What are you reading?

[Yesspaz]

We've got a "What are you listening to?" thread, so I figured a similar thread on reading might be fun. Discussions aren't required. I'll start.

AUTHOR/EDITOR - TITLE (GENRE)

Voltaire - Candide (Novelette)
Christian George - Sex, Sushi, and Salvation (Christian Living)
David Edmond and John Eidinow - Bobby Fisher Goes to War (Non-fiction/History) - [soon to be a movie]
Robert J. Dean - How Can We Believe? (Christian Apologetics)
Holy Spirit - Holy Bible (Word of God)

[DamoXt7942]

I appreciate your Yes' infos, Yesspaz.

Anyway, my recent Bible is...

Jim Murray - Whiskey Bible (manual)

Exactly this is the Bible for me. :-)

[VAXman]

I don't read books of fiction like 'spaz; however, I did read Voltaire's Candide in World Literature when in college.

Here's one of my latest non-fictional reads:

Einstein: A Stubbornly Persistent Illusion: The Essential Works of the World's Greatest Physicist (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Einstein/Stephen-W-Hawking/e/9780762430031/?itm=3)

Other than the above, I've been reading scores of First Amendment case law and SCOTUS opinions.

[cribguy]

What is 'Christian Apologetics'??

Anyway.. I trying to read I Am Legend, but I made the mistake of seeing the movie first. Besides that, I'm pretty much getting all of my reading material on-line.

[VAXman]

What is 'Christian Apologetics'??

337You couldn't have just googled it?

[KingRat]

Aural Moon posts. What else?
:dunno: :smirk: :smirk: :aua:

[spewie]

John Adams by David McCullough
The newest American Heritage Magazine
Not as Good as the Book by Andy Tillsan from tangent

[progdirjim]

Of Human Bondage - Somerset Maugham
Against The Day - Thomas Pynchon
Self-Reliance - Ralph Waldo Emerson
and some how-to books on web development (Flash and Javascript)

[KeithieW]

Playboy volume XX Issue 8.

[Lellu]

I am in the middle of a sci-fi project...

Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451 (sci-fi)
and Aldous Huxley - Brave New World (sci-fi)
at the moment...

[VAXman]

I am in the middle of a sci-fi project...

Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451 (sci-fi)
and Aldous Huxley - Brave New World (sci-fi)
at the moment...
Neither of which are really Sci-Fi.

[progzealot]

Oprah's book of the month of course.

[Rick and Roll]

Playboy volume XX Issue 8.

That's the one with the male models, right? :eek:

Tonight I read some of Sports Illustrated and the newspaper. I also read the liner notes of the Fireballet free CD sampler I picked up at Nearfest. And then some reviews. Free is too expensive for the derivative garbage contained within the disc. I shouldn't be harsh, since I play no instrument, but what an embarassment.

I am slowly making my way through Stephen Colbert's book...it's a scream.

[OverHillandDale]

Mostly cereal boxes, pc world and the job classified.

Read the rain gauge yesterday. :)

And if I actually break out a book, it's Patterson or Baldacci.

[KeithieW]

To be serious (for a moment)....I'm taking another stroll down memory lane reading Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda again.

I really love this book, not just for the obvious Tales From Topographic Oceans link but because it's a beautiful and inspiring read. I always feel better when I've read this.

Thanks Spaz.....you've got me back into the idea of picking up a book again. In fact I've taken a number of books off the shelves and piled them up to tackle in a few days. So far I've chosen:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

I think I might have a headache soon. :) Too much to think about.

[VAXman]

To be serious (for a moment)....I'm taking another stroll down memory lane reading Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda again.
The sign of a true YES and TFTO fan. ;) I have that book somewhere on the shelf too. I purchased and read it after reading Jon's comments in the TFTO vinyl gatefold. It was a paperback edition. I wonder if, after 30+ years, its pages haven't disintegrated.

[VAXman]

Of Human Bondage - Somerset Maugham
Against The Day - Thomas Pynchon
Self-Reliance - Ralph Waldo Emerson
and some how-to books on web development (Flash and Javascript)
Sharply contrasting themes, save for the web development, to those that started this thread!

[Bmithra]

My current read is called, 'Freemasonry and the Birth of Modern Science' by Robert Lomas.

http://www.amazon.com/Freemasonry-Birth-Modern-Science-Robert/dp/1592330118

An intriguing bit of history.

