Category Archives: Read

Hat-tips, Pointers, Must read articles

Posted on ஓகஸ்ட் 30, 2007 | பின்னூட்டமொன்றை இடுக

பரிந்துரைக்கென்றே பல பதிவுகள் வைத்திருக்கிறேன். இருந்தாலும், படித்ததன் பயன் கருதி சில…

1. The internet | Who’s afraid of Google? | Economist.com: “The world’s internet superpower faces testing times”

One obvious strategy is to allay concerns over Google’s trustworthiness by becoming more transparent and opening up more of its processes and plans to scrutiny. But it also needs a deeper change of heart. Pretending that, just because your founders are nice young men and you give away lots of services, society has no right to question your motives no longer seems sensible. Google is a capitalist tool—and a useful one.

Some users now keep their photos, blogs, videos, calendars, e-mail, news feeds, maps, contacts, social networks, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and credit-card information—in short, much of their lives—on Google’s computers. And Google has plans to add medical records, location-aware services and much else.

ஒருவன் ஒருவன் முதலாளி! Monopoly- ஆக இருந்தால் வரும் பிரச்சினைகள்.

2. The Next Generation of Online Shorthand – Pogue’s Posts – Technology – New York Times Blog

The problem with these online abbreviations, however, is that they’re absolutely ancient; entire generations of teenagers have learned and outgrown LOL and OMG. The world desperately needs a new set of acronyms more relevant to today’s online chat participants.

* GI — Google it
* IIOYT — is it on YouTube?
* DYFH — did you Facebook him/her?

* 12OF — twelve-o’clock flasher (refers to someone less than competent with technology, to the extent that every appliance in the house flashes “12:00″)

* SML — send me the link
* RHB — read his/her blog
* KYST — knew you’d say that

* CMT (CMF, CMM, CMB) — check my Twitter (Facebook, Myspace, blog)
* CYE (CYF, CYM, CYB)–check your email (Facebook, Myspace, blog)

Finally, it occurred to me: Why should the convenience of online shorthand be the province of teenagers and twentysomethings? There ought to be a list that we, their parents and employers, can use, too. And now there is:

* WIWYA — when I was your age
* YKT – you kids today

* WDO? — what are you doing online?

* NIWYM — no idea what you mean
* NCK — not a chance, kid
* B2W — back to work

அப்படியே தமிழுக்கு யோசிக்கலாம்:

  • எ.தா.அ./க. – என் தாழ்மையான அபிப்ராயம்/கருத்து
  • நா.அ.வ/ம – நான் அறிந்த வரையில்/மட்டும்
  • எ.க.எ. உ.க.உ. – என் கருத்து எனக்கு. உங்கள் கருத்து உங்களுக்கு
  • பொ.பா. – பொதுவாக பார்த்தால்
  • வா.த.பி.ந. – வாங்க… தங்கள் பின்னுட்டத்திற்கு நன்றி
  • ஏ.ப.எ.வி.இ.என்.எ.ப.வை.அ. – ஏற்கனவே பலர் எழுதி இருந்தாலும் என் எண்ணங்களை பதிந்து வைத்தல் அவசியம்

மூளை ப்ளாங்க். இப்போதைக்கு இவ்வளவுதான் தோன்றியது.

3. BBC NEWS | Technology | Bloggers battered by viral storm – முதல் செய்திக்கும் இந்த செய்திக்கும் தொடர்பு உண்டு. கூகிளின் ப்ளாகர் சேவையை பிளவர்கள் ஆட்கொண்டு, எரிதம் அனுப்புகிறார்கள். கபர்தார்!

உங்கள் கணினியும் கொந்தர்களால் ஆட்கொள்ளப்பட்டிருக்கலாம்?

4. BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | World facing ‘arsenic timebomb’: “About 140 million people, mainly in developing countries, are being poisoned by arsenic in their drinking water, researchers believe.”

