Happy New Year

It is currently morning on January 1st in Denmark, so I guess it is appropriate to wish you all a happy new year and the best of luck in 2014.

2013 was in many ways a horrible year in the geopolitical sense, but from a personal perspective, 2013 was a quite good year, and I see no reason why 2014 should prove any different.

My personal goals for 2014 are the following:

• Finish a book project I am working on with an ex-colleague. Hopefully get it published as well, but let's see how it turns out in the end.
• Participate in a couple of work-related conferences.
• Go to Skepticon.
• Travel as much as I can get away with (probably some weekend trips in Europe rather than prolonged trips).
• Read at least 52 books.
• Watch at least 52 movies.
• Discover one new band per month.
• Loose some weight and get in better shape.
• Related to this, stop drinking Coke. 
• Write on average 1 hour per day on either my blogs or on the book project.
• Start a new work-related blog on a new blogging network which is planned to start in 2014.
• Be awesome at work.
• See my friends as much as it is possible.
• Organize some great events for Copenhagen Skeptics in the Pub together with my co-hosts.

I am also considering going to QED, but I simply don't know if I will be able to fit it into my schedule.

All in all, a fairly moderate list, which should be do-able. Being do-able has always seemed to me to be a good quality when you evaluate potential goals.

Do any of you have some interesting goals you want to share?

Regrets

This is a slightly more personal post than most I've written, but I was moved to writing it after listening to the radio last night. The Danish radio channel P3 has a program called "Unga Bunga", where the two hosts Le Gammeltoft and Kjeld Tolstrup played some brilliant music. During the past week, Kjeld Tolstrup passed away only 45 years old, and last night's show was one long tribute to him by Le Gammeltoft and a lot of friends. Kjeld Tolstrup was, apart from being a radio host, the grand old man of the Danish DJ scene, whose influence on other Danish DJs and musicians in and outside Denmark cannot be overestimated - his passing away will leave not only the Danish music scene, but the international music scene, much poorer.

I never met Kjeld Tolstrup, and I've only rarely listened to him play. Yet, even so, he was a presence in the music/DJ scene I was aware of, and which I was happy was there. Now, he isn't there any longer, and I am sorry that I didn't use more opportunities to listen to him.

Regret is not a word I use often, since I find regret to be nonconstructive. I am of the philosophy that one has to look at where one is now, and operate from that point, instead of focusing on what one wish to have done differently in the past. I have, of cause, made wrong decisions in the past, and now pay the debt for it (both literately and metaphorically). Past choices will of cause limit future choices, but unless you can undo those consequences, focusing on the mistakes/unwise decisions, will only drag you down a dark path.

Still, due to past mistakes, I have come slightly risk adverse - this means that I try to avoid limiting my future options. If I have the choice between two paths, I will most likely choose the one that limits my future choices least, even if the other one is more interesting.

So, how does this tie up with yesterday's radio program?

Well, Kjeld Tolstrup was less than 10 years older than me when he died, and he managed to do so much for so many people - many more than I could ever hope to mean anything for, even if I lived till I was twice as old as him.
I am sure he didn't do that by being risk adverse - when he went to Ministry of Sounds and played, it carried much large risks than staying in Denmark, yet because he managed it, it also carried much larger rewards than anything he could have pulled off in Denmark.

This makes me think: Perhaps being risk adverse is actually more limiting than going down the paths that cut of choices? And perhaps those paths only impose limits in my mind, or expand my choices in other directions?

Who knows?

I certainly don't. But I will try to find out. I will try to make sure that I don't just make my choices based on being risk adverse, but instead make my choices based on what I'd prefer to do. I am sure this will be an interesting journey - and one thing I can promise is, there will be no regrets.

Goodbye 2010 - or, the year of being social

Jean-Paul Sartre famously told us "Hell is other people" (in his play No Exit), and while I am sure that we all agree with this sentiment from time to time, the reverse, "Paradise is other people", is also true. Think back on any great experience in your life, and I am willing to bet that other people played a major part in it.

Well, 2010 is now over, and looking back, it was certainly more a case of Paradise than Hell. And I contribute that to all the great people I had the pleasure of spending time with this year.

When 2010 started, I decided that I wanted to expand my social circles - not because I didn't have a number of great friends (I did, and still do), but because I think it's important for your personal growth to try to find new input, and to get different perspectives. I wasn't exactly sure how I would go around doing it, but it was definitely a goal for 2010.

In retro-perspective, I can only say that I've succeeded in that beyond my wildest expectations, and beyond any expectations anyone could reasonably have.

So, how did that happen?

Simply put: other people arranged stuff, and I turned up. Surprisingly how effective that can be, isn't it? Well, what kind of stuff did I turn up to?

1) Tech events of all sorts. Copenhagen is lucky enough to have several groups and companies willing to arrange free technical sessions of high quality, and it has been great to participate in those. Among the groups and companies whose arrangements I've participated in is CNUG, Microsoft Demark, Trifork, and Socialsquare.

2) Perth Skeptics. This might seem a bit weird, given I live across the world from them, but remember that I am half Australian. I spent January month in Perth, and during my stay there were two meetups - one in a park and one in a pub. During the later, the Perth Skeptics participated in the 10²³ homeopathy overdose campaign, and afterwards, I talked a bit about skepticism in Scandinavia (sadly lacking) and skeptic/science blogging (go on, do it!). Apart from meeting Kylie Sturgess I also got to meet a number of other Perth Skeptics, and definitely was happy that I took the time to participate.

3) Likemind Cph. A monthly coffee meeting open to everyone, allowing people to network and meet new people. Great crowd, and even if it might seem a bit intimidating, everybody there are friendly, and willing to meet new people (otherwise, what's the point?). Here is a short video of the February meeting (which I didn't participate in). Here is the facebook page of Likemind Cph.

4) The Atheist Alliance International conference in Copenhagen in June arranged together with Ateistisk Selskab. It was a great event with some great speakers, but it also gave me the chance to meet some fellow pharyngulites (people who comments at Pharyngula). I even had five of them staying at my place during the conference. Among the people I managed to meet were Robert Dobbs/Ye Olde Blacksmith, who does some great metal stuff, Jadehawk, and Martin/Rorschach.

5) Last, but definitely not least, Twitter events in Copenhagen. I've in the past explained what Twitter is to me, but since then, Twitter has become so much more. A simple way of illustrating this is to state the fact that just during the last week alone, I've spent 3 evenings, including New Years Eve, with people I've met through Twitter and who I didn't know a year ago.

So, how did this come around, and what Twitter events am I talking about?

Well, as far as I can tell, we have a pretty unique Twitter culture in Copenhagen, and much of it is due to the work of the two twitters @laurajul and @morgenthaler, who decided to arrange some bi-monthly Friday bars for the Copenhagen Twitterati. These Friday bars have been a great success, and people have started to not only follow each other on Twitter, but also to actually become friends outside Twitter.

So, what does 2011 hold in store for me? I have absolutely no clue, but I am looking forward to experiencing it together with my friends, old as new, and see what it brings.

Happy New Year everybody, and may 2011 bring great friendships and much joy.

The Omnivore's Hundred

Seems like an interesting little meme, and since I have done one of those in a long while, I thought I'd do it.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred

Rules:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses [I presume this refers to the cheese, not the French village]
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes [Don't think so, at least]
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese [it's quite horrible]
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper [I like hot stuff, but I'm not suicidal]
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda [No, but it sounds quite good]
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu [I prefer food which you can eat without risk of death]
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel [They are endangered now, so people shouldn't eat them]
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut [Not impressed]
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear [Careful of thorns when you eat them]
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill [Not to my knowledge]
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

The list is a bit weird - some of the items on the list are quite common everywhere, and I wonder where the trully challenging dishes are (like Thousand-year eggs). Still, there were a few things on the list which I might just have to see if I can try.

Recent and future reads

Just a little update of what I've read recently and what's in my reading stack these days.

Recent reads:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Infidel - my life
I must admit that my impression of Ali wasn't too good before I read the book. She seemed too right-winged and willing to pander to the racists in Europe. My impression of her changed after reading this book though, and I now have a much better understanding of her strategy and goals. What's more, her book got me to re-evaluate my own participation in the immigrant debate in my own country.

Richard Wiseman: Quirkology - The Curious Science of Everyday Lives
Quirkology is Wiseman's introduction to studies into humanity's quirks - studies quite frequently carried out by Wiseman himself. It's a light, but fun, read.

Naomi Klein: The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Klein's take on how ultra-capitalists have had a disastrous effect on the world, acting through shock and awe where-ever and when-ever they have the opportunity. Hyperbolic at places, it's nevertheless a real eye-opener.

Jeremy Scahill: Blackwater - The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
Right from the title, Scahill is not afraid to call a spade a spade, and this is indeed what he does in this book, which explains how Blackwater has risen to its current position, and what it has cost the rest of the world.

Stephen Jay Gould: The Mismeasure of Man
Gould's classic takes on the entire concept of measuring human intelligence and to define peoples' intelligence by their race or gender. Originally written in 1981, my edition is the revised and expanded 1996 edition, where Gould included some essays addressing the atrocious The Bell Curve.

Christoper Hitchens: Hitch-22
My review of this book can be found here

Carol Tavris & Elliot Aronson: Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions and Hurtful Acts
A look into why people make mistakes, and how they justify those mistakes to themselves afterwards. It also offers some tips into how one can avoid, not mistakes, but rather the denial and self-justification afterwards.


Currently reading:

Barbara Ehrenreich: Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World
This is the European title of Bright-sided (which is more clever in my opinion). I am about 100 pages into the book, and so far I've enjoyed it.

Paul Krugman: The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008

To-read pile:

Lone Frank: Den Femte Revolution - fortællinger fra hjenens tidsalder
I believe it is the same book as Mindfield: How Brain Science is Changing Our World. I borrowed this book from a friend, so it will almost certainly be my next read.

Kristin Cashore: Fire
I enjoyed her first book Graceling, so I am looking forward to reading this.

Philip K. Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep
Even though I have been an avid science fiction reader since I was a kid, I've never gotten around to reading this book.

Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird
Been standing on my shelves for years. Time to get around to reading it.

Lyndon Baines Johnson: The Choices We Faces
Johnson's 1969 memoir of his White House years.

C.S. Lewis: The Problem of Pain
Part of "The Christian Challenge Series"

Henri Troyat: Catherine the Great

Tim Flannery: The Weather Makers
I bought it while in Australia in January, but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
Another classic I haven't read yet.

Chrisopher Wanjek: Bad Medicine - Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Distance Healing to Vitamin O
I've started once on this book, but got distracted by other books I was reading at the same time.

Catching up

The last couple of weeks have been quite busy, so my blogging has been non-existing, and there is therefore a bit of catching up to do.

First of all, my sitemeter counter passed 100,000 hits earlier this month. That's nearly 100 visits per day for the little over 3 years the blog has existed. On top of that, one should add the many people who read my blog through feed-readers (approximately 150, as far as I can see from feedburner). While fairly modest by blog-standards, it much better than I would have expected when I started out blogging.

And then to something completely different - there is a group called Fresh Air Fund, which works on giving kids from the worst areas of New York access to fresh air. For this purpose, they need host families - if you live in the suburbs or small town communities, please consider signing up at the Fresh Air Fund Host website.

Happy New Year to my readers

It's the last day of the year, and I thought I'd take the time to wish all of my readers a happy new year. I hope you all have a great evening, and that 2010 will be a good year for you all.

On a personal plane, 2009 has been an uneventful year, with nothing extraordinary going on. Globally, the same cannot be said. 2009 was the year when we finally got rid of the Bush administration - Obama might not be everything we wished for, or even what he promised to be, but compared to what went before, he is a beacon of rationality and personal integrity.

As in any year, we lost some great people in the last people, among them one of my great heroes Norman Borlaug, but most of these had lived long and bountiful lives. Much worse were all the lives lost in violence and unnecessary wars, cut short before time - 2009 has been a bad year on that front, and hopefully 2010 will be better.

2009 was a year of science - celebrating both Darwin and Galileo, and Science did better than any other time during this decade - the Obama administration not only didn't wager war against science, they actually tried to listen to the scientists, and Obama even included a Nobel Prize physicist Steven Chu in the administration. Outside the US, science has always had it better, and this thankfully continued.

In 2009 anthropogenic global warming was a focus point of the world, and while COP15 didn't result in anything concrete, it gave a basis upon which future talks can be based upon. The most positive thing to come out of cop15 was, in my opinion, the fact that the US was an active participant in the negotiations. Something they haven't been before.

Of course, not everything which happened in 2009 was positive. Guantanamo still exists, filled with people held without trial. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has regained a lot of power, and as recent events show, Al-Qaeda and other radical groups are still out there. Inside the US, far-right terrorism has begun to reappear, with e.g. the murder of Doctor Tiller (another of my heroes who passed away in 2009) and the attack on the Holocaust Museum.

