Should there be some sort of exam where journalists have to display even a rudimentary grasp of statistics before they are allowed to go around journalling all over the place? I have just been reading this piece from the Telegraph about people taking sick days.
Entries Tagged as 'Books'
The gift that keeps on giving
January 22nd, 2010 · 2 Comments · Life
I am still reading the Atheist’s Guide to Christmas. I was already chuffed about the autograph and message from Ariane Sherine in the front, and had just greatly enjoyed the Richard Dawkins PG Wodehouse spoof and the Simon Singh contribution when I turned the page and found that the first page of the Phil Plait [...]
Fame indeed
January 21st, 2010 · No Comments · Life
I didn’t realise how well-connected Andrew at Wongablog is in Humanist circles. This evening I started reading the Atheist’s Guide to Christmas book that I was given at Christmas. I was already chuffed enough to find it signed, with a personal message, from Ariane Sherine and then I looked at the thanks section at the [...]
Tags: Bah Humbug!·Books·Religion
Viral Loop
January 20th, 2010 · No Comments · Life
I finished Viral Loop: the Power of Pass-it-on, a book about how companies grow virally in the internet age, a little while ago but only just got around to writing a review of it – yes it was another of those Amazon Vine books. They are starting to pile up a bit now. I have [...]
On reading (or not reading) newspapers
December 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Technology
Another passage from the book Viral Loop, which rang some bells with me:
Tags: Books·Newspapers
What is a blog?
December 24th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Technology
From a book called Viral Loop: the power of pass-it-on by Adam L.Penenberg:
It has evolved into a sphere of memes and ideas constantly shaped by the millions of Web users who write, read, and comment on blogs, many of whom followed links there, which were themselves spread virally. In a sense, the blogosphere operates in [...]
Stuff White People Like
December 22nd, 2009 · No Comments · Life
This week I read Stuff White People Like, a book by Christian Lander. Net-savvy readers will recognise the title from a website of the same name, well this is one of those books where a successful blog is turned into a paper product, and a lot of the content is very familiar to anybody who [...]
The Noughties by Tim Footman
November 18th, 2009 · No Comments · Life
I have just finished the last book in my supply of freebies from Amazon’s Vine programme. It is a history of the decade 2000-2009 called The Noughties by Tim Footman. Like somebody hearing a World Trade Centre joke on September 12th 2001, my first reaction on seeing it was “too soon” so I approached it [...]
Retromancer
November 7th, 2009 · No Comments · Life
Yesterday I finished Robert Rankin’s latest book, Retromancer, which hits the shops on December 17th. Just in time to be the ideal Christmas present for any Rankin fan. My uncorrected manuscript proof (thanks Sis!) let me get ahead of the crowd, although at the expense of missing out on the illustrations – I may have [...]
Less than super freakonomics
October 28th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Life
After getting past the mental stumbling block of Snark I whipped through Superfreakonomics in no time at all. This was another book I received through Amazon’s Vine programme free in return for a review. I had read the authors’ first book, Freakonomics, and greatly enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to this one.
Unfortunately I [...]






