31 Aug
1998
31 Aug
'98
10:30 a.m.
Max Eskin wrote:
--
Ward Griffiths <mailto://gram@cnct.com> <http://www.cnct.com/home/gram/>
When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked me if I had any
firearms with me. I said "Well, what do you need?" -- Steven Wright
Who _is_ Jerry Pournelle?
Columnist in Byte, "The User's Column", later renamed "Computing
at Chaos Manor". An old friend, enemy and sparring partner of
mine at meetings of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. A
good science fiction writer and half of the best science fiction
writing team anywhere with Larry Niven. We argue about computers,
politics (he think governments deserve to exist, I don't) and
space development -- well, that last we don't argue with each
other, we debate strategy, that causes 90% of our political
arguments. You'll find him as a character in several science
fiction novels he cowrote with Larry Niven as Wade Curtis. I
especially recommend _Footfall_ (with Niven - Niven's in the book
as Nat Reynolds) and _Fallen Angels_ (with Niven and Michael Flynn,
awarded the Prometheus Award for libertarian fiction, though only
Flynn among the three authors will admit to libertarianism).
Pournelle's a good writer, a good man, and an asshole. I can deal
with assholes, being one myself. Some people say he sold his soul
to get free hardware and software. Well, souls are a glut on the
market these days and most of the hardware (90% plus of the
software) delivered to his house was unsolicited. Before I came
east, I helped with some of the LASFS garage sales to dispose of
the crap.
At 12:04 PM 8/31/98 -0700, you wrote:
______________________________________________________
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Old computer magazines are another passion of mine. I a large
bookshelf full of BYTE magazine, from around 1976 to 1993, and
As had been reported here in May when it happened, Byte is no more,
but the post-game commentary has begun. See Tom Halfhill's
analysis at <http://www.wenet.net/~halfhill/bytefaq.html>,
he was an editor there. Love 'im or hate 'im, Pournelle can't
stop talking about it or anything else at
<http://www.jerrypournelle.com/fiasco.html>.
I agree with Halfhill's assessment in general, that Byte was
perhaps the only general computer magazine as compared to so many
other platform-chauvinistic rags. On the other hand, in the last
few years, many of my copies of Byte went unread.
- John