en-US Thu, 08 May 2025 10:18:57 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7527574291 Thu, 08 May 2025 10:18:57 -0700 /review/show/7527574291 Behrooz gave 4 stars to Captured: The Secret Behind Silicon Valley’s AI Takeover (Audible Audio) by Christopher Wylie
I listened to the unabridged 3-hour audio version of this title (read by the first two authors, Audible, 2025).

The book begins with the 7-year-old story of how Christopher Wylie, a pink-haired young data analyst, blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica, revealing how millions of Facebook users� data was being harvested to influence elections. It was supposed to be a turning point, where tech companies� power would be kept in check through regulation.

But Silicon Valley is now more powerful than ever, with tech billionaire Elon Musk continuously present next to the US President, wielding unprecedented power over our lives. Our destiny is being imagined for us by some of the richest and most-powerful people in the world. They’re promising they can solve all our problems—end toil and suffering, and propel us into a utopia where we can live forever and never have to work.

Will we have a class divide between billionaires who will get to live for hundreds of years and modern “peasants� with life expectancy of ~50 years? Is the main source of our fear the fact that the new Industrial Revolution is affecting white-collar jobs, whereas previous Revolutions impacted only blue-collar jobs?

AI has become a religion. Are we going to follow it? Do we even have a choice? Or have the tech evangelists captured our future? This book moves from exclusive crypto parties in Dubai, to the slums of Kenya where thousands of hidden workers are training AI models, to the hacker palaces of San Francisco where tech’s true believers talk about merging computers with our brains.
The audiobook consists of the following 6 chapters, each lasting from 31 to 39 minutes. Chapter titles are followed by my one-sentence summaries.

- Above the Clouds: Introduction to tech leaders� lofty goals, from living forever to merging our brains with supercomputers.

- The Hidden Workers: All monuments known by the names of great leaders were built by invisible, underpaid, abused workers.

- The Magic Trick: Current AI has little understanding; it does things the way a magician uses trick boxes to deceive you.

- The Lost Valley: Tech companies celebrate their victories in amassing data and control, as the world collapses around them.

- The World Without Work: If human labor and creativity are no longer needed, how will we spend our days or be motivated?

- Deus Ex Machina: Some billionaires spend money on endless analysis of their bodies, supplements, and medical treatments. ]]> Review7542877800 Sun, 04 May 2025 13:59:56 -0700 /review/show/7542877800 Behrooz gave 4 stars to The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond (Kindle Edition) by Debra Whitman
In this book, aging expert Debra Whitman, PhD, notes the need for some adjustments, now that Americans are living decades longer than in previous generations. While offering exciting possibilities, these added years also raise crucial questions. How long will I work? Will I have enough money? Where will I live? How will I die? Whitman began to think and write about these questions when she approached her 50th birthday.

Drawing on compelling stories from her own family & people across the country, interviews with experts, and cutting-edge research, Whitman provides a road map for navigating the second half of life. She shares insights on longevity, brain health, financial planning, work, housing, and the value of relationships & social engagement. Dementia rates have actually been declining as more people achieve higher levels of education and adopt healthier lifestyles. And while we’ve long known that staying connected to others is critical to mental health, it turns out it is also linked to a stronger immune system, lower blood pressure and a longer life.

I was lucky enough to listen to a conversation with Whitman on May 1, 2025, via a webinar, organized by UCLA’s Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior. In the webinar, Whitman presented practical steps for creating a better second 50 for ourselves. She also called for urgently needed changes that would make it easier for every American to enjoy a vital and meaningful second half of life.

Whether you are approaching 50, into your later years, or caring for someone who is, you’ll find a wealth of wisdom in the pages of Whitman’s excellent book. Given that the problems we face much later in life are qualitatively and quantitatively different from those we encounter shortly after turning 50, I hope Whitman feels motivated to write about “The Fourth Twenty-Five� when she approaches her 75th birthday! ]]> Review7527587493 Mon, 28 Apr 2025 21:10:52 -0700 /review/show/7527587493 Behrooz gave 4 stars to Global Catastrophic Risks (Hardcover) by Nick Bostrom
A global catastrophic risk is one with the potential to wreak death and destruction on a global scale. Of late, we have been preoccupied with the dangers of malicious, run-away AI pushing humans aside and taking control of our world, nearly forgetting about all the other extinction-level dangers we face. In human history, wars and plagues have caused havoc on multiple occasions, and misguided ideologies and totalitarian regimes have darkened an entire era or a region. Advances in technology are adding dangers of a new kind. It could happen again.

