Expectation greater than realization
929109
Had raised expectations on this lens based on reviews, but after comparing results with first generation 18-55 kit lens on my K-x,I feel duped by Pentax. I am not satisfied with the images this lens produces. If you do not have the original kit lens to compare it with, I might recommend it, as the range of this lens is pretty popular and the price was very good. Otherwise I would say the difference is not worth the cost. Lens is built well enough for the price. Image quality, as with the original 18-55 seems to be the weak point which was the reason to purchase the updated version.
It would be wrong to say it is not an improvement over the original DA 18-55 AL, but as stated I do not feel the difference justifies the purchase price when compared to the original kit lens. Pentax could have done a better job for its customers and maintained their integrity through a recall and repair / update of the original kit lens at no cost to the customer,rather than make the customer pay twice for a product which in my opinion still has some of the original issues of producing soft photos. Yes it is a very inexpensive lens. I did not expect miracles with the "new and improved" version, but did expect more than such a marginal difference. It appears I expected too much. Perhaps the rating should be closer to 2-1/2 stars but I could not bring myself to give it a three over the original which I would rate at 2 stars.
3768012
My expectative from this book was that it would present a general review of non religious spirituality. However, I found only a narrower account, only referring to practices to forgo the illusion of self.
3826668
When I picked up this book and opened to page almost at random (p. 144 in the Bantam New Age edition), I spotted an obvious mistake at first glance.  There's real value to an equation such as F = m a.  Knowing that, one would never say "it takes much more force to increase by one foot per second the velocity of an object moving at 8,000 feet per second than it takes to increase by one foot per second the velocity of the same object moving at 100 feet per second."  (And I don't think it should take that many words either.)  I chuckled when I realized that this is in the "Special Nonsense" chapter, which I had chosen because I wanted to see how he handled Special Relativity.

Still, I like the book over all, but I have doubts about learning physics from it.
2252615
I found in this book important information on the power of the unconscious mind in the creation of new mathematics.

The author Jacques Hadamard's experience of suddenly getting a solution at the moment of waking from sleep and his testimony to the effectiveness of abandoning a problem and the resuming it later on aligns with my experience (on modest problems).

The inclusion of Henri Poincare's account of the sudden mathematical insight relating to fuchsian functions (that occurred to him just as he stepped on a bus) was evidence of the unconscious at work.

The book in effect discusses the four stages of thought (after Helmholtz and Poincare) of: Preparation (conscious work setting up the problem and trying to solve it); incubation (no conscious work on the problem) ; illumination (the fruits of incubation where an insight is received) and finally verification (consciously testing and verifying the insight).

The style of writing is a little hard to read but the contents repay the effort.
4407640
It was a bit more comprehensible than the original text of Neville Goddard. I seem to understand the reading more. Thought is was a very reasonable price, since it is a modified text.
1082188
Bought with great expectation. Having had the Hartman/Coltrane album for many years, this was not to my expectations.
KE is a modern significant talent  -see Nightmoves!

My appreciation presents the view I wonder if he should look inwards to his own riches and perform thus - but I cannot sing a note.
1254085
I got this book from the library with great anticipation; so many glowing, almost iridescent, reviews can, perhaps, build an unreasonable expectation of a reading experience, and thus, an unfair and yes unreasonable judgement if the reading experience is less than expected. So three stars rather than five, a pleasant reading rather than something more, certainly very worth the time spent, yet leaving me with a feeling that I wanted more from this book than Mr Marra could deliver, but willing to concede that the fault lies more with this reader than with the author.
2590773
The book starts with a captivating prologue:

"A few years ago a man won the Spanish national lottery with a ticket that ended in the number 48. Proud of his "accomplishment," he revealed the theory that brought him the riches. I dreamed of the number 7 for seven straight nights, he said, "and 7 times 7 is 48." Those of us with a better command of our multiplication tables might chuckle at the man's error, but we all create our own view of the world and then employ it to filter and process our perceptions, extracting meaning from the ocean of data that washes over us in daily life. And we often make errors that, though less obvious, are just as significant as his."

Now if that does not hook you, you might not be the probability person I am.

It talked about how people tend to be irrational and not consider the true probability of things happening.

A good understanding of probability can help with makeing proper decisions. A poor understanding of probability can lead to poor decisions.  Its that simple.

I was also reminded of my statisics courses where I learned that small samples can be taken which that can be very accurate on the views on an overall population.

One example given was the probability of two people in a room having the same birthday.  It is over 50% if there are only 23 people in the room. And it give the math to work it out.

It also talked about people's view of fate or destiny and how sometimes that can cloud people's view of randomness.

