English, the other cultural superpower

Natural Languages Comments Off

Jan 052026

Is English a bridge or a barrier to economic advancement and social mobility as it spreads worldwide? To what extent do domestic and global politics determine those outcomes? Who are the winners, losers, and resisters? […] Using education as its lens, this book critically unpacks these and related questions in a sweeping journey across four continents through diverse political and historical settings. It begins in Europe with the European Union and its promotion of multilingualism and with controversies over English-taught courses and programs in universities in the name of internationalization. It then moves to the postcolonial world, where disputes over English in the schools reveal longstanding grievances and the inequities of historically rooted and politically motivated language policies, and where French is losing its hold to English in some former French-speaking colonies. It finally shifts to the United States, where state and local officials and grassroots organizers are addressing the “foreign language deficit” and initiating programs that promote multilingualism.

[Excerpt from the publisher website]

The Rise of English : Global Politics and the Power of Language. Rosemary Salomone. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.

Related Website: Interview with the Author

The Remade Art and Science of Influencing Others

Personal Growth, Psychology Comments Off

Sep 182025

Know the tree specific skills to help you succeed in life and in your entrepreneurial endeavor, in a selling-centered world, “without being a sleazebag”, says the author.

Selling is fundamentally human. Whether you an entrepreneur or parent, a doctor or a teacher, a nurse or a software engineer, moving others is central to who you are and what you do. Done right, selling isn’t sleazy or manipulative. It’s noble, necessary, even beautiful.

We are always selling something: ourselves, our ideas, our creations, not just ‘products and services’ as the term ‘sales’ immediately implies.

Pink describes the six successors to the elevator pitch, the three rules for understanding another’s perspective, the five frames that can make your message clearer and more persuasive.

The three qualities most necessary to sell ethically and effectively: Attunement (taking other’s perspective), Buoyancy (staying afloat in an ocean of rejection), Clarity (helping others see problems and information in new ways.)

To Sell is Human : The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. Daniel H. Pink. New York: Riverhead Books, 2012.

Related Website: Why the author wrote this book.

Invest in a foreign country, then underestimate its talent

Information Comments Off

Sep 062025

China would not be China without Apple? That’s the implication of this thoroughly researched book.

“After struggling to build its products on three continents, Apple was lured by China’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of cheap labor. Soon it was sending thousands of engineers across the Pacific, training millions of workers, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars to create the world’s most sophisticated supply chain. These capabilities enabled Apple to build the 21st century’s most iconic products—in staggering volume and for enormous profit.

“Without explicitly intending to, Apple built an advanced electronics industry within China, only to discover that its massive investments in technology upgrades had inadvertently given Beijing a power that could be weaponized.

“Apple in China is the sometimes disturbing and always revelatory story of how an outspoken, proud company that once praised “rebels” and “troublemakers”—the company that encouraged us all to “Think Different”—devolved into passively cooperating with a belligerent regime that increasingly controls its fate.”

[Excerpts from the Amazon store]

Apple in China : The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company. Patrick McGee. New York: Scribner, 2025.

Actual learning machines powered by ‘simple math’

Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (ML) Comments Off

Apr 172025

This book has achieved the goal of explaining the conceptual simplicity underlying machine learning (ML) and deep learning, a subfield of ML, that uses multiple parameters to recognize complex patterns in pictures, sound and text. Machine learning is the study of computer algorithms that can improve automatically through experience and the use of data. It is seen as a part of artificial intelligence (AI).

Machine learning algorithms build a model based on sample data, known as “training data,” in order to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed to do so. The author deems these algorithms and the underlying mathematics as elegant, a kind of ‘relatively simple math’ which one learns in high school like linear algebra and calculus plus the field of probability and statistics and the Gaussian distribution, also known as the normal distribution or bell curve, used as a foundational assumption for many algorithms and models.

We are living through a revolution in machine learning-powered AI that shows no signs of slowing down. This technology is based on relatively simple mathematical ideas, some of which go back centuries, like linear algebra and calculus. It took the birth and advancement of computer science and the kindling of 1990s computer chips designed for video games to ignite the explosion of AI that we see today.

Why Machines Learn : The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI. Anil Ananthaswamy. New York: Dutton (Penguin Random House), 2024.

Devalue education, critical thinking and expertise… and conquer

Anthropology Comments Off

Apr 012025

To better understand the political landscape in North America now and in the last fifty years, there is a concept that will thoroughly explain it: anti-intellectualism. It is that feeling of hostility and dislike towards intellectuals and intellectual activities. Totalitarian regimes have historically used this form of antagonism to learning, education, and the educated.

The author argues that American politicians have grown increasingly allergic to knowledge, and mass media have encouraged the election of ignoramuses by elevating candidates who are better at performing than thinking. Starting with Ronald Reagan’s first campaign for governor of California in 1966 and culminating with the [re]election of the Chief Executive. [Per amazon review].

In this funny but serious book (don’t forget that the author is also a comedian) three stages of ignorance (the force that fuels anti-intellectualism in order to promote, in turn, the ignorance of the populace) are discussed: ridicule, acceptance and celebration. The latter, the stage that is mostly favored by some political circles.

