Friday, August 21, 2020

Science Fiction Short Stories to Read Online (And Where to Find Them)

Science Fiction Short Stories to Read Online (And Where to Find Them) Were really in a second golden age of science fiction short stories, with multiple excellent outlets that not only publish these stories, but put them online for free. Heres a list of a few good stories to get you startedâ€"which, trust me, is just scraping the surface of all that was excellent in 2017â€"and more importantly where you can look for more! So rather than as a long list of just stories, well link you to a publication and give you a couple examples of their offerings. Please note that this list, presented in no particular order, is non-exhaustive and Ive focused mostly on places that pay their writers pro rates. Lightspeed Lightspeed is an online magazine that publishes both science fiction and fantasy short stories. Theyre also the originators of Women Destroy Science Fiction, a immensely successful project that was a reaction to jerks on the internet whinging that women were ruining science fiction with their lady something-or-others. (Which launched into other great Kickstarted special issues,  Queers Destroy Science Fiction and People of Colo(u)r Destroy Science Fiction.) The Greatest One-Star Restaurant in the Whole Quadrant by Rachael K Jones Later, Lets Tear Up the Inner Sanctum by A. Merc Rustad Uncanny Uncanny is the official magazine of Space Unicorns everywhere. They publish a mix of science fiction and fantasy thats weird and meaty and always beautifully written. Theyve also taken up the  Destroy mantel from Lightspeed, with their upcoming  Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction  successfully kickstarted in July (and about to enter its reading period for stories). Fandom for Robots by Vina Jie-Min Prasad Henosis by NK Jemisin Daily Science Fiction Daily Science Fiction  not only publishes all their stories online, but if you sign up for their mailing list theyll send them directly to your email, one per weekday. Because of the frequency of publication, they mostly publish flash fiction. And it should be noted that even though science fiction is in their name, its actually a mix of scifi, fantasy, and borderline horror. Two lists discovered folded in the wallet of space explorer Jorge Finnegan after the Reliant wreckage was recovered from Tau Ceti e by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley Saudade by Cassandra Khaw Apex Magazine Apex Magazine tends toward the darker end of the science fiction and fantasy spectrum, sometimes going into borderline horror. But the darkness can be so lovely, and when they step into the light theyre delightfully strange and bitingly beautiful. Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experienceâ„¢ by Rebecca Roanhorse Say, She Toy by Chesya Burke Escape Pod Escape Pod is a little different because their emphasis is on publishing audio science fiction in a free-to-download podcast. The text of each story is also available on their website, however. Red in Tooth and Cog by Cat Rambo The Wind You Touch When You Run by James Beamon Shimmer Shimmer cover, 2017 Shimmer publishes fantasy, science fiction, and some almost-unclassifiable-but-still-definitely-genre stuff, with the emphasis on it having an indefinable but still definite shimmery quantity. Feathers and Void by Charles Payseur The Atomic Hollows and the Bodies of Science by Octavia Cade Strange Horizons Strange Horizons is venerable as online magazines go and tends to look for the different, daring, and unusual. They publish a mix of science fiction, fantasy, and the occasional bit of horror that catches their ear, ranging from the deep to the sublimely ridiculous. Krace is Not a Highway by Scott Vanyur Airswimming by Aisha Phoenix These Constellations Will Be Yours by Elaine Cuyegkeng Clarkesworld Clarkesworld is another long-running magazine that has a particular stylistic twist of weirdness to its stories, both science fiction and fantasy. Back issues are easily available on the website under the appropriately named tab. Prasetyo Plastics by DA Xiaolin Spires The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer GiGaNoToSaurus GigaNotoSaurus is a bit of an oddity because its not really short fiction as such…it tends to publish novellettes and novellas, really focusing on great fiction that tends to be a bit too long for most of the other venus. Because of the mighty length of most of the stories, they only tend to publish one per month. They publish both fantasy and science fiction. With Perfect Clarity by Wendy N. Wagner Salvage by Tracy Canfield Tor.com Tor.com has already made its name publishing SFF novellas with its imprint, but it also has a lot of great essays on its siteâ€"and regular installments of science fiction short stories and fantasy as well. Theyve got the freedom to do a lot of lengths, so youll find both very short and nearly novella-length on the site. Original fiction index can be found here, labeled for ease of finding the flavor you like. The Future of Hunger in an Age of Programmable Matter by Sam J Miller Waiting on a Bright Moon by JY Yang Sanctuary by Allen Steele Fireside Fiction Fireside Fiction is a very fierce outlet with a strong point of view (check out their statement of values, which is A+) that does absolutely ferocious science fiction and fantasy. They do quite a bit of flash fiction to go along with their short stories. Also worthy of noting that since 2015 they have been commissioning yearly reports on the representation of Black authors in speculative fiction to track the very real underrepresentation problem. Caesura by Hayley Stone Regarding Your Future With The Futures Planning Consortium by Raq Winchester Fran Wilde We Who Stay Behind by Karl Dandenell Terraform Terraform is a project of Motherboard that focuses on science fiction short stories, particularly near-future work. What they publish has a broad tonal range even if its one of the most focused in terms of its genre. Dark was the night, and cold the ground by Miguel Fernández-Flores The Wretched and the Beautiful by E. Lily Yu If youre looking for a place to check out science fiction short story reviews (also fantasy and horror) to get recommendations or ideas on other places to look, I heartily recommend Charles Payseurs Quick Sip Reviews. Natalie Luhrs has a short fiction review series at her blog. Locus Online also does short fiction issue reviews. Also worth noting: Book Riot has a great list of science fiction short story collections by authors of color that you might want to check out! Sign up to Swords Spaceships to  receive news and recommendations from the world of science fiction and fantasy.

