Content here is by Michael Still, mikal@stillhq.com.
This book did not go where I expected it to. Sure, it has a species uplift plot which is similar to Children of Time, but that’s not all that’s happening here. If the previous book was about refugees and redemption, this book is about alternative ways of structuring societies (I don’t want to ruin the…
I’m reading about SPIFFE / SPIRE at the moment in the form of the official project ebook. I’m going to list it here because if I read 194 pages I am going to write it up, regardless of if the book has been formally published or not. This book is probably the best introduction to…
This book continues the story of General Electric in the period after that covered by The Man Who Broke Capitalism, thus presenting an opportunity to validate if Jack Welch really was the bad guy while also learning more about where Welchism took General Electric in the longer term. This book is very readable, with nice…
At 20, Chris Knight set off into the woods to avoid society. He didn’t come out apart from to commit petty theft for supplies for 27 years, when he was finally caught after about 1,000 burglaries. Catherine and I are a bit divided on this story — I think Chris clearly had something wrong in…
This is a book about motivation, specifically about how our assumptions that biological urges and extrinsic motivation are sufficient to model all human behaviours. It turns out that’s not true — intrinsic motivation plays an important part, and in fact badly applied extrinsic motivators can harm the much more powerful intrinsic motivating factors. (It will…
This book lied to me. It purports to start out with a description of a hostage situation in New York city. However, the twist is it turns out that its a simulation instead of the real deal. The deception is complete! However, this is a pretty unusually effective way to “hook” people at the beginning…
I guess it’s no surprise that work uses Argo CD, so it seemed like time to understand it a bit better. Unfortunately this book has what I have come to expect from Packt publishing — it could do with a more solid editorial pass to be honest. The English in the book is awkward, and…
Another really good if a bit short book. My only real criticism of the first four books in this series is they really should have been one book. Title: Exit Strategy Author: Martha Wells Genre: Fiction Publisher: Tordotcom Release Date: October 2, 2018 Pages: 143 Murderbot wasn’t programmed to care. So, its decision to help…
The third installment in the murderbot series. Another fun if a bit short read. Honestly these books should all have been a single volume. That’s the only way I don’t enjoy these books — they’re super expensive for their length. Title: Rogue Protocol Author: Martha Wells Genre: Fiction Publisher: Tordotcom Release Date: August 7, 2018…
This is the textbook for a course I am doing at the moment. To be honest the book is kind of old and nothing special, but I read it so it gets at least a brief mention here. Overall the book is too dated to be particularly useful, and I find it hard to believe…