So what's the PROBLEM?

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too hard to read." -- Groucho Marx.

PROBLEM is an acronym for Phil's Review Of Books, Life, Entertainment & Movies. I plan to make this a regular feature every Friday, then add what's been reviewed to the list to the right (--->).

This week: In the Beginning Was...the Command Line, by Neal Stephenson. This is a powerful yet slender volume all about the history of your other Significant Other, the personal computer, and how it, and your relationship with it, got to be the way that it is.

It is very well written -- in English, mind you, not in Geekese. Neal has been called "the Hacker's Hemmingway" (that's "hacker" as in "tuned-in-tech-wunderkind", not as in "cyber terrorist"). If you didn't grow up through, and experience, the transitions from the days of suction-cup-cradle modems and TTY machines to now, you need to read this book. If you did live through all of that, then you need to read this book.

Mr. Stephenson makes intriguing and delightful what your CS professor makes dull and, well, C.S. Neal is the lucid eye in the monstrous shitstorm of technical information. This book has been out for a while, so cheap secondhand copies are readily available online or in your favorite book reseller.

If you have ever asked why computers and systems are the way they are, or why we do things with computers the way we do, or why there are hot-key combinations that seem to be "universal", then quit wasting your time and mental health taking classes and get this book!

And as always: read responsibly!

Phil