Comments on: in which I ask for your advice http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196 Laura Crossett on the LIS domain Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:03:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Nonanon http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-32341 Nonanon Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:36:10 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-32341 Laura, I'm clueless on all things techie and Mac, so I'm no help there. But, what about books on MySQL (seems a good thing to know these days) database programming or fiction by Geoff Ryman (in particular, "Air," although parts of that may be somewhat for MA, mature audiences). Or some geeky nonfiction like "The World Without Us"? Either way, good luck with both questions. Laura, I’m clueless on all things techie and Mac, so I’m no help there. But, what about books on MySQL (seems a good thing to know these days) database programming or fiction by Geoff Ryman (in particular, “Air,” although parts of that may be somewhat for MA, mature audiences). Or some geeky nonfiction like “The World Without Us”? Either way, good luck with both questions.

]]> By: Brian http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-31548 Brian Fri, 21 Sep 2007 22:03:36 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-31548 I would only ask why you want to talk yourself out of a Mac? Apple's on a tear, the Mac platform and hardware have never been better, and Vista is a disaster by all accounts. Comparably configured Macs and PCs are comparably priced these days, too. Do hold out for Leopard if you can, though. And when you buy, consider the refurbished models available online at the Apple web site. Same warranty, etc., as a new model, but you can save a little money. I would only ask why you want to talk yourself out of a Mac? Apple’s on a tear, the Mac platform and hardware have never been better, and Vista is a disaster by all accounts. Comparably configured Macs and PCs are comparably priced these days, too. Do hold out for Leopard if you can, though. And when you buy, consider the refurbished models available online at the Apple web site. Same warranty, etc., as a new model, but you can save a little money.

]]> By: Ryan http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-30912 Ryan Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:04:38 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-30912 Actually, most of the suggestions re: programming are cool, but I would suggest your young person take a look at the <a href="http://www.w3schools.com/" rel="nofollow"> W3 Schools tutorials </a> first, and then go on to a programming book. That way he/she will get an idea of the direction he/she wants to go in with programming. Also, the tutorials are fairly explicit about what you need to know to get into the programming language. Lots of folks neglected to mention ASP (bunch of Microsoft haters. :) ), but you could do worse than learn a bit of that, too. Actually, most of the suggestions re: programming are cool, but I would suggest your young person take a look at the W3 Schools tutorials first, and then go on to a programming book. That way he/she will get an idea of the direction he/she wants to go in with programming. Also, the tutorials are fairly explicit about what you need to know to get into the programming language.

Lots of folks neglected to mention ASP (bunch of Microsoft haters. :) ), but you could do worse than learn a bit of that, too.

]]> By: Tuwa http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-28677 Tuwa Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:00:22 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-28677 Hi, it's me again. <a href="http://ask.metafilter.com/69927/What-programming-language-should-I-learn" rel="nofollow">This question</a> came up on AskMe today and it's got some interesting discussion about what language to learn and why and how to go about it. I thought your patron/budding geek might find it interesting. Hi, it’s me again. This question came up on AskMe today and it’s got some interesting discussion about what language to learn and why and how to go about it. I thought your patron/budding geek might find it interesting.

]]> By: Fiona http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-28018 Fiona Sun, 19 Aug 2007 00:00:22 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-28018 As Jessamyn mentions, max out your RAM - as you know my iBook is even older (Dual USB 01) but I maxed out the RAM last year and now it goes pretty well. Battery life down to 30 minutes so it's not so portable anymore. I plan on waiting for Leopard and then getting a new MacBook. My husband is going Mac soon which is incredible for a lifelong Mac hater - though he does plan to install XP on it. As Jessamyn mentions, max out your RAM - as you know my iBook is even older (Dual USB 01) but I maxed out the RAM last year and now it goes pretty well. Battery life down to 30 minutes so it’s not so portable anymore.

I plan on waiting for Leopard and then getting a new MacBook. My husband is going Mac soon which is incredible for a lifelong Mac hater - though he does plan to install XP on it.

]]> By: jessamyn http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-28013 jessamyn Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:04:04 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-28013 Make sure your laptop doesn't just need RAM. Macbook. PHP, O'Reilly books Make sure your laptop doesn’t just need RAM.

Macbook.

PHP, O’Reilly books

]]> By: Mark http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-27973 Mark Sat, 18 Aug 2007 16:39:33 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-27973 Laura, I say stick with Apple. I'm doing my best to migrate everything off this PC as fast as I can. I 'm just tired of all the hassle. From what I hear Vista is a mess, and you may be able to buy a new PC with XP still, but how long do you trust MS to support it? Not sure how or when, but I hope to get me a Mac Mini (or perhaps an iMac but then I'd have 2 monitors) to replace the desktop PC and become the primary home machine. I love my PowerBook, but the evil consumer in me covets a newer one when all I need is some more memory. One concern will be can you possibly hang on long enough to get one shipping with, or a free upgrade to, Leopard? The Apple site says it arrives in Oct. but perhaps they'll give free upgrades at some point before. And then do you want Leopard 1.0 or to wait for the slightly tweaked 1st minor upgrade? I doubt I can buy my replacement any time soon anyway, but I will not buy a new Mac that doesn't have Leopard, or at least a free upgrade later. As for the budding programmer ... I am not one although I have been as a student, at least, and will be again this fall. I have no idea how good or useful these resources are but Uta Priss has some tutorials on here site for Perl and Python under "Teaching Activities": http://www.upriss.org.uk/home.html And, certainly, there are tons more on the web. I generally like the O'Reilly books but concur with the caveat on the In a Nutshell series. They are more useful as reference works and I have a couple, but I have a fair few more of the regular line of "animal books." But computer books are highly individual; some just work better for one than others do. And it is hard to use the index as an evaluative tool because it is hard to guess what the things you want to look up are going to be. But if there are a couple current ?s or interests then they can be useful to determine depth and kind of coverage of a topic. And if the book is at hand then one can see if those indexed entries actually address one's need. Laura, I say stick with Apple. I’m doing my best to migrate everything off this PC as fast as I can. I ‘m just tired of all the hassle. From what I hear Vista is a mess, and you may be able to buy a new PC with XP still, but how long do you trust MS to support it?

