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Dave Nelson Posts

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex by John Gray

I bought this book from Audible, it is narrated by the Author.

It turns out that there are differences between men and women, who knew. After listening this book the differences are much clearer and now I have some ideas how those differences can be approached in a positive way. I expect what I have learned to make a real difference in my relationships with both men and women.

My wife has told me that she read this book years ago, and now that I have also read it I really appreciate the things my wife does for me that may have been learned from the book. Her understanding that I need to spend time alone in my man cave to recharge has really made our relationship strong. Now I need to giver her more time to talk and express herself without being interrupted or given “solutions.”

I rate this book a 9 out of 10 and a must read.

Books

Creative Black & White by Harold Davis

Harold Davis’ new book on taking digital color photos and transforming them into creative black and white pictures is an inspiring read with a lot of examples and many ways to achieve your vision.

A focus of the book is to help you learn how to pre-visualize what the world of color that surrounds us in blank & white. To se the contrasts of light and shadow that are left when the color is removed from an image and I think the book does a good job of describing how to do that.

I really like the different ways that are covered in the book to transform your color images into blank & white, Photoshop, Lightroom, Silver Efex Pro, and Photomatix are all covered. Creating images with high-hey, low-key, split toning, HDR, hand coloring, and noise are all explored with examples and tips.

I found the HDR example especially interesting, using HDR methods to create a photo with a extraordinary range of shadows is really appealing to me and I plan on giving it a try soon.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in making amazing black & white photos.

I want to thank the author for the chance to review this book before its release.

Books

Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend

I bought this book on Audible and it is narrated by Dick Fredricks.

I have not read a lot of self-help books, but hearing Dave Ramsey describe this book and on his recommendation I decided to give it a try. Let me tell you, it is an amazing book full of ideas.

I think the biggest thing I learned from the book is how my childhood experiences shaped the way I expect to be treated by others and how that affects my reactions and attitude. It really has given me a lot to think about and work on every day.

I look forward to litening to this book again and again. I give it a 10 out of 10 and recommend it to everyone!

Books

Ender’s Game: Special 20th Anniversary Edition by Orson Scott Card

I bought this book from Audible to listen to during a road trip to Florida for William and Lucky’s wedding.

I am a huge fan of Ender’s Game and all of the related books. Ender’s Shadow is probably my favorite of the books, but Ender’s Game should be read first.

This is a very special recording of the story with Stefan Rudnicki, Harlan Ellison, Orson Scott Card and others. I really enjoyed the high quality of voice acting and production. The postscript by the author is fantastic and in it he expresses the opinion that this recording is the way the story should be experienced, that it is a preferable experience to reading a printed version of the book and I agree.

I rate this recording as a 9 out of 10, the only thing I could imagine being better would be hearing the book as a radio-play.

Books

ignite Atlanta at the Georgia Aquarium

The ignite event at the Georgia Aquarium was a great success. We learned about super babies, how to build a hackintosh, rapid brainstorming, and how to keep a happy septic tank among other things.

Eighteen were given 5 minutes to present there ideas using 15 slides that automatically forward every 15 seconds. It makes for quick presentations that can leave the presenter breathless.

I have been watching ignite presentations on the interwebs and really enjoy them. The opportunity to see an event in person was a real treat.

More information:

HappyPeople

The Elect Lynette Fundraiser was a Blast

We had a great time at Lynnette Howard’s fundraiser this weekend. Javier Lopez spent a lot of time conversing with fans, answering questions, signing baseballs, and hanging out. It was such a beautiful day with a cool breeze and blue skies. Check out the photos.


HappyPeople

Meet Javier Lopez and Lynette Howard this Saturday

Javier LopezThis weekend in Norcross, come meet baseball great Javier Lopez and candidate for Gwinnett County Commissioner District 2 Lynette Howard for a fundraiser cookout.

Everyone is welcome to come out and have a great time, there will be food, a silent auction, and a lot of family fun.

