I had high hopes for {{Martin Langfield}}’s book, {{The Secret Fire}} when I purchased it several months ago. The cover headline reads, “the world is under threat… from a weapon launched in 1944”. Sounded good. The back cover, likewise, sounded pretty good, too: Sotheby’s, London, 1936 A paper by Sir Isaac Newton is sold at …
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Category:review
the cuckoo’s egg by cliff stoll
Several years ago, {{Cliff Stoll}}’s amazing, true-life account of espionage and system administration in the 1980s was recommended to me. Mr Stoll started his professional life in astronomy, but, due to budget cuts at Lawrence Berkeley Lab, he moved into systems administration. Interspersed through the book are both political commentaries (he was after all at …
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the host by stephanie meyer
While I was living in Singapore, I read {{The Host}} by {{Stephanie Meyer}} (of {{Twilight}} fame). I had completed the Twilight series, and had, overall, enjoyed her writing style and was interested to see if she would be able to write a story that did not involve vampires, werewolves, and a bizarre romance between a …
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the deadly sins of programming – again?
InfoWorld this week published yet another article on “The 7 deadly sins of software development”. For those who don’t care to read the ~1 page article (that’s split unless you use the “print” option that puts it all on one page), here’s the list: Lust – overengineering Gluttony – not refactoring Greed – cross-team competition …
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dollar
For the past several months I have been traveling almost weekly into CT, specifically flying into BDL. I have rented almost exclusively from the Dollar location next to the airport, and have experienced nothing but overt professionalism and friendliness from the staff. I had a couple rentals with Hertz, and the staff, while formally polite, …
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outliers by malcolm gladwell
I have now read a few items by {{Malcolm Gladwell}}, but so far have liked {{Outliers}} most. The premise is Mr Gladwell’s research that if you hit ~10000 hours working on something, you become fabulous. That, and being born right after an age cutoff (say, 3 Jan when the age cutoff is 31 Dec) will …
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without remorse by tom clancy
One of the [very] few novels I have ever reread is {{Without Remorse}} by {{Tom Clancy}} – and I’ve reread it several times: each time noticing something I hadn’t before, and each time reacting quite viscerally to how the book’s main character (I hesitate to call him a “hero”) goes about his desired objective. If …
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the 4-hour body by tim ferriss
Upon the recommendation of my friend Steven, I picked-up a cheap copy of {{Tim Ferriss}}’ {{The 4-Hour Body}}. My first observation is that Tim Ferriss is not one to necessarily edit his speech patterns for writing. While not rife with them, there are a fair number of vulgarities throughout the book – all of which …
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quick coffee
Last year for my birthday, my lovely wife bought me a Keurig coffee machine. I have used several at different places of work, and had been wanting one for almost a year when she got me one – she’s pretty awesome 🙂 I had had a traditional drip coffee maker for years, but only broke …
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gideon’s spies by gordon thomas
{{Gideon’s Spies}} by {{Gordon Thomas}} claims to be “the secret history of the Mossad”. From the myriad reviews on Amazon, I didn’t know whether to be expecting a massive work of historical fiction, or a insightful tour de force. After having nearly finished it, I don’t know if I have an opinion of whether it’s …
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continuing the book theme…
From the reading-more department, I’m going to attempt to put one review of a book out every week, with a target day of Wednesday. Might end up putting a couple out on some books because they take a longer time to read, but that’s the goal. Today started with a quickie overview of {{Aesop’s Fables}} …
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reading more
I find that the more time I tend to have, the less I want to read… but when I’m really busy, I’ll find all kinds of books that look interesting. With my current work arrangement, I travel frequently, and have been taking the time on the flights (if not sleeping) to read through histories, novels, …
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melting pot
Normally I don’t like reviewing chains, but The Melting Pot is different. It’s a fondue place, and is a blast to eat at. The first time I went was with my wife and parents-in-law the weekend before Thanksgiving. We were looking for a “fun” place to eat, and had been thinking about trying a fondue …
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the julep cup
It’s been a while since I’ve been to a restaurant worth writing about. Last night I finally found one again. To celebrate the two monthiversary of marrying my wife (since I had to miss the one month one with work travel), I decided to take her out to a nice place that wasn’t a chain …
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ninja service
Saturday evening I took my fiancee to Cumberland Falls Park just a little way from where she grew up outside Corbin KY. We decided to have a light dinner at the DuPont Lodge to enjoy the gorgeous view of the river on a picture-perfect spring evening. The food was good – nothing amazing, but that’s …
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little vietnam
I’ve been enjoying a small restaurant near my apartment in Singapore. It’s a cash-only operation called Little Vietnam. They’re located at 511 Guillemard Road S. They open at 1700, and close at 0100 Tuesday through Sunday. I’ve now been there several times, trying different pho options, the spring rolls, and some other specialties that jump …
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the national museum of singapore
Saturday I went to the museum, as planned. It was pretty interesting, but I would not suggest it either for small kids (probably under 10 or 12, unless they’re really really interested in the history of Singapore) or as place to go if you want to talk about what you’re looking at with the folks …
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tanner’s pub
As I write this post, I’m surrounded with the sounds of a live musician and dozens of patrons. The wooden floors, open-frame ceiling, bus lights, and comfortable chairs surrounding glass-topped tables adds to the ambiance. Chanda just refilled my dad’s iced tea. And my dessert (my favorite drink) is en route shortly. Last night who …
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kielty’s emerald isle restaurant and pub
I love good pubs. Recently I discovered yet another Irish pub in Waterford NY. Kielty’s sits on the north side of Broad St a couple blocks from the Hudson River – number 41. My sister and I had been planning to grab a light lunch at Don and Paul’s (a coffee/sandwich shop she likes), but …
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the pub and grille
My family moved into Cohoes in 1993. Shortly after moving in, we noticed a small pub up the road and have threatened to go eat there ever since. Monday night we finally did. Admittedly, it wasn’t our first choice – we had been planning to hit-up another local place in Cohoes recommended to us by …
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guglhupf
I went to Guglhupf in Durham today for lunch. I’d never heard of them before today, and only went with the group I had joined because Foster’s was slammed. Their soup selections change daily, and today I tried their scotch broth – which today was lamb-based. I also ordered a breakfast bread basket. My total …
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minty freshness
I just heard about Mint.com today. Whoever thought this one up is a genius. They’ll keep track of your financial state, sending alerts if anything is amiss.
righteous kill
Without giving any [important] plot points away, here goes my review of Righteous Kill, which I saw last night with a buddy of mine. Righteous Kill is only the third film the two have made together, and the first time they have played together. In the Godfather Part II, De Niro played a younger Vito …
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