What does Citibank, Chase, BofA, [insert generic evil bank here] know about you?

This fascinating article(New York Times Magazine) scratches the surface into how credit card issues are mining your historical transactions and making conclusions on the basis of that data. Since banks employ loads of smart researchers and Ph.Ds, we probably shouldn't be surprised that the data is being used in tihs fashion.

I'm split on this. My "consumer rights" half doesn't like that my interest rates may shoot up because I purchased chrome accessories for my (non-existent) car. Apparently data from a Canadian bank has shown that people that purchase chrome accessories are way more likely to default on their debt. Since I like chrome accessories, should I have to pay for their sins???

On the other hand, as somebody that is fascinated with new uses of data (wow, I really am geeky), I'm fascinated by the fact that we can make reasonably reliable inferences about somebody's personality from their purchasing history.

I'd be interested to learning more about their methods, or even finding some sample data to play with. Either way, expect more of this in the future....

here's the article in the New York Times Magazine. Found via NPR's Planet Money Podcast and Blog.

What I've been reading in 2009

I konw that I promised you guys a full book review for each and every book that I read, but I never got around to it, so I'm doing the next best thing....a quick 2-3 sentece review for the 12 books that I've read this year. if you guys are interested, I can post more detailed reviews...but you need to contact me for that to happen.

1.  The Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons  amazon link
The graphic novel (aka, "comic book") that led to the blockbuster movie.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but the book was incredible.  Very detailed, the comic provided enough background on the principle characters for you to care about them.  its almost a darker version of Pixar's "The Incredibles", and shows the downside of superheros that are no longer wanted/needed by society.  Dark, riveting, but I was completely underwhelmed by the finale.  Even given the bad ending, the book was very innovative, so it rates highly, I give it a 8/10.

2.  The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox  amazon link
Written as a faux memoir/confession, the Meaning of Night details out an Victorian age tale of deceit, murder, and retribution in London and its surrounding areas.  It took me at least 4 tries before I really got into the book, and if this book has a fault, its that it starts off way too slow.  The verbose Victorian style writing made it difficult to understand, but the story itself was awesome.  If you like older style books, this is for you.  I can't wait for the follow up, which is supposedly coming up this summer.
7/10

3.  Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides amazon link
To be completely honest, I read this book in early January, and I don't remember all that much about it.  On the plus side, I blew through it, which is balanced by the fact that also remember blowing through it because I was sick of the book and just wanted to get to the ending.  Tracing the story of a (twisted) family from its Greek/Macedonian roots to suburban Detroit, this book shows how the sins of the father may not be made apparent for multiple generations.  I think Mona's reading this book rgith now, and doesn't have any intention of finishing it.....4/10

4.  The Road by Cormac McCarthy  amazon link
After talking to a few different readers about this book, I've realized that there are so many things that you can take away from this very deep book.  Its a story about the aftermath of some upcoming nuclear apocalype.  Its a tale of survival.  Its the affection of a father for his son.  I could go into more detail, but I think one of my tweets from that timeframe captures my thoughts accurately. 

I just read the vilest thing I've ever read. Yet, I must keep reading.

Torn about the upcoming movie starring Vigo Mortenson, but I highly recommend the book.  9/10

5.  Helter Skelter:  The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi amazon link  
The ultimate true crime novel.  Written by head Manson prosector/investigator Vince Bugliosi, Helter Skelter is crazy.  It details out Manson's rise from a wanna-be Beach Boy to fringe lunatic mass murderer.  Completely raw, very detailed......I read this 750 page book in less than a week.  if you have any interest in true-crime novels, get this book....seriously, its that good.  10/10

6.  3 Cups of Tea:  One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin amazon link  
A mainstay at the top of the NYTimes bestseller list, 3 Cups of Tea is an accounting of Greg Mortenson's failed attempt to climb K2, and how it led him to building schools in rural Pakistan to educate girls.  Given the current situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan, this book (and Mortenson) has been in the news lately, so I don't want to recount his story.  As a person, I believe that Greg Mortenson has done amazing things for the Pakistani people, and deserves all the accolades he's received.  However, as a writer, I didn't like the book.  I felt like he skipped over the inflection points of his story, and that he trivalized his intellectual battles with the US Government, Pakistani Government, the Taliban, and Tribal elders in Pakistan.  Because there wasn't a lot of detail about those battles, I felt letdown.  Still, a great story, and worth reading.  5/10

