Great things and people that I discovered, learned, read, met, etc. in 2019. No particular ordering is implied. Not everything is new. *also: see the lists from [2018](http://blog.fogus.me/2019/01/02/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2018/), [2017](http://blog.fogus.me/2018/01/02/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2017/), [2016](http://blog.fogus.me/2016/12/29/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2016/), [2015](http://blog.fogus.me/2015/12/29/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2015/), [2014](http://blog.fogus.me/2014/12/29/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2014/), [2013](http://blog.fogus.me/2013/12/27/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2013/), [2012](http://blog.fogus.me/2012/12/26/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2012/), [2011](http://blog.fogus.me/2011/12/31/the-best-things-and-stuff-of-2011/) and [2010](http://blog.fogus.me/2010/12/30/the-best-things-in-2010/)* ## Great blog-posts / articles read * *[The Norwegian Art of the Packed Lunch](https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190103-the-norwegian-art-of-the-packed-lunch)* - *I’ve tried to be more thoughtful about the food that I eat and this homage to the packed lunch helped me along the way.* * *[A Look at the Design of Lua](https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2018/11/232214-a-look-at-the-design-of-lua/fulltext)* - *Lua is a perpetual want-to-dive-deeper language and I hope that 2020 looks bring in that regard.* * *[The Underground Skate Scene of ‘90s Brooklyn](https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/photography-2/the-underground-skate-scene-of-90s-brooklyn/)* - *A a one-time skater I found a lot of reminisces in this article, despite not being from Brooklyn, NY.* * *[The Tragedy of Baltimore](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/magazine/baltimore-tragedy-crime.html)* - *My childhood hometown is dying.* * *[What is ZIL Anyway?](http://blog.zarfhome.com/2019/04/what-is-zil-anyway.html)* - *A code dump of original Infocom games got a bunch of [IF](https://www.ifarchive.org) folks in a tizzy. I couldn’t help but be swept along also.* * *[Inside Tokyo’s Audiophile Venues](https://www.residentadvisor.net/features/2724)* - *An exploration of the spaces catering to lovers of sound in the world’s foremost sci-fi city.* * *[The Many Lives of Demogorgon](http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/origins-of-demogorgon)* - *The RL history of a fictional demon.* ## Most viewed blog posts by me I’ve been trying something new over the past couple of years. That is, I’ve been posting threads and such on [my Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/fogus) with a small handful of posts here That said, there were a few high-traffic posts on my blog. * *[Notes on Interactive Programming Environments](http://blog.fogus.me/2019/04/03/notes-on-interactive-computing-environments/)* - *Prompted by the [book of the same name](https://www.amazon.com/Interactive-Programming-Environments-David-Barstow/dp/0070038856?tag=fogus-20), I wrote some rough notes on programming environments past, present, and future. Many people have thought the same thoughts and so it was a surprisingly popular post.* * *[Privacy Lost](http://blog.fogus.me/2019/04/17/privacy-lost/)* - *A list of the books taken from Ola Bini during his unwarranted arrest earlier in the year. These books were offered up by authorities as evidence of some kind of sinister nature, so naturally they should be more widely read.* ## Favorite technical books discovered (and read) I’ve intentionally reduced the number of technical books that I consume, but there are a few that I “found” in 2019 that are stellar. * *[The Architecture Machine: Toward a More Human Environment](https://www.amazon.com/Architecture-Machine-Toward-Human-Environment/dp/0262640104?tag=fogus-20)* by Nicholas Negroponte - *A look into a possible future where human/computer collaboration is more finely tuned. The future proposed should have been our present, but has fallen far short.* * *[Literary Machines](https://www.amazon.com/Literary-Machines-Theodor-Holm-Nelson/dp/0893470554/?tag=fogus-20)* by Ted Nelson - *A deeper look into Ted Nelson’s ideas beyond those found in Computer Lib including some of the deeper ideas attempted in Project Xanadu.* * *[A Software Tools Sampler](https://www.amazon.com/Software-Tools-Sampler-Prentice-Hall/dp/013822305X/?tag=fogus-20)* - *A very dated but fascinating look at the components of a programming system built from the ground up including: search facilities, build tooling, and even a full-screen text editor.* ## Favorite non-technical books read * *[Stalking the Wild Asparagus](https://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Wild-Asparagus-Euell-Gibbons/dp/0911469036/?tag=fogus-20)* by Euell Gibbons - *Gibbons is little known these days, but his home-spun, worldly wisdom can be sampled on YouTube in the form of 60s-era Grape Nuts commercials. Gibbons’ shtick back then was on natural foods and return to nature pop movements and this book is a great window into the culinary fringe of his time.* * *[Annihilation](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374104093/?tag=fogus-20)* by Jeff VanderMeer - *I was motivated to read the book after watching the fantastic film of the same name. Truth be told, the book is nothing like the film and that fact was a pleasant surprise even though I adored the film. There are just enough creepy moments in this book to keep you on your toes and the book has gotten me fascinated in the little-explored science fiction sub-genre I like to call “Biosystem Horror.”* * *[Rites of the Renouncer](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NSJZ5FQ?ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_tdCACbPRHHY0Y&tag=kpembed-20&linkCode=kpe)* by Ben Kamphaus - *It’s always fun to discover the first work from a new author and it was a joy to read Kamphaus’ “Rites of the Renouncer.” The sub-genre of science fiction that the book falls under is difficult to pin down and indeed seems to draw from a variety of disparate influences. It’s almost as if AE Van Vogt was thrust forward in time, developed a sleep phase disorder, passed the early morning hours listening to Ambient/Drone and wrote this novel on a Kaypro II found whilst dumpster-diving. The story itself is straight-forward, but the themes explored are nuanced and handled well. From notions of consciousness, to mind hacks, to isolation, to even friendship — there’s a lot to explore in the pages of this svelte novella. It left me wanting more.* * *[Night Film](https://www.amazon.com/Night-Film-Novel-Marisha-Pessl/dp/0812979788/?tag=fogus-20)* by Marisha Pessl — *Exactly the kind of book that fits right into my wheelhouse - that is, a well-written thriller that blurs the lines between fiction, world-building, and multimedia. I couldn’t put the book down and was completely drawn in to the mystery described in the story.* * *[Understanding Media](https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Media-Extensions-Marshall-McLuhan-dp-0262631598/dp/0262631598/?tag=fogus-20)* by Marshall McLuhan - *As a kid I used to re-read books very often but as I’ve gotten older I tend not to do so. However, the nature of this book has compelled me to take another swing at it. McLuhan was a James Joyce scholar and Finnegan’s Wake must’ve influenced his writing style. To say the least this book was a challenge to read and process and even after two reads I can’t say that I’ve fully grasped its content. McLuhan’s style is rich with references and coloring from innumerable sources. Indeed, to really get this book requires a near fluent understanding of literature, architecture, film, music, and 50-60s era pop-culture. The many forking paths of influence on this work, while daunting, are worth traversing.* ## Number of books published 0 ## Number of books written 0 ## Number of books read [105](https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/266149?shelf=2019_read&sort=date_read&order=d) ## Favorite musicians discovered * *[Neptune](https://www.amazon.com/Neptune-Higher-Authorities/dp/B01CKM08J8/?tag=fogus-20)* by Higher Authorities - *Reminiscent of [Can](https://www.amazon.com/Can/e/B000APBK4U?tag=fogus-20) with a dash of Drone and [Animal Collective](https://www.amazon.com/Animal-Collective/e/B000APRELI/digital/?tag=fogus-20).* * *[Tombs of the Blind Dead