Following my posts last week, these books will be my reading material for the next couple of weeks.

I went to see The Social Network, and I really enjoyed it. I reckon that a lot of people will go to see the ‘Facebook Movie’, because they use facebook a lot, and I think they will probably come away disappointed. The movie was quite business, and technology orientated, and while that will appeal to some people (like me), I think it might bore others.

What I am really interested about the movie, is how much truth is actually in it. ‘The Social Network’ is a movie, based on the book, ‘The Accidental Billionaires’, which is based on Eduardo Saverin’s account of the history of Facebook.

Having read a few blogs and articles about the movie before going to see it, I was of the opinion that it was going to be more or less a fabrication, and imagine some of it was, but I also suspect there was a good deal of truth in it.

The movie is focused on two lawsuits that founder, Mark Zuckerberg, was involved in. One with Facebook co-founder, and former best friend, Eduardo Saverin, and one with the Winklevoss twins. Mark comes across as a bit of a jerk, who stabbed his best friend in the back, and stole his big idea from other students at Harvard. However I think he is portrayed as a worse person than he probably is. I think the person that is to blame for the damaged relationship between Mark and Eduardo, was Napster founder, Sean Parker, although Mark still has responsibility for his own actions.

Regardless of the negative way that Zuckerberg was portrayed, the film did still portray him as driven, smart guy. It has also made Mark Zuckerberg a celebrity to millions of people who otherwise wouldn’t have heard of him, even though they use his creation every day.

What I would really love, would be if Zuckerberg, Saverin, and the Winklevosses, all published their own books, with their version of events. I have no doubt that all 3 books would have conflicting stories, but it would be interesting to see the differences.

I think now that I have seen the film, I will re-read the articles I have read, and I want to also want to read ‘The Facebook Effect’ by David Kirkpatrick, and ‘The Accidental Billionaires’ by Ben Mezrich, to gain a bit more insight into the origins of the the site that now has over 500 million members.

I do recommend the film, but being a little bit geeky I am somewhat biased.

Ragamuffin Soul is a blog that I have been reading for a number of years now. Carlos released his debut album today, and if the EP is anything to go by then it is well worth a listen. I bought it on iTunes this morning, it will probably be on repeat on my iPod for a while.

Buy it in iTunes

“Seven by Five was set up as a photography community blog focusing on sharing ideas, influences and inspirations. The blog is about photography content with learning being the key from photo themes, polls and tutorials through to tips from professional photographers the site is popular with photographers keen to take their art to the next level. The Photo Profile series has been very successful offering artists not only a platform to share their work but also their photography philosophy.  At the same time the profiles offer a great source of inspiration fuelling the monthly flickr photo theme where visitors add their photos on a particular theme to the 7×5 flickr group. “.

“The hope is that the site will grow to a busy community with competitions and evidence of learning from those who use it. There are no rules, if you have an idea suggest it as poll or theme on seven by five ?”