Viable

The Strange Case of Hellish Nell

dsoul — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:27:21 -0700

When Hellish Nell claimed to have channeled spirits of the dead (who gave away wartime secrets), she was charged under ...

The End of America

dsoul — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:56:08 -0700

from the cover: ".... Naomi Wolf compels us to face the way our free America is under assault. She warns us -- with the straight-to-fellow-citizens urgency of one of Thomas Paine's revolutionary pamphlets -- that we have little time to lose if our children are to live in real freedom.Wolf shows that there are ten classic steps dictators or would-be dictators always take when they wish to close down an open society. Each of those ten steps is now underway in the United States Today."

Whose Freedom?

dsoul — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:47:35 -0700

From the cover: "Since September 11, 2001, the Bush administration has relentlessly invoked the word "freedom." Al-Qaeda attacted us because "they hate our freedoms." The United States can strike preemptively because "freedom is on the march." Social Security should be privatized in order to protect individual freedoms.In Whose Freedom?, Lakoff surveys the political landscape and offers an essential map of the Republican battle that seeks to capture the hearts and minds of Americans -- and shows how progressives can fight to reinvigorate this most beloved of American political ideas."

All my Books on Goodreads

dsoul — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:52:50 -0700

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/372460?shelf=read

Cybernetics Bookshelf

dsoul — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 23:14:03 -0700

As I noted elsewhere, I'm looking at using Goodreads as a catalog system for my fairly extensive library.... here's a widget courtesy of the Goodreads people that gives a taste of some (I've only entered about 800 so far) of the books in my collection, in this case those I've tagged with the term 'cybernetics'

or, to see my complete 'cybernetics' shelf, click (and scroll down past tags see books) :

Goodreads

dsoul — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 23:03:40 -0700

I think I've finally found a web system to catalog the books in my library!

When I was part of the early beta testing for Ning, I had high hopes for that platform. Unfortunately, at least in my mind they gutted the search capability and moved from the idea of a multi app based platform to a social network more based on blog and forum technology... not doing either particularly well at first (but I admit that I haven't really given them a look since it became obvious that they were no longer actively moving in the direction I had so eagerly participated in during the beta days). When it finally became impossible to ignore facebook anymore (ok even then I didn't jump on board until the "web shaking news" they they had become an 'application platform) I signed up and tried some of the book/bookshelf/kibrary appications but found them pretty well to be toys not real applications. But just a few days ago another Tangler user pointed me towards "Goodreads" ... as you can see in the conversation below, I have adopted it and have rapidly been adding my books to it.... and it turns they do have a facebook widget (not the full application, but access can be given to it through facebook).

Here's the conversation going on in Tangler about it (feel free to sign up to Tangler if you want to take active part in the conversation).

Stumbling on Happiness

dsoul — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:34:15 -0700

"Think you know what makes you happy? This absolutely fantastic book will shatter your most deeply held convictions about how the mind works." Steven D. Levitt, author of Freakonomics

Commit random acts of literacy! Read and Release at:

dsoul — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:28:26 -0800

What is BookCrossing?

bookcrossing
n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.

Members let books go—into the wild—to be found by others.

The goal, simply, is to make the whole world a library. BookCrossing is a book exchange of infinite proportion, the first and only of its kind.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/friend/hutch-soul

Seth Godin's: Flipping the Funnel -a new ebook

dsoul — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 23:45:54 -0800

Seth's Blog: Flipping the Funnel--new ebook
Seth's new ebook is based on the simple premise that you should "Give Your Fans the Power to Speak Up" .... it is much more than just recognizing word-of-mouth or "buzz" but incorporates the idea that, as Seth states in one of his previous blog entries:
"Embracing the funnel changes the way you treat people. And treating different people differently is what consumers demand."

The Untied States of America

dsoul — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 21:49:08 -0800

Enriquez illustrates that nations beset with problems from within are always susceptible to break-up ... he focuses on the United States but also gives illustrations from Canada and Mexico....

The book format is quite interesting... it uses a 'staccato' form ... with a lot of punch given through data, quotes, and sometimes just raw speculation... in a variety of type faces and spacing/blocking formats.... this leads to a book that is a very quick read ... but don't be fooled by this as there is a lot here to think about ...

Enriquez' warning? .... even the United States may not be immune from secession pressures over the course of the next fifty years.
My ranking **** see this on Amazon -->

A Simple Introduction to Complex Event Processing (sample chapter)

dsoul — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 15:26:26 -0800

A sample chapter (provided courtesy of Addison Wesley) from David Luckham's book "The Power of Events : an Introduction to Complex Event Processing in Distributed Environments" is available ....

The RAPIDE Event Pattern Language

dsoul — Sun, 15 Jan 2006 15:12:11 -0800

Sample Chapter of David Luckham's book "the Power of Events" is provided courtesy of Addison Wesley Professional....

The Power of Events

dsoul — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 16:27:28 -0800

This is a review ((from ACM Ubiquity) of David Luckham's book, The Power of Events: An Introduction to Complex Event ...

Intelligent Systems: Architecture, Design, and Control

dsoul — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 14:41:18 -0800

Billed as "a cutting-edge, multidisciplinary framework for intelligent systems", this book by Alexander A. Meystel (Drexel University) and James S. Albus (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is primarily for scientists and engineers but has a lot to offer anyone seriously wishing to explore contemporary theories in the field of intelligence.
My rank ***** see this on Amazon:

A Cybernetics and Systems Thinking Bookshelf

dsoul — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 22:45:04 -0800
I have an application running on the "ning" playground that "shelves" some of the many books I have in my personal library in these areas.... many have a brief commentary and all have a ranking (1 - 5 stars) as well as links to amazon and allow others to add their comments or brief review...Cybernetics Bookshelf on ning

The New Ruthless Economy: Work and Power in the Digital Age

dsoul — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 20:18:55 -0800
In this book by Simon Head (Oxford University Press, 2003) the author maintains that information technology is being used not to liberate workers from drudgery but to further their regimentation... as the HBR says "A sobering view of the new workplace."
Head maintains that far from empowering, the net result of the implementation of the principles of industrialization to skilled (knowledge work, whether at the high income profession positions such as the physician or with the skilled work of lower-inome workers such as call center agents)is what he calls "skill debilitation."

