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Weekend Reads - RAW 170203

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Welcome back! This week we see George Orwell's dystopian classic 1984 sell out at Amazon, why Tolkien's eagles weren't used more often in his epic fantasy stories, a prediction on the most disruptive tech tends this year plus more.

So sit back with your favourite beverage and enjoy reading this weekend. Before you go don't forget to see which book I selected as my Book of the Year (2016)




Amazon Sells Out Of George Orwell's 1984 | Gizmodo Australia

George Orwell's dystopian classic 1984 occupied the number one spot on Amazon's best-selling books list last week, where it remains today. A cautionary tale about a brutal, amoral dictator has evidently felt relevant to people lately. But as of today, Amazon — the world's largest bookseller — is unable to keep up with demand



The Eagles of Middle-earth: Tolkien’s Special Ops | Tor.com

Much has been said—over and over again and usually with well-intentioned sciolism—about those blasted Eagles in The Lord of the Rings. Plenty of arguments can be made against the Eagles’ involvement, but none can really be substantiated. One theory is simply that such a gambit probab



How this Martian moon became the ‘Death Star’ | Astrobiology Magazine

Mars’ largest moon, Phobos, has captured public imagination and been shrouded in mystery for decades. But numerical simulations recently conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have shed some light on the enigmatic satellite.



Most Disruptive Tech Trends of 2017

As an amateur futurist I'm always watching the trends of innovation, here are some technology trends I'm keeping a close eye on as we approach 2017. Now we are entering a period where the convergence of multiple technologies and integrations results in an exponentially increasing potential for disruption in the future of work, commerce, manufacturing, Bigdata and AI.



Why Peter Thiel Fears “Star Trek” | The New Yorker

A spectre haunts Peter Thiel: the spectre of “Star Trek.” Earlier this week, in a cheeky exchange with the Times columnist Maureen Dowd, Thiel dove headlong into one of science fiction’s most venerable debates. Asked by Dowd whether he was a bigger fan of “Star Wars” or “Star Trek,” Thiel replied that, as a capitalist, he preferred the former. “ ‘Star Trek’ is the communist one,”



The Bible Is Strange – Why Read It? | CCC Discover

The Bible is strange. The events in the Bible are so far removed from us that they might as well have happened in outer space. Reading the Bible can feel like reading about an alien race and culture. We need to interpret what the authors were communicating in their time and place to see how relevant it is for us now.



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