Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One [author] author Sowell, Thomas [isbn] isbn 0465081436 [isbn13] isbn13 9780465081431 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 256 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.14 [num ratings] num ratings 1,024 [date pub] date pub Nov 12, 2003 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Nov 13, 2003 [rating] Lucas's rating 2 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Jul 19, 2010 [date read] date read Jul 20, 2010 [date added] date added Jul 19, 2010 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review After chapter upon chapter telling of the counter-productiveness of government intervention in markets, the immigration section is entirely out of pla After chapter upon chapter telling of the counter-productiveness of government intervention in markets, the immigration section is entirely out of place. Apparently there's nothing wrong with heavy regulation and central planning in the case of workers wanting to cross borders. The lack of an appropriately weighty explanation for the inconsistency with the rest of the book casts everything else into doubt. Instead of a coherent and principled set of arguments, all the rest could be cherry picked statistics and anecdotes. I expected 'thinking beyond stage one' to be about something grand where stage one was the first n-hundred years after the invention of something, but it just means longer term thinking. I got tired of hearing about how voters or elected representatives (Sowell always uses the more pejorative term 'politicians') should have been thinking beyond stage 1 when some law eventually had the opposite effect of intended. He could have dropped the subtitle and used a few other phrases to say the same thing, or better yet let the reader make that conclusion. Lots of explanations for the status quo, but where Sowell is critical there aren't any suggestions for how to fix things. It's either not broken and trying to fix it will make it worse, or it's just broken- where frequently Sowell implies that democracy itself that is broken. Over-use of the word 'particular', usually around bland generalizations with very little content- it wouldn't be that hard to substitute some real details. There isn't any big picture analysis to show the relative economic importance of say driving after age 75 vs. owners of dangerous dogs not paying proportionally vs. government funded health care, it's all put on equal terms. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon [author] author Stone, Brad * [isbn] isbn 0316219266 [isbn13] isbn13 9780316219266 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 341 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.91 [num ratings] num ratings 10,519 [date pub] date pub 2013 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Oct 15, 2013 [rating] Lucas's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Mar 27, 2014 [date read] date read Apr 02, 2014 [date added] date added Mar 27, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review Much much better than 'One-Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com'. For this book there were many interviews the author did, details on decision Much much better than 'One-Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com'. For this book there were many interviews the author did, details on decisions directly from the participants or at least witnesses in the same meeting. The Amazon founding mythology is somewhat burdensome in the retelling, I did learn here the door desks were brand new doors that cost $60 from Home Depot, which I suppose is less expensive that a new desk of moderate quality but I had earlier imagined the doors were dirt cheap surplus auction items. It isn't in this book, but the 'started in a garage' part of the story was deliberate strategy- the founders made sure their Bellevue rental house had a garage because 'started in a spare bedroom/home office' or even 'started in a basement' doesn't have the same cachet. The very low profit margins of the online retail business is commented on, and it isn't highlighted but I suspect the profit margins of web services is ultimately even lower- online data storage and web services are going to be like electricity and water eventually but with a much lower cost to customers to change providers (or more likely they'll automatically shift the load of their web site from one provider to another as changes in pricing and latencies and reliability dictate for optimal cost and performance, and software will smooth over any api differences between providers). But investors love low profits as long as technology and 'disruption' is involved. The chapter on the Jeff Bezos' space company is interesting, the author of this book originally broke the story on Blue Origin for Newsweek and had done some classic journalism to discover the company plans: they were on printouts in a dumpster, unshredded. At the end the author mentions that an Amazon set-top TV appliance will be available perhaps before the book is available, and that Amazon owned delivery vehicles may be expanded upon (they already exist for Amazon Fresh). What I'm really curious about is when they'll branch into urban mini-warehouses that advertise products to passing people via large non-electronic transparent display devices, and allow spontaneous purchases to be made at the warehouse from a selection of popular items without the hassle of having to browse the web. That could be a lot of money in that. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title METAtropolis: The Dawn of Uncivilization [author] author Scalzi, John * [isbn] isbn [isbn13] isbn13 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 9 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.54 [num ratings] num ratings 1,988 [date pub] date pub Oct 20, 2008 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Jan 13, 2015 [date read] date read Jan 23, 2015 [date added] date added Jan 13, 2015 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Audiobook [29] actions view [review]

Output: review I read a lot of new urbanism oriented non-fiction earlier this year, and the idea of taking a lot of it an incorporating it into near future settings I read a lot of new urbanism oriented non-fiction earlier this year, and the idea of taking a lot of it an incorporating it into near future settings for fiction seemed interesting- it turns out that had already been done and this shared universe novel was the result. The dystopian aspect is cranked up a bit, proximity to the Great Recession probably helped there, and it is helpful for dramatic purposes. The setting of the shining city surrounded by a literal wall and suburban savages makes an appearance here, that seemed really popular a few decades ago despite trends then running in the reverse- inner cities were decaying and donut rings of suburbs prospering. Other than that everything functions like cyberpunk without the over-focus on virtual reality. Except for the Karl Shroeder story, some of that seems similar in ideas to his Lady of Mazes. It's not clear why virtual nations he describes would strive so hard for material independence, it seems like functioning more as parasites/symbiotes makes a lot more sense, requires less effort. Setting two of the stories in Detroit seems too obvious. The first story in the audio book has what sounds like the alocholic #2 from BattleStar Galactica narrating it, which sounds great but is harder to understand over road noise. The second story has a narrator I remember from the audio book of a Dune novel (which was kind of a crappy attempt to mix up original notes from Frank Herbert with input from his son and Kevin J. Anderson, as if to sow confusion so that the awfulness of the latter might take on some of the brilliance of the former)- this one enunciates very clearly. The other narrators weren't familiar but were mostly fine (male narrators doing female voices and vice versa were annoying in places, why do they have to change their intonation like that?). ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Confessions of a Mullah Warrior [author] author Farivar, Masood [isbn] isbn 0871139820 [isbn13] isbn13 9780871139825 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 320 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.06 [num ratings] num ratings 63 [date pub] date pub Mar 01, 2009 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Mar 03, 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Mar 10, 2010 [date added] date added Mar 10, 2010 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review The title is even more sensationalist than 'Kill Bin Laden' but that was much more fitting than this. The author is too young for most of the anti-Sov The title is even more sensationalist than 'Kill Bin Laden' but that was much more fitting than this. The author is too young for most of the anti-Soviet jihad, seeing only a few years of fighting at the very end, and after the withdrawal leaves Afghanistan to go to school in the U.S. where he stays for most of the 90's except for a brief visit home. The earlier portions are a good counter part to 'Charlie Wilson's War'- many of the weapons systems appropriated from various international vendors are name-checked here: AK-47s wrapped in Chinese newspapers, Swiss anti-aircraft guns, Egyptian rockets, and others. There is no acknowledgment of the U.S. involvement there, the only visible U.S. interaction in the war to this books author was support for the training of Afghani journalists who would document Soviet atrocities. The later commentary on the Taliban and U.S./NATO eras is not nearly as interesting since the author doesn't experience any of it in person. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time [author] author Mortenson, Greg * [isbn] isbn 0143038257 [isbn13] isbn13 9780143038252 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 349 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.63 [num ratings] num ratings 242,703 [date pub] date pub 2006 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Jan 30, 2007 [rating] Lucas's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Jun 10, 2009 [date added] date added Jun 01, 2009 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Paperback [29] actions view [review]