In this edited collection, 25 leading experts look at the gravest risks facing humanity in the 21st century, including asteroid impacts, gamma-ray bursts, Earth-based natural catastrophes, nuclear war, terrorism, global warming, biological weapons, totalitarianism, advanced nanotechnology, general artificial intelligence, and social collapse. The book also addresses over-arching issues–policy responses and methods for predicting and managing catastrophes. The part and chapter titles are indicative of the scope of this must-read collection for everyone, from students of science/society/technology to academics/professionals/policy-makers in these fields.

- Introduction (Why? Taxonomy and organization. Summary of the four parts)

Part I: Background

- Long-term astrophysical processes (Fate of the Earth. Life and information processing)

- Evolution theory and the future of humanity (Changes in human evolution and culture)

- Millennial tendencies in response to apocalyptic threats (Techno-millennialism)

- Cognitive biases potentially affecting judgement of global risks (Black swans)

- Observation selection effects and global catastrophic risks (Fermi’s paradox)

- Systems-based risk analysis (Defining risk. Risk of extreme and catastrophic events)

- Catastrophes and insurance (Catastrophe loss models. Extreme value statistics)

Part II: Risks from Nature

- Super-volcanism and other geophysical processes of catastrophic import (Super-eruptions)

- Hazards from comets and asteroids (Near-earth object searches. The effects of impact)

- Influence of supernovae, gamma-rays, solar flares, & cosmic rays on the terrestrial environment

Part III: Risks from Unintended Consequences

- Climate change and global risk (Climate risk and mitigation policy)

- Plagues and pandemics: Past, present, and future (Plagues of historical note. Man-made viruses)

- Artificial intelligence as a positive and negative factor in global risk. Threats and promises)

- Big troubles, imagined and real (Accelerator disasters. Runaway technologies)

- Catastrophe, social collapse, and human extinction (Distribution of disaster. Existential disasters)

Part IV: Risks from Hostile Acts

- The continuing threat of nuclear war (Calculating Armageddon. Current nuclear balance)

- Catastrophic nuclear terrorism: A preventable peril (Demand & supply sides of nuclear terrorism)

- Biotechnology and biosecurity (Why biological weapons are distinct from other WMDs)

- Nanotechnology as global catastrophic risk (Molecular manufacturing. Nano-built weaponry)

- The totalitarian threat (Stable totalitarianism. Totalitarian risk management) ]]> Review7527574291 Mon, 28 Apr 2025 21:03:40 -0700 /review/show/7527574291 Behrooz gave 4 stars to Captured: The Secret Behind Silicon Valley’s AI Takeover (Audible Audio) by Christopher Wylie
I listened to the unabridged 3-hour audio version of this title (read by the first two authors, Audible, 2025).

The book begins with the 7-year-old story of how Christopher Wylie, a pink-haired young data analyst, blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica, revealing how millions of Facebook users� data was being harvested to influence elections. It was supposed to be a turning point, where tech companies� power would be kept in check through regulation.

But Silicon Valley is now more powerful than ever, with tech billionaire Elon Musk continuously present next to the US President, wielding unprecedented power over our lives. Our destiny is being imagined for us by some of the richest and most-powerful people in the world. They’re promising they can solve all our problems—end toil and suffering, and propel us into a utopia where we can live forever and never have to work.

Will we have a class divide between billionaires who will get to live for hundreds of years and modern “peasants� with life expectancy of ~50 years? Is the main source of our fear the fact that the new Industrial Revolution is affecting white-collar jobs, whereas previous Revolutions impacted only blue-collar jobs?

AI has become a religion. Are we going to follow it? Do we even have a choice? Or have the tech evangelists captured our future? This book moves from exclusive crypto parties in Dubai, to the slums of Kenya where thousands of hidden workers are training AI models, to the hacker palaces of San Francisco where tech’s true believers talk about merging computers with our brains.
The audiobook consists of the following 6 chapters, each lasting from 31 to 39 minutes. Chapter titles are followed by my one-sentence summaries.

- Above the Clouds: Introduction to tech leaders� lofty goals, from living forever to merging our brains with supercomputers.

- The Hidden Workers: All monuments known by the names of great leaders were built by invisible, underpaid, abused workers.

- The Magic Trick: Current AI has little understanding; it does things the way a magician uses trick boxes to deceive you.

