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Sex, math, code
February 25, 2011
One topic that book writers and publishers don't much like to talk about is the recent explosion of bootleg copies of popular books online. And I'm not going to talk about it either. But I am going to point to GalleyCat's current bestseller list for pirated books, which provides a remarkably clear view of what savvy media pirates spend their time thinking about:
1. 1000 Photoshop Tips and Tricks
2. Advanced Sex: Explicit Positions for Explosive Lovemaking
3. What Did We Use Before Toilet Paper?: 200 Curious Questions
4. Photoshop CS5 All-in-One For Dummies
5. What Rich People Know & Desperately Want to Keep a Secret
6. 101 Short Cuts in Maths Any One Can Do
7. Touch Me There!: A Hands-On Guide to Your Orgasmic Hot Spots
8. How to Blow Her Mind in Bed
9. 1001 Math Problems
10. How To Make People Like You In 90 Seconds Or Less
I'm going to title my next book "The Code of Sex: Ten Secrets for Using Math to Keep Her Satisfied and Hungry for More." I promise you that it's going to be the most pirated book of all time.
Comments
I'm deeply skeptical of that list. "1001 Math Problems"??? No, something's wrong there. Everyone who is auto-punditing over it (what does this say about us today? ...) should look a little more carefully.
Posted by: Seth Finkelstein ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.roughtype.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at February 26, 2011 12:12 AM
Posted by: Nick Carr at February 26, 2011 10:22 AM
How about title like:
"Eroitc Photography with Photoshop by the Numbers"
"1001 Math Problem to Solve During Sex"
Posted by: Linux Guru at February 27, 2011 02:09 PM
Two organs are disproportionally oversized in the human body – almost grotesquely, in fact – compared to related animals: brains and genitalia. Compared to most unrelated ones too. Nearly all of us as a species is summed up in this simple fact.
I will therefore say that this book hits list is only fitting.
Posted by: Aristotle Pagaltzis at March 7, 2011 08:34 PM
Thats funny... by the way before toilet paper they used the Sears and Roebuck catalog.
Posted by: Kevin Lynch at August 30, 2011 11:18 PM
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Now in paperback:
Pulitzer Prize Finalist
"Riveting" -San Francisco Chronicle
"Rewarding" -Financial Times
"Revelatory" -Booklist
The Cloud, demystified:
"Future Shock for the web-apps era" -Fast Company
"Ominously prescient" -Kirkus Reviews
"Riveting stuff" -New York Post
Greatest hits
Avatars consume as much electricity as Brazilians
The love song of J. Alfred Prufrock's avatar
Flight of the wingless coffin fly
Other writing
The end of corporate computing
Nick's first book:
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