2006-01-27
How to Develop a Million Dollar Personality
Author: J. V. Cerney
I picked this book up from the free display outside the local used book store one night a couple years ago. I actually had a friend in mind at the time, to whom I was going to send it, but I decided to keep it myself. If you know me you know my personality is a couple cents short of a nickel, so I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity. However I didn't get past the first chapter until this week, when I made a determined effort to get through all 223 pages and learn how to develop my million dollar personality.
It is quite clear that the author is very interested in helping you achieve your million dollar personality. He's downright excited, in fact! The exclamation points bring his personality -- sorry, his million dollar personality -- right across the page! (I have to stop and italicize the mention of a million dollar personality. It must be critical. The phrase is never used unitalicized in the book, except in a couple charts, where capitals are substituted.) The enthusiasm is infectious. You immediately want to learn how a person can be so relentlessly enthusiastic, and you're in luck! The second chapter is all about enthusiasm. One of the headings inside is "Turn It On, Turn It Off, Keep Enthusiasm Under Control", but the topic of turning it off never seems to come up. Enthusiasm is a vital part of your million dollar personality and it's safer just to leave it on.
To help you get a head start on your own million dollar personality, you lucky people, I'll excerpt some scattered tips from this self-help wonder:
Looking at the last one, I appear to work for people that have read this book. I can save you even more time by a summary I seem to remember Dogbert giving of how to speak in management:
The book seems like it might actually be a complete guide to developing my million dollar personality. The only problem is it doesn't quite fully explain why I would want such a thing. Nonetheless, I will try selected portions of the advice. If I don't have a million dollar personality when I'm done, I'll blame inflation. This book was published in 1964 and may only buy a $164,000 personality today. (CPI Inflation Calculator) I may ask for my money back.
I picked this book up from the free display outside the local used book store one night a couple years ago. I actually had a friend in mind at the time, to whom I was going to send it, but I decided to keep it myself. If you know me you know my personality is a couple cents short of a nickel, so I figured I would take advantage of the opportunity. However I didn't get past the first chapter until this week, when I made a determined effort to get through all 223 pages and learn how to develop my million dollar personality.
It is quite clear that the author is very interested in helping you achieve your million dollar personality. He's downright excited, in fact! The exclamation points bring his personality -- sorry, his million dollar personality -- right across the page! (I have to stop and italicize the mention of a million dollar personality. It must be critical. The phrase is never used unitalicized in the book, except in a couple charts, where capitals are substituted.) The enthusiasm is infectious. You immediately want to learn how a person can be so relentlessly enthusiastic, and you're in luck! The second chapter is all about enthusiasm. One of the headings inside is "Turn It On, Turn It Off, Keep Enthusiasm Under Control", but the topic of turning it off never seems to come up. Enthusiasm is a vital part of your million dollar personality and it's safer just to leave it on.
To help you get a head start on your own million dollar personality, you lucky people, I'll excerpt some scattered tips from this self-help wonder:
- What Should Be Remembered About Applying Enthusiasm?
- Present only the happy side to everything.
- Never be the purveyor of bad news. Detail this to someone else.
- Present only the happy side to everything.
- [S]idestep all controversial issues.
- [T]here is no place for anger in your life.
- 40 Personal Mannerisms to Avoid
- Blinking.
- Staring.
- Blinking.
- Take ten minutes to talk to yourself. After plenty of such practice you will find yourself talking to one of the best conversationalists you know.
- Tighten your buttocks as if you were holding a golden nugget between them.
- When an employee comes to you with the tale of being overworked he is actually not concerned about being overworked. He is concerned with getting recognition for the problem he is having or the job he is doing.
Looking at the last one, I appear to work for people that have read this book. I can save you even more time by a summary I seem to remember Dogbert giving of how to speak in management:
- LOUD.
- SMILEY!
The book seems like it might actually be a complete guide to developing my million dollar personality. The only problem is it doesn't quite fully explain why I would want such a thing. Nonetheless, I will try selected portions of the advice. If I don't have a million dollar personality when I'm done, I'll blame inflation. This book was published in 1964 and may only buy a $164,000 personality today. (CPI Inflation Calculator) I may ask for my money back.
2006-01-23
Harpy Thyme
Author: Piers Anthony
Gloha, the first goblin-harpy crossbreed, is growing up and needs a man to love. But where will she ever find another winged goblin, since she's the first? Meanwhile, Bink, Trent, Iris and Crombie are getting together for a party. They're all quite old by now, but in Xanth main characters don't die, they just fade out. It's going to be a fade-out party.
