Jeffrey Snover

Jeffrey Snover: Microsoft Technical Fellow / Architect for Office 365 Intelligent Substrate / PowerShell Inventor / Science geek.

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Book Recommendations:

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

Great book. https://t.co/uq0XW4KjDQ (from X)

From the New York Times bestselling coauthors of Under Fire--the riveting story of the kidnapping and murder of CIA Station Chief William Buckley. After a deadly terrorist bombing at the American embassy in Lebanon in 1983, only one man inside the CIA possessed the courage and skills to rebuild the networks destroyed in the blast: William Buckley. But the new Beirut station chief quickly became the target of a young terrorist named Imad Mughniyeh. Beirut Rules is the pulse-by-pulse account of Buckley's abduction, torture, and murder at the hands of Hezbollah terrorists. Drawing on never-before-seen government documents as well as interviews with Buckley's co-workers, friends and family, Burton and Katz reveal how the relentless search for Buckley in the wake of his kidnapping ignited a war against terror that continues to shape the Middle East to this day.

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

Great line from the book “The Secret Life of Groceries” “Fundamentally, I think we are a meaning-seeking species and I think we place a lot of meaning in consumption.” (from X)

"A deeply curious and evenhanded report on our national appetites." --The New York Times In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore's Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store The miracle of the supermarket has never been more apparent. Like the doctors and nurses who care for the sick, suddenly the men and women who stock our shelves and operate our warehouses are understood as 'essential' workers, providing a quality of life we all too easily take for granted. But the sad truth is that the grocery industry has been failing these workers for decades. In this page-turning expose, author Benjamin Lorr pulls back the curtain on the highly secretive grocery industry. Combining deep sourcing, immersive reporting, and sharp, often laugh-out-loud prose, Lorr leads a wild investigation, asking what does it take to run a supermarket? How does our food get on the shelves? And who suffers for our increasing demands for convenience and efficiency? In this journey: • We learn the secrets of Trader Joe's success from Trader Joe himself • Drive with truckers caught in a job they call "sharecropping on wheels" • Break into industrial farms with activists to learn what it takes for a product to earn certification labels like "fair trade" and "free range" • Follow entrepreneurs as they fight for shelf space, learning essential tips, tricks, and traps for any new food business • Journey with migrants to examine shocking forced labor practices through their eyes The product of five years of research and hundreds of interviews across every level of the business, The Secret Life of Groceries is essential reading for those who want to understand our food system--delivering powerful social commentary on the inherently American quest for more and compassionate insight into the lives that provide it.

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

@robert_spalding Great book. (from X)

“Every thinking American must read” (The Washington Book Review) this startling and “insightful” (The New York Times) look at how concentrated financial power and consumerism has transformed American politics, and business. Going back to our country’s founding, Americans once had a coherent and clear understanding of political tyranny, one crafted by Thomas Jefferson and updated for the industrial age by Louis Brandeis. A concentration of power—whether by government or banks—was understood as autocratic and dangerous to individual liberty and democracy. In the 1930s, people observed that the Great Depression was caused by financial concentration in the hands of a few whose misuse of their power induced a financial collapse. They drew on this tradition to craft the New Deal. In Goliath, Matt Stoller explains how authoritarianism and populism have returned to American politics for the first time in eighty years, as the outcome of the 2016 election shook our faith in democratic institutions. It has brought to the fore dangerous forces that many modern Americans never even knew existed. Today’s bitter recriminations and panic represent more than just fear of the future, they reflect a basic confusion about what is happening and the historical backstory that brought us to this moment. The true effects of populism, a shrinking middle class, and concentrated financial wealth are only just beginning to manifest themselves under the current administrations. The lessons of Stoller’s study will only grow more relevant as time passes. “An engaging call to arms,” (Kirkus Reviews) Stoller illustrates here in rich detail how we arrived at this tenuous moment, and the steps we must take to create a new democracy.

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

@Freakazoid2K @BrucePayette wrote a great book: PowerShell In Action. It is a great resource for understanding many of the design decisions behind PowerShell. (from X)

Windows PowerShell in Action book cover

by Bruce Payette, Richard Siddaway·You?

