August 21, 2002
Party time!
Sometime this week while walking around on campus.
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| Me, head of UU Cinemas |
Past few days have been getting exciting again. There's that sort of pre-move-in adrenaline rush that seems to hit campus about this time, every summer. Today was in fact the first day of freshman move-in. Classes on Monday. The energy and confusion that surrounds those guys when they come here is just amazing.
I went out to see a lecture earlier in the week, on the IDEA algorithm.
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| The new chip design allows for fast IDEA calculation using fewer operations, as you can clearly see in this picture |
Then, today, an impromptu party at Haizhi and Leland's house.
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| Leland, me, Haizhi (left to right) |
This was most interesting, as I was sort of a personality there. Haizhi and Leland are from China, Kyoong-Sook is from Korea, and Christian and Norka are from Venezuela. Most of the conversations were asking about me. Why did I become a vegetarian? Why did I want to leave the country? How do I ride so far? :).
A girl. Because I think a lot of things in this country are wrong. I was angry about being fat.
They all seemed to reach a consensus that I would miss my current home when I move to my new one, especially because my new one is recovering from environmental disaster. I don't know if I'll miss this place. They all seemed surprised though, that an american felt the way I do about my own country. They agree that most of the world hates the US, but they were never told of any dissension in the ranks.
All in all a fun and eye-opening evening.
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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