urish 13 years ago

"The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name".

A really interesting history book. I'm now in a great part, about how knowledge of geography (and map projections) was disseminated in Europe through a network of scholars and humanists during the 15th century. There was this huge collaborative effort to reconstruct ancient texts and to bring them in line with (then) current knowledge.

orrenkt 13 years ago

I just read 'The Innovator's Dilemma' by Clayton Christensen and it's awesome.

There's all this talk of "disrupting" everything in the tech world right now and a lot of it is really bullshit. This guy is the one who coined the term disruptive technology, and when you dig into it it's a really interesting concept that he actually backs up with great research on the disk drive industry.

The core of the idea is that 'disruptive' technologies are underdog technologies that actually have worse performance than the leading technologies of their time, but also some other attributes (smaller, lighter, etc) that make them valuable to customers in niche, less profitable markets the big guys aren't interested in. Since technology progresses much faster than our demand for it, those cheaper, crappier technologies improve over time and end up killing the big, expensive players who originally dominated the market.

Really great read

runjake 13 years ago

Can anyone recommend some good cypherpunk books, aside from Stephenson? Preferably fiction that communicates ideas revolving around anonymity, crypto, privacy?

I've been trying to read Cryptonomicon, but get turned off by the "hipstery" (for lack of a better word) informal writing style and can't get into it.

  • rubberbandage 13 years ago

    I would say “self-congratulatory” rather than “hipstery” — I’m reading this right now too, and although I find it fascinating (like I find reading about any cryptography fascinating), it often feels impenetrable without a cause to be, other than “aren’t these characters all such geniuses, I bet you can barely keep up.” Also, I get http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Shaftos_Gone_to_Sea stuck in my head for hours afterwords each time.

    • runjake 13 years ago

      Nothing's been above my head, it's more like it takes him too many words to make a point or get the jist across. He gets too creative/clever. I would like it to be more straightforward. Then again, I mainly read non-fiction from journalists or government types.

dwj 13 years ago

Very good book about the tech industry: "rework" by the 37 signals guys.

Other very good non-tech book I've read recently: Walk the Amazon.

johnrgrace 13 years ago

I'm actually reading academic papers from ssrn.com about platforms, shorter than most books and usually just as much information/learning and often times more.

For fiction I'm reading stuff my friends write; currently The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There and David Drake's Hammers Slammers omnibus volumes.

waterlesscloud 13 years ago

1. Red Mars. Read a chapter and digest it. Packed top to bottom with all kinds of ideas.

2. Cyberspace: First Steps. From the early 90s, a collection of academic essays on the concept of cyberspace. Reading it as a kind of retrospective on where we were and where we thought we were going.

3. Rule 34. For fun.

yamsal 13 years ago

"Another Day of Life" by Riszard Kapuscinski and "Moonwalking with Einstein" by Joshua Foer.

  • eduardordm 13 years ago

    +1 It's a shame that Moonwalking with Einstein didn't get to the top. Great book.

rwl 13 years ago

For work: Quine's Word and Object; Dummett's Frege: Philosophy of Language; Plato's Republic; and paper after paper. (I am a philosophy graduate student.)

For pleasure: just started Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse.

joelhooks 13 years ago

Molly Fyde series from Hugh Howey. Loved his WOOL books, so giving this series a go. Like it a lot.

Mindstorms: Children, Computers, And Powerful Ideas - just started this, and enjoying it so far.

ascuttlefish 13 years ago

Essays and aphorisms by Arthur Schopenhauer

John A. MacDonald: The young politician by Donald Creighton

Comedy of errors by Wm. Shakespeare

Paradise Lost by John Milton

vasudhapande 13 years ago

1. 'Classical Mechanics' by Herbert Goldstein 2. 'Operational Amplifiers with Linear Integrated Circuits' by William Stanley 3. 'Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer' by Cyrus Mistry

redrory 13 years ago

1.) Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?: Seth Godin

2.)Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm - Verne Harnish

  • eduardordm 13 years ago

    I finished Linchpin just for the sake of doing it. That book would be great if it wasn't the zillionth book telling the same story.

thejteam 13 years ago

"The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict" for myself and "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"(Chronicles of Narnia Series) for my children.

saurabh 13 years ago

Zen & The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance

maguay 13 years ago

Frank Chimero's The Shape of Design in PDF. Great, thought-provoking book on design in everything in life.

arunabh 13 years ago

1. Ulysses 2. The Dilbert Principle

rodrigo 13 years ago

The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker

  • rodrigo 13 years ago

    Im finding it very enligthening, have anyone read it? care to share your opinions?

turbojerry 13 years ago

A Beautiful Anarchy: How to Create Your Own Civilization in the Digital Age by Jeffrey Tucker

kral 13 years ago

1. A Lovecraft anthology 2. Programming Clojure (Stuart Halloway)

Both books make me dream.

noashx 13 years ago

I'm trying to expand my horizons a bit, so I'm reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma". Amazing!

headstorm 13 years ago

Empire Express: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad

khakimov 13 years ago

Where wizards stay up late. The origins of the INTERNET.

serencial 13 years ago

Just started "The Connected Company" by Dave Gray.

notum 13 years ago

I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas (Lewis Black)

dccoolgai 13 years ago

Meditations - Marcus Aurelius. Recommend it.

RollAHardSix 13 years ago

Earth Unaware by Orson Scott Card.

valdiorn 13 years ago

Neuromancer by William Gibson.

rjim86 13 years ago

Coding Horror: The Book