Reviews and Comments

Code starts with the encoding of numbers, from Morse and Braille to bases and binary, then digs into electronic circuits, from simple switches to more complex logic. Clever use of logic circuits allows storage of states, eventually combining those into memory. The Automation chapter covers using those stored states to tell other circuits what to do - adding numbers, looping to multiply, etc. - and a computer processor is born.

While the basics of numbers, transistors, and silicon are always interesting, a few of the concepts feel a bit dated. The author suggests parts could be purchased at Radio Shack or compares concepts to "modern computers" of what are now 20 years ago. The discussion of 8080 opcodes goes into way too much detail, while the discussion of graphics feels way too short to cover the gamut from CRT to GUI.

I would definitely recommend the majority of this book to anyone with the slightest interest in what happens below the cursor on a computer. I look forward to reading [b:The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine|2333956|The Annotated Turing A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine|Charles Petzold|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348963714s/2333956.jpg|2340531], by the same author.

This is the 1000th book I've read and rated in the 9½ years I've been tracking books on goodreads. Halfway through 2018, it is also the 50th book I've read this year. At 7 years, I created a few top 7 lists, and this was in the top 7 of my to-read pile, based on rating.

The title got this book onto my reading list, and when available from the library, onto my nightstand. It is a short collection of short essays, loosely connected to themes of science and religion. The best advice would be on the back cover - "exploring one essay at a time."

I did not read that suggestion until writing this review, and read these chapters over three days. Some fit and others were misfits, and as a whole this was uneven. The history and philosophy was compelling at times, absent in others. I studied physics in college, and nothing was over my head, but some parts might be difficult for the layman - musings on time's arrow, for instance. The one thing that would improve this book the most would be an index.

The title is because of the change in the author's perspective when confronted by the Milky Way at night. I have seen this, and it can be life changing. Experiences for some other scientists are described in the essay Transcendence. I just wish there were more.

So for this reading, 3 stars. I skimmed other reviews, and see that Lightman's fiction is well regarded. I would like to read [b:Einstein's Dreams|14376|Einstein's Dreams|Alan Lightman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386925066s/14376.jpg|1820798] or [b:The Diagnosis|16798|The Diagnosis|Alan Lightman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320404718s/16798.jpg|1348220] before returning to this volume.

Part professional memoir, part detailed history of Afghanistan right after 9/11, and part rose tinted picture of CIA patriotism. Together this makes for an interesting read, at times an eye-opening book.

The author was present for the major ramp up of counter terrorism activities and was also a liaison to the FBI at one point, so the history and points of view are very interesting. Non-state actors play a large role in this aspect, and this was a major change for American focus. The summary of successful and thwarted attacks is also interesting reading.

This was loaned to me by a colleague, and while I liked it, I didn't love it. Some sections of CIA theory or tactics get a bit dry. I was particularly interested in acquiring assets, the MICE/RC stuff, but the author just abandoned that part way through the book.

That aside, much of this book was an interesting and detailed look into the much maligned Central Intelligence Agency. It ends on a positive note, with the author's opinion that America is perhaps the best poised to adapt to this new environment. He points out that "we need leaders who embrace intellectual integrity, constructive political discourse, and hard-nosed governance rather than prideful ignorance, dogmatic rhetoric and divisive ideology". I agree, and hope we find them soon.

Read aloud with daughter; this book has strong main characters and a great mythology, along with excellent descriptions of the locales (New York, London, and Cairo). It is the first of a series, and we plan to dig into the next book very soon.

This story is mythological fantasy, with magic, but set in our modern day world. This element, along with what is clearly well thought out folkore of the djinn is excellent. I also appreciated references to other books - Tales from the Arabian Nights and [b:The Oxford Book of English Verse|199009|The Oxford Book of English Verse|Christopher Ricks|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347624482s/199009.jpg|39907033]. The two main characters (twins) show excellent problem solving skills and teamwork. The supporting characters, while mostly caricatures, provide both knowledge and humor.

So why wasn't it awesome? The first part of the book felt very slow, with not a lot going on. If not for the humor and occasional in-jokes, we probably would have put the story down. Perhaps that was needed for the first book in this series - a lot of exposition.

Overall result, recommended!

Great title, but this book is merely okay. This personal journey (and part road trip) has a history of Dungeons & Dragons, a description of role playing, and some related topics (such as war gaming), interspersed with "in character" story thoughts. Reads like a long magazine article.

