Category Archives: Books & Reviews

Rho Agenda Trilogy

Posted on May 20, 2013 by sinyaw

Richard Phillips was delightfully technically correct. There are many networking, cryptography, security, and mathematical nuances in the plots. He got most of them right. It is still a SciFi, of course there are creative licenses — for example the inner … Continue reading →

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Earphones, new era

Posted on May 8, 2013 by sinyaw

I have tried many pairs of earphones, cheap and expensive, and settled on Philips (and disappointed at Sony). I have used up one pair and acquired a similar model ($35) and been happy with it. I used them for work-outs … Continue reading →

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H20

Posted on April 24, 2013 by sinyaw

The sin of the $4 Fuji water is the carbon foot-print and the price tag, not the waste of water. Charles Fishman, armed with excellent research, preached to change our behaviors. As I plowed through the pages, the conclusion became … Continue reading →

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Influence Everything

Posted on March 21, 2013 by sinyaw

Some defined “Management” as “to make changes happen effectively.” From there, many books and consultation practices flourished. One of them is VitalSmarts. They wrote several books and formed a consultancy to teach people exactly that: to influence changes on self, … Continue reading →

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Another Book on Decision Making

Posted on February 26, 2013 by sinyaw

Daniel Kahneman’s book, Thinking, Fast and Slow, mentioned Gary Klein, particularly on their opposite approaches to decision making. At the end, they “agreed on their disagreement” and accepted that there are two different approaches to better decision making skills. Klein … Continue reading →

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Irrational Decisions

Posted on February 8, 2013 by sinyaw

Two envelopes presented in front of you. Envelop A has a raffle ticket that guarantees 95% probability of winning $1 million. Envelop B has a cashier check of amount X. How much of the X will make you choose the … Continue reading →

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The Passage

Posted on January 20, 2013 by sinyaw

What does the word “epic” really mean? This is a new twist on the old vampire genre. Genre has rules: vampires are essentially immortal; they can be killed only in specific ways; they are physically much more superior than normal … Continue reading →

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Six Common Strategic Errors

Posted on January 16, 2013 by sinyaw

There is the Do-It-All strategy, shorthand for failing to make real choices about priorities. The Don Quixote strategy unwisely attacks the company’s strongest competitor first. The Waterloo strategy pursues war on too many fronts at once. The Something-For-Everyone tries to … Continue reading →

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Les Mis: Movie is Better

Posted on December 25, 2012 by sinyaw

Not by much, both very good. This blog is mostly a comparison of the movie to its theatrical counter-part. If you don’t want to know or care, stop reading. First of all, Anne Hathaway out-acted and out-sang Hugh Jackman who … Continue reading →

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三國(8): 曹操

Posted on November 23, 2012 by sinyaw

好不容易請來了神醫,曹操卻把華佗下獄至死. 自己也病亡.現在看來,是腦瘤吧. 三國中,論管理人才,孔明,孟德是頭兩名. 有趣的是他們都不是CEO. 曹操從未稱帝,死時是”魏王”,漢之宰相. 諸葛亮至死也是劉家的家臣,從無反意. 小時覺得曹操是奸臣,重讀三國,倒沒這感覺了. 他是跋扈了些,但始終沒反啊. 說來,他把”漢室江山”,管的不壞.南征北討, 給劉家立了不少功勞. 三國把赤壁寫的太美了. 諸葛神的,周瑜美的，曹操尿的.一戦而三分天下. 但以全局而論,他一直是三國中最強的一支. 蜀吳永遠在他的陰影下. 所以關羽華容道放他一馬,是真毀了劉備的”霸業”. 話說回來,也不是曹操先善待了關羽十幾年嗎? 再給曹操十年,他能一統天下嗎?

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