Montag, 27. September 2004

the baroque cycle

it's out and i'll have to get it by now:

The world is a most confused and unsteady place -- especially London, center of finance, innovation, and conspiracy -- in the year 1714, when Daniel Waterhouse makes his less-than-triumphant return to England's shores. Aging Puritan and Natural Philosopher, confidant of the high and mighty and contemporary of the most brilliant minds of the age, he has braved the merciless sea and an assault by the infamous pirate Blackbeard to help mend the rift between two adversarial geniuses at a princess's behest. But while much has changed outwardly, the duplicity and danger that once drove Daniel to the American Colonies is still coin of the British realm.

No sooner has Daniel set foot on his homeland when he is embroiled in a dark conflict that has been raging in the shadows for decades. It is a secret war between the brilliant, enigmatic Master of the Mint and closet alchemist Isaac Newton and his archnemesis, the insidious counterfeiter Jack the Coiner, a.k.a. Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds. Hostilities are suddenly moving to a new and more volatile level, as Half-Cocked Jack plots a daring assault on the Tower itself, aiming for nothing less than the total corruption of Britain's newborn monetary system.

Unbeknownst to all, it is love that set the Coiner on his traitorous course; the desperate need to protect the woman of his heart -- the remarkable Eliza, Duchess of Arcachon-Qwghlm -- from those who would destroy her should he fail. Meanwhile, Daniel Waterhouse and his Clubb of unlikely cronies comb city and country for clues to the identity of the blackguard who is attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers with Infernal Devices -- as political factions jockey for position while awaiting the impending death of the ailing queen; as the "holy grail" of alchemy, the key to life eternal, tantalizes and continues to elude Isaac Newton, yet is closer than he ever imagined; as the greatest technological innovation in history slowly takes shape in Waterhouse's manufactory.

Everything that was will be changed forever ... The System of the World is the concluding volume in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, begun with Quicksilver and continued in The Confusion.

from amazon.com


-> The System of the World


btw here are vol. 2 and 1:

-> The Confusion

-> Quicksilver

mythical man-month

The classic book on the human elements of software engineering. Software tools and development environments may have changed in the 21 years since the first edition of this book, but the peculiarly nonlinear economies of scale in collaborative work and the nature of individuals and groups has not changed an epsilon. If you write code or depend upon those who do, get this book as soon as possible -- from Amazon.com Books, your library, or anyone else. You (and/or your colleagues) will be forever grateful. Very Highest Recommendation.

from Amazon.com


- > mythical man-month


also a must-have-read-classic (but haven't read yet):

-> peopleware

shorewalker summarizes spoelsky on webapps

When a former Microsoft program manager, software entrepreneur and author of a much-admired book on user interface design backs down from one of his best-known ideas, then a few people notice. When he announces in the process that software has changed and Microsoft's best days are behind it, then heads start to turn.

-> http://www.shorewalker.com/section1/webui.html

...but I'm terrified of you

[Verse 1]
You're all I've ever wanted, but I'm terrified of you
See my castle may be haunted, but I'm terrified of you
I've cast my spell on millions, but I'm terrified of you
Baby I do this from the ceiling, but I'm terrified of you

[Bridge]
I wait my whole life to bite the right one
Then you come along and that freaks me out
So I'm frightened... Dracula's wedding

[Verse 2]
I've never ran from no one, but I'm terrified of you
See my heartbeat is a slow one, but I'm terrified of you
I've been around for ages, but I'm terrified of you
Put my fang across the stage, but I'm terrified of you.

[Bridge]
You know I'm terrifed of you [x3]
Here she comes

[Kelis]
Give me the chance to dance romance
Don't run, I'm not the sun
So much at stake... oh!
Bad choice of words
But I'm not the gun with silver bullets
And I can count, 1, 2, 3, plus I make great peanut butter
And jelly sandwiches... Van Helsing

For richer or poorer, through sickness and in health
Til death do us part
Til death do us part
You only live once
Well, not in our case
because we live forever.


Dracula's Wedding Lyrics by Outkast feat. Kelis

-> http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/outkast/draculaswedding.html

-> sample on amazon.com

fotoblogging

-> http://www.prnewswire.com/

-> http://www.ojr.org/japan/wireless/1062208524.php

-> http://www.ojr.org/ojr/glaser/1043947239.php

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