Mgccl's blog

Really, the funniest book I have read this year. I pre-ordered the book, and I got it today. This is the first time I brought a book with no educational purpose.
There is so much things I read and say "Wow, it is really true!"
The book basically making all White people look like ones who tries to be unique and self-satisfy themselves by doing things that seems very authentic.
Obviously, I believe when he talking about white people, this should be what he meant(I forgot where I got it).
"White is not a skin color, White is a state of mind."
Hehe, I love white people.(Referring to the above quote)

The book title is a perfect oxymoron and a even better irony.

That book made me ask a question on yahoo answers:
"Does people's natural hair color always the same to their pubic hair color?"
I also learned UCLA means University of Caucasians Living among Asians.
I especially loving the part about piracy.

Advanced white people will also talk about how their constant downloading of music makes them an expert who can properly recommend bands to friends and co-workers, thus increasing revenues and exposure. So in fact, their “illegal” activities are the new lifeblood of the industry.

He also have a blog, Stuff White People Like(OMG same name as the book, and features 2/3 of the books content), which is the most popular blog hosted by Wordpress.com.

I was bored. So I read it. Nice book. But there is a better one for people who knows a bit more than middle school math. I saw some nice puns(Magic "square" indeed... as in magic square that consist of perfect squares only). Def. recommend it for people who want to learn faster mental math. BTW I don't care about how fast one can evaluate basic functions mentally. I read so many books these days, going to post them like one per day. The author Arthur T. Benjamin wrote another book, Proofs that Really Count: The Art of Combinatorial Proof (Dolciani Mathematical Expositions). Which won a award from MAA. Going to check that out soon.
But before that...
Greedy algorithms here I come.

Problem-Solving Strategies was recommended by Simon as THE BOOK for me if I ever want to join USAMO.

I received my International version at 4/21/08. International version is a lot more cheaper but only allowed to be sold in a few developing countries.

How great is this book? After reading the first 2 pages I'm already convinced that anyone who seriously wants to prepare for high school and college math contests should get this book, unless you created math from scratch, which I know you didn't.

Look at the Amazon product review. All the reviewer credit it a 5.
I will rate it soon, when I get at least half way into the book.

Wait for my review when the status change to Already Read.

This have to be the most controversial book I have ever read.
First, this book is 1200 pages, with 300+ pages of notes.
But, removing all the fluff and personal ego, it should be less than 100 pages. Even if it include all the useful images, having more than 350 pages is an overkill.
I read the book in the library, skim though and only read the part I cared--The math and computer science part.
It is the most thought provoking book I have ever read. I learned so much insight in a couple of hours. It clears a lot of things I know already, but the new insight and connections between them fascinates me.
The text of pure egoism and repetition really wasted my time. The first few chapters are full of examples showing one idea--Simple program create complex results.
I suggest if you are like me who already convinced after the first 5 pages, read the first 2 chapters and skip to the 10th chapter... everything in between is just examples in many scientific areas. And, you don't want to read those 300 page notes.
In fact, since you only have to read a total of 5 chapters(that I think it's useful but still have a lot of fluff can skip though), buying the book would be quite a waste. If you can't get a copy of the book in the library(doubt it, it's a popular book), read it online.
Because of these, it's really hard to rate this book. But I still would rather read this book than a research paper, because after all, this book is for the mass population.
I'm going to delicate a blog post on what I did on 4/10/2008, and it will explain more about my feelings toward this book.

The book can greatly improve problem solving skill. Too bad the soltions are not clear enough. 500 questions should take me around 2 months.

This is the only book about linear algebra form my library, I'm still reading it, so I can not give a exact rating right now. From what I have see, it is not the exact book I would want to use for learning linear algebra. The book forcous on the mechinical side of mathematics, like how to do operations between matrices. The book have a little help with enrich the idea of the matrix. For example, the book never talked about the geometric meaning of a determinant. After one reading the book, he might become masters at finding determinants and solve system of linear equations, but what's the point, even a TI-83 calculator can do it.
Get this book only if you want to learn how to manipulate matrix instead of understanding it. This book can be used as a nice outline of the course.

The book present some proofs covering many fields of mathematics, include modular arithmetics, prime numbers, graph theory and set theory. The book is easy to understand, great book for teenagers who interests in math but doesn't have the ability to read the complicated research papers.

The math textbook for my precalculus class. Good read, 4th edition.

Not the best textbook out there, but I don't read enough textbook to know how good this one is.

Math is NICE!
Almost everything about summation are in this book. Also binary coefficient, discrete probability.

Game makers, you have to read this.
The things for about C++ complier is super mad!!!!!!