June 26, 2004
More on Fahrenheit 9/11
More on the film. Stephen and I went to see a matinee showing of the film. The theater was packed, probably in the ballpark of 500 people. For a matinee showing. On a weekday.
The movie was full of cheering and jeering from the audience at various sound bites. I can only say that it was an extremely well-packaged bit of political powerhouse...I find it amusing how many people are arguing that it's false, or it's true, when I have yet to see anybody present a real bit of paper evidence for or against the arguments. Not that I'd believe one way or the other: the curse of the information age is that information, both true and false, is so ubiquitous that we can't tell one end of a horse's arse from the other.
It is what it is, and it is a film damning to the most corrupt presidency of my lifetime (if ever). Take a gander at it before judging. Don't be like the picketers outside our movie theater (holding signs "Michael Moore made this movie for profit. Don't see it," nevermind that he donates a not-so-wee bit of money to other filmmakers and the American Library Association). I ended up waving an extended middle finger at our out-of-work friend picketing the movie. I was happy when he yelled back at me. Free speech is free speech is free speech, after all...why trample on anyone's rights?
So what do we hope to get out of such a movie? I doubt conservatives are going to watch it without sticking their fingers and ears singing "la la la." The hope is that people will jump at the idea that John Kerry is a douchebag, but I'm voting for him anyway.
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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
Hitchens does a good job on the movie. Michael Moore is political comedian not a journalist...
http://slate.msn.com/id/2102723
Posted by: dfc on June 26, 2004 03:20 PM