what are you reading lately?

[Guest]

ah man I wish. I'm doing this quarter online for family reasons (in california). 

 

I'm going back to Chicago in March. 

[Tank]

ah man I wish. I'm doing this quarter online for family reasons (in california). 

 

I'm going back to Chicago in March. 

 

which pizza place in chicago is your favorite? 

[Guest]

which pizza place in chicago is your favorite? 

This is a tough question since I'm a California native. I had been used to the likes of Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, etc...prior to living in Chicago.

 

I OD'ed on pizza the minute I arrived in Chicago: Lou Malnati's, Giordano's, Pequod's, Uno's, etc...

 

I don't really have a favorite, but I ordered Giordano's and Lou Malnati's the most. I gotta say, California has some shitty shitty pizza in comparison. 

[nate]

I tried to get Cubs tickets but the prices are insane.

[yk9001]

This is a tough question since I'm a California native. I had been used to the likes of Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, etc...prior to living in Chicago.

 

I OD'ed on pizza the minute I arrived in Chicago: Lou Malnati's, Giordano's, Pequod's, Uno's, etc...

 

I don't really have a favorite, but I ordered Giordano's and Lou Malnati's the most. I gotta say, California has some shitty shitty pizza in comparison. 

 

We ate at Lou Malnati's this summer - too much frigging pizza.  If you want to weigh 300 pounds and die of a heart attack at 48, this is the sh*t for you.

[Guest]

We ate at Lou Malnati's this summer - too much frigging pizza. If you want to weigh 300 pounds and die of a heart attack at 48, this is the sh*t for you.

It is good, though.

[mrwicked]

I go to DePaul University. I was a liberal arts major in undergrad at a local UC, applied and was accepted at a top law school last year, but decided to change my path towards computer science. I've been getting all the fundamental courses out of the way, but I should start on the Master's stuff in a quarter or two. I'd like to focus on software engineering or game development, but I'm starting to love data science. We'll see. 

 

What is your focus? Development?

 

nice. are you doing masters in CS, or PhD?

yeah my focus is distributed systems, security, etc. i design and build the systems that make "the cloud" work and be secure. 

done a couple startups, sold them.

gonna do another one soon.

keeps me going until i can finally get my foot in the door as a professional mud wrestler.

 

data science is a very hot area these days. would be a smart move if that's what you're interested in the most.

Edited October 16, 2015 by mrwicked

[red321]

Grapes of Wrath isn't one of my favorites. I like his shorter works. In fact, I'm doing Of Mice and Men with my freshmen right now, which is in my top 5 pieces of American Lit ever written. 

 

I think you'll really like Ship Breaker. I enjoyed it every bit as much as Ready Player One. 

 

I picked up Grapes of Wrath because I was listening to King of California, the story of Thomas Boswell and how the San Joaquin valley was drained and built in to an agricultural empire. Absolutely fascinating story, and the growth of the valley and actions of people like Boswell was a driving force behind Steinbeck's novel...and conversely his novel had a lot of impacts on the valley. So, at this point I have to finish it or I'll never finish it.

 

Wondering how the Ready Player One story is going to play out on the big screen. Spielberg has said that he is going to remove all references to his 80's work in the film. Seems to me like that would create some pretty big holes.

[red321]

Here's a link

 

http://www.amazon.com/King-California-Boswell-Making-American/dp/1586482815/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1445025684&sr=8-2&keywords=king+of+california

 

Part of me is fascinated about California and water, that's what led me to pick up the book. I had no friggen idea a huge lake used to exist in the valley, one of the largest freshwater lakes west of the Mississippi...simply vanished.

 

 

he's not going to remove all 80's references...just references to his 80's material.

[mrwicked]

This is another book about California you might like, called "Up and Down California in 1860-1864"

It's the journal/letters of a guy on the first geological survey of the state.

I love it. Hell I have given this book as a gift to friends a few times.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Up-Down-California-1860-1864-Journal/dp/0520238656/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445028363&sr=8-1&keywords=up+and+down+california

 

"In 1860 William Brewer, a young Yale-educated teacher of the natural sciences and a recent widower, eagerly accepted an offer from Josiah Whitney to assist in the first geological survey of the state of California. Brewer was not a geologist, but his training in agriculture and botany made him an invaluable member of the team. He traveled more than fourteen thousand miles in the four years he spent in California and spent much of his leisure time writing lively, detailed letters to his brother back East.

 

These warmly affectionate letters, presented here in their entirety, describe the new state in all its spectacular beauty and paint a vivid picture of California in the mid-nineteenth century. This fourth edition includes a new foreword by William Bright (1500 California Place Names) and a set of maps tracing Brewer's route."

