Book Review - Volkswagen Transporter The First 60 Years by Richard Copping and Brian Screaton
Sat, Feb 20th 2010 1:00p Thomas Duff This is another one of those "new
books at the library" selections that just happened to strike my fancy
when I saw it...
Volkswagen Transporter The First 60 Years
by Richard Copping and Brian Screaton. It's a coffee-table-sized
book that covers the full history of the Volkswagen Van, from the first
models to roll off the assembly line until today. Copping and Screaton
do a very good job of combining both text and images, so by the end you
have the complete story of the van, both down [read] Keywords: mobile
12
Book Review - Le Crime by Peter Steiner
Sat, Feb 20th 2010 12:20p Thomas Duff A friend recommended Le Assassin by
Peter Steiner, and in the process of putting that on hold I found that
Le Crime was the first in the
series. So to keep things straight, I decided to start at the beginning.
Now, since my friend has not steered me wrong in recommendations
so far, I *will* be reading Le Assassin. But if I were to judge it
by Le Crime, I'd probably pass. Le Crime was a slow espionage novel,
with most of the action taking place in the mind and not in the real world.
[read] Keywords:
70
Book Review - The Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career from Good to Great by Rick Smith
Mon, Feb 15th 2010 9:00p Thomas Duff I had heard about the book The
Leap: How 3 Simple Changes Can Propel Your Career from Good to Great
by Rick Smith in a few of the productivity blogs and tweets that I follow
on a regular basis. These types of books tend to capture my interest,
so I was pleased when I was offered a review copy of the book. In
short, this is a book that spoke to me deeply for my current situation.
You *don't* have to be a daredevil and risk everything to find yourself
in a place where your passion and st [read] Keywords: networking
38
Book Review - The Art of War for Writers: Fiction Writing Strategies, Tactics, and Exercises by James Scott Bell
Mon, Feb 8th 2010 10:50p Thomas Duff Because I do a few (HA!) book reviews,
I generally don't end up buying too many books as I'm often overwhelmed
with reading material. But this book is one that I couldn't NOT purchase,
as I start to think about moving into some fiction writing... The
Art of War for Writers: Fiction Writing Strategies, Tactics, and Exercises
by James Scott Bell. Modeled after the Sun Tzu book The Art of War,
Bell offers up a wealth of tips and techniques to improve the quality of
your writing, as well as [read] Keywords: agent
60
Book Review - Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All? by Mark Steele
Sat, Feb 6th 2010 1:06p Thomas Duff Now this is a book that is all too timely
in today's culture... Christianish:
What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All?
by Mark Steele. Based on the behavior of far too many who call themselves
"Christian", we've allowed the term to be turned into something
negative, something it was never intended to be and stand for. The
aspect of a relationship with Christ has been replaced with a set of rules
and regulations (applied with little love or care) that isn't appealing
to anyone. [read] Keywords: agent
31
Book Review - What's Next . . . For You?: The Gussin Guide to Big Changes, Big Decisions, and Big Fun by Robert and Patricia Gussin
Sat, Feb 6th 2010 12:13p Thomas Duff I'm not *quite* to the stage of retirement,
but it's definitely getting to the point where I can make it out on the
horizon. And my thoughts have started to wander to the "and
what will I do next?" series of questions. Robert and Patricia
Gussin have a book titled What's
Next . . . For You?: The Gussin Guide to Big Changes, Big Decisions, and
Big Fun that walks you through
what they went through to answer that question... life decisions
that weren't expected, but that they had the cou [read] Keywords:
24
Book Review - Think Twice - Lisa Scottoline
Sat, Feb 6th 2010 10:03a Thomas Duff I normally don't end up reading Lisa
Scottoline's books when they first come out. No real reason... just
don't tend to pick up on them early. But when Amazon Vine had her
latest, Think
Twice, up for review, I figured
I'd get an early jump on this one. Think Twice is an interesting
concept using twins to show how low someone might be able to go to regain
their identity. I probably lost a bit of the impact given that the
characters have a history from other books that I didn't read, bu [read] Keywords: development
156
Beautiful story of a bagpiper who was late for a funeral
Tue, Feb 2nd 2010 8:51p Thomas Duff As a bagpiper, I was asked by a funeral
director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man who had no family
or friends. The funeral was to be held at a cemetery in the remote countryside
and this man would be the first to be laid to rest there.
As I was not familiar with the backwoods
area, I became lost and being a typical man, did not stop for directions.
I finally arrived an hour late. I saw the backhoe and the crew who were
eating lunch but the hearse was nowhere in sight [read] Keywords:
31
Book Review: Blue Ice and Other Stories from the Rink by Frank Ewert
Sat, Jan 30th 2010 10:00p Thomas Duff When I was contacted by Frank Ewert,
the author of
Blue Ice and Other Stories from the Rink,
asking if I wanted to review his book, I was really trying hard to say
no. I have so many books backed up in my "to be read/reviewed"
list, and I'm trying to cut that down some. But trying to say no
to a hockey book is really hard for me... and it was only a small book...
really. :) Seriously, Blue Ice is an enjoyable compilation
of short story hockey fiction that captures the feel of what ho [read] Keywords: protector
50
Book Review - The Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles
Sat, Jan 30th 2010 7:20p Thomas Duff Like I needed yet another book to read
on the way home from a conference... But there I was at the airport,
and the book rack kept calling out to me. I ended up succumbing to
the siren call and pick up The
Devil's Punchbowl from Greg Iles.
At 710 pages, this is one LONG paperback novel. But the storyline
was pretty good, and it's kept me interested for a week of bedtime recreational
reading. I think it could have been done in fewer pages, but that
wasn't a horrible drawback in this [read] Keywords:
29
Book Review - The Cat Whisperer: The Secret of How to Talk to Your Cat by Claire Bessant
Sat, Jan 30th 2010 4:40p Thomas Duff This is one of those books that sounded
a lot better in concept than it actually turned out to be... The
Cat Whisperer: The Secret of How to Talk to Your Cat
by Claire Bessant. It's not that there wasn't anything of value here.
It's just that expectations were set a bit too high when I checked
it out from the library...
