So,it'sbeenanotheryearonthisweird,wonderfulplanet...ThisisthefirstyearinrecentmemorythatI'velookedbackandbeenhalfwaysatisfiedwitheverythingthat'shappened.Istillhavemostofmyhair,thoughthetidesofTimehaveerodedtheshorelinesomewhat.Idon'tyetlooklikeBruceSchneier(andevenifIdid,I'veonlyafractionofhisintelligenceandskill).Notalothashappenedontheweightlossfront,either,thoughmetabolicallyI'mstillkickingassandtakingnames(thoughInolongereatthebodiesofmyslainopponents,findingorganicallygrownsupervilliansisneighimpossibleintheUnitedStates).I'vebeenmarriedforabitovertwoyears.IgottogotoPortland,Oregonlastyearandspendaweekwithsomeclosefriends.Icodemore,now.Alotmore.Ididn'tfinishmyresearchprojectontheTornetworkintime.Unfortunately,someprivacyresearchersinGermanybeatmetopublicationbyacoupleofmonthsandpresentedatlastyear'sChaosComputerCongress.Oh,well,ithappens.Istilllearnedalotintheprocess.I'vegottentowatchhistoryunfoldanumberoftimesinthepastyear.IthinkI'vealsoparticipatedinitinsomesmallfashion,andperhapshelpedshapehowthingsturnedout.Imighthavehelpedafewpeople.Ifnothingelse,theexperienceshavemademesomewhatlesscynical.I'velearnedmoreaboutcompassionandthevalueofitbyinteractingwithpeoplewhoaresteadfastlyopposedtotheconcept.Ican'tsaythatthediscussionswerebeenfruitful;theyweren'tandinfactleftmetearingmyhairoutforacoupleofdays.I'vecometotheconclusionthat,iftheywerebeingentirelytruthfulintheirwords(andI'velittlereasontothinkthattheywerenotgivensomeresearch)that'sthesortofpeopletheyare.Viceofkingsthoughitbe,Ithinkit'sonethatI'llholdontoforawhilelonger.I'velearnedtoappreciateawell-toldstory.I'vealsobecomemorefondoftellingstories.Ihaven'tpublishedanyofmybooksyet.Intruth,IneedtofinishthemandfindsomebetareadersbeforeIcanmakethemavailable.I'veyettopostthewriteupsofacoupleofsocialexperimentsthatI'veperformedinthepastyear.Unfortunately,theyborderoncynicismbutIthinktheyalsoconfirmwhatsomeconsidercommonknowledge.I'vealsofinallycometotermswiththefactthatI'maninfosecburnout,andthatleavingthefieldwasprobablythebestthingIcouldhavedonetoimprovemyqualityoflife.Ononehand,Ikindofmisshavingtheinsidetrackoncertainthings,aswellascrazystoriesfromassignmentsthatIcan'ttellanywayduetothemountainofnon-disclosureagreementsIhadtosign.OntheotherhandI'vecometoenjoyonlyhavingtobeprofessionallyparanoidaboutstuffundermydirectcontrol,andnottheinfrastructuresofadozenclientsatatime(mypersonalparanoiaissomethingelseentirely).Imightstilldreaminstackdumpsandassemblylanguagefromtimetotime,butit'sallstuffthatI'mworkingonforfun.Icertainlydon'tmisstheego-fueledbattlesover"Things are perfectly okay,"and"No, they aren't, fix this before you get pwned."IhaveabetterappreciationforwhyCassandracried.Isawevidencethatthereisvalueinspendingyourmoneyinoneplaceinsteadofanother,andhowthatcanbeusedbythoseofuswhoaren'trichtoeffectchangeathigherlevelsofabstraction.Tangiblechangecanbemanifestedinthisway.I'velearnedthatpeoplewhotalkconversationsintocirclesbecausethat'stheonlywaytheycanberightaren'toftenworthtalkingtobecausethereisn'tanymeaningfulexchangeofinformation.Shoutingdoesn'tmakeoneanymorecorrect,either.Isangatabardiccircle.Now,my833'rdyear.Roundone.*ding!*