[red321]

Thanks wicked...will put it on my list.

[Tank]

This is another book about California you might like, called "Up and Down California in 1860-1864"

It's the journal/letters of a guy on the first geological survey of the state.

I love it. Hell I have given this book as a gift to friends a few times.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Up-Down-California-1860-1864-Journal/dp/0520238656/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445028363&sr=8-1&keywords=up+and+down+california

 

"In 1860 William Brewer, a young Yale-educated teacher of the natural sciences and a recent widower, eagerly accepted an offer from Josiah Whitney to assist in the first geological survey of the state of California. Brewer was not a geologist, but his training in agriculture and botany made him an invaluable member of the team. He traveled more than fourteen thousand miles in the four years he spent in California and spent much of his leisure time writing lively, detailed letters to his brother back East.

 

i'll bet half of that four years was spent stuck in traffic on the 5.

[mrwicked]

i'll bet half of that four years was spent stuck in traffic on the 5.

 

probably working on a deal with matt clement.

some say he's still out there... waiting, playing long toss, warming up.

[Guest]

nice. are you doing masters in CS, or PhD?

yeah my focus is distributed systems, security, etc. i design and build the systems that make "the cloud" work and be secure. 

done a couple startups, sold them.

gonna do another one soon.

keeps me going until i can finally get my foot in the door as a professional mud wrestler.

 

data science is a very hot area these days. would be a smart move if that's what you're interested in the most.

I'm doing an M.S.

 

Yeah man, I really enjoy data science. I'm pretty good at R and SAS which is pretty valuable to employers. 

 

That's pretty awesome, man. distributed systems is pretty cool, I'm taking a class on that next quarter. I'm taking a regular Systems course right now learning assembly, virtual memory, cache memory, yada yada.

[red321]

Oh thank goodness. I was really confused...by my own lack of reading comprehension. Long day.

 

I think he's just too classy to make it that meta, maybe?

 

I think that is the general idea...though I think there were some parts of the book that were heavily based on film her participated in like Back to the Future, ET, Raiders, Goonies, Gremlines...geez...was there anything he wasn't part of

[mrwicked]

I'm doing an M.S.

 

Yeah man, I really enjoy data science. I'm pretty good at R and SAS which is pretty valuable to employers. 

 

That's pretty awesome, man. distributed systems is pretty cool, I'm taking a class on that next quarter. I'm taking a regular Systems course right now learning assembly, virtual memory, cache memory, yada yada.

 

nice! if you need any help let me know.

systems are my thing g.

[ten ocho recon scout]

This is a tough question since I'm a California native. I had been used to the likes of Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, etc...prior to living in Chicago.

I OD'ed on pizza the minute I arrived in Chicago: Lou Malnati's, Giordano's, Pequod's, Uno's, etc...

I don't really have a favorite, but I ordered Giordano's and Lou Malnati's the most. I gotta say, California has some shitty shitty pizza in comparison.

giordanos for the win...

[ten ocho recon scout]

probably working on a deal with matt clement.

some say he's still out there... waiting, playing long toss, warming up.

damn, good pull. I remember being super bummed we missed out on him, then watching him become a bust for the skanks if i remember correctly.

Just finished a book about the 92 dream team. Anyone with even a fleeting interest should give it a read. Lots of interesting stories

Damn that team was cool...

[red321]

Another kindle sale this weekend, including The Girl With All the Gifts for $1.99

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CO7FLFG/ref=s9_al_bw_g351_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=02NCNKGMJ6F76Y5TJPST&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=2248339162&pf_rd_i=8794559011

 

 

A wonderful twist on the standard Zombie tale. 

 

They also have a bunch of horror stories on sale today

[red321]

Joe haldeman's, The Forever War, is available on kindle for $2 today. One of the all-time SCI-fi classics, and also one of the best anti-war novels of the last 40 years.

[Lhalo]

I thought about reading it but decided I was not going to. I don't think this novel was ever intended to see the light of day, but rather people taking advantage of an old lady trying to cash in.

 

The first novel was brilliant, and I prefer to leave it at that, just like the author intended.

 

Harper Lee dead at 89.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/arts/harper-lee-dies.html

[Homebrewer]

Mitch Albom.

The Time Keeper.

As with all his stuff, it's excellent.

Edited February 19, 2016 by Homebrewer

[mrwicked]

Harper Lee dead at 89.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/20/arts/harper-lee-dies.html

 

man that sucks.

what a fantastic book, and story in general.

the American Masters show did an episode about her, the book and the movie.

its probably the best hour or two of television I've ever watched.

[nate]

TKAM is in my top 5.  It is such an excellent novel.

[Tank]

i need to read it. was never assigned to me in school.