I haven't been doing such a great job of posting what I've read lately, so here is a quick update.

Exploiting Software was a pretty good book that had quite a few odd coincidences with one of the authors (he is the CTO of the company some friends work for and in reading the foreword, I realized a guy I knew in college also worked for the company). The book was generally pretty good; it was definitely very technical and complete in it’s coverage of the topics. I felt it got a little bogged down in details near the center of the book, but it picked up by the end.

I'm about halfway through [Smart Mobs](/cgi-global/amazonbounce.pl?isbn=0738208612&assoc=gothmogstolkiena) and I am finding that the writing is a little inconsistent.  There will be sections that I just can't put down and others that are painful to make it through.  Aside from that though, the subject matter is quite interesting.  The way in which mobile computing is effecting the social structures over the last 10 years is amazing.  At this point at least, I'm glad I picked it up.

For the non-RSS crowd out there, you are already aware that these pages don’t quite look the same. The RSS folks can look if they care. I was getting a little bored with the old layout, so I made some changes. Nothing drastic, but a little more subdued. Comments welcome.

Apple has added what is arguably the worst music ever to the iTMS.

AsianMack Super Filter: Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner

Wow, my brain is just writhing with the possibilities. As has been said on a few other sites, this is the exact thing the internet was designed for. Whether it will work or not is to be seen. Basically it is an open market for individuals to pool money to lend money out to other individuals; no bank involved. The lender sets the amount of risk he is willing to take, and the interest rate he will offer.

Zopa - The first lending and borrowing exchange

I just finished reading Ken Grimwood’s Replay. This in and of itself isn’t particularly interesting. The notable fact though is I started reading it less than 12 hours ago. It isn’t that often I come across a book so enthralling that I just can’t stop reading but this one definately got me. I found myself having to consciously slow down because I wanted to find out what happened so badly I was starting to skim whole paragraphs.

I know I can’t do the story justice, so I won’t try to give any kind of summary, but I highly recommend it.

I will hardly be the first person to recommend The Future of Freedom, Fareed Zakaria’s book on the politics of democracy and freedom, but I wanted to add my vote. I am hardly an expert in government and politics and have rarely found books on this topic that I care about deeply even remotely interesting. Zakaria does an excellent job of making his topic approachable. In reading the book I had many “ah-ha!” moments as observations and points he made clicked with things I had half observed came into focus. In addition to the history and perspective the book gave me, the critical point I think he makes is that there is a difference between democracy and freedom in a country. Both are needed, but one does not imply the other. Nor is freedom without democracy necessarily a bad thing (and sometimes is a good thing).

Good book. It will make you think. Go read it (assuming you are into thinking, that is).

Urban Archipelago

An interesting article, although it does go off the deep end in a few places with the urban isolationist attitude. However it appeals to the side of me that is often labeled “not nice” in that it advocates that the liberal portion of america should to some extent give up on the groups of people who don’t agree with us and the regions they live in. The republicans have learned to push the policies that support their ideology and I think we need to learn that too.

Paper Enigma Machine

Nothing else to say, just neat.

As most of you know, I am a huge supporter of the ACLU. I am also still very frustrated by recent politics. Those two facts, in combination with my recent readings of Joe Trippi’s The Revolution will not be Televised and Dan Gillmor’s We the media, has spurred me to start a new project.

The Virginia ACLU sends out emails during the legislative session highlighting bills and issues that are of concern (wither for or against). You have to sign up to get these emails and there is no online archive of them or place to discuss the issues. So, I have made one. I will be adding the “action alerts” to the website as the come out.

Action VA

If you think this is a good idea, I could use all the help I can get to put the word out about the site and actually get it noticed. Thanks all!

Just a quickie post about something that seems like a neat idea. An extension to a word-a-day email. Take a publicly available book and get one “page” a day via your RSS reader. Also links to a nice site for getting publicly available books, mobdex.

Russell Beattie Notebook - Serialized eBooks via RSS