Good book.
3170087
Is not all that I had anticipated from this over-rated expositor.
1547187
Product seems to be fine.  But i was expecting to feel a big difference.  But I still have same feel as my stocker.  Which was fine.  Was just hoping for an amazing difference.  My expectations were maybe too high.  But still a good product.
3466829
When reading description of this Book, before I purchased it,  I was thrilled.  However once I received it  I was disappointed.  I thought it would have more instructional value than it does.
4114085
As other reviewers have noted, the plot and structure of this novel are very similar to that of "The Bride Wore Black," albeit with switched genders. I'm surprised that the other readers thought this better than "Bride," however, as it seems to me to be rather uninvolving. The reader's suspension of disbelief may be tested.
1873765
The Dickinson quotation suggests -- as does the subtitle of John Kay's book -- that there are situations in which goals are best achieved indirectly. I agree with him: "If people are predictably irrational, perhaps they are not irrational at all. Perhaps the fault lies not with the world but with our concept of irrationality. Perhaps we should think differently about how we really make decisions and solve problems. Perhaps we should recognize the obliquity, and inevitability, of obliquity." In fact, why be oblique on this point? We SHOULD re-think how we think...we SHOULD recognize what we have previously missed or ignored.

This is precisely what Kay has in mind when observing, "An oblique approach recognizes that what we want from a home, or a community, has many elements. We will never succeed in fully specifying what they are, and to the extent that we do, we discover that they are often incompatible and inconsistent." This is one of his most important points: There are specific limits to what a direct approach can resolve; however, if there is a complicated question to answer, a complicated problem to solve, or a complicated task to completed, only an oblique approach can succeed. Moreover, with rare exception, several persons must be involved. The approach must be oblique because the process will be one of continuous discovery and adaptation, application and modification, etc.

Consider the great teams in history such as the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project, the animators who produced a series of classics such as Snow White and Bambi, and the engineers employed by Lockheed at its Skunk Works. All of the members of a team know more, can do more, and do it better than any one member can. Here's what Kay has to say about all this: "Obliquity is the best approach whenever complex systems evolve in an uncertain environment and whenever the effect of our actions depends on the way in which others respond to them...Directness is only appropriate when the environment is stable, objectives are one-dimensional and transparent and it is possible to determine when and whether goals have been achieved. The word of politics and business today is afflicted by many hedgehogs, men and women who mistakenly believe the world is like that." Oh that it were.

Kay clearly explains the "what" of obliquity but devotes most of his attention to WHY and/or HOW. More specifically,

In Part One:

o How the happiest people do not pursue happiness
o The most profitable companies are not the most profit oriented
o The wealthiest people are not the most materialistic
o The means help us to discover the ends
o Obliquity is relevant to many aspects of our lives

In Part Two:

o Oblique approaches succeed
o There is usually more than one answer to a problem
o The Outcome of what we do depends on how we do it
o The world is too complex for directness to be direct
o We rarely know enough about the nature of our problems
o Models are imperfect

In Part Three:

o We mistakenly infer design from the outcome
o We have less freedom of choice than we think
o Decision makers recognize the limits of their knowledge
o Adaptation is smarter than we are
o We know more than we can tell
o Complex outcomes are achieved without knowledge of an overall purpose
o It is more important to be right than to be consistent
o Spurious rationality is often confused with good decision making

The development of the concepts in this book followed an oblique path from drafts that resulted in an article published in the Financial Times (January 17, 2004). The process continued during John Kay's subsequent journey of continuous discovery and adaptation, application and modification, etc. The result is this book, first published in 2010. No brief commentary such as mine can possibly do full justice to the quality of information, insights, and counsel he provides but I hope that I have at least indicated why I think so highly of Obliquity. If you want to put some white caps on your gray matter, look no further.
4190081
More thought provoking than I had expected. Was expecting more about the trials of doing without specific items over the twelve months.
2089200
I was expecting more traditional fortunes and this is more like statements, or advice.  Not exactly what I was hoping for.
4455444
Teaches what appears obvious is not always true. Be careful how we judge.
2832555
I saw copies of this book in the library at the Manoa campus of the University of Hawaii, thirty five years ago, and resolved to own it.  However, even then, the book was out of print.  But.  In those days there was no Internet so there was no collection of databases linking used book sellers.  With the search made this year (on a hunch that maybe I could locate this important book, after all), I found several copies of the book, all very expensive, which is kind of what to expect of this influential work of symbolic logic.  I thought to spend my money and delight in ownership.  The which I have done.

My copy arrived less than two weeks after I ordered it, and way before other book orders placed at the same time.  I remembered more symbolic lines in the body of the text; yet this is the original work fashioned after the famous "Principia Mathematica" of Whitehead and Russell.  While the copy is mildly frail paper-wise, the binding is good.  I see, so far, only one or two notes by a previous owner, in very fine quill.  It is a fine copy.  I had not forgotten what I had ordered, and by that I mean the service was delectably fast.