January 24, 2003
Intellectual Conversation
When did intellectual conversation die? For me it was years ago. I used to enjoy sitting around with my friends talking about the "what is?" What is life? What is consciousness? What is god (Who? Who. Who? Exactly.) Then I got tired. Nobody presents any new ideas anymore.
Maybe I got too stubborn...and that the universe is deterministic. Talk about the meaning of life, the singularity and the Omega point are ideas that I've mulled over and spat out. Doubtful we'll make a computer that survives heat death or the big crunch.
Phiniki and I drank a bottle of wine over a rehashed intellectual conversation last night. We both knew we were defeated when she said, "Yeah, but what's the point?" I mean, sure it'd be cool to have a computer/a species able to live an infinite amount of time if the universe keeps blowing up, or compute everything right as the universe collapses. But there doesn't seem much a point. They're fun mental excercises but I don't share the same science-fiction optimism that Gene Rodenberry did.
Even supposing such a computer survived what would it be? This computer that knows everything; all it would succeed in doing, though, is proving Gödel right, right?
Anyway I still like what I'm doing, I'm just getting the mid-winter "wondering what is going to happen to humanity?" blues. And I miss having conversations where new ideas were generated. Cuz there are no new ideas. Maybe I should read more...
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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
just a detail...: I am not defeated at all! you are just looking at the wrong direction. We (humans) try to understand what`s going on around us, but never inside us: who is our enemy? from where do we try to escape? Thinking about anything but ourselves is much easier; but not closer to the (general) truth.
ix9ys
PS: I found the book I`ve told you about, in English but it`s a little bit expensive:
Posted by: Phiniki on January 30, 2003 04:44 PMhttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0292776241/qid=1043861249/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-5927640-0092663?v=glance&s=books