What Are You Reading Right Now? The IAC Book Thread

[Jivermo]

Mr. Truman's War. J Robert Moskin. History buff? Excellent stuff!

[Amskeptic]

Mr. Truman's War. J Robert Moskin. History buff? Excellent stuff!

Apparently you really really really really really really like the book!
Colin

(I'll get rid of those extra posts . . . in a bit. I bet you found the "submit" button hanging up earlier and got pissed and started pecking that send key like an enraged chicken, am I right? I do that all the time. Then I send a hot PM to Randy to update the site and yell at the host server)
Colin

[glasseye]

Whew! That lets me off the hook for my duplicate posts.

"The Idea Factory" by Jon Gertner. A history of Bell Labs. How industry and government can cooperate and the synergies that result.

Like the transistor, for example.

[RussellK]

I thought he was trying to help with the post count.... and he did convince me to check out the book.

Just finished The Blue Bear by Lynn Schooler. A nice read.

[Amskeptic]

I thought he was trying to help with the post count.... and he did convince me to check out the book.

Just finished The Blue Bear by Lynn Schooler. A nice read.

Grateful for the sentiment, but we are going to win this thing free and clear of "gerrygerrygerrygerrygerrymandering".

Still working on Gilead by Marilynne Anderson.
Colin

[SlowLane]

"River of Stars" by Guy Gavriel Kay.

After I'm done I'll probably go dig up and re-read some older G.G. Kay novels. The guy sure knows how to weave a tale.

[Bleyseng]

Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown which is pretty good.

[glasseye]

"Nothing Like It in the World" by Stephen Ambrose.

The story of the building of the transcontinental railroad. (the American one, that is. We built one too and it was WAY longer). :) The takeaway so far? Nothing's changed. Corruption, financial problems, politicking, backstabbing and Chinese. Yes, Chinese. Hardworking, diligent, quiet, smart and effective Chinese. Lots of them. Just like on the Canadian RR


http://www.amazon.com/Nothing-Like-Worl ... en+ambrose

[Amskeptic]

The takeaway so far? Nothing's changed. Corruption, financial problems, politicking, backstabbing and Chinese.

Do we take solace in the fact, or do we sigh?
Colin

[satchmo]

"The Conundrum: How Scientific Innovation, Increased Efficiency and Good Intentions Can Make Our Energy and Climate Problems Worse" by David Owen.

A very enlightening and ultimately pretty depressing examination of what we get when we rush headlong into providing answers to the wrong questions. Our current energy and climate fiasco stems most simply from the fact that our energy use continues to skyrocket over time, and no new energy technology or efficiency will reverse that trend. In fact, increasing energy efficiency only make us use more energy. Find a way to improve our gas mileage by 50% and we will finally buy that little place in the country/suburbs and end up driving over twice what we did before. Make our air conditioner use less electricity, and we end up adjusting the thermostat rather than closing the curtains or using a fan because, hey, it only costs a few pennies. New super efficient refrigerator? Good, I'll get that to make myself feel 'green' and just move the old one down to the basement to keep the beer cold. The real question isn't "How do we make our lives more energy efficient?" That' because, according to the author, increases in efficiency invariably lead to increased energy use. Instead, the question is "How can we use less energy overall?" That's a behavioral problem, not a technological one.

Tim

[whc03grady]

Cascadia's Fault by Jerry Thompson. Look out, OR, WA and BC coasts!

[chachi]

...

[Sylvester]

Digger Dogface Brownjob Grunt, by Gary Prisk. About a Lieutenant in Vietnam. We have a ton of books sent to us over here and probably have over 1000 just for the 30 of us in our squadron. Heck I doubt I will finish this one before I leave here.

[Amskeptic]

"The Conundrum: How Scientific Innovation, Increased Efficiency and Good Intentions Can Make Our Energy and Climate Problems Worse" by David Owen.

A very enlightening and ultimately pretty depressing examination of what we get when we rush headlong into providing answers to the wrong questions. Our current energy and climate fiasco stems most simply from the fact that our energy use continues to skyrocket over time, and no new energy technology or efficiency will reverse that trend. In fact, increasing energy efficiency only make us use more energy. Find a way to improve our gas mileage by 50% and we will finally buy that little place in the country/suburbs and end up driving over twice what we did before. Make our air conditioner use less electricity, and we end up adjusting the thermostat rather than closing the curtains or using a fan because, hey, it only costs a few pennies. New super efficient refrigerator? Good, I'll get that to make myself feel 'green' and just move the old one down to the basement to keep the beer cold. The real question isn't "How do we make our lives more energy efficient?" That' because, according to the author, increases in efficiency invariably lead to increased energy use. Instead, the question is "How can we use less energy overall?" That's a behavioral problem, not a technological one.

Tim

Very Good Points . . . =D>

Our newly fuel efficient and long lasting cars let us effortlessly drive more.
We need Off The Grid days, parties, Town Proclamations. The experience of being off the grid (like during a sustained power outage) has often been a wake-up call for people who enjoyed greeting their neighbors over the fence, or finding out that reading to the kids instead of everyone zoned out at their own TV was vastly more satisfying. Heck, we air-cooled VW drivers could show others that a 55 mph speed limit is a good thing.
Colin

[Jivermo]

Yep...Morgan Freeman is quite miscast. He is past milking the movie system, and I can think of several others. We need term limits on actors...him, Tori Spelling, Susan Sarandon, Vince Vaughn, Meryl Streep...I could do very well not seeing any further appearances. Let's give some new blood some opportunity.