I can't remember the last book which gave me literal nightmares. After reading the first few chapters of the book, I fell into an uneasy sleep - troubled with dreams about its impossibility. "Antimemetics" is one of those frighteningly original sci-fi ideas. Sure, the secret-agency-defends-the-world trope has been played to death, but there is something uniquely mind-bending about objects which remove themselves from your consciousness. The "enemies" (such as they are) are superficially…
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One of the joys of working with a diverse set of people from all around the world, is that English idioms are a constant source of bemusements. "It's raining cats and dogs" is quickly mapped to the more poetic "Es gießt Schusterjungs". Recently, I mentioned how our team had a "get-out-of-jail-free card". Whereupon a person messaged me privately to ask what I meant, and if there was any real risk of us going to prison? I started explaining about the board game Monopoly. "Ah! In my language, …
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My schooling of English history covered the 1066 invasion, then jumped to the Tudors, a smattering of the industrial revolution, a bit of the First World War, then a heavy focus on the Second World War whereupon, it seemed, history stopped. As far as I can recall, we learned nothing about the English Dissenters - the radical sects which flourished after the English Civil War. Then As I've continued my informal education, two groups in particular stand out - the Levellers and the Diggers. To …
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