I thought this, from the back cover of a novel, was somewhat apropos amidst the covid matter in the world:

https://kolico.ca/tmp/classic-IMG_20210803.jpg

Can you name this title/author?
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I thought this, from the back cover of a novel, was somewhat apropos amidst t

>covid matter in the world:

https://kolico.ca/tmp/classic-IMG_20210803.jpg

Can you name this title/author?

That's from The Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein

Funny, I have 41 of his books (eBooks) but that's not in the collection..

---
* SLMR Rob * I couldn't replace you... I don't know what you are
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Hi Rob,
...Greets from my Telegram app!

I thought this, from the back cover of a novel, was somewhat apropos amidst t

>covid matter in the world:

Can you name this title/author?

That's from The Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein
Funny, I have 41 of his books (eBooks) but that's not in the collection.. ---

Good sleuthing! But.. honestly.. did you google it? :/
Here is more from the preface/intro of the book. It almost reads like something we would read in the news TODAY!

"He gradually built up a picture of a people being systematically and thoroughly enslaved, a picture of a nation as helpless as a man completely paralyzed, its defenses destroyed, its communications entirely in the hands of the invaders. Everywhere he found boiling resentment, a fierce willingness to fight against the tyranny, but it was undirected, uncoordinated, and, in any modern sense, unarmed. Spo-radic rebellion was as futile as the scurrying of ants whose hill has been violated. PanAsians could be killed, yes, and there were men willing to shoot on sight, even in the face of the certainty of their own deaths. But their hands were bound by the greater certainty of brutal multiple retaliation against their own kind. As with the Jews in Germany before the final blackout in Europe, bravery was not enough, for one act of violence against the tyrants would be paid for by other men, women, and children at unspeakable compound interest. "

That one sounds a bit dark and serious. But I'm enjoying the lighter writings right now: The Star Beast, Have Spacesuit Will Travel.

Ciao!
/|ug (https://t.me/aabolins)

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Glad to see you, August!

Good sleuthing! But.. honestly.. did you google it? :/
Here is more from the preface/intro of the book. It almost reads like something we would read in the news TODAY!
"He gradually built up a picture of a people being systematically and thoroughly enslaved, a picture of a nation as helpless as a man completely paralyzed, its defenses destroyed, its communications entirely in the hands of the invaders. Everywhere he found boiling resentment, a fierce willingness to fight against the tyranny, but it was undirected, uncoordinated, and, in any modern sense, unarmed. Spo-radic rebellion was as futile as the scurrying of ants whose hill has been violated. PanAsians could be killed, yes, and there were men willing to shoot on sight, even in the face of the certainty of their own deaths. But their hands were bound by the greater certainty of brutal multiple retaliation against their own kind. As with the Jews in Germany before the final blackout in Europe, bravery was not enough, for one act of violence against the tyrants would be paid for by other men, women, and children at unspeakable compound interest. "
That one sounds a bit dark and serious. But I'm enjoying the lighter writings right now: The Star Beast, Have Spacesuit Will Travel.

There?s LOTS of stuff in Heinlein?s work that has stood the test of time, and not only the political, sociological etc, but some of the things he invented in faction that became real such as the water bed, ?waldos? and a few others.

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Hello Rob Mccart!

** On Thursday 05.08.21 - 00:17, Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS:

https://kolico.ca/tmp/classic-IMG_20210803.jpg

That's from The Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein

Funny, I have 41 of his books (eBooks) but that's not in the collection..

The physical book feels like holding a relic of truth and
wisdom, a treasure.

Reading more into this story seems to stage a scenario very
relevant today:

"After the U.S. is conquered, an enclave of brilliant misfits
leads a rebellion against near-impossible odds. The
totalitarian East has triumphed in a massive invasion and the
United States has fallen to a dictatorial superpower bent on
total domination. That power is consolidating its grip via
concentration camps, police state tactics, and a total monopoly
upon the very thoughts of the conquered populace."

"A tiny enclave of scientists and soldiers survives,
unbeknownst to America's new rulers. It's six against six
million-but those six happen to include a scientific genius, a
master of subterfuge and disguise who learned his trade as a lawyer-turned-hobo, and a tough-minded commander who knows how
to get the best out of his rag-tag assortment of American
discontents, wily operators, and geniuses. It's going to take
technological savvy and a propaganda campaign that would leave
Madison Avenue aghast, but the U.S. will rise again. The
counterinsurgency for freedom is on, and defeat is not an
option."

I'm curious what Heinlein imagined to solve this situation.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

Can you name this title/author?

That's from The Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein
Funny, I have 41 of his books (eBooks) but that's not in the collection..

Good sleuthing! But.. honestly.. did you google it? :/

I did.. I didn't realize it was test. I thought you were wondering at the source of it.

It's a while since I read a lot of Heinlein books since I'd gotten through everything the library had years ago. I now have a huge collection of eBooks (13,000+) with more available thanks to your suggestion to check out ZLibrary and it's getting to be a case of so many books, so little time..

A more 'modern' and unusual Heinlein that stuck with me as memorable is the book titled 'Friday'..

He covered a wide range of subjects and many were more philosophising than entertaining but he had something for everyone I think, once you allow for how long ago the books were written. Stranger in a Strange Land was another of his that was extremely popular. I 'had' to read that in grade 9 and it got me into more books by him and similar authors. (Grade 9 for me was 53 years ago..)

---
* SLMR Rob * I don't know what that's worth but, there it is...
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Hello Rob Mccart!

** On Tuesday 10.08.21 - 00:49, Rob Mccart wrote to AUGUST ABOLINS:

That's from The Sixth Column by Robert A. Heinlein Funny,
I have 41 of his books (eBooks) but that's not in the
collection..

Good sleuthing! But.. honestly.. did you google it? :/

I did.. I didn't realize it was test. I thought you were
wondering at the source of it.

I wondered if anyone recognized that wonderful piece off-hand.

It's a while since I read a lot of Heinlein books since
I'd gotten through everything the library had years ago. I
now have a huge collection of eBooks (13,000+) with more
available thanks to your suggestion to check out ZLibrary
and it's getting to be a case of so many books, so little
time..

Zlibrary is spoiling me too. For example, I wanted to check
out something in "The Once and Future King - TH White". Boom.
Zlibrary to the rescue. And there was a consequential benefit;
I learned that there was a never before published conclusion:

The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once and
Future King - University of Texas Press - White, T H

I have the convenience of checking that out now.

A more 'modern' and unusual Heinlein that stuck with me as memorable is the book titled 'Friday'..

I'll have to give it a go and see if it strikes the memorable
chord for me.

He covered a wide range of subjects and many were more
philosophising than entertaining but he had something for
everyone I think, once you allow for how long ago the
books were written.

Gr 9 was my first year in highschool and the first experience
to see a decent school library. The librarian introduced me to
Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was also
captivated by Stoker's Dracula.

Stranger in a Strange Land
was another of his that was extremely popular.

Yes.. that's another one to consume at some point!

I 'had' to read that in
grade 9 and it got me into more books by him and similar authors. (Grade
9 for me was 53 years ago..)

I don't remember most of the my Grade 9 required readings, but
a couple of them was Homer's, The Odyssey and Shakespear's
Macbeth. Gr 9 was about the same number years for me too.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

I now have a huge collection of eBooks (13,000+) with more
available thanks to your suggestion to check out ZLibrary
and it's getting to be a case of so many books, so little
time..

Zlibrary is spoiling me too. For example, I wanted to check

>out something in "The Once and Future King - TH White". Boom.
>Zlibrary to the rescue. And there was a consequential benefit;
>I learned that there was a never before published conclusion:

The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to The Once and

>Future King - University of Texas Press - White, T H

Nice to find gems you weren't expecting. I just downloaded 6 books by a new author to me, Sci-Fi stuff by Daniel Suarez. Our local Library had Daemon but no other books on paper. His others could be gotten temporarily as eBooks, likely after a wait for them to become available. They treat e-books the same way they do real books. The Library only has one or two 'copies' available and those delete themselves from your computer/ereader after a couple of weeks unless you know how to remove the time limit. But in the case above, I have
all of his books now to read at my leisure

Gr 9 was my first year in highschool and the first experience

>to see a decent school library. The librarian introduced me to
>Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was also
>captivated by Stoker's Dracula.

