FictionFobic

Happiness, Lessons from a New Science, by Richard Layard

2012-01-29T21:37:00.001-08:00

Happiness, Lessons from a New Science, by Richard Layard

Wow - what twaddle. This must be one of the worst books ever written. Layard thinks that he has discovered a new 'science'! This 'science' involves cramming together random pet theories - and declaring that they will make society happier.

The 'idea' behind the book is that economists should focus not on economies but happiness, and that society should be organized around the maximization of happiness. So far, so good and as Layard admits - this not exactly new either. Bentham would recognize the theft of the idea.

But somehow, Layard (presumably having triumphantly created an enormous fortune for himself through his superior understanding of the old 'science' of economics, or not), thinks that this might be a new angle. He then proceeds to explore the idea, picking useless and contradictory illustrations for his lengthy selection of random talking points.

For example, he cites the observation that Oscar winners are happier than their peers and therefore live longer. This is fairly early on on the twaddle, and I was cutting him some slack at this point. However, I could not help but think - 'Hollywood likes its beautiful, healthy people, I wonder how they controlled for that statistically' (You might just as easily imagine that, like a Crufts winner, once you've won something you will be well looked after, and so on). So, as one does these days, I simple googled 'oscar winners live longer than losers', and the first hit provides the necessary details. Suffice it to say that the statistical analysis behind the original article in the 'Annals of Internal Medicine' was flawed, and this has been pointed out in the same journal, several times, starting soon after the original article. You would think that an economist would have been able to discern the faulty analysis for himself, but even if not, he could have googled it.

Apparently, this particular flawed thinking has a name 'Immortal Bias', "We note that 100 percent of the Oscar winners live to be at least 30 years old. Of course this is not surprising because they are known to be Oscar winners. Thus we know ahead of time that the Oscar winners will live longer than a traditional life table would predict. This gives them an advantage in their life expectancy. This is called a selection bias or Immortal bias." (see 'Oscar winners do_not live longer'). In fact, all this was discussed in the original article - but somewhere along the line someone wanted some publicity, or they wanted to flog a book, and the falsehood flourished.

By the way, apparently the Economist regurgitated the same flawed logic in 2007, so perhaps this form of statistical incompetence is endemic among economists. No wonder the economists like Layard are fleeing their own field, after all it is rather too easy to tell when the dust settles whether you have any money. Far better to be in the 'happinomics' 'science' department (now that climatology is known to be a fraud).

Layard enthuses about drugs at great length, both legal and illicit: '...the widest use of these drugs is "recreational" - to liberate the spirit and enhance the experience of life. Most drugs can do this if taken in moderation. And most people do practice moderation.' Layard thinks Freud's use of cocaine was wonderful, quoting with glee Freud's comments while under the influence.

But there is no mention of the increased happiness created by inexpensive energy, reliable food supplies, transport, modern medicine, declining attempts to exterminate races in systematic killing factories, and so on. Layard is completely oblivious to his selection bias - but I think that we can safely assume that he enjoys the sound of his own voice.

Of course, Layard thinks that progressive taxes on the wealthy will serve to defray the depressed happiness which ensues for everyone else if one person's income increases. (Honestly - and he explains this at great length as a form of happiness pollution). Somehow, Layard seems to have resisted learning from the economies of Cuba, North Korea, and all other attempts to remove income inequality. He even seems to have not understood that the founding fathers of the US spoke of the 'pursuit' of happiness and not simply dolling out 'happiness' in exchange for taxes to their docile, jealous citizens.

Well, I'm sure that Layard's own happiness is profound. He is funded by the taxpayer to waffle on about his own pet enthusiasms while his only output for his input is the justification of increased taxation - useful for his political masters - but not so good for society.

0/5

Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age by Michael Riordan and Lillian Hoddeson

2010-08-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

I have to say that this is one of the best books I have ever read. The story lays out the invention of the transistor and the creation of the semiconductor revolution by three American physicists.

Often books like this, covering the history of scientific discoveries, do not provide enough technical detail. However, I was pleasantly surprised in this case. But the detail does not obscure the story. The book tears along at a great rate. From the first few pages, when the inventors of the transistor are early twentieth century farmers and gentry, to the creation of the first digital computers seems to take just a few logical hours.

As I read through the chapters, I was deeply impressed by the fact that theoretical arguments guided the thinking of both Schockley and Bardeen (I had previously only thought of Bardeen as a theoretician). However, this is quite wrong. In fact, Shockley, Bardeen, and Brattain each had a good appreciation of quantum mechanics and its implications. As they worked through the process of exploiting semiconductors, much of their work was guided by a knowledge of what should be possible based on their quantum mechanical knowledge.

And the book does not leave the story too soon. One sees how knowledge of transistors became knowledge of the ability to create integrated circuits. You see how silicon valley came into being. You find out what happened next for each of the inventors. (Either another Nobel prize in a different field, controversy and failed companies, or ongoing technical work for the same employer, depending on which inventor you pick).

Finally, I was very pleased to find a decent explanation of the famous first transistor, which features a large triangular tip resting on a slab of germanium. The text contains enough detail that you will understand that the plastic triangle was merely a support for two metallic contacts, and you will understand why Brattain made the contact in the way that he did, to defeat the intrinsic properties that he encountered in the germanium surface.

So - I cannot recommend this book highly enough (and if you check my reviews you will see that not all my reviews are glowing). If you want to find out who made the modern world possible and how, read this book. You will be impressed! - 5/5.

The Future Is Unwritten Starring: Joe Strummer Director: Julian Temple

2009-11-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

Ouch - a boring movie. Lots of people sitting around disparate campfires - that is about it - for 2 hours 20 minutes. (0/5). I was disappointed, I was looking forward to seeing this movie as I liked the Clash, and saw them in London once, back in the seventies. Back then I was impressed that Joe Strummer's singing wasn't affected by the transition from the 101ers to punk. Given his genuine singing style, I thought, he wasn't pretending in order to be part of the punk bandwagon. What this movie shows is that there were several transitions in the progression that included to Joe's success with the Clash. There was the art school, John phase, then the hippy, or Woody phase. There was the Joe Strummer phase, followed by the camp fire, sing song phase. And during the phases various Hollywood people popped in to sample the vibe. But, apparently, the phases were kept pretty separate. If you were part of the hippy phase, you weren't part of the punk phase. This separation of parts becomes clear from the movie, and despite the camp fire attempts to pull the parts together, the separation makes the movie slow moving and humorless.

While I liked the Clash, back in the seventies I didn't care so much for the Sex Pistols. Yet today 'Classic Albums: Never Mind the Bollocks' is a lot more entertaining. The Sex Pistols, and their producers, clearly had a sense of humor. The sound engineer talks about the orchestral layering of distorted guitar barre chords and the exquisite diction of Johnny Rotten. The reflections of the Sex Pistols are nicely ironic and amusing, they don't seem to be worried about people knowing their original names, or even allowing different phases to meet.

Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business by Jeff Howe

2009-01-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

With the success of Google, Social bookmarking, Wikipedia, and Open Source software it is readily apparent that leveraging large numbers of contributors efficiently can lead to substantial value.

Google captures the information contained in inbound links to assess the quality of the web pages that it has indexed, and thereby determines the relative ranking in search results. Social bookmarking provides the opportunity for browsers to vote on the individual pages that they visit, and draw potentially massive attention to what is important. Wikipedia has created an information source which exceeds the largest available 'traditional' encyclopedias by orders of magnitude, and open source software developers have created operating systems and applications suites which are superior to commercial software products. So, it is clear when you can leverage many contributors, you can achieve great advances.

Crowdsourcing cites many such examples. It is quite a lengthy book, and contains roughly the same message told several different ways, depending on the application area in which crowdsourcing finds deployment. In addition to Google and Wikipedia, the examples range from technological problems distributed on an eBay-like site for scientists and engineers, stock photograph marketing sites, designer tee-shirt sites, popularity contests, better software development through competition, and so on.

The examples are interesting. You will learn a lot about the ways in which entrepreneurs are currently successfully (iStockPhoto) and not so successfully (CurrentTV) going about exploiting crowdsourcing. However, a key aspect of Crowdsourcing appears to have been missed by the author. That is the efficiency of exploiting the input provided by the crowd. Google uses the resource of existing web pages to pick up on the selections made by millions of web masters in the links that they chose to create, the information is there to be gleaned as Google crawls the web. Exploiting that information is not trivial, it requires significant amounts of storage and indexing capabilities, and Google has developed the necessary infrastructure to make that feat possible. Likewise, the social book marking sites provide value to their users in storing the browsing favorites and provide that storage efficiently, in order to extract the value of the information that the millions of stored votes on individual pages provide. Wikipedia has developed a site capable of handling enormous volumes of contributors and reviewers, without the need for a significant permanent staff. The foundation of open source development has been attention to efficient build systems which allow diverse contributors to build software in the same way and provide inherent and efficient delocalization. In contrast, centralized nightly builds, upon which all developers depend are favored by older, centralized software development outfits.

I enjoyed learning of a range of examples of crowdsourcing from the book. I had not heard of the NetFlix effort to create optimal recommendations based on a competition on the web before, for example. I also enjoyed hearing about the fact that 'outliers' who tried crazy things, not obvious to experts, often drove crowdsourced problem solving in profitable directions.

The book ends with a collection of rules derived from the rest of the text these are something along the following lines:

1. Choose a model from: collective intelligence, creation, voting, or funding.
2. Choose participants to act as influence providers to usher the crowd.
3. Offer incentives and recognition to all participants.
4. Don't think of crowdsourcing as outsourcing.
5. Your crowds will need leaders who influence.
6. Divide your work into small simple tasks.
7. Be prepared for much chaff, as much as 90% chaff in fact.
8. Also be prepared for 10% or so of valuable output.
9. Your community will always be right.
10. Serve your crowd, do not oppose it.

As I mentioned, the clearly missing aspects of the book from my perspective were suggestions on the mechanics of achieving crowdsourcing. How do you go about decomposing a problem and providing an infrastructure that can be used by many people and not cost a significant amount in development or support?

