Re: Happy 2008 Winter Solstice!

[Robert <http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert>]

 > From: Mark Reimers <http://www.yahoo.ca/~mark1reimers>
 > Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:55:52 -0800 (PST)
 >
 > Hi Robert,
 > Nice to hear from you. Too bad about the health problems. I'm still riding my 
 > bike, although my knees are none too happy these days. Anyway a Prius is good.
 > 
 > Sounds like managing a server is a real pain. Funny because I'm thinking I want 
 > to start one. Do you recommend any books on Linux system management, or 
 > maintaining a secure server?

Well, managing an Ubuntu server is a lot easier.  But, I'm old skool, so I
still use Debian.

I don't have any particular book recommendations because I already know
most of this stuff.  You could try:

 http://www.google.com/products?q=ubuntu+server&scoring=prd

for some "machine" recommendations.  If you need any help, I can provide
it via email since Ubuntu is a Debian derivative and I run Ubuntu on my
desktop.

FWIW, I used http://vpschoice.com to decide upon the VPS I did.

 > Here's my NY letter

Thanks.  It will be included when Noelle is CC'd.

I'll reply to some of your points here.

Re: slow to make friends.  Noelle and I also have had this problem.  I'm
thankful that we moved back to the Bay Area since we already had some
friends here ('tho we hardly ever see 'em, sadly).  For me, it takes
*forever* to find friends in general (usually it takes about 3-5 years
once I've moved somewhere), so I'm not too worried about it yet.  I don't
think I could join a church (even a Unitarian) because my atheist streak
is just too strong.

CYA.

 > Say Hi to Noelle.
 > 
 > Mark

 > ________________________________
 > 
 > Content-Type: application/msword; name="2009 Reimers New Year's Letter.doc"
 > Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
 > Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="2009 Reimers New Year's Letter.doc"
 > 
 > ---Executing: antiword
 > 
 > Dear Friend,
 > 
 > A little over a year ago I passed a half-century. Some people love photographs
 > of very old trees with grey wood bleached by years of sun but still putting
 > out green branches. I'm like that; still solid and sprouting ideas, but I'm
 > nowhere near as flexible as I used to be.
 > 
 > DeAndra Beck and I bought a house together late last year, and she moved her
 > furniture down in January 2008. DeAndra resigned her post in DC in October
 > 2007 and was looking for work for a year in Richmond. That was a strain for
 > both of us. This summer she applied for a job at the National Science
 > Foundation in international programs, and started in November. Her focus area
 > is Africa and the Mideast, which uses her expertise in both science and
 > development issues.
 > 
 > The new house that we bought together a year ago is a four-square brick two-
 > storey construction on one third of an acre with 5 trees and an enclosed back
 > yard. It is 50 meters to Richmond's biggest park, but also close to downtown
 > and to campus for work, and a 15 min walk to funky Cary Town shops. Most days
 > I bicycle to work in 25 minutes (on rainy days I drive downtown in five
 > minutes and spend 15 minutes parking). We have not gotten a dog as we had
 > thought, but have kept a regular set of birds coming for handouts over the
 > past year.
 > 
 > My academic year was mixed. I developed some useful methods and uncovered some
 > interesting biology. I taught some good classes. However I haven't published
 > much and the politics in my department have turned difficult just as the
 > budget crunch has hit. On the other hand this was the best year ever for my
 > course at Cold Spring Harbor Labs.
 > 
 > Although Richmond has a small-city feel, I've been slow to make friends. I've
 > joined the Unitarian church here, although I complain about their New Age
 > Theology Lite. Nevertheless it is a community of common interest for me and
 > DeAndra, and a place where I can contribute: I've given a number of seminars
 > on topics like science and ethics, genetics, and neuroscience. VCU is pretty
 > much a high-throughput commuter campus - there isn't much intellectual or
 > cultural life on the campus. However I've become friendly with several faculty
 > members including the director of the institute for psychiatric genetics, who
 > is an intense Jewish intellectual.
 > 
 > I've done a few extra-curricular things this year. I've spoken on behavioral
 > genetics at the Science Museum in Richmond, given a number of seminars on the
 > evolution of ethics, and been the advisor for the Secular Alliance group on
 > campus. I attended the big Neuroscience meeting in Washington DC this year.
 > I've also started a web-site: http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeywb1j/ ; I invite
 > your comments.
 > 
 > Some new books that I've enjoyed immensely recently are
 > 
 > N.H. Barton: Evolution. This is simply the best evolution text I have seen.
 > 
 > Jonathan Haidt: The Happiness Hypothesis (examining traditional wisdom
 > empirically)
 > 
 > Frans de Waal: Good Natured (morality among apes)
 > 
 > Karen Armstrong: The Great Transformation (the great religious movements of
 > 500 BC)
 > 
 > Daniel Schacter: The Seven Sins of Memory (the ways in which memory fails us)
 > 
 > Tavris and Aronson: Mistakes were Made (but not by me!) (self-delusion and
 > justification)
 > 
 > Sean Carroll, The making of the fittest: the forensic record of evolution (a
 > wonderful perspective on evolution from one of the greats of evo-devo)
 > 
 > I hope this finds you flourishing.
 > 
 > Mark
 >