The author sets things up as a personal journey, but neither we nor he learn anything from this trip. Towards the end, he describes a change from player to game master, but even this is unresolved. Other aspects of this book involve looking at who plays (mostly stereotyped) and how (a bit on the long side). There are better histories of role playing (in general) and D&D (specifically) to read, and the section on war games is just painful to read.

So why two stars instead of one? Towards the end, the author is involved in the early D&D 5th Edition rollout, and it is interesting to read about how Wizards of the Coast plans to reconnect with the fan base and put out a product that brings together the best aspects of the game. At the time this book was released, that would have been quite timely and an excellent preview. Also, the book is a fairly quick read.

Alternate suggestions would include [b:Playing at the World|16007126|Playing at the World|Jon Peterson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347591542s/16007126.jpg|21502915], [b:Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons|23848482|Empire of Imagination Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons|Michael Witwer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1445262031s/23848482.jpg|43458389], or [b:The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons And Growing Up Strange|1607816|The Elfish Gene Dungeons, Dragons And Growing Up Strange|Mark Barrowcliffe|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1358746856s/1607816.jpg|1601279].

Really excellent book, not at all the standard linear sports bio and tell-all. Juxtaposes key points in Jamie's career with the psychology he learned from Harvey Dorfman. Showcases and explains the determination of this pitcher to own his game and recover from injuries and surgeries.

When I heard about this book, I knew I wanted to read it. I followed Jamie's career in Seattle and often umpired his oldest son in Magnolia youth baseball - he even attended some of those games. If you had told me then that Moyer would go on to become the oldest pitcher to record a major league win, I wouldn't have been surprised.

Rehab from Tommy John surgery is the main narrative, with flashbacks to earlier key points in his career. The lessons he learned from Dorfman are placed in context, and are more powerful because of it. He frequently references [b:The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance|163333|The Mental Game of Baseball A Guide to Peak Performance|H.A. Dorfman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348880590s/163333.jpg|157667] and [b:The Mental ABC's of Pitching: A Handbook for Performance Enhancement|163312|The Mental ABC's of Pitching A Handbook for Performance Enhancement|H.A. Dorfman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348821658s/163312.jpg|157646]. The story does get down to batters faced at times, but this is not catalog of games. The appendix covers his career stats and his five easiest and toughest batters faced.

This book was hard to put down, and primarily that was to umpire baseball games. The story was interesting and well told. I can really appreciate the positive approach Moyer takes to his craft, and just how much of this game is really mental. Highly recommended!

Ten separate articles about the making of 10 particular video games, with no connecting materials or conclusions drawn. May be of interest to players of those games, but fails to live up to the cover blurbs, e.g. "A fascinating and remarkably complete pantheon."

The ten games, in order, are Pillars of Eternity, Uncharted 4, Stardew Valley, Diablo III, Halo Wars, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Shovel Knight, Destiny, The Witcher 3, and Star Wars 1313. Only the last was never released. There was only a very scant conclusion with no "lessons learned", so here's what I gleaned from the stories.

Making video games is harder than you think. New consoles and platforms are challenging (though no mention was made of cross platform libraries that make it a little easier). Having a big company running things makes it easier (more money) and harder (less flexible deadlines). Games ship late because of bugs. Almost all games suffer from "crunch time" (serious developer overtime to finish the game), nobody wants to do that, and it usually results from bugs.

Now that I've lent Jason Schreier a concluding paragraph that at least sums up what this book is about, the worst thing I saw were the bugs. This isn't life and death quality software, but surely the libraries also come with test suites? If a particular scene is vulnerable to shots going out of bounds, surely there are "shoot every direction" bots that would test for that? Based on the stories in this book, I am appalled at the level of testing directed at video games, and the amount of developer hours it costs teams at the end of their projects.

If you have played one or more of the titles listed and really want to know some of what went behind making those games, this book might be of interest to you. Since the 10 articles are not connected in any way, it could also be read like a short encyclopedia. I didn't get much out of it, and wouldn't recommend it - it really didn't live up to the hype. 1½ stars.

Further cover quotes:

"Gripping, intelligent." - no.

"Opens a crucial door into an abnormally secretive industry." - maybe, is any other software more open?

"Brutal, honest, yet ultimately uplifting." - I do trust that the stories told here are honest, but don't see them as either brutal or uplifting, much less both. This last quote is from Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything) who goes further to say "I was surprised by every page." Adam has clearly never worked in software, and besides many of these stories are quite similar to each other.