Contact info:
1208 Meriwether St.
Charlottesville, VA 22902-5421
(434) 963-9224
seb2t@virginia.edu

To put bread on the table I work as a computer systems engineer at the University of Virginia. (I used to be a freelance indexer. There are many great things about being a freelancer, but a good benefits package isn't one of them.)

The books which most recently have caught my attention and gripped my mind are:

OVERSHOOT: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change, by William R. Catton, Jr. (1980) This book provides the vocabulary and intellectual framework for understanding what people, societies, and nations all over the world are now experiencing, and very likely destined to experience in the next few decades.
Is anyone listening?

THE LONG EMERGENCY: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, by James Howard Kunstler (2005) This book lays out details of the phenomema which Catton in OVERSHOOT describes in more general terms. Hint: if you want to have a softer landing, reduce your needs as much as you can. (It's likely to be rather bruising, no matter what we do.)

And since I ride a bicycle for most of my transportation needs, for fun, and for good health:
MENTAL SPEED BUMPS: The Smarter Way to Tame Traffic, by David Engwicht, 2005

Also, Princeton geologist Kenneth Deffeyes has figured that we have reached the peak of world crude oil production. Our local Charlottesville Peak Oil group has on its website a good list of resources on this issue.

Three periodical indexes which I compiled are on the Web:

Velo Vision (best English-language bicycle publication)

Bike Culture Quarterly (publication defunct, but all issues indexed)

Dr. Dobb's Journal (not up-to-date)