Four books per week and other goals

When I was younger, I used to be an avid reader, in periods reading on average a book per day (or even more). Yet after I started spending time on the internet, and especially since I got broadband, the number of books I've read have gone down drastically.

This has annoyed me for a while, and I've decided that I would try to do something about it.

Instead of just trying to read more, I've decided to make some reading goals for the rest of the year. They are:

1) Read four books a week. Given the fact that I might be more busy some weeks than others, I've decided that this number should be a four week average, by which I mean that at any time, I should be able to count the number of books read in the last four weeks, and find at least 16 titles.

2) Read at least one work-related book per fortnight. They tend to take me longer than other books, so I give myself 14 days for reading them. The general principle is though, that I should be reading a work-related book at all times (I tend to read several books in parallel)

3) Read at least one non-fiction book per week (including the work-related book). Not a hard goal, when combined with goal 2.

4) No more than one re-read is allowed per week. Like many other avid readers, I have a tendency to return to books. While this is enjoyable, I consider it cheating in this context.

I won't be making posts on how well I am managing every week, but I will certainly write something about it in the future.

Just a quick note

I'm fairly busy with life at the moment, so it's only very light blogging. Next week I'll be going to Budapest for a few days, so don't expect anything from my side until I return.

Anyway. I just wanted to point out something. Given the fact that Europeans write dates in the order day-month-year, today's date is 07/08/09 in Europe. This is the fifth last ascending date order we'll experience here (the others being 08/09/10, 09/10/11, 10/11/12, 11/12/13).

Since Americans have the order month-day-year, they still have five such dates left (12/13/14 as well as the ones mentioned above).

There are of course also some descending date orders left - 11/10/09, 12/11/10, and 13/12/11 (only in Europe).

If one was into woo, one could probably make a lot out of this.

I've created a new blog

Looking back at my, rather long, blog post on testing in systems development, I found that that sort of post didn't quite fit in at this blog, so I took the consequences and started a new blog for that sort of long, rather narrow posts on systems development, programming, and IT consulting.

It's named Ending Error-driven Development, and if you want to read it through a feedreader, you'll find its feed here.

Given the fact that the majority of my blog writing centers on other issues, the blogging over at the new blog will be even lighter than at this blog.

What to do in a zombie attack

Given the disturbing news over at Pharyngula, I thought I should share this informational video.

BBC 100 book meme - or is it?

There is currently a book meme going on at facebook, which refers to a list of 100 books that BBC apparently have made, and which they recons that most people will only have read six books from. The rules are simple

pparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.
Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.

I guess the simple fact that most people have read more than six books from the list is an attempt to make people feel superior to the BBC people who though that no-one would have read six. Of course, there is only one problem - no matter how hard I look, I can't find the list anywhere at the BBC website. What I could find, was BBC's The Big Read, which is a list of the 100 most popular books. That list little resembles the list used in the BBC 100 books meme - in fact, only 57 on the original list made it to the new list used in the meme.

Well, being into books and all, I'll make the meme with both lists. Let's first start with the original BBC list (I'm also going to add '-' after those that I dislike)

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien x-
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen x
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman x
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams x+
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling x
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee *
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne x
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell x
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis x
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë *
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller x
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë *
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier x
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger x-
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame x
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens x
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott x
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy *
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling x
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling x
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling x
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien x
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving x-
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck *
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll x
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett *
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens x
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson x
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen x
39. Dune, Frank Herbert x
40. Emma, Jane Austen x
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams x
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald x+
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell x+
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens x+
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck *
53. The Stand, Stephen King x
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer x
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden *
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens x
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett x
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles x
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman x+
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett x
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding x
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind *
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett x
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt x+
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins x
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens x
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake *
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley *
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist x
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac * (actually my next read)
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo *
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel x
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett x
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

And now for the new, meme list, which is a little more high-brow.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen x
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien x
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte *
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling x
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee *
6 The Bible x
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte *
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell x
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman x
10 Great Epectations - Charles Dickens x
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott x
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller x
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare x
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier x
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien x
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger x-
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald x+
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens x
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams x+
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh *
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck *
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll x
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame x
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens x
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis x
34 Emma - Jane Austen x
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen x
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis x
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden *
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne x
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell x
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown x------
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving x-
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins x
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood x+
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding x
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert x
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens x
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huley *
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon *
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck *
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov x
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt x+
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold *
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Aleandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac *
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville *
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens x
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker x
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson x
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath x+
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt *
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens x+
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell x
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker *
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro *
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert *
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle x
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad x
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Eupery x
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks x
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams x
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Aleandre Dumas x
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare x
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo *

Again, the original BBC list is a list of the most popular books, so it would make little sense for BBC to claim that most people have only read six books on that list.

Update: Several people have commented that the list is from the Guardian, and based upon an online poll for World Book Day in 2007. The list can be found here. Again, it's a list of popular books, so there is no claim about people having only read six of those books - on the contrary, people are asked to list the top ten books they couldn't live without, which would mean that the respondents have read at least 10 books on the list.

Happy Darwin's day

In case you haven't noticed, today is the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin. It's also the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, but while he was extremely important for the US, Darwin had a much more global importance.

If you look around in the science blogsphere, you'll find many good posts about Charles Darwin, so I'll suggest my readers go explore them.

Sorry for the silence

I am sorry that I haven't been blogging lately, but I've just spent 3 weeks visiting my family in Australia. Given the fact that I only see them once every couple of years, they had higher priority than my blog. Sorry.

I hope everyone have had a great New Year.

There are several posts in the pipeline, but they probably will have to wait until I get over my jet-lag.

Can't we just all get along?

Linked to by several of my facebook contacts.

Mice suspected in deadly cat fire

Mice may be responsible for a blaze that killed nearly 100 cats at an animal shelter near the Canadian city of Toronto, officials say.

It doesn't appear to be some strike in an inter-special warfare though.

An initial report from the fire marshal says mice or rats chewing through electrical wires in the ceiling are likely to have sparked the blaze.

Six Arbitrary Things About Me Meme

It appears to be the season of memes, and I've been tagged again, this time by Mike Haubrich

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random arbitrary things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Arbitrary factoid #1: I hold a dual Danish-Australian citizenship. This is an artifact of having parents from two different countries.

Arbitrary factoid #2: I grew up with two parents who smoked. This might explain why I have never felt attracted to smoking myself.

Arbitrary factoid #3: While this might surprise people who work with me, I consider myself rather shy. Not in the quiet way that some people are shy, but rather in the way that I don't feel comfortable in social situations where I don't know anyone. If I am at a party where I know few or no people, odds are that I'll leave early - unless of course, I get drunk, in which case I am less bothered by such things.

Arbitrary factoid #4: I hate calling people on the phone if I haven't called them before. For some reason I find the whole concept of perhaps calling the wrong person very embarrassing. Funny enough, I don't have any problems calling someone I have called before.

Arbitrary factoid #5: Factoid #4 leads quite naturally to the fact that I embarrass easily, and hate embarrassing situations, or even movies. You won't catch me watching American comedies, since these are usually based upon the funniness of embarrassing situations.

Arbitrary factoid #6: It appears that I am good at networking. Even among consultants, who are in general good at this, I am considered good at it. This is a useful skill in work-related situations, but my friends also benefits from this skill once in a while.

As is my habit, I won't tag anyone, but if any of my readers wants to do the meme, feel free.

Five things about me meme

Glendon has tagged me

The 5 Things Meme

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Studying economics. Not a great success, as people might have gathered from the fact that I don't do it any more.
2. Living around the corner from where I am living now. In the intervening time, I've lived in six other places, not of them around here.
3. Spending way too much time on the internet. The amount of time I spend these days is nothing compared to back then.
4. Worked in a ware house.
5. Partied too much, as 23 year olds earning money are wont to do.

5 things on my to do list today:
1. Clean up my kitchen - it's a mess.
2. Visit a friend and watch a DVD (already done).
3. Finish a book or two. I'm currently reading too many books.
4. Send of a few emails, that I should have sent off earlier this week.
5. Catch up on my sleep.

5 snacks I love:
[I don't really do snacks, but I'll give it a shot]
1. Does grapes count? I guess they do.
2. As must figs - dried or fresh.
3. Prawn flavored chips.
4. Brownies.
5. Cashew nuts

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire:
1. Travel.
2. Take some time off, and finish my degree.
3. Buy a bigger place.
4. Fill it with books, CDs and DVDs.
5. Continue with my life in general.

5 places I've lived:
1. Copenhagen
2. In a boat, in Copenhagen's harbor.
3. On a friend's couch, for several months.
4. In a two roomed apartment en-suit with my brother. The fact that we still talk is a wonder.
5. Rented rooms, all over Copenhagen.

5 jobs I've had:
1. Cleaning
2. Ware house worker
3. Bouncer at parties
4. Weekend caretaker at a badminton club
5. Systems developer

5 people I'll tag: I'll skip this time, but any reader feeling up to doing this, please go ahead.

God clarifies rules

Via Jill at Feministe

God Angrily Clarifies 'Don't Kill' Rule

Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday.

"Look, I don't know, maybe I haven't made myself completely clear, so for the record, here it is again," said the Lord, His divine face betraying visible emotion during a press conference near the site of the fallen Twin Towers. "Somehow, people keep coming up with the idea that I want them to kill their neighbor. Well, I don't. And to be honest, I'm really getting sick and tired of it. Get it straight. Not only do I not want anybody to kill anyone, but I specifically commanded you not to, in really simple terms that anybody ought to be able to understand."

Brilliant, just brilliant.

Reading stack

Since at least a few of my readers are people I know from reading forums like Readerville and BookBalloon, I thought I'd share what I've read recently, am currently reading, and what's in my towering to-read stack.

Recent reads include:

James Alan Gardner's Expendable (Amazon link).
A nice piece of science fiction about some members of the space exploration force, who are used to explore new planets, since they are considered expendable. Well worth reading if you are into science fiction.

Gleen Greenwald's Great American Hypocrites
I might make a longer review of this book, but generally I was slightly disappointed by it, though I still feel it should be required reading for journalists.

Lauri Lebo's The Devil in Dover
One of several books on the Kitzmiller vs. Dover trial, but the only one written by a local. Lebo was one of the journalists covering the trial, and the book not only describes the trial, but also tells of Lebo's own discovery of the issues at hand.
I am working on a general book review of the books about the trial, so I will write more about it then.

Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister: Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams
One of the classic books on how to get IT projects to work. A bit too America-centric at times, it's still a book that I would recommend to anyone who might have to lead, or even just work in, an IT project.

I'm currently reading:

Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Black Swan
Lend to me by one of my co-workers, as he thought it was just up my alley. And it should be - in general I find this kind of books interesting, and I certainly agree with his core message. I just don't like the way he is selling it. Still, I'm working my way through it, and it's certainly giving me food for thought.

Gang of four: Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
Well, naturally the book's author is not written as "gang of four" on the frontpage of the book, but that's how they are known in the computer business. I've read this book before, but am re-reading it as part of the design pattern study group I've started at my work.

David Neiwert's Strawberry Days
David writes really well, and the story about the internment of the Japanese during WWII is a powerful story. The only reason I haven't gotten it finished yet, is because I keep getting distracted by other books.

Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D: A Survival Guide to Managing Employees from Hell
I've only included this in the list to warn people from spending money or time on it. In my opinion, it's badly written, and what's worse, the advice it gives is worthless.

My to-read stack:

Christoher Wanjek: Bad Medicine
Steve McConnell: Software Estimation - Demystifying the Black Art
James Surowiecki: The Wisdom of Crowds
Darrell Huff: How to Lie with Statistics
Robert Park: Vooddo Science - The Road from Foolishness to Fraud
Jon Krakauer: Under the Banner of Heaven - A Story of Violent Faith
Daniel Levitas: The Terrorist Next Door - the Militia Movement and the Radical Right
Edward Yourdon: Death March

Comments about my reads and book suggestions are of course always welcome.

Sorry for the silence

I know I've been quite lately, and I just want to tell you all that it's not because I've forgotten my blog - or even because I am closing it down. I'm just busy with real life.

I am still working at a time-extensive major financial project, which has its final deadline (so far) at the end of next month. On top of that I've started working on getting a MCPD (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer). Not that I really need it, but it's part of the overall strategy for my .NET department, which I helped formulate, so I'd better do it.

I've also started up a study group at work, where we study design patterns (from the classical GoF book). Most of us have already read the book at some stage, but the plan is to involve peoples' real life experiences, and tie the design patterns to real life solutions. For those interested, we use this study plan, which seems pretty well thought out.

At the end of the month, I'm going to JAOO, where the keynote speakers are quite interesting. I'm especially looking forward to hear Lars Bak from Google. He is part of the Google Chrome team, and it's going to be interesting to hear about his experiences.