Comments Off on Thoughts On Learning That Reading My Book Review is a Class Assignment I just learned that last January (2010), one of my book reviews was included as assigned reading in an AP English class (taught by Ms. Tsuruda at Mililani HS in Hawaii).
Comments Off on My New Wireless Headset How did I live without a cordless telephone headset?
Comments Off on How to Drink Less Soda (Can Caps) I’ve recently started to use a very cool product: “Bottle Caps” (can caps), which turn an open soda can into a “bottle” that can be closed. It’s my answer to the bizarre economics of soft-drink bottlers who charge more for six- and eight-ounce cans of soda than for 12-ounce cans.
Comments Off on The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education After reading some very positive reviews, I was quite disappointed with this book (The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, by Diane Ravitch). While there are many good ideas in the book, it’s excruciatingly repetitive, poorly organized, and fails to persuade. Read more »
I was intrigued by a brief mention of 101 Theory Drive: A Neuroscientist’s Quest for Memory (by Terry McDermott) in a local bookstore’s newspaper insert, which led me to search out some reviews online. Based mostly on one positive review (by B.T. Shaw, in The Oregonian), I bought the Kindle edition of the book from Amazon on the day it was released. After finishing the book, I was satisfied because I felt that I’d learned a lot about the biology behind memory; but I was also disappointed because the review had left me with higher expectations. Read more »
I’ve been searching around for software to convert my LPs and Cassettes to MP3 format, and what I’ve found is a surprisingly complex array of choices, with little clear information to differentiate these products.
Eventually, I found that Acoustica’s “Spin It Again” software is available as Shareware (through Tucows), and I downloaded it to see how it might work for me. I found it “reasonably easy” to use, considering the actual complexity of the task. Read more »
July 24, 2009 — Last week, I researched a number of options for “content management systems” and decided to try Joomla. Read more »
April 12, 2002 — Over the years, I’ve read a number of well-written books about children, education, and juvenile justice, and always I am left with a strong feeling of frustration and despair. This week, I read a very different book, one I strongly recommend you read. Read more »
Comments Off on In the Company of Good and Evil (by Winn & Power) February 21, 2002 — Last October, I praised an extraordinary book called Dot.Bomb, an entertaining chronicle of the rise and fall of Value America by J. David Kuo. At that time, I wished for more information about Value America’s technology, and a more detailed account of the pre-IPO days. Be careful what you wish for. Read more »
Comments Off on Dot.Con (John Cassidy): Worthless February 10, 2002 — Late last year, I read a truly awful book: Stephan Paternot’s A Very Public Offering, a poorly-written account of the rise and fall of TheGlobe.com. The company has consistently been cited by critics as one of the worst/best examples of absurd internet-stock mania, but this book by the company’s founder offered no real apologies, and provided very little insight. I don’t blame Paternot, a young man who was willingly manipulated by “market makers,” and who clearly is not a professional writer.
But John Cassidy can make no such excuses for Dot.Con: The Greatest Story Ever Sold. Cassidy offers no insight, and even fails to identify the “con” promised by the book’s title. And his sloppy writing, riddled with factual and typographical errors, insures that the book can’t be accepted even as a “digest” of the events he reports. Read more »
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