Most books I read in highschool were required for English Class. By age 15 I didn't have much time to read, or do homework for that matter, because I was working close to full time hours after school to save up for the customized motorcycles and muscle cars I got into while still in highschool.

I don't remember most of the my Grade 9 required readings, but

>a couple of them was Homer's, The Odyssey and Shakespear's Macbeth.

I recall Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Shakespeare's Othello, Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land and 5 Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn. I'm sure there were a few others but not off-hand.

I read Macbeth also at about age 9 but, on my own, not for school.
I went almost directly from 'See Spot Run' to 'Out Damned Spot'!. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * I'm afraid you suffer from delusions of adaquacy
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Hello Rob!

** On Friday 13.08.21 - 00:47, you wrote to me:

I now have a huge collection of eBooks (13,000+).. [...]
and it's getting to be a case of so many books, so little
time..

BTW... 13,000+ is amazing. Do you manage to store all of them
on your reading device?

I juggle quite a few titles myself (although not in the 1000's
nor the 100's for that matter) between Adobe's Digital Editions
and Calibre. My modest Kobo is only occupying 132MB out of
834MB available.

Zlibrary is spoiling me too. [...]

Nice to find gems you weren't expecting. I just downloaded
6 books by a new author to me, Sci-Fi stuff by Daniel
Suarez.

I have the physical copies of Daemon and Freedom at the ready
and in stock. That's a pair that really intrigue me. I bet
there is a weakness to the notion of botnet control. Give us
your book review when you're done!

Our local Library had Daemon but no other books on paper.
His others could be gotten temporarily as eBooks, likely
after a wait for them to become available.

Libraries are probably opting for the electronic version of
things. But the e-versions are not cheap. It's almost cheaper
to have multiple copies of a physical book than to pay a
limited license for X-number of copies for Y-number of reads.

They treat e-books the same way they do real books. The
Library only has one or two 'copies' available and those
delete themselves from your computer/ereader after a
couple of weeks unless you know how to remove the time
limit. But in the case above, I have all of his books now
to read at my leisure

My legacy Kobo doesn't seem to know what to do with expired
copies. I can get limited advance-reading copies (ARCs) from.. https://www.edelweiss.plus/ as a bookseller. The files have
expiry dates, but I can still re-read them for as long as I
like. Lately, most of the ARCs are in PDF, and that is not
good for my Kobo. So, now I get them to send me physical
copies, and just give them away to people who want to read on
the cheap or operate little free libraries.

[...] By age 15 I didn't have much time to read, or do
homework for that matter, because I was working close to
full time hours after school [...]

Similar experience for me too. The required school reading
didn't leave much time for reading my own choices as pleasure.
But I managed to wrangle my mom to read the official stuff, and
give me a review later. ;) She loved to read, so it was no
problem. Meanwhile, I could read something that I really
liked! Along the way, I discovered the summary publications of
Coles Notes. Sparks is another one those summaries series.

I recall Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Shakespeare's Othello,
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Heinlein's Stranger in a
Strange Land and 5 Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn. I'm
sure there were a few others but not off-hand.

Those are some fine picks at your school!

I sought out to read Atlas Shrugged after I discovered a
pockebook-sized format of The Fountainhead first on a dusty
bookshelf at home amongst a collection of books that I don't
think my parents bothered to read anymore. I was able to read
those for my own enjoyment. I probably would have hated them if
they were English class requirements.

I read Macbeth also at about age 9 but, on my own, not for
school. I went almost directly from 'See Spot Run' to 'Out
Damned Spot'!. B)

I thought the design of Shakespear's iambic pentameter was an
amazing feat across that whole catalog of writings.
--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

I now have a huge collection of eBooks (13,000+).. [...]

BTW... 13,000+ is amazing. Do you manage to store all of them

>on your reading device?

I tend to only put some on my eReader and replace them as I get through them, plus I read a lot of Library books (paper) and save mine for when I run short. I suspect the next time I move I may give up using the local Library for quite a while and use my own resources.

The 13,000 is a rough estimate since I got them in 3 separate collections
and there is some duplication between them. The total I have is about 18,500, mostly ePub, but there are a number of PDF, DOC and TXT files and one of the collections had 2,810 Mobi books. My eReader can handle all those formats except for the DOC files but there are not many of those and they are easily converted.

