It's nice to be home. Illness precluded lots of the hacking that I had wanted to do but I read a fair amount; I read Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, and worked halfway through German General von Mellenthin's Panzer Battles. Unlike a lot of war books, this isn't a story of battlefield guts and glory but a close tactical look at most the major Panzer campaigns from a staff officer who was there from Poland through to the last defense of the Ruhr Pocket. Despite what you might be prepared for he writes respectfully of his opponents when they perform well but doesn't pull any punches when the Allies make a stupid move like General Cunningham's thinning of the lines at Sidi Rezegh in North Africa. von Mellenthin has no problem speaking poorly of his own superiors when they make such lame-duck decisions as waiting until long into the Russian campaign to get rid of all wheeled vehicles from the Panzer divisions even though it had been blatantly obvious since Field Marshall Balck's offensive over Mount Olympus in Greece.
Hey, I'm now an EFF certified encryption researcher. Happy New Year everybody.
# — 31 December, 2002