Contents:
A Different World; Cat Talk; Living
With Your Cat; Exploring The Relationship; Cat Characters; Intelligence
and Training; A to Z of Problems and Solutio [read] Keywords:
Suggestions on capturing a screen-sharing session for playback by others?
Thu, Jan 28th 2010 11:28a Thomas Duff I'm in a position where I have to work
with an off-shore support group for our Notes applications, and our hours
don't overlap well (actually, at all!) I have no doubt that there
will be help desk calls where I will need to ask the user to demo the problem
for me, and then will need to explain it via email to the support people.
What I'd like to be able to do is record
these screen-sharing sessions (or even my own screen session) on my PC,
then package up the video in a reasonable si [read] Keywords: notes
applications
email
Want an unbiased look at the Lotus Roadmap? Check out Michael Sampson's new report
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:11a Thomas Duff Michael Sampson is well-known for his unbiased
insights into collaboration technology, especially when it comes to Lotus
Notes and Microsoft SharePoint. He's written a couple of books on
Microsoft SharePoint, but I've often wished he would put out a white paper
on what he sees in the Lotus realm and where he sees things going.
Well, I no longer have to wait...
On his website, you can learn more his
report "Lotus
Roadmap: Enhancing Business Collaboration with Lotus Software".
F [read] Keywords: collaboration
ibm
lotus
notes
microsoft
sharepoint
Secunia Advisory SA38026: IBM Lotus Domino Web Access Unspecified Vulnerabilities
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:11a Thomas Duff Secunia
advisory...
IBM Lotus Domino Web Access Unspecified Vulnerabilities
Secunia Advisory: SA38026
Release Date: 2010-01-08
Critical:
Less critical
Impact: Unknown
Where: From remote
Solution Status: Vendor Patch
Software:IBM
Lotus Domino Web Access 8.x
Description:
Some vulnerabilities with unknown impacts have been reported in IBM Lotus
Domino Web Access.
1) An unspecified vulnerability exists in "ultra-light edit contact
scene".
2) [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
inotes
lotus
13
Book Review - e Squared: A Novel by Matt Beaumont
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:11a Thomas Duff From the Amazon Vine selections came
this recreational reading choice... e
Squared: A Novel by Matt Beaumont.
The premise sounded interesting from my techie background... a story
told as a series of emails, SMS text messages, and blogs. Set in
a "hip" ad agency, I could imagine that there would be a few
characters involved. And Beaumont didn't disappoint. I haven't
read his first E novel, but if it's anything like this one, I probably
should. e Squared is zany, very off-beat, and cr [read] Keywords: email
office
7
Book Review - Black by Christopher Whitcomb
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:11a Thomas Duff A friend recommended this novel to me...
Black
by Christopher Whitcomb. Since
he knows I like espionage novels, he had a pretty good idea I'd like this
one. And for the most part, he was right. Whitcomb brings his
background as a member of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team into play to write
a novel that has a number of threads that all attempt to come together
at the end. I say "attempt" as I wasn't overly enthused
about the way it wrapped up, but up to that point it was good...
T [read] Keywords: community
So where were all my blog entries for Lotusphere 2010?
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:11a Thomas Duff I ended up making a quick decision on the
fly that I would concentrate on absorbing overall messages and context
rather than trying to blog everything "as it happened."
A few reasons for that...
For one, a number of people are doing
just that... "as it happens." As a result, you get a lot
of instant data and information, but less "what does it mean?"
If there were 20 people at the conference, that'd be one thing. But
there are plenty of people here that you shouldn't have ha [read] Keywords: lotusphere
blogger
blogging
twitter
16
For all who are interested, the Lotusphere 2010 Press Coverage page is now updated...
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 11:11a Thomas Duff Each year at Lotusphere, I try and keep
a running list of some of the more significant press coverage articles
I find via Google News Alerts. Rather than waste time trying to keep
up on it during Lotusphere, I let my gmail box get totally overwhelmed
and then did the sort-through after the event. So after an hour or
two of culling this evening, I can say that I think I have most of the
major articles...
If you want to read the
Lotusphere 2010 Press Coverage
blog page, you can find [read] Keywords: lotusphere
google
26
You don't get to pick the communication channel/method, or How I Never Use LotusphereOnline Email
Wed, Jan 27th 2010 10:21a Thomas Duff Last night I was logged on to the LotusphereOnline
site, downloading a few items, and I noticed the mail file link. As
you probably know, all attendees at Lotusphere get an event email account
as part of their LotusphereOnline experience. But the email ID name
is some obscure random number, and it's never anything I would remember.
Furthermore, I already have a number of email accounts I regularly
check, along with RSS feeds and Twitter. Why would I want to log
into yet another site t [read] Keywords: lotusphere
email
laptop
twitter
44
Book Review - The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo
Sun, Dec 20th 2009 12:49p Thomas Duff Steve Jobs is, by most accounts, one
of the best public speakers of our time. His keynote addresses at
conferences and in front of his own company are smooth, informative, and
very well done. But what is it that makes a Jobs talk stand out from
all the rest? Carmine Gallo sets out to dissect what makes Steve
Jobs "insanely great" in the book The
Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of
Any Audience. Gallo does
an excellent job in getting beyond the myt [read] Keywords: notes
ipod
twitter
12
Book Review - Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett
Sun, Dec 20th 2009 11:29a Thomas Duff On the last round of Amazon Vine review
items I could choose from, I picked up a number of recreational reads with
the holidays coming up. One of the book was Mr.
Shivers, a debut novel by Robert
Jackson Bennett. The general premise sounded promising. During
the Depression, a man leaves his wife to go search for the killer of his
young daughter. He has to track down the man by following hints and
rumors, riding trains and staying in hobo camps as he gets closer and closer
to the kill [read] Keywords:
51
Update on talking to Comcast about getting some rate reductions...
Wed, Dec 16th 2009 9:39p Thomas Duff So in my
earlier Comcast post today, I
talked about how I decided to see whether Comcast could be more competitive
with their rates given all the competition in the current market. I
tried Comcast Live Chat as suggested by a different blog post I had read,
and that was a dead end. But within an hour of posting my experience
on this blog, Comcast had left a comment apologizing for the lack of results
and asking for some contact info to follow up.
OK... impressive both on the speed o [read] Keywords: email
twitter
45
OK... so Comcast Live Chat isn't very helpful in getting your rates reduced...
Wed, Dec 16th 2009 7:59a Thomas Duff Based on a blog posting I read this morning,
it appeared I could potentially get my Comcast rates lowered just by asking
about other offers they had. The thought is that it's easier to retain
a customer than to acquire one, so they are more than willing to lower
rates, often with nothing more than an inquiry.
The blog showed how this particular
person was able to do so with nothing more than a Live Chat through the
Comcast site. I decided to try that this morning, but my results
we [read] Keywords:
20
Book Review - The Writer's Essential Tackle Box: Getting a Hook on the Publishing Industry by Lynn Price
Tue, Dec 15th 2009 12:09a Thomas Duff I'm starting to move into the book writing
realm, and I'm doing as much reading as I can to find out exactly how the
business of publishing works. I found Lynn Price's blog, Behler Blog,
during my research, and found she also had a book titled The
Writer's Essential Tackle Box: Getting a Hook on the Publishing Industry.
Loving her snarky style there meant that I was looking forward to
a whole book's worth. And she didn't disappoint. Price has
a great format that combines knowledge fro [read] Keywords: agent
22
Book Review - Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun
Sun, Dec 13th 2009 9:30p Thomas Duff There are plenty of "proper"
books that try and teach you how to stand up in public and give a talk
in front of numerous people. And usually, these books are filled
with numerous stories of successful talks and perfect scenarios. But
let's be real... Life isn't like that, and *especially* when your talk
tends to cover technical topics. Scott Berkun draws on his own *very*
real experiences as a speaker in
Confessions of a Public Speaker
to help you through the trials and travails of be [read] Keywords: notes
15
Book Review - Gutshot Straight by Lou Berney
Sun, Dec 13th 2009 3:59p Thomas Duff With the latest newsletters from Amazon
Vine, I decided I needed some diversionary reading entertainment. One
of the books I chose was Gutshot
Straight by Lou Berney. I
was sucked into it by a description that mentioned a similarity to Hiaasen
and Dorsey. Now while I don't think it was quite like those two writers
from a stylistic standpoint, it *was* entertaining. I'd definitely
pick up a Lou Berney novel in the future based on this one.
Charles "Shake" Bouchon has
just made it [read] Keywords:
36
Book Review - The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception by H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace
Sun, Dec 13th 2009 3:09p Thomas Duff So what does magic and spycraft have
in common? Actually, more than I thought. The
Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception
by H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace take the reader back to the 1950's
when the CIA was doing everything possible to counter the Soviet threat
to the "American way of life." A program codenamed "Mkultra"
included some non-conventional ways to match the Soviets when it came to
mind control and covert activities. One of those side projects included
the stud [read] Keywords: agent
bug
41
Well worth reading (for more than just the Microsoft angles): Analyst: 'It is game over for Microsoft in consumer'
Fri, Dec 11th 2009 8:21a Thomas Duff From Mary-Jo Foley:
Analyst: 'It is game over for Microsoft in consumer'
Ms. Foley reports on what one highly
respected analyst sees coming in 2010 in terms of overall computing technology:
But what if Chief Software Architect
Ray Ozzie and other leaders at Microsoft are wrong and integrating the
consumer and business worlds doesn’t really matter? One very influential
market watcher, Mark Anderson, author of the Strategic News Service newsletter,
is betting that instead of [read] Keywords: ray ozzie
enterprise
microsoft
security
20
Upgrading your Lotusphere slides to the latest LS2010 template that was shipped...
Thu, Dec 10th 2009 10:27p Thomas Duff I've been part of a chat of late where
the subject of Lotusphere presentation templates has been "discussed"...
Actually, it's been 98% ranting (and for good reason), but that's another
topic. Basically, the templates sent to the Lotusphere speakers for
the session slides don't seem to be set up very well to apply to existing
slide files. Getting your slides *into* ODP format in the first place
is yet another blog posting entirely. Anyway...
On the two sessions I'm involved with,
[read] Keywords: lotusphere
symphony
template
office
CD Review - Hangisphere by Matt Venuti
Tue, Dec 8th 2009 9:14p Thomas Duff I received a copy of the CD Hangisphere
from the publicist for Matt Venuti.
I was moderately interested once I visited Venuti's website and heard
a clip of the music produced by this odd instrument called the "hang".
Now that I've heard the CD in its entirety, I'm hooked. The
sound produced from the instrument is incredible, and Venuti uses it to
its full musical advantage. In short, I'm now a Venusian fan. :)
The best way to describe the look of
the instrument is to imagine som [read] Keywords:
8
Book Review - Gator-A-Go-Go by Tim Dorsey
Mon, Dec 7th 2009 9:29p Thomas Duff So Tim Dorsey is back with another Serge
A. Storms novel,
Gator-A-Go-Go, and we have a breakneck
trip around Florida learning about all the Florida history they never teach
you in school. In this installment, Serge is working on his own documentary
on the phenomenon that is Spring Break in Florida. And as with every
other Dorsey novel, it's nearly impossible to try and explain the plot
to someone as there is so much going on. But that's half the fun
of a Dorsey novel... things happen [read] Keywords:
7
Book Review - Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb
Sun, Nov 29th 2009 9:19p Thomas Duff As usual, J. D. Robb's (aka Nora Roberts)
latest In Death novel went to the top of my "to be read" piles
when it arrived at the library... Kindred
in Death. Not sure if it
was due to a lot of busy-ness going on in my life or what, but this one
didn't seem to jump out and grab me like the others have on a consistent
basis. Nothing overtly wrong with it... it just seemed to be missing
that "something" that makes each Eve Dallas crime mystery such
a treat for me.
Dallas is actually [read] Keywords:
7
Book Review - The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Sun, Nov 29th 2009 6:09p Thomas Duff Ok... I actually took a little humorous
flak for reading a "chick lit" book... The
Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey
Niffenegger. True, I probably wouldn't have picked it up on my own,
but it came recommended by someone who has a good track record in recommending
books for me to read. And again they were right... I didn't
see the novel as something that would only appeal to women. Yes,
there is a strong romance undercurrent to the story, but the constant time
traveling and event shiftin [read] Keywords: roaming
traveler
Have YOU tried to read and understand all the rules in hockey?
