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lists about me


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Here are a bunch of lists about me, in no particular order:

My personal rules:

  1. Live the Prime Directive. Keep your nose out of other people's business.
  2. Keep it simple. Better yet, keep it in a kit-- it's easier to carry around.
  3. Do one thing well (at a time); multitasking is a lie.
  4. Network; we were born to connect.
  5. Say what you mean; nothing is truer than the truth.
  6. Be who you are; even a bent wire can carry a great light.
  7. Use what you have. Never dig for gold with a diamond in your hand.
  8. Use leverage: A bigger hammer is rarely the right answer.
  9. Think ahead, but never worship your plans.
  10. Patch it now. The Next Big Thing usually isn't.
  11. Hack. Trial and error-- with a voltmeter in hand-- is the only way we learn.
  12. Distrust all claims for the one true way; kool-aid isn't good for you.

My values:

  • Empathy
  • Peace & social justice
  • Critical thinking
  • Ethical development
  • Altruism
  • Responsibility
  • Humility
  • Service & participation
  • Environmentalism
  • Global awareness

My planning statements:

I try to begin all my "to do" items with one of these phrases:

  • I want to...
  • I'd like to...
  • I need to...
  • I should...
  • I must...
  • I might...

Things I have done well enough to pay my bills:

  • Write business literature
  • Write technical documents, tutorials, and reference guides
  • Write code in C, C++, Python, PHP, Perl, and bash
  • Deliver pianos
  • Research new cancer drugs
  • Butcher meat
  • Manage a data acquisition system
  • Write and teach training classes about C and X-Windows coding
  • Prepare proposals, articles, and brochures
  • Blog
  • Run a cash register in a small grocery store
  • Ghostwrite books
  • Manage engineering programs and departments
  • Manage really big IT products for really big banks

Courses I aced (100%) in college:

  • Organic Chemistry
  • Inorganic Chemistry
  • Advanced English Composition
  • Intro to Engineering

Hobbies I currently pursue:

  • Shortwave listening (Callsign WA5149-SWL)
  • Emacs and org-mode
  • Personal organization and efficiency
  • Sewing
  • Electronics
  • Reading
  • Spy/thriller shows on TV

Pets I have had:

  • Dusty, a Labrador Retriever
  • Blue, a Russian Blue tomcat (died after fighting with a snake)
  • Amy, a Black Labador (given away after Katrina)
  • Baby (current), a Bombay black cat, who is also a ham:

baby.png
Get out of my glamour shot, human!

Cars I've owned:

  • AMC Gremlin
  • Chevy Impala
  • Buick Riveria
  • VW Beetle
  • Dodge Caravan
  • Honda Accord
  • Honda Odyssey
  • Suzuki Forenza
  • Toyota Highlander
  • Chevy Suburban

Favorite movies

  • THX1138
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey
  • The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 version)
  • Forbidden Planet

Favorite books

  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
  • Walden
  • Civil Disobedience
  • The Past Through Tomorrow
  • Rendezvous with Rama
  • The Foundation series
  • The City and the Stars
  • Any science book by Asimov

Favorite TV programs:

  • Person of Interest
  • The Blacklist
  • Mission: Impossible
  • Star Trek (TOS, TNG)
  • Anything with Neil Degrasse Tyson

Favorite foods

  • Hot dogs
  • Hamburgers
  • Crawfish nachos
  • Prime rib
  • Sausage, egg, and cheese croissants (but split up, like a breakfast)
  • Everything bagels and cream cheese
  • Any kind of dessert
  • Diet coke

Books around my desk

  • The Linux Command Line
  • Ham Radio Guide
  • Electronics
  • The Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System
  • Absolute BSD
  • Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment
  • TCP/IP Illustrated, Vols. 1, 2, and 3
  • Cloud Native Data Center Networking
  • Clean Code, and The Clean Coder
  • Linux Core Kernel
  • Lions' Commentary on UNIX 6th Edition with Source Code
  • One or more issues of 2600 Magazine
  • One or more bulletins of the Free Software Foundation

More

See also my biographical sketch and a talk I once gave at Frankfurt for more about me.

Changed 2023-03-02 Thu 13:02 in Crane Creek.
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