Thanks, I will look it up. :) Thought he Amazon description ("In their victory they had taken the very heart out of the human race, isolating the true individualists, the geniuses, all the people who represented the hopes, dreams, and discoveries of the future, and imprisoning them in dome colonies on planets…

A fair enough argument from publish-ability. :P I guess what struck me was that (spoiler!) the Fithp were ultimately made out to be a bit stupid — actually more primitive than humans, and possessing the technology for space travel only because a more advanced civilization went out of its way to give it to them. It was…

The entire story was set up from the start to make that possible, though. What struck me about Footfall was how ultimately weak the aliens were made out to be — their entire civilization was essentially built around the need to have an alien invasion that was both believable, and at the same time not overwhelmingly…

Ah, but isn't that how it already looks, for the most part? Drawing parallels between old-timey sailing ships and futuristic spacecraft is already an extremely popular trope in sci-fi...

But the very first book in the series already had super-science in it, including weapons that can take out entire stars, but fit snugly into the hold of some two-bit space pirate's Q-ship. :P

What does that have to do with anything? Hopefully, whoever is buying those houses is good enough at managing money to have some set aside for a rainy day. And even if they aren't, if their situation changes they can at least sell that half-million dollar house and move into something more affordable until they can…

You'll notice they only put 2 in that movie. This article is about the 7th movie. Try to keep up

And lastly, there's a difference between making a ton of money and choosing to spend it all on conspicuous consumption because you want to look like you're doing well, versus making a small amount of money, and spending it all on... you know, not living on the street, and not starving to death. I think those are two…

Also, it is simply not true that people who make more money spend the same amount, percentage-wise, on the basics of life. That's a bit of statistics that is studied, and it's been shown that poor people spend a higher proportion of their income on things like shelter. If you work at a well-paying job and still spend…

... Then, if you lose your job, sell your big house and move into a small house. Or an apartment.

I know! Star wars was so much cooler before the original concept art for the very first movie was made! It just ruined everything. :P

[Reads headline]

Presenteeism can escalate into a problem that affects a business's output and produces hidden long-term costs.

Probably not literally *the same* fears. I mean, there's a difference between "if I lose this job I may need to sell my second car!" and "if I lose this job I will literally be begging for change on a street corner!"

Oh no, look, some movie with a male lead is doing badly at theaters!

The algorithm consistently finds Jesus.

Interesting. It's really like we're taking the algorithms that already exist in our brains — which have always been full of shortcuts, biases, and all sorts of convenient, but over-simplified thinking — and simply externalizing them. A lot of the baggage comes along for the ride, in one form or another. Algorithms are…

This makes me quite sad for the coyotes. The logic of the Seal Beach residents, then, seems to be "look at these coyotes! They're so intelligent! They're so clever! Watch as they communicate complex concepts across generations, and practice sophisticated survival techniques! ... Clearly, we need to kill them all." :(

"According to inside sources, Star Trek is still looking to find a way to bring William Shatner to the new films"

Best comment + reply ever. :D