Month: May 2007
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Was Tuesday Google hiring day?
I got two emails on Tuesday from Google. Seems like Jeff Barr, whom I know a little bit got similar recruiting emails. Coincidence that all of this happened on Tuesday? Unlike Jeff, now at Amazon, I’ve never spoken to Google about working there, so there was less dissonance, just surprise. Although I have several good…
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Movie: The Lives of Others
The Lives of Others is the best movie I’ve seen since Amadeus. I won’t attempt to summarize, but I will share my comment regarding a story that starts in 1984: “It wasn’t that long ago.” See the film, and you’ll understand. Wow. Metacritic score of 89, 54th on the all-time list. Admittedly, all-time doesn’t go…
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Will Shortz even more fun than Giants-Mets
Unbelievably, it’s been two weeks since this event. But so it goes. A fortnight ago, the wife brought me to see Will Shortz over at Berkeley, as part of the Cal Performances series. The NYTimes crossword puzzle editor and enigmatologist extraordinaire just walked on stage, talked about the history of crossword puzzles, answered questions, and…
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Book: Variable Star
Spider Robinson wrote a very solid Robert Heinlein book in Variable Star. I didn’t realize it was so new (Sept, 2006) when I picked it up at the library a few weeks ago. I’m rarely so up to date. 😉 Variable Star weaves in some faithful sci-fi themes: space colonies, not-so-friendly aliens, faster-than-light travel, and…
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Books: The Chronicles of Prydain
The Chronicles of Prydain were one of my favorite series of books growing up. I just re-read all five because the boy dove in a couple of weeks ago. He’s now read them all and is re-reading them. The books sit in a stack on the floor, and he returns to Taran and Eilonwy and…