TMoney

Consider Phlebas The Culture Series in general and this book in particular came very highly recommend. Honestly, having finished it yesterday, I don't know what to think of it. On one hand its got some great ideas that are as fun to think about as they are to read. A post-scarcity society and their interactions with other civilizations is an awesome concept. Orbitals, Minds, Drones, Sublimated Races, all pretty cool stuff. On the other hand the plot and pacing are seriously all over the place. There are entire sections of this book that could have been left on the cutting floor as they do very little to advance either the plot or ideas. This annoyed the shit out of me for some reason. I put the book down for weeks at a time before coming back and eventually finishing it. Banks is clearly a very smart guy, but IMO he isn't a good enough writer to give meaning and purpose to some of these lesser sections of the book. --- I'm pretty torn whether or not I want to continue with the Culture series for essentially the two reasons I brought up above. I'm sure his other novels have great ideas, but I'm worried his writing style may not quite be for me. Has anyone else read these? Any recommendations on another one to try? It looks like there isn't a need to read them in any particular order.

The Milanese would have been my second choice. I really liked it too.

Got a second band today. As much as I like the white sport band, I needed something a bit more understated. Went with the black classic buckle. I love the black on silver look.

Rolling Stone put out a Yacht Rock retrospective: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/sail-away-the-oral-history-of-yacht-rock-20150626?page=2

Watched the first two episodes. I like it so far. Its very dark, and I love that. I'm a public finance lawyer so a detective story about civil corruption and bad behavior should be right up my alley. I love how "Vinci" is a thinly disguised City of Industry. I also love seeing Rachael McAdams in something other than a rom-com. She is insanely gorgeous, all the more so when she is playing a brooding detective instead of some girl-next-door.

^ Ha! Great find! I wish I was clever enough to have done that on purpose.

Can't speak to Google voice recognition, but haven't had any of the problems you describe and I use voice dictation on my iPhone a ton.

Looks awesome. I'm all signed up for the stage 1 driving class at Infineon next month.

That was an amazing two months of basketball, but boy am I ever emotionally drained. The Warriors have been my favorite team in any sport since the "We Believe" run my senior year of college. To see how far they've come from then has been special. They capped off a season for the ages the right way. On a whim, I attended the NBA draft out in Newark in 2012 the year we ended up drafting Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green. We had no way of knowing at the time, but that day certainly has turned out to be one of the pivotal ones in the history of the franchise. All three players played (and played well) in a close-out game in the NBA finals. Draymond Green has turned out to be our second best player. Harrison Barnes went toe-to-toe with one of the dominant big men in the NBA in Zach Randolph and came out smelling like a rose. Unreal. This team has been especially fun to watch because of how selfless everyone is. The guys really have pulled for each other all year. Chemistry like this feels so rare in professional sports. I don't think I'll ever forget how happy all the guys were for Klay the night he got 37, or how honest Steph's MVP acceptance speech was. Seeing Andre take the MVP was an emotional moment. Curry probably played better, but I'm so happy Andre got the award. I can't even imagine what it must mean for him, a guy who has been such a grinder his entire career, to be recognized like this. Congrats to the Cavs. I think LeBron's redemption since "the decision" has now come full circle. He gave everything he had for the City he loves. I suspect there is a decent chance we meet again at the same time next year.

Well, looks like this one could be another classic.

Jeez am I ever nervous right now. For the sake of my current and future employment this series needs to end! My work productivity just goes in the toilet on game days. Win or lose, this is going to be an emotional night!

This is fantastic: https://twitter.com/WGNMorningNews/status/610750113078771712/video/1

Yeah, it looks like an amazing car. I would have considered it myself, but it is just too darn small to be your "only" car. In a two car household though, the MX-5 would be a fantastic car to pair with a more practical SUV or crossover.

Gotta hand it to the Cavs. I think they've done about as well in this series as anyone could have expected. Coach Blatt's defensive gameplan has been solid, and the effort and leadership from the King have been incredible. The Cavs badly miss their depth though. The Warriors are just killing them in the 4th quarters of games and I'm guessing it is due to the fatigue of having to play so hard for so long. Even though I think Kyrie would get toasted on defense, at the very least they badly miss the 25-30 minutes a game he could give them to buy Delly, Shump and JR some rest. Ditto for the 20-25 minutes Kevin Love would have played and bought rest for the King and Tristan Thompson. K.Love is just as much of a zero on D as Irving but they both are good enough offensive players to stay on the floor and buy their guys some rest. I'd be honestly shocked if they can force a game 7. I think tomorrow night is trophy night!!! Go GSW!

For some levity before game 4, the top 30 Shaqtin' a Fool moments from the season: http://allball.blogs.nba.com/2015/06/10/shaqtin-a-fool-mvp-2014-15/ The Otto Porter one has to go down as one of the All-Time NBA bloopers. It's all the more funny that it was just a one possession game at that point. https://youtu.be/yRkoboVm6Rw?t=54s

Jeff, sounds to me you need something like this: http://simracewaydrivingschool.com/programs-experiences/audi-sportscar-experience/ EDIT: I'm actually thinking of doing their Performance Driving - Stage 1 class next month.

Blasphemy! Wearing mine at work right now.

I am drained. Feeling oddly good about game 4 though. Feels like the D.Lee p'n'r really started opening things up for us there at the end. In a post-season full of unlikely heroes, D.Lee saving the season would be right up there with what Delly is giving the Cavs. EDIT: D.Lee +17

I am officially nervous for game 3. It is hard to get work done today.

How the heck are you bored with an S4? Get yourself to a track day or get yourself up to some great mountain roads!

It is just crazy that we are one play away from each team being up 2-0 or down 0-2. It has been a great first two games. Anyone who thought LeBron was just going to lay down was dead wrong. If the Cavs keep playing D like they have then there is hope for them. Now, if GSW could just get our offense on track we'd blow these guys out

The watchOS updates look terrific as well.

Multitasking on iPad!!!!

Should be an interesting WWDC this morning. I'll have it streaming to my phone. I'm worried that any Apple streaming music service will be dead on arrival. I have no idea what advantages they could really have over their competitors other than competing on price. Also, I can't really say that there is a big customer base interested in streaming music whose needs aren't being met. I'll be interested to see what Tim Cook and co. have to say.

I use Plex for movies but it doesn't do DSD.