Some of the Xanth novels have stronger plots than others. This is one of the weaker plots -- there's no real urgency to Gloha's search for a man, especially when she knows there are no other winged goblins anywhere. The story consists of moving the main party from place to place, where minor adventures happen and other characters' quests come and go. The novel overall feels like a housekeeping activity, tying up loose ends created earlier in the series: crossbreeds with no potential mates and characters from the first two stories that should simply be dead by now.
As usual, the narrative contains no introduction to Xanth or the characters involved. Knowledge of the events of Demons Don't Dream is not required, but familiarity with the series as a whole is. Harpy Thyme (Xanth-17) is only of interest to readers that have been following along with the whole series. Gloha isn't all that interesting a character and it was hard to care whether she found love or not. Some of the mini-stories help fill in some gaps in the overall history, but as a whole this episode is fairly forgettable.
Gloha, the first goblin-harpy crossbreed, is growing up and needs a man to love. But where will she ever find another winged goblin, since she's the first? Meanwhile, Bink, Trent, Iris and Crombie are getting together for a party. They're all quite old by now, but in Xanth main characters don't die, they just fade out. It's going to be a fade-out party.
Some of the Xanth novels have stronger plots than others. This is one of the weaker plots -- there's no real urgency to Gloha's search for a man, especially when she knows there are no other winged goblins anywhere. The story consists of moving the main party from place to place, where minor adventures happen and other characters' quests come and go. The novel overall feels like a housekeeping activity, tying up loose ends created earlier in the series: crossbreeds with no potential mates and characters from the first two stories that should simply be dead by now.
As usual, the narrative contains no introduction to Xanth or the characters involved. Knowledge of the events of Demons Don't Dream is not required, but familiarity with the series as a whole is. Harpy Thyme (Xanth-17) is only of interest to readers that have been following along with the whole series. Gloha isn't all that interesting a character and it was hard to care whether she found love or not. Some of the mini-stories help fill in some gaps in the overall history, but as a whole this episode is fairly forgettable.
2006-01-20
The Lion of Farside
Author: John Dalmas
When Curtis Macurdy was growing up on a farm in Indiana, his Aunt Varia just seemed like a slightly peculiar redhead. Nothing all that wrong with that, and Uncle Will loved her. But a year after Will's death in a logging accident, Varia retrieved Curtis from his bed to hers, leading to their marriage. Seems she's got a thing for the Macurdy bloodline, and wants children from it, despite continually miscarrying with Will. Curtis begins to learn about just how different Varia is, and the world she comes from, reachable through a few gateways that open at midnight on the night of every full moon. When Varia's family kidnaps her and takes her back to that world, Curtis leaves his own behind to get her back.
The novel starts quickly, has an interesting premise, and keeps the action moving toward the easily understood goal of this couple's reunion. Most of the narrative follows Curtis's or Varia's thoughts. A few sections jarringly switch the perspective to one of the other characters. Once the two leading characters are separated, the author follows one or the other for several chapters, taking months of story time, at a stretch. The usual convention would have more rapidly alternating viewpoints. Nonetheless, the story is engaging right through about 38 of the 44 chapters.
As good as the beginning is, the ending ruins the book. It's as if Dalmas wrote himself up to a point, got ready to close it out, and realized he wanted to leave his characters somewhere completely different for the sequel. Scared of having a weak ending, he packs far too much in the last five chapters. Significant events happen without any sense of purpose. It's like a smooth flight from New York to Los Angeles going perfectly when, late in the final approach, the pilot pulls up and banks sharply to head towards San Diego, where he crashes. If my reading of the sequel's (The Bavarian Gate) setting is correct, the last few chapters could have easily been moved to the front of that book where they'd at least make a little sense.
Rape is prominent in the story, and an examination of marriage vows and polyamory is part of the theme. The conclusion to that study I found unsatisfying, and I hope it wasn't meant to be the book's message. I'm not sure what to say without giving away too much of the story.
I enjoyed most of the time I spent reading the story, finding it good but not great. I might have looked at the sequel or some of the author's other work. The ending did it for me though. I'm left with no particular interest in seeing what else happens in this world. "Farewell to Yuuluth" indeed.
Download The Lion of Farside from the Baen Free Library.
When Curtis Macurdy was growing up on a farm in Indiana, his Aunt Varia just seemed like a slightly peculiar redhead. Nothing all that wrong with that, and Uncle Will loved her. But a year after Will's death in a logging accident, Varia retrieved Curtis from his bed to hers, leading to their marriage. Seems she's got a thing for the Macurdy bloodline, and wants children from it, despite continually miscarrying with Will. Curtis begins to learn about just how different Varia is, and the world she comes from, reachable through a few gateways that open at midnight on the night of every full moon. When Varia's family kidnaps her and takes her back to that world, Curtis leaves his own behind to get her back.
