Skip to content
By using Twitter’s services you agree to our Cookies Use. We and our partners operate globally and use cookies, including for analytics, personalisation, and ads.
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • About

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

Conversational account. For work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian. IKEA builder.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

Tweets

  • © 2020 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Imprint
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 1
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Freeman thought one space strategy was to simply wait a century after government programs quit and get junk for cheap, like Mayflower was a cheap private voyage more than a century after Columbus expensive state-sponsored exploration. With space it’s taken ~50 post Apollo.

      2 replies 1 retweet 6 likes
      Show this thread
    2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 1
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      George and Ken are scouring a junkyard for an aluminum pole and plate to make a rudder. It’s a year after their big voyage (which Ken quit in Ketchikan). The book really likes to lay it on thick re these father/son juxtapositions.

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      Show this thread
    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 1
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Now in a chapter on George’s enormous 48-foot 6-person canoe, Mount Fairweather. Built 1974-75. Dude’s a total Quixote. Apparently a legend in boatbuilding circles. I’d like to see it.http://westcoastpaddler.com/community/threads/george-dyson-re-launch-of-the-mount-fairweather-baidarka.6449/ …

      1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      Show this thread
    4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 2
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Big canoe about to launch. On a mad poet present for occasion: “His lines did not scan, but ended wherever he ran out of room. The poem itself ended similarly...Henry produces poetry the way a factory loom produces fabric — by the yard, and it can be cut off almost any place.”

      1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      Show this thread
    5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Chapter 41: Ken goes to La Jolla to meet Freeman as weird sort of emissary from George. They take walks and stuff, discussing space, nukes, etc. Now on to Chapter 42, the reunion! Starship father meets Canoe son. “Luke, I’m your father” moment.

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      Show this thread
    6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      This collision of worlds is lit. Freeman checks out the treehouse and then goes with teen daughter Emily, and Ken, to rendezvous with George on some island. The journey itself is a gem of a vignette. The movie scene would be great.pic.twitter.com/WLTiYdKnLd

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      Show this thread
    7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      “The plexiglass domes [on canoe manholes] were in place...Freeman repeated...that the canoe was beautiful. He confessed that he thought he would like it better without the domes — just the classic Aleut lines. The astrophysicist, oddly or not, did not like the spaceship look.”

      1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      Show this thread
    8. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      This story is full of colorful side characters, like Will Malloff, a weird frontier guy who ran a 1-person lumber mill and bred Rhodesian ridgeback dogs (lion hunting dogs) on Swanson island, where Luke Dyson met Anakin “Darth Orion” Dyson.

      2 replies 1 retweet 2 likes
      Show this thread
    9. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      “The Mallloff settlement testified to the energy that two isolated people...can unleash. Here, I could not help thinking, was the kind of small colony [Mayflower mode] that Freeman Dyson advocates.”

      1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      Show this thread
    10. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      This whole bit reminds me of the “Amazing Crusoes of Lonesome Lake”, also set in the region, which I read as a kid as a Readers Digest condensed book. Looks like British Columbia is the true last human frontier. https://www.amazon.com/Crusoe-Lonesome-Lake-Wilderness-Struggle/dp/B000GQMX1C …

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      Show this thread
      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Damn. 2 other characters present, Ron and Julie Moe, are ex lighthouse keepers. I guess this breed had not entirely been automated out of existence in 1975

      2:05 PM - 4 Apr 2020
      • 1 Retweet
      • 2 Likes
      • Gerad Tod Death will not release you Amalgamated Tsundoku Psychohazard
      2 replies 1 retweet 2 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          Will’s grandfather was a Dukhobor. TIL file https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doukhobors 

          2 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
          Show this thread
        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          Father-son moment: George: “What do you think about this idea of a radio? Some people think I’m crazy to want to put one in this canoe.” Freeman: “I think a radio in the canoe is a good idea. That’s what I like about you—you’re not a purist.” Next: paddle in a starship? 🤔

          1 reply 1 retweet 1 like
          Show this thread
        4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          Freeman says he’s working on theory of what holds galaxies together Daughter Emily: “epoxy” (which George swears by for canoes) Now that’s a good family joke

          1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
          Show this thread
        5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          George and Ken save 2 men from drowning on last day on Hanson island. This book is just endlessly eventful.

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
          Show this thread
        6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          Book closes with some wonderfully meditative and poetic short chapters. This whole thing has been an epic read.

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
          Show this thread
        7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Apr 4
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          Ok done. That was a totally wonderful book, and I’m glad I read it in sips sitting on my balcony in a pandemic. Thank you @andersen for the reco.

          0 replies 0 retweets 5 likes
          Show this thread
        8. End of conversation
        1. Abhiram R‏ @abhicantdraw Apr 4
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vgr

          I've live tweeted movies and I've not had a problem with that because in my mind, getting distracted from a movie to tweet about it doesn't seem as sacrosanct as it does seem in the context of book reading 🤔Does it make the whole experience better or do you think it's a problem?

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
          Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. Undo
          Undo

      Loading seems to be taking a while.

      Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

        Promoted Tweet

        false

        • © 2020 Twitter
        • About
        • Help Center
        • Terms
        • Privacy policy
        • Imprint
        • Cookies
        • Ads info