I think it's in my best interest to participate in the beta, because sure enough I'll have to use it some day. But I felt so badly burned by Windows 8 (I have a copy of "Windows 8 Pro" in my bookcase -- anyone want it?) that I had decided to hang onto Win7 until it done don't work anymore. But there's part of me that realizes that the day will come at some point where I'll have to upgrade to something, thus the somewhat anxious interest in what Win10 would be.

But what the heck. The household got off XP, released in 2001, not that long ago. Going by that metric, I should be good on Win7 until 2020 or so. Microsoft will have had five new releases by then -- maybe they'll get it right.

It seems like this (too many scientific papers) is a problem that could be solved by data mining. I know that concept is considered evil these days, but it does have it's practical, non-evil uses.

It was inevitable, really, that at some point there would be more science going on than could conveniently be published.

I dunno. I don't consider myself for or against soccer, and I don't have any particular views on feminism. But I don't have any particularly strong views for or against on many of Pratchett's various subjects, and still found them funny. Those two I didn't, particularly. They just seemed like duds to me.

Are you saying that if one were a feminist or a soccer fan, one would find those novels funny? So, if I for instance found Shaolin Soccer hilarious and cherish my copy of the film, how is it that I didn't feel the same way about Unseen Academicals? I mean, it's about kicking a ball around, and it's supposed to be funny. It wasn't, particularly.

As I said in the original note, I read most of the Discworld novels to my daughter, some (like Hogfather) several times. The only novel we didn't get all the way through (because it bored her) was Unseen Academicals. (We didn't even try the other one.) I'm struggling to postulate how that might have been the fault of my non-interest in European Football. Maybe I read it to her in a boring voice?

We are finally asking the right questions. Bravo.

That's a point. But this means it hasn't yet occurred to them that we need money to buy the crap they make.

I absolutely agree with this.

Geeze, I didn't even know about Banks. Now I'm more depressed.

Agree, Good Omens was an exceptional book.

I personally have not read the Nome trilogy yet.

For historical purposes, Strata, published 1981 could be considered a "pre-Discworld", although rooted in science fiction, not fantasy.

Ok, since you asked.

His first three novels (in chronological order) are just average fantasy. (The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites) I recommend instead the movie "The Colour of Magic" which includes the first two books, was quite well done, and is, frankly, better than the books.

I recommend that newcomers start with Mort, (the fourth book to be published) which is a classic "Death takes a holiday" story and gives you a glimmer of the amazing author Pratchett would become. Then read Reaper Man, Soul Music, and Hogfather, which continues the story started in Mort. (Hogfather had a decent film adaptation in 2006.)

Then, go back and read Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, and Maskerade.

Then go back and read the Guards novels, starting with "Guards! Guards!", Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, and The Fifth Elephant. All of these are good, but the real point of reading them is that they lead up to Night Watch, which is in my opinion where Pratchett crosses the line from "fantasy" into Literature. (Thief of Time is arguably a prelude to Night Watch and should probably be read first.)

After Night Watch comes Thud, which is another truly exceptional novel.

There is also a thread of novels involving the Rincewind character from The Colour of Magic, some of which are very good. (Check the wiki for the reading order.)

There is also the Tiffany Aching series, which is intended for a younger audience but is still an excellent read.

There are several stand-alone novels, Pyramids, Small Gods, Moving Pictures, that take place on the Discworld and may include characters from other books. They are well worth reading.

Pratchett has had a few duds. Monstrous Regiment and Unseen Academicals weren't very good. (I mean, I understand what Pratchett was trying to do in each case, but they just weren't as funny or clever as the others.)

But the rest ... you are in for a long stretch of being amazed, amused, and truly moved.

Be sure to read the footnotes! Some of the best stuff is there.

I feel like I've lost a member of the family.

I started reading the Discworld novels to my daughter when she was seven years old. She decided that Hogfather was her most favorite novel and brought it to school for book appreciation day in second grade. (Around 2001.) This caused a hasty parent/teacher conference where I was asked pointedly why I was reading books to my grade school daughter where the main character was Death.

A few years later I wrote about this incident to Terry and passed along a question from my daughter -- what's on the other side of the discworld? Is there a bottom discworld, or just a big brass sign that says "content on other side"? [1]

On the incident, Terry responded "Ah, teachers. We used to have ones that were educated. Once you could respect them." and went on to say that The Amazing Maurice which also has Death as a character, won the Carnegie Medal from children's librarians. About the bottom of the discworld, he said there would only be wet rocks and perhaps some specialized form of life.

God, I'm going to miss him.

[1] I was a Laserdisc enthusiast, and daughter knew that this was the message you got when you played the wrong side of a one-sided disc.

...while somehow not realizing that they're trying to sell their products to the same people they're screwing by sending jobs overseas.

I used to. I was born there. Moved out awhile back when it became apparent I'd never be able to own a house that wasn't less than a 2 hour drive from work. I did live there, and I did not understand.

Perhaps if you lived somewhere else *you'd* understand.

I wouldn't call you an apple enthusiast. I have used the products -- I retired a G4 not too long ago, and I still have an old ipod connected to the stereo in my truck. Daughter was a big fan of the ipod touch, 'till she slowly realized that her Android phone does all of that and more. My understanding is that her touch remains in its docking station in the bathroom now, so she can play music while showering. Wife owns a nano. We use Apple products (not a lot, but some) and I will admit to a large amount of animosity towards Microsoft for their business models and recent design choices. Yet I would not call us Apple enthusiasts.

To me, an Apple enthusiast is someone who will camp in front of the store in the rain the night before to be the first to trade their iphone in for a newly released, virtually identical iphone.

I happen to know someone who is currently between jobs, but it's not lost on him that the Apple Watch is just slightly more than a single unemployment check. Yeah, that's an Apple enthusiast.

Well, my company needs to remain nameless so I can't use it as an example. But it's been pretty obvious that when any local guy leaves the department for any reason, the replacement will be from India and have a contractor badge. That's been pretty consistent. I don't have access to salary information (actually I do, as an administrator, but personal ethics prevents me from abusing that authority) but my boss has said in meetings that confining new hires to only H1B employees has saved him a substantial amount of money. I think 50% of the going rate for this job (which $45K would be) seems like a reasonable assumption.

Alternately, don't do business in California.