For me this is a 4/5 read. A useful collection of examples and illustrations but lacking in practical guidance.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

2009-01-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

I was given Outliers as a gift, and I must admit I was not looking forward to reading it. The reason for my trepidation was that Blink and Tipping Point, also by Malcolm Gladwell, were interesting but not particularly useful. I feared that it was the third book in a contractually bound series and that Outliers would be far from practical.

The person who gave me the gift believed that this book might contain the secret to creating successful 'outliers', which is a reasonable perspective, given the title and the marketing pitch.

However, I was surprised as I read through the pages. The main idea of the book was that the ultra-successful are victims of circumstance more than they are self made. For example, successful Canadian ice hockey players are predominantly born early in the year, which makes them old for their ice hockey age group and therefore gives them a size and coordination advantage which contributes substantially to their subsequent career success.

The book cites other examples of groups of possibly self made successes who owe their elevation to circumstance and luck. The examples include Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, The Beatles, rice farmers, and the murderers of Southern states.

Outliers might then have been better titled 'Circumstances'. As such the book might be a little discouraging to those that harbor the suspicion that their efforts and skills influence their results. Gladwell does allow that spending around 10,000 hours in an activity is essential to achieving mastery. However, actually putting in the those hours is a blend of aptitude and circumstance, with circumstance being the overriding concern.

The perspective of the book then is that environment allows for success. There is consideration of the creation of appropriate and inappropriate environments; with discussion of the mathematics and work ethics of rice farmers, degrees of color bias in Jamaican social life, and reprisals in tough border lands.

I found the book interesting and I liked the idea that the 'self made success, who worked his or her way from rags to riches' portrait is rarely accurate. I enjoyed the analysis of the difference between the middle class youngster, coached to discuss ailments with the family doctor, and its contrast with the underprivileged upbringing of socioeconomically deprived youngsters. Much of the basis of success is the expectation of success, access to appropriate resources, and the fortitude to put in 10,000 hours of practice.

However, I rate Outliers at 3/5 because although there is much description and explanation there is no analysis of what should be done on the basis of the description. The 'how to' factor is very low - at no point does one determine what one should do on the basis of the discussion, aside from arranging birth dates and locations appropriately, which is far from practical.

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam

2008-09-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

Dan Roam is the person in a meeting who jumps up and starts creating diagrams on the whiteboard. If you are interested in improving your own ability to understand and solve problems through drawings, The Back of the Napkin, Dan’s book, is a good and thorough introduction to the world of visual thinking.

As I read through, I must admit that on occasion I wished the book were a little shorter. This would not detract from the message or its value but it would make the book more engaging and immediate. As it is you have to battle through the ‘who/what, how many, where, when, how and why’ questions from several different directions before you seem to begin to make progress with the subject. I was also disappointed to find that Dan does not refer to Malcolm Craig’s Thinking Visually. Malcolm Craig describes causation conveyed by various diagrams, whereas Dan Roam talks about ‘How’ diagrams. However, Dan does not provide the range of causation or ‘How’ diagrams that Malcolm Craig describes and I found this slightly disappointing.

Dan, however, provides a concrete game plan for working through business problems visually. This includes two devices for taking problems apart. The first is the ‘who/what, how many, where, when, how and why’ questions already alluded to. Secondly there is a set of imagination focusing questions designed to help you understand what it is that you should be showing. These have the mnemonic ‘SQVID’. By the time the six basic questions are combined with the five imagination questions of SQVID, there are 30 possible diagrams to consider.

So, you rapidly form the impression that Dan has been working with people who wanted a step by step formula that could be applied in solving problems, and this indeed is what Dan has provided. If you want a simple formula that will empower you in stepping up to the white board and laying out the issues of the day so that you can help your team generate solutions this book will help.

I was very impressed by Dan’s web site http://www.thebackofthenapkin.com/. It is a very well crafted site and I am sure is helping to drive his book sales. If you are thinking of buying, a visit to this site will probably convince you to take the plunge.

I award the book 4/5. As I was slogging through the repetition at various stages, wishing for the shorter version, I was thinking that a lower score was warranted. However, the overall result is positive and the book is certainly useful hence, 4/5.

Non-Iron Shirts by Charles Tyrwhitt

2008-07-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

I am always interested in products which are practical. Hence I had an interest in Non-Iron Shirts by Charles Tyrwhitt. The prospect of saving a little time at the ironing board was irresistible. However, I am not satisfied! Non-Iron Shirts by Charles Tyrwhitt have not worked well for me. There are three problems: They are expensive, require ironing, and have inconvenient removable metal collar stiffeners. The expense is something which will be evident to you when you contemplate buying such a shirt. In itself expense is not a show stopper. However, the poor non-iron performance is a problem. You will get a few non-iron OK washes from your shirts (around two), but thereafter wrinkles will be evident in the dry shirt and you will need to be ironing your expensive shirt before you can wear it. Finally, you will be constantly forgetting to remove the metallic collar stiffeners prior to washing and wondering whether you have destroyed your washing machine and why your shirts look cockeyed at the collar, when they go missing. For the above reasons I award Non-Iron Shirts by Charles Tyrwhitt the low end score of 0/5, not recommended under any circumstances.
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How To Say No Without Feeling Guilty by Patti Breitman and Connie Hatch

2008-07-20T19:04:00.001-07:00

I read through 'How To Say No Without Feeling Guilty' in recent days. I found it moderately helpful. There is a good overview of why people end up being too accommodating and thereby not saying 'no' enough. There are a variety of scripts which give you at least some words to phrase your no's. The bottom line is, though, to say invariably that you need to check you schedule/other commitments/spouse's schedule for non-work related yes/no requests; and for work related requests you need to present any conflicts to your boss to help establish the priority. The logical flow of work related no's is somewhat lacking here as it is in other books like the Time Trap. (Sometimes you are left with the impression that the authors of these books don't have coworkers and bosses themselves). Additionally, there is no substitute for listening and thinking things through (see Thinking on Your Feet). Consider the exchange which is described in the book, which goes something like 'I have just acquired tickets for a great show, are you free on Friday night?', 'Why, yes, I am', 'Good because I need a sitter!'. This would have been a great opportunity to reply with the standard 'I would need to check my schedule, tell me more...', but sadly that was missed in the book. Anyway, I give it 3/5.
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How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less by Nicholas Boothman

2008-06-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

A fascinating book! 'How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less' is heavily NLP influenced. Much thought will be applied to the representational systems of your acquaintances - be they visual, auditory or kinesthetic - if you absorb its lessons. If you want to believe in the NLP theories the following link provides a good summary of the necessary underlying observations http://www.nlpu.com/Articles/artic14.htm to make. Interestingly, if you take a detour and investigate NLP on the web, you find (rapidly) that the founders of NLP tend to disagree with one another on who invented what and when. Dilts, the author of the article linked above, comes in for criticism for possibly having claimed to have invented something, the NLP-founders sue each other quite regularly, and you find that one of the NLP founders (the one with a cocaine problem) has been tried for murder, and happily found innocent. NLP seems to turn its students into zealous practitioners who lead extraordinary lives. But isn't that appropriate for a set of people who have an edge in communication and the art of persuasion? And, returning to the book, so it must have been for Nicholas Boothman. He was a student, got the NLP edge, and is now a teacher - who explains the critical tricks of getting onto the same wavelength as someone else.

If you analyze the book a little you will see interesting aspects of NLP theory. For example, we are told that audiences will judge you based on how you look (55%), how you sound (30%), and what you say (15%). The message in this section is that audience members are homogeneous, largely visual, and oblivious to content. A few chapters later you find that each individual audience member is dominated by their visual, auditory, or kinesthetic input channel. The majority of people are visual, a smaller number auditory, and the smallest group kinesthetic. So at a superficial level this matches with the figures quoted on audience judgment of speakers. However, the input channel theory gets more complicated. Apparently the ordering of input channels is important, so (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) is different to (auditory, kinesthetic, visual). It would be interesting to know whether statistical analysis of conversation (for example) confirm the preponderance of a given sensory input channel for certain people, or whether this is more driven by mood or circumstance than by an innate processing model.

However, Boothman's book is simple and straightforward - it does not take long to read - and it won't make you into a cheesy salesman. It might make you take more time in your communications and think about the other person's or people's perspective and that will be a good thing. The lessons in the book are quite practical and I think that the fiction level is low - so I recommend this book and give it a 4/5.
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Work Less Make More by Jennifer White

2008-06-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

Interesting - the types of books and types of things that appeal. A current best seller is 'The Four Hour Work Week' and an earlier book on the same theme was 'Work Less Make More'. Work Less Earn More is filled with common sense advise and is quite appealing - in the grating way of self-help books. For example, it urges that you 'take responsibility for everything in your life, and I mean everything'. The book recommends that you divide your days into three types: laser, support, and free days. This give you an extra day-type over most people (who just have work days and weekends). This is one of the more revolutionary ideas in the book - but unconvincingly this recommendation is quickly followed by the idea that you may need to add a creativity day to the mix. So, you are left thinking that this may all be a little arbitrary - a promoter or marketeer in search of a product to market. Similarly there is a shallow treatment of things that need to be done 'The power of three' - this soon becomes the power of nine if you are trying to follow along and would then soon become more sub-divided. However, if you like this type of read it is interesting. Enough for a 3/5 at any rate.
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The Long Tail by Chris Anderson

