Andrew's Digital Domain

Oh, come with old Khayyam, and leave the Wise To talk; one thing is certain, that Life flies; One thing is certain, and the Rest is Lies; The Flower that once has blown forever dies.

This - the poetry of Rudyard Kipling -  was a bit of a surprise. As a kid I have read (in Russian translation) "The Jungle Book" and other Mowgli stories, the "Just So Stories", etc. So, I was firmly under impression that he only wrote prose and  Kipling's poetry became a small, but very pleasant discovery for me. I can't quite pinpoint why I like Kipling's poetry (for me, a non-native speaker, it is often hard to appreciate  English poetry ), but I do. Here's one of my favorites:                          If If you can keep your head when all about you  Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;  If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,  But make allowance for their doubting too;  If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,  Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,  Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,  And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;  If you can th

Comin Thro' The Rye O Jenny's a' weet, poor body,  Jenny's seldom dry:  She draigl't a' her petticoatie,  Comin thro' the rye!  Comin thro' the rye, poor body,  Comin thro' the rye,  She draigl't a' her petticoatie,  Comin thro' the rye!  Gin a body meet a body  Comin thro' the rye,  Gin a body kiss a body,  Need a body cry?  Gin a body meet a body  Comin thro' the glen,  Gin a body kiss a body,  Need the warld ken?  Gin a body meet a body  Comin thro' the grain,  Gin a body kiss a body,  The thing's a body's ain.                *** Пробираясь до калитки Полем вдоль межи, Дженни вымокла до нитки Вечером во ржи. Очень холодно девчонке, Бьет девчонку дрожь: Замочила все юбчонки, Идя через рожь. Если кто-то звал кого-то Сквозь густую рожь И кого-то обнял кто-то, Что с него возьмешь? И какая нам забота, Если у межи Целовался с кем-то кто-то Вечером во ржи!..

Today I have decided to do something that was long overdue - clean up computer stuff that sort of built up over the years. I should have done it long time ago. After all, I haven't used most of it in years, but the idea of parting with it just did not sit right with me. There were definitely a lot of nostalgic feelings and a thought, in the back of my mind, that one day I might need it. Well, the needing it part was discarded quite easily (when you look below you will see why) and as far as nostalgia goes I found a compromise - I would photograph the items before discarding them. So, here we go.   First a few communications items. Like the 56Kbps modem, ISDN router, and satellite modem (once used with Dish Network/StarBand service).  Ascend Pipeline 75 router (ISDN): Gilat satellite modem (the dish is still up on the roof): Modem (56Kbps): Then a trip down the storage technology memory lane: Iomega Zip (100MB) and Jaz (1GB) drives and cartridges:     And how about what on

I recently finished reading a book by Frank Brady - " Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness ". Growing up in the USSR and being a chess player myself (one who has a profound interest in the history of the game as well as the game itself) I knew quite a bit about Bobby Fischer to begin with. I have read a number of books on the subject:  " Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How A Lone American Star Defeated the Soviet Chess Machine ", " Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete Games of the American World Chess Champion ",  " Garry Kasparov on Fischer: Garry Kasparov on My Great Predecessors, Part 4 ", " Russians versus Fischer ", "744 Games Of Bobby Fischer", " Robert Fischer Life and Game"; and, of course, Fischer's own book -  " My 60 Memorable Games ". Add to that a number of references I picked up, over the years, from chess periodic