Last modified October 2014. 

Dave Dyer's home page

snapshot as of April 1
                2008
On the internet since 1979 
Email: ddyer@real-me.net My PGP : public key
This is my home page; also see my blog and my work page  

What is this number? 

My Interests

I'm interested in interactive, networked games in general. My vehicle for investigating networked gaming is BoardSpace.net which hosts abstract strategy games (most of which you've never heard of). I started boardspace after learning the craft at Tantrix.com.   Tantrix is a very addictive game (my hints).  Also, if you're thinking about building a game site, see my notes on building traffic.

Why "C" and its spawn are abominations. See my top ten list of ways to be screwed by "C". To get on this list, a bug has to cause me at least half a day of head scratching.  Of course, C isn't alone in making life with computers hell, see my Adventures In Hell page.

The game Go . After I learned Go, chess was just plain boring. I play as 4 Kyu among friends, but on the Internet Go Server, I'm 3 stones weaker. There is a lot of go activity on the net, and lots of cross linked go pages .  Naturally, I once worked on a  Go program, and while it never played, a lot of useful results were developed.. If you're interested in Go programming or game programs in general, take a look.

The programming language lisp , and related historical topics, especially Symbolics, and Symbolics' lisp machines. See my History of Lisp Machines for some general information.  Dedicated lispers should enjoy these out-of-the-way lisp tidbits .

Other real-world interests include photography,and playing Volleyball on the beach, and MP3 audio; especially spoken word.  I've digitized my entire record collection, collated where to find over 200 hours of Joe Frank 

I endorse Open Source Software and Java .

My first real computer. (ca. 1973)

pdp10
  • Filled a room
  • Consumed several kilowatts of power
  • cost about $500,000 (would be $2.5 million today)
  • required several full time "maintenance guys" to keep it running

A recent computer (2014)


asus
  • Fits in my hand
  • Consumes a few watts of power
  • cost $230
  • When it breaks I'll throw it away.

..and a few more things

  • Runs the same software, in simulation, as seen at the left.
  • Runs it 10x faster.


The Future of the Internet

It has a long way yet to go, doesn't it? And no one really knows what will be important and what will not.  From time to time, the frustration of dealing with it gives me ideas how to make things better. .

My latest good idea is Cooperative Internet Pricing 

Creative Writing department

CDRom disposal my solution to a growing problem
Read the programmer's tale , part of the Symbolics museum project.


Links
   
  • Protect Privacy Online Golden Key
  • The ACLU
  • Amnesty International
  • Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
  • Electronic Frontier Foundation
  •  PGP resources
  •  Public Proxy Servers.