Just finishing out the evening, and thought I'd toss out a reading list. Just to show where my mind is as of the moment.
I'm currently bouncing around between four books. My main read is Walter Isaacson's biography, Steve Jobs. Yes, I am an Apple user, though I am far from one of those infamous "fanboys" we hear so much about. I was well aware of the "warts" on Jobs' personality ages ago. He's definitely the sort of person I doubt I could've worked for. Hey, I honestly doubt I could've been in a room with him for very long. But Jobs remains a fascinating character to study. Isaacson is a good writer, and the book flows well. (I've not read any of his other biographies, so I really can't compare...)
My second and third books throw the Apple Fanboy thing further out the window: Brian Bagnall's On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore (the original edition), and Jimmy Maher's The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga. To be honest, I got into these because of an odd turn in my computer wanderings. I picked up a copy of a computer emulation package called Amiga Forever! by an Italian company called Cloanto. It is, yes you guessed it, a complete package of emulations of the late, lamented Commodore Amiga computer systems. (Maybe I'll discuss why I did this in a later post. After I figure out why I did this...) Having virtually no experience with, nor knowledge of, the Amiga, I figured I'd better bone up on the subject a bit.
Mayer's book is basically a semi-techie analysis of the Amiga from various perspectives. At it's best when staying to the "semi'" side of "semi-techie." The best bit, in my opinion, is his analysis of "The Scene," dealing with the first Amiga virus, and the later development of the demoscene.
Bagnall's book is... Well, let's just say I went non-linear on it, jumping from place to place. I think I was turned off after wading through the Chuck Peddle ego-stroke event in the first few chapters... Yeah...
Oh, and book number four... I'm re-reading an old favorite from way back in my grad days, Cliff Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg. It reads like a spy novel written from the ultimate geek's perspective. But this particular read through has a bit of special meaning. The copy I'm reading is a NOS hardcover edition, autographed to me by the author himself. Not too long ago, I came across Cliff's website, where he just happened to be selling copies. Naturally, I took advantage. Give his site a run-by, and pick up a Klein bottle while you're there. (Disclaimer: I have no connection to the site beyond simply having read the book ages ago, and being a big fan.)
And now that everybody has me pegged as a hopeless wirehead, let me assure you that I'm not. Once I finish wading through these book (or at least through the Jobs bio), I have a couple other books lined up: Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery, and Gyorgy Moldova's Ballpoint.
See, I read normal stuff, too...
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