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Revamping The Us Constitution Essay - 1001 Words

In 1789 The U.S. Constitution was introduced with the first of many pieces called the Preamble. The Preamble was just a summary of the main goal and mission of the United States in the late 1700s. It stated We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Things have changed drastically over the 228 years and in order to keep up with the trends of the United States which change often. There are many sections of the US constitution that should be revised and revamped†¦show more content†¦In addition, the 22nd Amendment should be re-evaluated. I feel like instead of Presidents being limited to 2 four-year-terms. If the president is popular and very liked, they should be able to stay in office for an add itional term, or be able to keep some kind of authoritative position. We often times see a president that was highly favorable out of the spotlight, although they have done great things for the country as a whole. One of the most admired and respected president Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected four times. Over the 12 years of FDR being president he was faced with a variety of obstacles which include WWII and The Great Depression. He was innovative and a quick thinker that always seem to have the perfect resolution. According to an article by the White House, Franklin D. Roosevelt â€Å"helped the American people regain faith in themselves. He brought hope as he promised prompt, vigorous action, and asserted in his Inaugural Address, ‘the only thing we have to fear is fear itself’.† Presidents with this mindset need to remain in office and give back as much as they can. The Great Depression was one of the most unpleasant and unexpected things the people of th e United States have gone through. Furthermore, I feel like the President should be limited to the amount of Executive Orders he or she are allowed to put in place. Executive Orders are policy changes thatShow MoreRelatedThe European Union Charter Of Fundamental Rights Essay2502 Words   |  11 PagesLisbon Treaty of 2009. The Charter has proved to be a controversial issue within European politics, with doubts being voiced about the functionality of the European Union’s own â€Å"Bill of Rights†. To effectively assess the question at hand, this essay will evaluate the extent to which the Charter is a necessary and desirable development, before reaching an overall conclusion. Accessibility vs. Clarity The Charter consists of common and indivisible universal values on which the Union is foundedRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagesperspective Robert W. Scapens 16. Strategic cost management: upsizing, downsizing, and right(?) sizing John K. Shank 17. Environmental management accounting Kazbi Soonawalla 18. Organization control and management accounting in context: a case study of the US motion picture industry S. Mark Young, Wim A. Van der Stede, and James J. Gong INDEX 266 291 308 329 355 380 407 425 CONTRIBUTORS ‘ Thomas Ahrens is Professor of Accounting at the Warwick Business School, University of WarwickRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesPaid time off (PTO) New to Chapter 13: OSHA assistance to employers; OSHA’s top ten violations New to Chapter 14: Increased coverage and illustration of right-to-work laws; Wal-Mart and unions Features to Encourage Learning Our experience has shown us that students are more likely to read a text when the reading is straightforward and conversational, the topics flow logically, and the authors make extensive use of examples to illustrate concepts. Students also remember and understand the conceptsRead MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 PagesHanson-Baldauf, Eric Werthmann, and Scott Adams. Our editor at Libraries Unlimited, Sue Easun, provided us with assistance throughout. Grateful acknowledgment is also due to other colleagues at Libraries Unlimited—Ron Maas and his very capable staff—for their efficiency and continuing encouragement to write yet another edition of this successful textbook. Many libraries and information center managers permitted us to reproduce documents that are used as examples in the book, and we thank them. Their management