Mon, Nov 16th 2009 10:09p Thomas Duff Short of my son Ian (no pun intended there)
who is a hockey referee, there's few people I know who has tried to read
AND understand all the rules in the hockey rule book. I can now add
a coworker, Samantha Meese, to that rare category. She has a blog,
87
in 107, that is an interesting
project:
It’s pretty simple, really. I have
avowed to learn all the official rules to hockey. There are 87 rules in
the NHL 2009 – 2010 rulebook. There are 107 days until the opening of
[read] Keywords: network
6
Book Review - Don't Just Roll The Dice - A usefully short guide to software pricing by Neil Davidson
Sun, Nov 15th 2009 2:40p Thomas Duff If you've created software for sale,
you have dealt with the all-important question... what do I charge for
it? Neil Davidson does an excellent job in helping you figure out
the answer in his book Don't
Just Roll The Dice - A usefully short guide to software pricing.
He doesn't tell you *what* to charge. Instead, he give you
a short lesson on how to come up with the best pricing strategy given your
situation. And best of all, he does it in a concise 73 pages. I
was impressed!
C [read] Keywords:
7
Book Review - House of Reckoning by John Saul
Sun, Nov 15th 2009 12:29p Thomas Duff Generally speaking, I like John Saul's
work. Supernatural thrillers tend to work for me, and I can easily
get wrapped up in one. But his latest, House
of Reckoning, left me wanting.
The plot had potential, and I kept turning pages, but I never felt
like I got the answers as to *why* all of this was taking place. By
the end, I felt as if I had been cheated a bit or I got a version of the
book that left out a few important chapters.
Sarah Crane is the main character, a
teenager tr [read] Keywords:
7
Book Review - The Defector by Daniel Silva
Sat, Nov 14th 2009 10:29p Thomas Duff Even with all the reading I do, I still
feel like I need a whole 'nother 24 hours a day to read all the stuff I'd
*like* to catch up on. A friend and reader of my blog recommended
I read Daniel Silva's The
Defector, so I picked it up at
the library. I have read one other Silva novel with the Gabriel Allon
character (2006 - The Messenger), and I remembered the basic makeup of
Allon. The Defector would have been a bit more enjoyable had I at
least read the previous episode (Moscow Rules [read] Keywords:
10
Book Review - The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Sat, Nov 14th 2009 7:19p Thomas Duff Ok, it would have been hard to just
flat-out ignore Dan Brown's The
Lost Symbol after The Da Vinci
Code was so popular. I wasn't one of the ones who had to read it
immediately, so I put myself on the hold list at the library to get it
whenever I got to the top. After finishing the book, my overall reaction
is... meh. It's mildly entertaining, and I was interested to see
how it would end. But it seemed to repeat the same scene formula
over and over. In addition, it could have been at [read] Keywords: formula
12
Yes, it's true... I'm going to be writing an actual BOOK!
Fri, Nov 13th 2009 9:19a Thomas Duff I'm about to embark on something I said
I'd never do... write an actual book!
I'm proud to announce that Marie
Scott and I will be writing a
book together on IBM Lotus Sametime 8. This book is being published
by Packt,
and will be written from the perspective of getting a user familiar with
and up-to-speed on Sametime 8 and all the features they can use to be more
effective and productive. No administration or programming stuff
here... Instead, it's a book you can put into the ha [read] Keywords: administration
ibm
lotus
sametime
bleedyellow
bleedyellow.com
blogging
community
5
Book Review - Entrepreneur Journeys v.3: Positioning: How To Test, Validate, And Bring Your Idea To Market by Sramana Mitra
Mon, Nov 9th 2009 10:39p Thomas Duff I've enjoyed volumes 1 and 2 of Sramana
Mitra's Entrepreneur Journeys series. Learning what works and doesn't
work from people who have been in the trenches is an excellent way to avoid
making the same mistakes yourself. She's now back with a third volume
in the series titled Entrepreneur
Journeys v.3: Positioning: How To Test, Validate, And Bring Your Idea To
Market. In here, you'll
find out what it takes to position your company and your product to target
a specific market niche. T [read] Keywords: collaboration
6
Book Review - Conflicts with Interest by Michael Ruddy
Sun, Nov 8th 2009 7:09p Thomas Duff I received an advance reader copy of
Michael Ruddy's debut novel Conflicts
with Interest. Ruddy centers
his story around the injustice of the legal system when an aggressive law
firm decides to focus their attention on a single industry for their own
profit.
T. R. Morgan and his son Ryan own Morgan
Homes, a family owned home construction company. They're doing relatively
well until they get drawn into a legal battle with Steve Sanderson, a high-powered
lawyer who has a history o [read] Keywords:
7
Book Review - Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson
Sat, Oct 31st 2009 12:52p Thomas Duff On the internet, the word "free"
is often used to describe products and ideas. But what does "free"
really mean, and how can you make a living if no one wants to actually
pay money for what you produce? Chris Anderson seeks to clear up
some of that confusion in his book Free:
The Future of a Radical Price.
After reading Free, I have a much better idea of how "free"
fits into a business and marketing strategy, and how it can actually lead
to higher sales of things that aren't gratis... [read] Keywords: application
exchange
exchange
9
Book Review - The Year of Living like Jesus: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really Do by Ed Dobson
Sat, Oct 31st 2009 7:29a Thomas Duff One of the first books I read and reviewed
as part of the Amazon Vine program was A. J. Jacobs' The Year of Living
Biblically. It somehow seemed fitting to also select Ed Dobson's
The
Year of Living like Jesus: My Journey of Discovering What Jesus Would Really
Do when it showed up as a selection
on Amazon Vine. Whereas I thought Jacobs stayed true to his premise
in the book, I felt Dobson missed the boat on that criteria. That's
not to say that there aren't things to learn in Living L [read] Keywords: forms
7
Book Review - The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times by Nancy F. Koehn
Fri, Oct 30th 2009 10:29p Thomas Duff One of my pet peeves about history is
that we often look back at an event with a "sanitized" view of
it. There's no mention of dissent, effort, conflict, or personality.
The event happened, it turned out the way it did, and look how it
shaped history. But it's only when we start digging into the day-to-day
dialogue during the event that we find what it was really like to go through
it. That's why I like this book I received from Harvard Business
Press: The
Story of American Business: [read] Keywords: notes
policies
6
Book Review - The Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis
Fri, Oct 30th 2009 9:19p Thomas Duff The
Best Camera Is The One That's With You: iPhone Photography
by Chase Jarvis showed up in the mail today somewhat unexpectedly. I
started to leaf through it (it's small and nearly all pictures), and was
quickly distracted from whatever it was that I was supposed to be doing.
Jarvis makes the case that the best camera for a particular picture
at any given time is the one you happen to have on hand. My DSLR is of
little use if it's still in the camera case at home. He shows how
you ca [read] Keywords: iphone
7
Book Review - PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God by Frank Warren
Sat, Oct 24th 2009 8:59p Thomas Duff I'm not completely sure what it is that
makes the PostSecret concept appeal to me so much. I picked up the
latest book, PostSecret:
Confessions on Life, Death, and God
by Frank Warren at the library today, and devoured it in a single sitting.
As with the website and all the other books, I felt a range of emotions
as I peeked into the private lives of ordinary people sharing things that
they've held close for years. And reading these secrets made me realize
that I could easily add a fe [read] Keywords:
5
Book Review - The Ghost Trap by K. Stephens
Sat, Oct 24th 2009 1:39p Thomas Duff I'm trying to read a bit more out of
my normal comfort zone when it comes to fiction, and as such I accepted
the offer of a review copy of The
Ghost Trap by K. Stephens. Centered
around the life of a lobsterman in Maine struggling with a number of issues
in his life, it definitely doesn't fall into my "action/adventure"
category. :) But I'm glad I decided to read this debut novel, as
the author did a very nice job on it. I definitely felt for the main
character as he fought against al [read] Keywords:
6
Book Review - Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets by Paul McFedries
Sat, Oct 24th 2009 12:19p Thomas Duff I've been a Twitter addict for about
18 months now, and I'd like to think I know the majority of what there
is to know about how it works and what you can do with it. But after
reading Twitter
Tips, Tricks, and Tweets by Paul
McFedries, I realize that you *can* teach an old dog new tricks.
I picked up a number of nuggets here that have worked their way into
my Twitter consciousness, making the experience even more enjoyable.
Contents:
How Do I Get Started with Twitter?;
What C [read] Keywords: google
linkedin
mobile
profile
twitter
widget
7
Book Review - Where I Slept: Being Homeless In Portland by Transition Projects
Sat, Oct 24th 2009 11:09a Thomas Duff Transition Projects in Portland came
up with an interesting idea for a book to bring home the homelessness problem
for people... They went to people who had been on the streets, gave
them disposable cameras, and told them to go take pictures of the places
where they had bedded down and/or lived while homeless. The result
is this book... Where
I Slept: Being Homeless In Portland.
If I keep in mind this is really a fundraising project for the organization,
it's pretty good. But if I dr [read] Keywords: mobile
When business cliches lose their meaning... a new "paradigm"
Sat, Oct 17th 2009 4:39p Thomas Duff How many of you have sat in a meeting,
eagerly anticipating a parade of buzzwords to fill out your buzzword bingo
cards?
Yeah, I thought so... most all of you.
Overused business cliches are so common
as to be jokes now. New paradigms, synergistic approaches, etc. Most
often, those are the moments in the talk when you can zone out and figure
out what's for dinner tonight. It usually means someone is trying
to inflate one of their ideas to take on an importance that they'd lack
[read] Keywords:
Book Review - The U.S. Army Survival Manual: Department of the Army Field Manual 21-76
Sat, Oct 17th 2009 11:22a Thomas Duff After reading this book, I almost want
to go out and get lost somewhere... The
U.S. Army Survival Manual: Department of the Army Field Manual 21-76.
Ulysses Press has reprinted the US Army Survival Manual and made
it available to those of us who didn't decide to give up at least four
years of their lives to visit other countries. With some prior study
and this book in hand, I think your odds of surviving out in the wild would
go up dramatically. Of course, you'll have to get over the t [read] Keywords: notes
5
Book Review - Ends of the Earth: A Bug Man Novel by Tim Downs
Sat, Oct 17th 2009 10:19a Thomas Duff It's been awhile since I visited Tim
Downs and his Bug Man series. But his latest, Ends
of the Earth: A Bug Man Novel,
recently showed up at our library, so I got on the hold list. I forgot
how much I enjoyed these books. Interesting (and quirky) characters,
enjoyable dialogue, and some situations that make you think about how at-risk
our food supply might be to terror attacks.
Nick Polchak, the series' forensic entomologist
(aka, the Bug Man), is called upon to check out a crime [read] Keywords: bug
6
Book Review - Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life by Gail Blanke
Sat, Oct 10th 2009 4:39p Thomas Duff This is a book I *really* needed...
Throw
Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life
by Gail Blanke. I look around my office (aka, the "mancave")
as well as my house, and I see plenty of "stuff" that needs to
leave. Blanke uses a very personal, chatty style of writing to walk
you through her process for decluttering your life. And beyond just
the physical clutter, she also helps you "throw out" emotional
clutter that may be keeping you from reaching your goals.
Contents: [read] Keywords: office
7
Book Review - Riches Among the Ruins: Adventures in the Dark Corners of the Global Economy by Robert P. Smith with Peter Zheutlin
Sat, Oct 10th 2009 2:49p Thomas Duff These days, it seems that all the trading
of financial instruments can be done with the click of a mouse using electronic
online exchanges. But that's not the way it always was when it came
to some of the more esoteric forms of trading, like trading the debt instruments
of developing countries. Robert P. Smith was one of the first to
play in this niche market and helped form much of what we see today when
it comes to debt securities. He shares his stories of life as a global
vagabond i [read] Keywords: forms
FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials
Mon, Oct 5th 2009 8:49p Thomas Duff So the FTC came out today and issued
some regulations on how product
endorsements, reviews, and such need to be identified when putting them
online:
The Federal Trade Commission today
announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives
to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in
line with the FTC Act.
