Here, in no special order, are a number of other things that I'm interested in or like.
I've worked professionally with computers since I started at the Cummins Engine Company Technical Center in 1974. Originally I just programmed in Fortran but moved on to a hybrid analog/digital computer system. The analog computer was programmed with wires and a patch panel which is certainly a lost skill now. The digital mini-computer had high speed D/A and A/D converters to link the two. Real-time programming is hard work. It was nice to get back to where your program only had to deal with one user at a time.
Eventually I moved on to device drivers for Tektronix 401x graphics terminals. But all still in Fortran.
Next came relational databases and good old SQL. Still in Fortran.
However with the open systems revolution, I really had to start expanding my skill set. Now the list of my programming skills is pretty long. I program in C, C++, Ratfor, Fortran, Visual Basic, HTML, CGI and SQL. Java has now become my favorite language. I'm also the database administrator of our production Oracle database as well as developing applications with tools such as Oracle*Forms. I've probably left something out but that at least gives you a flavor.
When I'm not reading computer books, I tend to read science fiction. But my favorite author is Terry Pratchett who writes this wonderful series of fantasy novels known as the Discworld. I got started on him when the Science Fiction Book Club listed the first novel in the series as "... to fantasy as the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is to science fiction."
As my Dad described it, "It doesn't take itself too seriously." My favorite novel of the series is "Guards! Guards!." The dedication gives a flavor:
"They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the Patrol. Whatever the name, their purpose in any work of heroic fiction is identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten minutes into the film) to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and be slaughtered. No-one ever asks them if they wanted to.
This book is dedicated to those fine men."
If you'd like some fun, give him a try.
I also like comic strips. Of course, like almost anyone reading this, I like Dilbert. Some other strips that are on my present favorite list include "Foxtrot","For Better or Worse", "Doonesbury", "Beetle Bailey" and "Hi and Lois". And, like most of the world, I miss "The Far Side" and "Calvin and Hobbes." However for me, they're not gone since I buy the collections and have quite a library of them.
I don't watch a lot of TV. But what I watch I watch quite faithfully. "60 Minutes", "Nova" and "The Simpsons" are about the only things I watch regularly.
I used to look down on "The Simpsons" until I watched it a few times. Here's another recommendation for you. If you've never given it a try, watch 3 or 4 episodes. You'll be surprised and pleased at how funny it is.
I have two all-time favorite movies. The first is "Patton." It's on my list because the first time I saw it, I forgot I was watching a movie. I thought I was watching a documentary.
My second all-time favorite movie is "Star Wars." I saw it the night it opened in town. I then went back 4 days later and saw it again. And then two weeks later for my third viewing.
As a science fiction fan, I'd been waiting all my life for someone to make a movie like this. "Star Wars" really opened up science fiction to the movies. And don't forget the other major contribution of "Star Wars"; it spurred theStar Trek revival. Leonard Nimoy has pointed out that "Star Wars" showed studios that science fiction can make money at the box office. And the first Star Trek movie followed.
I also enjoy staying in shape. Mainly I jog, about 10-14 miles a week, more if I'm training for a trip. However I also ride a bicycle a fair amount. However I don't do this mainly for the exercise but for transportation. For example, my car is 2.5 years old and has 6,000 miles on it (9/17/97). When preparing for a trip I try to hike once a week, 2-4 hours for at least 6 weeks prior to departure.
I'm basically a skeptic when it comes to the paranormal. This includes things such as ESP, UFO's, pseudoscience, Big Foot and so on. This doesn't mean that I believe these can't or don't exist, just that there has never been sufficient evidence to support claims of any of these.
People could come back and say "But what about X?" where X is some incident or some area of pseudoscience which people believe in. My response is that there has NEVER been any scientific evidence which supports any of this. There are scientists who have become believers in such things and scientists who have been fooled by stories and incidents but no replicated studies by objective and qualified observers to backup any such claims.
I support an organization, CSICOP - "Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal." This organization presents the opposite side of paranormal claims. With all the junk on trash TV, someone has to.
My local paper carries the weekly column "Click and Clack Talk Cars" by Tom and Ray Magliozzi. These are the "Car Talk" guys from NPR. I wrote them once and my letter was published. It did take me a minute to recognize it since I had written the letter almost a year earlier.
I have a tiny connection with the comic strip "Mallard Fillmore". Check it out here.