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Analysis Of Minority Effect - 1355 Words

The short film, â€Å"Minority Effect†, explores what it would mean if able-bodiedness was not the norm, but instead if communities were populated with wheelchair users. Compared to popular media, this film used a non-disabled body to contrast to disabled bodies. Usually, disability is mobilized as a plot point to highlight the qualities of able-bodied people. They are never the protagonist and used as a means to reach a lesson. But what is the effect of minoritizing a majority group? Does it achieve awareness or does it just perpetuate the discrimination and oppression of marginalized groups? In â€Å"Minority Effect†, the reversal of roles is problematic in that it is counterproductive in that it still subscribes to common misrepresented†¦show more content†¦Neoliberalism calls for a pulling oneself up by the â€Å"bootstraps†, which places everyone on the same playing field and expects them to perform the same just by being â€Å"inclusive†. Th is reversal of roles also suggest that disabled people aspire to be able-bodied. By depicting an able-bodied person as seeking acceptance from the wheelchair-using majority, it proposes that in the real world, disabled people are seeking acceptance from able-bodied people. But while the man in the film could sit down on a trashcan in order to feel included, someone confined to a wheelchair cannot stand in order to feel accepted by their able-bodied peers. The last scene of the film is the most key. The man walks into a room for a community meeting, for which the flyer reads â€Å"open to all in the community†, and he seem apprehensive. He seems to perhaps be worried that he might not be accepted into the space and might be rejected as part of the community due to his able-bodiedness. As he walks through the door (an interesting detail since he has to physically open the door, which would not actually be accessible to the majority of wheelchair users), the camera angle is at h is eye level, looking down at the rest of the community as they turn around to stare at him. Throughout the scene, the camera angles switch between his eye-level to the eye-level of those in wheelchairs, which switches who the focus is on in thatShow MoreRelatedThe Reason Why Minorities Are Often Suspected First Of Doing Violent Crime1525 Words   |  7 Pages The following paper will try to discover the reason why minorities are often suspected first of doing violent crime, instead of their counterparts. A general reason why trying to understand this phenomenon is important is for the consequences it brings. When an individual, in this case minorities, are suspected of doing violent crime, they are more often targeted more than usual. This leads to mostly minorities being in prison, and in most states, they are not allowed to vote. This is crucial forRead MoreStereotyping And Prejudice Of Blacks Essay1406 Words   |  6 Pageshegemony in the presence†¦ of large numbers of minorities† (Blalock, 1967; Mancini, Mears, Stewart, Beaver, and Pickett, 2015). The impact of stereotyping and prejudice of Blacks being perceived as threat has caused many Whites to acquire defensive and demining reactions towards Blacks. The media and society has a tendency to shy away from or almost ignore the crime of Whites and instead shift to highlight the crime of Blacks and minorities. Entman (1992) discovered during a six-month periodRead MoreThe Issue Of Medical School Tuition972 Words   |  4 Pagesracial/ethnic backgrounds. They hypothesized that certain races had less economical resources, which would justify the differences in student’s debt. Their analysis of â€Å"self-reported data† from 2414 medical students in the U.S. showed that Black and White’s had more debt than Hispanic’s and Asian medical students. The study provides a clear and concise analysis of the experiment. Yet simultaneously, the study is based on â€Å"anticipated† medical school debt, instead of the debt after graduation. Furthermore theRead