7.   Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell  amazon link
Lots has been written about this book already, so I won't repeat it.  My thoughts on his latest blockbuster is that its an intriguing idea, but not enough research was documented in the story itself.  As with all of Gladwell's books, I feel like he cherry-picks research to support his thesis, and that I inevitably feel letdown by the results.  I liked this book the least of his 3 books, and for that reason, only a 4/10 


8.  Ascent of Money:  A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson amazon link
This should actually be called a "Financial History of the Western World", since outside of his discussion on precious metals and mining, this book is completely focused on American and British finance.  Regardless, a very interesting read that traces the evolution of financial products like stocks, bonds, insurance, mortgages, and derivatives.  I felt that Niall could have attempted to discuss the current financial crisis, but chose not to.  Had he included some commentary on the current crisis, I would have ranked it higher.  But, since he chose not to, I give him a 6/10.


9.   The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson amazon link
Financial intrigue.  Murder.  Family Secrets.  This book has it all.  Taking place in Sweeden, this book follows disgraced financial reporter Michael Bloomvist has he investigates an odd request from a Sweedish Titan.  Lots of twists and turns.  The first of a trilogy....I can't wait for the next book to come out.  9/10  


10.  The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga amazon link 
Perhaps I went into this book the wrong way.  I was told that Adiga was an "Indian Chuck Palahniu", so I was exepecting an Indian "Fight Club".  I was completely misinformed, and that let me to not enjoy the book as much as I probably should have.  This story recounts how a villager moved up from peasant to housekeeper, housekeeper to driver, driver to industrialist.  4/10 (only for false advertising by the Borders Clerk that Sold me on the book)


11.   White Man's Burden by William Easterly amazon link
I think its best to evaluate this book in halfs.  The first half deals with the history of imperialism and western aid.  I found this section interesting and fascinating, but almost too detailed (and this is coming from something that loves details).  I felt that this section was 50% too long.  

The second half talks about modern aid through the IMF and World Bank, and proposes solutions to world's problems.  I found this half to be more tangible, and behind the slogans "more searcher, less planners" and "teach a man to fish", I'm interested in his ideas, and how they apply to the real world.  He's an ardent fan of microfinance, and wants to empower local entrepreneurs to solve their local problems, rather than a beaurocrat in New York or Washington.    Overall....fantastic book.....10/10

12.   The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale amazon link 
Similiar to White Tiger, I think I went into this book with the completely wrong mindset.  I thought that as the first modern detective, this book's main character would provide some insight as the methods used by police detectives today.  Clearly this book didn't outline that....but still, it was an interesting read.  I felt this book suffered from too much jumping around, and didn't do a good job of connecting ideas to each other (similiar to this blog!).  2/10

well, there you have it....12 books read this year.  Some classics, some dogs.  Shoot me a note if you want me to go into more detail about any of these books, and I'll try to write something up.

David vs. Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell's take on the underdog syndrome....

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell

Book Review - "The White Tiger" by Arvind Adiga

The White Tiger

While being labeled as from the same vein as Chuck Palaniuk (see Fight Club, Choke, and his other masterpieces), I just didn't find this book to be that compelling.

Well, I should back up.....

The White Tiger is written as a stream-of-consciousness open letter from Balram Halwai to the Premeire of China.  In his rambling letter written over the course of 7 nights, Balram relates how he rose up from being a member of the servant class to ultimately becoming a sucessful entrepreneur.  Balram interweaves his story with his observations on Indian society, Chinese society, and the wider world. 

