If you know me, you should already know this stuff.  If you don't know me, then why do you care?

As you might guess from the fact that I have a web site and vanity domain, I'm something of a geek. I got a degree in computer science from Rice University, and originally came to Cornell doing research on data storage for large computer systems as an IBM employee at the Cornell Theory Center. Mostly I worked on the development of the High Performance Storage System (HPSS).  We did some interesting work at the Theory Center, including the first ever 1GB/s transfer between a mass storage system and a parallel computer.  Managed to get one paper published at the 14th IEEE Symposium on Mass Storage Systems.  After the Theory Center lost its National Science Foundation funding, I moved to Alexandria, Virginia and continued the same type of work there for two years, but the work was shifting from development to product support. In December 2001 I moved back to Ithaca. Totally burned out on computers, I quit working in the industry.

The other thing you might guess from this web site is that I am seriously addicted to human powered, non-competitive, outdoor pursuits. These days I play full time and teach part time as an instructor for Cornell Outdoor Education. I teach rock climbing, ice climbing, cross-country skiing, backpacking, outdoor photography, teambuilding and first aid. Rarely do I bring a camera to class, so there aren't many pictures here of me with my students. But you can be sure that all of us are having a blast.

For most of the time I've been in Ithaca I have been active in the Cornell Outing Club, and have held the positions of snowsports chair and biking chair. I am also active in the Jewish/Arab/Muslim Dialogue, and Teva, a Jewish environmental group at Cornell. I sit on the advisory board for Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles (RIBs), an organization which helps participants recycle and maintain bicycles for their benefit and the benefit of the community. Every year I spend about two months working with the Student Reuse Project (SRP) as we collect donations from departing students, sell them to community members at low prices, and donate the proceeds to charity.

Favorite non-physical activities... I like to read, watch movies, take photographs, see shows, and play games (especially card games).  I never watch television, except for The Daily Show and South Park... yeah Comedy Central!  Also, I hate tracking down tense shifts in my writing, so you'll just have to suffer the results.

By the way, I'm a proud Democrat who is generally optimistic about this country, but unhappy about the recent steps the radical right has taken to undermine equality, justice and respect.  I think Bush was elected because he talks about improving basic needs like safety and money and family. The fact that enough Americans don't bother to think critically about what Bush says and realize that the details of his plans increase danger, increase poverty and decrease family stability is a reflection of the fact that people don't conduct their own analysis and place unwarranted trust in public figures.  Bush constantly professes to be a supporter of the "culture of life" yet he presided over more executions than any other person currently living in the United States.  Think about it.

Thanks for reading my rant.  But I don't rant best, listen to Bill Maher from Real Time.  I'm on all the mail lists, read all the blogs, get forwarded every funny piece of email.  Mostly I just delete it all.  Maher's rant is one of the few keepers.