Dinner Party

I briefly attended the 2600 hacker meeting. Stryder from Great Yarmouth came and brought his sister along. Stryder hasn't been at many meetings, so it was great to see him again. We talked about some tech stuff, mainly CB radio. I had to leave after a short time due to another appointment.

At 7 pm I met my friend Rumiko. She was wearing a lovely summer hat, and for a moment I was able to convince myself that the weather wasn't going to turn bad again in the near future. The two of us went to a dinner party held by my friend George. Birds in garden. We discussed the lack of birds in Tokyo, something that is sometimes hard to notice unless you deliberately think about it. Sitting in the garden of a city house in the warm, early evening, is pure paradise for me, particularly when I'm with interesting people.

I had warned George that I don't drink alcohol, and was thus provided with some very nice organic apple juice. George's friends, Nigel and Susan arrived after about an hour. Susan is a law professor at Cambridge university, Nigel is an historian.

George's wife Barbara cooked fantastic Greek food. I don't get many chances to eat home cooked food other than what I cook myself, this is mainly because my friends can't cook.

We discussed whether people trafficking should be tackled as a human rights issue instead of an organised crime issue. I'm still unsure.

Chatted about blogging and how it is replacing the media. I'm involved with several blogs now, and I should probably do much more to encourage my friends to blog. Richard, from Norwich 2600, gets into a great deal of trouble in his day-to-day life. It would make fascinating and hilarious reading so I'll keep persuading him to start a blog.

Barbara, Susan and I talked about whether computers make life easier or more difficult. People often forget that our standard of living is largely due to automation and computing. I certainly wouldn't argue that this is a good thing, but it is a fact of life.

Home at 2:30 am. Did some study. I'm really looking forward to going to the East Anglia Social Forum tomorrow.