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Why everyone should download Overdrive and switch to Audiobooks

If you’ve spent any time at all talking to me about books over the past year I’ve likely hijacked a few minutes of that conversation to expound the virtues of Overdrive (of which I cannot get enough). Here is that sermon in print: Audio over E: If you don’t check your phone while sitting in front of the TV or stay away from Whatsapp or Faceboo...

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Cannibals & Kings - Marvin Harris

A wonderful book! Gave me deep insights especially into the cultural origins of androcentrism. Closing words are lines to live by: _ In Life, as in any game where the outcome depends on both luck and skill, the rational response to bad odds is to try harder. _

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the anti-recommendation engine - 2

This post originally appeared on Facebook As a first step to exposing myself to books outside my comfort zone I’ve built this basic tool - https://goo.gl/6m4h4r This google sheet contains the nearly 10,000 audiobooks available at National Library of Singapore and randomly recommends 5 of them with helpful Overdrive download links. The plan is...

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the anti-recommendation engine

This post originally appeared on Facebook Having gone through the pain of lugging many heavy boxes and setting up shelves across multiple home relocations over 2015 I’ve pretty much sworn off physical books and have become a vocal advocate for digital books (e and recently audio). Further as a serial buyer/downloader of books on Kindle & O...

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Collapse - Jared Diamond

I would rate Collapse over Germs, Guns and Steel - perhaps this is because I am more interested in how functional systems can fail rather than how they came to be functional. Some passages that shall remain with me long after I’ve finished the book Life ends on Henderson: Did everyone die simultaneously in a mass calamity, or did the populati...

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Runners vs Walkers

This was originally posted on Facebook on 10th February 2013 The organizers of the Green Power 50km hike were kind enough to publish a full rank list of finishers here: http://goo.gl/4fbUw. Two interesting observations: a. One should expect marathon finish times end up being some kind of normal distribution with a long right tail. However GP...

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Line Monarch refuses to believe in Flatland

Suhas Mathur introduced me to Flatland. Makes a strong case for why all atheists should choose to be agnostic atheists instead. You ask me to believe there is another Line besides that which my senses indicate, and another motion besides that of which I am daily conscious. I, in return, ask you to describe in words or indicate by motion that o...

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A viable alternative to "Hope for the Flowers" ?

From Orbiting the Giant Hairball : A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace If we were to think of waterskiing as a metaphor for leading and following, the person at the wheel, in the boat, dry, would represent the leader. And the skier in the water, wet, would be the follower. Wherever the leader goes, the follower goes. If, for reaso...

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