Output: review The central problem of this book is neatly illustrated by Mortenson's encounter with Pentagon officials: Mortenson gives a presentation on the importa The central problem of this book is neatly illustrated by Mortenson's encounter with Pentagon officials: Mortenson gives a presentation on the importance of building schools in addition to purely military efforts in Afghanistan, but when offered support he turns it down because association with U.S. military or intelligence agencies would undermine his credibility there and in Pakistan. (Though the CIA could send him money from anonymous sources without his permission, but probably only on a smaller scale) This is despite his admiration for Mother Teresa, who was controversial because she accepted money from any source without question. Scaling problems are also hinted at when Mortenson is temporarily imprisoned in a new region of Pakistan he is not familiar with, and abandons efforts to build schools there. For a charity with limited resources every new school is a success, but for a large government sponsored effort every school not built is a failure. The flow of money from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia into the funding of Wahhabi Madrassas is interesting- I wonder if it's possible to quantify how much of every dollar spent on gasoline goes into a school like that? An epilogue that tells the story of the creation of the book would be nice- I think there was something at the beginning but it's hard to remember and connect it to where the book leaves off. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Green Metropolis: What the City Can Teach the Country About True Sustainability [author] author Owen, David * [isbn] isbn 1594488827 [isbn13] isbn13 9781594488825 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 368 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.68 [num ratings] num ratings 805 [date pub] date pub 2009 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Sep 24, 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started May 20, 2014 [date read] date read Jun 02, 2014 [date added] date added May 20, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review There are a lot of things that I didn't like about this book but overall many of points raised were really interesting. It also seems like anyone coul There are a lot of things that I didn't like about this book but overall many of points raised were really interesting. It also seems like anyone could have written it having first read a dozen or so other contemporary books and magazine articles on the same topic, read some research papers, added in some personal life experiences and idle speculation- voilà. Or maybe I've just read too many of these books and they are all starting to sound the same. A small two-person car that takes up half or a quarter of the area of a conventional vehicle and has several times the mpg is said to be bad for Manhattan because it would convert many pedestrians, bicyclists, or transit users to car users. And any existing car owner who switches to a smaller car will use it more often or live further from their destinations so to cancel out any fuel savings. I think it may be true in some cases but not others. The net effect may be that the user of one of these micro-cars has an expanded ability to use less fuel when gas costs go up, and conversely they also will use more fuel if gas costs go down unless congestion or other limited resources prevents them. And the car ought to cost less up-front, so they will perhaps convert more income to other more productive uses. There are similar arguments against toll roads and parking priced high enough so that a few spots are always available to someone willing to pay. If toll roads make driving fast and reliable, and there is always available parking, then dependence on driving is increased, supposedly. The author doesn't say it but I can see the argument that a road or parking spot that generates enough money to pay for itself is going to make a strong incentive to make more like it, though of course the high profitable price will fall if supply is too great. And in many cities there is very little danger of knocking down housing in favor of parking garages (though that might not be true in the developing world). The other main effect would be one of sorting- wealthier people get to drive and park without having to share the common burden of congestion and others will bemoan the inequity, which perhaps makes them to seek a government remedy via subsidized parking and highways and so on. But there would also be a countervailing set of car users who can increasingly not afford it regardless of parking or roads and who will want more tax dollars devoted to more cost-effective transportation modes. The autobiographical portions were among the weakest, mostly because the author is too defensive about his own current non-urban lifestyle, and too dependent the personal experience of his former life in New York City- there is very little to say about other cities except for some in the developing world, it's just the one example versus generic sprawl or the author's own current residence. Many sections also felt like a grab bag of anecdotal journalism, many of them only weakly connected to the main thesis. There is a long section on how people are camping less than they did post-WWII and have a lot of screen time, instead, which sounds just like a random article that you would have found in Newsweek. (I think the author is actually a New Yorker writer) The author claims that each person moving into a denser environment is matched by another who must have moved out to a less dense community to provide the vacancy, therefore he cannot advocate moving to a city. There may not be much new construction in NYC, but I'm confident many other metropolitan areas are accommodating a higher density of residents. Seattle, for instance- in certain areas for the time being at least. Some deeper analysis is really needed here, or at least a mention of the much higher housing prices as a significant hurdle. Again the wealth sorting effect pops up again, which here could be more beneficial than not- if the life styles of the rich and famous are mostly urban then it may create a powerful model for emulation even if immigration is prohibitively expensive. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man [author] author Fury, Dalton [isbn] isbn 0312384394 [isbn13] isbn13 9780312384395 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 352 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.97 [num ratings] num ratings 1,544 [date pub] date pub Oct 06, 2008 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Oct 06, 2008 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Feb 06, 2010 [date read] date read Feb 19, 2010 [date added] date added Feb 06, 2010 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review The opening chapters are rough but strengthens once the story gets into Afghanistan and to Tora Bora. There is a long section criticizing the quality The opening chapters are rough but strengthens once the story gets into Afghanistan and to Tora Bora. There is a long section criticizing the quality of journalistic coverage of special operations- the level of real facts getting to the journalists is so low that any noise floor of BS will get amplified into otherwise higher fidelity news coverage. But he neglects to mention that the same is true for his end: there is a long tradition of highly embellished or entirely fabricated stories coming not from the press but from people claiming to be ex-special forces. The extreme secrecy of Delta Force has an unintended effect of hiding its capabilities from the elected leaders and Pentagon officials who are making decisions or recommendations to deploy them. The author makes multiple comments about missions proposed from within Delta Force that were dismissed by superiors as too risky. The author has self-censored the story to make himself anonymous, which tend to undermine the chapters covering the author's life outside of Delta Force. Multiple times in the early chapters there are oblique references that go unremarked. Mostly this is the form of vouching for the competence of an individual, and the most annoying instance Dalton says a unit member is a veteran of a 'little known firefight from Desert Storm'. At that point you'd expect at least another sentence or two telling the story of that firefight but instead the book moves on to something else. Dalton's reasons for the failure accomplish the mission the book is named for are probably very well known and uncontroversial by now, but he has more detail to back them up: 1. Odd decision to pull out much of the U.S. forces from the Tora Bora area prior to the fight, supposedly to trick enemies into staying and fighting. 2. Over reliance on local warlords and fighters who were neither trustworthy nor had proper training. Obviously this was compounded by the problem 1 since there were few NATO forces to pick up the slack. 3. Failure to seal the Pakistan border with NATO or U.S. forces. The sort of pussy-footing involved in that decision underlines the separation between stated and actual policy: the Bush administration wanted the appearance of being 'tough on terror' but compromised in many instances. Today we might hear about 'soft power', but in secret some actions the previous administration was unwilling to take are now policy. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman [author] author Krakauer, Jon * [isbn] isbn 0385522266 [isbn13] isbn13 9780385522267 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 383 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.01 [num ratings] num ratings 18,284 [date pub] date pub Sep 15, 2008 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Sep 15, 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Dec 16, 2009 [date added] date added Dec 06, 2009 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review This book works pretty well as a sequel to 'Into The Wild', both have a young man getting killed when they abandon a comfortable life and try to live This book works pretty well as a sequel to 'Into The Wild', both have a young man getting killed when they abandon a comfortable life and try to live up to their ideals. Instead of only looking at the high profile cases of deliberate wartime misinformation from the White House and Pentagon, I would have liked Krakauer to go into the same level of detail for other instances of embarrassing mishap and friendly fire. It would be far more difficult of course, because there is the benefit of secondary military and congressional investigations for the highly publicized cases. I don't have a problem with most of the characterization Krakauer has of the Bush administration's incompetence, but what irritates me is when he repeatedly says that certain decisions were made 'for political reasons'. This is a content free criticism, any time someone in a position of power makes a decision that one disagrees with it can be said to be political, when what is really meant is that the stated reasons for a decision and the actual reasons are not the same. It's not too hard to generate a chain of logic in which lying to the American people is justified in terms of serving the interests of the American people (or at least some subset thereof), and that is whether that logic is valid should be the true point of criticism- don't resort to blaming politics and going no further. The book is extremely concerned with particular friendly fire incidents but doesn't make any broad recommendations of what should be done. The obvious conclusions would be that independent investigation should replace same-service investigations, and that there should be stiffer criminal punishments for destroying evidence. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden [author] author Owen, Mark [isbn] isbn 0525953728 [isbn13] isbn13 9780525953722 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 316 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.92 [num ratings] num ratings 30,315 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 2012 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Sep 04, 2012 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Jan 11, 2013 [date read] date read Jan 14, 2013 [date added] date added Jan 11, 2013 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review The concept of an anonymous autobiography is problematic and this undermines the earlier portions of this book, but it gets better once it starts to c The concept of an anonymous autobiography is problematic and this undermines the earlier portions of this book, but it gets better once it starts to cover operations in Iraq or Afghanistan. There isn't a lot on the authors' pre-Navy Seal military experience or the admission process, and it seems like there is a large time gap between the author joining the Navy (in 1998?) and first combat (in 2003 or even 2004?), but this could be because the chronology is not linear and I wasn't completely paying attention to the audio book. There is a mention of his team having smoked a box of cigars sent from the NRA, which seems odd given that from what I can tell from this book the job of the Navy Seals over at least the last 10 years is to blow open the doors of anti-government/anti-U.S. gun owners in the middle of the night and kill them, or at least capture them and confiscate their weapons. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander [author] author Berntsen, Gary [isbn] isbn 0307351068 [isbn13] isbn13 9780307351067 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 352 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.86 [num ratings] num ratings 990 [date pub] date pub 2005 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Oct 24, 2006 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Mar 12, 2010 [date added] date added Mar 26, 2010 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Paperback [29] actions view [review]

