New Peter Hamilton Book to Check Out

I spotted this book in the Hamilton Barnes and Noble bookstore. I need to check out the description and feedback on Amazon.com but if anyone knows about it, please let me know if it is any good.

I have been reading most of Peter Hamilton's work over the past several years. I find him very creative and immaginative in the science fiction genre.

Wonder if this book is any good?

I saw this in the bookstore the other day. There was a time when I would have simply bought it but with the Kindle offering books at $9.99 I hesitate to purchase the book 1.0 version.

I also need to check out the reviews and feedback to see if it is worth the investment in TRT (train reading time). I salready have about 4 books in the queue.

If anyone has feedback about this book or ideas for others to help with the social networking phenomenon as in how to make it useful rather than to simply waste time, let me know.

Reading on the Train

I finished "the Host" by Stephanie Meyer (?) on yesterdays TRI (train ride in) and while I enjoyed it as a casual distraction it was pretty forgetable. I have several business books queued up on my Kindle and started reading "Bit Literacy" but need fiction to transport me away from the everyday.

I downloaded "Accelerando" by Charles Stross and started reading thatvon the TRO last night. It's a fun and strange and really geeky book but I detect prophetic aspects as far as the near future it portrays.

Much like "Snow Crash" and other Neil Stephenson books it provides an all too feasible look into where we are heading.

I have been reading most of Charles Stross' books ever since discovering him at that great huge bookstore in Portland, Oregon. Some of his stuff is pure drivel but other is truly creative and inspired. I provide a list of my favorites and dogs when I have better I-access than my iPhone.

Well, landing at NYC now so need to close and send. Happy Friday, all!

More pumpkin-fest photos

More photos of the kiddos at the saturday pumpkin-fest.

October Activities

Here are several photos from October activities from the past several days:





Vincent and group of kids at Rocco's pumpkin-feet.

Other photos to be added soon..

An End to a Trip

A trip has to have an end just as it had a beginning. My trip to Duke University ended much as it started, in darkness and involving a train.

Is that the light at the end of the tunnel or is that an oncoming train? In this case it was a homeward bound train and therefore a welcomed sight.

Questions

Looking at the news this morning the questions come to my mind: When will it end? But probably more important where will it end?

So many questions and so much fear. How could the US economy lose 2 trillion dollars and where did it go?

I am starting to understand why Princeton Physics graduates were required to figure out Wall Street, they were the only ones smart enough to understand this. Where do you go after you understand the Standard Model? You go on to the really tough challenge of modern financial industry.

Either know one knows where this is going or those who might venture a guess are afraid to tell, probably for fear of making it happen. Afterall, isn't this all just a confidence game?

I am kind of glad I have not continuted supplemental to my 403B account. Wouldn't I have lost my money in addition to what my employer contributed? But maybe that is the wrong way to look at things. Maybe that is the same way that contributed to the mess?

I feel a root cause is living beyond your means but also not saving for this very rainy day. But then, it seems that those folks lost most who saved the most.

Back to the question, how will it end?

Trip Almost Done

Back at Newark and heading for Airtrain. Very glad to be home. Need to figure out why photos did not work but I have an idea about that.

An Afternoon Walk

After arriving at Duke in the early afternoon I decided to do some exploring. I asked the very helpful conference center staff for directions to some stores and the kindly drove me to a place off campus where there are several trendy stores.

The driver indicated he was happy to pick me up but I decided to walk back and see some of the campus sites. I didn't worry too much about getting lost since I have my handy GPS device. I had under-estimated the distance though.

Here are a couple of impressive buildings on campus that I saw on the trip back to the hotel.



Above was a neuro-science building. The one below is the Duke Chapel




I will get more photos of campus tomorrow.

An Oasis

During my trip to Duke I stayed at the Dave Thomas Conference Center (yes, named for the Wendy's guy. Here is an oasis that was near my room.



The place was very nice, surrounded by woods and the staff was amazing in their hospitality. They also had biscuits and gravy at breakfast but no fried bologna.

Charlotte to Raleigh-Durham

The second leg (or is that wing?) of my trip today was on a smallish jet called an E-190. The E stands for Embraer which I learned from iWikipedia is made in Brazil. It's a very nice airplane with a smooth ride.

Flying to Charlotte

The first leg of my trip is a flight from Newark to Charlotte, NC, on US Airways.

The flight is about one and a half hours and we have about 20 minutes until landing. I expect to have to turn off my i-phone in a few minutes so won't write too much.

I have to close now but will add more on the ground during my lay-over. Bye for now.


Beeakfast at Charlotte airport at Tequileria. Hasbrown casserole southwestern style. Digging in now.

Blog Journal of my Trip to Duke

I am trying out the I-phone blog tool and so will chronicle my trip to Duke.

Am leaving Newark Airport on 8:00 am flight. Day is rainy but I plan to snooze on the plane.

Here is a photo:


-- Post From My iPhone