If I were to comment on the state of things at work as they stand at this very moment, it would linger here and be perceived as “current” by those who care enough to read it, and it might well continue to be so perceived long after it was actually true. This would be an error, because things at work are in a state of heavy flux. Not insofar as my employment is concerned – I am still with IBM, I am still changing jobs (and doing so October 18th by the way, since I was reminded that I have neglected to mention that date) and my new job will still have something to do with user experience. The specifics, however broad and exciting they may be, are awash in the aforementioned flux and thus remain, by me and for the time being, undiscussed. In time, dear reader, in time. Suffice it to say that my role, as it is currently interpreted, seems to be… bigger… than I had anticipated. Huzzah.
In order to lend substance to this otherwise profoundly unsubstantial entry, and in the spirit of my cloak & dagger theatrics, I present this absolutely delicious article. For those who follow cryptography and espionage and all that, it is an engaging description of Tolkachev’s life and times as a CIA asset. For those who don’t but enjoy a good yarn it is, I think, a pretty accessible (and unclassified) story of a soviet double agent in the dying years of the cold war, and has some fun descriptions of CIA & KGB tradecraft in that era. I found out about it thanks to the inimitable Bruce Schneier, maybe the smartest guy in security today. (And I don’t hand out that “smartest” moniker lightly.)
meandering wildly 