Output: review Rather than editing out portions of the book censored by the CIA, Bernsten instead leaves in every deleted word or deleted section marked as such- tho Rather than editing out portions of the book censored by the CIA, Bernsten instead leaves in every deleted word or deleted section marked as such- though fortunately the longer deleted sections have some explanation as to what the contents. It probably reads on the page a little better than in the audio book, but it lets the reader guess at what is in the removed sections, or even play mad-libs and make up the most ridiculous or offensive possibilities. Bernsten is very critical of CIA leadership (and more vaguely Pentagon leadership) prior to and following the WTC attacks, and is also critical of but partially apologetic for the Clinton administration, or at least Clinton himself. I don't remember exactly but I think there is the same mysterious silence over the anti-terror record of Reagan, Bush I or II (in the first 9 months) as in Kill Bin Laden and similar books. He definitely mentions the Hezbollah attacks against U.S. forces in the 80s, but there is very little detail on any CIA response. I liked hearing about some of the same events from Kill Bin Laden but from a different perspective, but this book covers a much longer time period and lacks the detail and first person perspective of that book. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character [author] author Tough, Paul * [isbn] isbn 0547564651 [isbn13] isbn13 9780547564654 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 256 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.90 [num ratings] num ratings 14,372 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 2012 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Sep 04, 2012 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Feb 26, 2014 [date read] date read Mar 18, 2014 [date added] date added Feb 26, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review Calling one kind of thinking cognitive (traditional IQ test skills) and another non-cognitive (the ability/desire to persevere) is unproductive. It wo Calling one kind of thinking cognitive (traditional IQ test skills) and another non-cognitive (the ability/desire to persevere) is unproductive. It would be nice to have an attempt at the definition of cognition here. The section on chess is much too long. I suppose it has the advantage of being easy to study, and the ranking system is better than standardized test scores for talking about ability levels. But the author or one of the interview subjects admits half way through this chapter that beyond entertainment value that chess is completely useless. Probably there are some transferable skills there, but other examples could have been used as well. Lots of similar topics from Outliers are mentioned here, including the Kipp schools, and the 10,000 hours to master theory- in many the author takes different lessons from the examples. All of these books seem like a jumble of anecdotal stories and statistics that sometimes cohere into an argument (if the author does more cherry-picking, like in Outliers), or here just come out as superficially contradictory advice: Stress is bad, but adversity is good- the author never recognizes that they ought to try to resolve where the division between those two are (stress is bad when you can't get away from it, and adversity is good when some decent fraction of the time you do overcome it?). ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title No One Left Behind: The Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story [author] author Yarsinske, Amy Waters * [isbn] isbn 0451208676 [isbn13] isbn13 9780451208675 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 304 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.11 [num ratings] num ratings 37 [date pub] date pub May 01, 2002 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition May 06, 2003 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Oct 07, 2009 [date added] date added Oct 08, 2009 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Paperback [29] actions view [review]

Output: review Mostly investigatory and bureaucratic procedural, and interesting when it isn't confusing. There are many different parties all with partially overlap Mostly investigatory and bureaucratic procedural, and interesting when it isn't confusing. There are many different parties all with partially overlapping knowledge, and the author doesn't have a strong enough presence to organize it any other way than move chronologically forward from the point of view of what was made known to the public, but that is out of order with what the events those new revelations were concerned with. The book was published in the year before the Iraq war, and the possibility of U.S. forces gaining unrestricted access to Speicher's crash site and Iraqi prisons and documents wasn't realized. I read the wikipedia entry on Speicher and found that closure was only achieved a few months ago. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA [author] author Weiner, Tim * [isbn] isbn 038551445X [isbn13] isbn13 9780385514453 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 702 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.86 [num ratings] num ratings 5,921 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 2007 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Jun 28, 2007 [rating] Lucas's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Jan 08, 2009 [date added] date added Dec 08, 2008 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review This book is very good but has some fundamental problems. It is very critical of the CIA and suggests that intelligence agencies of other countries ar This book is very good but has some fundamental problems. It is very critical of the CIA and suggests that intelligence agencies of other countries are more competent, but offers no real evidence that that is the case. One legitimate suggestion is that smaller agencies in smaller countries with more limited ambitions can be more effective, and other than that the number of operations that were undermined by KGB penetration suggests that the KGB was one example of a successful and large intelligence agency. Weiner later states that it's the unresolved contradiction of running an intelligence agency in an open democracy that's at fault, but I suspect that many closed societies have even more corrupt and ineffective services. The other major flaw that runs through the entire book is that almost nothing at all good or worthwhile is attributed to the CIA. This may be true, but the book repeatedly uses the criticism of people within the CIA (but if those people aren't competent, what good is their criticism?), and portrays the agency in decline (if the agency was never effective, what peak is it declining from?), and repeatedly uses words like destruction and collapse to describe the agency under nearly every president. The central narrative of the CIA that its successes are all secret and only failures are public is most likely a myth as the book claims- some of those successes ought to have been declassified by now- but I couldn't trust this author to say. The CIA led overthrow of the Shah of Iran or the replacement of democracy in Guatemala with a brutal military government I have heard about many times before, though Weiner may be using more recently declassified documents than other accounts didn't have access to. A few other things I was completely unaware of and were very interesting: Early attempts to infiltrate the Soviet Union and North Korea that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of agents trained by the CIA. I don't quite remember but in the case of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union a mole within the CIA's operation simply told the Soviets where the planes or parachutes would land and the agents were arrested immediately and executed. Agents that appeared to survive were actually sending back reports orchestrated by the KGB. But it's not clear whether the failure was 100% or not- if even a single agent was successful, Weiner ought to say but doesn't. The conspiracy theories that plagued the agency after the assassination of JFK. JFK had advocated assassinations to be carried ought by the CIA, so it was natural for them to assume that his own death was payback from Cuba and possibly the KGB. Weiner doesn't seem to have spent much of his research accessing KGB records for this event or any other part of the book, so while he portrays the CIA as paranoid he doesn't quite exonerate those suspects either. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Steve Jobs [author] author Isaacson, Walter * [isbn] isbn 1451648537 [isbn13] isbn13 9781451648539 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 656 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.09 [num ratings] num ratings 301,083 [date pub] date pub 2011 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Oct 24, 2011 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Jan 20, 2014 [date read] date read Feb 20, 2014 [date added] date added Jan 20, 2014 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review Steve Jobs seems like a complete jerk in his professional and private life, though maybe slightly mellows with age. The view into the history of the ea Steve Jobs seems like a complete jerk in his professional and private life, though maybe slightly mellows with age. The view into the history of the early days of personal computing was nice, the narrative is segmented nicely so the chapters on the musical preferences of the subject of the book or parts about his kids and girlfriends can be safely skipped if you are reading it to learn about Apple. I feel like the author made no attempt to see if some aspects of Apple products that are claimed to be innovations were actually novel, or were inspired by competing products (or had a parallel existence prior to and outside of Apple, even if they didn't directly inspire imitation)- the competition is mentioned only when it is strongly interacting/competing with Apple. There is the great early quote from Jobs about good artists copying, great artists stealing, which of course came from Jobs when Apple was the up-start rather than an enormous company. The other day I found a remastered version of the great 1984 Superbowl Macintosh ad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JreO.... The remastering process altered the video to include a much later Apple product onto the athlete running with the hammer- I suppose someone forgot that whole part of 1984 where the protagonist works at revising old images to remove or add things for Big Brother? Or it is intentionally ironic? ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves [author] author Sorkin, Andrew Ross [isbn] isbn 0670021253 [isbn13] isbn13 9780670021253 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 600 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.04 [num ratings] num ratings 19,774 [date pub] date pub 2008 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Oct 20, 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Apr 28, 2011 [date read] date read Jun 02, 2011 [date added] date added Apr 30, 2011 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review It's hard to find the author's voice anywhere but in the epilogue, everything is direct quotes or summarized interview material. Mosts facts or analys It's hard to find the author's voice anywhere but in the epilogue, everything is direct quotes or summarized interview material. Mosts facts or analysis I understand to be the facts and analysis known to persons that are the subject of any given section of the book at the point in chronology the book has progressed to, not anything stemming from independent research by the author. The books is only about the meetings and conversations of dozens of regulators and corporate participants from financial institutions occurring from perhaps the beginning of 2008 to the passing of TARP late in that year. I couldn't keep track of all the people, the book would benefit from more frequent reminders of which company any person was working for. The same applies to what month or day events happened during. As for the subject matter, the thing I understood the least is the uncertainty regarding the financial positions of various companies. It's easy to suggest that more transparency and more consistent reporting should be uniformly required (and though I know little of the financial regulation bill later passed I imagine it requires more of both), but the more radical alternatives I tend to think of are these: Why isn't there a financial/economic NSA? In other words an agency with tremendous resources to monitor the state of the financial world both through normal channels (documents produced as required by law), and other channels the regular NSA or CIA uses such as wiretapping, informants and spies and so forth. The less ominous suggestion is to create more types of corporations that have a spectrum of privileged information allowance, and with significant tax and regulatory advantages to creating the most transparent type. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title California: A History [author] author Starr, Kevin [isbn] isbn 081297753X [isbn13] isbn13 9780812977530 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 416 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.63 [num ratings] num ratings 502 [date pub] date pub 1980 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Mar 13, 2007 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Dec 28, 2010 [date read] date read Jan 26, 2011 [date added] date added Dec 29, 2010 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Paperback [29] actions view [review]