MoreAssignment 11368 Words   |  6 PagesTHE OLDER AMERICANS ACT ANALYSIS 4 addition, the policy indirectly supports the families of the elderly. It does so by offering services to caregivers that prevent or shorten costly nursing home placements, relieving financial strain, and providing educational programs to give a better understanding of aging. However, due to insufficient funding OAA services have restricted access and cannot reach all the elderly in need. Statistical demographics reveal that 27% of seniors that areRead MoreJudges On Trial : A Reexamination Of Judicial Race And Gender Effects Across Modes Of Conviction1044 Words   |  5 PagesA Reexamination of Judicial Race and Gender Effects Across Modes of Conviction By Brian D. Johnson Purpose: The purpose of the article is to examine the issues with data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing that has been strengthened to include information on sentencing judges and criminal court contexts, and it argues that the mode of conviction shapes the focus of sentencing discretion in ways that systematically underestimate judge effects for pooled estimates of incarceration and sentenceRead MoreHow Law Enforcement Affects Minorities1392 Words   |  6 PagesHow law enforcement affects minorities : Over time more and more news reports have raised flags on law enforcement, courtrooms and their outcomes due to the crime and the criminal and their racial background. Although a long time has passed since all decision making came from the white supremacist and we do have a more diverse system the race of the criminal seems to still be affecting the outcomes of criminal justice. In earlier times, courtrooms and many jurisdictions were all white decisionmakersRead MoreThe Conflict Of Police Brutality Essay802 Words   |  4 Pageswould like to attempt to provide critical analysis on a crucial social issue facing the United States. This issue is police brutality, especially against minority, particularly black Americans. I will attempt to do this with the root cause tool of critical analysis and problem solving. The conflict of police brutality has made national and international news. It has also sparked a new social movement. While police brutality is not limited to minoriti es, the rate that it used against African AmericanRead MoreCollege Students Exposure to Mental Illness743 Words   |  3 Pagesincrease of aggression, frustration, and other emotional instabilities; these results that which lead to exposure to depression and mental illness. The amount of stress and lack of sleep are studied amongst college students, preferable minority college students. Minority students were chosen due to the often stereotypical beliefs that African American and Hispanics are more susceptible to depression and the mental illness bipolar disorder. The behaviors of students who believe they take on a high orRead MoreIs Philadelphia Environmentally Just?1615 Words   |  7 Pagesindustry have often been unevenly distributed amongst social groups: Otherwise known as environmental inequality. Current theories on environmental inequality have commonly concluded that the phenomenon has two major factors, race and class. The effects of environmental inequality vary acros s time place and population. Based on my research, mapping, and statistics I was unable to attribute this issue to a dominant factor. Like many cities Philadelphia has had industrial facilities throughout itsRead MoreThe United States Of America Essay1566 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States of America The other aspect concerning minority parties in majoritarian elections is how these electoral systems tend towards two parties. Essentially this eliminates any possibilities for minority parties to have an influence as they simply won’t exist. The current status quo of American politics is typical in this respect. The nature of majoritarian elections to tend towards two parties is known as Duverger s law named after French sociologist Maurice Duverger. To understand

