The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy is a …
Radicalizing.
Reviews and Comments
XML apologist. Erlang enthusiast. Currently JVMs & Performance stuff at Netflix. Previously JVMs & performative stuff at Twitter. He/him.
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Ian Brown finished reading The Last Colony by John Scalzi
The Last Colony is a science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi, the third …
Another awesome chapter in the Old Man's War series. @scalzi@mastodon.social is a pro's pro: the story is tight and compelling, a great balance of background detail and plot-advancing action. Also, some really great ideas blended into the book. A fun read!
Ian Brown reviewed Nobody Walks by Mick Herron
Tom Bettany, a British ex-spy crammed with dark skills, comes out of retirement when he …
Every redemption arc needs a set up.
4 stars
A pretty good prequel to the Slow Horses universe. Wish I'd clocked it earlier. Best read after "Real Tigers" and before "Spook Street".
There are a few flat notes, but man, it is a fast read!
The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy is a …
This book has been sitting on my shelf for years. Eric Daniels recommended Graeber to me back when we were working at #Twitter.
Ian Brown finished reading Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
The second book by Kushner that I have read. While enjoyable and riddled with small insights and minor profundities, it reads like it was written after finishing a graduate class on the Guy Debord and the Situationist International. Overall though it was a solid read.
Ian Brown started reading Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
I've read her novel "The Flamethrowers" and I dug it, so looking forward to this one.
Ian Brown finished reading Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams
From trips on private jets and encounters with world leaders to shocking accounts of misogyny …
This was a trip to read. Every narrator and author is somewhat unreliable, especially when it comes to memoirs, but a lot of what is in this book scans.
The lengths to which #Facebook has gone to prevent the author from publishing or promoting this book just make it a more compelling read.
Overall it is written better than most tell-alls, and the author seems to have retained a fair amount of emails and notes from her days at Facebook^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Meta.
Ian Brown rated Hubris Maximus: 5 stars
Ian Brown finished reading Hubris Maximus by Faiz Siddiqui
A pretty fun and frustrating account of Musk's self-immolation. I am a bit biased because the author, Faiz Siddiqui, does take a few paragraphs to document my run-in with Elon, but it goes deep into a lot of non-Twitter material.
Another (better) highlight is the chapter featuring the amazing @chancerydaily@masto.ai. Yeah Chance!
Anyway, pick up a copy at your local bookstore!
Ian Brown rated The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard: 4 stars
Ian Brown finished reading The Best Short Stories of J. G. Ballard by J. G. Ballard
I haven't really enjoyed Ballard's novels, but his short stories fall somewhere between Phllip K. Dick and Bradbury & Asimov.
He is also a fan (as am I) of using a $10 word where a $1 word would have sufficed.
SS-GB by Len Deighton
For nine months Britain has been occupied - a blitzed, depressed and dingy country. However, it's 'business as usual' at …
Ian Brown finished reading SS-GB by Len Deighton
For nine months Britain has been occupied - a blitzed, depressed and dingy country. However, …
In the end, everyone just goes along.
