For I have, at long last, come to the end of the epic Horus Heresy.
I read the first book in the series, Horus Rising, back in 2013. I had not read any science fiction before this (I had mainly read historical fiction and history books) – but having heard good things about the book, I decided to give it a go.
I was very pleasantly surprised. I was hooked, even. It felt like a modern-day Iliad and Odyssey – and this is still how I would describe it.
Demigods, brotherly rivalries, the ambition of the God Emperor, a galaxy in flames. Epic stuff indeed!
Finishing this last book, I felt a sense of nostalgia hit me. I also felt a sense of gratitude to the authors of the series (primarily Dan Abnett and Aaron Dembski-Bowden) for their inspiring work.
For I have, at long last, come to the end of the epic Horus Heresy.
I read the first book in the series, Horus Rising, back in 2013. I had not read any science fiction before this (I had mainly read historical fiction and history books) – but having heard good things about the book, I decided to give it a go.
I was very pleasantly surprised. I was hooked, even. It felt like a modern-day Iliad and Odyssey – and this is still how I would describe it.
Demigods, brotherly rivalries, the ambition of the God Emperor, a galaxy in flames. Epic stuff indeed!
Finishing this last book, I felt a sense of nostalgia hit me. I also felt a sense of gratitude to the authors of the series (primarily Dan Abnett and Aaron Dembski-Bowden) for their inspiring work.
If you initiate a Secret Chat, however, then these communications are end-to-end encrypted and are tied to the device you are using. That means it’s less convenient to access them across multiple platforms, but you are at far less risk of snooping. Back in the day, Secret Chats received some praise from the EFF, but the fact that its standard system isn’t as secure earned it some criticism. If you’re looking for something that is considered more reliable by privacy advocates, then Signal is the EFF’s preferred platform, although that too is not without some caveats. The message was not authentic, with the real Zelenskiy soon denying the claim on his official Telegram channel, but the incident highlighted a major problem: disinformation quickly spreads unchecked on the encrypted app. Since its launch in 2013, Telegram has grown from a simple messaging app to a broadcast network. Its user base isn’t as vast as WhatsApp’s, and its broadcast platform is a fraction the size of Twitter, but it’s nonetheless showing its use. While Telegram has been embroiled in controversy for much of its life, it has become a vital source of communication during the invasion of Ukraine. But, if all of this is new to you, let us explain, dear friends, what on Earth a Telegram is meant to be, and why you should, or should not, need to care. The last couple days have exemplified that uncertainty. On Thursday, news emerged that talks in Turkey between the Russia and Ukraine yielded no positive result. But on Friday, Reuters reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin said there had been some “positive shifts” in talks between the two sides. At the start of 2018, the company attempted to launch an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) which would enable it to enable payments (and earn the cash that comes from doing so). The initial signals were promising, especially given Telegram’s user base is already fairly crypto-savvy. It raised an initial tranche of cash – worth more than a billion dollars – to help develop the coin before opening sales to the public. Unfortunately, third-party sales of coins bought in those initial fundraising rounds raised the ire of the SEC, which brought the hammer down on the whole operation. In 2020, officials ordered Telegram to pay a fine of $18.5 million and hand back much of the cash that it had raised.
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