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manu

manu@bookrastinating.com

Joined 6 months ago

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Temporary spaces (2001, Die Gestalten, Die Gestalten Verlag) 4 stars

Wow

4 stars

I borrowed this from the library mainly to view the photos of the "Club 4 Chunk", but all those clubs depicted are fascinating to look at. Just how different they are, yet all of them spartanic. The anecdotes of the guests are a nice touch, but only scratch on the surface.

Stickers (Paperback, 2005, Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin 200b) 4 stars

Photos of stickers and graphics submitted from artists all over the world to take part …

A proper throwback :)

4 stars

It’s mostly just photos and illustrations to browse through, but still it was a very enjoyable throwback into the booming times of sticker as an art form in the public space. A prober honoring of the first wave of artists reclaiming public space to spread their own messages, instead of leaving it to advertisers alone.

Der 2000 Crash (Paperback, German language, 1999, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH  Co. KG) 3 stars

Der Tag, an dem das Licht ausgeht?

Weshalb Experten bei der Datumsumstellung zum Jahr 2000 …

Guter Spiegel des Zeitgeists, aber geholfen haben kann das niemandem

3 stars

Es gibt nicht wirklich einen erkennbaren roten Faden, und es wird im Prinzip wiedergegeben was öffentlich diskutiert wird – ob das jetzt konstruktiv ist oder nicht. Der Autor stellt sich an Stellen sachlich und gelassen dar, bezeichnet Aussagen anderer als Panikmache, ist aber selbst nur kaum weniger alarmistisch. Also geholfen haben kann das Buch damals niemandem. Aber mir ging’s eh darum ein Gefühl dafür zu bekommen, wie Leute zu der Zeit über Computer und Technik gedacht und geredet haben :)

Hackerbrause (German language, 2011) 3 stars

Eigentlich ganz nett

3 stars

Ich habe das Buch als Teil einer Recherche gelesen, um mehr darüber zu erfahren wie Club-Mate zur "Hackerbrause" geworden ist. Das Interview gleich zu Beginn war daher sehr interessant für mich, und auch der spätere Teil über Hackerbrausen an sich war ganz informativ. Die Rezensionen zwischendrin waren für mich meist nicht interessant, ich habe sie der Vollständigkeit halber jedoch trotzdem durchgelesen. Insbesondere da das Buch nun über 10 Jahre alt ist, ist das Bild des Marktes koffeinhaltiger Brausen nicht mehr wirklich aktuell. Die Shortlinks im Buch funktionieren leider nicht mehr, und die domain wird von einem Domain-Squatter zum Verkauf angeboten.

80,000 Hours (Paperback, 2016, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform) 2 stars

Not surprising, some good inspiration

2 stars

I was curious what this was about and it is basically what it says on the tin: a tool to push people towards the effective altruism movement. It makes valid points and references interesting research, but I think it still requires the reader to question some of the conclusions and keep a little skeptic in order not to follow everything blindly. The last third of the book is the appendix.

If you’re young/early in your career, have your shit together but are really lost about what to do with your life and how to even start figuring that out, this can get you some some useful inspiration or cornerstones to navigate by.

Der Phrasenprüfer (Paperback, German language, Grüner Zweig) 4 stars

Wau, amtlich: Herwart Holland-Moritz, Hacker, Mitbegründer des Chaos Computer Clubs (CCC) und sozialer Visionär, starb …

A nice, light read :)

4 stars

It’s a light book describing scenes from Wau Holland’s life—not necessarily exactly word by word—which do a goob in painting a picture of what kind of person Wau was and how he lived his life (I did not know him so I can’t exactly tell, but it sounds pretty plausible). Definitely helps me understand the CCC and its history a bit better.

The Dark Forest (Paperback, 2016, Tor Trade) 4 stars

Sequel to The Three-Body Problem.

Somehow unsatisfying

3 stars

I enjoy the ideas the author is playing around with, but I don’t enjoy the way he does it very much. It feels drawn out but somehow still feels like a few things have been left open. I lack the words to describe this any better.

But I like the story well enough to continue reading the series, but maybe not immediately after finishing this ;)

Anything You Want (Hardcover, english language, 2022, Hit Media) 4 stars

Third Edition

“My tales of starting, building, and selling CD Baby, compressed into an entertaining …

Pretty interesing perspectives on entrepreneurship

4 stars

It’s a pretty interesting perspective on entrepreneurship and ideas of building a business. Derek is an outlier in many things here, so it might be useful for entrepreneurs-to-be to get some ideas that are out of the norm. Plus it’s a short read; each article usually has 1-3 pages, so it can be used as a small reference as well.