false 17 48 44 true 5737639 read 3 true 888225 currently-reading 1 true 888224 to-read 9 false 888226 read-for-bookclub 2 false 2547910 life-long-learner http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23684414 The Design of Everyday Things (Paperback) by Donald A. Norman
bookshelves: currently-reading, life-long-learner
So far this book is amazing. Focused on industrial design, but the ideas work for improving any type of design.

More news at 11. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23683679 to: The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures (Hardcover) by Dan Roam
bookshelves: life-long-learner
You can glaze over all the business crap which gives the author content to give a good sketch of what the basics of visual communication are. It is a very different book than Robert E. Horn's "Visual Language" and I think it is a complementary book.

The author poses using the "reporters" 6 W's who/what/why etc as a guideline for thinking through diagrams. Another interesting technique that I need to try to test it is within the 6 W's he gives 5 dimensions each with a spectrum to explore a space for the diagram. It sounds complicated, but I think Dan Roam has done a good job of observing how he visually communicates and then crystallizing this into heuristics you too can follow at home.

It emphasizes connecting visual language with human biology to increase your communication skillz.

This is a fast read. I read it:
1 bath
3 times on toilet
5 days commuting on the bus ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/23683414 to: The Road (Hardcover) by Cormac McCarthy
bookshelves: read-for-bookclub
This is a really classy Steven King novel. Dark and bleak. I almost gave up on it half way through, but am glad I kept reading. Good for ruminating on the human condition and such. Wear a mouth filter mask while reading. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/4221.Warm_Hands_Bookclub Ozten joined the Warm Hands Bookclub group. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19343416 Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Paperback) by Lisa See
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19720787 Pam's review of A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction (Center for Environmental Structure Series)
by Christopher Alexander

Pam we are going to have to have a Christopher Alexander chat the next time I see you guys! ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19344055 to: Personal Information Management (Paperback) by William Jones
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19344019 Conversations on Consciousness: What the Best Minds Think about the Brain, Free Will, and What It Means to Be Human (Paperback) by Susan J. Blackmore
bookshelves: to-read
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19343519 to: The Meme Machine (Paperback) by Susan J. Blackmore
This book is amazing. I highly recommend it. It is non-fiction and can be a little dry, so let me give you the hard sell.

This book is basically Susan Blackmore's PHD thesis on memetic evolution. Okay, are you sold?

Topics touched upon in this book:
* How do you explain homosexual lifestyle in the face of evolution
* What is fashion
* Why/How does tool making evolve
* Why are religions so powerful
* How/why does advertising work
* How can you stop you monkey mind

It's been 5 months, so I might be missing some points or embellishing, but this book gave me a ton of inspiration and really challenged my way of living. It didn't hurt that I read it in Southern Africa.

If you check it out, be sure to try the meditation exercise suggested toward the end of the book.

Really cool stuff, I will re-read this book in a couple of years. ]]>