SQL for Smarties
SQL programming style
both are by Joe Celko
Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
31–39 of 39 posts
Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
#32First person to say "The Long Tail" gets expelled.
It's trendy to bash Long Tail, but doesn't your comment imply that it's prevalent enough that a entrepreneur should read, disagree or agree with it?
It's a flawed conclusion based on flawed data. You read about it, and it sounds compelling, and then you find out that reality just doesn't work that way.
I'd say it's not worth the time spent.
Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
#33The best thing I've been reading lately is E. W. Bovill's English Country Life 1780-1830 . Boring title, but a great book. His Golden Trade of the Moors is fabulous.
"Highly technical," says the Times.
"Popish!" raves the Globe.
Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously though, I bet he's at the library checking it out right now. :)
But while we're recommending books he doesn't want, I would like to suggest W.P. Montague's, The Ways of Knowing.
Particularly, it's explanation of authoritarianism, when it's appropriate and when it's not, has been indispensable.
To whet your appetite, I'll say this much:
Montague asserts that if you want to fill your head with true beliefs (this stuff called knowledge) about reality, then you should be aware of five distinct types of evidence that a human can collect and five distinct logical theories with which to process (Rationalism, Empiricism, Authoritarianism, Pragmatism, Mysticism). The more mastery, the more knowledge.
The book is slow going but not for the usual reasons. Each page made me want to pause and sit and think until I had totally reprocessed all my life's experiences and questioned all my now seemingly ill-formed conclusions in the new light of my increased powers of reasoning.
If I found a genie in a lamp and he granted me one wish, I would wish that everyone in the world would read the first chapter of that book... or for a puppy.
You can get a nice ~1930's copy for like $6 at an antique book store.
Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Books I wish I had on my bookshelf: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (Seth Godin, Oct. 21st) Outliers: Why Some People Succeed and Some Don't (Malcolm Gladwell, Nov. 18th) Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition (Guy Kawasaki, Oct. 30th) If you're the kind of person who lines up at bookstores to get the newest non-fiction books the day they come out then it's g…
I just like books with post-colonic explanatory subtitles, but it looks like I'll be taken care of as well. Yes, I made that word up.
You could call them prolapsed titles.
Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
#35The best thing I've been reading lately is E. W. Bovill's English Country Life 1780-1830 . Boring title, but a great book. His Golden Trade of the Moors is fabulous.
"Highly technical," says the Times. "Popish!" raves the Globe. Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously though, I bet he's at the library checking it out right now. :) But while we're recommending books he doesn't want, I would like to suggest W.P. Montague's, The Ways of Knowing. Particularly, it's explanation of authoritarianism, when it's appropriate and when it's not, has been indispensable. To whet your appetite, I'll…
Searching online I eventually found one on Amazon for $12 - about the cheapest I saw (lots on Amazon uk, starting at about 15 pounds) - from Powell's.
If you found pg's cities essays interesting or clueless, read Jane Jacobs's trilogy on cities:
The Death and Life of Great American Cities The Economy of Cities Cities and the Wealth of Nations
The quality of the writing, and the thought, more than fully justify the hubris of the last title.
Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Highly technical," says the Times. "Popish!" raves the Globe. Sorry, couldn't resist. Seriously though, I bet he's at the library checking it out right now. :) But while we're recommending books he doesn't want, I would like to suggest W.P. Montague's, The Ways of Knowing. Particularly, it's explanation of authoritarianism, when it's appropriate and when it's not, has been indispensable. To whet your appetite, I'll…
Searching online I eventually found one on Amazon for $12 - about the cheapest I saw (lots on Amazon uk, starting at about 15 pounds) - from Powell's. If you found pg's cities essays interesting or clueless, read Jane Jacobs's trilogy on cities: The Death and Life of Great American Cities The Economy of Cities Cities and the Wealth of Nations The quality of the writing, and the thought, more than fully justify the hu…
ABE is the place for used books:
Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Books I wish I had on my bookshelf: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (Seth Godin, Oct. 21st) Outliers: Why Some People Succeed and Some Don't (Malcolm Gladwell, Nov. 18th) Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition (Guy Kawasaki, Oct. 30th) If you're the kind of person who lines up at bookstores to get the newest non-fiction books the day they come out then it's g…
I just like books with post-colonic explanatory subtitles, but it looks like I'll be taken care of as well. Yes, I made that word up.
Interestingly enough, W.P. Montague's book The Way of Knowing,
had a post-sesquicolonic explanatory subtitle:
The way of knowing;: Or, the methods of philosophy
at least in early editions, the sesquicolon seems to have been replaced by a mere comma in the latest reprintings.
Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Searching online I eventually found one on Amazon for $12 - about the cheapest I saw (lots on Amazon uk, starting at about 15 pounds) - from Powell's. If you found pg's cities essays interesting or clueless, read Jane Jacobs's trilogy on cities: The Death and Life of Great American Cities The Economy of Cities Cities and the Wealth of Nations The quality of the writing, and the thought, more than fully justify the hu…
ABE is the place for used books: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=bovill&...
Ineed. Mayson, I hope there are a few copies of the Ways of Knowing left on AbeBooks because that's where I scored about six copies a few months back.
I realize now that in littering my friend's apartments with these books, I've been trying to transform my town into Cambridge (or into what PG says Cambridge is). But I seem to be a size too small for that job. Or as Montague might say, I don't command the prepotency needed to elicit that kind of change... yet.
So I'm taking a break from all that to compare Cities and Ambition with my own experience. My train leaves for Cambridge in a few weeks.
Giddiup.
Re: Ask YC (and PG): What books do you have on your bookshelf?
#39Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - by Robert Cialdini. This book will pretty much change your life when it comes to figuring out marketing and why people do things, and what not to do when you're trying to get people to buy into your ideas.
I have to strongly second this: one of the best psychology books around.