Hello loyal readers,
Sorry things have been very busy for me. I will return to posting soon, but for now, I am prepping for a much needed trip. I will try to check in if possible. I will return with a review of Sway.
This is from a blog of an author who writes fitness and weight-loss books:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/blog/2008/07/09/plagiarism-part-2/
The two authors were formally mutually exchanging authors. They did interviews with one another, product announcements and endorsements, etc. Apparently the other writer had used prior permission from Lyle as his reason to largely lift passages of his book for his own commercial material. That's whats tricky about all this; the prior instance was for a handout and not the new book. I think the whole situation really emphasizes how careful you need to be in an information economy. Certainly every book, ebook, DVD package, what have you, will have research from other authors in it. Plagiarism is taken very seriously in publishing, and all that boring English comp stuff about proper citations is critical. With the internet, there is no place to hide.
http://www.healthandage.com/public/news-home/15383/Are-You-Getting-Enough-Vitamin-D.html
One more health concern (I apologize), but it seems pretty easy to remedy.
]]>I was reading a post on an email list that focuses on personal improvement and NLP that discussed change. The post was discussing the mental attributes that people need to have to face change. I thought the advice sounded fairly pat, in that everyone stresses things like flexibility, yet they always seem to lack practical examples. Well, I think one area that we are seeing big changes is in our energy supply, particularly oil. What changes do you think are on the horizon, and what are you planning for? For me, I really think that there will be serious alternatives to gasoline in 5 to 10 years. I honestly don't plan on buying any new cars (though perhaps a used car that I don't plan on recouping the cost on). I'm also kicking around looking into the energy field in general, as I think there's some possible room for overlap with telecom when it comes to large scale planning. Just some idle thoughts.
]]>From this article:
" A study has found that men with the "dark triad" of traits – narcissism, thrill- seeking and deceitfulness – are likely to have a larger number of sexual affairs."
I think the article's and study's authors may be making the mistake of blaming the victim. There was (at least in how I read it) a view that the women somehow knew about the deceitfulness, whereas they may just be buying into the self-confidence (narcissism) and excitement (thrill-seeking). I would guess that they deceitfulness comes in by feigning some nice-guy attributes, which are the only things some nice-guys have going for them.
]]>The opportunity, to me, is to get people to lead financial lives that are not so house poor. I think that's what I've learned overall from reading Calculated Risk; not that the housing bubble was a mistake, but that in general, people probably over-value houses as investments, as opposed to places to live. With transportation costs inceasing the way they have been, and now food going up in price, I would guess that the long term implication will be more limited spending on housing with emphasis on the immediate benefits, such as commuting time, neighborhood amenities, and the quality of education offered by local schools.
]]>Having looked into different alternatives in online marketing,. I'm struck by how many people out there are offering Mentoring and Inner Circles. I find it interesting, because one of the key ways to accelerate profits is to offer services like these. I'm not personally involved in any ongoing relations like these, but I know that quite a few people are. Whether or not you have a mentor or are a part of an exclusive membership, I want to know what people are looking for when they want to have a mentor. What are the most important characteristics? How connected/successful do they have to be? Is it more important that they're creative with new ideas, or good at teaching the basics (again, this is all personal; individuals always vary). Are there too many potential mentors out there? Do you think people have ever become mentors who shouldn't have? Could someone like that still be successful? I don't have a lot of answers on this, I was wondering what people's opinions were.
]]>Wow, so upon return, life has been a whirlwind! I got back just in time to get everything together for my Philly business trip (training on Crystal Reports), and of course a pile of stuff accumulated while I was gone. But, I'm back! And just in time to get in my latest plug. I really enjoyed Sway, which is very effective in its use of the verb in the Verb book category that was pioneered by Blink. "Sway", in this case, focuses more on the "misses" if you will caused by our cognitive biases (which was a topic Blink had some things to say on as well - see the orchestra stories as an example). I thought this book was particularly useful as it was written by two brothers, one a psychologist and the other a businessman. This gives the book a bit more of a practical feel than, say Predictably Irrational (which isn't to disparage that book - it's just a matter of focus).A common discussion is how various managers make a particular kind of decision, and the authors show ways that decision may be susceptible to "sway". I'll go into some further examples as the week goes on, but suffice to say, I think it's worth a spot on your short list of books to read. It is a very fast read, but a lot of good ideas are inside.
Hello loyal readers,
Sorry things have been very busy for me. I will return to posting soon, but for now, I am prepping for a much needed trip. I will try to check in if possible. I will return with a review of Sway.
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=e4654e1b-ea07-41f5-ab79-a9cf1f74a438
]]>Scott McClellan, former White House Press Secretary, has (in case you haven't heard) has come out with a new book. You might not actually have heard, given his chart at Google:
Really, not a strong buzz at all. I think it's a few things. One, he's primarily not an engaging person. This could be overcome, but the second buzz kill is that people are looking past the current administration, and Scott hasn't created a new role yet. He hasn't been blogging, or acting as an consultant. He just came out of the blue with (no matter how accurate) a negative book. I really think he could have done some image building prior to the book coming out. But, again, he really doesn't seem to be that kind of guy.