2008-05-26T07:58:00.000-07:00

I picked up this book in the South Coast Plaza mall a while back and found it fascinating. All around me the well dressed, up and coming, young, middle class professionals and workers of Los Angeles were shopping in stores to find the latest in fashionable goods. Each and every one of them hoping to distinguish their existence from the crowd (and score one over the neighbors) with a deft purchase. (Including the lonely people in the bookstore flipping through books popularizing distribution curves). Each person in that mall had a sense of what they were looking for - not too far from the norm bit not too common either. 'The Long Tail' by Chris Anderson makes the argument (repetitively) that with the advent of the internet we can expect choice to proliferate wildly. What used to be a bookshop with 10 thousand books becomes a choice of over 4 million books in an online store. This is not a new transition. Sears-Roebuck a century ago created a catalog with millions of entries, distributed it far and wide, and leveraged the rail network to exchange the loose change of farm hands across the nation for cheap watches, guns and soap. The enablers of the long tail revolution are reduced advertising and distribution costs (the internet), reduced production costs (particularly for forms of information like music), and increased communication between like minded folk - as fostered by the internet. Although it is hard to disagree that Amazon et al have made finding rare books easier, I could not agree with this as being a radically new trend. The problem is that people do not want to go out on a limb - they want to be fashionable and part of being fashionable is wearing what everyone else is wearing and fitting in. Why are little old corner coffee shops called Starbucks popular? Why do they suddenly become unpopular? To be fair - Chris does not attempt to address the phenomena of fashion but just the fact that the odd choices section of the market will now tend to get larger with time. Chris mentions the 80/20 rule - as in 80 percent of the profits come from 20 percent of the customers - and dismisses it as being no longer relevant in the online world as the cost of production can become vanishingly small for even the rarest informational products. The 80/20 rule mixes units - as Chris points out - the 80 percent refers to profits and the 20 percent refers to fractions of the customer base. So there is no reason that the rule should not be 80/10 - and indeed this is a more common fraction in Chris' (and my experience). The key to profitability would seem to be not in focusing on the key customers (sorry '4 Hour Workweek') but on making sure that costs are as small as possible. All in all, I give this book a 4/5 - mainly on the strength of the tales (no pun intended) about Google, eBay, Amazon and Sears - these are the people who are making 'The Long Tail' possible and making it work.
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The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

2008-05-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Extraordinary concepts for workaholics: mini-retirements and non-work related travel. 'The 4-Hour Workweek' shocks further by explaining that working to make a million and then retiring won't actually make you any happier or even more secure - it will just leave you too damaged to be able to appreciate whatever retirement you do manage to afford or survive to experience. The alternative advocated by 'The 4-Hour Workweek' is that you arrange your life and income to allow escape to different parts of the world on a regular basis. A key premise here is that travel is good. If you don't like to travel then you may have a hard time relating to the contents of this book - travel and languages broaden the mind and perspective, Tim asserts, and these activities are to be encouraged and indulged. So the game plan involves developing a product which is sold in specialist magazines or on the web and then working hard (just briefly, don't worry) to make sure that you, the entrepreneur, are not on any of the critical paths of the resulting money making system, (or muse as such systems are termed in the book). The book is full of sensible wisdom, the 80/20 principle, for example (citing Richard Koch), make use of outsourcing whenever possible, and exploiting exchange and labor rate differences. There are many interesting stories and many of them revolve around the concept of outsourcing. For instance, there is the US worker who lost his job to outsourcing in India. He employed assistants in India to find a new job in the US. The assistants promptly fixed his resume, found jobs to apply for and arranged interviews. The US worker had a new job in 30 days (so much for that mini-retirement). I thoroughly enjoyed the book, though the travel emphasis was a little tedious. All in all - I give it a 3/4. It has great ideas - some of them new - it has always been a good idea to stop and smell the roses.
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Thinking On Your Feet: by Marian K. Woodall

2008-05-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

As is often the case for interesting books, there are at least two books with this title. In this the aim is to help you handle questions and inquiries. Thinking On Your Feet, by Marian K. Woodall, is a good, quick (about 100 short pages) read. Its simplicity inspires confidence in the material. The basic lessons are as follows:

The what and why of thinking on your feet
Why do you need to think on your feet?
Questions: Closed (yes/no), closed information (e.g., where is the meeting?), open information (what are the themes of the meeting?, how can I help with the meeting?), open (more invitational than questioning, e.g., 'describe at time when', 'tell me about', ...)
Answers (answer, build in a clue, e.g., 'The primary factor...', don't talk too much)
Easy questions (listen, pause, repeat the question, one main support & clue, stop)
Difficult questions, repeat the question, e.g. 'Can you guarantee the impossible?', 'The question is can I guarantee you will have no more Xs? This is, after all, a system and all systems are fallible. However, this is the best system available. I can guarantee that this system will be a tremendous improvement over the current system.'
Getting a better question (ask for a repeat of the question, ask for clarification or clarify a term yourself)
Hedging (responding to only a selected portion of the question)
Negative questions (don't contradict - rephrase instead to emphasize the positive, e.g., 'why can't I have an X?' 'you can have an X if you earn the money for an X'
Getting someone else to respond (give them fair warning, and a repeat of the question)
Delivery ('I don't know - but I will get you the answer right after this meeting')
Job interviews (working your key points into your responses)
Opportunities (e.g., have a stock in trade self introduction ready to go, what to do when asked to say 'a few words', etc.)

The chief merits of the book are that it is brief - and it provides good advice. I was disappointed that it did not go more into avoiding panic under pressure - the basic advice is pause before replying - but it is a solid book. I give it 3/5, deducting two points only for the complete lack of mention of the word psychology, lack of flow diagrams, and the matter of fact tone - a feature which many non-fiction adherents may find appealing.
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Getting Past No by William Ury

2008-04-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

How do you turn confrontation into cooperation? This is the question posed in the author's note to the paper back edition. The answer, according to Ury, is simple but unintuitive. Don't react to threats, don't start negotiating by stating your position, and don't escalate. Getting Past No was originally published in 1991 and has become widely known. So even if you have not read it - someone you know has. (And therefore knowing how not to react to these gambits will be useful in dealing with that well read opponent). Ury's five step program is as follows:

Go to the balcony (i.e., don't react, view the negotiation from outside the stage that you occupy)
Step to their side (i.e., don't attack the opponent, listen and don't argue with your opponent)
Reframe - help the opponent to see the discussion differently ask 'Why is it that you want that?', 'What would you do if you were in my shoes?', 'What would happen if we were to jointly...?' - and then you must be able summarize the words that you are hearing back to your opponent - not changed but in such a way that he understands that you have understood
Build a golden bridge This is where negotiating actually begins - but again not by telling but by exploring options and avoiding declaring any form of victory. The opponent's face must be saved, and his constituents must be able to see why the bridge leads to somewhere better than could have been achieved by following their BATNA (best alternative to negotiated agreement).
Use power to educate If the opponent is still inclined to achieve his end through threats and aggression, you must use your power to educate. However, do this by way of warnings rather than treats ('What do you think will happen if we don't agree?'). Assure the opponent that you are there to achieve a negotiated agreement, and indicate the use of your BATNA only in terms of an illustration or warnings not as a threat that will cause the opponent to lash out.

Although the book constantly talks about avoiding tit-for-tat arguments and avoiding threats, the adversarial nature of negotiations is emphasized throughout by the fact that the opponent is named the 'opponent' (and often referred to as 'she' for some reason in the recorded version of the book). This seems to contradict the aim of the book to turn confrontation into cooperation but it is a small criticism of a 4/5 book.
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21 Secrets to Success by Brian Tracy

2008-03-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

This is a relentlessly simple set of instructions on the ways that things should be done. Not all of the instructions seem correct when you first encounter them - for example there is an insistence on the necessity of working long hours - but in general the effect is a pleasing level of motivating thoughts and ideas (as you would hope from a motivational author and speaker). Brian follows his own advice too. He recommends that the entrepreneur should always be selling, and sure enough, every CD concludes with a recommendation to purchase of one of Brian's products. So he sets a good example, and the majority of his recommendations are simple, make sense and tend to make you take positive steps towards your goals. Brian's tone throughout is quiet and not strident. Brian is not as emotion oriented (or should that be passion oriented?) as Anthony Robbins, but he is convincing nevertheless. The CDs are not as hard to follow as Anthony Robbins' motivational ideas (no anchoring or states). Brian's suggestions are more along the lines of this example (for setting goals):

Take a piece of dated paper
Write 10 goals, written in the present tense, 1 year in the future, as though the goal has been achieved, stating 'I am earning X' or 'I weigh Y pounds (kilos or stones)' (as examples)
Which one goal on this list (if achieved) has the greatest impact on your life?
Take that high priority goal
Plan for this goal's success and set a deadline
Take immediate action on that goal
Think and talk about that goal

Here is another example from the CD on selling, on how to handle objections. The first two items are questions to probe the prospect on the seriousness of the objection. The Feel/Felt/Found response is a classic way to deal with an objection.

How do you mean?
You obviously have a good reason for saying that. Do you mind if I ask what it is?
Many people feel a reservation about the price when they first hear it, they felt that value would not be made up in short period of time, however, they have found that the investment is in fact repaid.