So, sounds like a great story, right?  where does it go wrong?  well, Balram spends a ridiculous amount of time setting up the finale, but when you reach the end, you are left incredibly underwhelmed.  I wanted to stop reading the book many times, but I kept going with the promise of a payoff.  I reached the end, and wow, I was disappointed.  No grand payoff, no great revelation, nothing.  I reached the end and felt cheated...and that's the worst feeling after dedicated a large chunk of time to a book.

My advice to you, the reader, is that unless you are very interested in reading a unique perspective of India, skip this book.  Rather than reading something in the same vein as Chuck Palanik, just read some Chuck Palanik.  everybody already knows the story from fight club, so skip that.....and start with Invisible Monsters.  It won't let you down

Check out my other book reviews here

"Middlesex" - a book review

Middlesex is a very provocative and interesting book written by Jeffory Eugenides.  On the surface, its the story of Cal/Callie Stephanides, a third-generation Greek living in the Detroit suburbs. 


What seperates Cal from all the other Greeks is that he was in fact a she......Cal is the proud owner of 2 recessive genes that actually caused him to be born as a female.  confused yet?

the book traces the last 3 generations of Cal's family....from Greece to Turkey to New York to Detroit....and explains the decisions that led to Cal's hermaphritideness (is that even a word??)... a completely original and fascinating tale that caused me to laugh out loud (literally) multiple times.

winner of the 2003 Pulitizer Prize, the book is deep and shallow at the same time.  provides an interesting and provacative look at something that few understand (transgender issues) without completely weirding out the reader.

def check it out.....its a great read


first entry listed on my 2008 book list!

Master Book List of Reviews

1. Middlesex: A Novel by Jeffery Eugenides
2. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
   

Bond...James Bond....

A few months after its release, I finally got a chance to check out the new James Bond movie...dubbed "The Quantum of Solace".

I loved the series reboot with Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale", so I went into QoS with some pretty lofty expectations.  I expected to see Craig brooding over his dead lover, and I wanted to see some completely impractical bad-guy schemes that will somehow end the world.   QoS only delivered on my first expecation.

I felt the plot was a bit odd and haphazard.  It was like the writer of QoS wanted to continue the completely awesome story of Casino Royale..but for only half the movie.  The first half seemed like a continuation of Royale, and kicked butt.  Once we get into the heart of the bad-guy scheme, the movie sucked.  We have this huge lead-in and buildup to some new bad guy group called Quantum, only to learn absolutely nothign about them. 

Bond kicks a lot of butt....gets at least 1 girl (did he ever score the "bond girl"?  my brother and I couldn't decide if they hooked up or not).....but doesn't get to play with any fancy gadgets.  He has a cool iphone-wanna-be, but other than that, nothing completely awesome like Pierce Brossnan's invisible car.

oh yeah...he also saves the Water supply for the Bolivians..  truly what british secret agents are trained to do......

btw - I just realized that I need to add 2 more books to "read in 2008" list - Casino Royale and Goldfinger.  They both rocked...read them.  seriously, save the 2 hours from Quantum of Solace, and read those 2 books instead.  you'll thank me afterwards

books books.....

holy crap, i read a ton in 2008.....here's what I read (in no particular order).  I'll try to add some commentary if I remember anything......

1. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts - the semitrue story of an Aussie conman's journey into the infamous Bombay underworld.  fantastic book, and I look forward to the movie staring Johnny Depp
2. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffery Toobin - A deep book that attempts to bring laymen into the Supreme Court.  Most of the case details went way over my head, but I still enjoyed the read.
3. The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury - I picked this book up while stuck at LGA, and I regretted it from the beginning.  Tries to read like Dan Brown, but fails miserably.  stay away!
4. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell - Like all of Gladwell's books, this was an interesting read.  But remember to take his words with a grain of salt...he cites very little evidence, and the reasoning is a bit thin
5. The Beach by Alex Garland - Fantastic book about a backpacking trip gone very wrong.  loved it, still need to see the movie
6. Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin - written under a pen name, this book takes a fascinating look behind the Burmese junta.  As a huge fan of Orwell (and 1984 in particular), it was interesting to see where he came up with his ideas
7. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson - Disappointing follow up to his hugely successful "Devil in the White City".  Pick that book up instead
8. Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre - Came from way out left field, but ended up being my favorite book of the year.  Read it! Love it!
9. The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke - Fictional account of murder and theivery that occured during Katrina.  Nothing shocking, but an interesting and fun read
10. The Man Who Loved China by Simon Winchester - Interesting story about a fascinating man.  Some of the details went a bit too deep for me, but I still enjoyed it.
11. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card - The same story as Ender's Game, but through the eyes of "Bean".  I loved Ender's Game, but this one just fell a bit flat.
12. Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande - A great treatise for how to become a better person.  I need to reread this, because I can certainly become better
13. The Innocent Man by John Grisham - True story that reads just like his fictional tales.  Interesting book
14. Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk - Another tale by the writer of Fight Club.  This one dwelving into the murky world of porn, and i felt a bit disgusted by what I read.  Interesting, but so wrong at the same time.
15. The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright - Loved this book.  A history of Islamic terrorism from Egypt (circa 1925) to 9/11.  Read this and understand why these people are pissed at us!
16. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz - Hugely fun and irrerevent.  Check this out, I believe that this book won the Pulitizer Prize
17. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin - This book is getting lots of pub because Obama is allegedly using it as his playbook for selecting his cabinet.  Abe Lincoln picked his 4 biggest political rivals to join his cabinet, and they all served an important role. 
18. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris - Loved his older books, but this didn't do it for me.  skip it if you can
19. The Appeal by John Grisham - To be honest, I read this back in February, so I don't remember what its about.....i think i enjoyed it

I think that's all the books that I finished this year.  I definetly started some other books, but got bored with them......I'll edit this if I remember more!

Book Review - The Beach

 Its been awhile since I've done this, but I finally finished a book!

The book was Alex Garland's wonderful "The Beach".   The book has been described as some sort of "Lord of hte Flies" for Generation X, but I disagree.

Its about a backpacker who's searching for the ultimate holiday spot, a beach that hasn't been discovered by other tourists.  By random chance, he bunked next to a dying man named "Daffy Duck" in a Thai hostel.  The dying man told Richard (the traveller) about a Beach that was beautiful, untamed, and an absolute must see....he even drew a map for Richard.

Richard, being the backpacker that he is, decides to recruit some other people to join him.  They find the beach, and becoming a part of the official unofficial beach clan.  Run like a commune, with rules, orders, and jobs for everybody, Richard and his friends learn to the love the beach..until they discover its underbelly..........can't give away more about the plot without giving it away....

The plot was absolutely riveting....a bit slow to begin, but once you get a bit into it, you won't want to put it down.  The author leveraged all 5 senses when describing locations, actions, and intentions.....you can really close your eyes and picture the scene (cliche in a review, i konw, but i'm serious)..

the pace...again, a bit slow to begin, but picks up nicely.  really short chapters, I almost felt like I was reading a book by Chuck Palahniuk (the dude that wrote Fight Club), but witty enough to feel like something by Kurt Vonnegut (and so it goes).....

overall, I really loved the book, and would recommend it to anybody that likes adventure stories and traveling.  I haven't seen the movie yet (starring Leonardo DiCaprio), but I would add it to my netflix queue (provided that I start an account with them first)......

A potentially interesting read......a journalist's take on HBS

Over my morning breakfast, I came across this article (Back to School, Turning Crimson) in the Wall Street Journal.  Its a quick review of Broughton Philip Delves' Ahead of the Curve, an insider's perspective on the Harvard Business School. 

While there are numberous books written by HBS grads (their 900 large class makes this easier), this one is different becuase its actually written by a journalist that attended the school. 

I haven't read the book yet, but it may find a way onto my list......thought i'd pass it along.

Feed your wanderlust!

Since returning from Costa Rica a little more than a month ago, I've been looking hit the road again.  No, not the normal "hit the road" (my weekly trips down to Tampa), but something more substantial and meaningful.  I want to go abroad again!

While I'm looking at my finances, my schedule, and my interests......I came across this excellent list of great travel books. 

