Hi, we're selling our house for economic reasons and i'll be getting rid of quite a few books (chess, math, computer, et cetera).
i look at my computer books and i do not want to part with quite a few of them.
this got me thinking about desert island books.
imagine this scenario ... for some reason, you must go to a desert island, or a distant planet, or prison, or some other remote place ... you are never going to be allowed to return; however, your are given permission to take only
n computer books with you.
What book(s) would you take with you if
n == 1 ?
n == 2 ?
n == 5 ?
Just curious.
Regards,
Gerry
B-) Please help me by completing my school survey about computer programmers on my website. Thank you!!! Gerry Lowry +1 705-429-7550 wasaga beach, ontario, canada
I would definitely get Sams Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours
by Michael Morrison because of its nostalgic feelings. It was the first computer book I read.
}
for higher number of Ns actually I think it doesn't make sense to get computer books cause there's no point in reading them twice usually. but to name my second choice I would pick networking bible by Barrie Sosinsky.
at the end of April this year, for financial (economic) reasons, i needed to make such a decision for myself ... we moved from a house where i had 500 to 1000 to ??? computer books ... to a much smaller house with no basement ... i gave away around 30 boxes
(c 30 cubic feet =~ 0.8 cubic metres) and sent some imho worthless ones to the landfill ... things like Borland c++ ... mainly technology no longer available).
when i get a chance, i'll post my selections here ... FWIW, i made my selections based on need and projects i hope to start ... plus a few because they are imho worth reading more than a few times.
Hessam.ShM
I think it doesn't make sense to get computer books cause there's no point in reading them twice
usually
i'm glad that you qualified this with "usually" ... there are some computer books worth reading many times over, at least for me, because either i get additional pleasure from each read or i gain a deeper understanding.
"Many readers will be delighted and edified by Friedman and Felleisen's novel approach to the recursive programming language Lisp."
- Raymond Smullyan, author of To Mock a Mockingbird
Some of my computer book's i gave away because i could get them via my ACM membership (http://learning.acm.org/index.cfm); sadly, and recently, Microsoft Press pulled its titles from ACM; FWIW, belonging to
ACM is a good deal because one still has FREE access to over 1000 titles.
B-)
regards ~~ gerry
P.S.: in total, i had to give away 130 to 150 boxes of books ... books are my friends and i miss most of them ... i hope that they've found good homes.
B-) Please help me by completing my school survey about computer programmers on my website. Thank you!!! Gerry Lowry +1 705-429-7550 wasaga beach, ontario, canada
The solution is moving toward ebooks. not only it saves trees but also it takes no more than some inches like an external hard drive :)
I have a kindle 3g and carrying 4 gigabytes of books wherever I go. Kindle is my most beloved gadget right now much more useful than my laptop or smartphone. I never leave it at home. Right now I have about 500 computer books and all are sitting in a digital
library powered by calibre :)
e-books are a game changer ... my spouse Susan is an e-book author (http://susan-lowry.com) ... e-books have made self-publishing a true possibility ...
she has a kindle (wireless only) ...
one does not even require a kindle ... Amazon gives free applications for PC and other devices ... there are many free titles too
Hessam.ShM
Right now I have about 500 computer books
unfortunately,
Hessam.ShM, remember it's a "desert island" ... no electricity* ... so your kindle will not last that long until it's d-e-a-d ... your desert island book, OTOH, if you can keep it dry, will last you very long ... you'll be able to read it every day in the
sunshine. B-)
Hessam.ShM
powered by calibre
is that a Mac e-book reader?
g.
* unless of course you've managed to bring a solar cell with you to the desert island to recharge your kindle.
B-)
B-) Please help me by completing my school survey about computer programmers on my website. Thank you!!! Gerry Lowry +1 705-429-7550 wasaga beach, ontario, canada
on further thinking, the desert island idea could even apply to something like a kindle (or other e-book reader) ... example, the kindle keyboard (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003DZ1Y72) holds
only "up to 3500 books" ... but for free "over 2 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are available" ... after weeks of research, you've discovered that to have the
free books you want, you'll need to delete 499 of the 500 computer books that you currently carry with you ... which one computer book from your e-book library would you choose to keep on your kindle?
g.
P.S.: weird, imho ... i searched "Kindle Store > Free Popular Classics with "computer" ... only one book was found:
B-) Please help me by completing my school survey about computer programmers on my website. Thank you!!! Gerry Lowry +1 705-429-7550 wasaga beach, ontario, canada
I've got (bought if getting freebies can be called buying) a lot of free classics from kindle store. for desert island scenario I prefer paper books definitely but I meant real world soluton is ebook.
Calibre is available for both windows and linux, there's even a portable version.
gerrylowry
All-Star
20515 Points
5713 Posts
Desert island computer books ... what would you take if you could take just n books?
Mar 24, 2012 04:41 PM|LINK
Hi, we're selling our house for economic reasons and i'll be getting rid of quite a few books (chess, math, computer, et cetera).
i look at my computer books and i do not want to part with quite a few of them.
this got me thinking about desert island books.
imagine this scenario ... for some reason, you must go to a desert island, or a distant planet, or prison, or some other remote place ... you are never going to be allowed to return; however, your are given permission to take only n computer books with you.