It all sounds simple and it is simple - but it is effective too - I give this collection of CDs 4/5.
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Uncommon Therapy by Jay Haley

2008-01-06T20:11:00.001-08:00

As magazines, bloggers, and radio shows with Agony Aunts are well aware, other people's problems, and how they are solved, make for absorbing reading. So a 300 page plus book of an analyst's favorite cases has to be interesting and this book does not disappoint. Uncommon Therapy provides illustrations of the approaches employed by, Milton Erickson, who helped an extraordinary range of people using his unique techniques. I have wanted to read this book for many years - since I first read 'How to Influence Others at Work' in the 1980s, in fact. Erickson had an ability to use some aspect of a person's mindset to bring about needed change and understanding this facility is a key to persuading and influencing others. The Ericksonian approach to psychotherapy has a achieved a wide level of adoption and has inspired 'brief therapy' and many similar approaches - and more recently exerted an influence on the creators of neuro-linguistic programming. Particularly appealing from the patient's point of view is the fact that the change which the therapist brings to bear with a client does not need to be preceded by protracted analysis or delving for causative pains or underlying damage. Erickson was an efficient therapist. He used the strong convictions of the patient as a point of leverage to change an existing point of perception and response. When confronted with an individual who felt it necessary to carry out a strange action like carrying a religious symbol around the neighborhood or washing endlessly he would seemingly side with the strange view, asking appropriate questions and understanding the perspective, but would also join the patient in changing their actions. So the obsessive action or thought would be modified and the patient would understand that they can control and modify their behavior. As Jay Haley's book makes clear, Erickson did not separate the members of a family and attempt to change people in isolation he would take pains to make each family member a part of the change that a given situation needed. As I read through the examples in the book, I regularly missed a deep understanding of the reasons for Erickson's actions. Sometimes the examples seem like Sherlock homes stories which are obvious only when you know the outcome. Yet, when you reread them you find that Erickson was subtly avoiding inflaming the resistance of the patient at the same time as moving the patient towards needed change. Often Erickson employed subtle hypnotic messaging in his sessions. How well this works in practice one wonders and yet we know that the modern world pervasively immerses its inhabitants in the subtle repetitive messages that influence everyone's actions. I have to confess that I have not had any success as far as I am aware in employing Erickson's methods on myself or anyone else for that matter. However, I don't think that this should be held against the book and I throughly recommend it with a score of 4/5.
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Bentley's Royal Pomegranate Green Tea

2008-01-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

Given the ubiquity of caffeine in the modern world I thought I would write a short article on how I reduced my dependence on caffeine in general and coffee in particular. In the past I have occasionally given up coffee for a while - only to have to restart its use when I have traveled across time zones for work and found it very difficult to get moving in the mornings - or at other times which work obliged. When I returned from these trips I was again addicted and still out of synchronization with the local time zone and so the addiction remained. However, this holiday season I found myself too idle to fuel the addiction with trips to the coffee shop or grocery store and rapidly depleted the supply of aging coffee beans available in our cupboards. Soon I was obliged to fall back on the Bentley's Royal Pomegranate Green tea bags which have managed to exist for a while in the kitchen without noticeable depletion. Although this tea (and the others I found lurking at the back of the cupboard) tasted terrible - and did not provide the expected caffeine jolt - I managed to last out a few days and continued to avoid the trip to the store. After a week - I had unintentionally given up coffee! This was a surprising result of laziness - and I naturally then thought that I would then consider taking this on as a New Year's resolution. I also thought that it might be worthwhile considering why one might want to give up coffee intentionally - and based on my experience what works in doing this and what to expect while giving up.

As everyone knows coffee does not taste particularly pleasant when your first encounter it. It is bitter, an acquired taste, not something that children typically look forward to. The primary reason for this is that coffee contains a great deal of caffeine. Caffeine is an active compound as far as your brain is concerned - it changes the way that brain responds to natural neurotransmitters and gives rise to a variety of effects which are familiar to coffee drinkers: Increased your alertness, increased energy, reduced sleepiness, and most important when you are addicted, avoidance of the nagging feeling that you 'just need a coffee'. This last effect is the one to watch out for - it indicates that you are habituated to the effects of caffeine and are slavishly seeking the compound rather than the flavor of the coffee. There are a variety of potential benefits of reduced caffeine consumption:

Improved sleep
Improved digestion
Reduced teeth staining
Removal of a potential headache trigger
Reduction in daily expense
Saved time – time not spent in lines waiting for another cup
...and if that isn't enough this link gives many additional motivations

There are also potential deficits in abstinence:

Reduced social interaction, on those long lines for example
Reduced exposure to possible health benefits caused by the possibly beneficial changes which caffeine (like nicotine) induces

In my case I abruptly gave up coffee substituting tea to ease with the caffeine withdrawal. The caffeine withdrawal did not seem as bad as I might have expected. I had some headaches, some irritability, laziness - but over the holiday period - who doesn't?! I am not sure that these symptoms were worse than might have been expected from normal holiday lethargy and over eating. As I mentioned above, I didn't set out specifically to give up coffee, but once I had started giving up through laziness, I decided to stick it out. And this seems to have worked. The step by step process was:

Pick a time when your routine is changed (e.g. a holiday period)
Don't replenish your coffee stocks - so that you have no coffee in the cupboard)
Arrange to have a small assortment of old and flavored tea bags in the cupboard
Resolutely stick to the laziness of not replenishing your coffee supply
Get used to the flavored tea

These are the steps that I have followed for the last 10 days - and so far - I appear to be cured of the coffee addiction. A critical danger is no doubt becoming addicted to other things in the place of caffeine - flavored teas, for example. And so far I have managed to avoid this. Today I even became aware of a strange and unexpected benefit - I was able to appreciate (and enjoy) the flavor of the Bentley's Royal Pomegranate Green Tea that accompanied my breakfast. I am excited at the prospect of having broken an addiction! Bentley's Royal Pomegranate Green Tea – it is good stuff – I give it 3 out of 5.
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Eton FR250 hand crank power generator radio

2007-12-31T17:05:00.000-08:00

An interesting product came my way this holiday, An Eton FR250 hand crank power generator radio. So far I have resisted the temptation to take it apart - but it is working well. The radio has AM/FM and 7 shortwave bands, it also has a white led light, a red led strobing warning signal, and a siren. I have been impressed with it so far. I haven't yet succeeded in running the batteries down - so either the rechargeable battery is shipped fully charged or the couple of minutes of cranking that I put into it are very efficiently converted into stored power. The radio performance seems good - I can readily get some of the more distant stations from our site - so this may take over as a main AM receiver for me - with or without a power supply. I will update this article with information about the batter life as I obtain more information. A 5/5 product.
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Nothing to wear

2007-11-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

Ah, the fat squashy sound
Of a ripe catalog falling on the mat
Filled with images of the new me
Less bulgy, less needy,
Less nuts and neurotic
With a secret smile
And a cashmere crossover top, £89
In exactly the shade
That will make my life make sense

When it arrives, cuddled in tissue
Like the precious babe it is
The top will take over
Swan into my fat disgusting wardrobe
It will reign supreme
Over the thousand unloved outfits
All suddenly matching
Themselves, each other and me
Ah, what bliss it will be

Promotion at work
Fulfillment at home
Lost socks found
The stew will never burn again
My legs will be as long as a racehorse's
And my lines will plump out like buds in summer.
Come catalog, let's flick your pages, find my card,
Quote size, style, color and ....out of stock and
Discontinued - like my dreams.

The Language of Love - Audio CD by Gary Chapman

2007-11-24T21:24:00.000-08:00

A more successful therapist recommendation...(see the review on Happiness at Work). Gary Chapman's 'Language of Love' concept sounds odd to start with. The thesis is that there are 5 quite different ways to express, receive, and understand love: 'Words of Affirmation', 'Quality Time', 'Acts of Service', 'Physical Touch' and 'Receiving Gifts'. This concept helps you understand that not everyone sees the world as you do, and the CDs therefore give you an improved framework for communicating with your partner. The tone of the CDs is folksy and interesting - and I have to give a 4/5 mark - as this is useful material for relationship improvement work.
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Miss you terrible

2007-11-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

'Miss you terrible', said your late-night text
But I miss you more
When you are here
When your eyes slide from mine
You brush my hair
With a maiden aunt's kiss
And the distance between us
Seems to flow like melting polar icecaps
Into dismal wet infinity.
This, after sweaty afternoons
In foreign hotels
Seems the final insult.
'Your note made my heart soar.'
Yes, poor weak fool
I said again that I love you
Just so you could sleep.
And at least one of us
Could snuggle up with
The pleasant bedtime story
That I once thought
Would be our life.

Emerge'N See Dynamo LED Flashlight

2007-10-07T18:04:00.000-07:00

The Emerge'N See dynamo flashlight is an interesting gadget - I picked one up at the famous Fry's Electronics store for eight dollars. I have had it for a few weeks now - and I thought I would provide a short review - in case anyone else is interested in how these gadgets work - or to be more precise what they have inside. There are now many gadgets which make use of mechanical cranks to provide their electrical power supply. Electronics manufacturers - perhaps through the imaginative prodding of Trevor Baylis who the invented, or at least patented, the clockwork generator (which does not need rechargeable batteries because it store energy in a spring) - have put more effort into mechanical generators for flashlights and radios in recent years and they are now quite common. I suspect that many of these devices are similar to the insides of the 'Emerge'N See' (great name!) flashlight.

Perhaps the first thing to look at is the advertising that you see through the bubble packaging. Here it is:

The very next thing to do is take a look at the insides! Here they are. There is gear chain which drives a generator and a small amount of electronics - which presumably rectify and stabilize the output of the generator. The rechargeable batteries inside the flashlight are depressingly small - and covered with tape preventing their identification - but let's optimistically assume that they are very efficient.

How does it work in practice? Pretty well! I have been on several night time expeditions and read by the light of the 'Emerge'N See' flashlight. The switch provides for three settings - one led, three leds and off. As the flashlight is based on leds - it isn't astonishingly powerful - but it works - and it doesn't use disposable batteries - so you do get a generally 'green' feeling while you are using it. I know that the overall environmental effect of refining the materials in the generator and rechargeable batteries and electronics will on average out weigh the impact of buying and running a tiny flashlight - but who cares? the 'Emerge'N See' is, I think cooler! I will give this 4/5. Admittedly it isn't a book - but it was educational finding out what was inside!
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My Voice Will Go With You by Sidney Rosen

2007-10-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

This book's full title is 'My Voice Will Go With You: The Teaching Tales of Milton H. Erickson, M.D.' It presents a series of tales which Erickson used in explaining therapy to the doctors and therapists whom he trained. The tales provide illustrations of the ways in which Erickson was able to synchronize himself with the 'patient/client' and then introduce new forms of programming into the 'patient/client's' mind. The short stories make the book very easy to read and the illustrations are generally analyzed by Rosen to provide background and information to the reader. One is left with an extreme appreciation of the relational-intelligence which Erickson possessed and his ability to influence others. He had many appealing features to his approach - he was not interested in learning about the patient's history or the origin of the 'pain', he was interested in setting up new patterns and doing this by taking control and responsibility. His programs were inserted into his patients' heads with humor, efficiency and logic. The allegorical tales operate on different levels. Erickson knew that trance like programming opportunities to induce involuntary responses (opportunities to transfer 'mind viruses') abound in human interactions and used that knowledge, combined with his experience of hypnotism, to improve the lot of his patients. Erickson used his influence to benefit his 'patient/clients' - and anyone interested in improving - or helping others with their problems - will benefit from the information in this book. It is also useful to know how the media, the fashion industry, advertisers, friends, colleagues and even therapists might be influencing you and your unconscious mind and enlisting your involuntary responses - to change or enslave you (depending on your perspective). My only complaint about the book was that it didn't contain enough examples! I will deduct one mark for this and award 4/5 - it is nevertheless highly recommended.
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Fiction Fobic Links

2007-08-26T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a summary of all reviews on Fiction Fobic.

