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First off, let me say, "Sorry for being so long...." Life has a way of getting complicated, and mine has been crazy for a while. School keeps me awfully busy, and well, this is not my primary Google account, so I have to log out, and log back in...and well, I just keep putting stuff off.
Anyway, I could not pass up the chance to honor one of geekdom's greats. Today is the 61st birthday of the man who gave us The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as well as some of the best episodes of Doctor Who, including "City of Death," a great Fourth Doctor Story.
Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy stands as one of the classics of science fiction. I loved the stories, and his death came far too early. It is especially a shame that he did not live to see the realization of what seemed an impossible dream when he wrote his books.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has come to actually exist in the form of the Internet, Wikipedia, Google, and various smartphones. It occurred to me one day, as I was looking up something during a discussion with friends, that we have what Adam's inspired...an information source of astounding depth and breath that we can carry with us...
Now, if only we could get Wikipedia to change the article on Earth to simply read...
Sorry to be so long between posts...but life has been crazy.
I decided to take the plunge and return to school. I followed by geeky little heart and I am majoring in computer science...and I love it!
During the summer term, I completed a introductory course in C++ programming. It mostly served as a refresher for me, since we focused on procedural programming and not object oriented. Now I am continuing with the next course in the series, which will delve more into object orientation. I am also taking courses in UNIX, Java, and iPhone programming. My schedule is rounded out with a class for emergency medical responders. It is primarily for those going into a public safety career (which I have no interest in) but it a) fulfills a graduation requirement, and b) will teach me some really strong first aid skills (and living in San Francisco where we all are waiting on THE BIG ONE that is not a bad thing.
I realized something...being a student is sort of a natural environment for me. Or, more specifically, being in an academic environment is. I have missed this sort of thing. I love being in class, working on homework, and especially learning new things.
I have been programming for almost forty years. I wrote my first program in FORTRAN on punch cards in the fall of 1974. I quickly learned BASIC, and spent several years using a multi-million dollar mainframe as a personal computer before anyone had heard of a personal computer.
Over the years, I moved on to Pascal, C, and other programming languages. I learned a bit about algorithms, and data structures. I worked at several jobs as a programmer, and even did some work in hardware design. But, I was always the one without a degree. Now, I am formalizing my knowledge. And I am loving every minute of it.
So, hopefully I will find the time to update things more...besides, Doctor Who returns Saturday, and that is always something to write about.
Earlier this month I spent the weekend at the 22nd annual Gallifrey One convention in Los Angeles, California. It was my first science fiction convention. Gallifrey One is for fans of the British science fiction show, Doctor Who, which I have become a major fan of.
I went along with several other fellow geeks who are also major fans, including the three shown in the photo to the left. They are all dressed as characters from the very first episode of the show, which aired on November 22, 1963, a date better known for the assassination of President John Kennedy. From left to right, they are dressed as the First Doctor, and his companions Ian Chesterson and and Barbara Wright.
The person dressed as the first doctor is the one directly responsible for recruiting me as a fan of the Doctor. Originally from England, has has watched the show from his youth. His father was an actor with the BBC, and he got to visit the original TARDIS set. (For those not familiar with the show, the TARDIS is the Doctor's spacecraft...and means Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.)
One afternoon he got me to watch the episode Blink and I was hooked. I started watching every episode I could, and in short order, I was a major fan.
I mean, what is there not to love about a quirky Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels through time and space in a stolen spacecraft that appears to be a Police Call Box. It has that appearance because the chameleon circuit, which would normally allow it blend in is broken. Originally conceived as a way to save money, it has become a trademark for the Doctor and is one of the shows many charms.
When the Doctor meets his demise, he regenerates, taking on a new body, and a new personality. So, there are now 11 Doctors, all the same person, with all the memories, but each also different. On the right the faces of all the Doctors from the Show.
The Doctor is joined on his journeys by one or more companions. As I said, the first Doctor was joined by Ian and Barbara, as well as his granddaughter Susan. The current Doctor is joined by Amy Pond, and her husband Rory Williams, who she married at the end of the last season.
The Doctor, of course, has a number of adversaries. Some of them have become as much a part of the show as the Doctor himself. Perhaps the best known of his enemies are the dreaded Daleks. They are mutated Kaleds integrated into a tank-like mechanical casing. The result is a race of beings obsessed with universal conquest and domination, completely devoid of pity, compassion or remorse. The Daleks appear to have had every emotion removed except hate. Their goal is to purge the Universe of all non-Dalek life. On occasion they have shown other emotions, usually fear, although this is rare. They are the greatest enemies of the Doctor. Their famous catchphrase is "Exterminate!", with each syllable individually synthesised in a frantic electronic voice.
Another major enemy of of the Doctor is the Cybermen. Originally they were an organic species of humanoids originating on Earth's twin planet Mondas. They added more and more artificial parts to their bodies for self-preservation. They became a race of coldly logical and calculating robots, all but devoid of every emotion. They are also major rivals of the Daleks.
Unlike the Daleks, which seek to exterminate other races, the Cybermen assimilate people, turning them into robots as well. In this sense, they are reminiscent of the Borg from the Star Trek universe. In fact, there are a number of elements of Star Trek that seem to possibly have been borrowed from Doctor Who.
The third major enemy of the Doctor is the Master, a fellow Time Lord, who has chosen a path of evil, perhaps because he was driven to madness when he was exposed to the Untempered Schism during his initiation as a Time Lord. There, one can see into the entire time vortex (the medium through which the TARDIS travels).
His goal is to dominate the Universe. He can be thought of as a sort of Moriarty to The Doctor's Sherlock Holmes.
During the convention I was treated to appearances by, among others, the Fifth Doctor, who was played by Peter Davidson, as well as those who played his three companions. Also appearing were Frazer Hines, who played a companion of the Second Doctor, and Waris Hussein who was the director of the very first episode of Doctor Who.
The convention also featured appearance by a pair of life size Daleks, who were quite an intimidating presence. Also someone brought a very realistic recreation of K-9, a robotic dog acquired by the Doctor and given to his companion Sarah Jane Smith.
If you have never checked out Doctor Who, I strongly recommend that you do, though I will warn you, it can be a very addictive show. And if you are a fan of the Doctor, then you should consider a trip to the next Gallifrey One. It is a wonderful chance to meet fellow fans, and to see some of the people who have worked so hard to bring this great show to the masses.
