clock ... watching time, the only true currency

clock ... watching time, the only true currency http://www.pencoyd.com/clock A journal from John B. Roberts Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:09:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 37.770937-122.442763http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/Clockhttp://feedburner.google.comThis is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. Last two books of 2009 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/F9kz5t6zmu0/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/last-two-books-of-2009/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:09:36 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1840 There’s two more books I read in 2009, but I’m not going to record them tonight. Soldiers of Reason, a history of the RAND Corporation, and The Contractor, a spy novel, were both library pickups, and interesting in different ways, but I’ll give them their own posts soon.

The many movies I saw but neglected to blog in 2009 may get a single wrap-up post in the new year, and then I’ll reconsider my policy of capturing my major media consumption. Creating rather than consuming matters to me, but I want this blog to be fun to write again, not a duty. And I want to think about things beyond books and movies. I do, but you wouldn’t know it from what’s here recently.

Happy New Year a bit early. Here’s to an engaging Twenty10.

(This is the last post of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/last-two-books-of-2009/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/last-two-books-of-2009/ Book: Eastern Standard Tribe http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/8eOP2yQnQQs/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-eastern-standard-tribe/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:02:34 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1837 Another Doctorow paperback pickup, Eastern Standard Tribe thrilled me more than his earlier novel. With a simple yet imaginative idea, Doctorow makes corporate espionage seem like a new story. The concept — that allegiances and tastes run by time zone, not nation-state — is presented as fact, not explained…which is for the best. Just set the foundation, and then tell the story from that slightly skewed foundation and see where it goes. It doesn’t hurt that the protagonist is a user experience designer, and Doctorow gets in several jabs at the music industry’s shortsightedness.

I’ll have to read his third novel sometime.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-eastern-standard-tribe/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-eastern-standard-tribe/ Book: Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/g2i5bFfXdGI/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-down-and-out-in-the-magic-kingdom/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:47:42 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1835 Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom was Cory Doctorow’s first novel. More famous (to me) for being given away for free in many digital formats, Down and Out appeared to me in physical form, as a paperback I picked up off a neighborhood book table this fall.

Imaginative story, more of a novella than a novel, this story — like most science fiction — depends on its readers being willing to extrapolate in a few different ways from where we are today. In a down economy, we can only dream of a world where Whuffie (akin to egoboo) is the scorecard instead of money and material needs. Doctorow’s world is that dream, but he demonstrates it’s not all pleasant musing. A reasonable read, if not a classic.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-down-and-out-in-the-magic-kingdom/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-down-and-out-in-the-magic-kingdom/ Book: The Hostage http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/bN_zG16BhMg/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-hostage/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:37:25 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1833 While I panned In Danger’s Path, I enjoyed The Hostage from W.E.B. Griffin for one reason: I listened to it. As an unabridged audiobook which doesn’t demand much attention, nor require a constant memory of the previous character “development,” The Hostage swallowed many boring driving hours for me this summer and fall. I have other audio books I’d prefer to catch up with, but actual physical CDs are hard to beat in the cars I drive.

Still, I would not go out of my way to listen to W.E.B Griffin again.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-hostage/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-hostage/ Book: Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/wAdIBCvrWkg/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-waiting-for-your-cat-to-bark/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:31:45 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1830 This business book was a freebie, and I got little more than what I paid for it. Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing just isn’t new stuff after a decade-plus of different people (notably Seth Godin) telling us how marketing is changing.

I suppose the lessons and anecdotes presented are not obvious to all readers.

But I’ve been playing close attention and living in this world for too long to learn much from this book by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg. That disappointed me, because I am interested, personally and professionally. Also, I wasn’t impressed that cattobark.com, the book’s website, responds with a Windows server error right now. That doesn’t quite match the internet expert persona put forth in their 2006 book.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-waiting-for-your-cat-to-bark/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-waiting-for-your-cat-to-bark/ Book: How We Decide http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/sALZGXcNz6w/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-how-we-decide/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:21:54 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1828 Deflating the myth of rational choice, Jonah Lehrer’s How We Decide runs through the research about decision-making and decisions, and comes out with the perhaps refreshing news that we go with our gut feelings most of the time. Depending on the type of decision we’re making, that emotional tilt may be helpful — or even necessary — or it may mislead, but it’s 100% real.

Lehrer writes differently from Malcom Gladwell (to Lehrer’s credit), but this kind of science survey falls firmly into the same genre. I’m quite sure every publisher has an eye out for similar work. A Lehrer strength, I found, is that he’s stayed in the same area of neuroscience and its implications for several articles and books. How We Decide illuminates one area of the study of the mind, both biological foundations and real-world actions. But there’s plenty of other tacks to take, and Lehrer’s demonstrated fascination should lead to more shared insights. I’ll be following his blog from now on.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-how-we-decide/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-how-we-decide/ Book: The Associate http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/TkLgbHT96_Q/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-associate/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:10:05 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1826 Another one from my brother, The Associate by John Grisham, doesn’t stick in my mind at all. I know I read it this summer, but until I dug up the website right now, I didn’t remember a fraction of the story.

Now that I’ve refreshed my memory, well, it’s an airplane book, with a few hints of the delicious fun of The Firm and others, but not quite there. I suppose the best part is that Grisham keeps writing, and isn’t paralyzed by trying to match some of his early success.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-associate/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-associate/ Book: The Beckham Experiment http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/uXRaHgdkcWI/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-beckham-experiment/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:04:39 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1824 I read the excerpt of Grant Wahl’s article in Sports Illustrated first. After that appetizer, I was grateful to my brother for providing the full book of The Beckham Experiment.

Not much to add here, so many months after the fact, except that I’m amazed the Galaxy played so well this season, with Beckham and Donovan finding a way to play the game and put the previous year — with all its now-public dirty laundry — behind them. True professionals, after all.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-beckham-experiment/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-the-beckham-experiment/ Book: In Danger’s Path http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/dgAtjWkT3_M/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-in-dangers-path/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:56:43 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1821 Until this summer, I never picked up any of the “50 million copies in print” of W.E.B. Griffin’s novels. In Danger’s Path is one of The Corps series, and the American military in World War II is able to get some people and radios into the deserts of China. There’s a lot along the way, but honestly, I finished this one (on August 15th) only because I’m stubborn about finishing books I start.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-in-dangers-path/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-in-dangers-path/ Book: Pirate http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Clock/~3/KUZx7KwzJpA/ http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-pirate/#comments Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:49:50 +0000 John Roberts http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/?p=1819 I should be ashamed to admit that I read Ted Bell’s Pirate. And I am, mildly. Still, I bounce around in my reading, and candy has its place among the food groups, too (or something like that). If I’m going to record the books I’ve read, I want to capture all of it. I certainly don’t want to make the mistake of reading this one again. A weak James Bond wannabe tale, Pirate doesn’t have much beyond the clichés. Oh well. I won’t pick up any of Bell’s other single-word titles.

(This is part of my end-of-the-year rush to capture my major media consumption before the year actually comes to a close.)

]]> http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-pirate/feed/ 0 http://www.pencoyd.com/clock/2009/12/31/book-pirate/