The World is Flat
July 23, 2007
For the past month or so I haven’t read a single book. Traveling through Vietnam and Laos the pickings have been pretty slim, especially in the way on non-fiction.
I am in Bangkok now and I picked up a copy of “The World is Flat” after hearing it had some similar themes to the Four Hour Work Week. Most business books are usually slow going, but I have found that I can’t put this one down.
For people working in technology or internet related industries, a great deal of the information in the book is fairly common knowledge. Some of the stories however were picked up on the author’s travels to India, China and Japan. For anyone who thinks that India and China are taking away jobs in western countries, this book is a must read.
Since, I have worked in IT for several years, I was pretty much against the whole outsourcing debate, but since I have been working on the internet I have seen how outsourcing and globalization makes more and more sense.
He also writes how the internet is empowering individuals to be content producers, or “uploaders” as he calls them. Again, fairly common topics, but the author has some great examples of how this happening and he has a great way of explaining how this is going to effect how we will be doing business in the future.
The four hour work week
May 15, 2007
I have read some good reviews of this book and not surprisingly it has been getting a great deal of attention in the internet marketing and blogging world.
I am currently in Vietnam so I am not sure how I can get my hands on a copy of this book. Many of the topics the author raises in his book are things I believe in. His point of “less is not laziness” is something which I struggle with some of the time. I have achieved my goal of being able to travel full-time, but I do sometimes feel guilty that I can live a comfortable life, while working less than I used to and have almost unlimited free time to do the things I want to do.
Having worked in Japan for a number of years I have experienced working with people where their whole life is work. Even though they might get 3 or 4 weeks of holiday a year, most will only take about one week off. Many also work until their last train, sometimes around 11 or 12 pm.
I have a theory that most people, especially people working in offices only do 2-3 hours of real, productive work a day. The other time is spent attending pointless meetings, reading irrelevant emails, writing reports that no-one will read or take action on. People work to satisfy the demands of their bosses, bosses create work for their employees to make it look like they are doing a good job.
Maybe I am cynical, but I found that in Japan it was expected of employees to work long hours, whether they had work to do or not. If you have a long time to complete a task you tend to take your time and pace yourself so you won’t be completely bored while you have to be at work.
In his book he proposes getting your most important tasks done by 11 am. I think this is great advice for anyone. Most people are freshest in the morning. The longer you delay doing a task that requires some concentration the harder it becomes to complete. If you apply this to working on the internet complete your “must do” tasks in the morning and more passive tasks, like reading forums/blogs in the evening.
Life of Pi
March 29, 2007
I just started reading ‘Life of Pi’. I really like this quote from it:
I have nothing to say of my working life, only that a tie is a noose, and inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he’s not careful.
I couldn’t agree more!
Asian Expats
December 11, 2006
Have you ever felt you were the only person who felt a particular way? I couldn’t help reading this and feeling it relates to me fairly well:
Nearly all are long-timers and most have become disaffiliated from their home countries, many to the point of feeling like an alien when they return for a visit. Usually, things back home have changed…and in very case the expat has altered his psychology, if not his chemistry. And almost always, apparently quite comfortably.
At the same time, in their adopted country they remain outside. No matter how fluent in the language and adept in hurdling the cultural barriers they may be, forever they will be foreigners.
From:
The Google Story
November 25, 2006
After not being able to find anything that looked vaguely interesting, I picked up a copy of ‘The Google Story’ by David Vise and Mark Malseed. It is a fast pace read and is interesting to think what you were doing as the company evovled and when exactly you started using it for search.
I can’t really using anything else - I was very late to get onto the world wide web, even though I was using some kind of text version when I was at university.
People love to bag Google for whatever reason, but they have paid me several thousands of dollars of the past year or so, so I cannot really complain.
Even though most people would be familiar with their story, it still makes an interesting read and it is definitely required reading for any webmaster.
The wisdom of people
October 27, 2006
I have been thinking quite a bit about this article that appeared in the Washington Post (after reading it first in the Japan Times): The Top Pickers vs. the Pack.
While generations have looked to pundits for guidance, it has often taken a long time for their expertise to be recognized, and many have remained in obscurity. Now the Internet promises new ways to discover those who might otherwise get overlooked. And it can do so with breathtaking speed.
I think that this is just further evidence of how the internet is turning traditional ways of thinking and doing business on its head. I immediately went out and book, ‘The Wisdom of Crowds’.
Technorati Tags: The Wisdom of Crowds
I need an ebook
May 10, 2006
It seems like everyone is promoting their ebooks these days. I am not sure if anyone would be interested in purchasing a book I wrote, but I would love to give it a go.
Shantaram
February 12, 2006
While I was in Australia my uncle told me about a book titled: Shantaram.
The book is almost 1000 pages, and I couldn’t put it down. I am currently halfway through it, but it is more difficult that I am back in Japan working.
The book is about a man who was on drugs and was arrested for armed robbery and sent to prison in Melbourne, Australia. He managed to escape and first went to New Zealand, followed by India.
The book is mostly about his life in India, how he lived in a slum and opened a medical clinic, spent time in an Indian prison and how he worked for the Indian mafia.
I think I may have to wait for my next holiday to finish it.
