Plus: The audiobook has a great narrator. At the core, this book has a set of substantial ideas and truths.
Not for me: I became tired of the constant "fucks" very quickly. I feel like I have outgrown this youthful language (in a boring way, not in an "I'm too classy" way).
I think this book can be a great pointer to recalibrate the values in your life. Personally, I just didn't like the packaging.
A great (layperson's) overview of the current state of the field of A.I., with an introduction to the technology, a summary of the limitations, and some pointers to more literature. A great introduction to everyone who doesn't necessarily want to learn how to build AI themselves, but wants to understand the core technology. It's not the best format for an audiobook, though: The narrator's voice is a little monotonic and there are many references to the 40+ figures in the book that don't come across when you only listen to the audio.
An intense memoir about a childhood that was defined by religious fanaticism and a manipulative family. Crazy to think Tara Westover is only two years older than me, as her story sounds like it comes from a different age, from a different world even.
Kompakte Übersicht über das Thema "Data Engineering": Was bedeutet es, eine "Data Pipeline" aufzubauen, worauf muss man achten? Prinzipiell interessant, aber leider bleibt der Autor sehr unkonkret und nennt wenig echte Beispiele. Für Entwickler:innen ist es meiner Meinung nach zu abstrakt, für "Manager:innen" setzt es dann doch zu viel technisches Verständnis voraus. Ich verstehe die Zielgruppe nicht so richtig, ich selbst war zumindest nicht Teil davon. Naja, es war ein kostenloses ebook, dafür war es okay.
A book about making decisions under uncertainty and a lot of similar concepts. Written and narrated by a successful poker player, but this is a book about decision making in general. Nothing super surprising in there, but a nice framework nonetheless.
A book about the origin story of Ethereum. I read this as a way to challenge my assumption that a) cryptocurrencies are pointless hype and b) that anyone who says 'crypto will revolutionize the world' just uses this as an excuse to speculate in 'get rich.
I understand now that ethereum does have a very interesting core idea: a distributed computer that you can run "code" on, which typically means creating a token that has certain effects when it is bought or sold. Alright, not completely pointless then. I am still not convinced that any of the distributed applications that I've heard of actually need to be implemented that way. Big money speculation seems to be the primary driver, still in 2021. So there is definitely a big hype that still needs to settle down to see what role this technology will play in the future.
In any case, the (audio) book was a pleasant narration of the story and I liked it.
A political thriller set in an alternative post-war Berlin where the Nazis had won the war. This was Robert Harris‘ first novel after he had researched the stories of the forged Hitler Diaries in the 1980s. He clearly succeeded in mixing history and fiction – I for one was quite captivated by the story.
Mal wieder so ein "Klassiker" unter den Finanzbüchern. Die Autoren berichten von den Ergebnissen ihrer Studien darüber, wie Millionäre in den USA verteilt sind.
Das Buch ist schon 20 Jahre alt und es wirkt auch wie aus einer anderen Zeit. So gibt es keine kritischen Auseinandersetzungen mit Fragen zu Ungerechtigkeit oder Ungleichheit basierend auf Geschlecht (nur kurz erwähnt) oder Hautfarbe (gar nicht erwähnt).
Die Gesellschaft im Ganzen ist allerdings auch nicht der Anspruch des Buches. Es geht vielmehr um die Betrachtung des Verhaltens des Einzelnen.
Die Ergebnisse sind wenig überraschend: Wohlhabend werden diejenigen, die unter ihren Verhältnissen leben; nicht diejenigen die viel verdienen aber Wert auf sichtbare Statussymbole legen.
Insgesamt fand ich es unterhaltsam, so als Hörbuch. Die Audioqualität war wie aus der Blechbüchse, das hat dem ganzen einen gewissen Retrocharm gegeben. Der Inhalt kommt aus einer Zeit der späten 90er und frühen 2000er in den USA, so dass vor meinem inneren Auge jedes Kapitel die Optik einer Friends-Episode hatte.