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Age Of Women s Rights - 1192 Words

The novel was written and is set in the decade following World War I, which ended in November 1918. The Jazz Age, a term coined by Fitzgerald, was a period of enormous social change in America, especially in the area of women’s rights. Before World War I, American women did not enjoy universal suffrage. In 1920, two years after the end of the war, they were finally given the vote. Before the war, standard dress for women included long skirts, tightly laced corsets, high-buttoned shoes, and long hair. A few years after the war, skirts became shorter, laced corsets began to disappear, modern footwear frequently replaced high-buttoned shoes, and â€Å"bobbed† hair became the fashion for young women. Perhaps most alarming for proponents of the old ways, was that women’s behavior began to change. During 1920s, great changes were taken places in American economy, society and cultures, which also impacted American women’ lives. At that time, new features occurred in women’s family, appearance and behavior. Thanks to great achievement of the technology, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and refrigerators became commonplace in every family. These things released women’s hands and freed them from endless housework. Thus they got more time to take care of themselves and their appearance. A author written that they used to wrap their hair in knobs fantastic, high, and queer, but now they cut it in bobs or curl it round their ears. The things they do and wear today, would make their fogyShow MoreRelatedWomen s Rights Within The Viking Age924 Words   |  4 Pagesof men over women had been accepted to such a degree that it appeared to be the natural order of th ings . Popular imagination was of male Viking warriors with their long beards, large axes, colorful shields, and bloodied swords. The presence of women was limited within the scope of early works. The historiographical study of women’s rights within the Viking Age is in its early stages. The academic fields of gender and women’s studies gained greater prominence beginning in the 1970’s, coinciding withRead MoreWomen s Rights During The Victorian Age1486 Words   |  6 Pagesfemale monarch, women faced many inequalities and suffering during the Victorian age. Examples of these inequalities include not having the right to vote, unequal educational and employment opportunities. Women were even denied the legal right to divorce in most cases. As the Norton Anthology states, these debates over women’s rights and their roles came to be known as the â€Å"woman question† by the Victorians. This lead to many conflicting struggles, such as the desire by a ll for women to be educatedRead MoreAge of Reform in America1218 Words   |  5 Pages1800#8217;s strived at improving our developing society. America was growing larger, and with the expanding population, many new ideas sprang up. Conflicting opinions between the people of the United States caused the emergence of an Age of Reform, where people tried to change things such as the educational system and women#8217;s rights. These movements were the result of our nation#8217;s self-determination and interest in improving the society we live in. Between the 1820#8217;s and 1860#8217;sRead MoreSpeech And Writing Of Elizabeth Barrett Browning1002 Words   |  5 Pageslife at all. But that she had not lived enough to know,† -Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Aurora Leigh v. 187). In the Victorian Age, a woman s greatest duty was that of being a wife and a mother. Women were told that they must be graceful, quiet, dependent, passive and to love with an absence of passion. They were of little individual worth apart from their husbands. A woman s enthusiastic interest in a higher, more advanced education was most definitely frowned upon by society. Elizabeth Barrett BrowningRead MoreStatus of Woman in Indian Society1230 Words   |  5 PagesSTATUS OF WOMEN IN THE PAST TO THE PRESENT Ancient India:- In ancient India, the women enjoyed equal status with men in all fields of life. Works by ancient Indian grammarians such as Patanjali and Katyayana suggest that women were educated in the early Vedic period. Rigvedic verses suggest that the women married at a mature age and were probably free to select their husband. Scriptures such as Rig Veda and Upanishads mention several women sages and seers, notably Gargi and Maitreyi. AccordingRead MoreRalph Waldo Emersons Connection To Transcendentalism1223 Words   |  5 Pagesinvolved viewing women as equal. Philip F. Gura, Transcendentalism and Social Reform, History Now, assessed May 14, 2017, https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-by-era/first-age-reform/essays/transcendentalism-and-social-reform. Emerson s support for women s suffrage prompted him to write A Reasonable Reform to promote anti-suffrage and allow women to vote so that it [brings] together a cultivated society of both sexes. Ralph Waldo Emerson, A Reasonable Reform (1881), in Women s Suffrage AssociationRead MoreExploring Their Rights And Encountering Change : Women Of The 1920s1344 Words   |  6 PagesExploring Their Rights and Encountering Change: Women of the 1920s Today, women have the same rights as men, but it wasn’t always that way. Women had very little rights in the 1920s. In this paper, we will look into the struggles of women, how their jobs changed from when they gained their rights, and finally we will go over some famous activists. The campaign for women’s suffrage began in the earnest in the decades before the Civil War. During the 19th century, as male suffrage was slowly extendedRead MoreShould Abortion Be Legal?1652 Words   |  7 Pagesis the case of many unborn children. In today s society teens are allowed to have abortions with or without parental consent, even under the age of 18. Allowing abortions is overriding the basic human rights. Teens under the age of 18 shouldn t be allowed to have an abortion because of the basic human rights of a fetus. Teens themselves don t have certain rights so how are they allowed to have rights over someone else s life. Teens under the age of 18 can t get major surgeries without parentalRead More Age Of Reform In America Essay1142 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican reform movements in the early to mid 1800amp;#8217;s strived at improving our developing society. America was growing larger, and with the expanding population, many new ideas sprang up. Conflicting opin ions between the people of the United States caused the emergence of an Age of Reform, where people tried to change things such as the educational system and womenamp;#8217;s rights. These movements were the result of our nationamp;#8217;s self-determination and interest in improving the societyRead MoreProgression Of Women s Rights1229 Words   |  5 PagesProgression of Women’s Rights The Gilded Age caused the solution of many problems to not happen. During this time, in the late 19th century, there was extreme corruption that was not being fixed. Soon, in 1890, the rise of progressivism took place, trying to fix the problems that were made. Many different progressive era reformers focused on many different issues and tried to mend the corruption relating to that specific topic. Women’s rights was a huge problem during this time, and two specific

