About Thoughts of a TechnoGeek: This is where I'll post my thoughts, interesting articles, or anything else I want to. If you don't like it, don't read it. David L Brenner my email Subscribe Links
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Thu, 01 Apr 2004
I just finished a book by Brian Greene called The Fabric of The Cosmos. It is an explanation for the the layman about the current thinking about the nature of space and time, and whether they actually exist. The author wrote a book several years ago called The Elegant Universe which explained string theory. That book was readable, but it made my head hurt in places. This book is much more accessible. It starts off with a history of our understanding of space (and time) pointing out where things were missing, and how they were filled in. The book starts out with an example from Newtonian physics. Take a bucket filled with water and suspend it on a rope. If you rotate the rope, the bucket will start to spin. As the rope (and bucket) gain speed, the water in the bucket will take on a concave shape as the water begins to rotate. Why does the water take on that shape? The next question would be, if you performed the same experiment in deep space, sufficiently far from a gravitational field (other than the bucket of course) would the water behave the same? I found the book to be much more understandable than his previous work. I think that he realized that the material needed to be presented in a different manner to be understandable to people that don't have the physics and math background. He makes references to the other work when more detailed explanation may be desired. If you have an interest in understanding the way the Universe works and what it is made of, I highly recommend this for assisting in that lofty goal.
A guy at work recommended this book. It is a history of the telegraph and its parallels to the Internet. There was a lot of information that I was aware of from my data comm classes in college. The new part was the perspective of comparing the growth and societal impacts with the 90s and the Internet bubble. The ingenuity of the Victorian's is amazing. They had data compression algorithms (e.g. Morse code, code books, etc) to cut down on transmission times and charges. There were business models to eliminate certain types of transmissions. There were even "chat rooms" for the operators. All of these things are mimicked or were reinvented for today's environment. It is an easy read and accessible to anyone with even a passing interest in the subject. Sun, 07 Mar 2004I got into the mood to read a book that I've always heard was worth reading, but never got around to. Every once in a while I read the books that people are assigned in school but don't read. Anyway, this time it was Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I recommend the book as a thought provoking book. I will warn you, it is not an easy read. The book is a monster, nearly 1,200 pages. Between that and the dense manner of writing from the author, it is a slow read. If you can get past that, it does put forth some interesting ideas, even if they are presented in the most extreme version possible. The book is essentially a treatise on why capitalism is good, and social programs are evil. The book sets forth an interesting philosophy indicating that people should act in their own best interests and not help others unless they get something out of it. It sets forth an extreme picture of what happens when the Government interferes with business too much (or at all as the author would lead you to believe). All of the characters in the book are very two dimensional. There isn't much depth to any of them. People do tend to be either good or evil in the book with very little in between. The whole point is for the author to build an environment in which to put forth her economic ideas. The strangest part of the whole book is that I agree in principle with many of the ideas that are presented. I agreed before I read the book and the read solidified many of the ideas that I had rolling around in my head and gave me a concrete way of expressing them. The problem is I disagree with the way things are shown in the extreme in the book and I cannot agree with some of the actions of the supposedly moral people in the book. If you've read the book and would like to discuss it, I would love to hear from you. The biggest problem with the philosophy she laid out is that there was no room left for compassion. She asserts that people should always act in their own best interests, and not assist others unless there is a benefit to yourself. I do believe that man is an inherently selfish creature, but I also believe in the need for compassion and assisting others, regardless of the benefit to myself. Fri, 06 Feb 2004
Steven Wolfram, the guy that invented Mathematica, wrote a book that was released last year called A New Kind of Science. In line with the lofty title, he asserted that the way we look at science may be outdated and he proposed a very different way of looking at the world. People who have read his book (all 1200 pages of it) fall into one of three camps: they think he's a genius, they think he's off his rocker, or they aren't sure what to think. I am in the 3rd group with tendencies towards the first group. His assertion is that the universe is a really big fucking computer running the equivalent of the game of life. All of the things we see and our actions are the result of a cellular autonoma. The problem with this theory is that it would be impossible to prove, and he's basically saying that you can't simulate things with arbitrary precision without a computer bigger than the universe (If I understand him correctly). I read through the book, and it is a worthwhile read if you're into this kind of thing. He makes some really interesting observations about the natural world and covers a lot of topics in varying levels of detail. Some of it felt like classes that I didn't want to take ever, but a