The novel starts quickly, has an interesting premise, and keeps the action moving toward the easily understood goal of this couple's reunion. Most of the narrative follows Curtis's or Varia's thoughts. A few sections jarringly switch the perspective to one of the other characters. Once the two leading characters are separated, the author follows one or the other for several chapters, taking months of story time, at a stretch. The usual convention would have more rapidly alternating viewpoints. Nonetheless, the story is engaging right through about 38 of the 44 chapters.
As good as the beginning is, the ending ruins the book. It's as if Dalmas wrote himself up to a point, got ready to close it out, and realized he wanted to leave his characters somewhere completely different for the sequel. Scared of having a weak ending, he packs far too much in the last five chapters. Significant events happen without any sense of purpose. It's like a smooth flight from New York to Los Angeles going perfectly when, late in the final approach, the pilot pulls up and banks sharply to head towards San Diego, where he crashes. If my reading of the sequel's (The Bavarian Gate) setting is correct, the last few chapters could have easily been moved to the front of that book where they'd at least make a little sense.
Rape is prominent in the story, and an examination of marriage vows and polyamory is part of the theme. The conclusion to that study I found unsatisfying, and I hope it wasn't meant to be the book's message. I'm not sure what to say without giving away too much of the story.
I enjoyed most of the time I spent reading the story, finding it good but not great. I might have looked at the sequel or some of the author's other work. The ending did it for me though. I'm left with no particular interest in seeing what else happens in this world. "Farewell to Yuuluth" indeed.
Download The Lion of Farside from the Baen Free Library.
2006-01-15
Agile Web Development with Rails
Authors: Dave Thomas and David Heinemeier Hansson
This is the main print book covering the hot web development framework that it seems everyone is talking about, Rails. With input from the main developer it is as definitive as possible for such a fast-moving target. The book contains introductory, tutorial, and in-depth sections, and wisely leaves out much of the item-by-item reference material some books use to fill space. That you can get online.
The tutorial is very good overall. I could wish for a subject more interesting than yet another web store, but at least the authors acknowledge how trite it is and use it for their demo because the subject is so well understood. I would have liked to see the tutorial be a little longer with integrated testing and security material. As it is, testing and security each get their own chapters, and the testing chapter starts with an acknowledgement that tests should have been written all along. This appears to be an artifact of the testing chapter being contributed by a different author. (The book has four other contributors credited on the cover, each having written one chapter while the main authors wrote the rest.)
Part III contains chapters going in depth on the components that make up the Rails system. The coverage appears to be complete, and no immediately obvious questions were left unanswered. Again, the authors go into detail while leaving the extreme detail to the included documentation.
My gripes are minor. The chapter on "The Web, v2.0" seems to assume that the reader knows what that is (it's an empty catchphrase coined by Tim O'Reilly to attract people to a conference) and that they care. The examples are good, but not great. The book avoids going into detail on HTML and CSS throughout, but a significant understanding of those topics is needed to really make use of the features presented in this chapter. Also, compatibility with users disabling JavaScript or with non-compatible browsers is given a very short treatment.
The Action Mailer chapter shows how to send plain-text and HTML emails, but not a proper mixed-format email. The security chapter hits some high points, but doesn't really seem long enough. The deployment chapter basically admits that there is no good way to deploy Rails in a production environment, but that's not really a problem with the book because it's true!
Before that leads me to a review of the Rails software itself, I'll finish reviewing the book by finding it well worth the list price (mine was a gift) and time spent reading. Multiple Rails tutorials are available online and I first learned from them, but the presentation herein stands above them all. More importantly, the tour of Active Record and Action Pack is unlike anything found online, informative but complimentary to the API documentation, not trying to replace it. Agile Web Development with Rails was a worthwhile read that I expect to repay me quickly in the next few months.
This is the main print book covering the hot web development framework that it seems everyone is talking about, Rails. With input from the main developer it is as definitive as possible for such a fast-moving target. The book contains introductory, tutorial, and in-depth sections, and wisely leaves out much of the item-by-item reference material some books use to fill space. That you can get online.
The tutorial is very good overall. I could wish for a subject more interesting than yet another web store, but at least the authors acknowledge how trite it is and use it for their demo because the subject is so well understood. I would have liked to see the tutorial be a little longer with integrated testing and security material. As it is, testing and security each get their own chapters, and the testing chapter starts with an acknowledgement that tests should have been written all along. This appears to be an artifact of the testing chapter being contributed by a different author. (The book has four other contributors credited on the cover, each having written one chapter while the main authors wrote the rest.)