Bmithra

[zvinki]

Great thread spaz! I've been thinking about starting something something along the same lines and may actually do it now.

I am currently reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett recommended by my wife (and I believe Oprah:ick: ). I really enjoyed Sailing to Sarantium by Guy Gavriel Kay and my wife thought that it was in a similar vein. Maybe similar but, in my opinion, Sailing to Sarantium was better written.

[Lellu]

Neither of which are really Sci-Fi.

Yaaah!

Could you be a bit more precise? No science or not fiction?!

[Rick and Roll]

I am currently reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett recommended by my wife (and I believe Oprah:ick: )

You believe your wife is Oprah? She wasn't too bad when she was in baltimore :rolleyes2

I'm surprised you don't have a Canadian counterpart, but I guess Oprah is everywhere :)

[Methem]

The last book I was reading but unfortunately didn't have time to finish was a biography of J. Edgar Hoover by Anthony Summers (if I remember correctly). I was visiting my grandmother (who doesn't really read books, but my late grandfather did), needed to kill some time during evenings, and thought that one could be an interesting read. The previous time I was there I read a book about Gorbachev, by some Indian author, methinks. It was a little dry to go through.

Haven't really been reading too many books in recent years...


-Methem

[zvinki]

Leave it to you Rick to exploit an awkward phrase.

[VAXman]

Yaaah!

Could you be a bit more precise? No science or not fiction?!
Yes.

Huxley's Brave New World is set in the future but is more a social commentary and satire of serious contemporary issues of Huxley's time. The book is a hyperbolical view of utopian socialism run amuck. Fahrenheit 451 too depicts a society -- again set in the future but rooted in issues of the day -- which has eroded.

Many of my favorite Sci-Fi movies (Day the Earth Stood Still, This Island Earth, Collosus: The Forbin Project, etc.) were deeply satirical of the issues of the cold war.

"The real danger is not that computers will begin to think like men, but that men will begin to think like computers." -- Sydney J. Harris

[Rick and Roll]

True, most science fiction is social commentary in a different time and place. Star Trek was one of my favorite shows because it never pretended to be sci-fi. They had episodes on the cold war, robotics, race issues, all kinds of things.

It helped to have a Vulcan who could have inner eyelids and things like that to get them out of impossible situations...

Sci-fi to me was never special effects, etc...

[Giloeada]

Peace of Soul - Bishop Fulton J. Sheen
The Happiness of Heaven - A Father of the Society of Jesus
Travels - Michael Crichton
Cold Mountain - Charles Frazier

[KingRat]

On the serious side.

:hrm:

Last book: The Religion by Tim Willocks
Currently: Barbarians by Terry Jones
Next up: God's War by Christopher Tyerman
or Devil's Peak by Deon Meyer

In between this all: The Holy Bible need I say by Who.

[VAXman]

In between this all: The Holy Bible need I say by Who.
I didn't know the Who wrote the bible.

[KingRat]

I didn't know the Who wrote the bible.
:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: =8^O =8^O =8^O

Ta Vax. Needed that. I would say there are some who would say so, Tommy what' his name for example

[Yesspaz]

337You couldn't have just googled it?

That's pretty dang funny. :thumbsup:

[mailotron]

1974 by David Peace ( french translation of course)
La fille de nulle part /The far cry Frderic Brown
Memphis aux racines du rock et de la soul by Florent Mazzoleni ( in french only , Memphis, roots of rock and soul music)

[roger]

To be serious (for a moment)....I'm taking another stroll down memory lane reading Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda again.
In fact I've taken a number of books off the shelves and piled them up to tackle in a few days. So far I've chosen:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

hey! I think I saw you rummaging through my bookshelves!

[Yesspaz]

I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull about a year ago (one of the most hairbrained New Age ascend-to-a-higher-plane pieces of watsit I ever came across). Yesterday, I was in the used book room at the library, buying some cheap paperbacks (5/$1 or $0.25 each). I bought lots of classics I haven't read, blah blah blah, and something caught my eye. "Jonathan Segal Chicken," a satire of the original, by the same people who wrote the Oddfather. I read it last night (it's about as long as the original). It was quite funny in places. When Jonathan Segal Chicken flew for the first time, the hens were so startled they went ahead and squarely laid four eggs, some laid square eggs, and some were so shocked they went ahead and laid cheese omelets.

