I stopped buying real books around a decade ago.  I have nevertheless continued reading, several of them/year, but to my iPhone, which also works on my iPad.  It is not the same.  Convenient, but different. Every so often, one enters a transition, as for example, leaving home to college, or retiring.  Recently, I finished  The Three Body Problem  ( a Chinese novel I'll report on soon ), and began reading  Eruption . ( a novel about a Hawaii volcano ).  Also during this period, I finished watching two Netflix series,  OA  and  Zero Day .   Next?  I have a problem, which I'll explain later. Michal Crichton passed away in 2008, but I noticed this  facebook comment by someone named Michael Crichton .  Another kind of transition? Crichton’s work often examines the dangers of advanced technology spiraling out of human control, a theme that aligns closely with Zero Day ’s premise. In Prey, Jurassic Park, Sphere, and The...

  First, noteworthy topics of the day that will become newsworthy: The  Supreme Court  announced a unanimous ruling that, while very narrow in application, opened the floodgates for college student-athletes getting paid like professionals.  Essentially, the NCAA was admonished.  States like Alabama, Florida and Texas are close to allowing students to sign endorsements, etc. Medicaid membership is now up to 80 million, a record high. The Democrats won over Senator Joe Manchin, but need to also convince ten Republicans to pass the  voting rights legislation .  It will, of course, fail, but that was expected anyway, and will only further plague Republicans when they re-run for election in 2022. The Tokyo Summer Olympics begin in about a month, and will close on 8 August 2021.  More than 11,000 athletes will perform from 205 nations in 33 sports and 50 disciplines. Tokyo beat Istanbul to host. It's still officially called the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic...