Cryptonomicon

I really thought that when school finished I'd have more time. As it turns out, I have less. See, school forces a kind of routine on me that makes me do things like check my email every day and read my web comics and feel guilty about not posting. The holidays make that guilt go away and thus, no posts. However, I have found a new author that I like very much and I thought I'd share. I just finished reading Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. I also got three more of his books for Christmas. (w00t!) Cryptonomicon, other than being hard to spell repeatedly, is a fantastic book that tells three major stories, with a host of supporting cast perspectives. It takes place during the modern day, as well as following some amazing WWII stories. The main character is Randall Lawrence Waterhouse. Randall, or Randy as his friends call him, is a Unix geek and is just starting a new business venture with his friend Avi. They end up in the Philippines on some crazy idea that turns out to be only part of a larger business plan. Meanwhile, we meet Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse. Randy's grandfather. We follow him through his days at Princeton earning a degree in engineering, but he's more suited to pure mathematics. He meets some nice friends there, like Al. Al prefers to go by Alan but Lawrence isn't good with names. Alan, last name Turing, is a British chap that's working on applied mathematics. Bright chap, probably go far. Anyway, Lawrence ends up in the Navy and because of his music talents, made part of a band in the USS Nevada stationed at Pearl Harbor, December 1941. After the "day which will live in infamy" the Navy decides it doesn't need bands, but all those musicians might be able to help type in the new war effort. In training to be clerks for the Navy's Cryptanalysis, Lawrence proves he's far more valuable cracking Japanese codes than taking dictations. Soon they ship him off to Europe to work with the British on the Enigma problem, and he meets up with his old friend Alan Turing. Bobby Shaftoe is a hardass US Marine. He's done his share of fighting in the Pacific theater. So after being a particularly nasty battle, he's sent home with a Purple Heart, Silver Star and a Navy Cross. He wants back in the fight so he's assigned to a special unit, Detachment 2702, where he meets people like Enoch Root and Lawrence Waterhouse. All these stories tie together with others to take you on a fantastic epic that, despite some heavy mathematics, reads fast and intense. I couldn't put it down for the week it took me to finish the 1000+ pages. I've already started my next Neal Stephenson book: Quicksilver. I'll let you know how this one turns out.

Get Lost

And then found. I may have talked about this before, but I find it fun, so I'll go over it again. Geocaching.com. What is that, you say? It's where you can learn all about Geocaching. What is geocaching? IT's a high tech treasure hunt using GPS technology to find hidden caches all over the world. There are 218706 active caches in 219 countries. There are several thousand in Utah alone. For some, you don't even need a GPS device. But for most, that's about all you need. YOu can get a decent GPS for under $150. It's a lot more fun than it sounds. You should try it. If you don't have a GPS device and want to check this out, (and you know me) let me know. I'll take you with me on a few caches.