Ernest Cline’s ‘Armada’ Drowns in Video Game And Sci-Fi Nostalgia

For a long while now, I’ve been eagerly anticipating the release of Armada, a book by Ernest Cline whose breakout novel, Ready Player One, remains one of my favorite sci-fi tales. His first book was a timely, fantastic peek into what a VR-consumed society could look like, and though the text was littered with nostalgic references, they made a certain amount of sense within the larger context of the story. Ready Player One also had a depth to it that explored why we have this need for escapism, and the relief gaming can provide. It ends with a pretty complex take on whether or not gaming and virtual lives are a gift or a curse.

from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/1Mu6VrQ
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The Missing Party In The Discussion About Sustainable Farming

The good news is that state-of-the art sustainable farming practices can pay for themselves.  When fields are tended in a way that improves soil quality over time, there are multiple environmental benefits in terms of water quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and energy demand.  At the same time, this kind of farming increases the value of land through increased productivity and greater drought resilience.  The not so good news is that farmers rent much of the land they farm, so they don’t fully benefit from the financial up-side of this sort of sustainable farming.  And typically, those that own the land are far removed from the details of farming.  I believe that this disconnect and misalignment of financial incentives is a key barrier to the fuller implementation of the kind of farming that could meet both our environmental and food supply goals.

from Forbes – Tech http://ift.tt/1gC65PP
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