Summary Windows PowerShell in Action, Third Edition is the definitive guide to PowerShell, now revised to cover PowerShell 6. Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications. About the Technology In 2006, Windows PowerShell reinvented the way administrators and developers interact with Windows. Today, PowerShell is required knowledge for Windows admins and devs. This powerful, dynamic language provides command-line control of the Windows OS and most Windows servers, such as Exchange and SCCM. And because it's a first-class .NET language, you can build amazing shell scripts and tools without reaching for VB or C#. About the Book Windows PowerShell in Action, Third Edition is the definitive guide to PowerShell, now revised to cover PowerShell 6. Written by language designer Bruce Payette and MVP Richard Siddaway, this rich book offers a crystal-clear introduction to the language along with its essential everyday use cases. Beyond the basics, you'll find detailed examples on deep topics like performance, module architecture, and parallel execution. What's Inside The best end-to-end coverage of PowerShell availableUpdated with coverage of PowerShell v6PowerShell workflowsPowerShell classesWriting modules and scriptsDesired State ConfigurationProgramming APIs and pipelines About the Reader Written for intermediate-level developers and administrators. About the Authors Bruce Payette is codesigner and principal author of the Power-Shell language. Richard Siddaway is a longtime PowerShell MVP, author, speaker, and blogger. Table of Contents Welcome to PowerShell Working with types Operators and expressions Advanced operators and variables Flow control in scripts PowerShell functions Advanced functions and scriptsUsing and authoring modules Module manifests and metadata Metaprogramming with scriptblocks and dynamic code PowerShell remoting PowerShell workflows PowerShell Jobs Errors and exceptions DebuggingWorking with providers, files, and CIM Working with .NET and events Desired State Configuration Classes in PowerShell The PowerShell and runspace APIs Appendix - PowerShell 6.0 for Windows, Linux, and MacOS

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

@ScoLatham You might enjoy the book The Storm Before the Calm which explains some of the deep changes America is going through and predicts a prolonged period of chaos before things get better. It isn't a comfortable read but I felt comforted understand what is going on. (from X)

*One of Bloomberg's Best Books of the Year* The master geopolitical forecaster and New York Times bestselling author of The Next 100 Years focuses on the United States, predicting how the 2020s will bring dramatic upheaval and reshaping of American government, foreign policy, economics, and culture. In his riveting new book, noted forecaster and bestselling author George Friedman turns to the future of the United States. Examining the clear cycles through which the United States has developed, upheaved, matured, and solidified, Friedman breaks down the coming years and decades in thrilling detail. American history must be viewed in cycles—particularly, an eighty-year "institutional cycle" that has defined us (there are three such examples—the Revolutionary War/founding, the Civil War, and World War II), and a fifty-year "socio-economic cycle" that has seen the formation of the industrial classes, baby boomers, and the middle classes. These two major cycles are both converging on the late 2020s—a time in which many of these foundations will change. The United States will have to endure upheaval and possible conflict, but also, ultimately, increased strength, stability, and power in the world. Friedman's analysis is detailed and fascinating, and covers issues such as the size and scope of the federal government, the future of marriage and the social contract, shifts in corporate structures, and new cultural trends that will react to longer life expectancies. This new book is both provocative and entertaining.

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

Great book! At this moment I'm listening to the audiobook of his first book. Accidental Superpower. https://t.co/0vTNLjW59D (from X)

The freshman book of New York Times Bestselling Author of The End of the World is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization. An eye-opening assement of American power and deglobalization in the bestselling tradition of The World is Flat and The Next 100 Years. Near the end of the Second World War, the United States made a bold strategic gambit that rewired the international system. Empires were abolished and replaced by a global arrangement enforced by the U.S. Navy. With all the world's oceans safe for the first time in history, markets and resources were made available for everyone. Enemies became partners. We think of this system as normal - it is not. We live in an artificial world on borrowed time. In The Accidental Superpower, international strategist Peter Zeihan examines how the hard rules of geography are eroding the American commitment to free trade; how much of the planet is aging into a mass retirement that will enervate markets and capital supplies; and how, against all odds, it is the ever-ravenous American economy that - alone among the developed nations - is rapidly approaching energy independence. Combined, these factors are doing nothing less than overturning the global system and ushering in a new (dis)order. For most, that is a disaster-in-waiting, but not for the Americans. The shale revolution allows Americans to sidestep an increasingly dangerous energy market. Only the United States boasts a youth population large enough to escape the sucking maw of global aging. Most important, geography will matter more than ever in a de-globalizing world, and America's geography is simply sublime.

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

@Josh_Atwell I’m reading @amcafee book “More From Less” about the de-materialization of the economy. Very interesting stuff! (from X)

From the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Second Machine Age, a compelling argument—masterfully researched and brilliantly articulated—that we have at last learned how to increase human prosperity while treading more lightly on our planet. Throughout history, the only way for humanity to grow was by degrading the Earth: chopping down forests, fouling the air and water, and endlessly digging out resources. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the reigning argument has been that taking better care of the planet means radically changing course: reducing our consumption, tightening our belts, learning to share and reuse, restraining growth. Is that argument correct? Absolutely not. In More from Less, McAfee argues that to solve our ecological problems we don’t need to make radical changes. Instead, we need to do more of what we’re already doing: growing technologically sophisticated market-based economies around the world. How can he possibly make this claim? Because of the evidence. America—a large, high-tech country that accounts for about 25% of the global economy—is now generally using less of most resources year after year, even as its economy and population continue to grow. What’s more, the US is polluting the air and water less, emitting fewer greenhouse gases, and replenishing endangered animal populations. And, as McAfee shows, America is not alone. Other countries are also transforming themselves in fundamental ways. What has made this turnabout possible? One thing, primarily: the collaboration between technology and capitalism, although good governance and public awareness have also been critical. McAfee does warn of issues that haven’t been solved, like global warming, overfishing, and communities left behind as capitalism and tech progress race forward. But overall, More from Less is a revelatory, paradigm-shifting account of how we’ve stumbled into an unexpectedly better balance with nature—one that holds out the promise of more abundant and greener centuries ahead.

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

Great thread. I know of a number of devops people that haven't read this book. Ya'll should fix that. https://t.co/Yri4JJ0jBZ (from X)

The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win book cover

by Gene Kim bestselling author of The Phoenix Project The Unicorn Project and Wiring, Kevin Behr, George Spafford·You?

Bill is an IT manager at Parts Unlimited. It's Tuesday morning and on his drive into the office, Bill gets a call from the CEO. The company's new IT initiative, code named Phoenix Project, is critical to the future of Parts Unlimited, but the project is massively over budget and very late. The CEO wants Bill to report directly to him and fix the mess in ninety days or else Bill's entire department will be outsourced. With the help of a prospective board member and his mysterious philosophy of The Three Ways, Bill starts to see that IT work has more in common with manufacturing plant work than he ever imagined. With the clock ticking, Bill must organize work flow streamline interdepartmental communications, and effectively serve the other business functions at Parts Unlimited. In a fast-paced and entertaining style, three luminaries of the DevOps movement deliver a story that anyone who works in IT will recognize. Readers will not only learn how to improve their own IT organizations, they'll never view IT the same way again.

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

@AndrewTobias wrote a fantastic book about how to think about money, spending, saving, and investing. If you don't have these things in focus, I can STRONGLY recommend this book. https://t.co/wa4eOhkxXb https://t.co/hOU23B43Kl (from X)

Personal-finance guru Andrew Tobias slams online trading and praises the Roth IRA in his newly revised The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need. This investment bible remains as stimulating and meaningful as it was when it was first published 20 years ago. It's packed with ideas about stocks, living beneath your means, tax planning, retirement, and just about everything else in the financial world. And all of it is presented with Tobias's trademark brevity and ingenuity. Last revised in 1995, the guide takes aim at a new game in town--online trading. By all means, use the Internet for buying a car or for research, Tobias says. But avoid cyberspace brokers, he says. Point and click enough and you will get slaughtered by commissions, spreads, taxes, and human nature. "It's so easy to click 'OK' a few times and make a $10,000 bet," he warns. "Look how mesmerized we become on a stool in front of a slot machine. Internet investing positively teases you to play." Tobias's favorite new entry is the Roth IRA, which allows you to withdraw your money tax-free when you retire. It's far better than a traditional IRA, he asserts. "Save yourself the trouble of agonizing over the choice and go with the Roth IRA," he writes. "Forget the worksheets." Sometimes caustic and always a skeptic, Tobias believes readers can shape their own financial futures. Just stick to the basics, he says. "By and large, you should manage your own money, via no-load mutual funds," he writes. "No one is going to care about it as much as you." It doesn't matter if it's 1978, 1998, or even 2008. The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need still is exactly that. Some things never change. --Dan Ring

