Guest viewing is limited

Welcome To The HFBM Boards
Hockey, Football, Baseball & MMA

Status
Not open for further replies.
this thread still alive?

Okay I recently read this book by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz:
Everybody Lies: Big data, new data, and what the internet can tell us about who we really are.
https://www.amazonn.com/dp/B01AFXZ2F4/
(take out the extra n in amazonn, link wouldn't show otherwise)

I highly recommend this book, I enjoyed it a great deal. Basically it is in the exact same vein as the book/documentary Freakonomics and deals with analyzing data to learn new things about people. Basically he uses extremely large data sets to prove various things about humans. He uses raw data from companies and also Google search trends. There are a lot of examples and it is quite interesting all the way through.

A few of the topics covered:
  • American Pharaoh - how data analysis predicted this horse as a triple crown winner before it had even been purchased.
  • Using big data to cure/prevent disease. (this one is actually cool and seems like something we should already be doing heavily)
  • African American basketball players and whether coming from a bad situation really gives you a motivational edge to get into the NBA.
  • Racism and how it affected the election of Donald Trump.
  • Superbowl Ads - are the companies spending the big bucks really getting their $$ worth?
  • Predicting terrorism/violence with data analysis.
  • Using data analysis to predict whether people will default on their loans based on their explanation of why they need a loan.
  • The general sexuality of humans and how we lie heavily about what we are "in to".
  • How many people actually finish books they start?

Many many more topics are covered but these are a few I found most interesting.

Don't let my use of "data analysis" in the explanation deter you, there is no real math and it's all explained in a very straightforward way

Planning on reading American Gods next as a lot of you in here have suggested it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I Cannot, Yet I Must

The true story of the best bad monster movie of all time


ROBOT MONSTER

by Anders Runestad


you will learn everything there is to know about the conception, funding, making, marketing, distribution, stuidos, locations, sets, gorilla suite construction, obscure poverty row characters & more about Robot Monster

but mainly the book is about the director Phil Tucker.

The book is not a hatchet job it explains in exhaustive detail everything you ever wanted to know about Robot Monster and everything associated with that movie along with a pretty real good biography of Phil Tucker.

While reading this book I could not help but to think our own @CRUDS probably knows some of these people or at the least is only a degree of separation from them.


I enjoyed the read but it took me a while. I mean I know more about the 1950s Alaskan movie industry than anyone really should - LOL And many other things. Like the Hollywood guerilla suit profession. I would have never guessed that was a thing.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Pessimist's Guide to History

by Doris Flexner and Stuart Berg Flexner



from the Big Bang to the 2007 California fires.... and a large selection of catastrophes & mayhem in between. D. Flexner lifted the water here and the husband SB Flexner added 'whitty commentary' at the end of many summaries of pretty real turrible events. Gems like 'onward Christian Soldier' when referring to one of the crusades as an example. Dude aint funny and both author & commentary are silent to many moslum atrocities, but they nail most of the Christian historical transgressions.

the book is a slog to read, but not a bad reference for an overview of something.

Sometimes you think you would enjoy a beer with an author... I would love to punch Stuart Berg FLexner in the face with a flaming sword - the twat
 
I've been reading the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown. Almost done with the second book. The first book is like the Hunger Games in space and expands from there into the second.
 
Gunny said:
I've been reading the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown. Almost done with the second book. The first book is like the Hunger Games in space and expands from there into the second.
Click to expand...

written for young adults or real adults?


not trying to be a smart arse, but I'll take it - LOL
 
Last edited by a moderator:
GoT said:
written for young adults or real adults?


not trying to be a smart arse, but I take it - LOL
Click to expand...

I haven't read Hunger Games so I can't compare but the author says it isn't Young Adult and admittedly it has it's moments of limbs being cut off and someone commits rape.
 
Seeing as it's Halloween - even though we don't celebrate it - I thought I'd give a couple of "scary" books a go.

I read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill - which is also a movie starring Harry Potter - both book and movie aren't bad.

Then I started A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay which is high in the creep factor so far.
 
If you like science fiction/fantasy....

The Warded Man is a fantastic series. It is a 5 book series and the 5th book was released recently so it is a finished series.
 
Finally finished up Arnold Schwarzenegger's biography "Total Recall". It was actually really interesting for the most part. All the stuff about his childhood through the bodybuilding, making his first millions in business, and getting into movies was pretty fascinating. When it got into the politics..... well, it was a snoozefest. I ended up skipping two of the political chapters toward the end because I just couldn't take it anymore. Droning on and on about policy battles and whatnot.

Overall worth a read if you're a fan and into biographies. The man sure has accomplished a lot in his life. Hard not to respect his work ethic.
 
Finished up Mike Tyson's autobiography Undisputed Truth. Gotta say it's one of the more captivating biographies I've ever read. Even though he doesn't speak all that well and has done plenty of idiotic stuff in his life, the guy is more intelligent and introspective than you'd imagine. Was really interesting to hear his take on things like the Holyfield ear-biting, his first loss to Buster Douglas, the face tattoo, etc. Also he swears up and down he never raped Desiree Washington and lays out a pretty compelling case to back it up. I believe him and it sucks he went to prison for 3 years over it.
 
Gunny said:
I read Artemis by Andy Weir, the guy who wrote The Martian.

A real disappointment.
Click to expand...
That sucks. I really enjoyed The Martian. Guess I'll move on to Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Any fans of fantasy definitely need to read his Stormlight Archives series.
 
Tuckfro42 said:
That sucks. I really enjoyed The Martian. Guess I'll move on to Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Any fans of fantasy definitely need to read his Stormlight Archives series.
Click to expand...

I don't have the 150,000 hours to spare to read one of those books.

I have been reading his Mistborn novels. I have read the first 2 and will start the third soon.
 
Currently reading Terry Robiskie's playbook.

77692.jpeg
 
Gunny said:
I don't have the 150,000 hours to spare to read one of those books.

I have been reading his Mistborn novels. I have read the first 2 and will start the third soon.
Click to expand...
I enjoyed the Mistborn novels. I really like his stormlight books, but to begin I had to just read a couple of the first Kaladin chapters. It was too far out until I was able to slowly emerse myself then I could go back and read and somewhat understand the more fictional worldbuilding.

Robert Jordan is still easily, hands-down the best fantasy writer I have ever read and I have read almost all of the big named authors.

Book 4, The Shadows Rising, is probably the best book I have ever read.
 
Tuckfro42 said:
That sucks. I really enjoyed The Martian. Guess I'll move on to Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson. Any fans of fantasy definitely need to read his Stormlight Archives series.
Click to expand...
I liked Oathbringer but it is not the best of the first 3 books. In fact I would say each is a stepdown. Book 1 was the best, book 2 was really good but not quite as good as book 1, Book 3 was good but not as good as 2 and definitely not as good as 1.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top