Book Review – David and Goliath

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David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
by Malcolm Gladwell, 2013

After listening to this book, I checked some of the reviews. I should have done it in the opposite order. Not Gladwell’s best stuff. I feel like a lot of the message was anecdotal, and it missed the opportunity to be widely applicable. I expected some references to startups having advantages over slow-moving established companies, but the topic was largely focused on social issues. The re-telling of David and Goliath, alluded to in the title, was certainly worthwhile, and recommended if you haven’t seen it before.

Energetic 20180308

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Reminder to DOE and Congress – US has a world beating Fast Flux Test Facility sitting idle in eastern Washington. Interesting discussion of a potential test site for fast breeder nuclear technology that was decommissioned in 1992. Everything I read about the government’s handling of nuclear technology/waste has been frustrating.

New nuclear power in the Middle East. The U.S. has not built a nuclear power plant since 1978.

Reliability vs. resilience?

Rounding the Bases 20180302

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As Medals Pile Up, Norway Worries: Are We Winning Too Much? I love everything about this article.

Instead of holding back its athletes, Norway is trying to lift others everywhere else. It has conceived the Alpine athletics version of the Marshall Plan. For seven years, it has invited competitors from all over the world to visit for a weeklong training camp. A separate camp is offered to World Cup coaches. Attendees pay to get there, and Norway covers all other expenses.

Joey Votto talking hitting.

2018 PyeongChang Games are the least-watched Olympics ever. Yes, but all networks are down nowadays. “NBC’s primetime viewership beat its broadcast brethren by a whopping 82%.”

BlockSite Firefox Extension Comments

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I started using the BlockSite extension/add-in to block sites that I wanted to keep myself from visiting during work (Youtube, ESPN, etc). The programmer has a bit of a sense of humor in the comments that are shown when you try to visit a blocked page. Though the English isn’t great, here are the comments:

“Alright so you have tried it first time. But don’t try it again.”

“You have already tried 2 times.
I know that you will try this. But please stop now.”

“You have already tried 3 times.
Come on! Stop doing this.”

“You have already tried 4 times.
Seriously? You should be doing something else.”

“You have already tried 5 times.
I am begging you. Stop trying.”

“You have already tried 6 times.
I hate to tell you this, but this site is still blocked.”

“You have already tried 7 times.
I told you before, it is blocked.”

“You have already tried 8 times.
Are you hoping that it will eventually be unblocked?”

“You have already tried 9 times.
One more and you will hit two digits. This is seriously the waste of time.”

“You have already tried 10 times.
What? 10 times? I am not talking to you. Try sharing this extension”

“You have already tried 11 times.
No! I am not talking to you.”

“You have already tried 12 times.
I told you that I am not talking to you.”

“You have already tried 13 times.
Alright, you are starting to make me angry.”
(same for 14 and 15)

“You have already tried 16 times.
Knock knock! Who’s there?”
(same for 17-21)

“You have already tried 22 times.
I won’t tell you this joke, because you keep trying.”
(same for 23-24)

“You have already tried 25 times.
You look great, but that won’t help you to get on this website”
(same for 26-29)

“You have already tried 30 times.
How about instead of trying try to share this extension to your friends.”
(same for 31-34)

“You have already tried 35 times.
I will stop changing my quotes on the number of 36”

“You have already tried 36 times.
The last post. I am done. Please stop trying now.”
(same for 37-39)

“You have already tried 40 times.
Seriously this is the last thing that I am going to say. Stop trying to reach this site, it is blocked by BlockSite”
(same for 41-99)

“You have already tried 100 times.
Alright, since you made it that far, you deserve a reward. I will give you an echo when I will figure it out.”
(same for 101-149)

“You have already tried 150 times.
Still no reward for you for keep trying. There is no guarantee that you will get some reward”
(same for 151-199)

“You have already tried 200 times.
Alright here is your reward. The joke: What do cows do for entertainment? They rent moovies!”
(same for 201-249)

“You have already tried 250 times.
Allright, since you are full of enery, I am going to tell you some jokes.”
(same for 251-299)

“You have already tried 300 times.
You know that I am sad, that you are wasting time here?”
(same for 301-319)

“You have already tried 320 times.
But at least you can have fun if I tell you some jokes.”
(same for 321-339)

“You have already tried 340 times.
Don’t forget to tell them to your friends, I am sure that they would love to hear them.”
(same for 341-359)

