Welcome back to this week's TimeMachiner. 2024 has been a year of running behind with my writing here. As I mentioned in the last issue, it's mostly due to life being a whole lot right now. Writing, a passion I have, also requires time to do said writing.
The majority of my time right now is taken up with work and planning life changes that are occurring throughout the year. And when something's gotta give, unfortunately my writing takes a back seat. But, I'm trying to get something out when I can for you guys.
Today's issue goes into the crazy world of Humane's AI Pin. This wearable product is finally shipping out and it's... a dud. I won't spoil the article below, but I'm certainly not impressed by what I've seen.
One great positive to this year to-date is that I've now been able to blow through books at the pace I'm accustomed to. Last week I finished Upgrade by Blake Crouch. It felt weird to make lots of progress on a book when I spent the prior 11-months slogging through the incredible Count of Monte Cristo. But in the end, getting through a "short" 325-page affair was a nice accomplishment.
I liked the book and felt it was okay. A solid three star read. Crouch's work is fun science-y fiction in the realm of what Andy Weir (The Martian, Project Hail Mary) writes. Upgrade was nowhere near as enjoyable for me as his other book Recursion but I really enjoyed the idea of a light read after something so heavy. If you're looking for a fun more science-than sci-fi type of book, it may be up your alley.
Keeping in the same realm, I started Artemis by Andy Weir this past weekend. I'm only 20 pages in, but it seems quick-paced already. Again, I want some light reads for the foreseeable future. I hope I like this book because Project Hail Mary was so, so good. I almost liked it more than The Martian. One interesting side-effect of reading such a long book into this year is the backlog I built. Through various trips to bookstores and samples I've added to my Kindle, I have 11 physical books on my shelf waiting to be cracked open. A good problem to have!
The only other entertainment I've been enjoying aside from reading is returning to Star Trek: Lower Decks. This animated show is so clever and good. News came down last week it's getting canceled and while it makes me sad, I'm really happy for how good it's been. Paramount has taken Star Trek and built it to compete with the whole Star Wars endeavor over at Disney. Discovery has been good, but it's heavy. And every single season is a "we need to save the universe or everyone dies" situation. It absolutely gets tiring. Perhaps this is why Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds are so good. Their fun, classic Trek. Not too serious and it's entertainment above social commentary.
Don't get me wrong: I enjoy Discovery and what it's done to revive multiple Trek shows being on at the same time. But I'm also glad it's coming to an end. It has found its footing (almost all Trek needs 1-2 seasons to find itself) and I enjoy it more in the "future" setting it put itself into. But all things being equal, I much prefer the others over this one.
So that's all I've got for today. Please note TimeMachiner will not be published for the next 2 weeks as I'll be away and exceptionally busy.
Thanks for reading. Now, onto the rest of today's issue.