Frappr is great fun, and you never know who or what you’ll run into in this mapping community.

First must state that this reviewer is not an economist, and usually find such books can often be boring. Must admit that this book kept me up far too late one recent weekend reading it through to the end. It was hard to put down.

Another reader/reviewer emailed me, noting that Malcolm Gladwell had said that Steven Levitt “has the most interesting mind in America,” and since I had found Gladwell’s Blink! hard to put down, I might find Freakonomics interesting. This was an understatement.

Then another friend loaned me a copy of the book, so I felt obligated to read it. Now I’ll have to get my own copy, for it’s worth a second read.

As noted above, the cover says it all. Freakonomics is not only humorous in places, it’s fascinating, an out of the ordinary way of looking at economics for those who normally don’t venture into what is often perceived as a boring subject. Like Gladwell’s writing, this reviewer found this book to be a springboard to other ideas.

The authors define economics as “the study of incentives” early in the first chapter, which is not exactly as I remember the conventional definition from college courses. But maybe analyzing how to motivate people to do or not do a particular things is a better way or looking at the reality of economics.

Freakonomics was co-written by the noted journalist Stephen Dubner (Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper), and seems to have drawn as much criticism as it has received praise from reviewers and other commentators. The authors repeatedly state that there’s no consistent theme. Others have noted that it appears to be an assembly of magazine articles and columns, edited and put together in an appealing but not particularly interrelated manner.

But this reader found that it does have a theme, and that theme is that established conventional wisdom is not always right. Things that we perceive to be related just might not be. Maybe there’s no connection at all, and maybe some are simply coincidence.

Liberals and conservatives in our society will find some of Levitt’s thoughts to be controversial. This reader found much of the book to fly in the face of “conventional wisdom,” and found that this is what made it so fascinating. For example, don’t miss Levitt’s discussion regarding abortion, for whether or not you agree with his viewpoint, it is thought provoking.

There are many other thought-provoking concepts that this reader found fascinating, such as the authors’ thoughts on how education and actual knowledge in our public school systems has been replaced by standardized testing preparation. This then leads to the encouragement of cheating just to get the statistics where those in charge of the systems need them to be. To comment further on this would be akin to plot spoiling. But don’t miss Levitt’s comments on the bizarre trends of naming babies, which this reviewer found to be hilarious in their absurdity.

Some have commented that this book is more of a basic text on sociology more than economics, but this reader found that it’s all connected, and makes one want to look further. Levitt is a writer to watch, and he does let the numbers talk for him in an interesting if often offbeat fashion.

Criticisms? Initially had been happy to find this book to be comfortable 256 pages, but after finishing it, wished there had been more. It’s definitely not boring, and that can’t be said about many works related to economics. Might even be a good gift for someone, as almost anyone can read it and frequently have a good laugh.

I thoroughly enjoyed Freakonomics and heartily recommend it: a 5-star offering, without a doubt.

Heard an interview with Malcolm Gladwell, the author of BLINK, on NPR early in 2005. It was just after I had to make a critical spot decision in seconds… then wondered for hours whether it had been the right thing to do. As it turned out weeks later, it was the correct decision to make, and in those weeks I had taken the opportunity to read this book, an impromptu personal gift from someone very close.

Had I read the book before, I would have felt more confident in my ability to make an intuitive snap decision that was right.

We all have to make quick decisions in our daily lives, some mundane and some critical. We make quick decision as simple as to what we will eat for lunch. We may also have to make fast critical decisions, such as how to avoid an impending car accident: do we brake, swerve or accelerate. And it’s just this “rapid cognition” that Gladwell writes about so well that can make the difference.

One could easily assume that BLINK is about dealing with intuition, as a colleague of mine thought when I described the book. That’s not what it’s about, because intuition is more of a concept used to describe our “gut feelings,” our emotional reactions that aren’t always very rational. BLINK deals with those rational first two second that are our rapid cognition.

Gladwell points out that contrary to the way were raised from childhood, there are times of stress and high pressure when fast judgment calls and first impressions are a better choice than slow, deliberate thinking for making sense of the world around us.

His examples are superb: code breaking during World War II, speed dating, marriage, medical malpractice (insightful – do read it twice). He even covers things as unusual as what you can discover about a person by being aware of what you see when looking around their bedroom, and interesting views about the best car dealer in New Jersey. You’ll just have to read the book to understand where rapid cognition fits in.

There is an entire chapter dealing with the power of “thin slicing” that deals with what some psychologists have recognized is our ability to make good judgement calls based on the “thinnest slice of experience.” The author delves into this subject quite well, and the examples that he offers are amazing.

But can rapid cognition go wrong? It it always the right way to approach things? Just read about what Gladwell calls the “Warren Harding Error” for the answer. He makes a compelling case for the fact that we can and will make “Warren Harding Errors” in so many types of circumstances, especially when it comes to hiring personnel. His suggestions here will help one recognize the differences between good rapid cognition and bad rapid cognition. Split-second decisions can often be either more accurate than many months of project management or scientific planning, or they can become tragic disasters. In this book the author shows that you can educate and exercise your rapid cognition to avoid hazardous traps.