இந்தியாவில் விளைந்த நெல்லை சோறாக்கி உட்கொள்கிறீர்களா? அப்படியானால், உங்களுக்கு புற்றுநோய் முதல் சகலவிதமான நோய்களும் வரக்கூடிய ஆபத்து என்கிறார்கள் ஆராய்ச்சியாளர்கள்.

4. BBC NEWS | South Asia | Stellar hopes of Indian reality show student: “Winning a reality talent hunt show on an Indian television channel has given Arvind an opportunity to study engineering at Warwick University. The Indian television channel, NDTV, conducted the show – called Scholar Hunt, Destination UK.”

அட… வாழ்த்துகள்!

5. A Reporter at Large: The Black Sites: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker: “A rare look inside the C.I.A.’s secret interrogation program.”

சமீபத்தில் பதவியிழந்த ஆல்பர்ட்டோ கொன்சாலஸில் துவங்குகிறது. அல் க்வெய்தாவின் முக்கிய தலைகளில் ஒருவரான காலித் ஷேக் முகமதுவின் வீரதீர பிரதாபங்களை பிரஸ்தாபிப்பதில் தொடர்கிறது. இரகசியங்களை வெளிக்கொணர்கிறேன் என்று கொடூரமான சித்திரவதைகளில், இரகசிய சிறைச்சாலைகளில் சி.ஐ.ஏ ஈடுபடுவதை அலசும் கட்டுரை.

6. NPR : Detainees at Guantanamo Bay: க்வான்டானமோ சிறையில் இருப்பவர்களுக்கு வாதாடச் சென்ற கதை. வழக்கு எப்பொழுது எடுக்க இருக்கிறார்கள் என்பதை கடைசி நிமிடத்தில் தெரிவிப்பதன் மூலம், வழக்கறிஞர்களை வரவிடாமல் தடுக்கிறார்கள். அவகாசம் இருந்தாலும், விமானப் பயணச்சீட்டு கிடைப்பதில்லை. பொதுநலனுக்காக இலவசமாக சேவை செய்ய முன்வந்தாலும், ‘யார் குற்றஞ்சாட்டப்பட்டவர்?’ என்பதற்கு தெளிவான தகவல் கிடைப்பதில்லை. A Few Good Men (1992) -இன் ஜாக் நிக்கல்சன் நினைவுக்கு வருகிறார்.

7. The CIA | On top of everything else, not very good at its job | Economist.com: “The United States has not, even in the eyes of well-disposed critics, been well served by its main intelligence agency”

சிஐஏ அத்துமீறுவதை பறைசாற்றுபவர்கள் பல. அத்துமீறினாலும், செய்யவேண்டிய காரியத்தை ஒழுங்காக செய்து முடிக்க துப்பு கெட்டவர்கள் என்று ஆதாரம் கலந்த அலசல்களுடன் குற்றப்பத்திரிகையை நிரூபிக்கிறாராம்.

8. Diary of a Bad Year | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books: “In this extract from JM Coetzee’s latest novel, an eminent, elderly writer is compiling short essays on political themes. Simultaneously, he scribbles down his feelings for a young and beautiful neighbour”

நோபல் பரிசு பெற்றவரின் புத்தம்புதிய நாவல்.

9. Choosing Sides: On Nick Cohen’s What’s Left? :: Dissent Summer 2007 Issue – இது புத்தக விமர்சனம்.

Taking Issue: Nick Cohen on What’s Left :: Dissent Fall 2007 Issue – இது ஆசிரியரின் பதில்

Taking Issue: Johan Hari Responds to Nick Cohen:: Dissent Fall 2007 Issue – இது விமர்சகரின் மறுமொழி

Is Nick Cohen right about the left? His critics reply | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books – ‘எது இடதுசாரி?’ புத்தகத்திற்கு வல்லுநர்களின் கருத்துக்களைத் தொகுக்கிறார்கள்.

Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | This duplicitous liberal-left is nothing but a straw man: “The claim by pro-war writers and their neocon allies that the left dumped its principles to embrace ‘islamofascism’ is absurd”

The Spectator.co.uk – The new anti-Islamist intelligentsia – இடதுசாரிகளின் குணாதிசயங்கள்

10. sp!ked review of books | Towards an age of abundance: “Ignore the critics of economic growth who claim that prosperity makes us unhappy. We need to win the war against scarcity once and for all, so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of longer, healthier and wealthier lives.”

சொர்க்கம் என்பது நமக்கு சுகாதாரமான பூமிதான்!

11. The Smart Set: A Dilettante’s Guide to Art – August 22, 2007: “1001 Paintings You Should See Before You Die acknowledges the question ‘What is Painting?’ The answer: ‘Who cares?'”

12. The Peace Racket by Bruce Bawer, City Journal Summer 2007: “An anti-Western movement touts dictators, advocates appeasement—and gains momentum.”

பின்னூட்டமொன்றை இடுக

Posted in Articles, Books, Journals, Magz, Read, Stuff

Reading Recommendations – American & English Fiction

Posted on ஓகஸ்ட் 3, 2007 | 10 பின்னூட்டங்கள்

ஆங்கிலத்தில் ‘must read’ என்று ஒரு பட்டியல் போடச்சொன்னால், நீங்கள் பரிந்துரைக்கும் பட்டியல் தருவீர்களா எனக்கு? நவீன இலக்கியத்தில் தான் வேண்டும்.

என்று நண்பரிடமிருந்து கேள்வி. என்றாவது நேரம் கிடைக்கும்போது படிக்க வேண்டும் என்று நான் நினைக்கும் பட்டியல்:

