Clearing the Antilibrary

These are things I have been reading but really haven’t mentioned.
The Candy Bombers by Andrei ChernyThis was a great history book on the personalities and politics (stories both big and small) around the Berlin Airlift. I didn’t know much about this incident other then a mental paragraph or so filed away. This is a book [...]

The New URL for the War Nerd is…

…here.
I was wondering why there wasn’t anything new popping up in RSS.
Here are my War Nerd book notes (short version: I liked it and think it was a valuable read).

Quick Book Notes: The New School of Information Security by Shostack and Stewart

The authors state that the practice of Information Security is flawed in many ways (something I don’t disagree with in many ways).
This is not a book about information security, but a call for the practice of it to change…to grow up so to speak.
The authors want the practice of InfoSec to be based on hard [...]

Book Notes – “War Nerd by Gary Brecher”

I finished reading “War Nerd” which is collection/bookification (yeah I made up the word) of Gray Brecher’s “War Nerd” web column.
The author is annoying, smug, and geeky.
I quite enjoyed the book. You should buy it. If you start reading it, keep reading.
It is a very readable analysis region-by-region of what is referred to in XGW [...]

Book Notes: John Poole’s Dragon Days: Time for “Unconventional” Tactics

John Poole’s Dragon Days is mostly about 4GW and a little bit about what I call 5GW (aka SecretWar).
The Interesting points to me where:
- US light infantry should add criminal investigative techniques
- US light infantry should all add real SERE capability so they don’t need 2GW-ish bombardment (with its 4GW blowback) if they get into [...]

BookTV Podcast with “The Utility of Force” author Gen. Rupert Smith…

…can be subscribed to here. That’s how I listened to it. The webcast version link crashed my browser.
It was quite interesting. He seems to be presenting a similar framework to Lind or XGW. Of course, since he is British, he sounds even smarter then he really is (which is smart to begin with). I am [...]

I just finshed reading Michael Yon’s new book “Moment of Truth in Iraq”…

…and I really liked it.
The book is 3 things:
- First-rate first-person war reporting
- An account of what is going on tactically in Iraq
- A partial handbook on COIN/4GW and the importance of the non-kinetic activities

I highly recommend it. The PurpleDad is getting my copy.

My Antilibrary [Updated]

I wasn’t asked, but here is a sample of my antilibrary:
Real Digital Forensics by Jones et al.
Why is it in my queue? I am an Information Security Engineer by profession, but I don’t do much with forensics. It is an area I would like to learn more about,
–
The Mind Map Book by Buzan et al.
Why? [...]

Photo: I Started Reading “The Exploit” Over Lunch

Sometimes, you just need to make a Sushi run:

Sparse Elegance: Charles Koch’s “The Science of Success”

This is not a self-help book. It is an excellent slim introduction to free market economics and economic thinking masquerading as a business book.
While I picked up the “Science of Success” to see how he applied economic thinking to running a business, I was blown away the authors clarity and elegance in describing economic thinking.
I [...]

Book Notes: Nicholas Wade’s – “Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors”

I bought and finally read Nicholas Wade’s – “Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors” after catching references to it around the blogosphere (e.g. TDAXP)
I loved it.
This book makes an interesting pass at writing down the “pre-history” of humans mostly based upon on genetics and human DNA analysis.
Wade notes the following as [...]

I just finished reading Greg Bear’s Quantico

It is a near-future thriller about Bioterror and hints around the edges at the future events in the Mideast, terrorism, the US Intelligence Community and hi-tech National Security gadgets.
It was just okay.
It was really about hi-tech bioterror. Secondary themes were about how the USGOV and the IC isn’t doing enough…and is doing too much. And [...]

Mystery Tom Clancy Novel? WTF is “So They Went and Elected a Jewish President”

Does anybody know anything about a Tom Clancy novel entitled: So They Went and Elected a Jewish President?

123 Meme

I was tagged by Shane/Deichmans with the 123 Meme.
Here are the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.
I won’t tag anybody since I am about month behind on this, but here is my [...]

Book Notes – “The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People” by Jonathan Schell

I bought this book about 2 years ago, but I just recently got around to reading it after some recent related posts.
So I read through the book with those posts in mind, along with looking for 5GW ideas and xGW ideas in general.
My notes:

The book of course doesn’t use terminology like 4GW and 5GW, [...]

“Leverage Factors”

I just started reading The Meaning of the 21st Century by James Martin this evening.
What I read on page 10 and then page 11 jumped out at me:

Leverage Factors
In this book, I use the phrase leverage factors to refer to relatively small and politically achievable actions – such as minor changes in rules – that [...]

Recently Read: “The Secret History of the PWE”

I just finished the The Secret History of PWE: The Political Warfare Executive, 1939-1945 written by David Garnett.
The Political Warfare Executive was the UK Secret Service doing propaganda in WW2.
It was an interesting read. I especially liked the country by country sections on what messages were used.
One thing stood out at me. Given the urgency [...]

Wikipedians Against “Unrestricted Warfare”

Some Wikipeadians are usuggesting the article for the book Unrestricted Warfare should be deleted:
I think it’s fair to say that while it does seem to be based on an authenic document, the translation and emotive cover of the book has the smell of a black propaganda effort, or at the very least, irresponsible sensationalism. This [...]

A Friend of ManBearPig Strikes Out at the Goracle’s New Book

I have been dreading the thought of watching the Goracle’s movie or new book for an upcoming essay.
Here is what Thomas Mitchell – who must be an associate of ManBearPig – wrote about the book:
His new book, “The Assault on Reason,” is precisely that — a relentless assault on reason, as well as science, history, [...]

“Positioning” by Al Ries and Jack Trout: Anything for 4GW or 5GW?

I recently read Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout.
This is really mostly a marketing/business book, but I am looking for ideas I can swipe from elsewhere fro 4gw/5gw.
I love the subtitle: The Battle for Your Mind. I am going to crib and re-use that soon.
The authors define positioning as what you do to the [...]

“An Army of Davids” by Glenn Reynolds

I read An Army of Davids by Glenn Reynolds (who apparently is a blogger) recently.
This book is really about the rise of Super Empowered Individuals and of networks of strategically thinking citizens mostly through new technologies.
It was a good (not great) read.

Just Read: Measuring America by Andro Linklater [Updated]

The full title is: Measuring America: How an Untamed Wilderness Shaped the United States and Fulfilled the Promise of Democracy.
I liked it.
It is a history of America from the point of view of measurements, surveying and map-making.
Thank you TrumpetSpice for loaning it to me.
Updated: Related here.

Book Notes: The Entrepreneurial Imperative by Carl J. Schramm

The book The Entrepreneurial Imperative by Carl J. Schramm is subtitled “How America’s Economic Miracle Will Reshape the World and Change Your Life”.
This is not a book on entrepreneurship, but rather a book on why entrepreneurship (practice of, promotion of, as foreign policy) is important to the a public policy for future USA.
Right from [...]

Book Suggestions for the New or Soon to Be Graduate

Here are some book suggestions for the new or soon to be college graduate – regardless of the future job or academic background:
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
The new graduate will need a way to track and plan activities and tasks. GTD is the best open system I have found.
–
The [...]

Some Books Recently Read during my Blogging Sabbatical

Open Target: Where America Is Vulnerable to Attack by Clark Kent Ervin
You can summarize it as: Homeland security is a mess as told by a former Inspector General.
–
Suddenly We Didn’t Want To Die by Makin
Memories of a Marine Infantryman in WW1. I noted especially were mentions they needed better training in close-in infantry tactics. That [...]