His message is clear, especially when Head speaks out against all encompasing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems: work is becoming more onerous and closely controlled.

This book is descriptive and doesn't cover what regular readers of this site will know is our premise -- that he design of viable systems through the use of sound managerial cybernetics foundations should not be compromised... something that appears not to be the case in the sites that Head has reviewed in his studies.

The book is evidence of why systems design must not be left to the single focus of low variety re-engineering efforts.

My ranking: * * *

originally Posted to cep.weblogger.com by David Soul on 10/15/05; 11:08:45 PM in the Errors section. permalink#

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

dsoul — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 20:17:45 -0800
Seldom do book publishers cover notes reflect the reality of the contents. Even rarer is the case where they understate the charm and impact that a book can have, but this is the case in this work of Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Random House, 2005 2nd ed.):
" ... here is the word of mouth sensation that will change the way you think about business and the world. This book is about luck: more precisely, aobut how we perceive luck in our personal and professional experiences. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill -- the markets -- Fooled by Randomness is an irreverent, iconoclastic, eye-opening and endlessly entertaining multidisciplinary exploration of one of the least understood forces in all of our lives."

The author maintains that we undrestimate the share of randomness in just about everything and that "... the Tragic Vision of humankind that believes in the existence of inherent limitations and flaws in the way we think and act requires an acknowledgement of this fact as a basis for any individual and collective action." ... "Needless to say that the ideas of this book fall squarely into the Tragic category: We are faulty and there is no need to bother trying to correct our flaws. We are so defective and so mismatched to our environment that we can just work around these flaws."

Methods to work around these flaws are, of course, the themes of the Cybernetic and CEP streams in this web site... You'll find that this book is an excellent starting point to understand the magnitude of task that faces us... and the ultimate reminder that in many cases the false belief in determinism (often brought on by artificial reduction of the dimensionality of things) can be the beginning of the road to ruin for as Taleb so succinctly states in the prologue: "As much as you believe in the 'keep-it-simple-stupid' it is the simplification that is dangerous."

My ranking: * * * * *
originally Posted to cep.weblogger.com by David Soul on 10/15/05; 8:56:58 PM in the Errors section. permalink#

The Future of Ideas: the Fate of the Commons in a Connected World

dsoul — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 19:30:15 -0800
I just finished reading this and must agree with the people that have been insisting ....

Automating Invention: Norbert Weiner on Computer Automation and Work

dsoul — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 16:08:58 -0800
Robert Plotkin ('Automating Invention") often writes about the economic effects of computer automation

Organizational Transformation and Learning: A Cybernetic Approach to Management

dsoul — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 23:29:58 -0800
Anyone familiar with the work of Stafford Beer in the area of Viable Systems (VSM) will want to see the practical application of the model and the role that managerial cybernetics can play in coping with environmental complexity.
By Raul Espejo, Werner Schuuhmann, Markus Schwaninger & Ulbaldo Bilello (Wiley 1996) this book is both theoretical and practical... a rare feat that is carried off extermely well by these authors .

Back Cover Copy
Todays managers are increasingly busy and less inclined than ever to cope with difficult theoretical propositions. For this very reason, the managers to whom this book will appear daunting are the ones who have most to gain. This book aims to make their own jobs, and the organizations they work for, more satisfying and humane. There are no apologies for this circular argument. The theory upon which this book is based is a theory on managing complexity — those who make the effort to study it are likely to have a useful and valuable learning experience. Organizational Transformation and Learning is more than theory in isolation. The ideas have been worked out in practice to approach five fundamental issues:

How can organizations cope with increasing environmental complexity?
How can they maintain viability and develop further at the same time?
How can organizational action become more effective?
How can managers cope with increasing organizational complexity?
How can their action become more effective?

Given that complexity is the core issue for organizations to deal with in the future, Organizational Transformation and Learning shows in theory and practice how organizational and managerial cybernetics can contribute to dealing with this core issue. It provides a framework to relate and organize the myriad activities common to contemporary business. The book will change the readers appreciation of their role in the organization and make each action more effective.

In plain terms, the authors believe that organizational transformation begins with individual transformation, and intend that this book will encourage that individual transformation.

My ranking: * * * * *

Presence: An Exploration of profound Change in People, Organizations and Society

dsoul — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 23:29:37 -0800
Acccording to the cover flap, "...an intimate look at the development of a new theory about change and learning. In wide-rangin conversations held over a year and a half, organizational learnign pioneers Peter Senge, C. Otto Sharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers explored the nature of transformational change -- how it arises and the fresh possibilities it offers a world dangerously out of balance."
The scope of the book is grand indeed with an aim to "... define the capabilities that underlie our ability to see, sense, and realize new possibilities -- in ourselves, in our institutions and organizations, and in society itself." <Doubleday 2005>

In one section of this book Peter Senge is quoted:

" In a world of global institutional networks, we face issues for which hierarchical leadership is inherently inadequate. ....

We see this all the time as we work with CEOs of even global corporations. It's easy for people on the outside to greatly overestimate their power. I remember one man saying half jokingly that he always imagined that when he finally made it to the top of the company, he would look under his desk and he'd see these levers he could pull to make things happen. He said it was a sobering experience to finally get there an look under the desk and discover their were none."

My ranking: * * * *