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The Non-natural interests of

- Fred Curtis

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 | 		"I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance
Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance."
       - Ogden Nash

Things which distract me from computers (contrary to expert advice) include - Origami, modern art, learning - Japanese & Mandarin, collecting silly - quotes and stories, pretending to - cook. I love to ride my - bicycle and I found my love in a grocery shop. A - programmer by trade, currently working at Optus (Internet), I live in - Sydney, - Australia. Raised a devout phaneromaniac, now a practising leucoderm and disciple of Ka-Ping Yee (inventor of MINSE), my chief religious beliefs involve - text editors, operating systems and the conviction that - Microsoft, Javascript, the <BLINK> tag etc are instruments of Xenu. Current goals are to obtain P-plates [Done! April 2005], to overcome my terror of - photocopying machines and to update my - CV.

- What I've Been Reading Lately

Recently finished:

  • Feb 2014 Italo Calvino, Hermit in Paris (Vintage, 2004, ISBN 9780099286370)
  • Feb 2014 Alexander McCall Smith, The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds (Little Brown, 2012, ISBN 9781408704158) [quotes]
  • Jan 2014 Alexander McCall Smith, The Forgotten Affairs of Youth (Little Brown, 2011, ISBN 9781408703403)
  • Jan 2014 Alexander McCall Smith, The Charming Quirks of Others (Little Brown, 2010, ISBN 9781408702567) [quotes]
  • Jan 2014 Alexander McCall Smith, Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers (Polygon Books, 2013, ISBN 9781846972539) [quotes]
  • Jan 2014 Alexander McCall Smith, Sunshine on Scotland Street (Polygon Books, 2012, ISBN 9781846972324) [quotes]
  • Jan 2014 Alexander McCall Smith, The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (Little Brown, 2013, ISBN 9781408704318) [quotes]
  • Jan 2014 Alexander McCall Smith, The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (Little Brown, 2012, ISBN 9781408702604)
  • Jan 2014 Alexander McCall Smith, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding (Little Brown, 2011, ISBN 9781408702598) [quotes]
  • Jan 2014 - Lois McMaster Bujold, Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (Baen, 2012, ISBN 9781451638455) [quote]
  • Dec 2013 - Alexander McCall Smith, Bertie Plays the Blues (Polygon Books, 2011, ISBN 9781846971884) [quotes]
  • Dec 2013 - Alexander McCall Smith, The Importance of Being Seven
  • Dec 2013 - Joe Haldeman, Mindbridge (Orbit, 1977, ISBN 0860079325)
  • Nov 2013 - Greg Bellow, Saul Bellow's Heart (Bloomsbury, London, 2013, ISBN 9781408835487)
  • Oct 2013 - RichardDe Crespigny, QF32 (Pan McMillan, 2012, ISBN 9781742611174)
  • Sep 2013 - Piers Anthony, Race Against Time.
  • Sep 2013 - Robert Silverberg, Shadrach in the Furnace (Coronet Books, UK, 1981, ISBN 0340232358)
  • Jun 2013 - Sep 2013 George R. R. Martin: A Song of Ice and Fire books: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons.
  • Apr 2013 - Daniel Pennac, School Blues (MacLehose, London, 2010, ISBN 9781906694647) [quotes]
  • Jan 2013 - Frank Chalk, It's Your Time You're Wasting: A Teacher's Tales of Classroom Hell (Random House Australia, 2008, ISBN 9781741666953) [quotes]
  • Jan 2013 - Greg Egan, The Eternal Flame (Orthogonal Trilogy book 2) (Gollancz, 2012, ISBN 9780575105720) [quotes]
  • Dec 2012 - Mem Fox, Reading Magic (Pan Macmillan, 2001, ISBN 0330362828)
  • Dec 2012 - Stanislaw Lem, The Cyberiad (Translated by Michael Kandel) (Harvest / Harcourt, 1985, ISBN 9780156027595)
  • Dec 2012 - Italo Calvino, Italian Folktales - Selected and Retold by Italo Calvino (Translated by George Martin) (Penguin Books, 1981, ISBN 9780140062359) [quotes]
  • Oct 2012 - Stephen Fry, Moab is My Washpot (London : Arrow Books, 2004, ISBN 9780091801618)
  • Sep 2012 - Terry Pratchett, Terry Pratchett presents Miss Felicity Beedle's The world of Poo (Doubleday, 2012, ISBN 9780857521217) -- not up to Pratchett's usual standard
  • Aug 2012 - A bit of a write-off for reading due to house moves & a family medical emergency.
  • Aug 2012 - Greg Egan, The Clockwork Rocket (Orthogonal Trilogy book 1) (Night Shade, 2011, ISBN 9780575095113)
  • Jul 2012 - Roman Krznaric, How to Find Fulfilling Work (MacMillan, 2012, ISBN 9781447202288)
  • Jul 2012 - Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Bloomsbury, 2009, ISBN 9781608190867) [quotes]
  • Jun 2012 - Thomas A. Limoncelli, Time Management for System Administrators (O'Reilly, orig pub 2005, ebook ISBN 9780596105082) Highly recommended for anyone needing a touch of organisation in their lives.
  • Jun 2012 - Bertrand Russell, Nightmares of Eminent Persons, and Other Stories (Bodley Head, London, 1954, ISBN 7220000839)
  • Jun 2012 - Alom Shaha, The Young Atheist's Handbook (Scribe, Melbourne, 2012, ISBN 9781921844560)
  • May 2012 - Graham Farmelo, The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac (Faber and Faber, London, 2010, ISBN 9780571222865) [quotes]
  • Apr 2012 - John Viega, The Myths of Security (O'Reilly, 2009, ISBN 9780596523022).
  • Mar 2012 - Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments - Book 4) (Walker Books).
  • Mar 2012 - Cassandra Clare, City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments - Book 3) (Walker Books, 2009, ISBN 9781406335286).
  • Jan 2012 - Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments - Book 2) (Walker Books, 2008, ISBN 9781406307634).
  • Jan 2012 - Cassandra Clare, City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments - Book 1) (Walker Books, 2007, ISBN 9781406307627).
  • Jan 2012 - Ka Wai Cheung, The Developer's Code (ebook beta version 3.0, Jan 2012, ISBN 9781934356791). A collection of 50 short essays. I highly recommended this book for both new and old (and, especially, for jaded) programmers. Website: www.thedeveloperscode.com

- What I've Been Writing Lately

- Exciting events in Fred's life

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  • Playing the computer game 'nethack' on a character-based terminal and sensing a room full of monsters which looked like:

- Other Freds on the web

-This page
last changed:
22 Aug 2005
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