A little bit about me

self mating socks Okay, maybe not the best product name in the world, but what does an engineer know about naming products. We just call them like we see them. It all started one morning when my wife was complaining yet again about not being able to find an actual pair of socks. Naturally I offered to help, but the question "aren't these a pair?" was met with a snort and the look, clearly indicating that I couldn't tell that those two socks were not really identical. This ritual had been performed almost daily since we were married, but for some reason this morning it struck a nerve and I was determined to use technology to solve the problem once and for all. Socks that would find each other. Self mating socks. For several days I thought about socks and socks and socks. The first problem is that you buy more socks that just a single pair. So how would each pair know that they were not the same as the other two pairs from that bag. That and how to make what ever...

I have to say I really enjoyed the read. The book is easy to get into and the lead character fun to follow. That being said, I must warn you that if you are not fluent in English (British English) the writing will likely go right past you. Mr. Stross writes strongly but in very colloquial English. As we follow our hero Bob through his dreary and drab existence as a civil servant in the great British hierarchy of civil services things are not always quite as they appear. Bob works for a branch of the government so secret that it is a crime to know they exist. What do these secret civil servants do? They guard the rest of the world from the other worlds out there. Citing as inspiration H.P. Lovecraft and Len Deighton, the book is a delightful trip through the mazes of politics and intrigue in the civil services of England with side trips into higher mathematics, physics and the occult thrown in. I can't really review some of the best parts of the book with 0ut providing seriou...