What are you reading?

[Boxx]

Why wouldn't he be?

Except for Colleen of course.

Well OK Parker too.

I suppose since he is dead, he can't offer much...

However, the Cat in the Hat lives on....

Edited June 27, 2014 by Boxx

[oldtimer]

You get a gold star!

[Boxx]

You get a gold star!

I'm so pleased....

[oldtimer]

Caution: Before servicing the unit read the "safety precautions" in this manual.

I suggest a little summer reading then.

[Boxx]

Caution: Before servicing the unit read the "safety precautions" in this manual.

I suggest a little summer reading then.

I do need to get back on track....

[Sancho Panza]

Want some "Lucky Dogs"?

A Confederacy of Dunces (for the third time)-Gutbustingly funny.

I had to read Lord of the Flies with a summer school class. OMG, for the sixth time.

All of the O'Rielly "Killing" books since March-Excellent, all.

A biography of Byron that I finished two weeks ago-Anything but boring, by the way.

SSH

[WMcD]

I found a very beat up paper back copy of this at the grocery store for $2.00.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0891908730/ref=asc_df_08919087303182645?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=pg-1583-86-20&linkCode=df0&creative=395097&creativeASIN=0891908730

Carr's writing style is complicated and that of a British mystery writer (I surmise) and must be savored. Doyle was a genius and an adventurer. Sherlock was not his favorite character. His mother had instilled him with the nobility of his ancestors (knights, etc.). I suspect that Holmes and Watson worked so well because they tapped a subconscious appreciation of a quest, many quests, for truth and justice by intellect and science, by a knight and his squire who lived at 221-B. Doyle invented CSI.

The book is also a primer on the history of his times. Doyle's work as a physician during the Boer war is fascinating. He had many writings about the failures of the British military (they were still using squares and lances against the Boers who used German automatic weapons) and also defended the actions of the Empire against false accusations of atrocities during the Boer war. The latter got him his knighthood which he almost refused. His mother told him that a refusal would be an insult to King Edward. So don't argue with your mum and the king.

Doyle was sort of an agnostic for most of his life. Then after WW-I he has some personal spiritual experience with contact with some who had fallen. He viewed this a confirmation of what so many religions spoke of as an afterlife. Nonetheless, critics saw this as an Irish Catholic suggesting that the Church of England was founded on séances. This cost him a lordship, it is thought.

Now you'd think that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a shadow of the distant past. Not quite. You can see him in an early talky on YouTube. Note the "burr." He and his family spent time in Scotland .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWjgt9PzYEM

WMcD

Edited June 27, 2014 by William F. Gil McDermott

[Boxx]

Doyle was sort of an agnostic for most of his life.

I love this quote... This looks like a great read. Thanks for posting...

[mungkiman]

High Crimes - The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed - Nonfiction - Michael Kodas

Snow Crash - Fiction - Neal Stephenson

[garyrc]

Game of Thrones. Because I'm an intellectual.

The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Brothers-Foster-Dulles-Secret/dp/0805094970

I tend to think of the Dulles brothers as characters in Game of Thrones.

[Chris A]

I'm mostly done with this one--from the young author of FiveThirtyEight. The book has some good stuff, however the chapter on weather isn't (IMHO). But there are other chapters that definitely make up for the less good ones. It reminds me somewhat of Freakonomics. Recommended.

The chapter on the Bayesian approach is the clearest explanation I've seen on that subject and explains why the method wasn't used until the past few decades. If you're into betting on random stuff with your money (I'm not...), this is the chapter that you'll probably find to be the most useful:

i. Introduction/Synopsis

PART I: THE TROUBLE WITH PREDICTIONS: WHY SO MANY PREDICTIONS FAIL (AS SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF THE ECONOMY)

1. The Trouble with Predicting the Economy

2. The Complicating Factors

a. A Brief Digression into the Field of Meteorology (A Bright Spot in the World of Forecasting)

3. The Statistical Solution (and its Problems)

4. Biased Thinking

5. A Case Study in Failed Prediction-Making: The Great Recession

a. Endless Optimism in the Price of Real Estate

b. The Folly of the Ratings Agencies

c. Leveraged to High Heaven

d. The Government’s Failed Forecast of the Great Recession

e. Not Everyone Got the Great Recession Wrong (A Prelude to Part II)

PART II: TOWARDS BETTER PREDICTION-MAKING

Section 1: Strategies to Help Us with Our Predictions

6. The Bayesian Approach

7. Hedgehogs and Foxes: Be Foxy

Section 2: Applying the Prediction Strategies to Different Fields

8. Predicting the Stock Market

9. Predicting Climate Change

10. Predicting Terrorism

11. Conclusion

Edited June 27, 2014 by Chris A

[Boxx]

Hard to believe this couldn't be worked out.....