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

The Differences of Hiphop and Rap Music free essay sample

Hip-hop and Rap are two of the most popular kinds of music In the subculture. Despite being popular, There are three mall differences between rap and hip-hop like musical features, culture and community message. Firstly,The musical features of rap and hip-hop show some discrepancies Rap Is a combination of rhyming and poetry to a musical beat contrary to Rap.On the other hand, hip-hop music Includes rhythm,blues and beat boxing. Secondly, The culture of rap music Is focused on poetry and quality of lyrics. Rap music has a strong background In Improvisational poetry. The artists or rappers are expected to create poetry that discusses the main Issues of the community, politics, or media events. While the artists In this area of music are men, hip hop music Is a mixture of men and woman. Rap groups are also fairly rare, with most rappers being solo artists.Then , The community message of hip-hop and rap songs looks like subject-object relation. We will write a custom essay sample on The Differences of Hiphop and Rap Music or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Take for an example; Hip Hop is the teacher. But,Rap is the show-off. Hip Hop talks about everything negative and makes it positive. Alt teaches lessons that anyone can learn from. They do it for the love of the music. Unfortunately,Rap talks about jewelry, shoes, falling in love with a stripped, the color in your shirt, and anything else. To sum up, All of properties make us distinguish to hip-hop and rap shows the differences clearly.

Saturday, April 4, 2020

Christianity Questioned Essays - Culture, Arts And Crafts Movement

Christianity Questioned In "Christianity and the Machine Age," Eric Gill attempts to prove that Christianity is true. To answer this question, Gill turns not to philosophers, theologians or archaeologists, but to his own consciousness. "If there be God, if there be Christ,... it is to man, to the individual man that he calls." (Gill, 219) Gill bases his argument on the presumption that the truth is the correspondence of thought with thing. "In Christianity thought and thing correspond. It is in that sense that we say Christianity is true, is the truth." (Gill, 219) Gill says that what he knows of Christ corresponds with what he knows and desires and loves as a human. Gill also asserts that he has no reason to suppose that he is any "different in kind or in powers or in experience from other men." (Gill, 219) Gill says it follows that since Christianity is true for him, it must then also be true for all men. According to Gill, those who do not accept the truth of Christianity are simply wrong. Gill continues, asserting that Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and all other faiths are lesser because they are "more partial, less profound, and therefore less widespread." (Gill, 219) This is a poor argument considering that Christians were a minority group for thousands of years. While Gill does not feel that other faiths are untrue, he says that the only faith with a clear view of reality is Christianity. "Observe, for example, an object under a microscope. Attempt to get it into focus. But, unless the object be absolutely flat, you will get one level in focus and not another. You will not be able to see it all at once, and you will perhaps pass some levels altogether." (Gill, 219) This metaphor is an excellent way to explain why so many differing religions exist when there is only one Truth. Gill does not, however, provide any reason to assume that Christianity is seeing the truth any more clearly than the other major world religions. The argument that Christianity is more correct because it"affirms" more sets Christianity as the lowest common denominator. This does not prove that the truth as seen through the Christian ?microscope' is any clearer that when the truth is viewed through any other religion's ?microscope.' Gill's point about denials is well made, however. "The only thing to beware of is denial. It is on the plane of denials that we fall foul of one another." (Gill, 219) I agree with Gill that it is more productive to examine the commonalties than the conflicts when comparing religions. Gill's purpose in attempting to answer such a profound question is tied to his definition of proper work in the Age of Machines. "Christianity...must imply something as to the object of human life and the object of human work." (Gill, 220) Gill says that if Christianity is removed from the process of work, the work(wo)man will be lowered to a subhuman condition by degrading labor and focusing on profit-gaining ends. For Gill, this is the true threat of the Machine Age. "The effect of the Machine Age is to secularize human life, to abolish the Christian criterion of holiness, understood both morally and intellectually." (Gill, 235) Gill does allow that machines may help to alleviate some of the suffering that exists in the world, but he has no confidence that the influence of capitalist industrialism will be overcome. "The spirit which has animated merchants and industrialists and financiers from the beginning of the Machine Age, whether in big business or small, is not the provision of social amenity or the relief of suffering, but the aggrandizement of themselves." (Gill, 235) For Gill the only hope for humanity lies in the creation of a Christian world, a world based on "Christian faith, ruled by Christian thought, and moved by a Christian will." (Gill, 236) I agree with many of the values and ideals that Gill espouses. It is obvious that something must change, particularly with regard to the overemphasis on the profit motive. I do, however, disagree with his notion that these ideals can only be applied through the template of Christianity. Christian leaders have shown themselves to be no more fair or humane than non-Christians. Neither has the influence of Christian religious leaders, particularly Catholic leaders, been proven superior. If fact, the countries most deeply entrenched in industrial capitalism are predominantly Christian. Any challenge to the status quo, whether issued by a Buddhist or a Christian, would be an excellent start in the effort to change

