Book Review: No Hurry in Africa

No Hurry in Africa

by Theresa Munanga

The Premise

The book is a collection of Journal written by Theresa Munanga, who served as a Peace Corp Volunteer in Kenya from 2004 to 2007. The book was published via iUniverse, copyright dated 8/11/2010, so there was quite a few years in between experience and publication. It was a common story at the time where there was a Dot-Com meltdown, followed by a terrorist attack, followed by general recession. This is her story, about being a Peace Corp Volunteer.

The Beginning

Of course, there's a beginning. She detailed a short bio before going into the process of Peace Corp Application process. It was short on details, though, since by Chapter 1, the story starts in Kenya. This is also where August 2004 Newsletter, which is how she kept in touch with her friends and family, began. Pictures are small and rare. However, they are illustrative enough to hint the lifestyle in Kenya, which is primitive and frequently without electricity.

Chapter 2 involves a lot of observations regarding life in Kenya as she settles into the Peace Corp lifestyle. A lot of comments how without reliable electricity, there's no refrigeration, nor there is indoor plumbing, something Americans take for granted. Filthy roads, filthy house, filthy toilet; such is life without modern conveniences. 

The Culture

She wrote some cultural notes by the time of late November 2004, which was soon enough after her arrival. There was constant awareness of HIV/AIDS epidemic, made worse by cultural tradition of polygamy. How the culture also discriminate against women, treating them as second class citizen to have less rights and freedom than men. There are also some interesting tidbits, about how cell phones with text messages is the way to communicate since it's very cheap to text people, whereas voice communication is extremely expensive in comparison.

She didn't stay long in the assigned Catholic School teaching CISCO system. The way she wrote it, it seems like the nuns of the school is taking advantage of Peace Corps program to hire cheap teachers, instead of contributing to the community. Greed will result in nothingness, as she parted way with the school. That was in May 2005, or less than one year of serving.

The Rest of the Story

The rest of the book deals with comparatively pleasant activities: taking a vacation, going shopping, dealing with scorpions, frogs, and other bugs and creatures in the house. There's also a second location that was much better than the first. In fact, she loves it there that she decided to extend her service. Unfortunately, it was cut short due to medical issues. Still, except for occasional corruption and fighting, her later experience was relatively smooth in comparison with the earlier ones. This is a sign of growth.

The Conclusion

The author wrote well, and a great example of a brave, dedicated Peace Corp Volunteer. She wrote well, and the book reflects the written language the newsletters are written. The narrative style isn't of oral, but literary. A thing I notice about the newsletters is that they are heavy on impressions, but light on details. As someone who values detailed descriptions, that is somewhat disappointing for me. However, I understand that not everyone is as detail-oriented as me. I think that her primary intention is to convey emotional feelings, and in that endeavor, she succeeds very well. I can read the passages and feel as if I can feel her feelings. Highly recommended for good emotional content and lifestyle of a Peace Corp Volunteer.

Book Review: The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat

The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat

by Mark Nicholas

The Premise

Smelling the sweet salty air of the ocean. Living on a boat, gently rocked by the swells, selling the house for a dream boat and sail the mighty ocean. That is the dream that many people have and willing to pursue. Except, as Mark Nicholas wrote in the book, doesn't happen in real life. First time buyers, surprised by the "hidden" aspects of living aboard a boat, decided to sell the boat after that one big sailing journey. The author pulled no punches. Most liveaboards aren't sailing their boats. They're stuck in a marina, which depending upon management, maybe closer to being a dump than an exotic marine experience.

The Decision

Assuming that you have already decided to buy a boat, not for pleasure, but for liveaboard, then the author details the steps necessary to find, choose, and actually purchase said boat. Another aspects of living aboard a boat is the marina. Do you have access to a marina? Is it a good one? The best boat in the world won't save you from a bad marina. The author made that abundantly clear. The good news is you can just sail away to another marina, assuming you're not tied down to the land, such as having a 9 to 5 job, or worse, a house!

The Lifestyle

Even worse, if you decided to buy a boat with faulty electrical wirings, on the northern states, in the dead of winter. That is exactly what the author did, and to his credit, managed to turn the poor experience into learning experience. So many people consider only the cost of money, and yet, there's so much to consider. The support of friends and family does factor it significantly. If your spouse in a landlubber, instead of a sailor that you are, then you would want to keep a house, raising the expenditure significantly. The author specified his experience of having to stay in a hotel because his cat was seasick! Yeah, that happens sometimes. You have to be prepared for such eventualities.

