superpower, but yes, it most certainly has the global influence and clout to hold its own on the world stage. And in terms of fermenting hate towards it in the US, well, that ground's already fertile thanks to widespread racism.

It was a mutually beneficial relationship - Sachs was Bono's pet economist, and Bono was the establishment's pet rock star. Oh for the early noughties, and has anyone enquired into Bono's 'charity work' lately, because I get the vibe that the outlook has changed a bit since those days of Jubilee 2000 and the like. Get the feeling Bono's more of a mogul these days.

China's present growth (already slowing) may or may not be sustainable, I wouldn't know. But China as a fact of life, is not going away.

 

[Axver]

I'm probably 70/30 paper to digital. It's a bit like if I'm researching an essay - I prefer to have a hard copy of journal articles or chapters. Even if they're just printed out copies of something only available online, damn it I'm going to print it.

Ha, now I usually resist the urge to print journal articles.

But that's because I realised I had way too much stuff printed/photocopied and that digital copies would both save me space and save a forest.

 

[Kieran McConville]

For me there's definitely some of, as the kids would say, FOMO about it. But I also find live shows a good way to relax, especially when I'm teaching. A good way that doesn't involve getting sloshed at home.

Yeah, I can get that. Probably I'm on the downhill side of getting sloshed at home, in that I like my wine, but I don't really hit it hard anymore. Just three or four glasses is fine.

Sometimes the best way to relax is to just lie very quietly on a bed for an hour or two staring at the ceiling.

 

[coolian2]

while I do think the whole vinyl revival is hilariously stupid

Heh. My ex and I were house-sitting about two months ago, and we picked up the keys the day before and got a quick lesson on how to make the nice stereo play vinyl records.

We got back down to the car and the conversation was basically:

"Do you even have any vinyl records?"
"Nope"
"Didn't think so. I think we can forget that lesson and replace it with something useful later on. Lunch?"
"Yep"

Oh yeah, I can see the advantages to it. Whenever I travel there's a bit of a dilemma over what books to pack.

But for professional purposes basically nothing I would need has an ebook version so it's a moot point anyway.

Yeah, for academic purposes I can usually pull a PDF of the book from our library website, not that I've needed to yet. Now that I have a better backpack and not just a laptop bag I'm less fussy about carrying actual paper books.

Going to/from class my priority is academic books, so that's why the entertainment books for the commute come from the tablet.

 

[Axver]

It was a mutually beneficial relationship - Sachs was Bono's pet economist, and Bono was the establishment's pet rock star. Oh for the early noughties, and has anyone enquired into Bono's 'charity work' lately, because I get the vibe that the outlook has changed a bit since those days of Jubilee 2000 and the like. Get the feeling Bono's more of a mogul these days.

China's present growth (already slowing) may or may not be sustainable, I wouldn't know. But China as a fact of life, is not going away.

Apparently Bono was doing some big thang after those U2 performances earlier this month? I really didn't give a shit enough to pay attention. People here were acting as if it was a big deal he was attending, but of course they were. I can't imagine anyone who actually counts is being particularly influenced by representations from Bono.

It is a fascinating accident of history that Europe's great global expansion happened to occur at exactly the same time when China was extraordinarily weak. Yes, now we are just returning to the historical norm.

 

[coolian2]

Ha, now I usually resist the urge to print journal articles.

But that's because I realised I had way too much stuff printed/photocopied and that digital copies would both save me space and save a forest.

I find I use them, hold onto them for a week longer than I need them and chuck them into a recycling bin.

If I need them after that, I've got them on my reference list - go back to the assignment and use a freaking database.

My print once rule has been surprisingly effective. I hate self control though.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I'm probably 70/30 paper to digital. It's a bit like if I'm researching an essay - I prefer to have a hard copy of journal articles or chapters. Even if they're just printed out copies of something only available online, damn it I'm going to print it.

The last time, in fairness, that I was researching journal articles at any routine rate, they were either on paper or on microfilm. Microfilm obviously one kinda of had to print.

But if we're talking just reading, reading. Whether it be a book length thing on some nonfiction topic, or a novel... I just can't cope with that shit on a screen. A few years back I even hoovered up a couple of odd books in PDF format, but it will never work. I'll never read them.

 

[Axver]

Yeah, I can get that. Probably I'm on the downhill side of getting sloshed at home, in that I like my wine, but I don't really hit it hard anymore. Just three or four glasses is fine.

I say three or four glasses is fine, and then I accidentally finish the whole bottle.

Sometimes the best way to relax is to just lie very quietly on a bed for an hour or two staring at the ceiling.

So a standard night trying to get to sleep then.

