Stuff 've been up to
May. 20th, 2006 01:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gizaI've done a number of things in the past couple of months that I haven't talked about. So here goes:
- I bought and beat Sly Cooper 2. The gameplay was just as good as the first one, and so were the cinemas. The only thing NOT to like about the game is that you can't replay missions that you've already completed. The only way to do that is to start a new game, which I find irritating.
- I read the book Starship Troopers. If you've seen the movie, the book is NOTHING like the movie. Only a smalll number of details made it from the book into the movie. The book has much more neat levels of technology along with detailed explanations on it. Also, the book explores Heinlein's ideas for an "ideal society" and how we might go about achieving it. It's as much of a commentary on society as it is a good science fiction book.
- I read the book Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best. It examines the concept of statistics, how they are used, and why we place so much trust in them. It also discussed some of the fallacies in taking statistics and comparing/extrapolating different studies and how bad statistics get propagated. Definitely a read if you have any involvement in politics whatsoever. This book also appealed to the skeptic side of me. :-)
- I read Give Me A Break by John Stossel. This it the most libertarian book I had read to date. John draws on his many years experience as a TV news reporter and preaches a message of keeping government small and allowing private companies to compete for the benefit of consumers. Having little knowledge of the libertarians, I found this book to be an interesting read. I don't agree with everything that Stossel says, but I did learn a number of things from the book that I had not known previously. (Like the FAA's bungled modernization that they've spent billions on? Canada just privatized their system for a third of the cost!)
- I read Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. It discussed the millions of Americans who work minimum wage jobs full time and basically live at the poverty level as a result. But the author didn't just issue platitudes, she spent several months "undercover" working such jobs full time, getting to know her co-workers and bosses, and some of the frustrations of working jobs that basically suck. Because of this book, I've started leaving bigger tips when I go out to eat.
What I also got out of the book, although this may not have been the author's intention, is that there is a bit of Darwinism in careers. Those that work hard and get good educations are more likely to get ahead over those that haven't. The moral of this book being: stay in school.
- I bought and beat Sly Cooper 2. The gameplay was just as good as the first one, and so were the cinemas. The only thing NOT to like about the game is that you can't replay missions that you've already completed. The only way to do that is to start a new game, which I find irritating.
- I read the book Starship Troopers. If you've seen the movie, the book is NOTHING like the movie. Only a smalll number of details made it from the book into the movie. The book has much more neat levels of technology along with detailed explanations on it. Also, the book explores Heinlein's ideas for an "ideal society" and how we might go about achieving it. It's as much of a commentary on society as it is a good science fiction book.
- I read the book Damned Lies and Statistics by Joel Best. It examines the concept of statistics, how they are used, and why we place so much trust in them. It also discussed some of the fallacies in taking statistics and comparing/extrapolating different studies and how bad statistics get propagated. Definitely a read if you have any involvement in politics whatsoever. This book also appealed to the skeptic side of me. :-)
- I read Give Me A Break by John Stossel. This it the most libertarian book I had read to date. John draws on his many years experience as a TV news reporter and preaches a message of keeping government small and allowing private companies to compete for the benefit of consumers. Having little knowledge of the libertarians, I found this book to be an interesting read. I don't agree with everything that Stossel says, but I did learn a number of things from the book that I had not known previously. (Like the FAA's bungled modernization that they've spent billions on? Canada just privatized their system for a third of the cost!)
- I read Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. It discussed the millions of Americans who work minimum wage jobs full time and basically live at the poverty level as a result. But the author didn't just issue platitudes, she spent several months "undercover" working such jobs full time, getting to know her co-workers and bosses, and some of the frustrations of working jobs that basically suck. Because of this book, I've started leaving bigger tips when I go out to eat.
What I also got out of the book, although this may not have been the author's intention, is that there is a bit of Darwinism in careers. Those that work hard and get good educations are more likely to get ahead over those that haven't. The moral of this book being: stay in school.
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Date: 2006-05-21 12:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-21 03:51 pm (UTC)Since I take the train to work instead of driving, I have 25 minutes each way in which to read. I've been making good use of it. :-)