Output: review Earlier history about people and events I knew very little about were interesting, but later sections contained no more information than I'd already a Earlier history about people and events I knew very little about were interesting, but later sections contained no more information than I'd already absorbed from headlines or bits of television news during the events. I'm curious about what happened after the stories lost coverage in the news, but that is exactly where this book moves on to another topic. What came after the energy crises that followed deregulation, or after Shwarzeneggers attempts to balance the budget? The origin of the state as a military acquisition is fascinating: the Mexican residents were promised that their property would not be confiscated, and it wasn't directly or immediately except for a law that required all Mexican property titles to be reviewed. The end result was a redistribution of wealth to the lawyers paid in parts the land they were defending the titles to. I think a similar story plays out in the cases of other annexations or national land purchases- Manifest Destiny can be viewed in one light as a massive socialist endeavour, ironically with the recipients of the land hand-outs and later occupants frequently viewing themselves as self-made rugged individualists. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy, and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism [author] author Akerlof, George A. [isbn] isbn 0691142335 [isbn13] isbn13 9780691142333 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 248 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.69 [num ratings] num ratings 2,226 [date pub] date pub 2009 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Feb 18, 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 1 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Jan 26, 2011 [date read] date read Feb 13, 2011 [date added] date added Feb 05, 2011 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review The money illusion section was very good, none of the other economics books I've read have given it as much as attention as it gets here. I also reall The money illusion section was very good, none of the other economics books I've read have given it as much as attention as it gets here. I also really liked the chapter on the asymmetrical behaviour of compensation in economic down-turns vs. up-turns, again because the subject wasn't given significant text in other books. The book doesn't explore the solution space much- my first thought is that an progressive proportion of wages should be in the flexible form of stock options in the employers company heavily mixed with index funds for the employer's industry and also index funds for the entire market, with restrictions on sales or transfers within some time window of say anywhere from 5 years to retirement age of the employee. The employer would promise employees numerical unit contributions of those funds per year rather than be locked into dollar amounts, accomplishing the desired effect of reducing compensation in recessions without worker antagonism. Higher progressive income tax on dollar compensation coupled with lower taxes on options compensation might accomplish this. The chapter on the TARP (the bank bailout) is full of unexplained jargon and not very useful, also the chapter on affirmative action doesn't cohere well with the rest of the book. The title of the book isn't well justified in the text, and each usage of the term 'animal spirits' is clunky- simply calling some undesired effect to be due to it and therefore the author's solution is the only one that will work isn't very convincing. It would lose marketability but I wish I would hear an economist talk about linearization- various economics theories of the past are actually linearized approximations of actual behaviour, but behaviour outside of the valid linear range is either undefined (and maybe undefinable) or bears more research. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution [author] author Beeman, Richard [isbn] isbn 1400065704 [isbn13] isbn13 9781400065707 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 544 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.01 [num ratings] num ratings 604 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 2009 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Mar 17, 2009 [rating] Lucas's rating 4 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started Mar 14, 2011 [date read] date read Apr 24, 2011 [date added] date added Mar 14, 2011 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review The first chapter gets off to a very slow start, telling the reader unnecessarily which hotels delegates checked into, what they were eating, or equal The first chapter gets off to a very slow start, telling the reader unnecessarily which hotels delegates checked into, what they were eating, or equally mundane details. Better it would have skipped forward to when real constitutional decisions are being made, those parts are fascinating. The most riveting section is where the 3/5 of a person concession is made to the slave state representatives. Even if the fact of slavery could not be addressed at the time, it's extra insulting that the slave states wanted (and received) extra seats in the House of Representatives in proportion to the number of slaves they owned. Even after the 14th amendment disenfranchisement is still rewarded- women may not yet have the right to vote, but the constitution amplifies the injustice by giving what would have been their House seats and electoral votes to the enfranchised voters. Something similar would happen today if the census were to count illegal immigrants towards more representation to voting inhabitants who in many cases wouldn't have the best interests of the immigrants in mind. It also seems wrong that even when people have the right to vote but don't exercise it, the representation they've been granted is given to those in the same state who do vote- it seems to create a perverse set of incentives. Somewhat annoying tendency for the narrator to occasionally adopt the same way of speaking as used by the 18th century subjects within the book. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title In The Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat In Iraq [author] author Atkinson, Rick [isbn] isbn 0316727334 [isbn13] isbn13 9780316727334 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 336 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.84 [num ratings] num ratings 937 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 2004 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition May 06, 2004 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 1 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read May 21, 2009 [date added] date added Jan 03, 2009 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Paperback [29] actions view [review]

Output: review The author shadows David Petraeus during the invasion of Iraq, and after each recounted episode contrasts the competence and integrity of the soldiers The author shadows David Petraeus during the invasion of Iraq, and after each recounted episode contrasts the competence and integrity of the soldiers with that of the Bush administration. Lots of minutiae about somewhat random things, like discussions over whether to tape or paint helicopter blades to protect them from the sand. Those particular details weren't completely random, the vulnerability of helicopters to ground fire and sand is mentioned repeatedly. The story of the looting is interesting - in another book it is mentioned that U.S. soldiers were authorized to shoot looters while in Haiti (or another country?) in the 90's, and there was therefore no looting. In Iraq no authorization existed, and there was a high level acceptance of the looting of Baath party buildings which degenerated into the looting of anything by the time that filtered to the street level. The author talks about painstaking attention made by the military to not damaging city infrastructure (the more they damage the longer they have to stay around afterward to see it rebuilt), but then the looters ended up destroying it in the anarchy following the invasion. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World [author] author MacMillan, Margaret [isbn] isbn 140006127X [isbn13] isbn13 9781400061273 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 404 pp [avg rating] avg rating 3.76 [num ratings] num ratings 536 [date pub] date pub Jan 01, 2006 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Mar 05, 2007 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Oct 30, 2008 [date added] date added Oct 01, 2008 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Hardcover [29] actions view [review]

Output: review Any history book that claims to be about a single small span of time of course expends half of the book on context, events years before and after. The Any history book that claims to be about a single small span of time of course expends half of the book on context, events years before and after. The time span is a good device that gives the book a focus, and also provides a reason to repeatedly step back from the bigger picture and add details like the type of candy provided by the Chinese hosts to Nixon. Zhou is apparently pronounced very close to 'Joe', as in 'Zhou the premier of the People's Republic of China'. I liked the examination of all the relationships with countries on the borders of China, their alignment with the Soviet Union or China or the United States- Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Japan, and the Koreas are the most prominent. The most humorous part of this book is an anecdote about a group of U.S. reporters on their last day in their hotel in China: after Barbara Walters left her room to check out, her colleagues piled their dirty underwear on her bed. As the group was leaving a room attendant came running after her to give her a laundry bag thinking she had forgotten its contents... ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War as Seen by NPR's Correspondent Anne Garrels [author] author Garrels, Anne [isbn] isbn 1593973586 [isbn13] isbn13 9781593973582 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 8 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.03 [num ratings] num ratings 656 [date pub] date pub Sep 03, 2003 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Sep 10, 2003 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Feb 09, 2009 [date added] date added Feb 01, 2009 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Audio CD [29] actions view [review]