My eReader will take a 32 gig SD Card which would hold the whole collection
but I wouldn't want to confuse the booting process with that many listings to organize. I just use a 2 gig card in it.

Nice to find gems you weren't expecting. I just downloaded
6 books by a new author to me, Sci-Fi stuff by Daniel Suarez.

I have the physical copies of Daemon and Freedom at the ready

>and in stock. That's a pair that really intrigue me. I bet
>there is a weakness to the notion of botnet control. Give us
>your book review when you're done!

The paper copy I got from the Library was Daemon and it was good enough that
it got me intersted looking for more books by Suarez. I'd hate to give
anything away but it's sort of your typical computer program (Daemon) loose in the Internet trying to take over the world, but it's better done than most. Programmed by a person to do that, not thinking on its own..

Our local Library had Daemon but no other books on paper.
His others could be gotten temporarily as eBooks, likely
after a wait for them to become available.

Libraries are probably opting for the electronic version of

>things. But the e-versions are not cheap. It's almost cheaper
>to have multiple copies of a physical book than to pay a
>limited license for X-number of copies for Y-number of reads.

But storage space becomes an issue for paper books. I think the people in libraries prefer 'real' books but eBooks were added as a necessity.

My legacy Kobo doesn't seem to know what to do with expired

>copies. I can get limited advance-reading copies (ARCs) from..
>https://www.edelweiss.plus/ as a bookseller. The files have
>expiry dates, but I can still re-read them for as long as I
>like.

That's handy.. There are 'utilities' to remove the time limits and converting them from one type of eBook to another generally destroys that too if a person wanted to keep the eBook permanently.

[...] By age 15 I didn't have much time to read, or do
homework for that matter, because I was working close to
full time hours after school [...]

Similar experience for me too. The required school reading

>didn't leave much time for reading my own choices as pleasure.
>But I managed to wrangle my mom to read the official stuff, and
>give me a review later. ;) She loved to read, so it was no
>problem.

When I moved out at age 18 I found that I had managed to collect about 40
books over the years. Funny, I remember with Atlas Shrugged, it was so long there was no way I could read it so I read the first chapter, the last
chapter, and every 10th page between and managed to pick up enough of it to
get past the school work part of it. Not that I didn't like the book, I actually read it in its entirety twice later on.

I recall Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, Shakespeare's Othello,
Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Heinlein's Stranger in a
Strange Land and 5 Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn. I'm
sure there were a few others but not off-hand.

Those are some fine picks at your school!

Oh, add Oedipus Rex (Sophocles) to that too..

I thought the design of Shakespear's iambic pentameter was an

>amazing feat across that whole catalog of writings.

When you are first reading his work the unusual language can be quite
daunting though.. It didn't look much like English to me.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Old age and treachery can defeat youth and skill
* Origin: capitolcityonline.net * Telnet/SSH:2022/HTTP (1:2320/105)

Hello Rob!

** On Sunday 15.08.21 - 01:25, you wrote:

18,500, mostly ePub, but there are a number of PDF, DOC
and TXT files and one of the collections had 2,810 Mobi
books. My eReader can handle all those formats except for
the DOC files but there are not many of those and they are
easily converted.

Calibre is a nice gift to the public. It is so versatile in
conversion features.

My eReader will take a 32 gig SD Card [...]

What brand of eReader do you have?

[...] but I wouldn't want to confuse the booting process
with that many listings to organize. I just use a 2 gig
card in it.

That is a very good point, especially if you noticed a
difference in the boot time when using a 32gb card vs 2gb.

The paper copy I got from the Library was Daemon [...]
sort of your typical computer program (Daemon) loose in
the Internet trying to take over the world, but it's
better done than most. Programmed by a person to do that,
not thinking on its own..

Not long ago there was a tv series that had a similar premise.
The tv-version had a self-learning AI component, and it went
around killing people that were trying to stifle its existence.
I thought it was getting silly, and stopped watching it at
about the 5th episode.

[...] But the e-versions are not cheap. It's almost cheaper
to have multiple copies of a physical book than to pay a
limited license for X-number of copies for Y-number of
reads.

