.KEYWORD bookmonth998
.FLYINGHEAD WINDOWS CE POWER BOOK CLUB
.TITLE Meet Sun Tzu, avoid flogging and keelhauling
.DEPT
.SUMMARY Despite the relatively small screen size of Windows CE devices, many owners have taken to downloading entire books into their devices. It’s certainly more convenient to carry a number of reference works in your Windows CE device, rather than in your backpack or briefcase. Recognizing this interesting trend, Craig Froehle and John Swain, keepers of well-respected e-text repositories, write the Windows CE Power Book Club column. This month, they review The Art of War and Two Years Before the Mast (two must-read classics) and provide pointers to a variety of useful business documented including a guides to holidays, investment, and travel.
.AUTHOR Craig Froehle and John Swain
With the rapid rise of the handheld device as the newest sweetheart of the workplace, it seems appropriate to examine electronic texts that are about or useful for the workplace experience. Here, then, are a few recommendations from the thousands of Windows CE device-ready resources that might help you navigate your next workday. You can download all of these to your device and read them at your leisure.
.H1 Great works
Here are a few great works of literature to get you going. These books are fascinating and fun to read.
.H2 The Art of War
The 2400 year old work of Sun Tzu engages readers not only as the world’s oldest military treatise, but because it is virtually de rigueur as a manual of business strategy. Its introduction to western readers began in 1782 when a Jesuit priest living in China acquired a copy of it and translated it into French. The first translation into English was published in 1905. Despite these translations, The Art of War went virtually unnoticed in the West. It was not until the start of the World War II that interest was finally renewed in Sun Tzu’s work.
With the rise of the emergent Asian markets as global market forces in the late 1970’s, the business world turned a hungry eye on the Pacific Rim and looked to embrace many of the management philosophies that drove their burgeoning economies. During this time, The Art of War found its most popular appeal. As business embraced the notion that economic markets held close parallels to battlefield confrontations, the tactics and strategies outlined in The Art of War became a primer on global business interaction.
The Windows CE device edition of The Art of War will help insure that you’ll have the tactical advantage in your pocket during your next boardroom conference, client meeting or portfolio planning session.
.H2 Two Years Before the Mast
American lawyer and writer Richard Henry Dana provided us with a unique glimpse into the world of a working sailor with the publication of his memoir. Published in 1840, Two Years Before the Mast recounts his voyage from Boston, Massachusetts to California and back. Dana later went on to become a leading authority in maritime law, and a member of the Massachusetts legislature in post Civil War America.
Drawn against the backdrop of the age of sail, when the maritime trade was comprised of wooden ships and iron men, Dana painted a beautifully described canvas, including the wretched treatment of sailors at sea. What resulted was a vivid account and a shrewdly observed narrative. It remains a window onto a way of life virtually unknown during that period and since.
When your workday seems that it can’t get any worse, take a moment with the Windows CE device edition of this classic and be thankful that flogging, keelhauling, and gruel suppers aren’t a part of the mission statement for your workplace. [Who says? –DG]
.H1 Reference documents
Many of us worry about money a great deal of the time. To help you understand some of the more complicated aspects of money, many parts of Chris Lott’s Investment FAQ have been converted into Doc format. To date, over 30 different topics have been addressed, including Internal Rate of Return (IRR), how to research a company before investing, advice for beginning investors, the basics of bonds, the relationship between the price of bonds and the interest rate, basics about derivatives and stock options, and many more. And others are being converted to Doc format all the time.
If you work in a professional environment, it’s likely that you’ve had the dubious pleasure of traveling for business. While no one can make business travel a painless experience (except maybe your physician), it can be made a bit easier to manage by having the right information handy. For example, James Bowe’s list of 1-800 numbers for the major hotel, motel, & auto rental companies could be quite useful should you find yourself stuck in a strange city due to bad weather or striking air traffic controllers. In case you travel a great deal and are a member of the various frequent flyer programs, you may find it helpful to have with you a list of all the Delta Crown Rooms or American Airlines Admiral’s Clubs in airports around the world (provided by Nick Marsh). If travelling has you stressed, wouldn’t it be great to know if there’s a good place to get a drink nearby? Ray Duda’s list of The World’s Best Bars, as voted by Newsweek, will help you answer that very question.
Should you find yourself between jobs, you might find it useful to read Job Interviewing Tips by Mike LaFountain. In it, you can learn some handy communication and negotiation tips that might just help you land that perfect job. In case you think you’re not up on the latest corporate and investment jargon, check out Andy Ho’s Glossary of Business Terms. Do YOU know what a "coincident indicator" is? This work is chock full of terminology both common and obscure, all nicely defined in context.
With the wealth of information sources available for your Windows CE device, it’s highly likely that if we haven’t mentioned something to fit your work-related needs, it still may be out there.
All of the above documents can be found at either MemoWare or The Lending Library.
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.H1 How do I get Doc files into my Windows CE device?
Plain text (ASCII) files may be imported into Windows CE devices in a number of ways that are documented in your device’s instruction manual. Doc format files can be read on Windows CE devices using the DOCview application, available at Mike’s Palm-Sized PCs website (at http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/3533/palm_sw.html), which also includes directions on using that piece of software.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Visit MemoWare, maintained by Craig Froehle, at http://www.memoware.com.
Visit The Lending Library, maintained by John Swain, at http://www.macduff.net.
The DOCview application and directions for its use is available at Mike’s Palm-Sized PCs website at http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/3533/palm_sw.html.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Craig Froehle is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Business Administration, but also enjoys cheese balancing and shrub photography. John Swain continues to actively seek a publisher for his tell-all cookbook, Driven to Dine: The Ultimate Guide to Engine Manifold Dinners.
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