Part III contains chapters going in depth on the components that make up the Rails system. The coverage appears to be complete, and no immediately obvious questions were left unanswered. Again, the authors go into detail while leaving the extreme detail to the included documentation.
My gripes are minor. The chapter on "The Web, v2.0" seems to assume that the reader knows what that is (it's an empty catchphrase coined by Tim O'Reilly to attract people to a conference) and that they care. The examples are good, but not great. The book avoids going into detail on HTML and CSS throughout, but a significant understanding of those topics is needed to really make use of the features presented in this chapter. Also, compatibility with users disabling JavaScript or with non-compatible browsers is given a very short treatment.
The Action Mailer chapter shows how to send plain-text and HTML emails, but not a proper mixed-format email. The security chapter hits some high points, but doesn't really seem long enough. The deployment chapter basically admits that there is no good way to deploy Rails in a production environment, but that's not really a problem with the book because it's true!
Before that leads me to a review of the Rails software itself, I'll finish reviewing the book by finding it well worth the list price (mine was a gift) and time spent reading. Multiple Rails tutorials are available online and I first learned from them, but the presentation herein stands above them all. More importantly, the tour of Active Record and Action Pack is unlike anything found online, informative but complimentary to the API documentation, not trying to replace it. Agile Web Development with Rails was a worthwhile read that I expect to repay me quickly in the next few months.
2006-01-09
Demons Don't Dream
Author: Piers Anthony
Sixteenth in the Xanth series, Demons Don't Dream takes on the interesting format of following two Mundane characters who are the first to play the new Xanth computer game. Dug and Kim each get to choose a companion to guide them past Xanth's dangers, help them figure out the many game challenges, and get them to the Good Magician's castle where they can ask where to find the prize. They can enter Xanth through the game if they just believe ....
Nada Naga and Jenny Elf (with Sammy) are the companions for this adventure and some other regulars show up for cameos, but not many or for long. The novel's focus is on punnish riddles, so readers that particularly appreciated past challenges for entering Humphrey's castle should be especially pleased. As usual, the action moves right along, although I felt the history of the Curse Fiends took a little long and appeared out of place.
The Companions of Xanth computer game described in the book was actually produced around the same time. I have never seen this game, but it doesn't seem necessary to enjoy the book. Those who have suffered through bad novelizations of gaming experiences need not worry; the book stands alone and feels like any other Xanth novel. The game is a plot device that keeps the action moving, and it's no worse than any other.
I'll probably do Xanth-17 soon, as my next novel, but I have some non-fiction to finish first.
Sixteenth in the Xanth series, Demons Don't Dream takes on the interesting format of following two Mundane characters who are the first to play the new Xanth computer game. Dug and Kim each get to choose a companion to guide them past Xanth's dangers, help them figure out the many game challenges, and get them to the Good Magician's castle where they can ask where to find the prize. They can enter Xanth through the game if they just believe ....
Nada Naga and Jenny Elf (with Sammy) are the companions for this adventure and some other regulars show up for cameos, but not many or for long. The novel's focus is on punnish riddles, so readers that particularly appreciated past challenges for entering Humphrey's castle should be especially pleased. As usual, the action moves right along, although I felt the history of the Curse Fiends took a little long and appeared out of place.
The Companions of Xanth computer game described in the book was actually produced around the same time. I have never seen this game, but it doesn't seem necessary to enjoy the book. Those who have suffered through bad novelizations of gaming experiences need not worry; the book stands alone and feels like any other Xanth novel. The game is a plot device that keeps the action moving, and it's no worse than any other.
I'll probably do Xanth-17 soon, as my next novel, but I have some non-fiction to finish first.
2006-01-03
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Finished Potter-5 this morning. Actually I had just read the first five Potter books straight through since 12/15 or so.
Each book is longer and more interesting than the last. All are definitely children's books, but by the fourth in the series the plots started to get a little interesting. I'm done for now; eventually 6 and 7 will be out in paperback and I'll add them to my bookshelf but I have no desire to run out and grab Half-Blood Prince in hardcover.
Each book is longer and more interesting than the last. All are definitely children's books, but by the fourth in the series the plots started to get a little interesting. I'm done for now; eventually 6 and 7 will be out in paperback and I'll add them to my bookshelf but I have no desire to run out and grab Half-Blood Prince in hardcover.
