Like millions of other people I’m a huge fan of Kurzgesagt. I’ve “supported” them over the years by buying their posters and other doodads, so of course I immediately pre-ordered the new book by their founder Philipp Dettmer. For $22 it seemed like a good purchase. After reading it for the past month I can whole heartedly recommend this book as a way to learn about how the immune system works.
I finished the iPhone Field Guide by David Sparks last week. It’s a great iBook for pretty much anybody that uses an iPhone. I bought a copy for someone in my family that’s a not very technically oriented. I also enjoyed the book as I would any well written article about iPhone apps and workflows. I think that’s a great description for potential readers that are hesitant to buy an iBook about an iPhone.
About damn time. I’ve been so looking forward to this. This is a situation where membership is totally worth it.
The worst thing that could possibly happen to anybody … would be to not be used for anything by anybody.
—K.V. (The Sirens of Titan)
Vonnegut with his daughter Lily (1990)
I miss you, you bastard.
Adam Engst has a really nice article about desktop publishing. It’s applicable to pretty much any kind of writing.
In case it has gone unnoticed, Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors. I've read every word he has released, including the private essay collections held in various university libraries.1 My opportunities for reading words on paper or glass have shrunk over the years and Audible has become my commuting companion. When I heard that there was a newly released Vonnegut short story titled "Basic Training", I immediately jumped over to Audible and clicked "
I recently re-read several books from my childhood.1 Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World and J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.2 What I found so striking about both experiences was how the context changed for me now that I am an adult. The words are the same, but almost all of the stories are different. I still enjoyed the hell out of them, but I now have a split memory of these books.
American Prometheus is the biography of American scientist Robert Openheimer. It's a wonderful and sad story of a passionate person caught in the machinations of lesser men.
I listened to the 26 hour audio book which is tolerable but not great. As an unabridged audio book it is complete but somewhat disjointed. It was compeling and fascinating none the less.
I can recommend this book to anyone that has the slightest interest or enjoyment of any of the following topics:
