A few weeks ago, I finished reading Hackers and Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, a book one of my coworkers lent me. If you're in the IT industry, you owe it to yourself to read it. If you're not in the IT industry, there's a good chance that you'll enjoy it, too.

In the book, Paul Graham details what he thinks is required to be successful in the computer age. Basically, it boils down to being smart, willing to work hard, and take risks. Graham's in a good position to give this advice, having been behind a very successful start-up that was eventually sold to Yahoo. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is how Graham is able to stay away from a dry and technical style, and combine discussions about the great computer minds of our time with discussions about the great painters of the past.

All in all, I very much enjoyed the book. I definitely recommend it.