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

I traveled from Seattle to Germany on Sunday and returned yesterday with NO JET LAG in either direction. I used to avoid international travel because of horrible jet lag. 10,000 thanks to @SatchinPanda and his great book: Circadian Code https://t.co/fUan4ea2L3 (from X)

When we eat may be as important as what we eat. Discover how to reset your body’s natural clock—from an award-winning circadian rhythm and aging researcher “A complete program to recalibrate your day/night activities, optimize sleep, lose weight, learn/work, and exercise.”—Valter Longo, PhD, internationally bestselling author of The Longevity Diet Most people typically wake up, get hungry for meals, and doze off in bed around the same time every day. But if you’ve ever experienced jet lag or pulled an all-nighter, you know that this schedule can easily be thrown off kilter. For some people, that imbalance—difficulty sleeping at night, hunger at odd times, or sudden fatigue at noon—is a constant. Dr. Satchin Panda, one of the leading researchers on circadian rhythms, has a plan to reset your body clock. Beginning with an in-depth explanation of the circadian clock—why it’s important, how it works, and how to know it isn’t working—The Circadian Code outlines lifestyle changes to make to get back on track. It’s a concrete plan to enhance weight loss, improve sleep, optimize exercise, and manage technology so that it doesn’t interfere with your body’s natural rhythm. Dr. Panda’s life-changing methods show you the keys to avoiding and alleviating chronic ailments like diabetes, cancer, and dementia, as well as digestive conditions like acid reflux, heartburn, and irritable bowel disease. In short, knowing your circadian code might just be the secret to turning back the clock and slowing down the aging process.

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

Great book. Thanks @fred_burton for turning me on to it. https://t.co/FOrrWHaNBP (from X)

The newest thriller in the #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and #1 Publishers Weekly bestselling series! Across Europe, a secret organization has begun attacking diplomats. Back in the United States, a foreign ally demands the identity of a highly placed covert asset. In the balance hang the ingredients for all-out war. With his mentor out of the game, counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath must take on the role he has spent his career avoiding. But, as with everything else he does, he intends to rewrite the rules—all of them. In Spymaster, Scot Harvath is more cunning, more dangerous, and deadlier than ever before. If you have never read a Brad Thor novel, this is the place to start!

JS

Recommended by Jeffrey Snover

Lee is one of the key forces behind PowerShell, and a cornerstone of the PowerShell community. His pragmatic problem solving approach resulted in many of PowerShell's most successful features. It is this approach that earns this book a place on my desktop and why it should be on every PowerShell user's desktop as well. (from Amazon)

How do you use PowerShell to navigate the filesystem, manage files and folders, or retrieve a web page? This introduction to the PowerShell language and scripting environment provides more than 400 task-oriented recipes to help you solve all kinds of problems. Intermediate to advanced system administrators will find more than 100 tried-and-tested scripts they can copy and use immediately. Updated for PowerShell 5.1 and Open Source PowerShell up to 7.0 and beyond, this comprehensive cookbook includes hands-on recipes for common tasks and administrative jobs that you can apply whether you're on the client or server version of Windows. You also get quick references to technologies used in conjunction with PowerShell, including regular expressions, the XPath language, format specifiers, and frequently referenced .NET, COM, and WMI classes. Learn how to use PowerShell on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019Tour PowerShell's core features, including the command model, object-based pipeline, and ubiquitous scriptingMaster fundamentals such as the interactive shell, pipeline, and object conceptsPerform common tasks that involve working with files, internet-connected scripts, user interaction, and moreSolve tasks in systems and enterprise management, such as working with Active Directory and the filesystemComplimentary Online Access! As an additional incredible benefit, owners of the PowerShell Cookbook get free, perpetual, searchable, online access to the book at powershellcookbook.com.