Output: review There are two major stories in this book, the first is covers the details of how to be a reporter in Iraq, and the other is about the looting followin There are two major stories in this book, the first is covers the details of how to be a reporter in Iraq, and the other is about the looting following the arrival of U.S. forces in Baghdad. Reporting from the pre-invasion Iraq involved a lot of bribes, surreptitious use of satellite phones, dealing with Iraqi 'minders' that would act as translators and attempt to lead reporters to stories the Iraqi government wanted told, and self-censorship to avoid being kicked out of the country. The author notes that the Iraqi Information Ministry probably didn't consider NPR that important and wouldn't take the effort to read transcripts of her broadcasts, so she may have had more leeway than for example CNN. She takes several jabs at Geraldo Rivera, who she and other reporters despised. I didn't like the 'Brenda Bulletins' read by Vint Lawrence, his voice is not very clear. Why couldn't some or all of the actual NPR segments done by the author be included on the audiobook? I feel like the author was mainly telling the stories that didn't make it into live broadcasts, but not having heard those the book is incomplete. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [0] checkbox [#] position [cover] cover [title] title Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad [author] author Zucchino, David [isbn] isbn 080214179X [isbn13] isbn13 9780802141798 [asin] asin [num pages] num pages 368 pp [avg rating] avg rating 4.03 [num ratings] num ratings 390 [date pub] date pub Mar 22, 2004 [date pub (ed.)] date pub edition Nov 29, 2004 [rating] Lucas's rating 3 of 5 stars [my rating] my rating 1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 stars add to shelves [notes] notes Notes are private! [recommender] recommender none [comments] comments 0 [votes] votes 0 [read count] # times read 1 [date started] date started not set [date read] date read Mar 09, 2009 [date added] date added Jan 03, 2009 [date purchased] date purchased [owned] owned [purchase location] purchase location [condition] condition [format] format Paperback [29] actions view [review]

Output: review The central problem of this book is a dramatic one: the battles are completely one-sided. The Iraqis were completely ill-equipped to defend against ta The central problem of this book is a dramatic one: the battles are completely one-sided. The Iraqis were completely ill-equipped to defend against tanks and die by the hundreds for every U.S. casualty. I think the overwhelming success was completely lost on whoever was in charge of the occupation that followed the invasion, and they replaced practically invincible heavy armor for Humvees. Half the time I was trying to think of inexpensive defenses (swarms of rc or autonomous landmines on wheels?), and the other thinking of things the tanks seemed to be missing (like real-time aerial reconaissance, they were basically charging in with very little knowledge of what was in store for them). The parts I appreciated the most were the events that overlapped with those in Anne Garrel's Naked in Baghdad but from a different perspective. The first was a U.S. tank that was disabled by a lucky shot from an rocket-propelled-grenade or recoilless rifle (which is sort of like the cannon on a tank but mounted on a truck or freestanding), and then abandoned, after which the Iraqi information ministry brought foreign reporters to see it as proof of their defeat of the Americans- this book describes it from the point of view of the people in the tanks, and Garrels was among the reporters who saw it later. The second event is more tragic, where a U.S. tank fired on the Palestine Hotel where Garrels and other reporters were staying and two Spanish reporters died as a result. The first half or two thirds of the book which covers the actual 'thunder runs' of the title seems stronger, but I had difficulty later on keeping events at different locations distinct and characters are very rapidly introduced and then ignored after their moments pass. The other thing was that I had some difficulty visualizing the pacing of events- the author (and probably the interviewed participants) edits out the boring parts, but doing the math on shots fired or vehicles destroyed shows things happened in quantity but somewhat spread out in time. ...more

Lucas's bookshelf: audio (showing 1-30 of 130) (sorted by: review)


Input: [Date] 41 weeks 5 days ago [Body] Call me crazy, but I could see LSU looking for someone new. I dont think they'll be too tolerant of 41-7 blow outs and I've never understood the hype around Les. Thats a team with tons of talent that tends to under achieve most years. Watching the Wisconsin game earlier this year was exhibit A: a totally superior team talent wise that should have lost to one-dimensional Wisconsin team. My fear is that LSU will be ready for him to leave when we come calling and they thank us for the offer... [Title]

Output: Call me crazy, but I could


Input: [Date] 46 weeks 1 day ago [Body] Toenails and lemons dont even approach the pain of this UFR. I pitty Brian. Hopefully he has enough sense to not UFR this one. theres really no point. [Title]

Output: Toenails and lemons dont even


Input: [Date] 46 weeks 1 day ago [Body] I've never been sold that Les is that great of a coach either. He almost lost to Wisconsin who has no qb and the talent at lsu is ridiculuous [Title]

Output: I've never been sold that Les


Input: [Date] 46 weeks 1 day ago [Body] I admire your mental stability. [Title]

Output: I admire your mental


Input: [Date] 46 weeks 2 days ago [Body] oline was terrible and o didnt score....but I honestly think I'm most dissapointed in the D. I really thought they were greatly improved and they couldnt stop anyone tonight. One step late everywhere on the field. [Title]

Output: oline was terrible and o


Input: [Date] 46 weeks 2 days ago [Body] atleast Ohio lost too. Sooo... the big ten's failure is complete. [Title]

Output: atleast Ohio lost too.


Input: [Date] 46 weeks 2 days ago [Body] explosion too small [Title]

Output: explosion too small


Input: [Date] 46 weeks 2 days ago [Body] haha...beer doesnt help my spelling of harbaugh. Please neg me. [Title]

Output: haha...beer doesnt help my


Input: [Date] 46 weeks 2 days ago [Body] I'm an idiot. I thought the day was coming where we would return to glory 6 years ago. Its not coming. I officially just lost faith in the coaching staff as well. I havent seen it mentioned.....but this wont help recruiting. What are the chances hardbough comes home? [Title]

Output: I'm an idiot. I thought the


Input: [Date] 3 years 50 weeks ago [Body] I'm liking the bald look. I wouldnt wish it upon denard though. [Title]

Output: I'm liking the bald look. I


Input: [Date] 3 years 50 weeks ago [Body] I hope you're right. All of tosu fans here in Columbus think he's coming to tosu without a doubt. They cant get this season over fast enough so that he can take the reigns. There are rumors flying around everywhere here about him buying a house in Columbus. I dont believe that he'll come for the reasons you mentioned and I could see PSU as the logical destination if he truely desires coaching again. [Title]

Output: I hope you're right. All of


Input: [Date] 3 years 50 weeks ago [Body] Great to see a glennie reference...I have a lot of family in the Glennie area. Pizza is pretty good at the tavern as well... [Title]

Output: Great to see a glennie


Input: [Date] 3 years 50 weeks ago [Body] I'm living in Columbus now...it sucks. Anybody know of a UM friendly bar to catch the games at? The google map only shows Dave and Busters and I'm hoping that there is another venue to catch the games with some UM fans. [Title]

Output: Columbus area


Input: [Date] 3 years 50 weeks ago [Body] I moved to Columbus with my fiance for work this winter....about the time that all the scandals came out. You brought luck to Alabama. So did I bring good luck to Ohio or did I bring bad luck...? I'm inclined to think that I brought good luck to UM...but I need to be sure or I wont be able to move back to Michigan! [Title]

Output: Confused about my situation...


Input: [Date] 3 years 50 weeks ago [Body] cool...thanks for the info [Title]

Output: cool...thanks for the info


Input: [Date] 3 years 50 weeks ago [Body] Recently relocated to Columbus....I know, it blows....but love is a bitch and this is where my fiance lives/works! We have boycotted cable/direct tv and bottom line is I dont want to buck up for it. I prefer watching games at UM bars will fellow fans anyways. Does anyone know of a UM bar in the Columbus area? Any help/info would be greatly appreciated! *Would have posted new thread about this, but I dont have enough points.* [Title]

Output: Related Question


Input: [Date] 3 years 50 weeks ago [Body] When I played 5th-8th grade football, our games were always on saturday afternoons. My mom and dad came to every game. I was a UM super fan at an early age so missing the UM games bothered me as much as it did my father (who has been a life long fan) and my mother (a UM grad). This gave my family a special bonding opportunity and a saturday ritual during those years.... We would record each game on the vcr and when we got home from my colt league games, we would sit down and watch the UM game as a family. We accomplished two things here: 1. My family attended all my games, something I'll never forget. 2. We built anticipation all day for the afternoon of watching UM games together as a family over a bowl of hot nachos, also something I will never forget. Cash in on this opportunity. Enjoy your sons soccer games and then bring him into the fold as a UM superfan and enjoy the football games together as well. [Title]

Output: When I played 5th-8th grade


Input: [Date] 4 years 1 week ago [Body] have a crew of grad-assistants that break down film like this already. After my playing days, myself and a few other GA's would be up all night sunday breaking down tendancies and packaging film for the coaches to use on Monday....and this was at the DII level. I'm sure they have a refined system at the DI level [Title]

Output: Opposing teams


Input: [Date] 4 years 3 weeks ago [Body] Looks like Nike is taking every advantage of profiting off of talented 16/17 year olds... [Title]

Output: Looks like Nike is taking


Input: [Date] 4 years 12 weeks ago [Body] not enough data to get any real trends....it would need to include position breakdowns. RR had to take a huge number of players at the skilled positions, more than the typical amount per class. My gut tells me that RR players will be slightly smaller, but not by the huge amount this data shows. [Title]

