lists about me
lists ~ backpack anatomy ~ 90% ~ exoself ~ dad ~ 42? ~ hippos ~ swap day ~ ennui
Here are a bunch of lists about me, in no particular order:
My personal rules:
- Live the Prime Directive. Keep your nose out of other people's business.
- Keep it simple. Better yet, keep it in a kit-- it's easier to carry around.
- Do one thing well (at a time); multitasking is a lie.
- Network; we were born to connect.
- Say what you mean; nothing is truer than the truth.
- Be who you are; even a bent wire can carry a great light.
- Use what you have. Never dig for gold with a diamond in your hand.
- Use leverage: A bigger hammer is rarely the right answer.
- Think ahead, but never worship your plans.
- Patch it now. The Next Big Thing usually isn't.
- Hack. Trial and error-- with a voltmeter in hand-- is the only way we learn.
- 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:
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.