who?

Hi, I'm Alexander Newman, this is my site, and this is my GnuPG public key. The site's been here for some time, but not in this form. So have I. If you must, there's an old composite photo of me, taken from my acting headshot in 1997 and a photo of me at about 10 years old (I think).

By the way, this site is still under reconstruction, so most of the links around here won't work. External ones should be fine though, as are the Eloïse and Archie worship sections. If not, please feel free to whine at me, particularly if you like being ignored.

While I build a beautiful haven of peace, serenity, love and other crap, here are some links I like, use, loathe, whatever:

really important bit

• I have a little sister, Eloïse, who is utterly cool... a happy, happy little girl who likes me nearly as much as I worship her. Top.
• I also have a baby nephew, Archie, who doesn't know me so well, but is pretty cool too.
• And then, I have two cool goddaughters, Isobel and Claudia... pictures to follow... watch this space.

• I recently heard about Vipassana meditation, and attended the ten-day course at Dhara Dhamma in Massachussetts. It's pretty much transformed me: now I meditate every day, twice a day, and I'm a lot happier for it.
• I've started a blog. Not much there yet, but I'll fill it in as I go. Mostly book and movie reviews so far, with a possibility of some reports from the front line of my new dating campaign as it progresses.

I was four or five blocks away from Tower 2 of the World Trade Center when the first plane struck it, and I wrote an account of my morning later that day, which I've preserved as a record.

I will, at some point, update it with reflections some time later, and intersperse the pager messages I exchanged with my friends and colleagues at approximately the time they occurred.

Oddly, I have a photograph from September 11, 1973, which was my first day of school at The Gatehouse, near Victoria Park in London. Spooky.

• I am currently a gentleman of leisure, a most engaging state of employment.
• Although I have been a programmer for about ten years, I gave all that up to be a Technical Writer at Google.
• The US Government sometimes makes it a little difficult to stay in work.
• If you want other peoples' inside opinions on work environments, try The Vault.

• FreeBSD, a grown-up operating system, that happens to be free
• Java Developer Connection - for the programming language that's popular because it's easy and looks great on your resume
• Linked RFCs - bedtime page-turners
• What is XML?
• What to do if you're stuck with Windows 95 or 98

• BAA - meet someone's relatives off a random plane
• Left the A-Z at home? Try the UK Street Map
• For the internationally minded, here is how to speak foreign, and foreigners' flags

1. Unless you're obscenely wealthy, of course
2. Or know nothing about
3. They may not turn up, of course. Or be hideously late, cancelled, smelly, or otherwise undesirable... Why not fly instead?