(Part 2) Top products from r/YouShouldKnow

Yeah, we have all been brought up to see those people as self-righteous assholes, but transportation engineers have determined that a zipper merge, occurring as close to the point of obstruction as possible, is most efficient (40-50% more efficient than current practice). The Minnesota DOT recently adopted this practice and began a campaign of awareness.

If traffic interests you, check out the book Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt. Super interesting quick read, and you'll learn a lot about interacting with urban traffic efficiently.

Michigan DOT Citations 1 2.pdf

Everyone should read that book. I have some caveats though. For crowds to be wise, they must have four things:

1. Diversity of opinion: This is very hard in an age of mass mediated talking points. With cable news and the internet, you can get "facts" in any flavor you want.
   
   
2. Independence: People don't let their opinions be determined by those around them. HA!
   
   
3. Decentralization: People can draw on local (not top down/centralized) information.
   
   
4. Aggregation: Private sentiments can be converted into an organized collective judgment.
   
   I'm not saying that crowds can't be wise. They can under ideal conditions. For that to be the case though, the person has to be rational in how they construct their beliefs and all four qualities must be present. Good luck with that.
   
   I'm not trying to debunk a strawman. Surowiecki does say that all these qualities have to be present for the crowd to be wise. As is often the case with big ideas though, this one has taken on a life of its own, to the point where a lot of people think that crowds are always right, regardless of whether the qualities are there or not.

Wouldn't go so far as to say only useful knot but one I use a lot (aka the Teamsters' Hitch or the Wagoners' Hitch).

My dad is into knots and has the Ashley Book of Knots so I was really chuffed when loading up a trailer and I used that hitch and he'd never seen it before.

BTW, I find it easiest to form the loop by just doing a slipknot in the standing end rather than the more involved method of forming the loop I see in most instructions for the Truckers' Hitch. It will still pull out easily enough but it's a lot easier to tie.

See, the thing is, repeating what I say doesn't do anything. Learning to argue will make you a much more interesting person. I strongly suggest Thank You for Arguing and This gem of a book.

The latter requires a good deal of reading comprehension to truly gain anything from it, so good luck.

Coincidentally, I finished reading this book last night. I'd highly recommend it as a brisk, light read that gives a great overview of the Eastern Empire.

Fascinating stuff.

YS(also)K about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Von_Clausewitz - his book "On War" laid the foundations for the academic study of warfare. Many (many) years later, Herman Kahn wrote "On Thermonuclear War", an amazing book, as a follow-on.

For those interested in this most morbid of subjects, I can recommend:

• The Evolution of Nuclear Strategy
  
• The Utility of Force
  
• We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History
  
• and of course On Thermonuclear War.
  
  For an antidote, Joanna Bourke's superb Fear: A Cultural History may also be enjoyed.

The book Stealing Mona Lisa is a pretty good fictional account of the theft.

I strongly recommend this book. It covers the concept very well, then shows how it could apply to real life.
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Logical-Thinking-Lessons-Reasoning/dp/0312156278/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371266980&sr=1-1

> pique my interest

The more you know!

Also, you can get a used copy of Evelyn Wood 7-day speed reading book for $0.01 plus shipping on amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Remember-Everything-You-Read-Learning/dp/0380715775/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300807072&sr=1-1

I read it, I practiced what it preached, and I read faster today and remember more of what I read. Helped like you wouldn't believe in law school.

Everyone should read Sadie Plant's superb book Zeroes and Ones, where I first learned about Ms. Lovelace.

The snatch protocol they used in the test is typically done in 40 minute sets. At 20 cal / min, thats 800 calories.
Details here.. The study used a 20 minute test period, for a total of 400 calories. But that protocol was invented by Kenneth Jay and published in this book. The book specifies 40 minute workout sets, for 800 total calories. Thanks for playing.

there are many recent books on general problems with higher education. look on Amazon. example yes I've actually read that one, but others as well.

Basic English, nearly 500 pages of easy.

A Link to the Amazon page for the book.

If the class is curved the professor doesn't know what they're doing.

Edit for those downvoting:

The evidence
in favour
of criterion
based assessment
is UTTERLY
overwhelming

There is far more out there if you have access to scopus/web of science.

Anyone grading on a curve post-2000 is someone who doesn't have the first clue how to teach and should not be involved in education.

Is this some sort of take down of Robert Asprin's books?

I looked into this book a while ago but ended up settling on Verbal Judo which I HIGHLY recommend.

I've worked the door at several bars and I can't tell you how much this book has helped me de-escalate potentially bad situations.

Even if you don't work in the service industry, this book will help you communicate with anyone from stubborn co-workers to a customer service rep that isn't willing to help.

The Rape Of Nanking

Read it when it first came out, after hearing an interview with the author on NPR. A real shocker.