Last Week

Last week I couldn’t connect to the internet at home, again. Yes, Streamyx sucks but what real choice is there? I couldn’t be bothered to call the helpline as the last time it didn’t help at all. Has Streamyx implemented a bandwidth cap? Anathem was (is) still there under the bed, but I picked up Makers from the shelf above instead.

Makers is about Perry and Lester who make stuff out of junk, and reporter-turned-blogger Suzanne Church who chronicles their lives. Lester makes mechanical computers for fun, and with Perry they make wonders. You can download and read all of it for free here.

Many reviewers say that Makers is Cory Doctorow’s best work yet and I totally agree, although I’ve only read Little Brother previously. Little Brother was more fun, but Makers has a lot more depth. A reviewer on Amazon even calls Makers a business book.

I took Makers to Kuantan last weekend where the kulliyyah had our IEEP. Earlier, I had registered to take the bus but in the end decided to drive on my own instead. It’s the KL-Karak highway. I love the highland drive with the frequent gear-shifting and tight corners going uphill and downhill. It was wet most of the way too on Friday so I got to put on my hoodie and had a nice cool drive. What a way to unwind. The hills were much more exciting at night, though.