 

[Axver]

Oh god let's not even mention microfilm. Too many days of aching eyes in front of old newspapers for me.

 

[coolian2]

The last time, in fairness, that I was researching journal articles at any routine rate, they were either on paper or on microfilm. Microfilm obviously one kinda of had to print.

But if we're talking just reading, reading. Whether it be a book length thing on some nonfiction topic, or a novel... I just can't cope with that shit on a screen. A few years back I even hoovered up a couple of odd books in PDF format, but it will never work. I'll never read them.

I can understand that. I can only go so long as well.

Especially as I feel like my vision is starting to go a bit, the less screen time I have the better. I've started going out for walks just so I simply can let my eyes readjust.

 

[coolian2]

So a standard night trying to get to sleep then.

I hear that.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Apparently Bono was doing some big thang after those U2 performances earlier this month? I really didn't give a shit enough to pay attention. People here were acting as if it was a big deal he was attending, but of course they were. I can't imagine anyone who actually counts is being particularly influenced by representations from Bono.

It is a fascinating accident of history that Europe's great global expansion happened to occur at exactly the same time when China was extraordinarily weak. Yes, now we are just returning to the historical norm.

China turned inward and stayed that way for a long time, but it's easy to forget that when the first modern-era Europeans started nosing around India and China, they came as supplicants (ever wonder how 'Mogul' entered the English lexicon?).

Contempt came later, with commercial and military predominance. I'd say the same applies to a lot of modern racism. It's basically justification after the fact. It is a fundamentally modern phenomenon (modern = after 1500).

 

[Axver]

Heh. My ex and I were house-sitting about two months ago, and we picked up the keys the day before and got a quick lesson on how to make the nice stereo play vinyl records.

We got back down to the car and the conversation was basically:

"Do you even have any vinyl records?"
"Nope"
"Didn't think so. I think we can forget that lesson and replace it with something useful later on. Lunch?"
"Yep"

I have a few vinyl records I've ended up with via various means. Since they're unplayed, and not about to get played, they'd be worth something in a couple of decades if only they were by bands anybody was going to care about.

Yeah, for academic purposes I can usually pull a PDF of the book from our library website, not that I've needed to yet. Now that I have a better backpack and not just a laptop bag I'm less fussy about carrying actual paper books.

Going to/from class my priority is academic books, so that's why the entertainment books for the commute come from the tablet.

Ah, now as much as I'm happy to use digitised versions of journal articles, I only use PDF versions of books in a pinch. If I can request in the physical copy I will. Easier to read, and easier to use when I'm working. Ebooks are yet to have indexes that aren't a right pain to use compared to just flicking through a physical book.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I can understand that. I can only go so long as well.

Especially as I feel like my vision is starting to go a bit, the less screen time I have the better. I've started going out for walks just so I simply can let my eyes readjust.

It's worse in winter, oddly, the glare of a screen seems more pronounced in winter.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I say three or four glasses is fine, and then I accidentally finish the whole bottle.



So a standard night trying to get to sleep then.

haha. Oh no, I sleep like a baby. I just picture cats.

They're quite big glasses.

 

[coolian2]

Ah, now as much as I'm happy to use digitised versions of journal articles, I only use PDF versions of books in a pinch. If I can request in the physical copy I will. Easier to read, and easier to use when I'm working. Ebooks are yet to have indexes that aren't a right pain to use compared to just flicking through a physical book.

I'm all about compromise. Or more accurately, make do with what you can.

 

[Axver]

China turned inward and stayed that way for a long time, but it's easy to forget that when the first modern-era Europeans started nosing around India and China, they came as supplicants (ever wonder how 'Mogul' entered the English lexicon?).

It's definitely easy to forget how hilariously backwards Europe was from the fall of the Western Roman Empire through to the 1600s or so. We have Westerners today who scowl at "them backwards Africans/Asians", who have no idea how that does not even compare to Europe's great lag for a good millennium.

And huh, hadn't even considered the etymological origins of "mogul". Just looked it up. There you go.

modern = after 1500

Don't say this around my workplace if you don't want to start a brawl.

 

[coolian2]

It's worse in winter, oddly, the glare of a screen seems more pronounced in winter.

Yeah I had some days this winter where I had no chance of actually reading a thing. It was lucky I knew which platform my train left from or the fact that only one bus route used the stop I needed.

 

[Axver]

If you want a good night's sleep, don't make the mistake of looking up Mrs Blunden of Basingstoke like I just did thanks to a friend's tweet.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

As for the Russia talk on the other page, my rough impression was that Putin's claim to fame was the perception, right or wrong that he arrested the death spiral Russia was in precisely as a result of the 'market' reforms of the Yeltsin years. Now (waves hand) some of that is no doubt smoke and mirrors, and Putin is basically your classic strongman figure, more so than any kind of statesman or nation builder. But still and all. I'd say the shine went off him around the time the important people in the west realised Russia couldn't be dictated to anymore. Hence those early 2000s Time puff pieces petering out like so much dried up confetti.