  1. Reservation Blues – Sherman Alexie (1995)
  2. The House of Spirits – Isabel Allende (1985)
  3. Money – Martin Amis (1984)
  4. Bless Me, Ultima – Rudolfo Anya (1973)
  5. Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood (1996)
  6. Go Tell it on the Mountain – James Baldwin (1953)
  7. Collected Fictions – Jorge Luis Borges (1998)
  8. Drop City – TC Boyle (2003)
  9. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury (1953)
  10. Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card (1985)
  11. Death Comes for the Archbishop – Willia Carther (1927)
  12. The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler (1939)
  13. The Fruit ‘N Food – Leonard Chang (1996)
  14. Donald Duk – Frank Chin (1991)
  15. A Murder is Announced – Agatha Christie (1950)
  16. American Woman – Susan Choi (2003)
  17. Fifth Business – Robertson Davies (1970)
  18. Rockbound – Frank Praker Day (1928)
  19. White Noise – Don DeLilo (1985)
  20. The Red Tent – Anita Diamant (1997)
  21. The stolen Child – Keith Donohue (2006)
  22. A Yellow Raft on Blue Water – Michael Dorris (1987)
  23. An American Tragedy – Theodore Dreiser (1925)
  24. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison (1952)
  25. Love Medicine – Louise Erdrich (1984)
  26. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides (2002)
  27. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner (1929)
  28. The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
  29. From Russia with Love – Ian Fleming (1957)
  30. Inez – Carlos Fuentes (2000)
  31. A gathering of Old Men – Ernest J Gaines (1983)
  32. Dreaming in Cuban – Cristina Garcia (1992)
  33. I Wish Someone were Waiting for me Somewhere – Anna Gavalda
  34. Herland – Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1915)
  35. Three Junes – Julia Glass (2002)
  36. Rites of Passage – William Golding (1980)
  37. Our Man in Havana -Graham Greene (1958)
  38. The Maltese Falcon – Dashiell Hammett (1930)
  39. The Puppet Masters – Robert Heinlein (1951)
  40. Winter’s Tale – Mark Helprin (1983)
  41. Goodbye, Mr. Chips – James Hilton (1934)
  42. The River King – Alice Hoffman (2000)
  43. Brave New world – Aldous Huxley (1932)
  44. Deafening – Frances Itani (2003)
  45. The Love Wife – Gish Jen (2004)
  46. Dead Solid Perfect – Dan jenkins (1974)
  47. The Colony of Unrequited Dreams – Wayne Johnston (1998)
  48. The Healing – Gayl Jones (1998)
  49. Fear of Flying – Erica Jong (1973)
  50. Echo House – Ward Just (1997)
  51. Andersonville – Mackinlay Kantor (1955)
  52. Fateless – Imre Kertesz (1975)
  53. Sometimes a Great Nation – Ken Kesey (1964)
  54. Green Grass, Running Water – Thomas King (1993)
  55. Animal Dreams – Barbara Kingslover (1990)
  56. A Separate Peace – John Knowles (1959)
  57. The Buddha of Suburbia -Hanif Kureishi (1990)
  58. The Diviners – Margaret Laurence (1974)
  59. The Gangster We All are Looking For – Thi Diem Thuy Le (2003)
  60. Native Speaker – Chang-Rae Lee (1995)
  61. The Call of the Wild – Jack London (1903)
  62. Zami – Audre Lorde (1983)
  63. Midaq Alley – Naguib Mahfouz (1947)
  64. Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy (1985)
  65. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers (1940)
  66. Beloved – Toni Morrison (1987)
  67. Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison (1977)
  68. Little Scarlet: An Easy Rawlins Novel – Walter E Mosley (2004)
  69. The Delta of Venus – Anais Nin (1969)
  70. When the Emperor was Divine – Julie Otsuka (2002)
  71. Kiss of the Spider Woman – Manuel Puig (1976)
  72. Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand (1957)
  73. Joshua Then and Now – Mordecai Richler (1980)
  74. Housekeeping – Marilyn Robinson (1980)
  75. The Counterlife – Phillip Roth (1986)
  76. The Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger (1951)
  77. The Killer Angles – Michael Shaara (1974)
  78. The Stone Diaries – Carol Shields (1993)
  79. Prep: A Novel – Curtis Sittenfeld (2005)
  80. In America – Susan Sontag (2000)
  81. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark (1961)
  82. Angle of Response – Wallace Stegner (1971)
  83. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck (1939)
  84. The Bonesetter’s Daughter – Amy Tan (2001)
  85. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole (1980)
  86. Anatomy of a Murder – Robert Traver (1958)
  87. Reversible Errors – Scott Turow (2002)
  88. Rabbit Angstrom: The Four Novels – John Updike (1995)
  89. The Hummingbird’s Daughter – Luis Alberto Urrea (2005)
  90. Washington DC: A Novel – Gore Vidal (1967)
  91. Slaughterhouse-Five : Kurt Vonnegut (1969)
  92. Force Majeure – Bruce Wagner (1991)
  93. Meridian – Alice Walker (1976)
  94. All the King’s Men – Robert Penn Warren (1946)
  95. Decline and Fall – Evelyn Waugh (1928)
  96. The Day of the Locust – Nathaniel West (1939)
  97. The Old School – Tobias Wolff (2003)
  98. Native Son – Richard Wright (1940)
  99. A Good School – Richard Yates (1978)
  100. We – Eugene Zamyatin (1920)

இது ஒரு ஜாலியான பட்டியல். ‘அவசியம் படிக்க வேண்டும்’ அல்லது ‘மிகவும் புகழ் பெற்றவை’ என்பதை விட வெரைட்டி + வித்தியாசம் நிறைந்த லிஸ்ட்.

அவசியம் புரட்ட வேண்டிய புத்தகங்களுக்கு The Book of Great Books: A Guide to 100 World Classics: (W. John Campbell) போன்றவற்றையும் கவனிக்கலாம்.

