July 25, 2005
The Last Falcon Ridge
Another mad rush, another success story. On Wednesday night I went to New Paltz. Final Destination: NYC. Work has me on the road quite a bit, and I'm not complaining one bit. I attended an Open Group workshop trying to develop the next-generation something-or-other.
Exhausted from hiking and biking and travelling and whatnot, I went to sleep around 8:00. I think my bro and dad don't understand just how tired I've been lately. Let me tell you: I've been tired.
I woke up at 4am for the New York rendezvous, and then went to Falcon Ridge immediately after taking a train back to Poughkeepsie. Destination: The Ridge.
Much like last year, the Ridge rained a lot on Friday. Big huge thunderboomers that ripped tents out of the ground and sent them flying. I was busy cauterizing my shoelaces with my vehicle's cigarette lighter when I looked up...my truck was shaking.
After the rain, a bunch of muddy hippies played a little game of slide-to-the-tequila. People who slid down the hill far enough to touch the bottle got to take a swig. Interesting games these people play. In the sidelines, I met a beautiful and smart woman. Several minutes later, she introduced me to her girlfriend. The experience left me feeling hollow, and gave me a headache.
Survival is a fickle matter at the Fest. I'm getting older, I don't drink as much. Fortunately my campmates were mostly over-40s with kids, and they know how it feels.
I had to remember to keep my language normal around all these old-time SUOC'ers. Their kids are hilarious, uncorrupted. Well, mostly. They seemed to know an awful about alcohol for pre-teens.
I had a lot of fun this year, dancing a lot more than usual, spending waaaay more money on music than usual (~$250 on CDs!), relaxedly hanging out in the shade with old-timers and gabbing cycling, retirement, government work...being an adult for a change. I should have known all these people years and years ago.
Now, it seems, we may never see each other here again. The Long Hill Farm (where FRFF takes place) is on the sales block, likely to be subdivided for a housing development. For now, we'll try to push those thoughts out of our heads and look forward to OTR.
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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