Looking over the list, I have some reading to do.  Here's what I've read:

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thomson
Lord of the Flies by William S. Golding

Here's what I want to read off that list:

Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin
Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History by Robert D. Kaplan
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
The Beach by Alex Garland

Has anybody read any of the books?  Anything else that I should add to my ever growing reading list? 

Book Review - Thunderstruck

Just finished Erik Larson's "Thunderstruck", and I was significantly underwhelmed by it. I loved his earlier "Devil in the White City", and he seems to follow a very similar plot line in this novel. First an innovative product/fair, and a gruesome murder, and then tie the 2 together.

The formula worked in "devil" because of a few things:

(1) The Chicago World's Fair was a much more interesting story than Marconi's wireless kit.
(2) The murderer actually worked within the Chicago World's Fair....so the book was more integrated
(3) Dr. Crippen's murder was pretty bland...

so, if you are really into your Marconi set....or, really into post-Jack the Ripper London....then check this book out. Otherwise, pick up Devil in the White City...its a far superior book in every way!

RE < C

If you have some spare time, have $5, and are interested in the future of energy, make sure that you pick up the current issue of the Economist.

There's a 14 page section that outlines the various "alternative" energy sources, discusses their pros and cons, and talks about the firms that are making big bets on them.

The google founders coined the term RC < style="font-weight: bold;">Renewable Energy below the current cost of Coal. For some reason, it resonated with me.....and apparently most of hte alternative energy field uses it.......go figure..

of the different options (solar, wind, biofuel, etc.), the coolest idea is geothermal. Just poke some holes down into the magma, and use the heat to boil water, and then use the steam to power a turbine.....way cool......

check it out, you will walk away from it much more informed than you were before....

A great list of blogs to add

The Wall Street Journal has published a great list of blogs to add to your reader. Being the WSJ, they are decidedly business orientated, but some of them really stood out for me.

1) The Eco-Capitalist - making money while saving the planet....win - win

2) Seth Godin's Blog - random thoughts from an entrepreneur who sold out to Yahoo

3) Craig Newark's Blog - yes, the Craig from Craigslist.....his random thoughts

and of course, can't leave out Mark Cuban's blog.

If you get a chance, its a great list...check it out free at the WSJ.

Time.com's Top 50 Sites

Time.com's annual list of their Top 50 Sites. I looked through the list, and while the list included a ton of social networking / web 2.0 sites, I found some intriguing sites. Here's what I found intriguing (and why):

• tripkick - similiar to seatguru, but for hotel rooms. helps you find the best room in any given hotel
• Afri Gadget - keep updated on African innovations and inventions. I like innovations and inventions....
• Rate my Professor - as a wanna be MBA student, this site may come in handy.
• Tiny URL - I sent out a ton of links. this will make them easier.
• Mobaganda - a no registration evite...i'm in
• imeem - a new streaming music site...in case you are sick of last.fm
• Kongregate - more free flash games
• Penny Arcade - comics making fun of geeks...me likey
• Apartment Therapy - interior design for renters
• Digital Vaults - for wanna be Nicholas Cage types....search through the national archives
• Free Rice - sharpen your vocab. Help malnurtioned Asians. win-win
• WikiSky - space...the final frontier....while at work!

take a look at the list, what are some of YOUR favorites? Or, ones that intrigue you?

Time.com's 10 Essential Sites

Time magazine and its online component (time.com) has released their annual list of "10 Essential Sites". Some of them I use religiously, some never.....so I have mixed feelings, but I agree with some of them.

Here's the list:

1) wikipedia.com - no brainer, deserves a spot on the list...but the top spot? I probably use this site a few times a week, max

2) yahoo finance - what is this....2003? yahoo finance used to be great, but I've moved over to google finance and haven't looked back. the differences....cleaner interface, interactive charts, and google's search

3) craigslist - no qualms, I love cl....in fact, I listed my apartment on there [shameless plug]. any takers?

4) espn.com - go there every day. need to figure out how to use my espn360 account.

5) yelp - I've heard great things, but I rarely use this site.