That kind of thing. Worth $0.25, but not much more.

[Yesspaz]

AUTHOR/EDITOR - TITLE (GENRE)
I finished Candide and Jonathan Segal Chicken, so I just started:

H.G. Wells - The Invisible Man (Novel)

[woodchuckvt]

Just finished The Prince of Providence by Mike Stanton

1/2 way through Power, Faith and Fantasy by Michael Oren

Barbecue Nation by Fred Thompson

[RogorMortis]

Nothing - When I read I fall asleep and when I wake I can't remember a word. So I don't really read books very often. I have a stock of John Le Carré ready to read. In my youth I read tons of Sci-Fi. Hopefully I'll take that up again when I've time to read.

But I will recommend "Copius Notes" - The inside story of Egg, Uriel...It gives a very good insight (and funny) to being a musician in the very early days.

[DamoXt7942]

Sorry, recently I read my technical note or prog books...

I live in my technical world, or prog rock dimension. :neener:

[progdirjim]

moving on to:
Flatland by Edwin Abbott (read it about 22 years ago, fun thought provoker)
Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins (novel)
Dune: House Atreides by Brian Herbert (sci-fi)

all of these on my new Amazon Kindle, which is a damn cool toy...

[Borfus]

Matter by Iain Banks

[Yesspaz]

all of these on my new Amazon Kindle, which is a damn cool toy...I'm sure it's a damn cool toy, and the Apple equivalent, whatever it's called, but I just can't get the feel of curling up with a small screen. I'll take the good old "analog" book. Of course, even Jean-Luc Picard waffles back and forth!

[OverHillandDale]

CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ Certification: A comprehesive approach for all 2006 exam objectives, Volumes 1 & 2.

:zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz:: zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz:

[VAXman]

CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ Certification: A comprehesive approach for all 2006 exam objectives, Volumes 1 & 2.

:zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz:: zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz::zzzzz:
What a waste of human endeavor! If there is an after-life, you should be tormented eternal for wasting the precious few hours we are granted here in this life!

I looked up A+ certification and Wiki says:

The A+ certification demonstrates competency as a computer technician. CompTIA A+ certification is a vendor neutral certification.


Vendor neutral my ass! I found the practice exam questions on-line and the questions are anything BUT vendor neutral!!! They're quite vendor specific! ...wanna take a stab at what specific vendor?

I took the OS portion of the exam and there wasn't a single question about an OS; only Weendoze.

I perused several of the network and security exam questions as well. Way too M$ specific to be of any real use. The hardware exam was also brain-damaged IBM PeeCee BIOS specific.

[Dark Side]

Brian Herbert/Kevin Anderson - Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (sci-fi)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) once again (magical realism)
Julio Cortazar - Rayuela (Hopscotch) this time following the hopscotch...

[progdirjim]

What a waste of human endeavor! If there is an after-life, you should be tormented eternal for wasting the precious few hours we are granted here in this life!

I looked up A+ certification and Wiki says:

The A+ certification demonstrates competency as a computer technician. CompTIA A+ certification is a vendor neutral certification.


Vendor neutral my ass! I found the practice exam questions on-line and the questions are anything BUT vendor neutral!!! They're quite vendor specific! ...wanna take a stab at what specific vendor?

I took the OS portion of the exam and there wasn't a single question about an OS; only Weendoze.

I perused several of the network and security exam questions as well. Way too M$ specific to be of any real use. The hardware exam was also brain-damaged IBM PeeCee BIOS specific.

For as smart as you are, I'm surprised how badly you totally missed the point here. Let's say for the sake of argument, that MS is as bad, or even worse, then you say. If a person wanted to make a living FIXING computer problems, which would you rather train in?: Microsoft, which is approximately 80% of the fielded computers in the world; inherently inferior and bug ridden; used by morons (I'm paraphrasing you). Or, Mac/Unix/VMS which is (optimistically) used on 20% of the computers in the world, is so fucking superior that it virtually never fails, and when it does, the users are smart enough to fix the problem themselves?

I think Dale has made an EXCELLENT business decision, based on the world's computer situation as YOU describe it... ;) :deadhorse

Vendor neutral in this case means it don't matter if it's Dell, IBM, Compaq, HP, etc making the PC...