- The Lost Valley: Tech companies celebrate their victories in amassing data and control, as the world collapses around them.

- The World Without Work: If human labor and creativity are no longer needed, how will we spend our days or be motivated?

- Deus Ex Machina: Some billionaires spend money on endless analysis of their bodies, supplements, and medical treatments. ]]> Review7520588569 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 10:36:44 -0700 /review/show/7520588569 Behrooz gave 4 stars to Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (Hardcover) by Daron AcemoÄźlu
I listened to the unabridged 18-hour audio version of this title (read by Dan Woren, Random House Audio, 2012).

In Prisoners of Geography, Tim Marshall suggests that whether a nation prospers or withers is dictated to a large extent by its geography, for it is geography that determines whether a nation can be easily invaded, whether it has ready access to trade routes & shipping lanes, whether efficient internal travel & commercial exchanges are possible, and whether the central government can easily control the far reaches of the land. There is a lot of truth to these assertions, but one can also point to quite a few exceptions.

My 4-star review of Prisoners of Geography:
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The book under review here also suffers from too many black-and-white assertions and not enough acknowledgement of the impact of other factors outside the authors� “extractive or inclusive� dichotomy in economic systems.

In answer to the question posed in their book’s title, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, winners of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, point their fingers at lack of social and political infrastructure to support an open economic system. They divide economic systems into two types, extractive and inclusive, with the latter providing the only path to sustained prosperity.

Extractive economic systems, often associated with colonial economies, extract natural resources, with minimal processing or reinvestment, for the benefit of a relatively small group of powerful individuals. Such economies aren’t necessarily inefficient or low-growth, but their extractive policies, which invariably accompany the exploitation of labor, can lead to environmental degradation, social inequalities, and economic instability.

Inclusive economic systems aim to ensure that everyone benefits from economic growth and the attendant opportunities, regardless of their background. It focuses on creating an environment where individuals can participate fully in the economy, earn a living wage, build assets, and have a voice in shaping their future. An inclusive economy tends to reduce inequality, ensure fair growth, create resilient stability, and implement environmentally responsible policies.

Two major questions of today’s world economy are front and center in the authors� minds:

- Will China’s spectacular economic growth ultimately overwhelm the West?

- Is America creating a vicious cycle that enriches & empowers a small minority?

I think Acemoglu & Robinson present a useful analysis, as well as some interesting examples, if one ignores their pronouncements that nations� success or failure is predominantly a function of the economic system and the associated infrastructure. ]]> Review7520569446 Sat, 26 Apr 2025 10:28:04 -0700 /review/show/7520569446 Behrooz gave 4 stars to Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius The Great, #1) by Adib Khorram
I listened to the unabridged 8-hour audio version of this title (read by Michael Levi Harris, Books on Tape, 2018).

This “young adult� debut novel by Adib Khorram has received multiple accolades, including book-of-the-year recognitions from Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, and NY Public Library.

Darius (Darioush, in Persian) Kellner is half-Persian from his mother’s side, but speaks little Persian and knows next to nothing about Persian social cues & norms. He suffers from bullies, is looked down upon by his father, has an anemic social life, and struggles with clinical depression.

Darius’s first trip to Iran, where he meets and befriends Sohrab, the boy next door, changes all that. After some initial discomfort arising from cultural differences, the two boys hit it off and end up spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh (an icy Persian dessert), and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking Yazd’s skyline.

In the setting above, many aspects of the pains of growing-up and gaining cultural awareness, which are common to all societies, as well as specific challenges of a Western-raised youth adapting to a traditional society are discussed. ]]> Review7517132593 Fri, 25 Apr 2025 00:54:06 -0700 /review/show/7517132593 Behrooz gave 4 stars to The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward (Hardcover) by Melinda French Gates
I listened to the unabridged 4-hour audio version of this title (read by the author, Macmillan Audio, 2025).

I have previously read and reviewed the author’s first book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World, a thoughtful manifesto about the economic and social benefits of fully integrating women into the society.

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In her second book, Melinda Gates focuses on important transitions in her life, among them leaving for college, giving birth thrice, losing a best friend to cancer, turning 60, and, of course, divorcing Bill Gates. The author doesn’t disclose much about the reasons for leaving her marriage to Bill, but media reports on Bill’s scandalous relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and an affair with a Microsoft employee are public knowledge. Apparently, the marriage was on the rocks even before the scandals, but Melinda leaves questions about Bill’s role in the divorce for him to answer.

Among Melinda’s sensible bits of advice is to ditch perfectionism and to settle for good-enough, especially in parenting. Perfectionism, along with the attendant loss of spontaneity, drains the joy out of one’s life. After the birth of her first daughter, Melinda quit work to become a full-time mom. She recognizes her privilege in being able to make such a choice and pays homage to moms who are forced to work multiple shifts just to manage. In fact, she acknowledges that perhaps, even in the absence of dire financial need, women would be better off to continue working, settling for good-enough, rather than aiming for perfect, parenting.

After leaving Bill, Melinda focused on Pivotal Ventures, her feminist-inspired organization whose ultimate goal is expanding women’s power & influence, with an important intermediate step being the adoption of universal paid parental leave. Unable to bear “the idea that my granddaughters could grow up with less freedom than I have had,� Melinda is passionate about the role of women in society. On the surface, she isn’t political, but her actions are driven by the centrality of women’s rights in the face of recent regressive moves to deny these rights. If this isn’t political, then I don’t know what is! ]]> Review7501240143 Sat, 19 Apr 2025 09:49:03 -0700 /review/show/7501240143 Behrooz gave 4 stars to The Rule of Law: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Aziz Z. Huq
I listened to the unabridged 4-hour audio version of this title (read by Bill Andrew Quinn, Tantor Media, 2025).

This is yet another wonderful entry in the long list of titles of Oxford University Press’s “Very Short Introduction� series, a collection of brief books that has allowed me to learn entirely new subjects and to brush up on topics that I learned a long time ago.

Dictatorships, oligarchies, and democracies all pay lip service to the rule of law, but few actually do what they preach. Huq presents a concise history of the concept and term, while describing its various forms, adoptions, benefits, and criticisms in the following seven chapters. An epilogue concludes the book.

- Why does the rule of law matter? (Definitions, basic concepts, importance)

- Seeding the rule of law (Aristotle, Locke, Montesquieu, Magna Carta)

- The rule of law’s green shoots (England’s pride, Dicey’s lessons and legacy)

- Three branches of the modern rule of law (Advancing justice, promoting efficiency)

- Why does the rule of law survive? (Institutional foundations, class conflict, legitimacy)

- Cultivating the rule of law in new lands (World Bank, Singapore, China)

- The rule of law condemned: Critics and crises (Pashkanis, Schmitt, inequalities, populism)

Today, it is more important than ever for everyone to understand the various, sometimes conflicting, meanings of “the rule of law.� In many dictatorships, and in Trump-era United States, the rule of law is used to justify arbitrary detentions, enabling mobs to attack, physically or virtually, political opponents, rewarding obedience, and punishing dissent. ]]> Review7466065669 Sat, 05 Apr 2025 22:00:20 -0700 /review/show/7466065669 Behrooz gave 3 stars to 400 Quotes of Humour by Albert Einstein
The 400 quotes in this collection are labeled as “humorous,� but many of them, especially those attributed to Albert Einstein, are quite serious. Perhaps they should be called “witty.� Samples from the 100 quotes from each of the four “authors� follow.

“The Devil has put a penalty on all things we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health, or we suffer in soul, or we get fat.� ~ Albert Einstein

“Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.� ~ George Bernard Shaw

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.� ~ Groucho Marx

“There are two types of people in this world: Good and bad. The good sleep better, but the bad seem to enjoy the waking hours much more.� ~ Woody Allen ]]> Review7463530186 Fri, 04 Apr 2025 22:29:10 -0700 /review/show/7463530186 Behrooz gave 3 stars to Digital Signal Processing in Vlsi (Hardcover) by Richard J. Higgins
This 575-page book consists of the following 8 chapters:

- Real-world signal processing

- Sampled signals and systems

- The discrete Fourier transform and the FFT algorithm

- Digital filters

- The bridge to VLSI

- Real DSP hardware

- Software development for DSP systems

- DSP applications

The book’s VLSI content is dated, but the DSP basics in Chapters 1-4 are explained clearly and with plenty of examples & diagrams. My favorite DSP book remains Digital Signal Processing, A Computer Based Approach (McGraw-Hill, 4th edition, 2010), written by my emeritus UCSB colleague, Dr. Sanjit K. Mitra. A comprehensive, free on-line book, The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing, by Steven W. Smith, is also highly recommended.


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