Hasib

[prog]

Set up the new laptop today. For now, its name is Hasib NcUbrisg, based on the string of characters I produced while attempting to type my own name with my eyes closed. I like it; it sounds to me like the name of a dashing action hero claiming mixed Arabic/Welsh/Venusian ancestry.

It replaces the Garamond-era Titanium I got over two years ago, boasting a processor that's nearly twice as fast, and some other interesting B&Ws such as Bluetooth. (There's a dotcom-era name for you.) Moving in was as easy as firewiring my home directory over; I was actually a little surprised at how well that worked. Since then, it's been busy compiling Fink stuff. Man, I love Fink.

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Finished the first half of the Amber novels tonight. A fine read, though one unresolved thing bothers me: I can't find any real reason for the siblings to be fighting over the crown (during those early books where crown-fighting is the foremost element). I mean, it's never clear what the monarchy of Amber would give them, since the Amberites don't seem to consider the lands of Shadow to be a proper part of the kingdom (more of a vast storage facility of some kind), and Amber itself seems to be no larger than their castle (and the handful of nameless spear-carriers who dwell within). So really, they seem to be locked in mortal struggle for the mere leadership over their own household, and that strikes me as kind of weak, at least so long as it's never properly acknowledged anywhere.