Having sources of entertainment in a boat is crucial since living on a boat can be, well, boring. Even if you sail, you're pretty much limited to just the sight of water in all directions. The magic, if you will, is in the journey, and if you're not a sailor to begin with, then perhaps you would want to rent a boat first before buying one. Preferably, a boat that you can sleep in overnight, although I doubt the weather would be stormy as to let you check the seaworthiness of the boat!

Safety and Regulation

Of course, you also need to be fully insured, but that's not all. You also need to navigate the regulations of a boat. That is, your boat must be up to code to in full compliance of government regulation. This goes double if you want to travel internationally. The book does not detail every regulations out there, and most likely, those will quickly go out of date anyway. The important thing is, the author touched the subjects, and it is up to you to research further.

The Conclusion

I suppose it's not the best book possible. It's not the most thorough, most detailed, most comprehensive book available. However, what it lacks in details, it makes up in readability. The author did a good job interweaving his personal experience into what could possibly be a boring informational dump. There's many of them, sure, since that is the purpose of the book, but the snippets of author's experiences here and there makes reading the book very tolerable, and even entertaining at times. If you're not sure about wanting to liveaboard a boat, yet unwilling to read encyclopedic tomes, this book is a perfectly good way to start. Well recommended.

Book Review: 9 Things a Leader Must Do

Book Review: 9 Things a Leader Must Do

The Premise: Good Leaders are all alike

There is this Premise of a book, that a good leader have similar habits and characteristics. This allows them to solve problem efficiently and effectively. They are confident in their ability, and have achieve success in their area of interest. The book has lots of parables and stories, and I keep thinking, "Isn't there a more efficient way to tell these qualities?" But if you can handle the stories, then you're in for a treat because the characteristics and qualities that makes good leaders are well explained in the book.

The Goal: Follow Your Dream!

The first assumption, or premise, is that you can follow your dream. If you don't have the talent to achieve it, then you can develop it. Little is explained in how to exactly do that, but from my personal experience, it is true that if you don't have the proper talent, then you can develop it. It may take years, but you certainly can develop it. The book also have this assumption that you know what your True Dream is. There's a line in there that guards you against mistaking Jealousy as Dream, but on the whole, it is light on the subject. As it is a thin book, I can understand the author chose not to elaborate on it. 

Another thing to worry about is the presence of negative factor and/or people. These are the kind of people who would dominate you and steer you away from your dreams. In other words, they tell you to give up on your dreams. The book advises you to steer away from such people. I believe that is wise. You need to stay away from negative people, and create your own positive environment. 

The author didn't mince words. He titled the chapter "Yank the Diseased Tooth."

The Future

The book advise that you should live out the future today. Choices that you make today will affect your future, and of all the possible futures, you should choose the rosy ones. The ones where you life happily, having achieving your dreams. I concur with that sentiment. The best part? It's not that difficult activity to do.

Generally speaking, all you have to do is extrapolation. If you do a little bit now, and a lot later, what will happen? Also, the book mention something about "War Games", which is basically a "What If?" scenarios. Good leaders habitually seek the worst possible outcome and then do something to avoid it. Keep doing that, and the worst outcome won't happen to them. I think that's good advice. 

The author, as usual, didn't say it outright, but illustrates the point with stories and parables.

The Present

The stories are intermingled both with author's experiences and those of the Bible. If you're okay with that, then you're in for a treat. Have an open mind as to where knowledge comes from, and you will be amply rewarded. The parable of the ants advise that you should have patience and take things one step at at time. That's a very good advice. Do what little you can today, and avoid the burdensome task tomorrow! I think the story perfectly matches the advice.

The Leader

The book explains different characteristics of good leadership. Love, hate, pride, etc. The author believes that as creatures of God, we are destined to have those characteristics, but advises to apply those properly. Love to give. Hate to steal. Proud of life. By parceling the proper destination for each emotion, we can manage our life well.

Certainly, there are more to it, and the book explains the situations and conditions in deeper explorations. The book ends with 12 steps to applying the 9 things. Find wisdom in others, Add structures, Fear not failures nor impediments. Put Your Goals on Paper. And Pray! Honestly, I was surprised to see the advice of writing down your goals. I believe it is necessary, but the book hasn't hinted it so far, so it comes as a surprise at the end.