Where it comes into play for what I
do is here:
The revised Guides also add new examples
to illustrate the long standing princ [read] Keywords: connections
ibm
lotus
lotusphere
blogger
blogging
lotususergroup.org
twitter
7
Book Review - Hell Island by Matthew Reilly
Sun, Oct 4th 2009 7:43p Thomas Duff OK... I know this is labeled a "Quick
Read" (all of 115 pages and large font setting) for an Australian
government program. As such, you wouldn't find something like this
on the shelves of Borders. As such, Matthew Reilly's Hell
Island has to be kept in context.
There's only so much you can do in 115 pages when you're writing
an action thriller. And since Reilly writes seat-of-the-pants non-stop
movement into his novels to begin with, you can pretty much figure that
Hell Island jumps [read] Keywords: development
7
Book Review - Computer Forensics For Dummies by Linda Volonino and Reynaldo Anzaldua
Sun, Oct 4th 2009 6:22p Thomas Duff Being that I work in the tech industry,
I know that there's far more on your computer (and other electronic devices)
than you think there is. But I haven't ever given any in-depth thought
to how one would legally go about discovering and documenting their finds
for a court of law. Computer
Forensics For Dummies by Linda
Volonino and Reynaldo Anzaldua do a perfect job (in my opinion) in introducing
the reader to the world of computer forensics, both from the technical
side as well as th [read] Keywords: document
mobile
network
7
Book Review - Between Me and the River - Living Beyond Cancer: A Memoir by Carrie Host
Sun, Oct 4th 2009 9:59a Thomas Duff I finished Carrie Host's book Between
Me and the River - Living Beyond Cancer: A Memoir
this morning, unable to put it down. This is one of the most moving
stories I've read in a long time. Host chronicles her life from November
2003 through December 2007 as she battles a number of carcinoid tumors
that take her from a 135 pound healthy woman to a 95 pound person who is
barely able to move. Her gut-wrenching honesty and complete emotional
openness swept me along, celebrating her small [read] Keywords:
8
Book Review - Wicked Prey by John Sandford
Sat, Oct 3rd 2009 4:59p Thomas Duff OK... I think it's about time for me
to set John Sandford and the Prey series aside for awhile... as in I'll
catch up one day on new installments, but I won't be tying up allotments
on my library hold list to get them as soon as possible. I just finished
Sandford's latest, Wicked
Prey, and I honestly just didn't
care about the story or the characters. There were a number of plots
going on that seemed to be murky or plodding, I was having problems keeping
the players straight and how th [read] Keywords: roaming
10
So... night #1 with me and the CPAP machine...
Sat, Oct 3rd 2009 1:49p Thomas Duff Yesterday I had my appointment at the medical
device company to pick up and get trained on my new best friend at night,
my Resmed CPAP machine. The session was actually enjoyable, as the
company (NW Medical) is very impressive in their customer service, and
the guy doing the training was pretty fun to joke around with. When
finished after an hour, I had a new computer bag-like piece of luggage
hanging on my shoulder, and was out the door.
Last night I set the device up (painfully
s [read] Keywords:
10
Book Review - Fugitive by Phillip Margolin
Sat, Oct 3rd 2009 1:09p Thomas Duff One of the reasons I like reading Phillip
Margolin is that his crime novels take place here in Portland, Oregon.
It's nice being able to exactly picture what is happening where.
In Fugitive,
there's a bit less Portland and a bit more exotic locales, but it didn't
stop me from enjoying the book. Margolin brings back Amanda Jaffe
and gives her a chance to reach the same level of recognition that her
father did in an earlier episode...
In Fugitive, the story revolves around
one Char [read] Keywords:
8
Book Review - Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown
Sat, Oct 3rd 2009 12:19p Thomas Duff While on our vacation last month, my
wife picked up a copy of Sandra Brown's Smoke
Screen from the paperback rack.
As it didn't appear to be a romance novel, I snarfed it up after
she was done. Overall, Smoke Screen was a nice beach read while you're
sitting around soaking up rays...
The story revolves around what appears
to be a conspiracy of silence related to a police station fire that happened
a number of years ago. A small cadre of people were portrayed as
heroes in the resc [read] Keywords:
6
Book Review - To Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen
Tue, Sep 29th 2009 10:19p Thomas Duff I *still* have a hard time associating
Newt Gingrich with books instead of with government, but I'm getting over
it after having read many of his historical novels. The latest one
he's produced is titled To
Try Men's Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American
Freedom, written along with William
R. Forstchen. The American Revolution is not my normal reading fare,
but sometimes you go with a book just because of the author's past work.
That's what happened here, and [read] Keywords:
5
Win a copy of Donald Miller's new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
Tue, Sep 29th 2009 6:09p Thomas Duff I recently received a copy of Donald Miller's
new book A
Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life.
It's one of the best books I've read this year, and it's left me
thinking about the stories I'm telling in my own life. Very revealing,
and somewhat uncomfortable... but WELL worth reading.
I have an extra copy I'd like to share
with the readers of my blog, so I'll conduct a give-away for the book.
Here's how it works:
-
Go over to my review of th [read] Keywords: email
5
Win a free copy of Donald Miller's new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
Tue, Sep 29th 2009 5:49p Thomas Duff I have an extra copy of Donald Miller's
new book A
Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life.
It was one of the best books I've read of late, and really made me
think about the stories that I'm telling with my own life. Since
I liked the book so much, I'd like to offer some lucky reader the chance
to also enjoy it...
Here are the rules:
Go to the review
of A Million Miles on my blog
Leave a comment there with your name
and email address
I'll c [read] Keywords: email
7
Lotus Domino Designer Help Usability form...
Mon, Sep 28th 2009 8:09p Thomas Duff The documentation team for Lotus Domino
Designer is looking to get feedback on how the product Help system works
in Domino Designer and would like you to pitch in with your comments and
observations.
Join Bob Harwood, the Information Development (ID) Lead for Domino Designer,
the Domino Designer ID team, and Cara Viktorov, ID Customer Feedback Lead,
in this week’s online discussion on Domino Designer Help functionality
and content. Got commentary on the usability of the Eclipse [read] Keywords: designer
domino
ibm
lotus
development
eclipse
lotususergroup.org
7
Book Review - Level 26: Dark Origins by Anthony E. Zuiker and Duane Swierczynski
Sun, Sep 27th 2009 5:49p Thomas Duff Interesting concept, but a plot that
left much to be desired... Level
26: Dark Origins by Anthony E.
