We believe in the interconnectedness of all things.

I Find Karma (adam@cs.caltech.edu)
Thu, 12 Jun 97 19:00:36 PDT


So I've been working on this Web of Trust paper with Rohit.

http://www.cs.caltech.edu/~adam/LOCAL/trust.html

And I needed to confirm the reference from Dan Connolly's page that
quotes the line from Douglas Adams' book about Dirk Gently, "We believe
in the interconnectedness of all things."

So I do Web search.

And chance upon Seth Golub's Web page at Washington University St. Louis
(excellent school, plus home of Douglas C. Schmidt):

http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~seth/

which points to Dan Connolly's web page about the representation and
exchange of knowledge:

http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/Collaboration/knowledge

because it turns out Seth likes the philosophy of knowledge:

http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~seth/master_plan.html

So I like what Seth says on his pages and think he'd be an ideal
candidate for FoRK, and send him an email this morning to that effect.

Lilly and Seth - FoRK stands for "friends of Rohit Khare", a mailing
list in the grand old Seinfeld fashion of being about simulataneously
nothing and everything (especially the philosophy of knowledge):

http://www.cs.caltech.edu/~adam/LOCAL/faq-fork.html

Turns out Seth is presently dating one of the coolest people from my
high school, Lilly Tao:

> From ltao@netcom.com Thu Jun 12 17:51:03 1997
> Subject: connectedness
> To: adam@cs.caltech.edu
>
> Adam Rifkin!
>
> Today my boyfriend, Seth Golub (seth@cs.wustl.edu), sent me an email
> saying that you had sent him email. Now why would he do that? Well,
> he noticed from your web pages that you graduated from the same high
> school as I did and surmised that we knew each other. As is true.
> He's wondering how you came across him, but hey, I think it's just
> part of the beauty and wonder of the Internet.

Lilly, it's definitely part of the beauty and wonder of the Internet!

> What's more amazing to me is that Seth grew up about 3 miles away from
> me (in Norwalk) and it took the magnetic powers of the Silicon Valley
> to create our very first encounter.

I know about the powers of Silicon Valley. It's how I met Bob Cringely
last summer, leading to Rohit's and my going around the world twice,
and Rohit's fortuitous mention in this week's Cringely column:

http://xent.w3.org/FoRK-archive/may97/0405.html

For the record, I also know of the powers of Silicon Valley thanks to Po
Bronson's latest book, _The First $20 Million is Always the Hardest_.

> OK, well, it had more to do with a cappella,
> Usenet, and a pile of leaves than a magnet, but anyway...

:) Of course.

> Our office is being shut down my our parent company (we got bought
> around a year ago). So I'm looking for a job right now. I've got
> tons of interviews; the job market is incredibly hot.

That's what I've heard; I wish you luck, but you're so good, you don't
need luck! If you tell me what you're looking for, Lilly, I will keep
my ears open...

> My head is spinning and I've got to start narrowing down my focus, but
> there is so much neat stuff!

Agreed!!! But for now, I'll stay at Caltech.

> Hope all is well on your end!
> -Lilly

Definitely!!

> p.s. home page at:
> http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/1986/

I like your page, and am linking to you from

http://www.cs.caltech.edu/~adam/LOCAL/people.html

By the way, if you're ever in LA, call me and I'll show you around. :)

Oh, so Seth wrote me next.

> From seth@pegleg.devteam.com Thu Jun 12 18:00:37 1997
> To: adam@cs.caltech.edu (I Find Karma)
> Subject: Re: Hi Seth...
>
> Two amusing coincidences:
>
> I'm dating Lilly Tao. ("Beware people with two or more L's in their name.")

Wow. Seth actually read my FAQ!!!

http://www.cs.caltech.edu/~adam/LOCAL/faq-adam.html#rohitsrules

Yes, you should beware people with two or more L's in their name (for
example, "Bill Gates"), but every rule has its exception, and Lilly
is this rule's exception because she's exceptional.

> I'm from Norwalk, CT.

Whoa. For everyone else's reference, this is the town immediately south
of Wilton, where Lilly and I (and Michael Patrick, for those FoRKers who
know him) went to high school...

> (The two are, in fact, independent and amusing even without you.
> I met her here in the Bay Area due to common music fetishes.)

Fascinating. I'm really starting to believe in Fate (TM).

> FoRK looks like fun. I'm already on a similar mailing list of people
> I know. Joining one of people I don't know can only be enlightening.

I think so. It's how most of us got started on FoRK, and since then,
we've all been Maximally Entertained (TM).

(Inside joke: Rohit could not stop using the phrase "Maximally
Entertained" the day he drank a fifth of Johnnie Walker Blue and Ernie
and I were stuck in Narita airport with him waiting for him to sober up
so we could get to our hotel. Think of the terror in the faces of the
surrounding folks at Narita airport. :)

> From seth@pegleg.devteam.com Thu Jun 12 18:04:19 1997
> To: Rohit Khare <khare@mci.net>
> Cc: Adam Rifkin <adam@cs.caltech.edu>
> Subject: FoRK
>
> Adam suggested that I join FoRK.
>
> There aren't enough things in my life that I can describe as "It

And FoRK is definitely one of those things.

Well, this whole experience has definitely made my day.

Now I'll get back to working on the Web of Trust paper, and/or Quake,
and/or weightlifting............

Oh, and Rohit, remind me to call WebMethods tomorrow; I have to
interview them about WIDL, etc. for that IEEE Internet Computing
article on XML.

----
adam@cs.caltech.edu

We Believe In The Interconnectedness of All Things.
-- Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency