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• 3 people find this helpful

  Interesting topic. But the book turned out to be quite dull. Not exactly the kind of presentation you'd expect from a prominent futurist like Kurzweil. Ended up reading just the "quick knowledge" boxes.

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  ― Posted on Jun 28, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 4 people find this helpful

  Ambitious, high-level stuffs

  Not bad, but not as substantive as I wish. Got some interesting ideas but calling them "Laws" seems to be taking it all too seriously. And the overuse of cheesy acronyms is annoying.

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  ― Posted on Feb 17, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 9 people find this helpful

  Essential for building a startup

  Former evangelist of Apple computer Guy Kawasaki shares his insights about starting a business. Areas covered include:

  Positioning
  Pitching
  Writing biz plans
  Bootstrapping
  Recruiting
  Raising money
  ...

  Highly readable (and funny). Both the exercises and FAQs ... (continue)

  Former evangelist of Apple computer Guy Kawasaki shares his insights about starting a business. Areas covered include:

  Positioning
  Pitching
  Writing biz plans
  Bootstrapping
  Recruiting
  Raising money
  ...

  Highly readable (and funny). Both the exercises and FAQs are useful. If you need to sell ideas someday, especially business ones, be sure to read this before you do.

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  ― Posted on Feb 17, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 3 people find this helpful

  Recommended

  I've been looking for a good read on Newton for a while. Spotted this one from a friend's shelf. Turned out to be a winner! Interesting and believable stories. Even the notes at the back are fun to read. Little knowledge of physics required.

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  ― Posted on Jan 21, 2007 | 1 feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

  Get the stories straight

  This is the definitive history of 20th-century world economy. There are different takes out there but many, if not most, of them are simply inaccurate. To get the stories straight, read this. It is as approachable as the TV series of the same name. Read it and you'll understand why we shall defend f ... (continue)

  This is the definitive history of 20th-century world economy. There are different takes out there but many, if not most, of them are simply inaccurate. To get the stories straight, read this. It is as approachable as the TV series of the same name. Read it and you'll understand why we shall defend free markets.

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  ― Posted on Feb 17, 2007 | Add your feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

  Fun read

  Previously printed as "Then we set his hair on fire", referring to Michael Jackson's hair-burning accident during a Pepsi ads shoot. Full of interesting anecdotes and quotable ideas. Again and again Phil shows convincingly how great ads campaigns all originate from a single insight. Examples include ... (continue)

  Previously printed as "Then we set his hair on fire", referring to Michael Jackson's hair-burning accident during a Pepsi ads shoot. Full of interesting anecdotes and quotable ideas. Again and again Phil shows convincingly how great ads campaigns all originate from a single insight. Examples include Visa, Pizza Hut, FedEx, GE and of course, Pepsi.

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  ― Posted on Jan 21, 2007 | 1 feedback

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• 3 people find this helpful

  Not very funny

  This is not as funny as I'd expected. You'd be better off getting a real joke book or a real introduction to the word-play kind of philosophy.

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  ― Posted on Nov 30, 2006 | Add your feedback

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• 2 people find this helpful

  Thought-provoking

  One of the best books I've read this year. His thoughts are well-laid-out and points well-argued. And he keeps his humor throughout. Not a technical book but a collection of essays from a leading programmer on subjects ranging from income inequality to what makes a programming language great. What a ... (continue)

  One of the best books I've read this year. His thoughts are well-laid-out and points well-argued. And he keeps his humor throughout. Not a technical book but a collection of essays from a leading programmer on subjects ranging from income inequality to what makes a programming language great. What a joy.

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  ― Posted on Nov 30, 2006 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  Brief and insightful

  Short and readable. Joe Klein is not as funny as himself in Time but just as insightful. Klein seems to speak in an honest voice and I like how he's smartly critical about the media including himself. A memorable account of how the most-gifted politician in his generation succeeded in certain areas ... (continue)

  Short and readable. Joe Klein is not as funny as himself in Time but just as insightful. Klein seems to speak in an honest voice and I like how he's smartly critical about the media including himself. A memorable account of how the most-gifted politician in his generation succeeded in certain areas but overall failed to live up to his full potential.

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  ― Posted on Sep 8, 2006 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  Not Feynman's best

  This is from a three-night series of lectures in which he talks about science and religion, politics, the unscientifc age, etc. Not bad, but certainly not the most interesting and illuminating Feynman.

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  ― Posted on Sep 4, 2006 | Add your feedback

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• 2 people find this helpful

  An earthly view of two philosophy icons

  I picked up this book for two reasons: first, I enjoyed "Bobby Fisher Goes to War", a later work by the same authors, and second, I wanted to read Popper's works and would like to get some background materials first.

  The story itself may not be as dramatic as "Bobby" but the characters are as ... (continue)

  I picked up this book for two reasons: first, I enjoyed "Bobby Fisher Goes to War", a later work by the same authors, and second, I wanted to read Popper's works and would like to get some background materials first.

  The story itself may not be as dramatic as "Bobby" but the characters are as eccentric, if not more. Wittgenstein and Popper came from the same city around the same period, and have in fact lived quite close to each other. Yet for everything else, especially their philosophies, they were vastly different. The climax came when they finally met each other in a philosophy club meeting in which Wittgenstein allegedly threatened Popper with a poker (hence the title of the book) and stormed out of the room shortly after.

  This is NOT a book about their philosophies. You wouldn't learn much about them except for the very basics. But if you'd like to take a peek of the persons behind the philosophies, this has to one of the best around.

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  ― Posted on Jul 31, 2006 | Add your feedback

• 5 people find this helpful

  As good as expected

  As fun, compact, and inspiring as his previous book "It's not what you are, it's what you want to be". Put a copy at your desk and flip it every now and then. Well worth the money.

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  ― Posted on Jul 13, 2006 | Add your feedback

• A fun read

  Stephen Levitt asks questions - some frivolous some serious - and comes up with interesting answers with the help of economic tools.

  "What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?"

  Everything has a price for everyone. If the price is right - the incentive is there - you will ... (continue)

  Stephen Levitt asks questions - some frivolous some serious - and comes up with interesting answers with the help of economic tools.

  "What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common?"

  Everything has a price for everyone. If the price is right - the incentive is there - you will sell or buy anything. This chapter looks at cheating - selling your integrity - among teachers and sumo wrestlers.

  "How is the Klu Klux Klan Like a Group of real-estate agents?"

  I've had wondered: If real-estate agents earn a cut of the price a property is sold, don't they have the incentive to do their best to jack up the price - which is bad news for the buyers?

  Turns out I missed an obvious point: the cut is often so low percentage-wise that it makes more sense to close deals quickly and move on than to try to get a higher price for a little more cut. Thus, they have the incentive to persuade the seller that whatever offer comes up is already a great deal.

  But that's not the main point of this chapter; information asymmetry is.

  "Why do drug dealers still live with their moms?"

  This chapter is about how conventional wisdom is often fabricated out of self-interests.

  But the most interesting part is how a gang is like most other businesses. Put the org chart of a gang and that of McDonald's side by side and you won't be able to tell which is which. Like McDonald's, gang is very much a franchise business. Heck, the most powerful few of a gang franchise is called "board of directors"!

  Gang leaders don't necessarily like violence and fights. After all, they scare customers off and disrupt businesses. But their low-level drug dealers have something else in mind. The only way to climb up the corporate ladder is to make a name for himself, often by means of violence. Now you see why running a gang is no easy feast.

  I found this a book a bit overrated but it's a good read nonetheless. Although it spans 200+ pages, the approachable writing makes it a quick read. Good for short flights.

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  ― Posted on May 14, 2006 | Add your feedback

• 3 people find this helpful

  Magnificent

  Honestly, I have no idea how I could earn an eonomics degree without ever having to read this book.

  Friedman starts off with the most fundamental belief of a liberal - a belief "in the individual's freedom to make the most of his capacities and opporunties according to his own lights, subject ... (continue)

  Honestly, I have no idea how I could earn an eonomics degree without ever having to read this book.

  Friedman starts off with the most fundamental belief of a liberal - a belief "in the individual's freedom to make the most of his capacities and opporunties according to his own lights, subject only to the proviso that he not interfere with the freedom of other individuals to do the same."

  As such, in judging social arrangements, the question to ask is, "Does it promote individual freedom?"

  He goes on to argue that in order to have a free society, you need a free economy. Then he lays down fourteen activities undertaken by the government which could not be justified. They include:

  - tariffs on imports and restrictions on exports
  - Minimum wage rates, maximum prices
  - Current public school system
  - The present social security systems
  - Licensure provisions
  - National parks

  This is quite a big challenge he brings to himself. I mean, this guy is arguing against requiring doctors to get a license!

  He proceeds to argue very convincingly for each of the item. Every chapter is a gem. The thinking is rigorous, its clarity stunning. And they are filled with humor and episodes and insights that are a fun to read by themselves (think "Freakonomics").

  Liberals are anything but idealistic. Friedman's basic argument is this: look, you can try to get the government to do something about this issue, and with luck you may see some quick effects. But once the government gets its hands into this, they are never gonna get out. That's the REALITY. Like in every institution, the natural tendency is to seek to grow and expand its influence. Once the government minds the business it should't mind, it's gonna bring in evil effects that are gradual, indirect, and unfortunately, will go unnoticed for a long while.

  If you are a liberal, you can't be a good one without reading this. If you are somewhere else in the spectrum, this book will give you plenty food for thought.

  Oh btw, in case you think this is something new, he wrote this book back in 1962.

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  ― Posted on May 11, 2006 | Add your feedback

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  Practical advice

  This book is for those of us who feel that the world according to Fortune and BusinessWeek somehow doesn't involve your 3-man travel agency, that the lessons from Good to Great just don't seem relevant to growing your lemonade stand.

  This book covers quite a wide range of issues. From getting ... (continue)

  This book is for those of us who feel that the world according to Fortune and BusinessWeek somehow doesn't involve your 3-man travel agency, that the lessons from Good to Great just don't seem relevant to growing your lemonade stand.

  This book covers quite a wide range of issues. From getting the right attitude to writing business plans to borrowing money to marketing with a small budget to hiring a musician to head your IT department. The examples supposedly come from the author's own experience so it reads more like a story than a dummies guide.

  You may find out from this book that running your own business is not your cup of tea - it is probably more consuming, demanding, and tedious than you think. And that alone is worth many times the price of this book.

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  ― Posted on May 8, 2006 | Add your feedback

• 2 people find this helpful

  Looks like a classic

  This is a quick read. It covers all 22 laws + introduction + a warning chapter + index in 143 pages. But you'd most likely revisit it as a reference every now and then.

  The writing is concise. The examples are clear albeit outdated. To give you a taste of what's inside, here's a list of the fi ... (continue)

  This is a quick read. It covers all 22 laws + introduction + a warning chapter + index in 143 pages. But you'd most likely revisit it as a reference every now and then.

  The writing is concise. The examples are clear albeit outdated. To give you a taste of what's inside, here's a list of the first 10 laws:

  1. The Law of Leadership
  It's better to be first than it is to be better.

  2. The Law of the Category
  If you can't be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.

  3. The Law of the Mind
  It's better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.

  4. The Law of Perception
  Marketing is not a battle of products, it's a battle of perceptions.

  5. The Law of Focus
  The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect's mind.

  6. The Law of Exclusivity
  Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect's mind.

  7. The Law of the Ladder
  The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder.

  8. The Law of Duality
  In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race.

  9. The Law of the Opposite
  If you're shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader.

  10. The Law of Division
  Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories.

  One of the most interesting laws is the Law of Line Extension, which states that extending the equity of a brand leads to its downfall. I couldn't stop thinking about Google while reading that chapter.

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  ― Posted on Mar 8, 2006 | Add your feedback

• 4 people find this helpful

  The master in his own words

  This is a collection of Warren Buffett's letters to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. It is excellently selected and arranged by Cunningham so it reads like a book.

  Buffett is an extraordinary communicator. He conveys his insights in language and mathematics that most people understand. He c ... (continue)

  This is a collection of Warren Buffett's letters to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway. It is excellently selected and arranged by Cunningham so it reads like a book.

  Buffett is an extraordinary communicator. He conveys his insights in language and mathematics that most people understand. He clearly knows his stuffs well, as reflected by the amazingly simple examples and stories he uses throughout. Some examples:

  On stock price:

  "If you plan to eat hamburgers throughout your life and are not a cattle producer, should you wish for higher or lower prices for beef? ... If you expect to be a net buyers of stocks in for many years to come, should you hope for a higher or lower stock market during that period?"

  On fixed-price stock options:

  "A savings account in which interest was reinvested would, at 8% interest, quadruple its annual earnings in 18 years ... Many stock options in the corporate world have gained in value simply because management retained earnings, not because it did well with the capital in its hands."

  On EBITDA:

  How could you paint an accurate picture by excluding depreciation, depletion, and amortization without including the "amount of capitalized expenditures for plant and equipment, etc a business requires to fully maintain its long-term competitive position and its unit volume"?

  On whether stock options should be booked as expenses:

  "If options aren't a form of compensation, what are they? If compensation isn't an expense, what is it? And if expenses shouldn't go into the calculations of earnings, where in the world should they go?"

  * * *

  I haven't read any other books about Warren Buffet or his ideas. But I suspect if you are to read only one, this is it.

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  ― Posted on Feb 17, 2006 | Add your feedback

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• 5 people find this helpful

  Hey smart one, read this bestseller and start saving NOW!

  The author is a psychology professor. Looking at unwanted magazines and tickets to the sanitation worker's ball one day, he wonders why he's such a sucker all his life. Just what makes a person say "yes"?

  He decides to do some research. To learn from the pros, he's worked as sales trainee in v ... (continue)

  The author is a psychology professor. Looking at unwanted magazines and tickets to the sanitation worker's ball one day, he wonders why he's such a sucker all his life. Just what makes a person say "yes"?

  He decides to do some research. To learn from the pros, he's worked as sales trainee in various trades: real-estate, cars, table-waiting, what not.

  His findings from this three-year research are summarized in this book, in which he describes six so-called "weapons of influence":

  1. Reciprocation
  2. Commitment and Consistency
  3. Social Proof
  4. Liking
  5. Authority
  6. Scarcity

  The reason we are vulnerable is that we instinctively follow some guidelines that help us make better decisions with incomplete information. For example, when in doubt, following what others do (social proof) is a wise move most of the time. So someone can take advantage of your instinct and make you say yes, simply because you are wired to do so.

  Cialdini's arguments are backed by real-life examples and experiment results, most of which are fascinating (you'll be surprised). What makes this such an absorbing read is that you can relate most of what you read to your own experience. You'll hear from yourself lots of "oh that's how they sold me!" revelations. (Car buyers beware: in every chapter there's at least one car-dealing example)

  Cialdini is more interested in teaching you how to defend against these weapons than how to deploy them for your own gains. At the end of every chapter, he has this "how to say no" section which often includes a description of his personal victory against compliance professionals. Geeky, yes, but it makes the book all the more entertaining (albeit unintentionally).

  The book cover held me back from buying this book for a while. But don't judge it by its cover. If you like Malcolm Gladwell's (Tipping Point, Blink) books, you'd love this one.

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  ― Posted on Jan 31, 2006 | Add your feedback

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  A must-have for anyone that has anything to do with building website or user interface in geneal. Krug writes clearly and succintly, and offers plenty examples. Many of the stuffs are common-sense, but it's exactly common-sense stuffs that we often overlook. I particularly like the sections about in ... (continue)

  A must-have for anyone that has anything to do with building website or user interface in geneal. Krug writes clearly and succintly, and offers plenty examples. Many of the stuffs are common-sense, but it's exactly common-sense stuffs that we often overlook. I particularly like the sections about inexpensive user-testing (named "lost-my-lease user-testing"). How I wish I've read this BEFORE I started my current project!

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  ― Posted on Dec 8, 2005 | 1 feedback

• A classic

  These seven lectures demonstrate once again the teaching brilliance of Feynman. He starts off with a lecture in gravity, which is not a particularly sexy topic. But his delivery makes all the differences. He's clearly more interested in the process of the discovery than the theory itself. It read li ... (continue)

  These seven lectures demonstrate once again the teaching brilliance of Feynman. He starts off with a lecture in gravity, which is not a particularly sexy topic. But his delivery makes all the differences. He's clearly more interested in the process of the discovery than the theory itself. It read like a story, and by the end I realized I've (a) understood the theory much more thoroughly, (b) built an appreciation for the significance of it and Newton's brilliance, and (c) got a taste of what physics was really about.

  And that's just the first lecture.

  He goes on to talk about conservation of energy, symmetry in physics, quantum mechanics, etc. Some ideas are more challenging than others, but it never gets too bad as the lectures are meant as an introduction for College students of all majors.

  The final lecture "Seeking New Law" is my favorite, as he steps back from the theories to discuss the previous trends in their discoveries ("Guessing a law is an art"), what lies ahead, and how our quest for new laws would likely end.

  You'll probably forget many of the details of his teachings, but his distinct style of approaching physics - and knowledge in general - will likely stick in your head for years to come.

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  ― Posted on Jan 21, 2006 | Add your feedback

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  What a treat!

  Jared Diamond tackles a tough question: why did people of EuroAsia conquer the rest of the world and not the other way around? (Or: why is it that only the people of EuroAsia possessed the means - guns, germs and steel - to conquer the rest of the world?)

  His answer, encompassing fields from ... (continue)

  Jared Diamond tackles a tough question: why did people of EuroAsia conquer the rest of the world and not the other way around? (Or: why is it that only the people of EuroAsia possessed the means - guns, germs and steel - to conquer the rest of the world?)

  His answer, encompassing fields from anthropology to linguistics, is stunningly simple and convincing, filled with fascinating facts and observations that are quite a treat by themselves. Rarely does a book offer such a broad view of human history, and it will surely challenge your perspective of your place in history.

  The downside is that he repeats himself quite frequently. If you don't have the time, read the last chapter and you will get a good gist of his arguments.

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  ― Posted on Sep 6, 2005 | 1 feedback

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  Important and convincing

  An important book on globalization. The episodes are so fascinating that you'll agree he's "got the best job of the world." You may say that he's magnifying the exceptions or extreme examples that he has the priviledge to observe. But that's probably out of neccessity as he attempts to paint a convi ... (continue)

  An important book on globalization. The episodes are so fascinating that you'll agree he's "got the best job of the world." You may say that he's magnifying the exceptions or extreme examples that he has the priviledge to observe. But that's probably out of neccessity as he attempts to paint a convincing picture of the future by picking up bits from today. In that regard, he's done an excellent job.

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  ― Posted on Jan 21, 2006 | 1 feedback

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  A good introduction to product design and usability. It is full of illustrative real-life examples of what not to do. Some are old but many of them are hilarious (sadly). I suggest you also read its "sequel" Emotional Design in which he talks about the emotional as opposed to function aspects of pro ... (continue)

  A good introduction to product design and usability. It is full of illustrative real-life examples of what not to do. Some are old but many of them are hilarious (sadly). I suggest you also read its "sequel" Emotional Design in which he talks about the emotional as opposed to function aspects of product design.

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  ― Posted on Jan 21, 2006 | Add your feedback

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