The Conclusion

The book is full of wisdom and knowledge, but these things do not come easy. I think there are good lessons in there, but to have the most benefits to you, you need to read and re-read the book, pondering about different interpretations and possibilities. A lot of good advice, even important ones, are frequently just one sentence. They're there, but oh so easily missed!

My suggestion is to use this book as a guide, and supplement the good advice given here elsewhere. This book belongs to the recommended section, with advisory of having to re-read the book from time to time.

Book Review: On Writing by Stephen King

On Writing

by Stephen King

The Premise

There's a series of books titled "On Writing" by various writers. This book is written by the one Stephen King. Fascinatingly told, he described his life from the beginning, about his extremely hard life from childhood to marriage, to Carrie, his first big sale, and to general advice he gives to other prospective, hopeful writers to be. It's a pleasant read, one that can entertain, as well as educate. Or so I like to think.

The Early Life

The fact is, the author relived his childhood life for the first one-third of the book. Brilliant read as always, but what's that got to do with writing? If the author had intended that a sorry boy like him can make it big with hard work, despite all the hard knocking life throws at him, then I'd say that he's successful. However, the passages are rather light on advice, and more of an expository nature. Sometimes I wonder if there's a life lesson in it, but as far as I can discern, there's none.

The Writing Life

A rather abrupt change can be found during the passage of him describing the event when the manuscript of Carrie get sold. After that, it's easy living being a writer. A big desk in the middle of the room. Alcoholic drinks. All that jazz of being a writer.

Which, of course, as he later pointed out, that's not what being a writer is all about. Being a writer means to write, and you need to read, and do it judiciously. He later described the change. The big desk is out, and a smaller cozier desk is in. Make yourself comfortable, and that's what's being a good environment for a writer. I think I can describe it using fewer words than him, but there's no disputing that his words flow well.

He also eschews the use of plotting, preferring the spontaneity of the characters to steer the plot. Unfortunately, I don't work like that, but I understand the constant division between plotter and pantser. Both method are equally valid, but the author belongs firmly of the latter.

The Writing Work

The latter part of the book details the process of writing: Two drafts and a polish. Wait a minimum 6 weeks between drafts. Work on something else in the meantime until you forget the old draft. How first reader is the most valuable of all. These things are things that experienced professionals know, gained from hard experience. And yet, it's all narratively told. Like a kind, elderly grandpa telling his life's story in order to impart wisdom to the grandchildren. 

It also book ended with the tale of his accident. An unfortunate meeting with a van, as it were. It's just as tragic in the latter phase of life as it was in the early one. Yet, it gives me a glimmer of hope, that maybe, I can make it, too, despite being no longer young and strong. That, no matter what may come, I can be a writer. I just need to write 1000 words per day, every day. That's 4 double spaced pages per day. And you can, too.

The Conclusion

Reading the book gives me somewhat conflicted feeling. The book itself is eminently readable, and actually pleasant to read. However, I keep thinking, what's a concise autobiography has anything to do with "On Writing"? Now, if the book is actually called "On Stephen King", then it would be a wonderful book. Brilliant, even. However, after reading one third of the book, it was still on the author, and not on authorship. So, I was confused. Read the book if you want to know what a highly successful writer, being an expert in his craft, is like, to appreciate the book's whole worth. Highly recommended.

Book Review:Getting Started with Processing

Getting Started with Processing

by Casey Reas and Ben Fry

The Premise

The existence of Processing programming language is a godsend. This is a computer programming language that I tell everybody to learn, and this little computer programming book has a lot to do with it. It is both approachable and logical, something I wish more book writers will follow. Mostly, I'm disappointed. Most computer programming book writers, either imply or outright stated, that the skill of Computer Programming cannot be learned in a book! This is one of the few books that not only stated that it can, but also expected!

Since the intended demographic is for Artists, the technical info is necessarily brief. For further reading, I suggest that you search for books by Dan Shiffman, who also have a YouTube channel. He's a great educator and motivator, and someone you should look up to!

The Beginning

The book begins simply, as is most computer programming book. Between pages 1 and 6, the authors laid down the reason for being, the reason for existence, and the implied purpose of the book. This isn't a book full of heavy technical issues. It's not a complete Reference, or even a complete Tutorials. This book is a good collection of introductory info where you can begin to be productive immediately. The value of this book isn't in what this book includes, but it is in what this book excludes.

After the obligatory installation procedure, the text shows a simple one line program. It draws an ellipse on screen. The fact that the program starts with a graphical interface, where other books starts with "Hello World" program, speaks volumes about the intention of the authors, and I marveled by its efficiency in getting the message across. Not as impressed, though, as the second program shown, which is a simple drawing program using mouse, both as button press and as positions. Interestingly enough, the discussion of variables is still a few chapters away!

