HN user
The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne has been a hit in our household at bedtime. Each book in the series has Jack and Annie, school-aged brother and sister, travel back in time on secret missions to help famous women and men from history.
Actually, it's not the code that directs us, it's the funding. Work in a department that earns its budget annually or are on a project funded upfront? Then no number of scrum masters, backlogs or showcases will see you evolve from waterfall. Likewise if you are funded incrementally per feature set then your team will gravitate towards leaner methodologies. Software manifestos need to be complemented with finance ones for any methodology to have their intended impact.
"but they need to fix their marketing"... Indeed, why would anyone name a vehicle that catapults you across the Atlantic as the sound of an explosion?
It could help with competitor analysis - point it to the websites of competition in your industry to stay on top of where they are going.
Blackmail. Some people may not want their health history revealed (say you're having an abortion or being treated for substance abuse). High profile individuals in particular.
I've always preferred the term 'open market' rather than 'free market' to counter this exact point.
Strong typing helps. Keep in mind enterprise ETL tools are designed to move data from oltp to olap databases, which are often strongly typed as well.
It's not that simple. An Indian expatriate's remittance may leave American shores, for example, but then re-enters when their family buys iPhones, Ford's and Hershey's.
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.
- Captivating and well researched. This book not only captures the life of a genius, but also exposes the politics and propaganda of WWII, the Cold War and nuclear proliferation (which were conveniently omitted from my government-set high school curriculum), as well as raising issue of morality and the ethical responsibilities of scientists. Interested in start-ups? They don't come bigger than the Manhattan Project. Most of the guys in Los Alamos at the time were in their 20s.
Two books by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and For The Good of the Cause.
- Both are brilliant. Solzenitsyn's language is powerful and descriptive yet simple and concise. Since reading his books, I consciously look at the entropy of other writers.
Ambedkar and Buddhism by Sangarakshita
- An interesting account of the life of a great man, who's philosophy should be read by anyone who hails from the Indian sub-continent.
A Fraction of The Whole by Steve Toltz.
- A book lover's book, Toltz's novel made me laugh out loud at numerous times. A fun read, made better by the fact that he's Aussie.
BBC World Service, radio documentaries.