OK, this is technically not a book review. I just went through the 'who should buy this book" section on the micro-site for this new book by Eric Myers, and I'm quite certain this looks like a must have book. This is what set me up...
If asked, you would describe your HTML skill level as "intermediate" or "expert" and your CSS skill level as "basic" or "intermediate." In other words, you understand HTML fairly well and have used enough CSS to have a basic grasp of how it's written.
While, I would classify myself as expert/intermediate (HTML/CSS), I was still not sure if this is the advanced book on CSS that I was looking for. But a visit to the 'projects' section convinced me. I'm buying this right now...
It's not what you don't know that kills you,...it's what you know that isn't so.
-Webster Tompkins in Deadline: A novel about project management
Looking at the quote, don't come to conclusion that this is a book on philosophy. In fact, to be frank, it's not even a great piece of fiction. But when it comes to explaining project management concepts, in a clear concise fashion, I don't think you could find a better book. The story is set in a fictional country called Morovia and the characters in this book range from an ex-Morovian General, a beautiful (half Irish) Morovian spy, to a Bill Gate-ish tyrant. OK, so the scene is all set for Software Project Management disaster and it is up to Project Manager extraordinaire, Tompkins and his team to save the day. And during the process, he gives you insights and tips into executing software projects successfully. Great primer to project management, I would say.
If you're an IT Project Manager and have not read this one yet, you may not want to wait too long, just buy the book from Amazon.
By the way, if you're really interested in putting some of Webster Tompkins' principles into action in your next software project, there is no better tool to help you with it than Digite Enterprise. As a complete project and process management solution it would certainly make your life as a project manager a lot easier.
Lumpy cows and dinosaurs, nerds wearing glasses and women with big hair abound in this hefty two-volume slipcased compilation of Larson's twisted and beloved single-panel comic. Complete with every syndicated Far Side cartoon arranged chronologically by year of publication, in addition to 19 that were created after Larson's retirement in 1995, this deluxe set features chapter introductions by Larson as well as letters from fans and puzzled readers.
I'm already saving for this one...
Amazon Hacks is a collection of real-world tips, tricks, and full-scale solutions to practical uses of Amazon.com and the Amazon Web Services API . The book offers a variety of interesting ways for power users to get the most out of Amazon and its community, for Associates to hone their recommendations for better linking and more referral fees, for researchers to mine the enormous amount of information in Amazon's data store, and for developers to integrate Amazon Web Services into their applications and services.
Here are two sample hacks from the book:
In search of stupidity: Over 20 Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters is a new book by Merrill Chapman. The foreword for this book has been written by Joel Spolsky.
If the foreword is so good wonder how good the actual book might be...
I first came across this book while viewing Jeff Johnson's presentation on Stanford Online. If I can have just one book on HCI and UI design, without any hesitation, this would be it.
GUI Bloopers! Don'ts and Dos by Jeff Johnson, is as the title says a book of guidelines for Interface Designers and Programmers. If you've been working on developing UIs for application, you'll appreciate the loads of wonderful information that is contained in this book. The tips, or bloopers, have been divided into the following:
The only complaint I have is that the web section does not explore web application related bloopers. But since a lot of application UI related issues are covered in the rest of the topics, this is sort of made up for. I've recommended this book to all the designers who have worked with me, and have no hesitation in recommending it to you. Go, check it out on Amazon...
Carolyn Snyder who has recently published a book on paper prototyping has written this article on IBM developerWorks. Personally I don't like the concept of usability testing using Paper Prototypes unless the participants are well aware of GUI/Web design elements and can relate to the buttons as buttons and tabs as tabs...
How much longer does it take to develop a prototype using Visio or even Fireworks? If you're good with any of these tools, you could churn out the design in less than 20 minutes...
I'm not denying the importance of prototyping or even user testing. These are important stages of the process, but in my opinion a semi-finished computer prototype will work much better than the best paper prototype.
Also if you really want to test the IA, I would recommend sorting flash cards or even UML class diagrams as a good way to communicate the IA...
The paper prototype too has its place: I think it's a good way to communicate the design between designers and programmers. But showing it to the end-user, well...
Do you Systemize or Empathize?
Take the two Flash based tests to find out what your Essential Difference is...
I seemed to score pretty high on both...
EQ= 52
SQ= 42
That classifies me as B Type brain. Hmnn..
