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According to Kate’s parents, I start channeling David Duchovny as soon as I start talking about one of my big subjects. You can probably guess what those subjects are–they include, but are not limited to: computers, computer security, programming, h4X0R technique, physical security, electrical engineering, blah, blah, blah whatever. Of course these are the same parents that decided, upon first meeting me a few years ago, that I am a hybrid of Trent Reznor, Abraham Lincoln, and Ichabod Crane. 🙂

News on the car front: At first they decided that the problem with my car was “not the transmission.” Next, they decided it was the fuel system, but who knows what piece? Next, they decided it was “not the fuel system.” Finally, they stumbled upon a bad turbocharger hose. Of course, this $2 hose going to cost me $75 because it is not covered under warranty and to have them look at the car, it is $75 (which goes toward the cost of fixing the problem if/when they discover it). So, yeah, that is almost like a $75 “deductible” paid in full for a $2 part. Whee!

I was informed today that my rant the other day about the “green” terrorism alert should have been about “blue.” I guess “blue” is the safest, not green. Who knew? I just cannot wait until the banks display the time, temperature, and terrorism level on their big light-up signs, or even your operating system. But now looking at the screen shot, I think green was correct. Does anyone understand the terrorism scale?! Red means safe, right? …or does it mean Russian and/or McCarthy invasion?

With all luck, my laptop ships tomorrow! Yeay! I should have it on Tuesday!

Recent and current books (I am not sure what is up with the recent amusement park motif):

A nifty little thriller about a futuristic amusement park outside of Vegas. It is one part Westworld (the funky old movie with Yule Brenner), one part Jurassic park, with a dash of terrorism. Overall, a good read. Not High Literature, by any means, but an engaging story.
Gibson’s most recent book, this one set “now” instead of a futuristic world where you can “jack into the net” with your cyberpunk computer deck and all that. Again, a good read with lots of excitement. A few bits are a little far-fetched, but overall a page-turner that I finished in less than a week (for me personally, a big feat at ~400 pages). The ending was plausible and unexpected, as opposed to an AI computer in Alpha Centauri.
Another amusement park book. This one was written by the dude who runs Boing Boing. So far, I am not too terribly far into it, but I read the first few chapters online a few months back and got completely sucked in.
Posted in: Books Dear Diary

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