Review: The Course of Human Events

The Course of Human Events by David McCullough
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you are on the fence about going back to school to get your Master’s degree in History, listening to this short speech by David McCullough might cost you $50,000. It is worth it to know history, and it is worth it to be able to weave stories based on history the way McCullough does. He starts by describing John Trumbull’s painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But the scene represented never occurred. The painting is a story illustrating the founders of the country as symbols, not as a replication of facts. An interesting way to start a speech about the value of history. He goes on, describing his own influences, especially books. I could go on, but the subject speech is short -- read it, or listen to it as I did. Be prepared for homework.

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Review: Heart of the Machine: Our Future in a World of Artificial Emotional Intelligence

Heart of the Machine: Our Future in a World of Artificial Emotional Intelligence by Richard Yonck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While recently attending my daughter’s college graduation, I was impressed by the sheer number of students announced as receiving Psychology degrees as their second bachelor’s degree. I was told it was one of the top degrees in the school. I really didn’t see the obvious value, outside of sales and as a step to a grad degree, but “Heart of the Machine” makes the case for the study of psychology, or in particular emotion. What this book makes obvious is that technology is providing ways to “read” people that were not available previously. Through video recording of movements imperceptible to humans, responses that give away inner thought, emotional response to stimulus can be captured, cataloged, and used to optimize, say, buying behavior or knowledge acquisition. And can these capabilities be given to robots, so they can respond to the world with emotional signals, and can read our own signals and react appropriately? Or could you make devices that work as part of a human, allowing the human to repair a possible lack in recognizing the state of others? The book goes through many such scenarios, bringing to light the state of the art in design, and conjecturing where these capabilities can lead us.

I really enjoyed the way this was written, describing issues, the state of the art, and the possible futures of the technology and its usage. I also appreciated the author’s use of recent sci-fi films with “awoke”, or awakening, robots. I consider myself well read, to the point where I’ve-seen-it-before is my usual response to a book. It’s a rare book that can open my mind to something new and exciting. This was one of those books. If I could have asked for more, it would have been for investment advice. BTW, audiobook was well narrated by Robertson Dean.


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Review: Voice of the Violin

Voice of the Violin by Andrea Camilleri
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm reading these in order, and I find this one similar to the others, but with the benefit of knowing the characters and some of the character's immediate past. Camilleri continues some of the plot and builds on (and builds up) the characters in the story. I can see this is becoming more familiar as I read through the series, and that's a good thing so far. There is humor, yes, but I most appreciated the variety of emotions portrayed. I'm not sure why, but I find Montalbano best written when he's pissed off. Likely due to being preoccupied while listening to this audiobook, I found the first half to be somewhat confusing, and I couldn't tell you much of anything that happened relating to the case. But I do remember well the second half. Was it me or the writing? Who can tell... I will continue on in this series.

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Review: The Scandal of Money: Why Wall Street Recovers But the Economy Never Does

The Scandal of Money: Why Wall Street Recovers But the Economy Never Does by George Gilder
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read a couple of Gilder’s books on technology back a few decades when I was in college, and I must say that they had an impact in how I thought about the march of technology. I thought I would read one of his more current books to see if I could glean any other simple-to-repeat insight into economics, and from this book I got one. I won’t judge the veracity of this claim, but Gilder says that gold maintains its value because it can be mined, and mining requires time and money and resources. And he likens it to bitcoin mining. Interesting thought, and one that I’ll keep in my head. The bulk of the book is about the gold standard. I was expecting more related to technology, but was disappointed. I found the arguments presented here to be at times quite confusing, despite Gilder’s simple writing style. It’s one of those books where the sentences make sense, but the paragraphs sometimes don’t. I may try more Gilder books, as I like the way he writes, but I can’t say this topic was that interesting to me.

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Review: Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD: Tips and Tools to Help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized

Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD: Tips and Tools to Help You Take Charge of Your Life and Get Organized by Susan C. Pinsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I agree with many of the other reviewers who note that, while aimed at people with ADHD and their families, the suggestions here are really for those that value efficiency over aesthetics, and in some cases knowing the efficient isn’t the least expensive solution. Instead of sparking joy, your organizational tools and ways should radiate “get ‘er done”. Less Marie Kondo, more Larry the Cable Guy, at least in attitude. What does this mean? Some examples are in order. The author hates opaque storage boxes. Why? It takes at least one extra step to see what’s inside. While you’re at it, toss the lid and save another step in order to use storage boxes. How does tossing the lid help when you stack boxes. The author says not to stack boxes – use shelving so you don’t have to. And about those boxes – could you use an open faced bin instead? Lots easier. Beyond storage, the author has advice on many subjects that reflect her experience with families with ADHD issues. Is matching socks too much trouble? Buy a bunch of socks of one color, throw away existing socks, and store the new socks loose in a bin or drawer. In reading through this set of organizing and living ideas, you appreciate that approaching these kinds of problems from the mindset of optimizing for people with ADHD provides interesting alternative answers to what you’d get from the more mainstream organizational gurus. And in some cases, these seem to be better answers. Practical over pretty. Glad I read it.

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Review: All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis by Bethany McLean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s a how-to book, but not the best kind. To accomplish what the businessmen (and occasionally mentioned businesswomen) created, you really had to be in the right place and at the right time. The right place was in a mortgage bank or financial firm, and the right time was the decade or so leading up to the 2008 financial crisis. This is the book on the building of that crisis. The focus is the building blocks of derivative contracts based on mortgages, passing off more and more risk in financial instruments as non-risky investments. The crisis deepens through the first ¾ of the book, with the last quarter of the book describing the subsequent crash and the immediate impacts of the rapid unwinding of those derivatives. I’ve read other books on the financial crisis that seemed more “back end heavy” in terms of focusing on the crisis and the response. This is more on the build-up.

And what a story it is. The moral seems to be “do your homework, especially if your assumptions have never been tested”. Well written, engaging, with plenty of anecdotes about powerful (mostly) men with over-sized personalities, and often egos.


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Review: Point Omega

Point Omega by Don DeLillo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this oddly comforting, in that the characters all seem so familiar. A failed filmmaker, full of what are likely lousy but arty ideas, attempts to convince a military consultant to star in his art film. His convincing evolves into becoming a live-in helper, and kind of a part of the family. The plot does drag on, although it is a short book. The story peters out at the end, collapsing with a disappearance and a breakdown, and none of the ideas so well described and obsessed over come to fruition. And maybe that’s the point.

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