Technology, Books and Other Neat Stuff

This one sounds fun:

(Based on what you know of me...)
Please recommend to me:

1. A book
2. An author
3. A song
4. A movie
5. An artist/band
6. A CD
7. A website
8. A new LJ friend

I've been around long enough in the online world that I remember using hand-crafted bang paths to route email out of JANET. Years in academic and commercial research, and in running ISPs and Internet consultancy have left me treating the Net like oxygen - something I don't notice until it's gone. DSL and wireless at home haven't helped, either.

This afternoon we had a couple of hours outage here in the office, while I was trying to actually write some code for once. I couldn't get to any reference materials! I couldn't even test the code I had written so far... It was frustrating, and annoying, and there wasn't anything I could do... And it was an annoyance that so few people actually get the chance to have, which made me more annoyed at myself all over again.

But now it's back. So I can read the latest release from the folk at the Jhai Foundation, who are working on bringing the net to rural Laos. And realise that there are folk out there working to give everyone the chance of connectivity.

And it's off to see Tori Amos in a couple of hours...

Glenn Mcdonald, of the excellent music blog The War Against Silence, continues to switch, and this week discusses just how much an iPod changed his listening habits.

It's exactly my experience.

The iPod is one of those devices which has begun to change the world, and it's a world that industry organisations like the RIAA can't roll back.