Book Reviews


[Day Permalink] Tuesday, November 12, 2002

[Item Permalink] Henry Raddick reviews on Amazon -- Comment()
Here is Google pointer to Henry Raddick reviews on Amazon.com. Apparently the identity of this reviewer has generated a lot of speculation because of his "personal" views on certain books. Here are a couple of examples:
This is a lavish guide to the practically indistructable mother of the British Sovereign. She was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyons to her fellow debs in 1919, she was Queen as George VI's wife, but to all of us she is just the Queen Mum, bless her; the plucky lady with the common touch, who shrugged off gunshot wounds after a quarrel about gambling debts in an East End boozer, the massive-armed matriarchal powerhouse who has no time for nonces or liberty-takers. A marvelous book.

...

Smith and Stybbard have written a gem in this book. It's certainly helped me to take control of my dog's idiosyncratic toilet habits. My pug Grendel now dances to my tune, be it on walks, in the garden or merely impressing friends and family. A word of caution - take care when choosing your "command words" and "smart phrases" to avoid words your dog is likely to hear on the television. It took 4 episodes of Ali McBeal before I realised that my "full evacuation" command was in the theme song.

...

A fascinating eye-opener and a book which has transformed the way I view lovemaking. Quite frankly something needed to be done to resurrect the physical side of my marriage which has been blighted in the main by my PE, and Caprio's guide seemed the perfect start. As the author makes clear, lovemaking is an art - an art whose media are the body AND the mind, with the lover as artist. I have every confidence that reading this guide will lead to a happier love life for my wife me, and will help me move on from my frustratingly Pollockesque form of abstract expressionism.


[Item Permalink] Using Chimera more and more -- Comment()
I have been using Chimera (version 0.6) more and more. This Mozilla-based web browser will still occasionally crash, and the user interface needs some polishing here and there, but the speed, and tabbed browsing make it a good choice. The user interface looks (for the most part) quite good, which is an additional small bonus.


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
Berkshire Hathaway: "A society like Europe whose people have lost their will to compete is not a danger to those who embrace and thrive on competition." [The Motley Fool]


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Apple Reclaims The Innovation Lead: "With iMacs, iPods, OS X, and more, Jobs & Co. has grabbed the attention of consumers and -- just as important -- software developers." (BusinessWeek via MyAppleMenu) [MyAppleMenu]


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Bridex worm bites computer security company: "Hackers launched an attack on the Web server of Kaspersky Labs Ltd. and implanted and distributed a copy of the Bridex worm in the company's e-mail newsletter." [Computerworld News]


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Enable a journaling file system on OS X 10.2.2 Client: "Journaling allow the system to recover more easily from crashes and protect against corruption by having a "journal" (a buffer where changes are first made and then afterwards written to disk) and makes recoveries much faster when using tools like fsck. In exchange for this, extreme disk usage could have an impact (up to 10%) on performance. So, it's not recommended if your machine moves a lot of files around unless it's a file server, in which case it is *strongly* recommended." [Mac OS X Hints]


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IBM says Linux developer project growing quickly. "As it pushes Linux as a solid alternative for business computing, IBM has been encouraging developers to create new applications for the operating system." [Computerworld App Development News]


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
Chimera - The newest OS X browser: "Although Chimera has been out for quite a while now, it's only in the newest versions that it's really starting to feel like a 'real' program to me. It still doesn't have everything needed for successful use as my full-time browser (hence the somewhat low score for a pick of the week), but it gets much much better with every minor release. Version 0.6, released about a week ago, is by far the best version yet. I've found myself using it quite often this last week, and so it winds up as this week's Pick of the Week." [Mac OS X Hints]


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
Metafilter writes about Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit based on the book The Demon Haunted World: Science as a candle in the dark:
The following are suggested as tools for testing arguments and detecting fallacious or fraudulent arguments:
  • Wherever possible there must be independent confirmation of the facts
  • Encourage substantive debate on the evidence by knowledgeable proponents of all points of view.
  • Arguments from authority carry little weight (in science there are no "authorities").
  • Spin more than one hypothesis - don't simply run with the first idea that caught your fancy.
  • Try not to get overly attached to a hypothesis just because it's yours.
  • Quantify, wherever possible.
  • If there is a chain of argument every link in the chain must work.
  • "Occam's razor" - if there are two hypothesis that explain the data equally well choose the simpler.
  • Ask whether the hypothesis can, at least in principle, be falsified (shown to be false by some unambiguous test). In other words, it is testable? Can others duplicate the experiment and get the same result?


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
Apple releases Mac OS X 10.2.2 update: "Apple today released Mac OS X 10.2.2 via the OS X Software Update app. It delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for the following applications and technologies: Address Book, iChat, IP Firewall, Mail, Print Center, Rendezvous, Sherlock and Windows file service discovery. The update also includes the updated services previously delivered in Security Update 2002-09-20." [The Macintosh News Network]


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
Journaling feature offered with OS X Server: "Mac OS X Server 10.2.2 (released earlier today) includes a new "journaling" feature for the Mac OS Extended (HFS+) file system. As noted previously, the journaling system protects the integrity of the file system on any OS X-based server. Apple highlights two key benefits of the new system: rapid recovery of lost files; automatic logging of file system transactions. Designed for rapid implementation, the journaling system does not require a drive reformat to work, and earlier versions of HFS+ can be easily retrofitted with the technology." [The Macintosh News Network]


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Watson 1.6: "Karelia today released Watson 1.6, a free upgrade to its desktop interface to popular Web content and services. Version 1.6 has a number of improvements including integration with iCal, the Mac OS X Address Book, and EyeTV from El Gato Software." [The Macintosh News Network]


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
e-Science boost to breast screening: "Breast screening centres in the UK are sharing images using a new information superhighway called the Grid." [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY]


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
Microsoft to plough $400m into India: "The software giant - whose boss is currently on a tour of India - pledges to expand its activities and invest in computer literacy." [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY]


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Chips cost environment dear: "Next time you buy a new computer[cedilla] you should consider the cost to the environment of the microchip in the machine[cedilla] say researchers." [BBC News | TECHNOLOGY]


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
New IBM server targets Sun in midrange Unix market: "With its best technology built into a system that starts at less than $30,000, IBM said it wants to heat up the competition against midrange leader Sun." [Computerworld News]


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Some bloggers already speculated that Microsoft would try to push MS software into India and supplement the Linux development established there. Perhaps the AIDS act will make this happen? Gates Pledges $100 Million in India's AIDS Fight: "Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates launched a dramatic initiative today that he said would focus on helping women protect themselves from careless partners. By The Associated Press." [Headlines From The NY Times]


[Item Permalink]  -- Comment()
A friend told about his experiences of digital cameras. He currently has an old Olympus, but would right now buy the new Olympus C-730 UZ. In his opinion the 10x optical zoom is the best feature of this camera. The zoom makes it easy to take good photos in all kinds of events, for example in sports. I have been looking carefully at Canon S45, which is a bit smaller, and has more features. But so far I have been not convinced to invest in a new camera. If the new Canon (or Olympus) gets really good reviews, I might make the plunge into digital photography.