When: Saturday April 17th, 11:00am – 2:00pm
Where: The horse farm at
4685 S Berkeley Lake Rd, Norcross, GA 30071
How Much: $10 per person

Check out Lynette’s election web site at http://electlynette.com/ and read up on Javier at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javy_L%C3%B3pez.

HappyPeople

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich

From the writer of “Bringing Down the House” comes the story of the founding of Facebook. I listened to the unabridged version of this book purchased on Audible.

Like “Bringing Down the House” this book is a very conversational accounting of historical events. I find it similar to Hunter S. Thompson’s style of gonzo journalism without the drugs or bombastic language. I like the writing style and believe it makes the story interesting and listenable.

I found it an interesting listen even though it doesn’t really contain any insights that could be used to create a successful web business, but I guess that ties into the title “The Accidental Billionaires.” I believe that Mark Zuckerberg’s personality is fundamental to the things I like most and like least about Facebook.

I now believe that Facebook’s initial success was mainly due to Mark’s ability to quickly build a web site that copied the best of what other social networking sites were already doing using a simpler interface. Other people have had similar ideas, but Mark was able to execute and get the idea into the hands of the public when others failed.

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook is a good read but I don’t consider it a business book, I’ll give it a 6 out of 10. If you haven’t read “Bringing Down the House” I highly recommend it as an 8 out of 10.

Books

Maximum Ride: Books 1, 2, and 3 by James Patterson

The “Maximum Ride” series from James Patterson is a “Young Adult” series that is intended for grades 7 through 9.

From the James Patterson web site about the first book:
“Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel. Six kids who are pretty normal in most ways—except that they’re 98 percent human, 2 percent bird. They grew up in a lab, living like rats in cages, but now they’re free. Aside, of course, from the fact that they’re prime prey for Erasers – wicked wolflike creatures with a taste for flying humans.”

The defacto leader and namesake of the series is 14-year-old Max. She is the narrator for much of the story and spends a lot of time addressing the reader directly, I find this tedious and it may be what I dislike most about the series.

I struggled through the first book, The Angel Experiment. The writing is far from inspiring and a little condescending, but I found many of the ideas in the story interesting and felt that it could really go somewhere.

In the second book, School’s Out, the writing is a bit better and the flock’s desire for family is touching.

In the third book, Saving the World, the story is getting repetitive. It feels like there are multiple voices writing the book and they have diverging ideas. I like the action but I am growing a bored with the series. But I would like to continue reading and learn the fate of the flock.

I have been buying these books from Fictionwise, the eBook seller now owned by Barnes & Noble and all of the Maximum Ride books have been pulled from their catalog. In a response to an email they have said, “Due to industry changes, our content suppliers are currently unable to offer certain titles from several large publishers. We are working with our content partners to resolve this.” So no more James Patterson for me. I guess I will never know what becomes of the Flock. To the credit of Fictionwise, the James Patterson books I have previously purchased are still available in my library.

To all you book publishers out there, get over yourselves and remember that some money is better than no money.

To the authors out there, I am sorry you feel the need to use publishers that force terrible contracts on you that give away your rights to get your material into the hands of those who want to buy it.

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Basketball: Norcross vs. Mountainview

blocked shot It was a great game at Shiloh High this weekend.

It was great to get out and take my first sports photos of the year. I have a lot of open days left on my schedule, if you have an event you would like photographed please let me know.

PhotographyPictures

DragonCon 2009 pictures are up!

The Gallery is at http://photo.davenelson.com/DragonCon/DragonCon-2009/.
Here are some quick highlights

Here are some cool searches

HappyPhotographyPictures

Photography is not a Crime

Please do not let this happen to you. If you have the time and stubbornness please push the issue of Photographer’s rights as far as you can.

Trey Ratcliff of Stuck in Customs was harassed recently in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park trying to take photos of the World of Coca-Cola museum and told that he was not allowed to take photos of the building.

I will be getting in contact with management of the museum and see if I can find out what their policy actually is.

Here is a link to Trey’s blog post: http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2009/08/09/nearly-getting-arrested-in-downtown-atlanta/

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