6) facebook - I used to be addicted to facebook, but stopped making hourly updates a year ago. of course, starting this site probably just cut into my fb time. I am probably less productive now than I was with facebook....go figure

7) digg - love it. I use it to gather fodder for this site, to find new blogs to read, and to find out about random stories.

8) google - should be on the top spot of this list. it (along with gmail and google reader) is probably the most indispensible site on this list

9) tmv - I'm proud to say that I've never been here. I sometimes catch some of their show when flipping channels, and I always feel dirty afterwards. I really don't want to feel like that at work...

and finally...

10) flickr - people seem to love it. Since I started using Photoshop Elements, I have been forced to use it (easy integration), so I'm not gaga about it yet...but i might still be.

What are some other essential sites that the list left off.....here's some from my daily surfing:

- google reader
- the USA Today & LA Times Crosswords (they are free!)
- orb.com - streaming media from your home pc
- rotten tomatoes - a movie review aggregator. I trust their tomato ranking system, and it hasn't let me down....well, once....I still want my $ back from Atonement.

am I leaving anything off?

Agent Zigzag.....Eddie Chapman

Sitting at the Tampa International Airport, I just finished the most incredible story. Its the TRUE story of Eddie Chapman, a career British criminal turned Nazi spy....turned British MI-5 agent....

Eddie's journey starts in lower class London, and takes you through Jersey (the island....not the Eastern US), to Paris, to Bonn, to Lisbon, Oslo, back to London, and ultimately to Ireland....

his riveting story, written by Ben Macintyre, tells the tale of love, betrayal, hope, espionage, and ultimately, patriotism...

this guy Eddie was one of the most secret spies of World War 2.....people like Goerring (head of the SS), J. Edgar Hoover (American FBI), and Winston Churchill followed his movements....the only British citizen to ever be awarded the German Iron Cross....the man was an enigma.

his story crosses paths with Ian Fleming, then a British Naval Intelligence officer, who used his memory of Eddie Chapman in creating James Bond.....he also was buddies with Terrance Young, who went on to direct Dr. No and From Russian with Love.

this book was incredible, I couldn't put it down, and I highly recommend it. It reads like a Tom Clancy thriller, James Bond script, and exercise in war brinkmanship......go out, and read it....you won't regret it.

Hot Deals at the Public Library

Just got back from the Chicago Public Library (Lincoln Park branch - Racine and Fullerton), and as I was checking out, my eyes caught sight of this board.

The board contained a list of the most popular Chicago area museums, including the Shedd Aquarium and the Museum of Science and Industry. Each museum had a status of either "In" or "Out" next to it.

So, being an inquring mind, I asked the librarian what the deal was. So here's the skinny:

Each Chicago area library (I'm sure that other cities have this as well) have free passes to the museums. They have up to 5 for each place, and each pass is good for up to 4 people. You can't reserve them in advance, but if you score one, you get to keep it for up to a week.

So when its raining, and you want to check out some fish, but not pay $25/each to go to Shedd...seek out your public library.

note - i also picked up Erik Larson's "Thunderstuck". Pretty stoked about this book....

True Crime

For the past year, I've been on a true crime / non-fiction espionage kick. I grew up loving Tom Clancy and Hardy Boy books, and somehow made the switch over to the non-fiction side.

Some of the books that I've enjoyed are:

1) Devil in the White City by Erik Larson - murder and mayhem during the Chicago World's Fair

2) Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner - history of the C.I.A.

3) The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright - history of Islamic fundamentalism and Al Qaeda


I'm currently reading "Agent Zigzag", which is about a Nazi spy in World War 2. Once I'm done with this...I'll be looking for something new. Any good recommendations??

Amazon discussion forums = wtf?

A random sample of hot topics at the amazon.com discussion forums....please keep in mind that I didn't search for the weirdest topics, these came from searches of the current books that I'm reading....weird shit indeed

from a search for "Crime and Punishment"


from a search for "Theodore Rex"


and finally, from a search for "The Global Brain"



its days like this that make me weep for the future.....