Readings of 2014, March Edition, Part 2

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyasaki:

I received this book from my aunt about a dozen years ago, and just now finally got around to reading it.

The namesake of the book comes from Robert's childhood, where he had his biological dad(poor dad) and his best friend's dad(rich dad) who both acted as mentors as he was growing up. Poor dad came from the conventional mindset of getting a college education and then making a career out of working for a company; on the other hand, rich dad(a high school dropout) held the mindset that one must acquire assets and then have those assets work for you.

The only thing that I found mind-blowing was Robert's advice to always pay yourself and further nourish your investments first, before paying off things like bills. His reasoning: bill collectors will always scream louder at you then you would scream at yourself, hence he is forced to come up with creative solutions to make extra money on months that he is running a little short.

The 9-to-5 Cure by Kristin Cardinale:

Have you read The 4-hour Workweek? Well this is pretty much the same thing, albeit Kristin Cardinale didn't seem to draw me in quite as much as Tim Ferriss(man crush).

Abstract: do work you are truly passionate about, and take periodic "mini-retirements" throughout the year.

Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman:

Have you ever pushed on a door, only to realize it needed to be pulled?

How about attempted to turn on a light, only to chew up the silverware that was sitting in the garbage disposal?

Well, then this book is for you. Norman spends the entire book looking at everyday things, and providing examples of how they are done poorly as well as how they are done well.

Abstract: design != aesthetic, it is perfectly possible(and frequently done) to make a pretty thing that is completely unusable. Additionally, if you want to provide the user with the most usable design, put the knowledge into the world and not the user's head, for example: push pads on doors, and natural mappings between dials on stoves and their respective burners.

What Does the Fox Say? by Ylvis:

Yes, a children's book adaptation of the youtube sensation. Literally, a 2 minute read.