September 09, 2002
Last Dance
My weekend began as follows.
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| Going to work on Friday morning |
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| Hanging out with Rachael who shows up at my office at 10am |
Came home, showed my car off to a hungarian woman and her friend (who didn't speak english). It was fun to hear him asking questions, having her translate, me answer, her translate back. I always think of what happened with the first programmed language translators. When you translated "hydraulic ram" from English, to Russian, back to English it said "water sheep."
Silliness aside, I then went partying with Steve (not Stephen).
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| Steve sobering up to drive |
Woke up Saturday morning with a mild headache and showed my car off to an indian girl that could barely drive. It was highly amusing, as she was a really bad driver. Hopefully she'll offer something, but I'm afraid if I sold the car to her she'd kill herself.
I was supposed to show my car to another indian gentleman on Saturday afternoon but he was a no-show, wasting my time. Instead I went for a bike ride. Then I went to Rochester.
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| Me, compiling the latest kernel on Annie's bed |
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| This photograph is an attempt to make my girlfriend look homely so that nobody will try and steal her away while I'm gone :) |
It was a nice weekend with Annie and her new roommate (see above picture, off to the right). I think we're both a bit bummed that I'm going away, me probably a little less bummed than her (just cuz I get to go to new places). What to do though?
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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