December 2008
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Author: John Demos
Genre: Nonfiction, History
Rating: **** (4 Stars)
Summary:
John Demos is a professor and scholar of history. The Enemy Within is “the end product of an almost half-century engagement with witchcraft study” dating back to a term paper he wrote as a grad student in 1960. Demos observes that “witch hunt” is a widely used metaphor in today’s world, and sets out to compare and contrast modern metaphorical witch hunts with the literal witch hunts of the past. He begins with the Roman persecution of Christians in the 2nd century A.D., continuing up to the Salem witch trials in 17th century Massachusetts. Demos notes consistent patterns in events leading to accusations, people who were accused, and how witch-hunts sometimes spiral out of control as the accused name others in attempts to save their own lives.
Tags: accusations, History, john demos, mccarthy hearings, Nonfiction, red scares, salem witch trials, witch hunt
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Subtitle: From Dating, Shopping, and Praying to Going to War and Becoming a Billionaire- Two Evolutionary Psychologists Explain Why We Do What We Do
Authors: Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa
Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Summary:
Why Beautiful People Have More Daughters is an insightful look at how natural selection has influenced how we behave, asserting that certain behavioral tendencies made our ancestors more likely to survive and reproduce, and that we, as their descendants, have the same tendencies, which, taken together, constitute “human nature.” Many of these tendencies are better suited to a world that existed thousands of years ago, rather than the present day, and result in many of our social problems of today.
Tags: alan s miller, evolutionary psychology, human behavior, natural selection, Nonfiction, reviews, satoshi kanazawa
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Author: Lee Child
Genre: Thriller, Detective Fiction
Rating: ***** (5 Stars)
Summary:
Jack Reacher is a former military policeman who lost his job to military downsizing. He is living off his severance package and drifting from place to place without much of a plan. On a whim, he gets of a Greyhound bus and walks into the small town of Margrave, Georgia, where he is falsely arrested for murder.
Reacher is interrogated by the town’s only detective, a man named Finlay who formerly worked in Boston. Reacher convinces Finlay of his innocence, and because of his military police background, ends up helping the police department with the case. He learns, to his horror, that the murdered man is his own brother, Joe, who was working for the Treasury Department investigating and prosecuting counterfeiters.
Tags: investigation, jack reacher, killing floor, lee child, Murder, Novel, Thriller
What is open source?
Open source software is free software. It is created by conscientious programmers who are frustrated with the limitations of commercial software vendors and think they can do a better job. In some cases, open source alternatives are far superior to the commercial programs they replace. For example, I stopped using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer nearly two years ago. Instead, I use Firefox, which is fast, more secure, highly customizable, and just as user-friendly.
What programs do I use?
Here are just a few of the open source programs I use. I have saved over $1,200 by using these instead of commercial software.
- Open Office – replaces Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.) Cost savings = $149
- GIMP – a photo editing program often compared to Adobe Photoshop. Cost savings = $899
- Kompozer – web development software. Alternative to Dreamweaver. Cost savings = $200+
I recently came across the following Dilbert cartoon:
There’s really nothing I can add to this. It sums me up perfectly. I’ll probably be up til 3am looking at pictures and reviews of the Nokia N810 I’m getting for Christmas. How does Scott Adams know these things about me?
If you’re a fan of Dilbert, check out Scott Adams’ blog at Dilbert.com. It’s a surreal mix of useful information and strange humor that only an engineer could think up. You can even make mashups with old Dilbert cartoons and replace punch lines with your own.
Be sure to read the post explaining how financial markets work!
Are you a fan of Dilbert? Addicted to the internet? Share your opinion by commenting.
Tags: dilbert cartoon, scott adams
If anyone is in the market for a digital audio player, you may want to check this out. The Creative website has refurbished Zen Vision M 30 gigabyte players for about $100. I have one of these that I bought new for $250 about a year and a half ago, and I love it. The sound quality is excellent, it supports most audio formats, and it can function as a plug and play storage device. I haven’t used it for movies, but it received excellent reviews for the quality of its screen.
Have an opinion on digital audio players? Share it by commenting on this post.
Tags: digital audio player, inexpensive, Refurbished, zen vision m
What is VOIP?
“VOIP” stands for “Voice Over Internet Protocol.” Simply put, with VOIP, your phone conversations go over the internet rather than through landlines.
Okay, why does that matter?
The advantage to VOIP is that it is far less expensive. For example, the first phone service I ever had was absolute bare bones. No Call Waiting, no Caller ID, no Voice Mail – just plain old telephone service. Including taxes, I paid about $28 per month. The cost only goes up from there. I just did a quick internet search and discovered that in my area, Verizon charges $40 per month before taxes for unlimited calling to the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. If I want voicemail, caller ID and call waiting, I would pay $45 per month before taxes.
I have all that and more for about $17 per month through VOIP.com.
Tags: Canada, Germany, internet tablet, phone service, Review, skype, US, verizon, voice over internet, VOIP, voip.com
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Author: Geraldo Rivera
Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: **** (4 Stars)
Summary:
His Panic is, as the title suggests, about immigration, immigration reform, and the prevalent negative attitude of Americans toward Hispanic immigrants. Geraldo Rivera sets out to to address many of those perceptions and make a case for a more liberal immigration policy.
The author compares the current wave of central and south American immigrants to the past migrations of Europeans, including the Irish after the Potato Famine. He cites the example of violence toward Irish immigrants in New York City, and suggests that current attitudes are simply history repeating itself with the hatred focusing on a different group.
Geraldo addresses a number of negative perceptions surrounding Hispanic immigrants, asserting that most immigrants are law-abiding, hardworking, patriotic and benefit the United States by their presence here. He also accuses certain radio and TV commentators of spreading misinformation to sway public opinion against immigration reform, citing and refuting several examples.
Tags: argument, book, geraldo rivera, immigration, immigration reform, misinformation, Nonfiction
I had a lesson in economics recently, illustrated by a simple package of disposable razors.
Sorry, the photos were lost during a recent data migration.
The package on the left contains 8 Target brand triple blade razors. It cost about $5. The package on the right contains 8 Schick XTREME3 ComfortPlus razors and cost about $10. I’ve been using the Schick razors for the past year, and decided save a few bucks by trying the store-brand razors.
The Schick razors cut cleanly, usually requiring only one pass, and are fairly clog resistant. The Target razors clogged quickly, were difficult to unclog, and sometimes required five or six passes over the same patch of skin. When I had finished, my face felt like I had used sandpaper to remove my stubble. My experience with the store brand was so bad that after one use, I went back to the store and bought the Schick razors. Needless to say, I’ll be paying the extra $5 from now on.
Tags: disposable razors, inferior goods, schick razors, store brands
School is out, finals are over, and Christmas is just a couple of weeks away, and I’m drooling with anticipation over my soon-to-be latest toy. Recently, I started thinking about buying a new Pocket PC to replace my 6 year old Toshiba e330. The Toshiba still works great- I use it to take notes in class with a portable keyboard, but it has neither Bluetooth nor WiFi, and I’d really like to be able to surf the net and check my email on the go.
The Nokia N810
The Nokia N810 is what’s called an internet tablet. It is not a phone, but it has Bluetooth and WiFi. It’s about the size of a large cell phone, and is intended, as its name suggests, as a portable internet device. You can use it to access the internet at a WiFi hotspot, or tether it to your cell phone if you have a data plan. Although it is not a phone, you can use Skype with it. Additionally, it has a built-in GPS and mapping software.
Tags: device, google docs, gps, internet tablet, n810, nokia, skype