Output: not enough data to get any


Input: [Date] 4 years 14 weeks ago [Body] +1 this [Title]

Output: +1 this


Input: [Date] 4 years 14 weeks ago [Body] What happened at ND was a tragic accident and I cant imagine the pain that the family of that young man has gone through. We have no way of knowing that some deal has been cut behind closed doors to keep the family quiet. Could it simply be that the family is accepting the situation for what it is...a tragic accident that was preventable. How does destroying the lives of ND staff by firing everyone who could have been responsible make the situation any better? Does making accusations about shady closed door deals without a shred of evidence make the situation any better? The best course of action is to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again by educating everyone at ND (and nationwide for that matter) to the risks associated with the work and by putting safety procedures in place to prevent such occurances. That seems to be the course ND is following. [Title]

Output: rabble rabble rabble


Input: [Date] 4 years 15 weeks ago [Body] second that [Title]

Output: second that


Input: [Date] 4 years 16 weeks ago [Body] I like the way things are shaping up....denard and gardner ripping it up for a few years before making the transition back to elite pro-style qbs of the past. we'll be back to the brady/gerbac/henne/griese/hensen style nfl qb producing train [Title]

Output: I like the way things are


Input: [Date] 4 years 16 weeks ago [Body] As much as I hate them...you cant knock their out of conference scheduling...they consistantly have one great opponent [Title]

Output: As much as I hate them...you


Input: [Date] 4 years 16 weeks ago [Body] Love me some Odoms... [Title]

Output: Love me some Odoms...


Input: [Date] 4 years 16 weeks ago [Body] He looks raw in his film, but seems to have the frame to become a great big ten TE. His film is focused mainly as a reciever, I'd like to see what he can do as a run blocker...if he keeps his pads low etc... With some coaching, I'm sure he could be a great weapon. It seems as though our recruiting is gaining some momentum...lets keep our fingers crossed! [Title]

Output: He looks raw in his film, but


Input: [Date] 4 years 21 weeks ago [Body] good info...Hoke knows what he is doing...I like the similarities to Martin [Title]

Output: good info...Hoke knows what


Input: [Date] 4 years 21 weeks ago [Body] Albert Kahn's firm also designed the majority of the big three auto plants in MI and OH...these are not great photo opps, but an interesting fact none the less [Title]

Output: Albert Kahn's firm also


Input: [API Name] Kaltura [Description] Kaltura is an open source online platform for video publishing, management, syndication, and monetization. The associated APIs allow users to access every core service of the platform for... [Updated] 12.04.2011 [Category]

Output: Video


Input: [API Name] Impossible Software [Description] Impossible Software is a video advertising solutions provider. Their products enable advertisers and content producers to customize videos on demand, in real time, tens of thousands of times per hour... [Updated] 07.02.2012 [Category]

Output: Video


Input: [API Name] Tagoo [Description] The Tagoo XML API allows users to integrate the Tagoo search engine onto their own site or project. Tagoo provides a full audio and video search service. Its API features customization of search by... [Updated] 08.14.2009 [Category]

Output: Search


Input: [API Name] Alluc [Description] The Alluc API allows developers to access the Alluc's video and download link search engine. Alluc is a search engine for streaming and download links. [Updated] 03.26.2015 [Category]

Output: Search


Input: [API Name] Revver [Description] Revver is an online media syndication network whose mission is to support independent media artists by creating a viral video network that connects makers, sharers, and sponsors in a free and open... [Updated] 10.22.2006 [Category]

Output: Video


Input: [API Name] Blinkx [Description] NOTE: No public docs until you register. Use the blinkx search capabilities on your site. The blinkx repository is vast and has speech-to-text and visual analysis features. [Updated] 04.26.2007 [Category]

Output: Video


Input: [API Name] Youtube Viral Videos [Description] Using the Youtube Viral Videos API, developers can get a wealth of viral videos from YouTube. With this API, videos can be filtered by categories such as: Entertainment, Music, Animals, Comedy,... [Updated] 02.08.2015 [Category]

Output: Video


Input: [API Name] Digitalsmiths [Description] Digitalsmiths is a video search and recommendation service that creates and leverages data around video content including TV, film and live events across any connected device. Digitalsmiths solutions... [Updated] 05.17.2012 [Category]

Output: Video


Input: [API Name] Magma [Description] Magma is an online repository for video content. Users can search, find, and watch videos in a variety of genres and on various subjects. Users can also discover video content and browse the top 100... [Updated] 01.17.2012 [Category]

Output: Video


Input: [API Name] Search Company [Description] The Search Company API allows developers to access a business directory of U.S. companies. Users can either search for a company using a query string or retrieve a company's information using... [Updated] 05.04.2015 [Category]

Output: Search


Input: [API Name] Webhose.io [Description] The webhose.io API is for web-crawling and data integration across multiple online platforms and sources. The API pulls data from sources such as blogs, message boards, comments, review, news, and... [Updated] 11.17.2014 [Category]

Output: Search


Input: [API Name] Showtime [Description] Showtime is a media center designed for use directly on TVs. It can be used on Linux, Mac OS X, Raspberry Pi, and Playstation 3 systems. It provides playback for video and audio, a unified search... [Updated] 11.13.2014 [Category]

Output: Media


Input: [API Name] Clarify [Description] Clarify is a self-service API that allows developers to make audio and video files actionable via search, extracted keywords, and topics. The Clarify API provides a RESTful API to extract knowledge... [Updated] 10.02.2014 [Category]

Output: Audio


Input: [API Name] My API Films [Description] My API Films is an API the provides unofficial access to the IMDB site through a REST search function. The API returns XML or JSON, and can be used to query most fields in the IMDB site. The site... [Updated] 01.05.2014 [Category]

Output: Database


Input: [API Name] InternetDJ Music [Description] InternetDJ is an online and mobile music discovery and music listening application. InternetDJ lets users search for music and videos by artists, keywords, genre, and more. The InternetDJ API... [Updated] 12.30.2012 [Category]

Output: Music


Input: [API Name] Koemei [Description] Koemei provides video and audio asset transcription services. Koemei transcribes video and audio files, indexes the transcripts, making the video and audio files searchable on the web. The Koemei... [Updated] 05.21.2012 [Category]

Output: Media


Input: [API Name] eCoComa Video [Description] The eCoComa Video API allows users to search for videos from a variety of online sources. Given a keyword to search for, the API retrieves a list of videos that are associated with the specified... [Updated] 05.10.2012 [Category]

Output: Entertainment


Input: [API Name] Mesagraph [Description] The Mesagraph platform aggregates, filters and renders real-time streams. It gathers conversations happening in real-time on Twitter about TV shows. With our Social TV API, you can start building... [Updated] 05.09.2011 [Category]

Output: Social


Input: [API Name] ExamBuilder [Description] The ExamBuilder API allows programmatic access to the ExamBuilder platform to enable the integration of cloud-based testing and reporting with 3rd party applications. ExamBuilder also partners with... [Updated] 01.10.2015 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Smarterer REST [Description] Smarterer provides skill testing and assessment services. The Smarterer REST API allows developers to access and modify data within the Smarterer System. Some of the tasks that developers can do with... [Updated] 03.21.2015 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Spirent TestCenter REST [Description] The Spirent TestCenter REST API can be used by web applications in order to perform system tests in virtual cloud environments. Using the REST API, developers can specific a sequence of steps to test... [Updated] 11.04.2014 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Testdroid Cloud [Description] The Testdroid Cloud REST API allows subscribed users to test their application on the latest Android and iOS devices at once. The Cloud-based API delivers detailed test results, full logcat outputs... [Updated] 10.14.2014 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Ghost Inspector [Description] Ghost Inspector performs automated website tests in the cloud. The Ghost Inspector API allows developers to execute tests remotely in real-time and fetch results. The main value of this application... [Updated] 07.23.2014 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Commsoft [Description] Commsoft is a web company based in India that provides API services of online education. It is targeted to students who are preparing for entrance tests in the medical, engineering and professional... [Updated] 07.14.2014 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] TestLodge [Description] TestLodge is a web-based application for test case management. It allows users to manage their test plans, requirements, test cases, and results in one place. There are no user limits so the entire... [Updated] 07.02.2014 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Splitforce [Description] Splitforce is a mobile application A/B testing service. Splitforce provides various testing features, such as cross-platform testing, integration testing, and targeted user segment testing. The... [Updated] 06.09.2014 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Bestly [Description] Bestly is an A/B testing platform for native mobile applications that aims to make testing new app variations easy. The service enables users to easily make data-backed decisions about about... [Updated] 12.15.2013 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Load Impact [Description] Load Impact provides load testing and reporting to e-commerce and B2B sites. The Load Impact API provides developers with programmatic management of features such as data stores, load zone... [Updated] 04.20.2013 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Errorception [Description] Errorception is a service that finds and tracks errors in JavaScript. Adding Errorception to a website does not require the user to rewrite their code or in any way compromise website performance.... [Updated] 01.17.2013 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Mogotest [Description] Mogotest is a Web Consistency Testing service. The service lets users test their websites offering a number of features such as cross browser compatibility reports, regression testing, screenshot... [Updated] 11.26.2012 [Category]

