My Books
I enjoy reading, but most of the books I read are nonfiction techie books, or somewhat related to technology. I'm also interested in some law (mainly DMCA stuff). I don't read a lot of fiction, but when I do read fiction, I like science fiction/fantasy and James Bond novels, even though I haven't read one in at least a couple of years. So here's by book list.
I am writing this list from my dorm room so the books listed are only the ones that I have on the shelf next to me. I have many books back at home that I didn't bring :).
Computers and Computer Life
- Programming
- Beginning Visual Basic - this book was a Christmas gift about 5 years ago when I received the Learning Edition of Visual Basic. I was given the choice to pick out a book and I picked out this one. It's a good beginner's book, but obviously once you get past the point of a beginner you want to find another book. I don't have another book because I kind of abandoned Visual Basic programming last year and moved onto C++
- Perl and CGI for the World Wide Web - Got it from the library book sale but haven't really used it much. Hopefully if I learn Perl this book will come in handy
- Teach Yourself Java in 21 Days: Professional Reference Edition (either first or second edition; it doesn't say. It covers Java 1.1) - This is a huge book that I got at our library book sale. Most of my books come from there because when I worked there I could snatch up books on the donations cart and I think that's where I got this one from. The price tag is still on it and it sold for $53.99, so I feel kind of happy that I got it for 50 cents.
- JFC Unleashed - covers JFC and JDK 1.2
- Programming Microsoft Visual J++ 6.0 - this is another book sale book. I figured it might be a handy reference to Java, even though this is Microsoft's warped version of Java (J++)
- Java in a Nutshell (2nd Edition) by David
Flanagan. ISBN 156592262X, Covers Java 1.1. I got this for
free from my boss, who was giving away a bunch of books. I
need to learn Java some day.
- Linux and Open Source
- Sams Teach Yourself Linux in 24 Hours - I bought this book a long time ago when I first got interested in Linux. I tried installing this on the Compaq but quickly gave up. This book is very obviously geared towards the beginner, which I think I am far past. It contains a CD-ROM with Caldera OpenLinux 2.2 (Caldera's evil now since they turned into SCO)
- The Cathedral and the Bazaar - a book on Linux and Open
Source by Eric S. Raymond, a guy who I've just started to admire. I
agree with just about everything he argues in this book, and a lot of
the things he mentions on his web
site.
- Just for Fun - The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary -
his book is Linus Torvalds' autobiography in which he talks about how
he created Linux and how it has affected everyone.
- Free as in Freedom - Richard Stallman's crusade for free
software - this is Richard Stallman's (RMS) biography. It's very
interesting. Aparently he shows many of the characteristics of Asperger
syndrome, which is what I am diagnosed with, so I found that pretty
cool.
- Wireless
- Wireless
Hacks by Rob Flickenger. ISBN 0596005598. This book is
awesome. If you're a wifi nut, like me, you'll dig this book
- Wi-FI
Toys by Mike Outmesguine. ISBN 0764558943. This book is a lot
like Wireless hacks but explains things in simpler terms and goes into
a few longer projects like building your own antenna.
- Other Techie
- Apache: The Definitive Guide - this is O'Reilly's Apache
book, but it's the first edition so it's about half the size of the
current edition. I also got this at the library book sale for 50
cents. The CD-ROM was unopened (!!) and the receipt was still in
the book.
- Guide
to LaTeX (4th Edition) by Helmut Kopka, Patrick W. Daly. ISBN
0321173856. If you're a LaTeX user then this is the book to get.
- Hackers
and Painters by Paul Graham. ISBN 0596006624. I got this for
Christmas but haven't gotten the time to read it. Hopefully it will be good.
- Computer Law, Current Events
- Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace - this is Lawrence Lessig's first
book. I agree with just about everything he says on his web site (lessig.org) and this book just adds more
stuff that I agree on. I haven't actually read the book :), I just got it this
week.
- The Future of Ideas - Lawrence Lessig's second book, this book talks
more about the DMCA (which I am strongly against), and other stuff. Like his
other book, I haven't actually read it yet.
- Free Culture - Lawrence Lessig's third book.
Fiction
- Fahrenheit 451 - a good sci-fi book by Ray Bradbury, it also deals with censorship
- 1984 - I have never read this but I really think I should
- The Lord of the Rings - you'd have to be an idiot to not like this book. I have the one volume edition