Andrew's Digital Domain

"It builds on many previous management and product development ideas, including lean manufacturing, design thinking, customer development, and agile development. It represents a new approach to creating continuous innovation. It’s called the Lean Startup." Overall, I found " The Lean Startup " to be informative and instructive, but while I picked up on many interesting concepts, such as: b uild-measure-learn feedback loops, m inimum viable products (MVP), different  engines of growth,  cohort-based metrics, split-test experiments, etc.; many of those concepts weren't new to me at all (I accidentally discovered that I've been using them for some time; obviously, without having any idea that they were associated with or related to the Lean Startup). Nonetheless, reading about something known (or semi-known) often opens new dimensions, exposes different points of view, and helps with bringing things into focus as well as rationalizing and amalgamatin...

" In the long run, history is the story of information becoming aware of itself. " The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick - t his was not an easy read for me, I spent more time on this book than on two before and two after (all of comparable volume) combined. And I am not exactly sure why. I guess it could be the style, the vocabulary, the depth and the breadth of the subject matter  coverage , or all of these and few other things put together.  But I feel like it was well worth the effort. The story flows smoothly from the talking drums of Africa to the  world of oral culture;  to the invention of scripts and alphabets; to evolution of languages, books, catalogs and dictionaries; to  further developments of abstraction,  symbolic logic,  and mathematics; to  the birth of computer science, communications theory , information theory, quantum theory, ... I don't think I can right a review that will do this book just...

We have just returned from a very nice vacation (more about it in a different post), which I have used, among other things, to finish reading a couple of books - " Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Adventures of a Curious Character) " by none other than Richard P. Feynman himself, and " Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews " by Michael Bar-Zohar:   Both are (IMHO) great books, but in this post I wanted to cover the latter (more on Mr. Feynman after I finish reading " What Do You Care What Other People Think?: further adventures of a curious character "). First of all, I would like to thank my good friend Al for turning me onto the subject and gifting me the book. I thought I knew quite a bit about the history and the fate of European Jewry during the WWII  and the " Die Endlösung " . After all, I have read extensively on the subject, both in school and later on; watched many documentary and popular movies...

What precipitated this post you might ask? I'll tell you what - it was The Kojo Nnamdi show, the segment aired on or around April 9th of 2012 and was titled " Buy American ". It got me so fired up that I had to wait for a month or so before trying to write about it. What was I doing all this time? - Thinking about the subject matter and trying to come down. So, here's a quick synopsis (and I suggest you use the link above to listen to the whole thing online): Despite the popularity of slogans like, "Buy American," our trade deficits continue to soar. One proposal to address the problem is more detailed country-of-origin information on products to help shift American shopping habits. Meanwhile, the United States is pursuing a “NAFTA of the Pacific” trade agreement that would lower trade barriers with several Pacific countries. We explore how these ideas might affect the economy - and prices. Want to dig a little deeper into the views of some the people f...

Years ago I picked up a DVD of BPS documentary called "The Persuaders" at the Boarders bookstore. Well, since then the store went under and the proliferation of the Internet and online services made access to content much easier, and in some cases completely free (unless one chooses to pay for the DVD quality video and an ability to watch it offline). Does one have anything to do with the other? Probably, but it's not what this post is about. It's about the documentary. I found it incredibly interesting and in some ways eye opening. Check it out, see how far the persuasion industry takes its advertising mission (and keep in mind that by now it is probably significantly farther than at the time of the documentary's release in 2004); how it view us, the consumers (roaches being sprayed with ads until developing resistance); how it blends advertising and reality (to the point when one can't tell them apart); etc.  In short, enter The Persuaders   (click on the ...

Today, a colleague has shared the following article with me " University of Florida Eliminates Computer Science Department, Increases Athletic Budgets. Hmm. "  Here's a quick excerpt: “Actually, the real villains here are the Florida state legislators, who have cut the budget for their flagship university by 30% over the past 6 years. Meanwhile, just two days ago, Florida governor Rick Scott approved the creation of a brand-new public university, Florida Polytechnic University, to be located near the city of Tampa.” What do I think about this? Well many things, but most of all: i nstead of looking for the villains or trying to do good with other people money - of course, thinking of the public good in the most objective way, which usually turns out to be somewhat skewed and biased, at best - we should get out of the business of subsidizing education in this fashion and let the market forces work. The education should cost what it costs, and if it is paid by people who...

