Thanks to everyone who made Technical Topics 2016 a success. I enjoyed the talks, and I think the turnout was much better than I expected. I’ve also given up on convincing people to use the big boy name for the event, and have accepted that “BonkersCon” has stuck as a name. So congratulations on that!…
A Walk in the Woods
I found this tale of Bill Bryson walking the Appalachian Trail (rather incompetently I must say) immensely entertaining. Well written, interesting, generally exaggerated, and leaving me with a desire to get out somewhere and walk some more. I’d strongly recommend this book to people who already care about bush walking, but have found other pursuits…
Leviathan Wakes
I read this book based on the recommendation of Richard Jones, and its really really good. A little sci-fi, a little film noir, and very engaging. I also like that bad things happen to good people in the story — its gritty and unclean enough to be believable. I don’t want to ruin the book…
Technical Topics weekly update, week starting 31 October
(This just got emailed out to registered attendees of Technical Topics). So, I went quiet for a while because I got busy with other things, but now its time to focus on getting Technical Topics [1] ready for action. There is a program of things people are currently talking about at this URL: http://wiki.madebymikal.com/index.php?title=Technical_Topics:December_2016…
Technical Topics weekly update, week starting 5 September
(This got emailed out to registered attendees yesterday). Oh you few, you glorious, trustworthy and foolhardy few! Thanks to all of you who have registered for Technical Topics. I think it is cool (and a bit bonkers) that we’ve gone from idle idea to a conference with a venue, delegates, speakers and insurance quotes in…
Technical Topics in Computing, December 2016
Recently I’ve been feeling like I’ve been missing the chance to hear about cool technical projects people are working on in a depth not possible at a CLUG meeting because of time constraints. I am therefore running a simple weekend meetup in Canberra on Saturday 3 December and Sunday 4 December. The Saturday of the event…
A Technical Topics Status Update
(The featured image for this post is by hobbymb on flickr). So, its been a couple of days since I went mad and decided I should run a weekend conference. A bit has happened in that time, so here’s a quick status update… First off, people have bought tickets! In fact, we’ve sold 20% of…
Technical Topics in Computing, Canberra December 2016
Recently I’ve been feeling like I’ve been missing the chance to hear about cool technical projects people are working on in a depth not possible at a CLUG meeting because of time constraints. Many years ago, AUUG used to run a weekend “summer conference” that was almost free and addressed some of this issue. That…
Oryx and Crake
I bought this book ages ago, on the recommendation of a friend (I don’t remember who), but I only just got around to reading it. Its a hard book to read in places — its not hopeful, or particularly fun, and its confronting in places — especially the plot that revolves around child exploitation. There’s…
Potato Point
I went to Potato Point with the Scouts for a weekend wide game. Very nice location, apart from the ticks!