Starting to Code

The next few chapters, chapter 5 to 8, explores the concept of computer programming in greater details. Notice that I didn't say in great details. It is an expansion of ideas, yet not comprehensive. What is there, though, is enough to get you started. Again, I was impressed with the examples. This is what efficient coding is all about. To be able to get something that is not only beautiful to look at, but also very quickly coded, that is something to be admired.

About the only thing that I would change is the inclusion of Arrays. The authors, for some reason, decided to present the Array concept in chapter 10. About the only reason that I can think of, is that Processing programming language allows the existence of Array of Objects and therefore shows you the Object creation method before showing you the array. But this is nitpick on my part. I never found the concept of Object Oriented Programming Style to be useful. OO is a good alternative, but I never found the concept of Procedural Programming to be a limitation. 

Looking back into it, I am impressed about the ease the materials were introduced. What other books treat as a big deal, this book presented the materials as a common everyday occurrence. Even the concept of setup() and draw(), which is unique to Processing, is presented as something that naturally occurs. This, of course, is the heart of Event based coding and is a whole paradigm itself. To have such concepts presented naturally, is something that I have never seen done, before or after.

External Materials

In fact, it makes the last chapters inclusion to feel like an afterthought. "Oh, by the way, Processing platform is also capable of doing these things..." is the statement presented. And yes, I find the fact that there is a built-in 3D features to be present is a good deal, but little guidance is spent in how to properly use it. I guess this is a limitation of the format. It's a very slim book, after all. What it successfully presented as non-threatening subject, it fails in comprehensiveness. This is compensated by the fact that the authors includes website addresses, so I don't mind it all that much.

The Conclusion

I think that the book succeeds for the demographic beyond expectation. The materials included are strictly traditional coding practice, but the presentation is such that not only it is fun, but is non-threatening to the lay person. I wish more books would be like that because then the computer programming profession will truly belong to the people. This book is one of the few books that I decided to purchase in paper format, despite the fact that I already have it in digital format. The book is just that good. A must have in my library.

Book Review: The Effective Executive

The Effective Executive

by Peter F. Drucker

The Premise

Peter Drucker argues that an effective executive is neither about "talent" nor "genius". I have a great reservation about that premise. Hence, the highly popular and influential book in the business world had started with the wrong foot. I read the rest of the book with critical eyes toward its weakness. Unfair? Maybe. But it is important for a non-fiction work to be accurate, instead of pandering to every demographic in order to sell as many books as possible.

The Practice of Effectiveness

This is not to say that it's useless to try and learn to be effective, or rather more accurately, more effective than before. In this regard, the author is correct, and that a relevant set of practical habit can make a talented, genius executive to be even more effective and productive in his environment. 

In the first chapter, the author makes a distinction between smart and highly intelligent people with effective ones. What this tells me, in simple terms, is that Work=Force*Distance, or in business term, Productivity=Effort*Efficiency. I'm sure the author will happily substitute the term "Effectiveness" in there somewhere.

I note with glee that the second chapter deals with time. Among producers and other productive people, time is the most coveted resource of all. 

Time Blocking Practice

The author noted that the most effective executive practice time blocking. This is basically gathering enough uninterrupted time that is reserved for the most heavy duty thinking. Knowledge workers are valued for their knowledge, after all, and that thinking is a sizable activity for them. My personal experience agree with his observation, and I note in my observations that managers have, with deterministic observation, increasing the amount of time the workers must be available for instant consultations, and thus, breaking any effort in time blocking activities. 

Also included in the mismanagement practice, is the occurrence of endless meetings! In fact, an absurd amount of text is devoted to the denouncement of the practice. I can't help but wonder just how many meetings are there in the daily routines of a big company. Do the managers really ends up with having too many meetings? Perhaps these demanding managers can benefit a read of this book!

Part of effective time management skill is pruning: Identify the most important things and do them first. it certainly results in not having done all the things desired, but at least those things that get done are the most important ones. That is better than having distracted to death, or having overwhelmed by numerous tasks before you. This is something that I personally struggle with, that I was only able to manage it once I practice journaling. My journal is a pen and paper variety, which most informational tech nerds deride as being inefficient, but the flexibility it afforded means that I can customize it however I want, and what I want is: Everything! At least, this way, I know what to discard, and what sparks joy!