10 பின்னூட்டங்கள்

Posted in Books, English, Fiction, Library, Literature, Read, Todo

Amazon Books – Wishlist

Posted on ஜூலை 20, 2007 | பின்னூட்டமொன்றை இடுக

1. Oliver August: Inside the red Mansion / Excerpt: சீனாவில் ‘நாயகன்’ (நிஜக்) கதை

Amazon.com: Inside the Red Mansion: On the Trail of China’s Most Wanted Man: Books: Oliver August

2. The Boys from Dolores: Fidel Castro’s Classmates from Revolution to Exile: Patrick Symmes – Washington Post Book Reviews – THE BOYS FROM DOLORES: Fidel Castro’s Classmates From Revolution to Exile – ArcaMax Publishing

The Boys from Dolores is a chronicle of 230 young students and the Cuba they were born to lead. Brought together one day in 1940 for a school photo at one of the island’s most elite academies, their ranks included future doctors and engineers, refugees and warriors, and two brothers – Fidel and Raúl Castro – who would come to rule the fate of all Cubans.

The Boys from Dolores follows the tale of this generation, born to privilege and power, which gave birth to the Cuban Revolution. Dozens of the boys from Dolores would aid their classmate Fidel in his rise to power; some would later take up arms against him. Ranging from the basketball courts and alleys of Santiago, Cuba, to the beaches of the Bay of Pigs and Miami, The Boys from Dolores offers a collective biography of the generation that made and lost Cuba.

This is the story of Cuba across 70 years of tumult, battle, Revolution, and diaspora, a tale of success and ruin, or escape and defeat.

3. Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire: Books: Alex Von Tunzelmann – இந்திய இணையம் முழுக்க இதப் பற்றித்தான் பேச்சு

N்ewindpress on Sunday: Tunzelmann provides the fascinating factoid that World War II and reconstruction loans were fully paid back by Britain only in December 2006 — irritated by American reservations about the imperial venture, overwhelmed by the Nehru-Jinnah fight, perplexed by the Mahatma, wary of Sardar Patel and with neither the resources nor the will to stop sectarian violence, the British establishment gave up India and gave up on India.

4. India After Gandhi: Ramachandra Guha

  1. The Hindu : Book Review : Democracy in practice: “A tribute to Indian democracy capturing the pain and the struggle, the humiliations and the glories”
  2. Midnight’s citizens | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books: “Amit Chaudhuri is impressed by Ramachandra Guha’s shrewd survey of India since the second world war, India After GandhiGuha, as a citizen, has been “exasperated” by India, but, in the light of historical evidence, has been won over by it. This mixture of distance and surrender is fairly emblematic of why many middle-class Indians continue to invest themselves, emotionally, in the country; it’s quite distinct from patriotism.
    …
    Guha’s book reminds us that the citizenly pride that permeates it is not incompatible with judgment, hindsight, intelligence and distance; that citizenship is not a natural thing, but that it is, in some cases, inevitable.”
  3. Tehelka – The People’s Paper: “Ramachandra Guha in conversation with Sankarshan Thakur on the historian’s new book, India After Gandhi, and the ideas and errors that shape us”
  4. remain connected

    5. : Why Is India the most Interesting Country in the World ?

  5. Independent Online Edition > Reviews: “Two cheers for democracy”

5. The Fire This Time: Randall Kenan

  1. Identity crisis – Los Angeles Times

    2. Kenan may be a good chronicler and debater, but he lacks the instincts of an essayist. He mounts arguments and then forgets about them or lets them teeter; he mistakes detail for substance, piling on scenes from his boyhood in rural North Carolina that are interesting but often not germane to anything. His narrative voice is inconsistent: He talks to himself here, lectures the reader there. His discussion of certain common-knowledge topics can be downright patronizing — for instance, he speaks of the American tendency toward anti-intellectualism as if we’ve never heard of it before.

  2. Three Answer: Randall Kenan– Publishers Weekly

6. Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches: Audre Lorde

SISTER OUTSIDER presents essential writings of black poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, an influential voice in 20th century literature. In this varied collection of essays, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. “Being an open lesbian in the Black community is not easy, although being closeted is harder.”

