January 07, 2003
Apple is on a Roll
Mad props to Apple lately. While my ibook battery still sucks, they've been putting out hella good software. And now we're even getting a real X11 server. I'm glad I bought a mac again. Even if it's worth nothing less than 6 months after I bought it. Again.
My biggest complaints about the MacOS now are:
1) No LaTex. Booooooo! I type everything in tex nowadays.
2) X11 server, how the heck do you use it? It doesn't install any docs, so I'm stuck using unaccelerated xfree86 from fink.
3) No multiple desktops. My 12 inch laptop screen is simply too small for the 70 or 80 program windows I like to keep open.
4) Lack of debian-like centralized package manager. I do use fink, but I mean a centralized package manager for MacOS software. Apple's software update only keeps track of the core OS. It doesn't tell me about new free Apple software or anything.
Yeah I'm a whiner, so sue me.
Today while doing errands I caught snowflakes on my hands. The snowflakes are, dare I say, beautiful. Not like in America. They're actually snowflakes, intricate crystal lattice structures. Very mathematical. Most of the flakes I see in the US are icy chunks, more to do with ugly randomness than Koch. It's been snowing constantly since I got back, always this very slow drifting down. I suppose the flakes stay so pristine because they aren't moving fast. It reminds me of the people around here...they take their time getting where they're going; there's no rush to be first. I'll take a movie of the snow tomorrow.
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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
Yeah so I should change a few things:
1) Latex courtesy of fink (must use fink install latex, not apt-get install, as you must build tetex from source)
2) X11 server trouble was caused by me installing the SDK only. Stupid me.
4) Maybe the OS X package manager is better than I think. We'll see what happens January 25th when the iLife thing comes out. If the Software Update finds new versions of that stuff, I'll be impressed. It'd still be nice to have a central repository with versions of all packaged-managed software there, though.
My other complaint stands unchanged.
Posted by: Reid on January 21, 2003 08:25 PM