buzz
5
+ buzz
5
+ buzz
A short test list of some people I enjoy keeping up with.
1Edward Tufte
I just got his new book, Beautiful Evidence, for Christmas. I can't wait to read it - I've been keeping up with his sparklines threads for a while now. Brilliant, as usual.
His other books are 100% mandatory for anyone who cares about communicating data.
His other books are 100% mandatory for anyone who cares about communicating data.
2Jose Capablanca
Capablanca was the complete package. Here's a quick snapshot:
-- Cuban chess champion at age 14. A true savant.
-- Master bridge player
-- Renowned diplomat
-- American Chess champion
-- World Chess champion, undefeated in tournament play for many years.
I also love his famous humiliation of Aaron Nimzowitch at San Sabastian (in 1911, I think). Nimzowitch was an ass as usual, and got smacked down with total aplomb, as only Capablanca could do.
He's one of my all-time favorites.
-- Cuban chess champion at age 14. A true savant.
-- Master bridge player
-- Renowned diplomat
-- American Chess champion
-- World Chess champion, undefeated in tournament play for many years.
I also love his famous humiliation of Aaron Nimzowitch at San Sabastian (in 1911, I think). Nimzowitch was an ass as usual, and got smacked down with total aplomb, as only Capablanca could do.
He's one of my all-time favorites.
3D. J. Bernstein
I am a fan of DJB. His software seems to be among the best available anywhere, and it typifies the power of the UNIX model - perhaps even better than *NIX itself. Were I to implement my own internet facing systems, I'd surely use these, for mail and DNS respectively:
-- Qmail
-- djbdns
Included are his killer daemontools and cdb databse engine.
In the past, we setup the DJB suite for Qmail and walked away. It Just Works, and is uber-secure. We also used daemontools to ensure that certain daemons were up and running all the time.
Hit his site and poke around. It's well worth the trip, if for no other reason than to enjoy his hilarious letters to the University of Chicago Administration:
http://cr.yp.to/patents/tarzian.html
-- Qmail
-- djbdns
Included are his killer daemontools and cdb databse engine.
In the past, we setup the DJB suite for Qmail and walked away. It Just Works, and is uber-secure. We also used daemontools to ensure that certain daemons were up and running all the time.
Hit his site and poke around. It's well worth the trip, if for no other reason than to enjoy his hilarious letters to the University of Chicago Administration:
http://cr.yp.to/patents/tarzian.html
4Paul Keres
Another chess player that I really like. One story about Keres has him playing chess as bombs were flying overhead in Estonia. He played on, because it would help him prepare for the major tournament play...
5Alan Watts
I enjoy Alan Watts, especially regarding his Zen experiences.
6Damian Conway
Perl super-freak. Scary good, and damned creative. Plus, he's got a sense of humor.
7My people
I've got the luxury of having some incredibly smart and articulate folks in my family. This works out well for me, as I'm a fairly average guy. I get the benefit of osmosis - enough random talk and idea exchange will invariably leave me a little more enlightened each time.
