Back at BarCampOrlando this year, I gave a (mostly finished) version of this presentation, about the fall of the local bookstore, and a strategy for saving such establishments. As BarCamp is filled with programmers, I then tried to give them a relevant example: how to make your app better. (read: website, product, video, etc.) My argument is to focus on storytelling, and think like a Boutique. Credit goes to Tara Hunt for the idea of boutique stores.
I promised some folks from BarCamp I would link to my blog post where I talked about saving local bookstores. I will post some slides soon, but I want to include the bullet points (i.e. actually finish the slides) before they get posted to SlideShare.
Also, if anyone out there is looking for the mailing list for New Media Orlando, jump on there and join the discussion.
I have tried reading books on my computer screen before, and I have been disappointed. Mostly, I have realized that scrolling sucks. Given that I have already paid to download a few technical books as PDF, I needed a reader that could make the PDF experience easier than Preview or Adobe.
This week I ordered my copy of The Art of Community
A few weeks ago I started reading Richard Florida's game-changing (profound? or controversial?) book, The Rise of the Creative Class
From the very first page, the author of this PHP book lets us know exactly its purpose - to act as an off-line reference to the hundred or so domestic PHP functions one might use in the course of writing software, and a couple of their lesser-used variants.
My friend Jake called me a few days ago to tell me he will be teaching a User Interface Design class at Ferris State University in Grand Rapids, MI next Fall. After my congratulations, he asked me to help him pick out a textbook for his students. Here were my suggestions:
Last week, I started the discussion of programming as a form of creative expression with some of the kids at work, and Kevin pointed us to John Littler's Art and Computer Programming article. That led Eric to post a link to Paul Graham's essay on Hackers and Painters, which I gobbled up and loved.
Just now I was buying a new domain name because of a misprint in my AXIS interview - it's probably a common mistake, so it was worth the $7.
Anyway, there was an ad for some wannabe-posh restaurant on I-Drive - "Bola". link
OK, seriously, who has a flash website that plays music? With late-90's slideshows?
I just finished reading Rent Girl
