Another Word for Nerd

I’m sitting here reading through “Build Your Own Z80 Computer” by Steve Ciarcia.

It sucks that stuff like this (knowing how your system works, literally, from the ground up) isn’t taught anymore, or really pushed like it was in the 70s and early 80s. You can’t even really find *books* like this anymore - a used copy can run you as much as $200 depending on availability. The title originally cost $20 in 1984.

Having multiple different hardware platforms and OSes that ran on them led to more innovation. Now, its more along the lines of “Here’s the API, code to that”, and a lot of programmers couldn’t care less about what lies underneath as long as things work as they’re supposed to.

As much as I love my Mac and my other UNIX boxes, there’s nothing more fun than building a single-board computer, applying power for the first time, and watching it behave as its supposed to. Nothing is quite as fun as taking a pile of chips, components, and a PCB, and a couple of days later, typing this in:

10 PRINT “HELLO WORLD”

RUN

and having it spit back out

HELLO WORLD

It was good (and humorous) to see that the Borders bookstore on Westheimer in Houston had placed the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster with the *non-fiction* paperback books.

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has been released. All Hail his Noodly Appendage!

As a followup to this post, so far I’ve received an English translation of the Qu’ran and a copy of the Book of Mormon.

I’m still tempted to go down to the Church of Scientology on Fondren and see if I can get them to give me a copy of Dianetics.

Pointers to any other systems of belief offering their “core materials” for free will be greatly appreciated, as I enjoy reading about the differences and similarities between them.

No, not that del.icio.us, I’m talking about Delicious Library from Delicious Monster.

Using the built-in iSight camera on my new Mac, I’ve started cataloging all of the books I own - and boy, do I own a lot.

I’m about half done, and here’s the library so far.

Ever notice that some so-called “religions” charge money for their reference materials?
Is it any coincidence that the primary concern of these organizations is profit?

You can get a free Bible, Quran, Book of Mormon, etc. free for the asking.
I’ve never seen someone involved with Scientology offer to give me a copy of “Dianetics” free of charge.

I’ve been a John Ringo fan since I picked up “A Hymn Before Battle” a couple of years ago, and have voraciously read everything he’s put out since then.

I’d sort of burned out on the Aldenata series, and had been really enjoying his Council Wars titles. I picked up “Ghost” last year when it came out. There were a couple parts of it that I didn’t really care for, but it was an okay book, and worth the cover price.

Today, “The Princess of Wands” arrived. I had ordered it just because it was a Ringo book, and wasn’t even aware that he was starting another universe/storyline. If someone had told me the premise of the book (beyond the jacket blurb), I wouldn’t have bought it - but after reading it in one sitting, I can now say that it’s my *favorite* John Ringo book so far.

Imagine a soccer mom secret agent, expert martial artist, tactical shooter, who also uses a katana and smites evil in the name of God, while being accepting of other religions and not being a Bible-thumper.

It’s a crazy premise - but I love it so far. Can’t wait for the next book!

A copy of The Seasoned Schemer arrived in my mailbox today from Amazon. Thanks, Jim!

I finally finished H.P. Newquist’s The Brain Makers a few days ago after seeing it on Bill Clementson’s list of Lisp books. Luckily, I found it for a great price ($0.50 plus shipping!) as an Amazon used book.

I really liked this title. Primarily about the “AI Revolution”, the rise and fall of companies selling Lisp Machines and related software in the late 70s and early 80s, it’s probably one of the best histories of Symbolics and LMI that I’ve seen so far.

At times I wish it had been a bit more technical, but I suspect it was written more for people who wanted to see why the *companies* failed, not the merits or problems with the actual *products*.

I remember from years ago, reading a bunch of “Symbolics field support horror stories” on the Net somewhere, but I’m not able to find those anywhere now, nor anything resembling what I remember. Anybody else know what I’m talking about?

Lots of rain (5+ inches) here in Houston today. We lost power here at the house around 1pm. It was still out when I got home at 5:15, so I sat and read The Little Schemer by candlelight.

As it turns out, when a transformer down the street blew, it took out a transformer in our next-door-neighbor’s back yard, and then blew a line fuse. So, we got to watch linemen from Centerpoint Energy spend two hours replacing the transformer on the pole, and then flipping the line fuse (really just a big circuit breaker) back on with a really long pole. When everything came back on I went over to the fence and told them all thank you for working hard in the rain.