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Copyright © 2021 Mark Parker
2021-08-03T22:49:08Z
/posts/2013/the-dragon-reborn
The Dragon Reborn
2013-03-10T12:20:00Z
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830983.The_Dragon_Reborn" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><img alt="The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time, #3)" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317063737m/830983.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830983.The_Dragon_Reborn" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The Dragon Reborn</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6252.Robert_Jordan" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Robert Jordan</a><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/224773977" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">4 of 5 stars</a><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" /><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" />
Continues to be interesting. We're starting to see the shape of Jordan's later contributions here, with characters that spend more time complaining than advancing plots, but there's still plenty of story here to satisfy fans of the series. One more down, 11 to go.
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/posts/2013/the-great-hunt
The Great Hunt
2013-02-24T12:18:00Z
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/233643.The_Great_Hunt" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><img alt="The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time, #2)" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312031860m/233643.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/233643.The_Great_Hunt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The Great Hunt</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6252.Robert_Jordan" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Robert Jordan</a><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/224773987" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">4 of 5 stars</a><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" /><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" />
Still enjoyable, after all these years. The story moves along (not like some of the "middle" books), and is interesting. I read it quickly (painting is SO much more fun when you're listening to a good book), and was quite satisfied when I finished.
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/posts/2013/the-very-definition-of-irony
The very definition of irony
2013-02-20T12:22:00Z
<p>The very definition of irony is the letter from Dish Network informing me of my $5/month rate hike arriving in the mailbox the same day that my brand new HDHomerun (<a href="http://www.silicondust.com/">http://www.silicondust.com/</a>) showed up. Delicious.</p>
<p>There's something like 26 channels broadcast in my area (plus the 10+ that I would NEVER be interested in), all available for free. I'm using a setup based on the Argus TV recorder and XBMC as the frontend (which I already used to watch all my videos). It seems to be working great so far.</p>
<p>Now, to watch all the stuff I've got recorded on the DVR so I can cancel the ol' dish.</p>
<p>The very definition of irony is the letter from Dish Network informing me of my $5/month rate hike arriving in the mailbox the same day that my brand new HDHomerun (<a href="http://www.silicondust.com/">http://www.silicondust.com/</a>) showed up. Delicious.</p>
/posts/2013/the-eye-of-the-world
The Eye of the World
2013-02-10T12:16:00Z
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830981.The_Eye_of_the_World" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><img alt="The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time, #1)" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1312042757m/830981.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/830981.The_Eye_of_the_World" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The Eye of the World</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6252.Robert_Jordan" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Robert Jordan</a><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" />
My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/224774003" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">4 of 5 stars</a><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" /><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" />
I decided to reread (relisten?) to all the books, in order to get the whole story in one chunk, now that the release of the final book (<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15793077.A_Memory_of_Light" title="A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">A Memory of Light</a>) is imminent. Having only read up to something like <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12743239.Winter_s_Heart__Wheel_of_Time___9___Unabridged_" title="Winter's Heart (Wheel of Time, #9) Unabridged by Robert Jordan" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Winter's Heart (Wheel of Time, #9) Unabridged </a> or so (who remembers, really?), and having not read any of them for something like 8 or 9 years, I figured it was time to do it again.<br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" /><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" />It was with some trepidation (remembering books like <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3323943.The_Path_of_Daggers" title="The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The Path of Daggers</a> where nothing really happens) that I began. I was, however, pleasantly surprised! I quite enjoyed the read, and it reminded me why I have invested this much effort and time in this series. I can't wait to get to the end!
<br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" /><br xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6705827-mark" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">View all my reviews</a>
/posts/2013/the-wheel-of-time
The Wheel of Time
2013-01-31T12:06:00Z
<p>Now that the release of A Memory of Light is imminent, it's time to tackle The Wheel of Time in its entirety. Start to finish, all 14 books, some completely ridiculous number of pages. I'm estimating 4 to 6 months to get through them, we'll see how it goes. Looks like I'm going to be buried in fantasy for quite some time.</p>
<p>I'm going to need a good dose of SciFi when I finish this. Maybe I'll reread Snow Crash.</p>
<p>Now that the release of A Memory of Light is imminent, it's time to tackle The Wheel of Time in its entirety. Start to finish, all 14 books, some completely ridiculous number of pages. I'm estimating 4 to 6 months to get through them, we'll see how it goes. Looks like I'm going to be buried in fantasy for quite some time.</p>
/posts/2013/unbroken-the-review
Unbroken (the review)
2013-01-15T12:09:00Z
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8889785-unbroken" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px" data-mce-style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349057171m/8889785.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8889785-unbroken">Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/30913.Laura_Hillenbrand">Laura Hillenbrand</a><br /> My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/459911546">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br /> Excellent. A well-researched and well-written account of one of the most interesting stories to come from World War II. Extremely informative and heart-wrenching, yet very entertaining. I recommend it to all readers.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6705827-mark">View all my reviews</a>
