Business & Culture Books - Page 15

The Soul Of A New Machine

Tracy Kidder

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> History
Subjects -> History -> General AAS
Subjects -> Science -> Technology -> History of Technology

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The computer revolution brought with it new methods of getting work done--just look at today's news for reports of hard-driven, highly-motivated young software and online commerce developers who sacrifice evenings and weekends to meet impossible deadlines. Tracy Kidder got a preview of this world in the late 1970s when he observed the engineers of Data General design and build a new 32-bit minicomputer in just one year. His thoughtful, prescient book, The Soul of a New Machine, tells stories of 35-year-old "veteran" engineers hiring recent college graduates and encouraging them to work harder and faster on complex and difficult projects, exploiting the youngsters' ignorance of normal scheduling processes while engendering a new kind of work ethic.

These days, we are used to the "total commitment" philosophy of managing technical creation, but Kidder was surprised and even a little alarmed at the obsessions and compulsions he found. From in-house political struggles to workers being permitted to tease management to marathon 24-hour work sessions, The Soul of a New Machine explores concepts that already seem familiar, even old-hat, less than 20 years later. Kidder plainly admires his subjects; while he admits to hopeless confusion about their work, he finds their dedication heroic. The reader wonders, though, what will become of it all, now and in the future. --Rob Lightner

Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputations Online

Andy Beal, Judy Strauss

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Corporate Handbook for Social Media Optimization and Reputation Management 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The book was written by Andy Beal from Marketing Pilgrim and Judy Strauss.

Andy Beal is a SEO and fellow blogger who specialized in social media optimization, reputation management and public relations. He is like Kris Jones a frequent speaker at search marketing conference, such as Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies and WebmasterWorld's PubCon.

As the subtitle states, his book is primarily about monitoring and managing of your personal, your professional or your company's reputation online where it focuses heavily on using search engine optimization and marketing techniques as tools to accomplish your goals.

It also provides advice and recommendations for how to approach the social media space as a business in order to reduce the risks and possible problems that will arise, if you jump into this area of marketing without being prepared and ready for it.

The power of social media and the benefits your customers and your company can get out from it are a reward that is worth the risks. Yes, it has risks and it is impossible to eliminate all of them, but that does not mean that it cannot be done. Just eliminate the risks that you can eliminate and be prepared for the things that can happen and impossible to prevent for sure.

Editorial Review:

The explosion of social media blogs, social networking sites, and video sharing sites has ushered in a new era of digital transparency that puts the power to enhance or destroy a reputation in the hands of the consumer. This timely and practical book shows you how to harness the power of social media with crucial, proven tactics and strategies for every phase of online reputation management. Using step-by-step instruction and tested techniques, the expert authors unveil a detailed blueprint for building, managing, monitoring, and repairing your reputation.

Layout Index: Brochure, Web Design, Poster, Flyer, Advertising, Page Layout, Newsletter, Stationery Index

Jim Krause

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 27 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Sad leftovers from the dark ages... 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book is at first appearance, visually interesting and consuming. But upon closer look (as in opening it) it's not worth the time, money or breath sadly. The concepts and ideas within this book can be inspiring to thoses who have the time and energy, but overall this book is just a display of bad, kitsch design. My advice? Don't bother.

Editorial Review:

Don't let size fool you! This pocket-sized compendium of layout idea generators will help designers of every skill level explore multiple possibilities for visual treatments each time they turn the page. The visual and textual suggestions are divided into seven major areas, including newsletters, flyers, posters, brochures, advertising, stationary and web pages. Each of these examples is designed to inspire effective solutions in the viewer's mind, rather than simply give specific answers to design problems. The tone and temperament of the design problems, as well as their solutions, vary from traditional to cutting-edge, from corporate to crazy. As with Idea Index (over 15,000 sold since its April 2000 release), designers will learn to solve their design problems, produce fantastic work and become better, more creative thinkers.

Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge

Cass R. Sunstein

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

As the dire history of planned economies highlights, small well-informed groups of people will often make far worse decisions than large numbers of people, acting independently, would make. In Infotopia, Cass Sunstein looks at the "wisdom of the many"--particularly as seen on today's Internet--illuminating many new ways of collecting and evaluating information and making effective decisions.
Sunstein shows how the on-line efforts of many people coming together help companies, schools, governments, and individuals to amass ever-growing bodies of accurate knowledge. He describes for instance how Wikipedia, through an endless flurry of self-correcting exchanges, collects information on everything from politics and business to science fiction. Open-source software--which licenses programmers to use, change, and improve the software--taps the power of large numbers of people to spur technological development. And prediction markets--such as the famous Iowa Electronic Market, where people bet real money on the outcome of local and national elections--collect information in a way that allows companies, ranging from computer makers to Hollywood studios, to make better decisions about the future. Sunstein reveals why these revolutionary new methods are so astoundingly accurate and he also shows how people can take advantage of "the wisdom of the many" without succumbing to the dangers of herd mentality.
"Sunstein, one of the biggest of America's internet big thinkers, has written an intriguing new book in which he argues that Hayek's insights about the genius of markets are equally true of the internet."
--Patti Waldmeir, Financial Times
"This extraordinary work synthesizes the latest in how we know, with the latest in what the web has become, to map more compellingly than any other book the promise and risk of the information society."
--Lawrence Lessig, author of Free Culture and The Future of Ideas
"Vivid, readable, and informativea show-me-the-money guide to what soars and what stumbles from the stable of Internet dreams."
--Jedediah Purdy, American Prospect

Massive Change

Bruce Mau, Jennifer Leonard, Institute Without Boundaries

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Massive Change is a modern illustrated primer on the new inventions, technologies, and events that are affecting the human race worldwide. The book is a part of a broader research project by Bruce Mau Design intended to provoke debate and discussion about the "familiar objects and techniques that are transforming our lives." In essays, interviews, and provocative imagery aimed at a broad audience, Massive Change explores the changing force of design in the contemporary world, and in doing so expands the definition of design to include the built environment, transportation technologies, revolutionary materials, energy and information systems, and living organisms. The book is divided into 11 heavily illustrated sections covering major areas of change in contemporary society - such as urbanism and architecture, the military, health and living, and wealth and politics. Each section intersperses intriguing documentary images with a general introductory essay, extended captions, and interviews with leading thinkers, including engineers, designers, philosophers, scientists, architects, artists, and writers.

Titanium eBay:: A Tactical Guide to Becoming a Millionaire PowerSeller

Skip McGrath

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Subjects -> Business & Investing -> Marketing & Sales -> Sales & Selling -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good information about selling on eBay 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Skip is a very likeable writer who has obviously done well on eBay. I found this book to be well thought out easy to read. I met Skip at eBay Live last year and he was very helpful, which I appreciated. Unfortunately I also bought a book by Adam Ginsberg, only to find out through some news sites that he has been banned from eBay for shill bidding and failing to send multiple orders worth hundreds of thousands of dollars!

The only other comment I have about Skip's book is that I would have liked to have seen a few more real world examples of how his techniques can be applied. It's a small point though in a generally excellent book.

Editorial Review:

Take it to the next level.

People who earn a living selling their wares through eBay are identified on the site as “PowerSellers” and awarded formal designations based on their monthly gross merchandise sales. There’s Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum—and at the very top of the food chain is the Titanium level, for those who generate gross monthly sales of $150,000 or more.

Titanium eBay: A Tactical Guide to Becoming a Millionaire PowerSeller is for everyone who aspires to reach the highest level of success within eBay, whether they’ve been selling through eBay for years at the Platinum level and want to learn how to grow their business, or they’re just starting out with ambitious plans. With over 60 chapters, coverage includes:
• Organization
• Product selection and pricing
• Advanced listing and selling strategies
• Auction management
• Brand building