Happiness, Lessons from a New Science, by Richard Layard

Topic	Score (0 to 5)
Happiness, Lessons from a New Science, by Richard Layard	0
Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age	5
The Future Is Unwritten Starring: Joe Strummer Director: Julian Temple	0
Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business	4
Outliers: The Story of Success	3
The Back of the Napkin	4
Non Iron Shirts	0
How To Say No Without Feeling Guilty	3
How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less	4
Work Less Earn More	3
The Long Tail	4
The 4-Hour Workweek	3
Thinking On Your Feet	3
Getting Past No	4
21 Secrets to Success	4
Uncommon Therapy	4
Bentley's Royal Pomegranate Green Tea	3
Eton FR250	5
The Language of Love	4
Emerge'N See LED Flashlight	4
My Voice Will Go With You	4
The Art of Happiness at Work	1
Four Steps To Treat OCD	5
Behind Closed Doors	2
Time Tactics of Very Successful People	5
Nature Versus Nurture	5
The Art of Project Management	5
The Rational Project Manager	4
The Personal Efficiency Program	3
Ready for Anything	4
How to Influence Others at Work	4
The Psychology of Persuasion	3
The Virus of the Mind	5
The Psychology of Persuasion	3
Getting Past OK	5
Thinking for a Change	3
Stumbling on Happiness	4
The Psychology of Persuasion	4
Why Didn't I Think of That?	4
The Art of Dealing with People	4
Smart Choices	5
Thinking for a Change	2
Instant Confidence	4
Idiot's Guide to Growing Your Business	-
Classic Shell Scripting	2
Charlie Brooks - Before And After Workout	5
Change Your Life in Seven Days	5
Does Anything Eat Wasps?	4

The Art of Happiness at Work by the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler

2007-08-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

This book was lent to me by a nice person. But happily I was able to hand it back to its owner the following week. I had hoped to learn something about meditation, and being in touch with feelings. However, through reading the book cover to cover the only two messages I received clearly were: the Dalai Lama is an interesting person who seems to be quite non-feelings oriented; and the Dalai Lama should not be learned about through books like this, unless all the other books on the subject have been burned. Too harsh? A possible reason for reading this book would be that you are a friend of Howard C. Cutler and would like to engage him in a spiritually connected conversation about his book, or you might be interested in selling Howard a product or service. In these situations the book is likely to be a useful read. If you are interested in learning something from the book about happiness at work you will, I am afraid, be disappointed. To be fair, the owner did mention that she had not actually read the book. Here are some of the highlights from the book:

Transforming Dissatisfaction at Work This chapter talks about what people find unsatisfying about work. Apparently people can have misplaced tolerance and misplaced forbearance to difficulties at work. The lighthearted advice is 'revolt! rebel!' and generally resist exploitation.

The Human Factor Buy your colleagues lunch, banishing blaming, using your life as a laboratory for determining what makes you happy as a human

Making Money Balance, if you buy a holiday home, be prepared for increased outgoings to maintain it. Attitudes about money are more important that the amount that you make. We are evolving towards a satisfaction economy rather than a financial economy.

Striking a Balance: Boredom and Challenge Challenge is sometimes required. But challenge is not an absolute requirement - for example a natural expression of warmth and affection, relating to other people in that way is effortless not challenging. It does not require a level of challenge, but you do get a lot of satisfaction from it - according to the text. (If only they had explained how to be naturally able to express warmth and affection and the ability to relate to other people - perhaps in their next book.)

Job, Career, Calling Three reasons to work. Some mention here of 'Flow' though 'Flow' doesn't seem to be a very self-aware state

Self Understanding Having an exaggerated sense of ones talents. Woe betide the cited Fred if he decodes his true identity. (Howard picks on an aspiring talentless author of his acquaintance to illustrate the difficulties of an exaggerated sense of self worth.)

Work and Identity Looking outwardly and looking inwardly. And un-satisfyingly short on detail.

Right Livelihood Howard reminisces about his days as an artist struggling to answer an art critic's question "What's the point?" about one of his pieces. He also takes time to footnote his apologies to artists everywhere who might take offense at this. The Dalai Lama provides an interesting perspective: "If you can, serve others. If not, at least refrain from harming them." There is also and extensive discussion of what the word productive means.

You get the general impression from the book, that Howard visited the Dalai Lama's retreat for a week and was quite an inconvenient person to have around the place. However, the Dalai Lama gave him and hour or so at the end of each working day - and the result is the stretched out thinness summarized above. I must confess that I learned two other facts from this book. The Dalai Lama was happiest when he completed a particularly difficult religious examination that required a lot of hard work. Additionally, the Dalai Lama used to enjoy mending watches. However, I am afraid that you won't learn much about happiness, or happiness at work, or meditation or feelings from this book. I rate it at 1/5. The one mark is for the pieces of information about the Dalai Lama that managed to sneak in past Howard's prose and other objectives, and the fact that Howard's friends and real estate agents may need to buy a copy.
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Four Steps To Treat OCD by Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz

2007-08-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

Occasionally - actually quite regularly I must confess - I have problems with mildly obsessive thoughts that I know are not rational. Sometimes I try to explain these away as being 'cheap insurance' and the product of a mind that is inclined to worry, but more recently I have begun to understand that my opportunities are depleted because of this problem. So, I was surprised to find in the last few days that there is a reasonably well defined approach to resolving 'Obsessive Compulsive Disorder' (OCD) - which according to the authors can change the brain's underlying biochemistry - and reduces obsessions. The technique is called the Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz' Four Steps and subtitled 'You learn that even though the OCD feeling is there, it doesn't have to control what you do.' The link above gives you a good introduction to how to apply this to yourself and the site itself is an interesting read, and naturally there are associated books to acquire on the subject. Here is a very brief summary. According to Schwartz the four steps to overcome OCD are:

Relabeling
Attribution (Anticipating and Accepting)
Refocusing
Revaluing

Step 1: Relabeling

Recognize that the intrusive obsessive thoughts and urges are a result of OCD.

Step 2: Attribution

Realize that the intensity and intrusiveness of the thought or urge is caused by OCD; it is probably related to a biochemical imbalance in your brain.

Step 3: Refocusing

Work around the OCD thoughts by focusing your attention on something else, at least for a few minutes: ie. do something other than that activity dictated by your OCD.

Step 4: Revaluing

Do not take the OCD thought at face value. It is not significant in itself.

While therapists might (and actually do) complain that I do not have OCD proper (instead saying that I have OCPD) - I recognize much of my worried thinking and intrusion of pointless thoughts in the descriptions in this site - and so I am very interested in knowing whether this 4 step process can enable me to be less troubled by the churning of ideas which can upset my equilibrium on many occasions. I intend to experiment with this. If any of this seems familiar, take a look at the Hope4OCD site. It seems a relatively non-aggressively commercially oriented site and activity. I have not read the book - or studied the literature on this (beyond the usual investigation on wikipedia). I give the site 5/5 - in recognition of its earnest outlook - and the hope that it (currently) gives me. Naturally, I will report back with any further findings.

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Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management by Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby

2007-08-14T08:44:00.001-07:00

I bought this book after listening to an interview with Johanna Rothman in a podcast. My overall conclusion having read the book is that - although it is interesting - it does not address any of the problems that I see in software management. I am unsure where this 'miss' lies. Perhaps I failed to approach the book with an open enough mind to pick up on its critical insights or understand how the portrayed examples applied to my own challenges. I was suspicious of the superficial treatment given to the characters (the book portrays a star performer manager through his interactions with his team) and I was suspicious of the short term-ism in the depicted solutions, be they agile or otherwise. Long term planning and career development are not addressed by the book - the approach is immediate and oriented toward quick fixes for troubled (fictional?) teams. The lack of strategy worried me throughout. The essential problem in my value extraction from the book lay in three areas: the issues that the fictional characters encounter are not particularly serious - technology choices, no hiring, no firing, no restructuring nor acquisitions; the books is light on its portrayal of technology - addressing this would have helped build credibility in its anecdotes; and the checklists and forms included are also light and not particularly new. 2/5 is my scoring of the book.
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Time Tactics of Very Successful People by Eugene Griessman

2007-08-14T08:17:00.001-07:00

I have had this book for many years (it was published in 1994) and I have to say that I like it a great deal. The writing is clear and the examples of successful people are interestingly diverse. Amid the often cited Charles Schwab and Zig Ziglar stories you also find Julio Inglesias and Billy Joel. Julio is included because of his successful comeback from a sporting injury into a field that enabled him to excel and Billy for his ability to take recharging sabbaticals. The book is structured nicely, taking you through the familiar and seemingly common sense basics of time management: getting organized and efficient; planning and avoiding procrastination; and finally ensuring there is a balance in your life. The chapters are like well written magazine articles of the type that are actually interesting and useful (not just the spacers between adverts). I must also confess that I like the quality of the paper and therefore the 'density' of the book. The book has a general feel of quality applied to an interesting topic and scores 5/5.
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Nature Versus Nurture

2007-08-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

Interested in a quick summary of the current status of the nature versus nurture debate? I have to confess that this is topic that fascinates me. Here are some podcast mp3's from Matt Ridley and Steve Jones which provide such a summary. Three of them come from the excellent Radio Curious which is run by Barry Vogel. The Radio Curious site has many interesting mp3's - and is very well worth a visit.

