My web site contains pieces I've written, talks I've given, reviews of books I've read, and information about things I'm interested in. Like me, it's somewhat chaotic, but if you dig around a little you will, I hope, find some interesting material. Most of the stuff on the site is written for the non-specialist; if you find something that isn't very clear drop me a line and I'll try to clarify things. The address to write to is alan@ibgames.com and if you include the word 'fed2' in the subject line my spam filter will pass it by on the other side and not junk it!
I also produce a free weekly newsletter, called Winding Down, which features information, reviews, and analysis on computers, the Internet and society. It's available via an e-mail list, and you can get the subscription details here.
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Recent Reading:
Recent Reading:
Intel Threaded Building Blocks by James Reinders. O'Reilly
First the disclaimer - the book was one of a number that the author gave away to participants, after giving a short seminar at the 2009 ACCU Conference.
That said, I found the book fascinating - hard but fascinating. There's nothing wrong with the writing. The subject matter is just difficult for anyone used to sequential programming (that's most programmers). Intel's threaded building blocks are a C++ library for parallel, using parallel algorithms, rather than threads.
You won't find much here to help you with multi-threaded programming, but you will find a whole new way of thinking, which, if you apply the methods to your program right from the start, will simplify programs that want (or need) to take advantage of the new generation of multi-core processors.
This book really stretched the way in which I think about programming, while allowing me to continue building on my existing core of C++ skills, something I haven't encountered in many books recently.
Highly recommended!
China - Fragile Superpower by Susan L Shirk. Oxford University Press
This is an interesting book. Ms Shirk was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for relations with China in the Clinton administration. As such she has a more informed insight into China than most. Her basic thesis is straightforward; the current generation of Chinese leaders do not have the accumulated authority of Mao, Zhou Enlai or the other revolutionary leaders. This means that they feel their domestic position is much more insecure than earlier leaders.
This insecurity, together with the effects of the economic restructuring that has taken place in the last 15 years, means that the leadership need to take more hard line nationalist positions than they would otherwise have chosen, in times of crisis. Add to this the difficulty in restricting news in the era of cellphones and the internet, and the nationalism of the masses. Once you've done that you can easily envisage the possibility of every international incident causing a major domestic crisis.
The book analyses recent events in the light of these ideas. Unfortunately this produces a very narrow way of looking at China, which is compounded by a lack of feeling for the wider Chinese history, and an absence of analysis about the fact that the current politburo membership is made up of trained engineers, rather than traditional politicians.
I think that the book is well written, well argued, and well worth reading, but it shouldn't be the only book you read on modern China.
More Recent Reading
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Aspects of Developing with, and Using, Open Source Software
Computers and Society
Crystal Falls
Notes for a history of online games
Reviews: books and software
Technical Topics
Winding Down
About Alan Lenton
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