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The Bug by Ellen Ullman

Posted by michael on from the evil-geniuses-for-a-better-tomorrow dept.

Never Rock Fila writes "On the front page of tomorrow's New York Times Book Review, a slightly breathless but overdue enthusiastic review of Ellen Ullman's new novel, The Bug. The review acknowledges that 'Ullman has already established herself as an indispensable voice out of the world of technology' -- if you haven't read her first book, a memoir, Close to the Machine, read that too -- and it's nice to see a mainstream publication like the Times, the gold standard of book reviews as I understand it, giving such prominent and positive attention to a novel by a former 'software engineer' that's all about getting inside the mind of a programmer, even concluding 'If more contemporary novels delivered news this relevant and wise they'd have to stop declaring the death of the novel.' The reviewer, one Benjamin Anastas, has the chops to develop a sustained comparison to Mary Shelley, to legitimately place the 1984 computer programmers at the center of the novel among 'all the best characters in fiction,' and to declare the book 'thrilling and intellectually fearless.'"

14 of 1,547 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Solution to the NYT registration thing... by rkz · · Score: -1, Troll

    http://goatse.cx/
    the most famous pornstar in the world

    --
    There is no god
  2. Re:Solution to the NYT registration thing... by Loonius+Trugoats · · Score: 0, Troll

    Thanks I'll be sure to check that link out as soon as I get home

  3. Re:Ullman's Programming the Post-Human by Loonius+Trugoats · · Score: 0, Troll

    I read that too! It was on google entertainment news a while back, although I can see why she writes books.

  4. Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Amazing. This is so fucking boring and stupid that I don't even care! Maybe I'm just too tired...

  5. Re:Ullman's Programming the Post-Human by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    How would you like to have your tight little vagina pounded into a sloppy wet mess by the Living Incarnation of Pure Evil?

    You know where to find me...

  6. Re:Ullman's Programming the Post-Human by ElectricPoppy · · Score: 0, Troll
    I went out with her in college...

    I think YOU are confusing YOURSELF with someone who could GET A DATE.

  7. In other words; you're a whore, but not the GOOD by Bold+Marauder · · Score: -1, Troll

    kind.
    Who needs you? Fuck off back to college and get a REAL trade.

  8. Hey... you GNAA/Linux geeks get all the cool toyz! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Why can't I get this to run on my WXP machine? I have XP Pro installed....
    You linux geeks get all the good toyz!!
    Darn you, Darn you to Redmond!

    What do I get?

    Well.. I guess I do get all the neat patches. xx

  9. Burn GNAA/Linux Distros Too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    This distribution method seems ideal for GNAA/Linux also. Perhaps if HP weren't afraid of MS, we could also get nice bootable GNAA/Linux distro while waiting for a venti mocha. tpg

  10. GNAA/Linux has no SSI? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Funny, the Slashdot blurb accuses him of saying that no other system today does SSI, while according to the article he simply said their (future, potential) SSI plans will beat GNAA/Linux's (present, working) SSI clustering.

    Anybody have thoughts comparing the DragonFly SSI [shiningsilence.com](warning, PDF) and the GNAA/Linux [sourceforge.net] one?
    (Open)Mosix has had craploads of work done on it, and by the time DragonFly's is done, it will be even further ahead. I somehow doubt DragonFly's will end up being better.

    PK xbp

  11. Somebody Didn't Read GNAA/Linux Toys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Of course, it seems a bit overboard to use GNAA/Linux for something that's only running one process. I've got an old P75 laptop (and it only uses a cord, no brick, too!), and it has an 8.4"x6.3"x640x480x16-bit screen, and an 810MB HDD. It'll run FreeDOS just fine, with a VESA TSR and LxPic (designed for HPLX palmtops, but works great on just about anything that runs DOS). After all, it does fairly well with Win95 (except with only 16MB RAM, it's dog slow). Flip the screen around, devise a latch, make a frame around it, and you've got a good picture frame. I suggest NOT matting it, as the choice of mat depends on the picture, and if it's changing pictures... ky

  12. Burn GNAA/Linux Distros Too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    This distribution method seems ideal for GNAA/Linux also. Perhaps if HP weren't afraid of MS, we could also get nice bootable GNAA/Linux distro while waiting for a venti mocha. rln

  13. Hey... you GNAA/Linux geeks get all the cool toyz! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Why can't I get this to run on my WXP machine? I have XP Pro installed....
    You linux geeks get all the good toyz!!
    Darn you, Darn you to Redmond!

    What do I get?

    Well.. I guess I do get all the neat patches. ntj

  14. Hey... you GNAA/Linux geeks get all the cool toyz! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Why can't I get this to run on my WXP machine? I have XP Pro installed....
    You linux geeks get all the good toyz!!
    Darn you, Darn you to Redmond!

    What do I get?

    Well.. I guess I do get all the neat patches. uh