/posts/2013/blink-but-do-not-miss-this-book
Blink (but do not miss this book)
2013-01-01T12:11:00Z
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/567650.Blink" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px" data-mce-style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344267772m/567650.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/567650.Blink">Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1439.Malcolm_Gladwell">Malcolm Gladwell</a><br /> My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/480527598">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br /> Quite interesting. It's generally a review of studies and experiments, with surprising and extremely interesting conclusions. A recommended read for those interested in interesting stuff.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6705827-mark">View all my reviews</a>
/posts/2012/jonathan-strange-and-mr-norrell
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
2012-12-27T11:35:00Z
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76852.Jonathan_Strange_Mr_Norrell" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px" data-mce-style="float: left; padding-right: 20px;"><img alt="Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316130738m/76852.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/76852.Jonathan_Strange_Mr_Norrell">Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8842.Susanna_Clarke">Susanna Clarke</a><br /> My rating: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/480527816">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br /> I grabbed a copy of this book after hearing about it on (I think) NPR. I don't generally take book recommendations from NPR, but it sounded quite interesting, so I figured, what the heck. I was not disappointed.<br /><br /> Most of the fantasy I have read is set in <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/656983.J_R_R__Tolkien" title="J.R.R. Tolkien">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>-like worlds, and this one was quite new to me. I was not disappointed, however, and I enjoyed this read quite a bit. I recommend it to just about anyone who enjoys the fantasy genre.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/6705827-mark">View all my reviews</a>
/posts/2012/c-modules
C++ Modules
2012-12-21T21:21:00Z
<p>So, as a followup to the C++ post, here's another super-interesting piece of information, proving that someone over there has their eye on the ball: C++ Modules.</p>
<p>For those, like me, who always wondered what the deal was with .h files, and, when they asked, always got the same stupid answer: how would the compiler know what classes/methods/variables/whatever were available elsewhere in the program? That, of course, is nonsense. Other programming languages have solved this problem many many times, all without header files and #include directives.</p>
<p>Now, a solution for C++ has been proposed: <a href="http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2012/n3347.pdf">http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg21/docs/papers/2012/n3347.pdf</a></p>
<p>So, as a followup to the C++ post, here's another super-interesting piece of information, proving that someone over there has their eye on the ball: C++ Modules.</p>
/posts/2012/modern-object-oriented-programming-languages
Modern object-oriented programming languages
2012-12-18T13:38:00Z
<p>So, I've been thinking lately (probably because of the embedded development I've been doing) that what the world needs is a modern, object-oriented, garbage-collected, type-safe programming language that performs well, and is usable anywhere. I've been developing full-time in C# for my employer for a long time (since the language has been publicly available, in fact), and I've become accustomed to having an extremely powerful library, along with highly convenient language features available to me. I did some hobbying in C long ago, but never very much, because the memory management just didn't feel "clean" to me. Having to manage everything as hunks of memory and passing around "void *" everywhere just doesn't strike me as type-safe.</p>
<p>A couple years ago, I did a short stint at an outfit that used C++. I had no previous experience in C++, understanding only that it was the anti-Java, in that it was low-level, complex, and unfriendly. Not that Java is particulary friendly. I managed, but the C-ness of it continued to leave a bitter taste in my mouth.</p>
<p>I looked at the D programming language, which is pretty much everything you'd want it to be, except widely-used. It also didn't seem to be straightforward (if even possible) to use in an embedded context.</p>
<p>Then, one day (and I don't remember how), I remembered that the committee had been working on a new version of C++ (C++0x, they called it, because they didn't know when it would be done). I looked in on it, and wow, had things changed. Now, it was called C++11 (because they'd run out of 0x years), and they had done extremely considerable work with this thing. Among other things, there are now:</p>
<ol>
<li>Lambda expressions. This is a biggie, I use them all the time in my C# development.</li>
<li>"Smart" pointers, i.e. automatic memory management. It's not a generational mark-and-sweep GC (which, I hear, is coming eventually), but it's usable, and it works.</li>
<li>Reference types. No more having to manage pointers and addresses and whatnot in function calls. I don't think these are new, but I defintely didn't know about them.</li>
<li>Type-safe enums (or "class enums"). If you've used an enum in C#, then these are what you'd expect an enum to be (the non-class enums are just a bunch of consts, as far as the programmer is concerned).</li>
<li>Initializer lists. Again, if you've used these in C#, you know how convenient they are, and it's nice to have them.</li>
<li>Type inference. It's not "var", it's "auto", but the convenience and type-safety is the same. This one is big, I believe it makes for nice, pretty, readable code.</li>
<li>Constructor delegation. Constructors can now call other constructors. Useful.</li>
<li>Null pointer constant. Didn't like "NULL"? Now you have "nullptr", which is more pretty, and more type-safe.</li>
<li>Multithreading, tuples, hashtables, regular expressions, among other things.</li>
</ol>
<p>C++ is still complex, and the syntax, being C-derived (and backwards compatible), isn't always as clean and nice as what you're used to in C# and Java, but this is definitely a modern object oriented language that is usable pretty much everywhere C is (which is pretty much everywhere!)</p>
<p>So, I've been thinking lately (probably because of the embedded development I've been doing) that what the world needs is a modern, object-oriented, garbage-collected, type-safe programming language that performs well, and is usable anywhere. I've been developing full-time in C# for my employer for a long time (since the language has been publicly available, in fact), and I've become accustomed to having an extremely powerful library, along with highly convenient language features available to me. I did some hobbying in C long ago, but never very much, because the memory management just didn't feel "clean" to me. Having to manage everything as hunks of memory and passing around "void *" everywhere just doesn't strike me as type-safe.</p>