Freedom and Neurobiology

Freedom and Neurobiology is the paper form of a couple sets of lectures by John Searle. The first half of the book explores the interesting subject of whether it is actually possible to have free will given what we know about the determinism of the chemical and biological processes going on the brain. The second half goes into governmental power and how it came to exist. While interesting subjects, the book unfortunately reads like a lecture and can be a bit repetitive at times. Like a lot of other philosophers, Searle also raises more questions than he answers.

Beautiful Code and Stardust

Beautiful Code is kind of like Founders at Work, except about programming instead of starting companies. This book, edited by Andy Oram and Greg Wilson, is a little hit or miss. Some of the essays are quite engaging and interesting, while others are dull and not particularly informative. Overall, it was a worthwhile read, and while it's not a book of patterns to be strictly applied while coding, there were definitely lessons that I'll remember as I work on future projects.

Stardust was a lot of fun to watch. It was sappy, and funny, and thoroughly entertaining. It's based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, which I haven't read, so I can't gauge how true to the book the movie is. I've really enjoyed what little of Gaiman's work I've read (and Mirrormask too), so I really need to sit down and read more of his novels.

Imagining MIT and Peopleware

As an alum, I found Imagining MIT to be a very interesting book. It starts out with a short history of the MIT campus in Cambridge, the origins of the Infinite Corridor, and the evolution of the campus through the war years and the cold war. Then it got to the part that affected me as a recent alum, who had seen the newer buildings getting built: the Zesiger center, Simmons, Stata, the Brain and Cog building, and the proposed Media Lab expansion. Each chapter provided insight into some of the reasoning behind each building, including not just the architectural design, but university and local politics, funding hurdles, and special site considerations. I have to admit, I still consider Simmons and Stata to be somewhat eyesores, but I understand more what the architects were trying to do, and what their constraints where. This still doesn't stop me from disagreeing with some of their decisions though. The book reinforced my appreciation for the Z-center and the Brain and Cog building, and opened my eyes to the design of some bits of campus that I walked through regularly but did not particularly think much about.

Peopleware is an awesome book that should be required reading for anyone that wants to or is managing or leading knowledge workers. From physical space selection, to project timelines, and especially to getting a team to mesh together, this book has so much goodness in it that I barely know where to start. It's a short book, so instead of trying to recap it, I'll just say: read it.

Sweeney Todd, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing

I haven't seen any theatrical productions of Sweeney Todd, so I don't have anything to compare the movie against. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Johnny Depp was fantastic, as was the rest of the cast. All in all, a very good time.

John Bogle's Little Book of Common Sense Investing is probably not aimed at a reader like me. Pretty much, the book boils down to "buy low-expense index funds" and stop throwing money away. Unfortunately, that point is well-made in the first few pages, but the book continues on for another couple hundred. I have enormous respect for Bogle, but I'm already part of the index-fund choir. For those who aren't, this or Daniel Solin's book (but not both) would be a good read.

Atul Gawande article and Whose Freedom?

Atul Gawande has a new article in the New Yorker about using checklists to save lives which is just really amazing.

Also finished reading George Lakoff's Whose Freedom?, another liberal linguistic exploration of how the conservative movement has subjugated popular terminology, in this case freedom and liberty. It's a good book, defining freedom as having uncontested parts and contested shades of grey, and how liberals can defend and advance their definition of freedom. After reading Talking Right though, this felt a little redundant.

The Intelligent Investor

The Intelligent Investor, written and revised over the years by Ben Graham, with commentary by Jason Zweig is an excellent book for investors, not speculators. Graham's advice is mostly timeless, and where necessary, Zweig updates the reader with what has changed. Graham's writing is a bit dry, but indepth and instructive. Zweig's notes on each chapter are a good read.

With the whole subprime mess going on now, and Zweig's references to the tech crash, it was interesting to read Graham's notes about the previous financial industry craziness he had witnessed. The actual product being hyped changes, but the greed that drives people stays constant.

New Gmail + Reader

Back in October '06, I merged together a couple greasemonkey scripts to embed Google Reader better with Gmail. The recent launch of new Gmail javascript broke the script, and I finally found time to update it. The location is the same.