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

  • © 2021 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 17 Dec 2020
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Vernon Vinge (Deepness in the Sky) is the only thing I’ve read that seems to be imagined on a similarly lavish scale, and evoke operatic space of similar narrative proportions. Both are galaxy-sized stories for galaxy-sized canvasses. They don’t feel like stretched planet-scale.

      4 replies 1 retweet 44 likes
      Show this thread
    2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 17 Dec 2020
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      By contrast, Asimov’s foundation, despite being otherwise pioneering in the genre, feels like planet-scale narrative stretched to fit galaxy-scale canvas, and the pixelation shows. It is self-admittedly just the decline-and-fall-of-Roman-empire transposed to a space-operatic key.

      2 replies 1 retweet 51 likes
      Show this thread
    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 17 Dec 2020
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Hyperion (I only read one volume) had the potential despite starting with Canterbury tales sub-planet scale inspiration, but I felt lost its way. Didn’t feel inspired to finish.

      10 replies 0 retweets 17 likes
      Show this thread
    4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 22 Dec 2020
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Venkatesh Rao Retweeted Venkatesh Rao

      https://twitter.com/vgr/status/1341285050537504771 …

      Venkatesh Rao added,

      Venkatesh Rao @vgr
      Finished Player of Games. That was surprisingly short. I enjoyed it, but definitely not my favorite Culture novel. Good and clever but not great. Interesting to contrast with other game-themed books like Glass-Bead Game and Ender’s Game.
      1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes
      Show this thread
    5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 22 Dec 2020
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Now on to Consider Phlebas. Nice to be reading it at #6. It will feel like a prequel and I’m a big fan of prequel narratives.

      6 replies 0 retweets 8 likes
      Show this thread
    6. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 31 Dec 2020
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Finished Consider Phlebas last night. Easily the worst so far, but still worth it for getting the backstory of the world. It is both technically weaker than later novels and less inventive. Has a color-by-numbers feel. Player of Games too. The rest feel organic by contrast.

      6 replies 0 retweets 8 likes
      Show this thread
    7. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr 31 Dec 2020
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Status: ✅ Use of Weapons: A- ✅ Hydrogen Sonata: A ✅ Look to Windward: A ✅ Matter: A+ ✅ Player of Games: B ✅ Consider Phlebas: B- To go: State of the Art Excession Inversions Surface Detail

      10 replies 1 retweet 29 likes
      Show this thread
    8. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 7
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Next up: Surface Detail

      7 replies 0 retweets 11 likes
      Show this thread
    9. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 11
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      LOU/eccentric Me, I’m Counting is one one of my favorite ship names. Nice godly name.

      2 replies 0 retweets 7 likes
      Show this thread
    10. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 16
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Venkatesh Rao Retweeted Venkatesh Rao

      Surface Detail has the most direct philosophical exposition and plot-extraneous world building among the books I’ve read so far. Mildly tedious. Also not particularly enjoying the detailed description of hells. Reminds me of Dante’s Inferno (which I also found tedious).https://twitter.com/vgr/status/1350335875373154305 …

      Venkatesh Rao added,

      Venkatesh Rao @vgr
      “[Simulationism creates] a kind of lassitude through acceptance that could be exploited. There were few better ways of knocking the fight out of people than by convincing them that life was a joke” —Iain M. Banks in Surface Detail
      1 reply 0 retweets 8 likes
      Show this thread
      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 16
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Kinda fun to learn about non-SC divisions of Contact. Quietitude is a nice concept for an afterlife intelligence agency.

      7:31 PM - 16 Jan 2021
      • 7 Likes
      • Ddy. Gabriel sam atman 🌓 Pete Francis 📱=🌎 visa is decluttering old drafts Jonathan Parker mutual
      1 reply 0 retweets 7 likes
        1. New conversation
        1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 20
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          Ok SC still steals the show in the end. Surface Detail is a B-. Some really ambitious world-building compromised by long stretches of rather tedious scene descriptions.

          2 replies 0 retweets 5 likes
          Show this thread
        2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 20
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          This is the most overtly socialist-polemic of the novels so far, and somewhat weakens it. Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints is probably one of the most anthropomorphic ships ever. Almost too human to be fun, though it acts properly ship-like towards the end.

          1 reply 0 retweets 5 likes
          Show this thread
        3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Jan 20
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation

          Status: ✅ Use of Weapons: A- ✅ Hydrogen Sonata: A ✅ Look to Windward: A ✅ Matter: A+ ✅ Player of Games: B ✅ Consider Phlebas: B- ✅ Surface Detail: B- To go: State of the Art Excession Inversions

          4 replies 0 retweets 12 likes
          Show this thread
          4. End of conversation

      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

        • © 2021 Twitter
        • About
        • Help Center
        • Terms
        • Privacy policy
        • Imprint
        • Cookies
        • Ads info