Matt Ridley Alfred Deakin Part of the 2007 Alfred Deakin Innovation Lecture series

Matt Ridley on Radio Curious

Steve Jones - on Radio Curious part 1

Steve Jones - on Radio Curious part 2

These are excellent, 5/5

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The Art of Project Management by Scott Berkun

2007-08-05T17:54:00.000-07:00

The Art of Project Management is dedicated to software project management. Written by an ex-project manager from Microsoft, Scott Berkun, this is an interesting and valuable book. Interesting because of the wealth of experience with which Scott delivers in the book. There are anecdotes, characters and sketches from the corridors of Microsoft on every other page. Scott was at Microsoft during an exciting time - and the projects and decisions that he made have had a substantial impact on the world of software - so it is fascinating to learn something of that experience. However, in addition to the anecdotes, the book provide considerable practical and valuable advice. The book is structured around three sections: plans - which discusses visions and estimates; skills which focuses on software specifications and communication techniques; and finally management and dealing with the organizational side of software projects. Almost every page provided interest and value to me - and I thoroughly recommend the book. Microsoft in the 1990s contained some of my favorite authors: Richard Brodie, Joel Spolsky and Scott Berkun. I wonder if it was fun or stressful work there?! Anyway, 5/5 for this book - it is highly recommended. Scott's web site is also worth a visit: http://www.scottberkun.com.
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The Rational Project Manager by Andrew Longman and Jim Mullins

2007-08-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

The Rational Manager is a management classic - The Rational Project Manager authors come from the management consultancy founded by Kepner and Tregoe, and the company influence on this book on project management is clear. Kepner-Tregoe strengths are decision making and problem solving and naturally this volume focuses on these aspects of project management. In addition to the consistently Kepner-Tregoe tone the book contains a logical breakdown of project management through the following overall flow: loosely federated project teams are now common, project definition is critical, planning & assigning responsibility, implementing, managing people, decision making & problem solving. A final chapter covers the possibility of installing project management software organization-wide. The people management and problem solving chapters are the most useful, in my view. Many modern project managers are faced with the problem of working with teams where the members have diverse reporting responsibilities and often the needs of the organization are a complex blend of conflicting priorities. In these circumstances the project manager needs to be careful - and diplomatic - and the methodologies in these chapters are useful in the negotiations, upon which the success of many projects now hinge.

Overall, I give the book 4/5.

The Personal Efficiency Program: How to Get Organized to Do More Work in Less Time, 2nd Edition by Kerry Gleeson

2007-08-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

The Personal Efficiency Program by Kerry Gleeson is an interesting time management and organization book. In many ways it is a forerunner of the GTD approach - it is reasonably focused on the practical and immediate of organization (like the start of the GTD book). The Personal Efficiency Program, however, does not dwell on higher altitude planning. Like David Allen, Kerry Gleeson seems to believe that there is plenty to be won by attacking the basics of organization.

The book describes how Kerry came to market his approach his Personal Efficiency Program out of the frustration of seeing his other marketing programs not being effectively applied by customers - because individuals were too poorly organized, or motivated, to implement medium term plans. One of the frustrations with the David Allen books is that it is not clearly prescriptive: at no point does Allen specifically tell you how to organize your computer files - for example. Kerry Gleeson makes some effort to tackle such issues - and the books is of interest for this reason. The books is also constantly motivating - urging you to 'do it now' throughout.

In general, I quite enjoyed this book and give it a 3/5.

Ready for Anything by David Allen

2007-07-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ready for Anything is a set of short essays written by David Allen, originally designed to be distributed to email subscribers. After the success of Getting Things Done, and undoubtedly with the enthusiastic support of the publisher, Viking, the collected 52 essay-messages were bound and sold in their own right. The result is a nicely written collection of sound-bites on the GTD philosophy (as Getting Things Done has become known) and David Allen's productivity system in general. Given the diminished attention span of the age - from which we all now suffer - and the diverse demands on our time and energy - this topic has a universal and enduring appeal. The essays do not disappoint. David's easy phrasing is evident in most - and the message is uncomplicated and reassuring. As far as I can determine it can be summed up in a television or radio interview format as: collect, process, organize, review and do. And indeed essay number 5 provides precisely this summary. David recommends focusing on the next action and clearing the decks and mind. Great advice, of course, because starting with mission statements and values create quite a barrier to further action. It isn't obvious to me why there is such an industry associated with GTD - with many sites, software and resources associated with the GTD-meme. However, it does not seem to be in any way harmful and is clearly strongly transmissible. The essence of time management is decision making. At any given moment - do you surf the web, watch YouTube, or do some work? (There are really only 3 choices). GTD provides a decision framework - and with GTD - you can almost convince yourself that you can do all three at once. This easy relevance and possible alignment with the puritan work ethic may account for some of the popularity of matters time management, and personal-productivity in general. I personally find the concepts very appealing, think that this book is better than 'Getting Things Done' itself, and rate it at 4/5.

How to Influence Others at Work by Dick McCann

2007-07-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

How to Influence Others at Work explores NLP techniques in the context of work. It was originally published in 1988. McCann was clearly influence by Bandler and by Milton Erickson (Erickson also influenced Bandler). The result is a short and engaging book, which certainly helps you remember that to be empathetic in your communications you need to match the communication style of your colleagues. Determining preferred means of communication - even if one does not necessarily completely believe in the psycho-verbal communication model - is undoubtedly a good idea. One concept that I found fascinating is the fact that the direction of eye movement reveals the type of remembering or thought construction that an individual is engaged in. When you are remembering - for most people - the eyes tend to drift to the person's left. When you are constructing thoughts - the eyes tend to drift to the person's right. Not everyone is the same in this - it depends on your handedness, for example. However, as Greg Hartley has described - you can use this basic observation to be more closely in synchronization with the person you are talking to. In addition to the information about communication models and the cues to people's recall and thinking processes the book talks extensively about pacing and provides specific instructions on improving your ability to empathetically pace colleagues. The book is now quite expensive at around 30 dollars - but I recommend it if you are interested in a practical, short and well written book about improved communication at work. It scores 4/5.

The Psychology of Persuasion: How to Persuade Others to Your Way of Thinking by Kevin Hogan

2007-07-08T17:10:00.000-07:00

The Psychology of Persuasion - is aimed at people in marketing and sales. It provides familiar information - if you read the types of books which are reviewed on FictionFobic - and found in the self-help sections of bookshops. Kevin Hogan is an expert on body language and a speaker - and contributes to a variety of organizations that consume information that supports the need to understand and connect with customers and audiences. So, to me, much of the book read like a speech - the examples were present in large numbers but there was not much detail or solid proof behind the examples. On NLP techniques - particularly the possibly hard to believe bits about eye movements and peoples' thoughts I am inclined to believe the explanations given by Nick Boothman and Greg Hartley. However, the Psychology of Persuasion is a good summary. Again it is interesting to note that there is title duplication afoot. Cialdini's 'Persuasion' is sub-titled 'The Psychology of Persuasion'. It is almost as though there is a deliberate duplication of the title words sometimes applied by publishers to interesting themes(?). (I resisted the temptation to write 'memes'). I score the book at 3/5 - it will be useful to those in sales and marketing. Try the links above for some additional information on NLP and body language - from Radio Curious - if you are simply curious.

Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme by Richard Brodie

2007-07-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

Having thoroughly enjoyed "Getting Past Ok", naturally I had to read Virus of the Mind. And I was not disappointed - it is another very interesting read. The discussion of memes around the web and world has been substantial. However, personally, I had not thought about memes too much until this read. (My theory was that fashions are well understood and have existed for thousands of years - there was probably nothing new in memes). Although, this book is titled 'new science' and occasionally comments that memetics is a 'new science', I managed to be able resist that notion without without resisting the general ideas that the book presents and summarizes. The chief idea is: - that the transmissibility of ideas is a primary property which determines the success of an idea. Transmissibility is not equated with usefulness or other forms of value. Ideas exploit the wiring needed by humans to survive and thrive. We are overly interested in danger, competition for resources, nutrition and expanding the tribe. The four Fs: Fear, Fighting, Food and 'Finding Mates' - are hardwired into us and lead us to be particularly attuned to ideas which combine these interests. We have additional sensitivities, such as a reluctance to avoid cheaps insurance and bargains in general, which make life easier for idea and meme manufacturers. I was fascinated by the book - and I searched the web for additional information on memes. This produces a torrent of information, of course. However, here are two useful meme related links: http://www.memecentral.com - this is Richard Brodies' web site dedicated to memes. I believe that it is not as actively maintained as it once was - but it is an interesting resource. Here is an mp3 of an interview with Richard Brodie from 1996, on Radio Curious. It is well worth a listen. This is a 5/5 book.

Getting Past Ok: A Straightforward Guide to Having a Fantastic Life by Richard Brodie

2007-05-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

This is a really good self-help book! Richard Brodie makes much of the fact that he went to Harvard (which he mentions on every other page) and the fact that he worked at Microsoft (this mentioned in one only one page in ten). However, the wisdom conveyed in the pages is impressive - and certainly worth the ten dollar price tag. This is a book that I recommend - if you are interested in improving the quality of your life. Some of the key elements are:


1. Understand where you are, trust yourself and accept yourself
2. Get your 'undones' done
    1. Create a list of 'undones'
    2. Create a list of 'excuses'
    3. Create a list of 'displacement activities'
    4. Work through the 'undones'
3. Discover what qualities you relate to and appreciate
4. Focus your life around these
5. Based on you and what you value - tune your future

I will be expanding this summary in due course. What is very appealing about the book is the suspicion that it conveys that here is an author who had the chance to do what many would like to do: take time to evaluate his life, experiment with various regimes and strategies, select the best and then communicate that information to others. The reader imagines that Brodie had the opportunity to do this because he made some money from his time at Microsoft (I hope that was the case). This is a 5/5 and it is recommended that you purchase a copy!

