David 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

@davidsheryn.bsky.social

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InfoSec and aviation. Likes are bookmarks not endorsements. No DMs, please use Signal: David.7323 London, Buckinghamshire, Bristol, Wales.

A notice board describing part of the Oxford canal.
Can anyone design us a “we’re not a US company” crest? 🤔 Extra credit for making it clear we’re Australian.
A blown plaque commemorates the place Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin at St Mary’s Hospital, London.
A National Trust finger-post in a woodland setting, pointing the way to the Thames Path.
AI-generated summary of the book. The Cuckoo's Egg does contain a section describing Cliff Stoll's PhD oral examination (what's often called a viva or thesis defense in different systems). Multiple references, especially from physics communities and Reddit discussions of the book, point to a memorable anecdote in the book where his committee asks him to explain "Why is the sky blue?" They then repeatedly press him with "Can you be more specific?" This leads him through a detailed, step-by-step explanation—from basic scattering to molecular energies, cross-sections, optics, visible light wavelengths, and perception by the human eye—tying directly into his work as a visible-light astronomer. This story is frequently cited as an inspiring (and exhausting but positive) example of a PhD defense in physics/astronomy contexts, contrasting with more infamous "monster" orals. It's not the main plot (the book centers on the hacker hunt), but it's included as a personal aside, likely in an early chapter where Stoll introduces his background as an astronomer who ended up in computing after his research funding dried up.
Atmospheric view of the Thames, looking upriver, with The Shard and the sun setting over Tower Bridge, reminiscent of a JWM Turner watercolour
Majikthise: I mean, what's the use of our sitting around half the night arguing whether there may... Vroomfondel: Or may not. Majikthise: ...be a God, if this machine only goes and gives you his phone number in the morning? Vroomfondel: That's right! We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty.
Brunel’s Clifton Suspension bridge in Bristol, photographed from a hot-air balloon.
A bright red (yes, they didn’t only come in black) Model-T Ford car. Perfect for the day it was built, but still appropriate today?
A Rhodesian Ridgeback on a walk.