Contribution

This is another pet peeve of mine. Why bother working hard if you're not accomplishing anything? That is the very opposite of the desired result! And yet, how many managers do you know demands that the workers be working a set number of hours per day? While that may work for physical labor where you have to be on a certain place at a certain time, the knowledge workers can work from anywhere. In fact, my best, most productive time was generally spend on the bed, trying to sleep. Certainly, if the most desirable executive is the most effective one, then one must assume to spend as much time as possible in place where the most productive work is observed. Which, in my case, is my bed. Say hello to Zoom meetings!

There is a special "Nurse Bryan" section where the question asked is "Are we doing the best we can do to help this patient?" When the workers regularly asked the question, the result is better than the most official, formal problem solving technique. This, I think, encapsulates the best framing of problem solving technique, and I'm glad to see it in the book.

There are other considerations mentioned in the book, too, but to me, "Nurse Bryan" is the core idea of the book, and represents the most valuable idea in the book!

The Conclusion

Most of the book deals with time management. As I have said in the beginning, this alone isn't sufficient to be an effective executive. You have to be smart as well. However, the importance of managing time cannot be understated. I learned this the hard way. It's easy enough to say that you have to manage your time effectively, but it's another regarding how to do it. In my case, I end up keeping a journal, heavily inspired by Ryder Carroll's Bullet Journal, heavily patterned toward Project Management bias. 

Yet, that practice is validated by this book, or rather, predated by this book since this book has existed before my journaling activity. In short, if you're truly interested in being an effective executive, or just a very productive person in general, get this book!

Book Review: A Rulebook for Arguments

A Rulebook for Arguments, fourth edition

by Anthony Weston

The Premise

One would think that arguments are rather unpleasant and undesirable, and that most people would go to great length trying to avoid it. However, if you really want to broaden your horizon, then discussion of clashing ideas with other people is unavoidable. There will be some pain, to be sure, but those are good pain. Those are the growing pains of learning new things. Here, in this book, Anthony Weston has distilled the most common argument techniques, as well as various fallacies that is common in discussing ideas. If arguments are unavoidable, at least by using the techniques described here, it would be a civil one.

The Rules and Generalizations

The basic elements of a properly constructed argument includes a premise and a conclusion. The art of arguments, therefore, is to draw a logical thought that goes from premise to the conclusion. It bothers me to no end that people still engage in random arguments, using nothing but vague terms, when in fact, this book specified that you need to use concrete terms, "(4 Be concrete and concise").

You can use examples as your arguments, of course. That is described on part 2, Generalizations. You do need to use representative examples, rather than outlier, and preferably that you use more than one. Also that you're not supposed to cherry pick your examples, of what I term "Myopic arguments". Part 4 explains that you can use experts' opinions for your arguments, just be sure that they have the right expertise! In my personal experience, sometimes people are hell-bent to win an argument, that they fail to realize that they're arguing with top expert in the field, just because. 

Different Types of Arguments

The book does a great job surveying different types of arguments. In my opinion, the types of arguments presented represents a good balance between usage, utility, and coverage. Does Anthony Weston provides the most comprehensive type of arguments? He does not, and he should not. In fact, Wikipedia has more argument types, yet I do not consult Wikipedia because it's so boring! The selection here is thorough without being boring, a testament to the skill and experience of the author.

Common Fallacies

About the only weakness that I can find is about "straw man" argument. It does refer to Rule 5: Build on substance, not overtone. However, the frequent misuse that I encounter in daily basis merits, in my humble opinion, that he should expand the subject in more comprehensive manner. Since that is a weakness, and not a flaw, I can definitely say that it's a great book, indeed!

Again, the surveyed fallacies does represent most instances where they get misused. Hence, reading and utilizing the techniques described in this book will get you far ahead than most people.

The Conclusion

There are many, many times, that people relentlessly argued back and forth in some on-line community. The result is always the same: Bruised ego, hurt feelings, and no improvement whatsoever. Repeat that often enough, and the community died a lonely death. The best one can hope for is for the community to limp along, propped by a few loyal users. And yet, it is not necessarily be so. Had the people involved actually read this book, and practice the discipline to have a proper, reasoned arguments, the community would have thrive, indeed. So, you own it to yourself to read this book, a slim and easily digested volume, in order to have a good healthy community around you. 

This book may not be the most comprehensive nor authoritative, but it is eminently readable and accessible to the common person, and hence receive my utmost recommendation. It's a must read.