Sunday, March 8, 2020

How to Use String Substitution in Ruby

How to Use String Substitution in Ruby Splitting a string is only one way to manipulate string data. You can also make substitutions to replace one part of a string with another string. For instance, in an example string (foo,bar,baz) replacing foo with boo in would yield boo,bar,baz. You can do this and many more things using the sub and gsub method in the string class. Many Options for Ruby Substitution The substitution methods come in two varieties. The sub method is the most basic of the two and comes with the least number of surprises. It simply replaces the first instance of the designated pattern with the replacement. Whereas sub only replaces the first instance, the gsub method replaces every instance of the pattern with the replacement. In addition, both sub and gsub have sub! and gsub! counterparts. Remember, methods in Ruby that end in an exclamation point alter the variable in place instead of returning a modified copy. Search and Replace The most basic usage of the substitution methods is to replace one static search string with one static replacement string. In the above example, foo was replaced with boo. This can be done for the first occurrence of foo in the string using the sub method or with all occurrences of foo using the gsub method. #!/usr/bin/env rubya foo,bar,bazb a.sub( foo, boo )puts b $ ./1.rbfoo,bar,bazgsub$ ./1.rbboo,bar,baz Flexible Searching Searching for static strings can only go so far. Eventually, youll run into cases where a subset of strings or strings with optional components will need to be matched. The substitution methods can, of course, match regular expressions instead of static strings. This allows them to be much more flexible and match virtually any text you can dream up. This example is a little more real world. Imagine a set of comma-separated values. These values are fed into a tabulation program over which you have no control (closed source). The program that generates these values is closed source as well, but its outputting some badly-formatted data. Some fields have spaces after the comma and this is causing the tabulator program to break. One possible solution is to write a Ruby program to act as glue, or a filter, between the two programs. This Ruby program will fix any problems in the data formatting so the tabulator can do its job. To do this, its quite simple: replace a comma followed by a number of spaces with just a comma. #!/usr/bin/env rubySTDIN.each do|l|l.gsub!( /, /, , )puts lend gsub$ cat data.txt10, 20, 3012.8, 10.4,11gsub$ cat data.txt | ./2.rb10,20,3012.8,10.4,11 Flexible Replacements Now imagine this situation. In addition to the minor formatting errors, the program that produces the data produces number data in scientific notation. The tabulator program doesnt understand this, so youre going to have to replace it. Obviously, a simple gsub wont do here because the replacement will be different every time the replacement is done. Luckily, the substitution methods can take a block for the substitution arguments. For each time the search string is found, the text that matched the search string (or regex) is passed to this block. The value yielded by the block is used as the substitution string. In this example, a floating point number in scientific notation form (such as 1.232e4) is converted to a normal number with a decimal point. The string is converted to a number with to_f, then the number is formatted using a format string. #!/usr/bin/env rubySTDIN.each do|l|l.gsub!( /-?\d\.\de-?\d/) do|n|%.3f % n.to_fendl.gsub!( /, /, , )puts lend gsub$ cat floatdata.txt2.215e-1, 54, 113.15668e6, 21, 7gsub$ cat floatdata.txt | ./3.rb0.222,54,113156680.000,21,7 Not Familiar With Regular Expressions? Lets take a step back and look at that regular expression. It looks cryptic and complicated, but its very simple. If youre not familiar with regular expressions, they can be quite cryptic. However, once you are familiar with them, theyre straightforward and natural methods of describing text. There are a number of elements, and several of the elements have quantifiers. The primary element here is the \d character class. This will match any digit, the characters 0 through 9. The quantifier is used with the digit character class to signify that one or more of these digits should be matched in a row. You have three groups of digits, two separated by a . and the other separated by the letter e (for exponent). The second element floating around is the minus character, which uses the ? quantifier. This means zero or one of these elements. So, in short, there may or may not be negative signs at the beginning of the number or exponent. The two other elements are the . (period) character and the e character. Combine all this, and you get a regular expression (or set of rules for matching text) that matches numbers in scientific form (such as 12.34e56).