June 23, 2002
The Wild, Wild West
Got back from Roch a little while ago. Spent a lot of my weekend doing this:
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| Annie's Computer |
Her old hard disk was dying and we needed to replace it. Unfortunately it completely went kaput about 90% of the way through dd'ing the old disk to the new one, and she lost all of her papers. I feel guilty as hell.
We went to a party at Fred's parent's lakehouse on Saturday evening. The place was really gorgeous.
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| The sunset at Fred's lakehouse |
I was tempted to take the sailfish out for a spin on the lake, but it's been years since I've sailed one of those little dinghies. I think I appreciate what sailing is now, and I didn't back then, though. Next time I'm there I'll definitely take it out. After the sun set, we set a fire and chatted around it/cooked some marshmallows.
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| The fire |
Today was a party at Mike and Cherie Livingston's house
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| The party |
The party was pretty cool, but a little over my head english wise. Still it was cool, as one of Annie's profs wanted to know all about relativity and science fiction, and I was able to enlighten her Re: black holes.
Next up: Moving! I have to move this week (more or less). And Sarah is finally moving out, yay!!!
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Further back...
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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Stealing the Network
I first bumped into the Stealing the Network series when reading the exploits of Joe Grand, one of the book's many hacker authors.
The 'Stealing the ...' series of books follows a rather disparate group of computer hackers as they help a former NSA spook (many of them unwittingly) gather the money he needs to retire.
The stories themselves are not fantastic fiction. The writing is uneven and choppy, the characters are stereotypical and not very well thought-out. What is fascinating about this book series is the technical accuracy of the exploits (at some points *too* accurate, with screen shots and step-by-step instructions).
It's a great series to read if you're a system administrator, or just getting into the wonderful field of computer security.
Rated 
by reid
on March 06, 2011
by reid
on March 06, 2011
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Close to the Machine
Ellen Ullman is one of those authors that somehow avoided my radar. Until now...
Close to the Machine is less a book than a collection of loosely related personal anecdotes from Ellen's time as a very rare thing -- a successful female bisexual independent computer programming consultant.
In the course of her work and relationship life, she learns hard lessons about programming, running a business, being lonely, and loving the wrong people. I found it particularly poignant being a crypto-nerd with difficult times in relationships and a more-or-less NDA'd, secret work life.
This book is a must-read for anyone into running their own business, programming, or anyone dating a person that is a business-a-holic or programmer.
Rated 
by reid
on November 23, 2009
by reid
on November 23, 2009
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The Long Trip Home
I had the joy of dining with the author in Florida. We went to a little Brazilian BBQ where he spoke with our waitstaff in (what I can only assume was) flawless Portugese.
Brian Wyllie spent 1969-1971 living in Brazil working for the Peace Corps. His recent book outlines his trip back to the United States via Bolivia, Peru, and the Carribean chain, by way of bus, train, and sailboat. The format comes spattered with observations from the modern day, and makes me think, "this must be what John McPhee's journal looks like."
The trip sounded like a fantastic one, but I was left wanting more detail...where did the gun (being snuck through customs in a variety of places, no doubt) come from? And how did Geneve's hair smell? Alas, we'll have to wait for another book to find the answers.
Rated by reid
on April 16, 2009
by reid
on April 16, 2009