Continuing my [recent dystopia kick](http://ryskamp.org/brain/books/notes-from-the-man-in-the-high-castle), I read Vonnegut’s _Player Piano_ based on his Luddite-ish comments in [an article in Inc. Technology](http://www.vonnegutweb.com/vonnegutia/interviews/int_technology.html): > Electronic communities build nothing. You wind up with nothing. We’re dancing animals. How beautiful it is to get up and go do something. [Gets up and dances a jig.] I tend to sympathize…more
David Packard’s memoir about Hewlett-Packard’s growth is notable mostly for its consistency. The book’s “rah-rah” tone is consistently upbeat, so much so that I often doubted he was telling everything about the story. But the examples of his and Bill Hewlett’s decision-making were consistently good and from a consistent point of view that was inspiring…more
I was a fan of Philip K. Dick’s _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep_, the inspiration for _Blade Runner_, and thought his idea for _The Man in the High Castle_, a dystopian vision of a world where Germany and Japan won WWII, might be interesting. So I read it straight through in a day and…more
From his article in Fast Company, What Should I Do With My Life?. ###MONEY Doesn’t Fund Dreams > It turns out that having the financial independence to walk away rarely triggers people to do just that. The reality is, making money is such hard work that it changes you. It takes twice as long as…more