Webdesign, Coding, Blogging & Internet Culture
Posts tagged O’Reilly
Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman’s Crusade for Free Software
Mar 16th
First published in 2002, Free as in Freedom is the story of free software activist Richard Stallman. Stallman is best know for created the Free Software movement that led to the General Public License (GPL) which today under-pins today’s open-source movement. While his rigid stance on issues and use of wording related to free software have certainly earned him his share of detractors both inside and outside the community, without him, the modern software industry might be a lot different.
The book goes back and forth between his present work and Stallman’s life growing up in New York, later working at More >
Designing Web Interfaces
Mar 29th
The Problem: For most of the history of the web, just getting something up on the screen that resembles your original design — in two or more web browsers — has been a challenge on it’s own. Today, browsers have become more standardized, and libraries like jQuery UI and the Dojo Toolkit are bringing desk-top-style interface widgets to websites. However while designers have the ability to create sophisticated interfaces, designing sites that are easy to use is still a challenge because the challenge is only partly technical.
Public websites (as opposed to those for internal use by an organization) often have More >
Google Apps Hacks
May 19th
I expected a book on the core GoogleApps suite like gMail and the office applications (not to be confused with the recent Google App Engine programming environment), but App Hacks goes further into not only other Google properties like Bogger, YouTube and GoogleEarth. At the same time, they don’t avoid mentioning non-Google applications, such as Zoho office or some of the other on-line RSS feed readers in the Google Reader chapter.
It took me a bit of time to decide who this book is for - it has some hacks aimed at web developers, others are useful for anyone, but that More >
Building the Perfect PC
Jan 15th
The first chapter is on the fundamentals. This covers what to know before starting out- the tools to have, basic hardware knowledge, etc. Here they cover the general layout of modern motherboards, some of the supplies you should have on hand like (screwdrivers, flash light, etc.) and some good safely tips (for both you and your expensive newly-purchased parts).
The next chapter then goes more into depth on choosing components, tips on buying and what to look for beyond the price. Who is this book written for? I’d say if you’re already comfortable opening up your PC and installing, say, a More >
Digital Photography Expert Techniques
Dec 21st
This book uses Photoshop CS2, so it’s quite current (as of this writing CS3 isn’t due out till early next year). A nice touch in this book is chapter sections are marked in colour on the top of the page, making flipping through to a section easy. The first two chapters deal with set-up, taking pictures and setting up your computer set-up, including how to calibrate your monitor. A nice touch is chapter sections are marked in colour on the top of the page, making flipping through to a section easy. As well there are lots of notes in the More >