Zuiker and Duane Swierczynski. This book showed up at the local library,
and the concept was enough to draw me in... The book is termed a "digi-novel",
in that there are a number of website video vignettes that are supposed
to add to the overall story. For instance, an international conference
call is held to update the status on finding the killer. The web-based
video shows the actual [read] Keywords:
9
Book Review - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life by Donald Miller
Sat, Sep 26th 2009 7:22p Thomas Duff I recently was sent a copy of the book
A
Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
by Donald Miller. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect as it
was described as having something to do with having "better stories"
in your life. That can obviously mean a lot of different things.
But Miller is a local author, and I was willing to give it a shot.
I ended up with a book that far exceeded my expectations, and had
me thinking about my own life on a pretty [read] Keywords:
6
Book Review - The Power to Transform: 90 Days to a New You by Chris Majer
Sun, Sep 20th 2009 2:09p Thomas Duff I was offered the chance to read The
Power to Transform: 90 Days to a New You
by Chris Majer through one of the reviewer outlets I belong to. Personal
growth titles tend to get my attention, and this one had some appeal to
it based on the description. After reading it, I was blown away.
This is an excellent book that does indeed change the way you think
about a number of things.
Contents:
The History of the Human Potential Project;
How To Use This Book; Language Shapes Reality [read] Keywords:
5
Book Review - Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn
Sat, Sep 19th 2009 9:40p Thomas Duff Extreme
Measures by Vince Flynn is another
paperback I picked up on vacation to avoid any real effort at reading and
learning. :) I figured a little terrorist espionage might be just
the ticket for some mental downtime. Overall, Extreme Measures was
OK and worth reading. I really haven't read a lot of Flynn's other
novels using these characters, so I felt as if I was missing some major
pieces of the story. Mitch Rapp and Mike Nash have some background
and history that shape this stor [read] Keywords: development
6
Book Review - The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen
Sat, Sep 19th 2009 5:40p Thomas Duff Tess Gerritsen is one of those authors
I enjoy reading, but I usually don't end up picking up her work as soon
as they hit the bookstores. I ended up with The
Keepsake while on vacation in
Florida, as I was out of "recreational" reading material, and
diving into another business book didn't do it for me. Overall, this
was a good read... an interesting plot, a number of twists along the way,
and characters that didn't end up being everything you thought they were.
The basic story re [read] Keywords:
7
Book Review - Spooky Oregon: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore by S. E. Schlosser
Sat, Sep 19th 2009 2:59p Thomas Duff I picked up Spooky
Oregon: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings, and Other Local Lore
by S. E. Schlosser at our local library the other day, as I have a fondness
for supernatural stories that have a local bent to them. I expected
some decent narratives with background and history. Unfortunately,
what I ended up with were a number of campfire "ghost stories"
that seemed to be only marginally set around the state of Oregon. Had
I been looking for that sort of story telling, it might ha [read] Keywords: community
6
Day 1 - Travel to Orlando... NOT a Magical Experience
Wed, Sep 9th 2009 12:29a Thomas Duff So here it is just a bit after midnight,
and we're at the Boardwalk. Granted, I didn't expect to be here until
very late, and we're only here for one night as we head to Vero Beach tomorrow.
But what a travel "experience"...
Portland to Seattle was fine... a bit
late getting into Seattle, so we didn't have a lot of time between flights.
But the gates were close, so no big deal. Got boarded, and
even had the middle seat open between us. Comfortable, relatively
speaking. And we [read] Keywords: email
twitter
7
Book Review - Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear by Max Lucado
Mon, Sep 7th 2009 8:19p Thomas Duff Max Lucado writes some great Christian
inspirational works, and his latest is no different... Fearless:
Imagine Your Life Without Fear.
In Fearless, he looks at all the fears we commonly live with... joblessness,
money matters, violence... and examines them in the light of biblical promises.
And he does this with a humility and honesty that is refreshing in
today's society.
Contents:
Why Are We Afraid?; The Villagers of
Stiltsville - Fear of Not Mattering; God's Ticked Off at Me [read] Keywords: notes
security
7
Book Review - Leaders Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World by Bob Johansen
Mon, Sep 7th 2009 4:00p Thomas Duff I received an advanced readers copy
of the book Leaders
Make the Future: Ten New Leadership Skills for an Uncertain World
by Bob Johansen. I always find it interesting to see how people interpret
the future in regards to the skills it will take to lead people. Of
course, time will tell as to how accurate Johansen will be, but I did find
his VUCA acronym quite useful in describing the future: Volatility, Uncertainty,
Complexity, and Ambiguity.
Contents:
Making The Future Will Requ [read] Keywords: notes
6
IBM Lotus Domino Web Access Cross Site Scripting Vulnerability
Mon, Sep 7th 2009 3:02p Thomas Duff From VUPEN Security: IBM
Lotus Domino Web Access Cross Site Scripting Vulnerability
Title : IBM Lotus
Domino Web Access Cross Site Scripting Vulnerability
VUPEN ID : VUPEN/ADV-2009-2557
CVE
ID : GENERIC-MAP-NOMATCH
CWE ID : CWE-79
Rated as : Low
Risk
Remotely Exploitable : Yes
Locally Exploitable : Yes
Release Date : 2009-09-07
Technical Description
A vulnerability has been identified
in IBM Lotus Domino Web Access, which could be exploit [read] Keywords: domino
ibm
lotus
php
security
5
Book Review - Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
Mon, Sep 7th 2009 3:02p Thomas Duff I'm a fan of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie
Plum series. I finally made it to the top of the library hold list
for Finger
Lickin' Fifteen. I was all
prepared to pack this one for my soon-to-start vacation, thinking it'd
be the perfect beach read. Well, waiting has never been my strong
point, and I ended up starting it over the weekend. And I'm glad
I did... I would have hated to pack this book back and forth in my luggage,
as it was pretty much just more of the same, with nothing to rea [read] Keywords:
7
Reading Addiction - a humorous web search today that I can't quite let go of...