Output: Testing


Input: [API Name] Traitify [Description] Traitify measures personality through a sequence of visual assessments. The API could be useful to understand users’ behavior, predict data and recognize pattern preferences. Developers in the field... [Updated] 08.07.2014 [Category]

Output: API


Input: [API Name] Unbounce [Description] Unbounce is a self-serve hosted service that provides marketers doing paid search, banner ads, email or social media marketing, a way to create, publish & test promotion specific landing pages... [Updated] 08.06.2012 [Category]

Output: Advertising


Input: [API Name] Bugsnag Accounts [Description] The Bugsnag Accounts REST API allows developers to access and integrate the accounts functionality of Bugsnag with other applications. The API methods include listing accounts, retrieving account... [Updated] 07.24.2015 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] Dynatrace Synthentic Monitoring [Description] The Dynatrace Synthetic Monitoring API offers tools for testing and monitoring a website or app's performance. The API is RESTful and accepts XML and JSON data formats and, in some cases, CSV... [Updated] 07.12.2015 [Category]

Output: Customer Relationship Management


Input: [API Name] Happy Apps [Description] Happy Apps provides uptime app and IT system monitoring. The REST API uses JSON and OAuth 2.0. Make requests over HTTPS with GET methods. Use the API to make website, ping, socket, database,... [Updated] 06.26.2015 [Category]

Output: Monitoring


Input: [API Name] Qualys SSL Labs [Description] Qualys SSL Labs API allows developers to test their server configuration. This API is free with some restrictions. Qualys provides cloud security and compliance solutions [Updated] 04.03.2015 [Category]

Output: Security


Input: [API Name] Litmus Customer [Description] Litmus Customer API lets developers access the Litmus services programmatically. Only customers with subscriptions to Litmus have access to the API. Litmus is a software company that offers... [Updated] 03.15.2015 [Category]

Output: Email


Input: [API Name] Qubell Platform [Description] Qubell provides autonomic system and configuration management services. The Qubell API allows developers to streamline updates to applications and self repair problems. The API includes other... [Updated] 03.10.2015 [Category]

Output: Big Data


Input: [API Name] RedLine13 Load Testing [Description] The RedLine Load Testing API uses basic HTTP requests and accommodates your own load test agent - JMeter, Gatling, Node, or PHP. Use of the API requires a RedLine Professional account and an API Key... [Updated] 02.04.2015 [Category]

Output: Cloud


Input: [API Name] SigOpt [Description] The SigOpt API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of SigOpt with other applications and websites. Some example API methods include creating and managing experiments,... [Updated] 02.17.2015 [Category]

Output: Optimization


Input: [API Name] Atlassian Bamboo [Description] Bamboo is a REST API using basic HTTP requests with default responses in XML, although JSON can be requested instead. Use Atlassian's Bamboo API to access their Bamboo continuous integration (CI... [Updated] 01.28.2015 [Category]

Output: Software-as-a-Service


Input: [API Name] Monitis [Description] Use the Monitis REST API to access data and manage settings of your Monitis website monitoring and management account without logging into dashboard. Use the API to access monitoring features for... [Updated] 01.27.2015 [Category]

Output: Web Site Management


Input: [API Name] Google PageSpeed Insights [Description] PageSpeed Insights is a tool that helps developers optimize their web pages by analyzing the pages and generating tailored suggestions to make the pages faster. Developers can implement the PageSpeed... [Updated] 01.15.2015 [Category]

Output: SEO


Input: [API Name] Yandex.Tank [Description] Yandex is a Russia based internet company that provides users a way to find answers that they may have while being on the internet. Yandex.Tank is a service that load testing and performance analysis... [Updated] 01.08.2015 [Category]

Output: Applications


Input: [API Name] TryMyUI [Description] TryMyUI is a site that can be used to acquire feedback on web software usability from users. Try My UI will find targeted demographics from a customizable testing pool size to rate a user interface.... [Updated] 01.11.2015 [Category]

Output: Ratings


Input: [API Name] Metasploit Remote [Description] Metasploit is a penetration testing software developed by Rapid7. Metasploit's main features are to scan for and verify vulnerabilities, and to manage security assessments. The Metasploit API... [Updated] 11.12.2014 [Category]

Output: Software-as-a-Service


Input: [API Name] AppThwack [Description] AppThwack API enables developers to integrate a testing feature to their application. With the API, developers will be able to test their applications against multiple mobile devices. AppThwack will... [Updated] 09.21.2014 [Category]

Output: Applications


Input: [API Name] Leanplum [Description] Leanplum is an integrated optimization tool for mobile applications. It comes with content management services for handling mobile content as well as marketing automation services, mobile A/B testing... [Updated] 08.07.2014 [Category]

Output: Application Development


Input: [API Name] Ravello [Description] Ravello allows application developers to upload their virtual machines (VMs) unchanged from VMware or KVM and publish them to the cloud for testing and development. No conversions are required, and... [Updated] 06.10.2014 [Category]

Output: Virtualization


Input: [API Name] CasperBox [Description] CasperBox allows users to run CasperJS scripts online. The CasperBox API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of CasperBox with other applications. Some example API methods... [Updated] 05.06.2014 [Category]

Output: Developers


Input: [API Name] FraudAssets [Description] FraudAssets is an online BIN database service that is designed to help card merchants identify and eliminate fraud risks from their business. The service manages a database of bank card data, and... [Updated] 02.03.2014 [Category]

Output: Security


Input: [API Name] TrustedCoin [Description] TrustedCoin is a bitcoin security service that offers to add additional levels of security and authentication to bitcoin storage and transactions. The TrustedCoin API uses REST calls and returns JSON... [Updated] 01.19.2014 [Category]

Output: Security


Input: [API Name] Ahrefs [Description] Ahrefs is a web explorer that can be used to verify link validity. The service updates every 15 minutes and includes tools to show link domains, anchors, and top pages within a domain. The Ahrefs API... [Updated] 01.16.2014 [Category]

Output: Backend


Input: [API Name] How's My SSL? [Description] How's My SSL is a site that users can visit and or submit web addresses to to verify the strength of the users SSL or TSL. The How's My SSL API uses REST calls and returns JSON and allows... [Updated] 01.09.2014 [Category]

Output: Security


Input: [API Name] Rainforest QA [Description] Rainforest QA is a website testing service. Rainforest QA allows website publishers and developers to create and run functionality and bug tests for their websites across multiple browsers. The... [Updated] 12.10.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] OctopusDeploy [Description] OctopusDeploy is an automated deployment system for .NET. The scale of deployments can range in size: some deploy to a handful of servers, while our largest installations deploy hundreds of projects... [Updated] 12.03.2013 [Category]

Output: Backend


Input: [API Name] Learnosity [Description] Learnosity is a cloud-based learning assessment toolkit. It enables users to create tests, administer them, and then analyze the results. So far, Learnosity provides 23 different kinds of questions.... [Updated] 08.19.2013 [Category]

Output: Education


Input: [API Name] NuBot [Description] NuBot is a fully automated IVR application testing service. NuBot helps automate testing processes in a range of situations including functional, load, regression, performance, balancing, and back-... [Updated] 08.09.2013 [Category]

Output: Telephony


Input: [API Name] Kiuwan [Description] Kiuwan is a cloud service offering from Optimtyh Software that allows developers to analyze and measure the quality of their software. Developers can continuously monitor the quality of their... [Updated] 08.09.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] BrowserStack [Description] BrowserStack is a service that allows developers to securely test their HTML, CSS, or JavaScript code in real browsers on both Windows and Mac operating systems. This includes not just PC... [Updated] 08.08.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] Gurock TestRail [Description] The Gurock TestRail API allows users to integrate automated tests into their applications, along with functions for submitting test results and automating various aspects of TestRail. TestRail is a... [Updated] 08.02.2013 [Category]