lot of the computer science stuff was awesome. The best part is, he's put the book online for free. It can be found here. I bought the book the day it came out because of the press on the book that I read before it's release. I've finished the main text and quit reading part way through the notes (which make up almost a third of the book). Thu, 27 Nov 2003Quicksilver is Neal Stephenson's newest book. It is a departure from his typical sci-fi subjects and instead focuses on historical settings. This book follows the ancestors of the characters from Cryptonomicon; the Waterhouses and the Shaftoes. The book is the first of a trilogy set in the late 1600s and early to mid 1700s. Its interesting to see these characters interacting with Newton, Liebnitz, King Louis, etc. From everything I've read, the setting is historically accurate. The best part is that it takes Stephenson's typical style and applies it to a completely different time period and setting. From a personal standpoint it was cool because the first third of the book was entirely in settings that I've personally visited. It was cool to know exactly where they were talking about when they are in Boston, London and Cambridge (Mass and UK). Be warned, it's not an easy book to read. There are parts of it that require a lot of effort to get through. Stephenson has a tendency to get too into his subjects and feels the need to explain the context around everything. While this is good from a completeness standpoint, it isn't good if you are reading before bedtime. You tend to lose the thread. Sun, 09 Nov 2003
You've all probably seen the book The Da Vinci Code in the book stores. Everyone at work seems to be reading it, and they were discussing it in one of the status meetings this week while people were filing in. So I decided to pick it up. And then I couldn't put it down. It is the story of a researcher who is pulled into a murder investigation. The story involves the hunt for the Holy Grail. I described it to G as the third Indiana Jones movie, without Indiana Jones, and done better. It really is a page turner. One of the things that got me to pick it up is the thought of a mass market book that incorporates crypto systems. It was handled well for people that don't know anything. The explanations that are given are at a sufficiently high level that anyone can get it. The focus was strictly on pre-WWII systems because computer crypto would have required too much math and wouldn't have made sense in the story. No big deal, and besides that wasn't the focus of the book. I recommend this to anyone that likes a good mystery/thriller. Plus, there is a happy ending. Be warned, if you don't like people bashing the Catholic Church, don't read this book. It'll just piss you off. Of course, that never bothered me at bit. Sat, 13 Sep 2003Every once in a while, you come across an author that you really love. Neal Stephenson is one of those authors. I've read everything that I can get my hands on. Even stuff that he's written under a pseudonym. His latest book is Cryptonomicon. At this point it's not a new book, but I just re-read it while I was on vacation in preparation for his new book that is being released this month. Basically, it is a story told from three different view points. Two of them are during World War II and one of them is in "the present". There is a relationship between all of the characters in the book, regardless of the time period. I'll let you figure it out when you read it. The coolest thing about the book is how everything is tied together. Stephenson has a way of presenting things in a non-linear fashion and making the story flow. This, and his ability to create believable, mutli-dimensional characters is why I love reading his work. As most of you know, I love reading about crypto. It is one of the central themes of the book, and while many of the names of programs in the book have been changed, it is fun to see "real world" technology intelligently weaved into a story. I read this book when it was first released. I didn't like it as much as I enjoyed it this time around. I'm not sure why. I think part of the problem was that I wasn't able to read it in as short a time period as I would have liked the first time. The only time I had was during lunch at work, and that was during a particularly stressing project. I still think the story ends too soon, and I'd like to see more about what happens with the characters, but it didn't bother me as much the second time. Sat, 23 Aug 2003As most of you are aware, I have an interest in computer security, cryptology/cryptography, and the like. One of my favorite authors on these subjects is Bruce Schneier. He has written some of the finest books on the subject. His latest, Beyond Fear, is a departure from his previous writings. In the past Bruce has concentrated on the subjects of computer security and cryptography. In this book, he addresses security and the trade-offs associated with security in a general sense. He uses the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the "security" measures put in place after the fact as examples. It is a sobering look at security and how to weigh effectiveness against the costs. As with his other books, it is extremely well written, and is focused on the interested, but non-expert reader. He takes the time to explain concepts and put them in an appropriate context. Throughout the book, I was thinking, often out loud, "so that's why that is" or "I never thought of it that way". I don't run into that often. My biggest criticism of the book is the overwhelming lack of footnotes and references. He makes certain statements and expects the reader to take it at face value. It would be more satisfying if he gave the reader more information about where to check his facts. This has not been the case in his other writings. If the sources of the material are sensitive, then he should note that. Even with the shortcomings of the book, I would recommend this as reading for anyone in post-9/11 America. |