But storage space becomes an issue for paper books. I
think the people in libraries prefer 'real' books but
eBooks were added as a necessity.

AND.. there is still the matter of waiting for the library e-
copy to be returned before you can read it. I think Very
popular books only have a 1-week loan period, whereas regular
books have 3-weeks + 1-week renewal? Anyway.. one title only
provides a maximum of 52 people per year to read it.

with Atlas Shrugged, it was so long there was no way I
could read it so I read the first chapter, the last
chapter, and every 10th page between and managed to pick
up enough of it to get past the school work part of it.

That's pretty funny! I did something similar with Jude the
Obscure. But I learned that Coles Notes (and Mom!) filled in
the blanks quite nicely.

Not that I didn't like the book, I actually read it in its
entirety twice later on.

I have to give that one another go. I liked that world. Strong,
articulate independent people. The "money speech" in Atlas
Shrugged made a memorable impression on me and is worthy of the
admission price.

I thought the design of Shakespear's iambic pentameter
was an amazing feat across that whole catalog of
writings.

When you are first reading his work the unusual language
can be quite daunting though.. It didn't look much like
English to me.. B)

Yes.. the choice of some words left some ambiguity. But they
were originally meant to be heard (plays) not read. A high-
school excursion to Ontario's Shakespeare capitol, Statford,
was amazing. The material of the play made a whole lot more
sense when you could SEE the actors react and maneuver on
stage.

--
../|ug

--- OpenXP 5.0.50
* Origin: My Westcoast Point (1:153/757.21)

My eReader will take a 32 gig SD Card [...]

What brand of eReader do you have?

A not very popular make I think, Aluratek. It uses a standard LCD screen
rather than the more popular Paper White types but that actually is a lot easier to read in bright sunlight than the 'better' screens, although it uses more power refreshing pages than the other types. Supposedly it will run 24 hours in use on a full charge but I don't seem to get anything like that.
But it will read ePub, Mobi, Txt and PDF and will play music even while you read (through headhones) and can display common picture types but in
Grayscale given it's LCD screen.
Mine is pretty old now, 8 or 10 years?, and they shortly after switched over
to more of a Tablet type and may have disappeared completely now.

[...] but I wouldn't want to confuse the booting process
with that many listings to organize. I just use a 2 gig
card in it.

That is a very good point, especially if you noticed a

>difference in the boot time when using a 32gb card vs 2gb.

I didn't get the chance to try it myself because shortly after buying it an online readers group mentioned that having more than 4000 books on the card significantly slowed the booting process so I never got to using more than a few dozen at a time. My mother has the same unit with cards with 2 to 3 gig
of content on 2 chips, which is probably more than 2000 books but less than 4000 and she's never complained about it being slow, but might not have ever used it with smaller cards. But I don't see the point in having everything you have on one card and sorting through 15,000 listings looking for things.

The paper copy I got from the Library was Daemon [...]
sort of your typical computer program (Daemon) loose in
the Internet trying to take over the world,

Not long ago there was a tv series that had a similar premise.

>The tv-version had a self-learning AI component, and it went
>around killing people that were trying to stifle its existence.
>I thought it was getting silly, and stopped watching it at
>about the 5th episode.

Was that the show called 'neXt' ? I was watching that last year for a while.

Atlas Shrugged,
Not that I didn't like the book, I actually read it in its
entirety twice later on.

I have to give that one another go. I liked that world. Strong,

>articulate independent people. The "money speech" in Atlas
>Shrugged made a memorable impression on me and is worthy of the
>admission price.

Ayn Rand, being formerly a very unhappy Communist, loves Capitalism in it's purist form and shows it perfectly in that book. Too many of the speeches made in the book were too long, the one by John Galt was over 50 pages I believe, and her idea of how things should work are somewhat over the top with the idea if you let the 'Producers' run wild then everyone will have a better life doesn't really make allowances for greed and, although she doesn't get into
it, she'd probably have anyone unable to work 'put down', but it was an interesting book from that extreme end of the spectrum.
She was quick to point out how the government is a bunch of idiots leeching
off of those doing the work but doesn't seem to think about companies that, if left totally unregulated, would probably exploit their hard working employees to death.
---
* SLMR Rob * "Assumption is the mother of all screwups"
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