Output: Project Management


Input: [API Name] Mock Response [Description] Mock Response is a simple API providing mock HTTP responses for developers. The free API supports HTTP GET/POST calls returning a comprehensive list of error and success responses. [Updated] 07.22.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] PractiTest [Description] PractiTest is a web-based QA and testing service for managing software requirements, tests, issues, and reporting. The test management tools collect information and trace bugs during test runs, and... [Updated] 07.06.2013 [Category]

Output: Project Management


Input: [API Name] Tradery [Description] Tradery is a site for developing environments for the creation, trial, and implementation of trading systems. The service provides position sizing options, over 130 technical indicators, stock... [Updated] 06.03.2013 [Category]

Output: Financial


Input: [API Name] Mocky [Description] Mocky is a service that allows developers to mock their HTTP responses in order to test the functionality of a REST API. Mocky is available as a web console, downloadable software, or REST API. The... [Updated] 05.25.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] Klocwork [Description] Klocwork is a software security provider that analyzes source code during the testing state to determine weaknesses, among other services. The Klocwork API permits users access to the functionality... [Updated] 04.30.2013 [Category]

Output: Security


Input: [API Name] cisimple [Description] cisimple is a testing and deployment service for mobile applications. Developers can use cisimple to test and deploy their mobile applications. The cisimple API allows developers to access and... [Updated] 03.17.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] StrategYard [Description] StrategYard is an investment strategy trial service that allows individuals to test and evaluate potential investment strategies in a simulated environment. The site allows users to work create, test... [Updated] 03.11.2013 [Category]

Output: Financial


Input: [API Name] CircleCI [Description] CircleCI is a platform for developers to create, test, integrate, and deploy code for projects. CircleCI offers features like pushing code to GitHub and deploying code to servers. The CircleCI API... [Updated] 02.25.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] BYU Entrance Exams [Description] The service provides access to scores on placement exams reported to Brigham Young University on behalf of students applying for admission and to course credits awarded on the basis of those scores.... [Updated] 01.04.2013 [Category]

Output: Education


Input: [API Name] Loader.io [Description] Loader.io is a web application testing service. Loader.io allows users to test load capability of web applications and track their testing results over time. The Loader.io API allows developers to... [Updated] 12.29.2012 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] Myna [Description] Myna is an A/B testing service, a type of tool for testing the effectiveness of proposed website changes. It does so by presenting some visitors with the original site and others with the updated... [Updated] 12.22.2012 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] Optimizely [Description] Optimizely provides A/B testing services for comparing the effectiveness of two versions of a web page. Optimizely enables developers to divide site visitors into two groups and to show each group a... [Updated] 11.27.2012 [Category]

Output: Web Site Management


Input: [API Name] Shopping Cart Diagnostics [Description] Shopping Cart Diagnostics is a solution designed to make online stores error-free. This online service will analyze all types of inaccuracies and issues within a user's shopping cart, store... [Updated] 10.26.2012 [Category]

Output: eCommerce


Input: [API Name] Project Troia [Description] Project Troia is a quality control service and algorithm for crowd-sourcing applications. The Project Troia API allows developers to access and integrate the functionality of Project Troia with... [Updated] 10.21.2012 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] RankMyTyping [Description] The service provides access to statistics compiled by an online game to measure the user's typing or keyboarding speed. Users state their age, gender, and occupation before taking the test, so... [Updated] 09.27.2012 [Category]

Output: Entertainment


Input: [API Name] BrainMeasures [Description] BrainMeasures is a testing and certification service that helps employers screen to hire the best candidates and for users to take developer and other certifications to further their professional... [Updated] 09.24.2012 [Category]

Output: Education


Input: [API Name] CPP Score Request [Description] CPP is a company that offers personality and personal strength tests for the business world. Although best known for their Myers-Briggs Type IndicatorÂ® assessment, CPP also provides the Strong... [Updated] 09.16.2012 [Category]

Output: Other


Input: [API Name] Pieceable [Description] Piecable Software is an app development platform. It allows developers, retailers, companies, and others desiring to create an app for their service tools to construct, test, and deploy their own.... [Updated] 09.10.2012 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] Boom test uitgevers [Description] The service provides standardized management of Dutch School Proficiency Tests (SVT). It covers tests for mathematics and arithmetic as well as reading, both technical proficiency and comprehension... [Updated] 08.21.2012 [Category]

Output: Education


Input: [API Name] openSNP [Description] openSNP allows customers of direct-to-customer genetic tests to publish their test results, find others with similar genetic variations, learn more about their results, find the latest primary... [Updated] 08.15.2012 [Category]

Output: Science


Input: [API Name] Online Talent Manager [Description] Online Talent Manager provides workplace-focused personality testing. The model it employs was created specifically for the workplace and is designed for finding the best personality fit between a... [Updated] 06.26.2012 [Category]

Output: Other


Input: [API Name] Crossbrowser Testing [Description] CrossBrowser Testing is a service that allows website developers to test their pages. Developers tell the CrossBrowser Testing what browser and what operating system it should simulate. They can then... [Updated] 05.23.2012 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] TestFlight [Description] TestFlight is a mobile app testing service. It provides space for testing and tools for analyzing trial use. Developers first upload their SDKs. Then, TestFlight distributes them to the developersâ... [Updated] 05.23.2012 [Category]

Output: Project Management


Input: [API Name] TestingBot [Description] TestingBot is a website testing service that tests websites in multiple browsers to identify browser-specific bugs. Users can test their websites and web applications in multiple browsers and see the... [Updated] 11.23.2011 [Category]

Output: Browsers


Input: [API Name] Sauce Labs [Description] Web-based design, debuging, and testing tools via cloud-hosted browsers. Allows keyboard and mouse control of virtual browsers with automatic tracking, including videos and screenshots of your... [Updated] 11.05.2011 [Category]

Output: Browsers


Input: [API Name] Conductrics [Description] Conductrics provides an agent-based decision optimization solution. It uses machine learning to optimize website or application behavior to meet defined objectives. The developer API for lean... [Updated] 09.23.2011 [Category]

Output: Agents


Input: [API Name] It's Learning [Description] The service enhances the provider's online learning and training platform by allowing creation of content combining text, images, audio, and video. It also allows creation of tests and quizzes,... [Updated] 12.17.2010 [Category]

Output: Education


Input: [API Name] BetaEasy [Description] BetaEasy API Callback API allows users to interact and “sync” their BetaEasy account with their own web sites and applications. Every time when any event happens on a user's BetaEasy forum (... [Updated] 03.22.2010 [Category]

Output: Feedback


Input: [API Name] Litmus [Description] NOTE: registration required to view the api. From their site: Litmus shows you precisely how your designs will be seen by your customers. See screenshots of your web pages in dozens of different... [Updated] 01.06.2008 [Category]

Output: Other


Input: [API Name] Tenon.io [Description] The Tenon.io API allows developers to integrate their applications with the Tenon services, to facilitate the testing of web-based products and services for compliance with major standards for... [Updated] 05.21.2015 [Category]

Output: Accessibility


Input: [API Name] MonkeyLearn [Description] MonkeyLearn is a cloud based text mining and semantic processing service. Developers can integrate MonkeyLearn into their app for natural language processing and machine learning customized for... [Updated] 09.15.2014 [Category]

Output: Data Mining


Input: [API Name] RandomProfile [Description] RandomProfile is a profile generation service where users can create profiles for use in testing and software creation. The RandomProfile API uses REST calls, returns XML, CSV, or JSON. On each call... [Updated] 02.20.2014 [Category]

Output: Database


Input: [API Name] RandomUser [Description] RandomUser is an API providing developers with randomly generated users to be used as placeholders for testing purposes. This makes the tool similar to Lorem Ipsum, but is a placeholder for people... [Updated] 11.15.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] BugBuster [Description] BugBuster is a web application testing solution. BugBuster provides automatic exploration and an API to allow developers to automatically scan and detect bugs in their web applications. The... [Updated] 11.05.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] sendwithus [Description] Sendwithus creates tools that make transactional mail more effective and efficient for marketers. Services include A/B testing support and user analytics. The sendwithus API provides email templating... [Updated] 10.14.2013 [Category]

Output: Email


Input: [API Name] Koality [Description] Koality is a platform for coding, code testing, and code parallelization for development teams. Users and teams can use Koality to write code, test code, and implement code. The Koality API allows... [Updated] 09.10.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools


Input: [API Name] Torpio [Description] Torpio lets anyone create simple scripts that integrate and extend cloud applications through built-in interfaces to popular cloud apps. Torpio is a tool for interacting with APIs. The service... [Updated] 08.14.2013 [Category]

Output: Tools