I don't really have a lot to say about these two books, so I thought I would just do a mini review post.

Title: Universal Rights Down to Earth

Author: Richard Thompson Ford

Publisher: Norton and Company 2012

Genre: Nonfiction -- Government

Pages: 160

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nerdy Nonfiction - Government; Fall into Reading

In Universal Rights Down to Earth, acclaimed author and legal expert Richard Thompson Ford reveals how attempts to apply “universal” human rights principles to specific cultures can hinder humanitarian causes and sometimes even worsen conditions for citizens. In certain regions, human rights ideals clash with the limits of institutional capabilities or civic culture; elsewhere, rights enforcement leads to further human rights violations. And in some countries, offending regimes use human rights commitments to distract attention from or justify their other abuses. Ford explores how our haste to identify every ideal as a universal right devalues rights as a whole, so that even the most important protections—such as that against torture—become negotiable.

Interesting topic, but it felt a bit dense in parts.  More lecture than an enjoying read.  Only for fans of political theory.

Title: Final Jeopardy

Author: Stephen Baker

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2011

Genre: Nonfiction - Technologhy

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Nerdy Nonfiction - Technology; Fall into Reading

Final Jeopardy traces the arc of Watson’s “life,” from its birth in the IBM labs to its big night on the podium. We meet Hollywood moguls and Jeopardy! masters, genius computer programmers and ambitious scientists, including Watson’s eccentric creator, David Ferrucci. We gain access to Ferrucci’s War Room, where the IBM team works tirelessly to boost Watson’s speed to the buzzer, improve its performance in “train wreck” categories (such as “Books in Español”), and fix glitches like the speech defect Watson developed during its testing phase, when it started adding a d to words ending in n (“What is Pakistand?”).

Really enjoyed reading about the story of Watson.  It didn't delve too much into the software, but maybe that's a good thing for non-tech nerds like me.  Fascinating story...