What book(s) would you take with you if
n == 1 ?
n == 2 ?
n == 5 ?
Just curious.
Regards,
Gerry
Hessam.ShM
Member
136 Points
28 Posts
Re: Desert island computer books ... what would you take if you could take just n books?
Jul 11, 2012 08:48 AM|LINK
if (n == 1) {
I would definitely get Sams Teach Yourself HTML and CSS in 24 Hours by Michael Morrison because of its nostalgic feelings. It was the first computer book I read.
}
for higher number of Ns actually I think it doesn't make sense to get computer books cause there's no point in reading them twice usually. but to name my second choice I would pick networking bible by Barrie Sosinsky.
gerrylowry
All-Star
20515 Points
5713 Posts
Re: Desert island computer books ... what would you take if you could take just n books?
Jul 12, 2012 02:17 PM|LINK
@ Hessam.ShM
thank you for your reply ...
at the end of April this year, for financial (economic) reasons, i needed to make such a decision for myself ... we moved from a house where i had 500 to 1000 to ??? computer books ... to a much smaller house with no basement ... i gave away around 30 boxes (c 30 cubic feet =~ 0.8 cubic metres) and sent some imho worthless ones to the landfill ... things like Borland c++ ... mainly technology no longer available).
when i get a chance, i'll post my selections here ... FWIW, i made my selections based on need and projects i hope to start ... plus a few because they are imho worth reading more than a few times.
i'm glad that you qualified this with "usually" ... there are some computer books worth reading many times over, at least for me, because either i get additional pleasure from each read or i gain a deeper understanding.
From the pleasure perspective (and awesome for learning too), i regret giving away my copy of "The Little LISPer", imho, a book that belongs in the top echelon (sic) of computer literature ... http://www.amazon.com/The-Little-LISPer-Third-Edition/dp/0023397632
"Many readers will be delighted and edified by Friedman and Felleisen's novel approach to the recursive programming language Lisp."
- Raymond Smullyan, author of To Mock a Mockingbird
Some of my computer book's i gave away because i could get them via my ACM membership (http://learning.acm.org/index.cfm); sadly, and recently, Microsoft Press pulled its titles from ACM; FWIW, belonging to ACM is a good deal because one still has FREE access to over 1000 titles.
B-)
regards ~~ gerry
P.S.: in total, i had to give away 130 to 150 boxes of books ... books are my friends and i miss most of them ... i hope that they've found good homes.
Hessam.ShM
Member
136 Points
28 Posts
Re: Desert island computer books ... what would you take if you could take just n books?
Jul 12, 2012 02:38 PM|LINK
The solution is moving toward ebooks. not only it saves trees but also it takes no more than some inches like an external hard drive :)
I have a kindle 3g and carrying 4 gigabytes of books wherever I go. Kindle is my most beloved gadget right now much more useful than my laptop or smartphone. I never leave it at home. Right now I have about 500 computer books and all are sitting in a digital library powered by calibre :)
gerrylowry
All-Star
20515 Points
5713 Posts
Re: Desert island computer books ... what would you take if you could take just n books?
Jul 14, 2012 12:20 AM|LINK
@ Hessam.ShM
e-books are a game changer ... my spouse Susan is an e-book author (http://susan-lowry.com) ... e-books have made self-publishing a true possibility ...
she has a kindle (wireless only) ...
one does not even require a kindle ... Amazon gives free applications for PC and other devices ... there are many free titles too
unfortunately, Hessam.ShM, remember it's a "desert island" ... no electricity* ... so your kindle will not last that long until it's d-e-a-d ... your desert island book, OTOH, if you can keep it dry, will last you very long ... you'll be able to read it every day in the sunshine.
B-)
is that a Mac e-book reader?
g.
* unless of course you've managed to bring a solar cell with you to the desert island to recharge your kindle.
B-)
gerrylowry
All-Star
20515 Points
5713 Posts
Re: Desert island computer books ... what would you take if you could take just n books?
Jul 14, 2012 09:30 AM|LINK
@ Hessam.ShM
on further thinking, the desert island idea could even apply to something like a kindle (or other e-book reader) ... example, the kindle keyboard (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003DZ1Y72) holds only "up to 3500 books" ... but for free "over 2 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are available" ... after weeks of research, you've discovered that to have the free books you want, you'll need to delete 499 of the 500 computer books that you currently carry with you ... which one computer book from your e-book library would you choose to keep on your kindle?
g.
P.S.: weird, imho ... i searched "Kindle Store > Free Popular Classics with "computer" ... only one book was found:
1.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Kindle Edition - May 1, 1997) - Kindle eBook
Hessam.ShM
Member
136 Points
28 Posts
Re: Desert island computer books ... what would you take if you could take just n books?
Jul 25, 2012 10:40 AM|LINK
I've got (bought if getting freebies can be called buying) a lot of free classics from kindle store. for desert island scenario I prefer paper books definitely but I meant real world soluton is ebook.
Calibre is available for both windows and linux, there's even a portable version.