We all recognize the importance of what happens in dating relationships at that instance when two people first meet. But it seems difficult to face the significance of what happens in the critical first seconds when we interview someone for a job, someone offers a new idea, or when a police officer has to make a critical quick decision at the moment a crime is being committed. Gladwell makes a compelling case to make us take rapid cognition as a part of our critical thinking process.

BLINK deals with those small situations we all face in our daily lives, with assumptions that show up when we meet new people, make important personal and business decisions under stress, or when we are forced to meet complex situations head-on.

This is one of those books that comes along and changes the way that you see the world around us. It’s a fairly fast read, neither too light nor too heavy, and if you’re anything like this reader, you’ll want to read it a second time just to get a bit more out of it.

Had reviewed this book on Amazon.com last fall, and have since given it as a gift.

Had heard the title track to this album on a radio station last fall, but was driving in traffic at the time. It took a couple of days to find this album, then just had to have it.

Had never heard of Bond before, so cannot comment on their earlier releases, but this album knocked my socks off, so to speak. Then I played the DVD side for a close friend who sings and usually listens to female vocals. She was quite favorably impressed, and we ended up listening to the audio side of this double-sided DualDisc a few times. It became more enjoyable each time we heard it, the way we wish all albums were.

Bond is a stunningly attractive female string quartet made up of Haylie Ecker, Tania Davis, Gay-Yee Westeroff, and Eos (who has no last name). They are based in the UK, are in their mid-twenties, and each has strong classical music training (found most of this from their bios on their Website). Their music seems to be an exciting and original blend of classical, world rhythms and lively dance beats. But underneath it all, one can easily recognize that all of the members of this quartet have a deep love and understanding of classical music.

There’s not a single mediocre or bad track on this album, and though some reviewers have commented that certain tracks were better on some earlier releases, this one was enough to convince this listener that purchasing more of their prior releases.

Enough said – on to the tracks.

Victory: Stunning – what a great way to start this album. Strong and brilliant, with a polished orchestral background that blends well with their strings.

Explosive: Lives up to its name – truly explosive – and wait until you see the extremely creative and original performance on the DVD side!

Fuego: Spanish for “fire,” and it lives up to its title. Evocative of the Victory track, but with a faster pace.

Viva!: This track starts off with the quartet performing acoustically… and one can hear the strong Vivaldi classical base, then it gets into an almost-joyous dance remix sound. Another bonus will be when view the DVD side that opens in a bullfight arena – joyous sound.

Shine: Lovely track, slightly different from the others. Seems to have an Indian ambiance, yet is still a strong offering.

Wintersun: Fast-paced, an exciting mixture of instrumental and dance rhythm.

Scorchio: Slight break from previous tracks, and it fits in well with a strong opening then going to an easier, softer pace.

Duel: Understand that this track is a string duel” between Eos and Haylie, and it’s probably one of the best tracks on this CD. Would love to see this in a video.

Gypsy Rhapsody: Lives up to its title, with a definite gypsy theme. Really rounds out this album.

Caravan: If you’re a classical or jazz music listener, then you’ll either love or hate their rendition of this one. This listener loved it.

Sugarplum: Young or old, you recognize their delightful adaptation from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker.” Familiar, yet original.

Carmina: Another that classical music fans will recognize, Bond’s adaptation of “O Fortuna” from Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana.” This was a wonderful way to end this CD, and this listener must confess to having run this track on repetitive replay on more than one occasion.

The DVD side is an excellent bonus. Ran this DVD on a variety of systems, from component surround sound to a PC equipped with surround sound software and hardware, and found the results to be quite pleasing in all instances. The music videos are outstanding, and seem to be mastered quite well. As with most Surround Sound DVDs, you will possible have to tweak your individual settings to get the most out of this disc. As they say, when it comes to stereo equipment or computer hardware, take the time to RTFM (Read That Fine Manual) – enough said on this.

There’s a handy discography on the DVD side as well, handy for “Bond Newbies” like this reviewer to determine which album to purchase next.

This quartet offers the kind of music that will please many listeners from ten to those in their sixties. I know, because my 10-year-old son immediately liked most of the tracks (especially “Victory,” “Viva!,” “Explosive”), and he really enjoyed the music videos on the DVD side.

This is a CD that will appeal to most open-minded music fans. Check out the sample tracks on Amazon.com and find out for yourself, but they don’t do justice to the range or quality of sound on the DualDisc CD/DVD. If you like the samples, you won’t be disappointed with Bond’s “Explosive.”

Please note that I posted a very similar review on Amazon.com in October 2005, but my opinion has not diminished one bit on this superb CD.

Based on Carl Hiaasen’s book Hoot, this award-winning novel was turned into a good movie for kids and families. My son and I both enjoyed it, and yes, we read the book first. We’ll be getting the DVD on this one when it comes out this month.