Possibly there were also ructures after Bush declared his war without end on terra.

Situations for just about all post-transition countries seemed to 'stabilise' in the 00s. I think Putin generally had this air of confidence about him, you take one look at Yeltsin and he was just a pathetic excuse for a dictator (I say this because he spat in the face of liberal democracy, contrary to popular opinion), bumbling around and such.

Oh god, the "marketisation" of Russia, now there's a good neoliberal fuck-up for you.

And let's be honest, some in America never quite got over the loss of Russia as their main rival. Poor Tom Clancy, if only he had lived to today, his novel template would be relevant again! (Remember him trying to make China the new enemy?)

The Russian transition (and surrounding countries) is one of the main reasons for my politics. It has had such a significant impact on my views. It was terrifying and in many ways, a tragedy.

There was a moment maybe in 1991 or so when the US defence/industrial establishment might have actually had to deliver that 'peace dividend'. They got on that case right quick.

I'm not sure but I get the impression that some of the hot young guns of that time, Jeffrey Sachs-organ springs to mind, may have started to change their tune a bit. But a day late and a dollar short, as they say.

Pretty sure the US will succeed in making China the Big Bad if Russia doesn't work out. China is an actual superpower.

Old mate Jeffrey Sachs! Gee wasn't he a little hero around here once upon a time when Bono could barely appear in public without him. I remember being most amused during my first year of a PolSci major to discover basically everybody who knew anything about topics related to areas in which he was involved thought him a great simpleton.

I do wonder if China's economic growth is actually sufficiently sustainable to maintain it as a superpower, but yes, it most certainly has the global influence and clout to hold its own on the world stage. And in terms of fermenting hate towards it in the US, well, that ground's already fertile thanks to widespread racism.

Last I heard, Sachs considered himself a social democrat! Which is an improvement but I'm hardly going to be any more kinder to him. Remember he had a hand in the Polish transition too.

 

[Axver]

The Russian transition (and surrounding countries) is one of the main reasons for my politics. It has had such a significant impact on my views. It was terrifying and in many ways, a tragedy.

But didn't you hear? If you rapidly open your markets and make absolutely no provisions for the services essential to a prosperous and fair society, nothing can go wrong!

Fuck me the callousness of prevailing economic attitudes since the 1970s makes me angry.

Last I heard, Sachs considered himself a social democrat!

Bullshit, no way!

Not that I've bothered to check what the dude's up to in the last, oh, seven or eight years.

 

[Kieran McConville]

^Also, one of Poland's (among others) great tragedies was that the Catholic Church under Communism turned into a rearguard, revanchivist, entity. You can probably glean a lot of the character of the late John Paul II from that time.

 

[Kieran McConville]

Yeah I had some days this winter where I had no chance of actually reading a thing. It was lucky I knew which platform my train left from or the fact that only one bus route used the stop I needed.

One day this winter I enclosed my little work area (aka the kitchen) with some packing cardboard I had around the place, to like, make it more enclosed. The glare from the table lamp became intolerable.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

But didn't you hear? If you rapidly open your markets and make absolutely no provisions for the services essential to a prosperous and fair society, nothing can go wrong!

Try turning the tanks on the parliament when everyone thinks you're being a shit!

Bullshit, no way!

Not that I've bothered to check what the dude's up to in the last, oh, seven or eight years.

Jeffrey Sachs: Social Democracy is The Most Successful Political Order

Looks like it's been that way for a while now.

 

[Kieran McConville]

It's definitely easy to forget how hilariously backwards Europe was from the fall of the Western Roman Empire through to the 1600s or so. We have Westerners today who scowl at "them backwards Africans/Asians", who have no idea how that does not even compare to Europe's great lag for a good millennium.

And huh, hadn't even considered the etymological origins of "mogul". Just looked it up. There you go.



Don't say this around my workplace if you don't want to start a brawl.

As far as I'm concerned the modern era begins with the fall of Byzantium in 1453.

But yes, the selective scowling and tut-tutting is so much after-the-fact nonsense. On those India enterpreneurs; the mid 19th century hard-edged Protestant imperialists were appalled at the earlier generation of East India Company hands, some of whom had converted to Islam and taken wives.

 

[Axver]

Jeffrey Sachs: Social Democracy is The Most Successful Political Order

Looks like it's been that way for a while now.

Well what do you know. Shame he hadn't thought that way sooner.