July 08, 2003
Breaking Radio Silence
It's been a wild and wonderful two weeks. My boss finally came off vacation and came to work for a little SE Linux meeting.
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| Dr. Chapin reading Harry Potter^W^W^Whard at work |
I went down to New Jersey to celebrate 4th of July with the fam and spend a rather bizarre two single-day stays with Annie (who camped out with me at my parents' houses in Jersey). I also made it to Kat's house.
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| Dung Beetles outside Kat's house. Yes, they push shit around. Literally. |
I got to see my grandparents and other assorted relatives that I only get to see once a year, at this time. We don't do big huge christmas gathering anymore. Family obligations and stuff make it difficult to steal away to Florida in the winter, as much as we might love a little sunshine.
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| New Jersey had a heat wave, though |
We did have a bit of a heat problem on Saturday in Jersey. Fortunately that seems to have remedied itself. No serious damage done.
So I came back to Syracuse and mostly moved into my new apartment. I've been a little bit skeptical about moving in, since I won't have internet access due to Time Warner dumbness (remember, keep your receipt that says you turned in your cable modem. I lost mine, now Time Warner says I owe them $500...).
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| 802.11b is proof that god loves us, and wants us to be happy |
Fortunately there is an 11b hotspot available from the window sill (sadly only from the window sill) of my bedroom in my new apartment, as evidenced by above photo. Yep, that's 324 Ostrom, the name is "Wireless" and there is no password. Exploit away.
Finally, after taking a week off from frisbee, my ankles were healed up enough to go play. Unfortunately my disk (rather than my ankles) suffered a serious setback this week.
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| Sigh... |
The above photo takes a bit of explaining. During the game, a new player made a bid on one of the discs and ended up bending it. My disc was thrown in for a replacement. A few turnovers in, one of our players (Brian, I believe) was the mark, and was trying to fake out his cover, when the rest of the disc just kept flying, leaving a rather sizable chunk in his hand. Yes, the disc is signed by Jennifer Nobel, Paul Ramsey, and Brett Kull of Grey Eye Glances fame. Fortunately Brian wants to keep the disc, and has promised a replacement of my choice from his collection.
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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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The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated 
by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007
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Zodiac
Zodiac touts itself as an 'eco-thriller,' and it is just that. Told from the first-person perspective of ST (or Sangamon Taylor), the book recounts a roughly six-month period of his life busting big corporations for violating environmental laws.
Not the tree-hugging political activist type, ST is equipped with chem labs, scuba divers, maps, and an organization (GEE International, the Group of Environmental Extremists) that masterfully brings the press into the fold to scare the public with the very real dangers posed by illegal dumping. It's sort of a Sierra Club member's wet dream -- a band of ecowarriors that actually get things done.
ST finds something odd happening in Boston Harbor during his tale: a new form of pollution that could poison everyone on the planet in a matter of weeks. His quest to uncover exactly who and what is causing the latest spike in toxins goes all the way up to the President of the United States, and could end up costing him his own life.
While a neat and fast-paced tale, the novel drags on a bit toward the end, begging disbelief from even the most forgiving sci-fi folk. While not as good as his latest offerings, it's still a great read for those that enjoy a good Stephenson novel (or even those who don't).
Rated 
by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005
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Cat's Cradle
A few years ago, I attempted to woo an online datee, and she immediately criticized me for my politics. I protested the war on Iraq, which was "a shame." She defended her position of complete noninvolvement by standing behind Vonnegut.
It may seem odd to open a review that way. My assumption is now not that she was an idiot, but that she had only read Cat's Cradle, and only with a rather odd viewpoint.
Cat's Cradle looks at a cold-war world where the personifications of religious, political, and scientific single-mindedness collide to destroy the world.
Vonnegut tells a masterful tale, but it makes me wonder what one person's indifference would do to prevent us from all dying? So for now I will continue to unblindly stop unjust wars, even while I'm only reading.
Rated by reid
on July 17, 2005
by reid
on July 17, 2005
PRINGLES CAN REPEATER!!!!
Posted by: Saiph on July 13, 2003 08:56 PM