Or it could be the new version of Firefox I downloaded the other day… But WordPress looks hideous now, almost unusable… So it might be a few days until i update again… Hopefully I’m not the only one experiencing this and WordPress is working on it, or Mozilla is…
I’m Writing about BookMooch
Why? Mostly because it’s a great idea and I love books. BookMooch is a book swapping website. You post books you’d be willing to give away and then when people request them from you you send them to them. You get points for doing this and with those points you can request books you’re interested in from other people. There are other sites which do the same thing (e.g. Swaptree, PaperbackSwap, WhatsOnMyBookshelf, etc… just google book swap) I use BookMooch because it’s free to join and you can’t buy points, you only get points for giving books to other people. There is some cost to you as you’ll be paying for the postage to mail these books out. This isn’t as bad as it sounds though, considering that most of the books you’ll be sending are Mass Markets it’ll only cost you 2 or 3 dollars to send it anywhere in the U.S. Which is a deal when new MM cost between 6 and 9 dollars. I also like it because I don’t have all the room in the world, and books and bookcases take up space, space better spent being filled by things like dressers, or tables, desks, etc… With BookMooch I can get a book I want to read, and then give it away again… Wait that sounds just like my local library, which I don’t have to anything for… hmmm… Ok, well with BookMooch you have the option of keeping the book, no such luck with your local library. The only other problem with BookMooch is that the selection is pretty slim, or you’ll find the book you want but it’s in another country and the owner doesn’t ship internationally… Over-all it’s a good thing, especially if you have books laying around that you aren’t using but don’t want to throw away. Put them up someone will want them and you can exchange them for a whole new set!
Maintanence and Thanksgiving
I added a new section to the blog it’s called What I Recommend (Link is dead -Ed. 8/1/11) and in it you can find reviews of games, books, sites, etc… Stuff I’d like to share with you on more than just an occasion. Things that get more than just a passing mention up here. Check it out if you must there isn’t much there right now though.
With that out of the way I’ll wish all my readers a Happy Thanksgiving, you don’t have to be American to celebrate the holiday, anyone can. Yes, there is a story behind Thanksgiving, google it. For my family it never was about the Pilgrims/Puritans, it was about showing proper thanks for the things you have in your life. So, though we aren’t around a table laden with food and there isn’t any god for me to thank I’m going to share my gratitude with all of you here at my blog. Firstly, I’m grateful for my life, for my parents who brought me into it and raised me as best they could. I feel they’ve done a remarkably good job, considering the materials given. Thanks Mom and Dad!. I’m thankful for my girl friend, the love of my life, Diana Burkart-Waco, for putting up with me, for looking past all my flaws and still loving me, for sharing her life with me. Thank you Diana! I’m thankful for all of my friends, for just being there, for talking with or sharing a moment, for being yourselves around me and letting me do the same. Thanks everybody! I’m grateful the opportunities I’ve had in my life, a college education, a job that pays for mostly everything, a chance to better myself, and brighter prospects around the bend. I’m thankful that it’s hasn’t been too cloudy recently and that I can still feel the heat of the sun on my skin, too soon I know I’ll be missing it. I’m thankful for a lot more, but I think that’s enough sharing. If any of you would like to share a little of what you’re thankful for please do! Just leave a comment!
7 books that can change your mind
Words are powerful little things. When used wisely they can spark discussion and change, even revolution. Here’s a list of books that when read carefully and considered honestly can change your life. why 7? Because it’s not 10 so I’m not ripping off a late night host and every other damn person on the internets… Yup, I’m completely original! In no specific order, here we go!
7. Getting Things Done by David Allen – If you have heard of the man he’s sort of a guru for tech heads and the IT crowd. Allen’s done a lot of things in his life but know he works on productivity. “Peace of Mind is an empty in-box” . GTD is new age spiritualism without the new age and spiritualism. Every thing in your life can be reduced to a list of tasks, tasks can either be done now or organized to do later. Everything that needs to get done goes in the in-box, process your life until the in-box is empty, viola! Check out the spread in the November issue of Wired or read it here. Also check out 43folders.com to see how others are implementing GTD in their lives.
6. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson – This book originally published in 1962 largely birthed the modern environmentalist movement. Carson was the first to write extensively about the damage humans were causing to the environment. Carson’s message is still needed today in a world rapidly being stripped of it’s resources and beauty to satisfy our needs. If you want a more current treatment of the environmental crisis try Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth or Newt Gingrich’s A Contract with the Earth. Yup, this is a bi-partisan issue and one that must be addressed soon!
5. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud – Comics can be about more than just pseudo-homo-erotic relationships between spandex clad Men and boys. Scott McCloud uses the genre’s style to explain the who, what, when, where, and whys of comics. An insightful look at just how comics have contributed to storytelling in our culture. After being converted you’ll want to see some of the good stuff, try Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series or Bill Willingham’s Fables
4. The Bible by Dead guys – Have you read it? It’s supposed to be the best selling book of all time. Millions believe it was dictated by God, and contains every answer to every question you might have. So… have you read it? If you believe that it is the word of God, and haven’t read it, why not? Seems like it ‘dbe a priority… Maybe because it’s filled with mostly drivel and the ridiculous? I urge everyone to sit down and read it cover to cover, and then ask yourself could any “divine” being come up with the stuff that is in it? If your God suffers from OCD and is a murderous, misogynistic prick then… yeah, maybe he wrote this one… There are plenty of religious texts to satisfy your curiosity
3. The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin -Written nearly 150 years ago, this book still has the power to drive people batty. Note that these people are not scientists, Among scientists there is no debate over whether evolution happens, nor is there any debate if it is done through natural selection and common descent either, they’ve moved on to much more exciting and esoteric topics since then. No, Darwin’s seminal text gets fundamentalists upset. People who like to believe that the Earth is only about 6000 years old… I’m not going to give their tired arguments any play here. Read the book it’s amazing, and the theory is still spot on, though Darwin didn’t know how… For further reading check out the 29+ Evidences for Macroevolution, any essay by Stephen Jay Gould, the Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins, or anything by E.O. Wilson.
2. The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker – Pinker is a experimental psychologist and a vocal advocate for evolutionary psychology, which tries to explain functional traits of the human brain like memory and language as products of natural selection, this is his most famous book. In it he takes the nature vs. nurture debate head on, coming down hard on the side of nature winning out. Environment plays some role in who we are but Pinker shows that the science (mostly twin studies and models) that our genetic make-up plays a much more powerful role in who we become/are. The book is often seen as an attack on free-will which is why it has become so controversial. He discusses somewhat the ethical dilemmas such a beliefs brings up, like is it just to punish someone for being violent when their genes have programmed them such, would eugenics be a good idea, is it right to screen children and people to see if they have unsocial genes, etc… A delicate subject and a honest discussion of what it means to all of us and society if we are much more programmed than we like to think.
1. The Amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon – If you’ve gotten bored of fiction and don’t like reading sci-fi or fantasy. This book is for you. Chabon’s work straddles the fine line between literature and fantasy. His books all contain an element of the fantastical while remaining firmly rooted in our reality. Chabon won a Pulitzer for this book, if you like it and want more of the same he has other books out or you can try some of Neil Gaiman’s books, though they are more fantastical, or something by Chris Moore.