Sister Outsider: Answers.com

7. Interventions: Noam Chomsky

  1. நேர்காணல்கள்
  2. uprisingradio.org » ஒலிப்பதிவு
  3. Interventions: Foreign Policy Since 9-11
  4. Part II
  5. Part III
  6. Part IV
  7. Part V

8. Poisoned Nation: Pollution, Greed, and the Rise of Deadly Epidemics: Loretta Schwartz-Nobel

மைக்கேல் மூரின் ‘சிக்கோ‘ பார்த்த சூட்டோடு புரட்ட வேண்டிய புத்தகம். நோய்களை யார் கொடுக்கிறார்கள்? எவ்வாறு குணப்படுத்தி காசு பார்க்கிறார்கள்?

  1. No place at the table Sojourners Magazine: Growing Up Empty
  2. Still hungry: The Hunger Epidemic in America

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Posted in Amazon, Books, Library, Read, Reviews, Todo, Wishlist

Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA

Posted on ஜூலை 13, 2007 | 2 பின்னூட்டங்கள்

Tim Weiner chronicles the history of the Central Intelligence Agency in his book Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA. His research included the use of over 50,000 documents and interviews with ten directors of central intelligence. Mr. Weiner analyzes the inherent difficulties in maintaining classified information in an open democracy, and argues that the CIA has consistently struggled in the field of espionage.

Timeline by NYT - Evolution of the Interrogation Tactics from September 11

நன்றி: Timeline by NYT – Evolution of the Interrogation Tactics from September 11

Amazon.com: Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA: Books: Tim Weiner: “This book shines in its vivid accounts of the agency from 1950-1970, covering its inception after Truman, its founding under Ike and bumbling under Kennedy/LBJ and Nixon. The reader leaves with an understanding of the CIA central role in American Foreign Policy during the time and its subsequent downfall.

Would have liked more information from the Clinton and Bush 43 administations. Doesn’t really get in depth with the CIA’s role in picking up on the growing omen of terrorism.”

While there have been other books written about just how much the CIA resembles the Keystone Cops, such as Mike Ledeen‘s “Terror Masters” book written several years ago, (If you’ve read Steven Emerson’s American Jihad, Ellen Harris‘ Guarding the Secrets, Robert Baer‘s See No Evil and keep current with the work of the Middle East Media Research Institute and Middle East Quarterly, Ledeen’s book won’t provide many revelations) Weiner has put together a laundry list of bumbling that is most telling. As Ledeen says, the CIA has become an agency with the efficiency of the Post Office and the intensity of the Agriculture Department.

The Family Jewels :: Video – New York Times :: Timeline of the C.I.A.’s ‘Family Jewels’

Rules Lay Out C.I.A.’s Tactics in Questioning – New York Times

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Posted in America, Books, CIA, Read, Reviews, Spy, US, USA

Doubt, Doubt, let it all out

Posted on ஜூன் 12, 2007 | பின்னூட்டமொன்றை இடுக

Five classics from the soon-to-be-established Atheism section of your local bookstore

Thanks Boston Phoenix

1. Uncensored Writings (Perennial Classics)

Letters from the Earth: Uncensored Writings (Perennial Classics) by Mark Twain (Author), Bernard DeVoto (Editor)

2. Why I Am Not a Christian (Routledge Classics)

Why I Am Not a Christian (Routledge Classics)
by Bertrand Russell (Author), Simon Blackburn (Foreword)

3. The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (Plus)

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (Plus)
by Bart D. Ehrman

4. The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21stCentury

American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21stCentury
by Kevin Phillips

5. God, the Devil, and Darwin: A Critique of Intelligent Design Theory

God, the Devil, and Darwin: A Critique of Intelligent Design Theory
by Niall Shanks (Author), Richard Dawkins (Foreword)

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Posted in Amazon, Books, God, Library, Read, Religion

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Posted on ஜூன் 11, 2007 | பின்னூட்டமொன்றை இடுக

From wiki:

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable is a book on the black swan theory by epistemologist Nassim Nicholas Taleb, bestselling author of Fooled by Randomness.