A withering mockery of 21st-century authoritarianism. And, as we know, there is nothing more serious than humor, more impactful than other forms of communication.

Profiles in Ignorance : How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber. Andy Borowitz. New York: Avid Reader Press, 2023.

How a visionary young woman launched the digital age

Information Comments Off

Dec 102023

This is the real-life story of a woman’s struggle to have her revolutionary ideas heard in a male-dominated 19th Century Britain. Originally published in 2015, this is an updated edition with new material.

Over 150 years after the death of Ada Lovelace, a widely-used scientific computer program was named “Ada”. Lovelace, considered the first programmer in history, wrote extensive notes about the machine, including an algorithm to compute a long sequence of Bernoulli numbers, which some observers now consider to be the world’s first computer program. Despite opposition that the principles of science were “beyond the strength of a woman’s physical power of application.”

Based on ten years of research and filled with fascinating characters and observations of the period, not to mention numerous illustrations, Essinger tells Ada’s fascinating story in unprecedented detail to absorbing and inspiring effect.

Ada’s Algorithm : How Lord Byron’s Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age. James Essinger. London: Gibson Square, 2022.

An old technology made evident with IT prowess

Information Comments Off

Dec 102023

Nothing new under the sun, just its awe inspiring manifestation through generative artificial intelligence, capable of generating text, images, or other media. However, artificial intelligence (aka AI) has been embedded into general applications for years, only that when an application becomes useful enough and common enough is no longer labeled AI.

Quoting the author: “Surely, AI machines will help us think new thoughts and dream new dreams, functioning as prosthetics for our feeble brains. For me, AI cultivates a perpetual state of wonder about the limits of thought, the future of humanity, and our place in the vast space-time landscape that we call home.”

Artificial intelligence : an illustrated history : from medieval robots to neural networks. Clifford A. Pickover. New York: Sterling, 2019.

Getting unhooked on tech or how to reclaim your humanity

Health, Information, Information Overload Comments Off

Jan 072022

“Technology: your master, or your friend? Do you feel ruled by your smartphone and enslaved by your e-mail or social-network activities? Digital technology is making us miserable, say bestselling authors and former tech executives Vivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever. We’ve become a tribe of tech addicts—and it’s not entirely our fault.
”Taking advantage of vulnerabilities in human brain function, tech companies entice us to overdose on technology interaction. This damages our lives, work, families, and friendships. Swipe-driven dating apps train us to evaluate people like products, diminishing our relationships. At work, we e-mail on average 77 times a day, ruining our concentration. At home, light from our screens is contributing to epidemic sleep deprivation.
”But we can reclaim our lives without dismissing technology. The authors explain how to avoid getting hooked on tech and how to define and control the roles that tech is playing and could play in our lives. And they provide a guide to technological and personal tools for regaining control. This readable book turns personal observation into a handy action guide to adapting to our new reality of omnipresent technology.” [From the publisher’s website]

Your Happiness Was Hacked : Why Tech Is Winning the Battle to Control Your Brain — and How to Fight Back. Vivek Wadhwa, Alex Salkever. Oakland, CA: Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2018.

Will mathematical models and algorithms decide our fate?

Information Overload, Information Security, Mathematics, Sociology Comments Off

Dec 292021

$Weapons of Math Destruction$

“Weapons of Math Destruction traces the arc of a person’s life, from school to retirement, and looks at models that score teachers and students, sort résumés, grant (or deny) loans, evaluate workers, target voters, set parole and prison sentences, and monitor our health. The models being used are opaque, unregulated, and uncontestable, even when they’re wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination: if a poor student can’t get a loan because a lending model deems him too risky (by virtue of his race or neighborhood), he’s then cut off from the kind of education that could pull him out of poverty, and a vicious spiral ensues. O’Neil has dubbed these harmful models Weapons of Math Destruction, or WMDs. In our society, where money buys influence, WMD victims are nearly voiceless. These models are propping up the lucky and punishing the poor and oppressed, creating a toxic cocktail for democracy. But the poor are hardly the only victims of WMDs. They hit the middle class, too. Even the rich find themselves microtargeted by political models.” [From the Publisher’s website]

Weapons of Math Destruction : How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy. Cathy O’Neil. New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2017.

Learn mathematics the right way this time

Information, Mathematics Comments Off

Oct 172021

“Mathematics for Information Technology is written to help students develop the specific math skills and understanding they need to succeed in electronics, computer programming, and information technology (IT) programs. With topical coverage tailored to important IT applications, this text delivers easy-to-understand and balanced mathematical instruction for students in 9- to 12-week college courses. A wealth of illustrations, examples, applications, and exercises will guide students toward an understanding of the content from a number of different angles.
The authors’ combined experience teaching this material in live classrooms and in online/distance learning formats has uniquely qualified them to develop this text for a variety of learning environments. Whether students are learning in a classroom or online, in a 9-week course or a 12-week semester, or in an electronics, computer programming, or IT department, they will find Mathematics for Information Technology an invaluable resource throughout their studies.” [From the Preface]

mathematics for Information Technology. Alfred Basta, Stephan DeLong, Nadine Basta. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar, Cengage Learning, 2014.

Older Entries