“You have already tried 360 times.
What do you call a sheep with no legs? A cloud”
(same for 361-379)

“You have already tried 380 times.
Good one right?”
(same for 381-399)

“You have already tried 400 times.
What does a fish say when it runs into a wall? DAMN!”
(same for 401-419)

“You have already tried 420 times.
That one I like”
(same for 421-439)

“You have already tried 440 times.
What do you call a fish with no eye ? FSH !”
(same for 441-459)

“You have already tried 460 times.
What is invisable and smells like carrots? Rabbit farts.”
(same for 461-480)

“You have already tried 480 times.
Why do gerillas have big nostralls? Coz they got big fingers!!!!!!!!!”
(same for 481-499)

“You have already tried 500 times.
Ewwwwwww”
(same for 501-519)

“You have already tried 520 times.
A magician was driving down the road..then he turned into a drive way…”
(same for 521-539)

“You have already tried 540 times.
Two snowmen are standing in a field. One says to the other : Funny, I smell carrots too.”
(same out to at least 1111)

I wonder if it ever changes again. All software should have Easter eggs. Especially when Easter is on April 1.

Book Review – Airstream: America’s World Traveler

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Thanks to Maria for the guest book review!

Airstream: America’s World Traveler
by Patrick Foster, 2016

This coffee-table-sized book is a quick read and full of pictures from the Airstream archives. I didn’t know much about Airstream before reading this book, except that I associate the travel trailer company with outdoor adventure and road trips. The book is a history of the company from its founding in the 1930s, through what happened to it in WWII (the signature aluminum was needed for airplanes – not luxury trailers), and subsequent decades to the present. The history stops about 2015. We learned a little bit about the founder, Wally Byam, and other management executives involved throughout the years, but not as much as I expected.

Although it was a fun, interesting read for me, the book could have used an editor; there are several obvious typos throughout, the parts that were most interesting to me were not elaborated on, and there is potentially inaccurate information. For instance, at one point the book casually mentions that an Airstream was used for atomic bomb testing and was undamaged aside from a broken window. This seems like it would make a good story, but one sentence is all the book gave. So I looked it up on my own and discovered that, for testing purposes, a fake mini town was built in Nevada and included an Airstream and other travel trailer brands stationed 10,500 ft from Ground Zero of the bomb; the Airstream was undamaged aside from two broken windows and a small dent in the back. So, take the book with possibly a grain of salt. The author did use current Airstream employees and the Airstream archives to write the book, so I am sure most of it is fine. It does read a little bit like a love story to the brand, with statements accompanying photos along the likes of, “It doesn’t get any better than this!”, but it was still a fun book to read and to look at the photos of Airstreams all over the world and while under construction.

Book Review – Smart Baseball

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Smart Baseball: The story behind the old stats that are ruining the game, the new ones that are running it, and the right way to think about baseball
by Keith Law, 2017

The sabermetric revolution in baseball has already happened. There are no longer any holdouts among MLB front offices; by the start of 2017, all thirty organizations had established analytics departments, employing multiple people, often with Ph.D.s in computer science specialties, charged with gathering data and using them to answer questions from the GM or the coaching staff, or to look for previously undiscovered value in the market for players. If your local writer is still talking about players in terms of pitcher wins, saves, or RBI, he’s discussing the role of the homunculus in human reproduction. The battle is over, whether the losers realize it or not.

If you are familiar with wRC, FIP, and fWAR/bWAR in baseball, you probably don’t need this book. It spends a long time explaining why old stats (RBI, ERA, pitcher wins) are not as useful as previously imagined and how new stats are better. The last few chapters include interesting discussions on why certain players should be in the hall-of-fame and on the role of scouts in a modern organization.

Book Review – The Professor Is In

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The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide to Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job
by Karen Kelsky, 2015

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who plans to be on the academic job market in the next 3-5 years. You’ll want to read it early in your academic career to understand the difference between “good lines” on your CV and less valuable ones. You’ll want to re-visit it before applying to understand how to craft excellent job documents and how to prep for interviews.

This book is well-written and very practical. It is from the perspective of a former department chair who now runs her own consulting business to fill in the information gap between what tenured academics know and what grad students don’t.

I would offer one warning to students in business fields: the book is written from the perspective of humanities majors. In those fields, you are often expected to be publishing books and your prospects for academic employment are terrible. Books are not valued in business fields like A-journal publications are. With that in mind, however, the book is still very useful. I will be sharing it with fellow IU Ph.D. students.