Sat, Sep 5th 2009 11:39p Thomas Duff So today I was surfing around the 'net,
letting different ideas take me various places, when I stumbled on this
item:
Learn
More About Reading Addiction
Reading Addiction is arguably a real
phenomenon. A person can, in fact, be addicted to reading.
This is not so much like chemical
addictions, however, in which the body becomes physically dependent on
a particular drug or substance. Nor is it like gambling or food addiction,
either, where chemical processes occur in the bra [read] Keywords: office
8
Book Review - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John le Carre
Sat, Sep 5th 2009 4:50p Thomas Duff While I'm still at the beginning of
John le Carre's bibliography, I'm still amazed at how he can write a complete
novel yet still keep the page count down. It's so different than
today's 400 page doorstops that could stand a fair amount of trimming.
The
Spy Who Came In From The Cold
is a tightly woven espionage story from the Cold War days, and le Carre
keeps the twists and turns coming at a non-stop pace.
The story revolves around a burned out
British spymaster, Leamas, who wants [read] Keywords: agent
7
Book Review - Lessons from the Great Depression For Dummies by Steve Wiegand
Sat, Sep 5th 2009 12:29p Thomas Duff Americans have VERY short attention
spans, and it's far too easy to be heavily influenced by the hype of the
24/7 news cycle. But stepping back to read a book like Lessons
from the Great Depression For Dummies
by Steve Wiegand shows that history continually repeats itself, and we
make the same mistakes over and over. That's not to minimize the
pain and suffering that many are going through currently. But if
we'd only pay attention to history, we could avoid a fair amount of our
troubl [read] Keywords: security
7
Product Review - Logitech Webcam C600
Sun, Aug 30th 2009 4:23p Thomas Duff Through Amazon Vine, I recently received
a review unit of the Logitech
Webcam C600. Of all the
webcams I've owned and used, this is probably the best of all of them.
They don't work and perform much better than this.
As with most Logitech items, the install
was painless. Put the CD in, plug in the camera when the prompt comes
up, and you're pretty much done. There's an option to Logitech's
video mail service, but I passed on that one as I have far too many other
mail services al [read] Keywords:
6
Book Review - The Pocket Guide to Magic by Bart King
Sun, Aug 30th 2009 10:59a Thomas Duff I've read a number of Bart King's Pocket
Guide books, and found them to be quite amusing. His latest, The
Pocket Guide to Magic, is no exception.
If you're interested in the history of magic, the legends and personalities,
and a few tricks on the side, this is definitely a book for you...
Contents:
Introduction; Hogwarts Is for Sissies!;
Playing the Part; Neat Feats and Florid Flourishes; Timeless Wonders through
History; Secrets; Money Magic; Diabolical Magic of the Blackest Sort [read] Keywords:
6
Book Review - The Year of No Money in Tokyo by Wayne Lionel Aponte
Fri, Aug 28th 2009 10:49p Thomas Duff I was contacted by Wayne Lionel Aponte
asking if I'd be interested in reading his book The
Year of No Money in Tokyo. He
felt I might appreciate it after reading The Upside of Fear recently. I
accepted the offer, thinking I would be getting a book that was heavy on
personal growth and overcoming adversity. While Year of No Money
does have some of those elements contained within the covers, it's also
described as a travel memoir. Those tend to be two very different
things, and I felt [read] Keywords:
6
Book Review - Genesis by Bernard Beckett
Fri, Aug 28th 2009 9:59p Thomas Duff A friend of mine last week recommended
that I pick up Genesis
by Bernard Beckett. A novella at 150 pages, he said it was a good
read with an excellent ending. So, the library had a copy available
and it was sent to my local branch within a day or two. I started
reading last night, and finished it today. He was right... it's an
interesting read dealing with a fair amount of philosophy, but the ending
caught me totally off-guard. I was even thinking I knew what the
ending would be sin [read] Keywords:
7
Book Review - A Hero Behind Every Tree - The Non-Technical Reasons Your IT Investments Fail by Steve Caudill and Russell Mullen
Mon, Aug 24th 2009 7:00a Thomas Duff I live and work in IT. I've done so
for 30 years. And I've seen MORE than my share of projects that either
fail or don't live up to their original expectations. Why is that?
Steve Caudill and Russell Mullen look at the reasons for this in
their book A
Hero Behind Every Tree - The Non-Technical Reasons Your IT Investments
Fail. This book is chock
full of wisdom and experience that they've gained in their time working
for a vast array of different companies and organizations. You woul [read] Keywords:
6
Guest Post: Worrying is Not a Business Plan by Albert J. Weatherhead
Sun, Aug 23rd 2009 11:09a Thomas Duff Worrying is Not a Business Plan
By Albert J. Weatherhead
In your kitchen you probably have a
spice or powder-filled container with a plastic top that has two tabs –
one for pouring or spooning, and one for sprinkling. That top is most likely
derived from the original Flapper my company invented.
Today there’s an entire line of Flapper
products used by over 150 companies, including Durkee, Cremora, San Giorgio,
Ronzoni, and McCormick. Thanks to that initial [read] Keywords: collaboration
development
email
6
Book Review - Emotional Bailout! : Nine Principles for Rising when Your World Is Falling by Cathy Holloway Hill
Sat, Aug 22nd 2009 9:39p Thomas Duff Emotional
Bailout! : Nine Principles for Rising when Your World Is Falling
by Cathy Holloway Hill is one of those books that hit me at just the right
time in my life in terms of impact and receptivity to the message. Her
message is one of internal change, and how you can change your attitude
and mindset to move into places you never dreamed possible. Even
though I've heard many of the items before, the overall package struck
me as something I've let get away from me over the last year.
[read] Keywords: networking
Book Review - Medusa by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos
Sat, Aug 22nd 2009 11:59a Thomas Duff I picked up the latest collaboration
from Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos at the library the other day. Medusa
is one of those novels that is
fine if you're looking for a bit of an escape with cliffhanger plot points.
I'm not as enamored with the non-Dirk Pitt series that Cussler does
with other writers. Basically you're reading a novel by the "other
writer" that follows the basic Cussler formula. Medusa continues
this trend. Not nearly as good as classic Cussler, but OK if you
don [read] Keywords: collaboration
formula
virus
