Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, & technology book reviews, plus social, political, & economic commentary
Yes, Americans need to work, and businesses of all sizes now claim they are desperate to hire. So why are we quitting jobs, refusing employment offers we supposedly “can’t refuse,” resisting orders to return to previous workplaces, and generally just mad as hell at those who employ us or beg to hire us? A few … Continue reading The Great Resignation. Why Is Anyone Surprised?
R in Action Data Analysis and Graphics with R Robert I. Kabacoff Manning – paperback Whether data analysis is your field, your current major or your next career-change ambition, you likely should get this book. Free and open source R is one of the world’s most popular languages for data analysis and visualization. And Robert I. … Continue reading R IN ACTION: Data Analysis and Graphics with R, 2nd Edition – #bookreview
Big Data Principles and best practices of scalable real-time data systems Nathan Marz, with James Warren Manning – paperback Get this book, whether you are new to working with Big Data or now an old hand at dealing with Big Data’s seemingly never-ending (and steadily expanding) complexities. You may not agree with all … Continue reading BIG DATA: A well-written look at principles & best practices of scalable real-time data systems – #bookreview
Git in Practice Mike McQuaid Manning Books – paperback I have taken Git how-to classes and read several how-to books on the Git distributed version control system. But I don’t use Git every day. Therefore, I tend to forget how to do certain tasks when I once again start bumbling around with … Continue reading GIT IN PRACTICE: A fine how-to guide, with 66 techniques for greater effectiveness in individual & team settings – #programming #bookreview
Mastering Gamification Customer Engagement in 30 Days Scot Harris and Kevin O’Gorman (Impackt Publishing – Kindle, paperback) Gamification is now a popular buzz word in many parts of the business world. This book wisely does not try to cover every angle, but stays focused on one application: “Marketing and sales people are using gamification … Continue reading Mastering Gamification – A 30-day strategy to enhance customer engagement – #business #bookreview
Mule in Action, Second Edition David Dossot, John D’Emic, Victor Romero (Manning – paperback) An enterprise service bus (ESB) can help you link together many different types of platforms and applications–old and new–and keep them communicating and passing data between each other. “Mule,” this book’s authors note, “is a lightweight, event-driven enterprise service … Continue reading Mule in Action, 2nd Edition – Want to be an integration developer? Here’s a good start – #bookreview
Software Requirements, Third Edition Karl Wiegers and Joy Beatty (Microsoft Press – paperback, Kindle) A lot changes in 10 years, particularly in the world of software development. The previous edition of this book appeared in 2003, and I never knew about it while I struggled over software requirements documents and user manuals as a technical … Continue reading Software Requirements, Third Edition – A major, long-needed update of a classic book – #software #business #bookreview
Data Science for Business What You Need to Know about Data Mining and Data-Analytic Thinking Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett (O’Reilly – paperback, Kindle) This is not an introductory text for casual readers curious about the hoopla over data science and Big Data. And you definitely won’t find code here for simple screen scrapers written … Continue reading Data Science for Business – A serious guide for those who need to know – #bigdata #bookreview
The Practice of Network Security Monitoring Understanding Incident Detection and Response Richard Bejtlich (No Starch Press – paperback, Kindle) Security expert Richard Bejtlich’s focus in his new book is not on “the planning and defense phases of the security cycle.” Instead, he emphasizes how to handle “systems that are already compromised or that are on … Continue reading The Practice of Network Security Monitoring – You’re compromised, so deal with it. #security #bookreview
The Healthy Programmer Get Fit, Feel Better, and Keep Coding Joe Kutner (Pragmatic Bookshelf – paperback) Yes, you know it is unhealthy to spend all day and much of the night hunched at keyboard, staring at a computer screen, gripping a mouse and nervously clawing at bags of vending-machine snacks because you haven’t had time … Continue reading The Healthy Programmer – Better coding through better living – #programming #bookreview
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