Not sure how or when, but I hope to get me a Mac Mini (or perhaps an iMac but then I’d have 2 monitors) to replace the desktop PC and become the primary home machine.

I love my PowerBook, but the evil consumer in me covets a newer one when all I need is some more memory.

One concern will be can you possibly hang on long enough to get one shipping with, or a free upgrade to, Leopard? The Apple site says it arrives in Oct. but perhaps they’ll give free upgrades at some point before. And then do you want Leopard 1.0 or to wait for the slightly tweaked 1st minor upgrade? I doubt I can buy my replacement any time soon anyway, but I will not buy a new Mac that doesn’t have Leopard, or at least a free upgrade later.

As for the budding programmer … I am not one although I have been as a student, at least, and will be again this fall. I have no idea how good or useful these resources are but Uta Priss has some tutorials on here site for Perl and Python under “Teaching Activities”: http://www.upriss.org.uk/home.html

And, certainly, there are tons more on the web.

I generally like the O’Reilly books but concur with the caveat on the In a Nutshell series. They are more useful as reference works and I have a couple, but I have a fair few more of the regular line of “animal books.”

But computer books are highly individual; some just work better for one than others do. And it is hard to use the index as an evaluative tool because it is hard to guess what the things you want to look up are going to be. But if there are a couple current ?s or interests then they can be useful to determine depth and kind of coverage of a topic. And if the book is at hand then one can see if those indexed entries actually address one’s need.

]]> By: GeekChic http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-27918 GeekChic Sat, 18 Aug 2007 08:31:49 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-27918 #1 Second the notion of sticking with what you know. If you must buy Windows you can still purchase computers with XP - I would avoid Vista for the time being. #2 In addition to the languages already mentioned, your budding geek might also be interested in SQL (any flavour) or XML. SQL will require a bit of work for him to practice though. Other books that he might find interesting: "Just for Fun" by Linus Torvalds, "Silence on the Wire" by Michal Zalewski, "Where's My Jetpack?" by Daniel H. Wilson and the various issues of "Make" magazine (published by O'Reilly). #1 Second the notion of sticking with what you know. If you must buy Windows you can still purchase computers with XP - I would avoid Vista for the time being.

#2 In addition to the languages already mentioned, your budding geek might also be interested in SQL (any flavour) or XML. SQL will require a bit of work for him to practice though. Other books that he might find interesting: “Just for Fun” by Linus Torvalds, “Silence on the Wire” by Michal Zalewski, “Where’s My Jetpack?” by Daniel H. Wilson and the various issues of “Make” magazine (published by O’Reilly).

]]> By: Tuwa http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-27908 Tuwa Sat, 18 Aug 2007 06:20:54 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-27908 Oh, and Perl would be another web/database programming language. I'm not sure which of those three is most popular; I've been using PHP. Oh, and Perl would be another web/database programming language. I’m not sure which of those three is most popular; I’ve been using PHP.

]]> By: Tuwa http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-27906 Tuwa Sat, 18 Aug 2007 06:11:35 +0000 http://www.newrambler.net/lisdom/196#comment-27906 If your budding geek is into the internet (and what geek isn't?) and also interested in programming, then a language like PHP or Python makes sense, esp. since they're common scripting languages used for interacting with databases. JavaScript is also a useful programming language for people interested in web work; it can help with pre-processing of forms (though it shouldn't be *relied on* since the user might be using a text-only browser or have JavaScript turned off). The O'Reilly books generally have a good reputation but I would *not* recommend the "in a Nutshell" ones for a new programmer; those all have struck me as more like a cheatsheet before an exam than a textbook actually taking the time to explain things and give examples. Of course with any programming book opinions will differ (along with temperaments & experience levels) but there's usually some value in looking up various reviews and reading through them looking for recurring complaints or kudos. There are a number of sites covering the programming languages as well; it's possible that some people could learn the languages without buying the books. I doubt I'm one of them--most sites "teaching" the languages struck me as somewhat slapdash, or unclear, or inconsistent. I have higher expectations of books, though they're also naturally more expensive. ILL might be a solution for your patron.... If your budding geek is into the internet (and what geek isn’t?) and also interested in programming, then a language like PHP or Python makes sense, esp. since they’re common scripting languages used for interacting with databases. JavaScript is also a useful programming language for people interested in web work; it can help with pre-processing of forms (though it shouldn’t be *relied on* since the user might be using a text-only browser or have JavaScript turned off).

The O’Reilly books generally have a good reputation but I would *not* recommend the “in a Nutshell” ones for a new programmer; those all have struck me as more like a cheatsheet before an exam than a textbook actually taking the time to explain things and give examples.

Of course with any programming book opinions will differ (along with temperaments & experience levels) but there’s usually some value in looking up various reviews and reading through them looking for recurring complaints or kudos.

There are a number of sites covering the programming languages as well; it’s possible that some people could learn the languages without buying the books. I doubt I’m one of them–most sites “teaching” the languages struck me as somewhat slapdash, or unclear, or inconsistent. I have higher expectations of books, though they’re also naturally more expensive. ILL might be a solution for your patron….

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