The publicist for the book describes “Give and Take” as changing our “fundamental ideas about how to succeed – at work and in life”.

“For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck,” they say. “But in today’s dramatically reconfigured world, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. Give and Take illuminates what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills have in common.”

Here’s what Grant has to say about it:

This talk was recorded on April 24th.

More At Google Talks here.

It runs less than an hour and discusses the book.

More recent At Google talks here.

In one of the latest additions to “At Google Talks,” Robert Greene, author of “Mastery” talks to a room full of Googlers:

More recent At Google Talks here.

The talk is from March 26th.

More recent @Google Talks here.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Jhabvala died in New York after battling an unnamed illness.

Jhabvala got her start in the film industry in 1963, when she penned the screenplay adaptation for her novel The Householder. From then on, she collaborated with Merchant Ivory Productions on over 20 movies. She won best adapted screenplay Oscars for her work on both Howards End and A Room with a View.

In addition to her success as a screenwriter, Jhabvala was also an award-winning novelist. She began writing in the 1950s, with stories about life in India. She won the 1975 Booker Prize for her novel Heat and Dust, which tells the story of a woman who travels to India and falls in love with a Nawab.

(Image courtesy Cmacauley/Wikimedia Commons)

More recent @Google Talks here.

Kanin gained fame along with her husband, Michael Kanin, in the 1940s and 1950s while writing screenplays for classic movies such as Sunday Punch, My Pal Gus, and The Opposite Sex. She and her husband were nominated for a best original screenplay Academy Award for the 1958 movie Teacher’s Pet, which starred Clark Gable and Doris Day.

Kanin went on to produce movies and stage productions, including a 1959 adaptation of Akira Kurasawa’s Rashomon. In 1979 she became the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a title she held until 1983.

Though the details of her death have not been released, the Academy has released a statement regarding Kanin’s death:

The Academy is deeply saddened by the passing of our beloved former president and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Fay Kanin.

She was committed to the Academy’s preservation work and instrumental in expanding our public programming. A tireless mentor and inspiration to countless filmmakers, Fay’s passion for film continues to inspire us daily.

Our prayers and condolences go out to her loved ones.

(Image courtesy the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)

In addition to writing the song, Tyl wrote several novels and short stories and about 20 plays. He was born on this day in 1808, and died in 1856.

Here’s Kde domov můj if you want to check it out:

This is one of at least three doodles Google is running today in different parts of the world. As previously reported, Google has one honoring the last day of the Canadian penny and one for Sri Lanka Independence Day.

More recent Google Doodles here.

It appears, however, that Apple isn’t completely satisfied with the level of wit coming from Siri. In fact, it appears that they may have hired a writer to “refresh and refine” Siri’s dialogue.

It all comes from a job posting, hosted on LinkedIn.

“We’re looking for a uniquely creative individual to help us evolve and enrich Siri, our virtual personal assistant. Siri’s known for ‘her’ wit, cultural knowledge, and zeal to explain things in engaging, funny, and practical ways. The ideal candidate is someone who combines a love for language, wordplay, and conversation with demonstrated experience in bringing creative content to life within an intense technical environment,” says Apple.

The posting was made on January 9th, and when you click through to the actually Apple job site, it now reads “Sorry, this job is no longer available.” Either Apple scrapped the listing or they’ve already hired their new Siri writer.

For the job, Apple was looking for someone with “excellent overall writing skills” and a “great vocabulary and cross-cultural knowledge.” Knowing multiple languages was noted as a big plus. Apple said that they wanted the writer to “help evolve Siri as a distinct, recognizable character.”

So, Siri users: you might have a more engaging, wittier companion to converse with in the near future.

[via Search Engine Land]

Other recent author talks include: Gregory Benford and Larry Niven, Jose Garces, Cal Newport, and Andrew Blum. You can find them all here.