A black swan is

  • a large-impact,
  • hard-to-predict, and
  • rare event beyond the realm of normal expectations.

Much of scientific discoveries for him are black swans – “undirected” and unpredicted. An event often referred to as a “black swan” is the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Bildungsphilister: a philistine with cosmetic, nongenuine culture. Nietzsche used this term to refer to the dogma-prone newspaper reader and opera lover with cosmetic exposure to culture and shallow depth. I extend it to the buzzword-using researcher in nonexperimental fields who lacks in imagination, curiosity, erudition, and culture and is closely centered on his ideas, on his “discipline.” This prevents him from seeing the conflicts between his ideas and the texture of the world.

Fooled by randomness: the general confusion between luck and determinism, which leads to a variety of superstitions with practical consequences, such as the belief that higher earnings in some professions are generated by skills when there is a significant component of luck in them.

Scorn of the abstract: favoring contextualized thinking over more abstract, though more relevant, matters. “The death of one child is a tragedy; the death of a million is a statistic.”

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable – Nassim Nicholas Taleb – Books – Review – New York Times

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Posted in Books, Business, Concepts, Management, Read

How women altered the business landscape

Posted on ஏப்ரல் 2, 2007 | பின்னூட்டமொன்றை இடுக

By Cecil Johnson, Mcclatchy Newspapers  |  February 11, 2007

40 percent of all privately held companies in the United States are owned or headed by women.

Every day, she says, 420 women-owned businesses emerge in the United States and women-owned companies are creating jobs twice as fast as all other companies combined and pay more salaries than all of the Fortune 500 companies.

“Women’s companies are more likely than others to stay in business, while companies owned by women of color are four times as likely as others to stay in business,” Heffernan writes.

In “How She Does It,” Heffernan focuses on the stories of 26 women entrepreneurs and business executives to show why they went into business and why they have been so successful. They all had something to prove to themselves, she writes. Some thought that they had been undervalued by their employers.

They thought that a rejected idea had merit, that they were financially responsible, and that their ways of doing things could be as effective as the predominant macho styles.

“In this respect,” Heffernan writes, “women entrepreneurs remind me of a wave of immigrants: driven out of a land they found hostile, taking big risks in their determination to create a New World where they can succeed on their own terms. America was built by such pioneers and, today, its economy continues to be enriched by the fresh thinking of women who don’t accept defeat.”

Other factors besides the need to achieve and transcend gender stereotypes that propel the women featured in Heffernan’s book are:

  • A high capacity for empathy that contributes to zeitgeist, the intuitive ability to see ahead to the next need, trend, and potential opportunity.
  • A greater propensity for improvisation.
  • A leadership style that favors orchestration over command and control.
  • A greater emphasis on values than on profits.
  • A nurturing concern for the well-being of their employees.

 “Every woman I spoke to may have had a slightly different reason for starting her business,” she writes. “But what motivated them after they had started was strikingly uniform: They were all driven to succeed for their workforce. They may have started for themselves, but they kept going for others.”

Book Links:

How Women Entrepreneurs Are Changing the Rules of Business Success  

How She Does It: How Women Entrepreneurs Are Changing the Rules of Business Success by Margaret Heffernan

 
 
The Definitive Drucker  

The Definitive Drucker by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim

A Business Guide to Managing Policy, Public Relations, And Legal Issues  

Blog Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policy, Public Relations, And Legal Issues by Nancy Flynn

How to Win the Hearts, Minds, and Business of Boomer Big Spenders  

PrimeTime Women: How to Win the Hearts, Minds, and Business of Boomer Big Spenders by Marti Barletta

It's Called Work for a Reason!: Your Success Is Your Own Damn Fault  

It’s Called Work for a Reason!: Your Success Is Your Own Damn Fault by Larry Winget

What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful  

What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith and Mark Reiter

The Power of Being a Woman  

Fight Like a Girl: The Power of Being a Woman by Lisa Bevere

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Posted in Books, Business, English, Female, Management, Media, Motivation, Read, Review, Women