As threatened above, here is some additional information. In order to establish your life purpose, consider the following questions:
What do you want?
What have been your greatest successes?
What do you admire in others?
What do you enjoy which is not mainstream?
What values are most important to you?
What did you really enjoy doing as a kid?
What is your ideal job?
What is your ideal relationship?
What is life about from the point of view of your favorite pet or object?

When you have thought about your most important needs, create a Success Checklist which links needs, means and structures. For example, an engineer might have the following needs: (independence, control, recognition) linked to the means of (making money) in the structure of a (software engineering job) the same individual might have additional needs: (discovery, challenge, accomplishment) linked to the means of (solving technical problems) also in the structure of a (software engineering job).

These are interesting ideas which augment the GTD fascination with clearing the decks and charging through the lists, with attention to the why's and wherefore's.

Thinking for a Change by Lisa J. Scheinkopf

2007-02-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

Solving problems through diagrams is appealing and Lisa J. Scheinkopf's Thinking for a Change (not to be confused with Maxwell's Thinking for a Change), based on Eliyahu M. Goldratt's 'Thinking Processes', sets out a variety of diagramming methods focused on problem solving and creating change. The book is good but strangely organized. An abstract Part 1 explains the terms used in the Thinking Process diagrams and the general ideas that underlie the processes. A disjointed Part 2 illustrates the thinking processes in an order of presentation that may confuse the reader. Here the Transition Tree - that seeks plan out the activities needed to effect a change is presented first. This is followed by the Future Reality Tree, used to set objectives, and then the Current Reality Tree, used to identify the changes that need to be made. The reader could make the case that these chapters are in reverse order - and they are followed by a discussion of the Evaporating Cloud - which is the best known and most accessible Thinking Process, and then an overview of all of the Thinking processes applied in force, which emphasizes an entirely different ordering. Why Lisa elected to present her material in this order is not clear - my theory is that she is attempting to evangelize the less well known Thinking Processes - and therefore introduces them early in order to give them exposure. Aside from this - I was at a slight loss over the structure and intention of the book. The book has other small failings: it is expensive at almost fifty dollars and its diagrams are often sprawling. The diagrams of the overall processes, for example, are grown in fractal fashion before the reader over several pages, each successive page shrinking a former part of the diagram and adding a new section. This diagram growing is not made clear to the reader - who is left to deduce what is happening to the diagram by flicking back and forth between the pages. It would have been better to show the entire diagram and then described the various parts.

Despite minor failings in overall organization and the diagrams - the book is valuable and I recommend it to those interested in studying Goldratt's Thinking Processes in detail. The Evaporating Cloud diagram commonly provides insights when I use it to analyze problems and concerns and if you have not looked at it before - I would suggest that you take a look at this relatively simple construction - as it will certainly enable you to understand and resolve many conflicts - and at least develop additional perspectives that may be helpful to you. Several web site contain examples of Evaporating Clouds (see, for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaporating_cloud). Thinking for a Change takes the analysis of Thinking Processes beyond what I have encountered on the web and is intended for the expert Thinking Processes person, I believe. I intend to apply myself to the material - but I should have liked a book that was easier to digest - and was perhaps shorter. Perhaps Lisa will create a second version which is simpler and more accessible than the first.

Given the difficulty of assimilation - and for the diagrammatic rambles - I have deducted two marks to yield a total score of 3/5.

Note, added post review: Here is an interesting site which provides additional information on the thinking processes and methods: http://www.dbrmfg.co.nz - it is well worth a visit.

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

2007-01-21T12:59:00.000-08:00

Emotions and feelings are difficult to understand - for everyone - and for me in particular. Some feelings are especially hard to understand - hence dedicated books. In reading through you will discover many things. Alixithymia, for instance, a condition by which people can be 'feeling numb' - able to be aware of feelings - but not be connected to them. Stumbling on Happiness takes you through a detailed analysis of feelings, awareness and experience - and provides the customary selection of experiments involving folk wandering around universities worldwide - not all of whom were paid - but all of whom interact with people asking for directions, looking glamorous on dangerous bridges, and so forth, with the customary selfless dedication of those committed to the ways of learning.

The conclusions are interesting - and like the non-academic You Version 2.0 will help you to understand the stack of capabilities and functions (and frequent miss-wirings between them) that constitute You. This is not a self-help book - it is a book by a psychologist (a specialized human animal) written with the general understanding that psychology is a valid science (despite its lack of electricity) with a solid emphasis on overviewing human psychology and injecting humour in the process.

Interestingly, I observed the card trick of 'Why Didn't I Think of That' early on in the book - and naturally was not taken in by that a second time. (Actually, I think that I saw through the trick the first time around, too). For the humour and pace - I will only deduct one mark - so a total score of 4/5.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

2007-01-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

Influence is an influential book - and it has permeated high-tech. In a recent example, Joel Spolsky referred to it in a post on the influence that Microsoft were attempting to secure in the great Vista laptop blogger giveaway (see Bribing Bloggers). I read Influence a while ago and this is my review. I score the book at 4/5 - it is enlightening but not immediately practically useful - there are few decision criteria for when to employ the different strategies - and therefore from a practical standpoint a mark has to be subtracted. There is a nice summary online here. A very short summary of the principles of influence follows:


Reciprocity
  People try to repay favors - even when the repayment is 
  unequal - free coffee in the car showroom and complimentary
  give aways at the supermarket are examples the potential 
  for the generation of unequal feelings of indebtedness 
  that we should be cautious of.
Commitment and Consistency
  You have spent time in a given state and to change 
  behavior would imply an inconsistency
Social Proof
  What is in fashion with other pepole?
Liking
  We are likely to follow the suggestion of
  people like ourselves whom we know and like.
Authority
  People in white coats in the laboratory are
  the only trusted source for information about
  nutraceuticals
Scarcity
  We are programmed to survive famine and, as the
  collectors know, possessing the completing
  item in the set can be overwhelmingly influential

If you have ever marvelled at the ability of everyone around you to spend inordinate amounts of money on 'plush' dolls, trolls or manufactured pop idols - this is a useful and explanatory book. The utility of the book is in exposing the strands of attack of the influencer - these are normally fairly obvious - but it is interesting to have the examples and the categorizations that Cialdini provides. It is also troubling to read of the potential consequences of influence in its most extreme and dire manifestations.

Why Didn't I Think of That? by Charles W. McCoy, Jr.

2007-01-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

Charles W. McCoy is a judge and therefore necessarily a careful and methodical thinker. The opening of this book takes you through a case from McCoy's court - a seemingly open and shut case of a promising career cut short by industrial carelessness and corner cutting. McCoy modestly shows how even a judge can be taken in by the superficial and how, in this case, careful and sceptical consideration of the facts enabled the correct outcome to be achieved. However, this was a close call - and McCoy's response to this incident, and many others in a distinghished legal career, has been to set down the basics of thinking issues through carefully. I found this an interesting read. Perhaps too much focus on optical illusions and what seemed like standard examples of critical thinking exercises - but interesting and challenging in its approach. If you are interested in sharpening your thinking skills - this is a recommended read, with a 4/5 rating.

Great templates

2006-12-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

There are some nice templates for organizing yourself available on the web. Here are two examples: Five Minute Organizer and Next Action Cards. Take a look - they are not fictional and they are useful.

The Art of Dealing with People by Les Giblin

2006-12-24T14:48:00.000-08:00

A short read. This booklet reminds one of the criticality of not damaging the ego of another person in general interactions. Excellent advice - Dale Carnegie-like - and difficult to apply in practice - because it goes against our naturally selfish tendancies. Here is the basic structure of the book. (Please excuse the formatting - I was too lazy to find out how to make readable html survive the processing of blogger - which wants to interpret newlines and html tags with equal alacrity).


Thinking creatively about human relations
   If you want to get anything done - you had better be 
   able to get along with other people
Understanding the human ego
   Recognizing that everyone is egotistical, selfishly 
   interested in themselves, wants to amount to something 
   and wants to be feel approval
   A starved ego is a mean ego
Making people feel important
   Think others are important
   Notice people
   Don't compete with people
   Know when to correct people
Controlling the actions and attitudes of others
   Be confident
       Walk confidently
       Shake hands confidently
       Moderate your voice
       Smile
   Impute virtue in others
Creating a good impression
   Don't wear a disguise
   Don't knock the competition
Developing an attractive personality
   Accept, approve and appreciate others
Learning to communicate effectively
   Don't try to be perfect
   Get people talking about themselves
   Don't tease and don't be sarcastic
Listening
   Listening makes you clever, so...
       Look at the person who is talking
       Appear deeply interested
       Lean towards the person
       Ask questions
       Don't interrupt, ask for more
       Stick to the speaker's subject
       User the speaker's words
Convincing others
   Allow others to speak to state their case
   Pause before you answer
   Don't insist on winning 100%
   State you case moderately
   Speak through third parties
   Allow others to save face
   'I felt the same way about it at first, until I 
   ran acorss this information which changed the picture'
Giving praise
   Sincerity
   Speak up
   Thank people by name
   Look at people when you thank them
   Work at thanking people
   Thank people when they least expect it
Criticizing without offending
   Criticize in private
   Preface criticism with a kind word
   Criticize the act not the person
   Supply the answer
   Ask for cooperation
   One criticism to an offence
   Finish in a friendly fashion

Overall - I give the book 4/5 - it isn't lengthy - which is an advantage - it is a good buy!

Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions

2006-11-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions (Paperback)
by John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, Howard Raiffa

In contrast to 'Thinking For A Change', which tackles a broader subject, but winds up focused on decisions, I found this an extremely interesting read. It took me a while to get used to the style, which is verbose, though this is a short book. My initial resistance to the style was based on the fact that I have seen other, more academic books on this subject (e.g. Strategic Decision Making: Multiobjective Decision Analysis with Spreadsheets by Craig W. Kirkwood) which are quickly mathematical and algorithmic. In this case the lack of overt math and algorithm was an initial disappointment. However, once I succumbed to the style, I found the information both interesting and informative - the book helped me understand the processes of decision making better. The authors take you through many different descisions in the text - all the while documenting the decision method which can be characterized as "PrOACT" & "URL". PrOACT stands for Problem, Objective, Alternatives, Consequences, Tradeoffs - prior to reading the book I would have suspected that applying this type of breakdown to many decisions would be overkill. However, as the authors frequently mention, not all decisions require the 'full treatment' and the clarity of the steps in PrOACT does provide confidence in the application in practical situations. Here is a short summary of 'Smart Choices':

Problem
What is the issue at hand? - always good to know - ask why several times to get to the bottom of the issue.

Objective
What are the sizes and shapes of a successful outcomes?

Alternatives
How might we get there? Think broadly...

Consequences
What would these alternatives bring with them?

Tradeoffs
How do we balance alternatives - through domination and even-swaps, to generate a simple enough analysis to be able to pick the winning choice?

(URL stands for Uncertainty, Risk and Linked decisions - as the authors probably are not interested in blogging - the acronym URL is not used in the book). That the dominant alternative and 'Even-Swap' methods reduce the complexity of alternative analysis was appealing too. There are many interesting resources on decision making on the web see the DOE decision making guidebook, for example. However, this books is worth the investment, 5/5. A recommended purchase! Perhaps I am now ready (again) to tackle Craig Kirkwood's book.

Thinking for a Change by John C. Maxwell

2006-11-01T06:42:00.000-08:00

Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work by John C. Maxwell

This was a gift from a long suffering associate - I am not sure what to read into this as a gift - but interestingly there are many books which have the title 'Thinking for a Change', I even have another example on the bookshelf myself (review pending). This is an interesting self-help variation which possibly has the most occurrences of the word 'think' in any book, ever. It is an easy read - and it makes sense - but I did not enjoy the book for some reason. There are some general problems - the author presents an optimisitic, ultra-positive view point - but starts every chapter with two quotes, one of which is a silly phrase ('What were they thinking') - not always related to the chapter and probably intended to be a funny moment at the beginning of a lecture which has been (re)worked into the book. Overall I give the book 2/5.

Here are the different forms of thinking that Maxwell (and his writer, see the chapter on shared thinking) walk the reader through.

Big Picture Thinking

Arranging matters so that you are continually learning and not getting bogged down in details

Focused Thinking

In contrast to the previous chapter, taking time to focus on the details.

Creative Thinking

'Originality is the art of concealing your source' as Maxwell quotes Edison - but the intention of the chapter is extending ideas.

Realistic Thinking

I liked this chapter best. It contains the following table.

Misconception	Reality
I could make everyone happy	There will be conflict
People like change if it's done properly	People resist change regardless
It is enough that the leader takes care of people	People must be developed to be effective
Good leadership makes tough call unnecessary	Tough calls must always be made

Strategic Thinking

About developing plans

Possibility Thinking

Keeping an open mind and not consorting with experts - who tend to limit possibilities

Reflective Thinking

What went right, what went wrong, what did I learn?

Questioning Popular Thinking

Not trusting popular thinking

Shared Thinking

Getting a team to help move ideas forward

Unselfish Thinking

Doing things for the right motives and through inspiration

Bottom-line Thinking

Keeping track of the score of the endeavor - not just through money but through achievement of the central mission

Links on hypnotism

2006-09-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

There are some fascinating links on hypnotism on the web. For example, Dylan Morgan in the UK provides a wealth of information on the subject and much general advice. The formatting of the site is a little troubling - but the information is excellent and the knowledge that Dylan has invested in the material clearly evident. Self help books have tendency to veer towards poor science, with assertions not credibly supported, and logic suspended en route to a recommendation. This results in criticism of forms of change techniques such as 'Neuro Linguistic Programming' NLP (see for example, the execellent, The Sceptics Dictionary on this topic). Yet, the topic attracts much attention. Hyponotism and/or reprogramming naturally appeals to programmers. Programming provides hope for change and rationalization for past mistakes. It also provides a topical analogy for geeks. So, You Version 2.0 adopts the analogy strenuously. Why not insert a new program to upgrade the system? We do that daily at work and at home. Why assume that habits and patterns are fixed? Download a new driver and the glitch will be fixed. Familiar and reasonable words and indeed every lesson that is learned supports the case.

Instant Confidence by Paul McKenna

2006-09-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Somewhat similar to Change your Life in 7 Days but good nonetheless. Paul McKenna and his cowriter take you through clearly written steps to improve your self-confidence. Given the level of self-confidence required to be a successful stage hypnotist and self-help guru this is a task with which Paul is familiar and well versed. The book comes with a CD which contains a hypnotic pep-talk designed to augment the material in the book. Paul notes in the introduction that the book only takes a short while to read - and this is a merit for self help book. I enjoyed the reframing comments such as 'My wife has left me for another man' (said in sad tone by a participant in a Paul McKenna seminar) 'Don't worry someone else is stuck with her now' (the response from another seminar participant). 4/5 is the score allotted.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Growing Your Business with Google by Dave Taylor

2006-09-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

As a long time fan of Digital Dave I know that he is a helpful and dedicated person - and this book has not disappointed so far. I am still working my way through - it is too early for it to have made impact on any business with which I am connected. But this isn't to say that I am disappointed - it is good pragmatic stuff. (Not get rich quick fluff by any means). An update and score will be added when the text has been further assimilated.

Sites worth exploring

2006-09-10T20:35:00.000-07:00

http://zztools.blogspot.com/
Boosting blog traffic
Let your logs become your plans
http://www.stevepavlina.com/
http://dirtsimple.org/
http://www.hypno1.co.uk/

Boosting traffic

2006-09-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

Spent some time exploring how to increase the number of hits here. One useful set of ideas is provided by http://paulstamatiou.com/2005/11/03/how-to-boost-your-blog-traffic/ on Paul Stamatiou's site. So I added some Technorati information - as you see on the side bar to see how and if the current ranking can be improved. An improvement will be reported in future posts. Currently Technorati reports: Rank: 1,585,908 - which is not particularly promising!

Also check out http://zztools.blogspot.com!

Classic Shell Scripting by Arnold Robbins and Nelson H.F. Beebe

2006-09-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

An interesting book, mainly focused on Bourne shell scripting. This has some real world examples - but unfortunately it generally fails to be thoroughly interesting or as absorbing as it promises to be. The major failings are the length of the book - it is just too long to be assimilatable, its mildly academic examples and its lack of structure. It is not completely clear as you read through who the intended audience or audiences are. It is not clear where one might apply the examples that given.

The classical reads on software technologies generate stopping off points where the reader is forced to consider immediately implementing what is described in his or her day to day work, either as a tool or an enhancement to process or design. This book did not generate these stopping off points for. Instead I was occasionally fretting that there might be another way to do what had just been described. This does not happen when one reads Bentley, Kernighan, Wall et al.

So I give it just 2/5. I would only buy it if you are interested in surveying all the works on scripting, it is required reading for a course, or if for some reason the example chapter available online particularly appeals to you.

Charlie Brooks - Before And After Workout - DVD

2006-09-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

Another 5/5 I am afraid! However, this DVD is really a good one. It is not fiction - it is not boring - and it achieves the desired results efficiently. If you want to improve your fitness this is a recommended purchase. There are a variety of reviews on the Amazon site - but I wanted to add some personal comments.

Firstly, I have no connection with the publisher, Charlie Brooks, or anyone connected with this DVD. I am just someone who wanted to get more exercise and didn't have the time to join an exercise club - or the money to invest in exercise equipment. This particular DVD (having investigated a few online) seems to have good reactions from its customers, and I can confirm that it achieves what it sets out to achieve.

The exercises are the right combination of stretch and fun. The 'moves' takes a little time to become comfortable - but the learning process is not too challenging and the effects of the exercises is clear - which encourages you to keep with the program.

As mentioned at the start, 5/5. I have dropped around 10 pounds in 3 months on the program - with no particular attention to my diet.

Change Your Life in Seven Days: The World's Leading Hypnotist Shows You How by Paul McKenna

2006-09-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

This volume caught my eye on an occasion when I had a chance to browse and immediately it exerted a hypnotic appeal - even among the competing life changing books on the bookstore shelf. It combines the usual self-help logic with an earnestness and clear writing that, I think, explain the initial attraction.

So far the book has not been disappointing. The chapters are short, the print large, and progress through the 7 days is rapid. The initial chapters contain the usual reflections on one's own responsibility for one's predicament and much positive motivation aimed at changing that situation.

The audio recording has been duly downloaded and listened to (get your copy here http://www.paulmckenna.com/file/116/trance.html) - with care to insure that the correct ears are connected to the left and right tracks - as demanded by the introductory words. The overall impact of the recording was - I think - as desired by the author - drowsiness.

The scientific and factual content of the volume is low. However, the common sense factor and homespun logic high. The earnest tone and self confidence of the writing are engaging from start to finish.

The book is therefore awarded full marks 5/5 - this is an unpretentious self-help/marketing volume - which I recommend. Now it has to be said that when I started to make this site I thought that I would not give every book a 4 or a 5 - that is the most annoying thing about some ranking systems out there - so be assured that this is an earned 5/5.

Does Anything Eat Wasps? Edited by Mick O'Hare

2006-08-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

A collection of short articles concerning the everyday with a scientific bias, which stem from observations and answers supplied by correspondents around the world to the New Scientist magazine.

It is interesting stuff: the fastest way to pour fluid from a bottle, the optimal order in which to combine beer and lemonade, and the feasible return radius of lost bees from their hives, are examples of the material covered.

Interesting, but perhaps not immediately practical and therefore constantly at risk of being as useless as fiction. But it is an enjoyable read and could be useful if your mission were to inspire curiosity in colleagues or a class of iPod-ed teenagers.

4/5 (dropping a mark for the lack of apparent immediate practical application).