yet another book thread

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by GoT, Apr 21, 2013.

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  1. VondyP

    VondyP Undisputed 2QBeaver Champion

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    this thread still alive?

    Okay I recently read this book by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz:
    Everybody Lies: Big data, new data, and what the internet can tell us about who we really are.
    https://www.amazonn.com/dp/B01AFXZ2F4/
    (take out the extra n in amazonn, link wouldn't show otherwise)

    I highly recommend this book, I enjoyed it a great deal. Basically it is in the exact same vein as the book/documentary Freakonomics and deals with analyzing data to learn new things about people. Basically he uses extremely large data sets to prove various things about humans. He uses raw data from companies and also Google search trends. There are a lot of examples and it is quite interesting all the way through.

    A few of the topics covered:
    • American Pharaoh - how data analysis predicted this horse as a triple crown winner before it had even been purchased.
    • Using big data to cure/prevent disease. (this one is actually cool and seems like something we should already be doing heavily)
    • African American basketball players and whether coming from a bad situation really gives you a motivational edge to get into the NBA.
    • Racism and how it affected the election of Donald Trump.
    • Superbowl Ads - are the companies spending the big bucks really getting their $$ worth?
    • Predicting terrorism/violence with data analysis.
    • Using data analysis to predict whether people will default on their loans based on their explanation of why they need a loan.
    • The general sexuality of humans and how we lie heavily about what we are "in to".
    • How many people actually finish books they start?

    Many many more topics are covered but these are a few I found most interesting.

    Don't let my use of "data analysis" in the explanation deter you, there is no real math and it's all explained in a very straightforward way

    Planning on reading American Gods next as a lot of you in here have suggested it.
     
    #101 VondyP, Aug 23, 2017
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2017
  2. Scarecrow

    Scarecrow All-Pro

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    American Gods is long as **** and tends to ramble.
     
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  3. VondyP

    VondyP Undisputed 2QBeaver Champion

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    well i already bought the damn thing so I'm all in.
    gonna start it tomorrow on the ride to cedar point
     
  4. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    It's just boring. People either love or hate it.
     
  5. GoT

    GoT Strength and Honor

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    I Cannot, Yet I Must

    The true story of the best bad monster movie of all time


    ROBOT MONSTER


    by Anders Runestad


    you will learn everything there is to know about the conception, funding, making, marketing, distribution, stuidos, locations, sets, gorilla suite construction, obscure poverty row characters & more about Robot Monster

    but mainly the book is about the director Phil Tucker.

    The book is not a hatchet job it explains in exhaustive detail everything you ever wanted to know about Robot Monster and everything associated with that movie along with a pretty real good biography of Phil Tucker.

    While reading this book I could not help but to think our own @CRUDS probably knows some of these people or at the least is only a degree of separation from them.


    I enjoyed the read but it took me a while. I mean I know more about the 1950s Alaskan movie industry than anyone really should - LOL And many other things. Like the Hollywood guerilla suit profession. I would have never guessed that was a thing.
     
    #105 GoT, Sep 30, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2017
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  6. GoT

    GoT Strength and Honor

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    The Pessimist's Guide to History

    by Doris Flexner and Stuart Berg Flexner



    from the Big Bang to the 2007 California fires.... and a large selection of catastrophes & mayhem in between. D. Flexner lifted the water here and the husband SB Flexner added 'whitty commentary' at the end of many summaries of pretty real turrible events. Gems like 'onward Christian Soldier' when referring to one of the crusades as an example. Dude aint funny and both author & commentary are silent to many moslum atrocities, but they nail most of the Christian historical transgressions.

    the book is a slog to read, but not a bad reference for an overview of something.

    Sometimes you think you would enjoy a beer with an author... I would love to punch Stuart Berg FLexner in the face with a flaming sword - the twat
     
  7. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    I've been reading the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown. Almost done with the second book. The first book is like the Hunger Games in space and expands from there into the second.
     
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  8. GoT

    GoT Strength and Honor

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    written for young adults or real adults?


    not trying to be a smart arse, but I'll take it - LOL
     
    #108 GoT, Oct 18, 2017
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2017
  9. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    I haven't read Hunger Games so I can't compare but the author says it isn't Young Adult and admittedly it has it's moments of limbs being cut off and someone commits rape.
     
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  10. Gunny

    Gunny Shoutbox Fuhrer

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    Seeing as it's Halloween - even though we don't celebrate it - I thought I'd give a couple of "scary" books a go.

    I read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill - which is also a movie starring Harry Potter - both book and movie aren't bad.

    Then I started A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay which is high in the creep factor so far.
     
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