A north Leawood man will have to decide today whether to remove a Little Free Library he recently installed in his front yard — or face a citation from the city.

Brian Collins, who lives near the intersection of 89th Street and Ensley Lane, installed a Little Free Library his father-in-law had given his wife for her birthday around three weeks ago. Collins went out of town for a few days last week, and when he arrived home, he found a letter from the city’s codes enforcement officer informing him that the Little Free Library was not permitted under city code because it was a “detached structure” and that he had until June 19 to come into compliance.

“Your take a book leave a book structure must be attached to the house,” the letter read.

Collins emailed Leawood Mayor Peggy Dunn about the issue, and requested that the city consider amending the municipal code to allow Little Free Libraries. Dunn referred the matter to City Administrator Scott Lambers, who responded with an email saying that the detached structure ordinance was “a common prohibition for cities.”

“I would suggest that citizens who are interested in this endeavor contact the Johnson County Library to see if this is an activity that the Library would permit to occur on their premises,” Lambers wrote.

That response irked Collins, who pointed out that the whole point of the Little Free Libraries was that they were right in their neighborhoods and easily accessible from the street.

“If it’s attached to the house, people aren’t going to come to it,” he said. “And why would you put a Little Free Library at a big library?”

Collins said he hasn’t made a final decision about whether to pull his LFL or not. He said he thinks he’s “ready to be cited. I’m ready to take it to court.”

“We’ve gotten so much positive response to it since we put it out,” he said. “The neighbors love it. If I lived three blocks to the north [in Prairie Village], this wouldn’t be an issue.”

[tigerwoodKhorns]

A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

For some reason. I cannot bring myself to read fiction. I don't know why.

[ssh]

One favorite line from a favorite author: "Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot."

Hey, Sancho, I don't think so; we know where those hands have been!

SSH

[Chris A]

This is the book now queued. A bit heavier than the preceding one but I believe is part of the answer of "why are so many systems so messed up?". This author won a Nobel prize on the subject of real decision making. Cool stuff, and an underlying theme that I've personally experienced: fast thinking used when slow thinking was the proper response. Like as in billions spent on government stuff that makes no sense whatsoever and if someone actually thought for more than a nanosecond, they never would've done it. It's actually quite amazing to me how hard some people will work to not think about what they're actually doing - and try to squelch others when they do start thinking about their problems more deeply.

I also don't do very well with fiction: I feel that if I'm reading that I should spend my time more productively. Perhaps this feeling is due to my difficulty making it through an entire book before refocusing on another topic of interest....and no...I'm not ADD.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Chris A

[oldtimer]

Fiction (good fiction) can be every bit as productive for your time. It is just a different type of productivity, perhaps involving other parts of the brain which can be just as important.

[Amy]

I much prefer fiction. It's an escapism thing, I think. But then again, a lot of fiction is based on real life experiences of the author, so it's a fine line.

This was a recent read (of an older book) that I couldn't put down:

[eth2]

I much prefer fiction. It's an escapism thing, I think. But then again, a lot of fiction is based on real life experiences of the author, so it's a fine line.

This was a recent read (of an older book) that I couldn't put down:

Amy,

We all know you are reading "What Color Is Your Parachute?"

Don't kid a kidder!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=what%20color%20is%20your%20parachute&sprefix=what+color+is+%2Caps%2C214

[Amy]

We all know you are reading "What Color Is Your Parachute?"

Haha! It isn't golden, I can tell you that much.

[Chris A]

Perhaps you are referring to the potential of fiction to elicit "paradigm shifts"?

Audiobooks work better for me in terms of entertainment, such as fiction--so I can rest my eyes or do something else with them at the same time that actually requires my attention.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Chris A