[Ted]

Brian Herbert/Kevin Anderson - Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (sci-fi)
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) once again (magical realism)
Julio Cortazar - Rayuela (Hopscotch) this time following the hopscotch...


DSO - Howdy!
I read The Butlerian Jihad - and it's sequels... the 2nd Dune Prequel. Interesting - not as good as the father, but VERY good nevertheless.

I am reading "The Rowan" by Anne MacCaffery (sp?) and a textbook: A History of the Christian Church by WIlliston Walker.

I bought a book by the mathematician Ian Stewart, Letters to a Young Mathematician, which I am looking forward to reading - when I finish the others!

Regards from Texas,
Ted

[Rick and Roll]

moving on to:
Flatland by Edwin Abbott (read it about 22 years ago, fun thought provoker)


I read this in college for a course and I didn't really take it in (I was ingesting too much beer to care). It is one of only 50 books I own. I'm going to read this again when i turn 50 and start watching my DVD's.

Isn't it old as shit? And still relevant.

[Dark Side]

[QUOTE=Ted;36571]DSO - Howdy!
I read The Butlerian Jihad - and it's sequels... the 2nd Dune Prequel. Interesting - not as good as the father, but VERY good nevertheless.

You are right Ted, the original Dune is better but the new books are pretty good too.

[VAXman]

I read this in college for a course and I didn't really take it in (I was ingesting too much beer to care). It is one of only 50 books I own. I'm going to read this again when i turn 50 and start watching my DVD's.
I remember reading it in HS as part of either a history or english lit. class.

Isn't it old as shit? And still relevant.
You've been keeping your shit for too long! Flush! :P

[VAXman]

For as smart as you are, I'm surprised how badly you totally missed the point here. Let's say for the sake of argument, that MS is as bad, or even worse, then you say. If a person wanted to make a living FIXING computer problems, which would you rather train in?: Microsoft, which is approximately 80% of the fielded computers in the world; inherently inferior and bug ridden; used by morons (I'm paraphrasing you). Or, Mac/Unix/VMS which is (optimistically) used on 20% of the computers in the world, is so fucking superior that it virtually never fails, and when it does, the users are smart enough to fix the problem themselves?
I missed nothing. It's just another, completely self-serving, way to exploit money from the hapless M$ sheep.

Actual experience in the field, IMHO, if far more valuable than being able to regurgitate certification answers. I was able to run through most of the sample test questions getting a greater than 95% correct and I've almost never used Weendoze.


I think Dale has made an EXCELLENT business decision, based on the world's computer situation as YOU describe it... ;) :deadhorse
... for the short haul. M$ failed to hit Wall Street expectations; whereas, their closest commercial competitor on the desktop (Apple) bested expectations. The latter's market share has also increased significantly.

There's also a BIG push toward Linux, open source and STANDARDS! Being M$ centric is not a move forward.

FWIW, my daughter's boyfriend has all the M$ certs and has been M$ centric since he left college. 5 years in the field and he's really going nowhere unless he's willing to permeate the NYC rat-race for a job. Being M$ centric is, IMO, like being a COBOL programmer just a decade or so ago -- dime a dozen.



Vendor neutral in this case means it don't matter if it's Dell, IBM, Compaq, HP, etc making the PC...
Well then, they should stop being so BIOS (Brain-damaged IBM Obsolete Services) hardware based (and ACPI too but that's a rant for another day) and start instructing on EFI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extensible_Firmware_Interface).

The "security" test was completely self-serving too. Not a single security concept from NIST CSRC.

[dinosaur]

Ms vs. Fruits...I can't understand a thing you're saying.
I'm going back to my Mark Twain book with jumping frogs full of lead and McClintockianisms:
"The road which led to the town presented many attractions Elfonzo had bid farewell to the youth of deep feeling, and was now wending his way to the dreaming spot of his fondness."
Huh?

[Rick and Roll]

Ms vs. Fruits...I can't understand a thing you're saying.
I'm going back to my Mark Twain book with jumping frogs full of lead and McClintockianisms:
"The road which led to the town presented many attractions Elfonzo had bid farewell to the youth of deep feeling, and was now wending his way to the dreaming spot of his fondness."
Huh?

Perfect.

[NorCalKurt]

The Aural Moon forums, what else.... :winkies: