Of all things Geek. I am…
How did the PayPal service that we take for granted today come to pass? How close did it come to going under more than once? Just how precarious was its position in the fintech field?
These questions are answered in The Founders: The Story of PayPal and The Entrepreneurs who Shaped Silicon Valley by Jimmy Soni. This book is more than just a story about the supposed PayPal Mafia; it’s the story of Silicon Valley success.
Declassify >
High school movies come out all the time. They are often similar, with tried and true tropes to get the next generation watching the same stuff as the previous one. Metal Lords is a bit different.
Declassify >
Today, the average content creator is likely to get “canceled” by either the right or the left because what they said was ideologically different.
But decades ago, the Smothers Brothers were removed from the airwaves because they were ideologically ahead of their time, and perhaps because they were trying to ruffle a few feathers along the way.
The point is, Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” by David Bianculli is more than a walk through a different time.
Declassify >
I’ve recently been rewatching Burn Notice. My partner never watched it, but she has taken a liking to the show, which is great, but it also got me thinking.
When I talk about my favorite spies, I often forget to mention that I do enjoy the character of Michael Westen, and I think often because it was on TV it gets lost in the shuffle.
Declassify >
Two years after the first publication of Douglas Coupland’s Souvenir of Canada, a brilliant if unconventional guide to Canadian culture, he published Souvenir of Canada 2. After all, it all couldn’t be distilled down into just one singular volume.
Unlike the first book which contains a smattering of personal anecdotes, this book is much more personal to Coupland, in both the stories of his family and the way this book is written. It feels like he’s telling you these things personally.
Declassify >