120 jobs that won't chain you to your desk

If you hate the idea of sitting at a desk all day, 120 Jobs That Won't Chain You to Your Desk may give you some ideas of careers that won't chain you to your desk. The Princeton Review put together a fun guidebook.

Unlike Occupational Outlook, this book is written in a fun, honest, easy to read way. Careers are divided up into general categories such as the mobile office, creative, or the great outdoors to help the reader focus in on careers that fit their general interest area. Each job has an overview of the typical day, qualifications, perks, and preparing for success. Each job also has an interview with someone who is actually doing the job. There is starting salary information, salary after 5 years, and salary after 15 years on many of the jobs.

I called the book honest because the job description for Mystery shoppers make it pretty plain that it's rare to make a decent full-time income at this job. The description for artists mention the reality of being a starving artist for a time. It's not to say you can't make a living at these activities, but you also have to be real about how quickly you can live off that income.

There were 3 job descriptions that I wouldn't really count as a part of the 120 jobs (making the book only 117 jobs). The three not-necessarily-a-job descriptions are Entrepreneur, small business owner or freelancer. Well, many small business owners are entrepreneurs that work as freelancers. An example of this would be a hairdresser since many stylists work as freelancers and entrepreneurs. There were many jobs in the list of 117 in which the job requires you to start your own business or work as a freelancer, both entrepreneurial activities. Anyway, I was puzzled by the inclusion of those things as actual jobs when they were really a part of the description of the other 117. It's a small nit though as the rest of the book was helpful.

Book Rating: 3 stars

Recession-Proof Careers

It sounds great, doesn't it? A career that will help guarantee work even through economic down times. Jeff Cohen attempts to provide a path toward a recession-proof career.

There are several problems with his approach. The book is structured to focus on careers that are government based, government subsidized and even in the process of government takeover. What are these jobs? Generalized government workers such as police, fire, forest workers, teachers, etc. And then there are medical based careers. Generally, medicine will always have a demand but government regulations have put a damper on the industry. And then finally Jeff Cohen has bought into the concept of "green" jobs. It's like he has taken a page out of the Obama propaganda machine. There are jobs in environmental science and alternative energies but there is no proof that those jobs are less susceptible to economic factors as anything else. The focus on careers touched by the government in this way is really a disservice. It fosters the idea that government can create a safe haven for economic activity and job security. The fact of the matter is it is not. We all know the government is broke. There is no money. This means at some point government workers WILL be laid off or have their pay cut. There will be government subsidized industries that will no longer be subsidized. It's all about the money and there is none.

The first chapter or so includes some helps on personal introspection and self analysis. He helps you look at your skills so you can determine if you are in the right career or how to transfer your skills to something else. Some of this is helpful.

Book Rating: 1 star

Parallel Worlds by Michio Kaku

If you have any interest in cosmology and physics, Parallel Worlds might be the book to read to catch up on all the latest thinking on the subjects. Michio Kaku has a gift for presenting difficult information in a way that the lay person can understand.

The book primarily explains how physicists are trying to come up with a theory of everything or the grand unified theory. The intention is to have GUT represented by a single mathematical equation from which all the laws of physics can be derived. The difficulty over the years has been resolving the theory of relativity with quantum mechanics - the theories that explain the macro world with the micro. Physicists are close to their goal when they start playing around with String Theory. The implications of this are rather exciting but also challenges many long held beliefs about the nature, purpose and origin of the universe.

Michio Kaku organizes the book in a very logical manner. It begins with a survey of the theories of the past and present. This is followed by a deeper examination from the time of Einstein to the present day including the theory of relativity to explain the motion of the planets, gravity, speed of light, time travel and space travel. He then delves into how quantum mechanics can explain some of the anomalies that the theory of relativity can't explain. Melded into the discussion is the idea of multiple dimensions or parallel worlds. Finally he discusses the future and what it would take to travel vast distances in the universe including bridging the divide to another universe.

It's all fascinating stuff. It did take me a bit of time to work my way through it. There were a few things I didn't quite understand, but I did get the gist of it. I think I would like to read more of what Kaku writes.

Book Rating: 4 stars

The Shallows - What the Internet is doing to our brains.

I've never read a book that was a proof of its own hypothesis till now. I actually expected The Shallows to be a social commentary on the perils of the internet. And it was indeed social commentary mixed with medical science to prove that our brains are actually changing.

I found the book very interesting. The idea that our brains are constantly changing to adapt to whatever it is exposed to is fascinating and medical science can now prove it. What is more interesting is how our brains have changed with constant exposure to the internet. We process information more quickly and efficiently than we have in the past but we also retain and comprehend less. Our attention spans are much shorter and we are easily distracted. The physical act of reading a book (ink on paper style) and writing in long hand is actually better for deep thinking, retention and comprehension.

And this is where the book was a proof of its own hypothesis, at least for me. I could only read about 5 pages before I had to set it back down. The effort it took to focus and concentrate on the subject was noticeable. It was not an easy read, by any means and it took me a long time to finish it. I'm surprised I even stuck with it. The author, himself, even confesses to have difficulty in writing the book because of distractions while researching on the Internet. This was a wake-up call for me to cut some of the internet tethers because I do feel that my brain has changed. Though I wonder why it is easier to read a good fiction book than this one? Other blogging readers have commented on how difficult a book this is to read, so it must not be just me.

The author provides no solutions and posits that this evolution of our brains and society is unstoppable. He leaves this change in our brains to see where it takes us - though he implies it probably is not a good thing.

Book Rating: 3 difficult stars