Update (11/23/2013): " Now, nearly half a century after the war hero's suicide, Queen Elizabeth II has finally granted Turing a pardon." ( http://usat.ly/19bLZET ) Long overdue!!! With academic background in applied mathematics and computer science and years of experience in Information Technology it would be incredibly surprising if I didn't know of Alan Turing, or so I thought. Sure, I knew who he was and had a good idea of what he had contributed to the fields of mathematics, logic, cryptography, and of course computer science, which he basically founded; and things like Turing Machine, Turing Test, and Enigma Code-breaking have been widely popularized. I also knew that he died relatively young, but I am ashamed to admit that I didn't know anything about the circumstances surrounding his premature death. That is until I read the following in the book titled  "The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood" by James Gleick: "Turing's hom...

Finding a good English translation of Russian poetry is always challenging. So, I would like to share with you this excellent, excellent translation of Vladimir Vysotsky by Andrey Kneller:  Песня о друге Если друг оказался вдруг И не друг, и не враг, а - так, Если сразу не разберешь, Плох он или хорош. Парня в горы тяни - рискни! Не бросай одного его, Пусть он в связке в одной с тобой - Там поймешь, кто такой.  Если парень в горах - не ах, Если сразу раскис и - вниз, Шаг ступил на ледник и - сник, Оступился - и в крик, - Значит, рядом с тобой - чужой, Ты его не брани - гони: Вверх таких не берут, и тут Про таких не поют.  Если ж он не скулил, не ныл, Пусть он хмур был и зол, но - шел, А когда ты упал со скал, Он стонал, но - держал, Если шел за тобой, как в бой, На вершине стоял хмельной, - Значит, как на себя самого, Положись на него. (1966) A song about a friend If your friend just became a man, Not a friend, not a foe,- just s...

‎"Crack of Doom" by Tiger Lillies. Какая жизнеутверждающая песня! What a wonderful, life-asserting song! Gotta love this British black humor :-) The Tiger Lillies - Crack Of Doom Lyrics @ LyricsTime.com

A while back I have written a post about two popular books by Nobel Prize-winning economist   Milton Freidman . Books that had, through their  undeniable logic, a  profound and lasting effect on my  socioeconomic and political views: Now, through the digital powers of social networking the legendary 10-part PBS TV series "Free to Choose" (1980), based on the book of the same name, is available on YouTube. Yes, one would be committing about 10 hours of one's life to watch through all of these; but, in my opinion, this would be time well spent. So, enjoy -  " Free to Choose ".

4/5/2012:  Caught something relevant while reading Larry Page's 2012 Update from the CEO (Google's CEO in case you are wondering) - “a healthy disregard for the impossible”, sounds like an essential quality for an entrepreneur.   2/23/2012: Just came across the following on Google+ and figured it would make a wonderful addition to the post I published earlier :) The exploration of the subject started for me, as it often does, from taking in information from various sources over a period of time. Then, things started moving and coalescing in my head until something clicked and voilà - all pieces of the puzzle fitted together and a picture was formed. No, I am not going to describe that picture. It is my personal interpretation, the symbiosis of my experiences and external stimuli. Thus, others could create their own interpretations, based on their own experiences. I will, however, share a few catalysts with you. Here they are, in no particular order: An...

Psychobabble, mambo jumbo? - I don't know, but I found it to be very interesting and well presented: My brain, my universe:

" KHL crash darkens hockey’s grim summer " -  Once again, awful, awful news!  How long this is going to continue? - Russian planes crashing, boats capsizing! It's clear to me that the autocratic, top-down approach of the government crackdowns on bureaucracy, corruption and general irresponsibility (all of which are integral parts of the said government), as well as ever tougher laws and regulations are not working. You can not create responsible citizenry (гражданское общество) by a decree! And it does not seem to develop naturally within the social system that puts way too much faith into the government and the political system devoid of any real competition!

A few months ago I have listened to a pretty interesting interview with  Lester Brown  (a founder of Earth Policy Institute and a prolific author, among other things) on the NPR program called Fresh Air. Thanks to the awesome powers of our connected world the recording is still available here . Then, I have revisited the subject a couple of days ago when a conversation with a coworker prompted me to look a few things up and I came across an article in Foreign Policy magazine that was probably a precursor to that interview. I am not sure if I agree with all the views and theories expressed, I simply don't know enough about the subject matter to form a solid opinion, but it certainly was educational. Check it out, judge for yourself. 09/06/2011: I kept thinking about the subject of security of World's food supply on and off. Obviously, this is a complex problem that needs a comprehensive solution. Here's a short quotation from aforementioned article by Lester Brown -...