One Way Forward: The Outsider’s Guide to Fixing the Republic is a book you have to read. It isn’t that long. More of a pamphlet, really. When I think of Lawrence Lessig, I still think of him as a copywrite/EFF guy, but he’s established himself as a top notch political thinker. In One Way Forward, he presents a well crafted case that money is at the core of the US government’s problems. He posits that in this era of connectivity, we are uniquely positioned to bring about a radical change in our government.
Week 29: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
I had never heard of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore until my roommate recommended it to me, and I’d never heard of its author, Robin Sloan. But I decided to give it a shot, and I have to say: This book is awesome!
Written at the crossroads of centuries-old secret orders and cutting edge web services, Penumbra’s is funny, exciting, gripping, and totally off-the-wall. It follows the story of Clay Jannon after he’s laid off by a San Francisco startup. He finds a new job working at a strange, old bookstore for the equally strange and old Mr. Penumbra. Soon he gets wrapped up in the store’s mysteries, using data visualization to solve a secret puzzle and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to crack a centuries-old encrypted book. Continue reading →
Week 26: Heart of Darkness and Halfway Reflection
I just finished Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and it blew me away. This has been my favorite book since high school. I read it several times, but I haven’t read it in a couple years. This reading reminded me why it’s my favorite book and, if possible, made me like it more.
I’m not going to talk a lot about it, it’s pretty short so if you haven’t read it, definitely give it a shot. Like other Conrad novels, it starts slowly, but pay attention because the closer you read, the harder the final 15 pages hit. Incredible.