All posts in What I’m reading

12 Posts
April 28, 2011 · What I'm reading

Book Review- Above The Fold: Understanding the Principles of Successful Web Site Design

I just finished Brian Miller’s new book Above The Fold: Understanding The Principals of Successful Web Site Design. It’s a great read for aspiring web designers who are looking to start taking on professional projects. In fact, my only complaint (if you can call it that) is that I wish it was longer.  At 255 pages already, that’s more of a compliment than anything. Brian clearly put a lot of thought and careful consideration into the structure, content and flow of the book. It’s well done. I usually re-sell the books I buy on amazon when I’m done, but I’m planning on keeping this one.

I’ve been building websites for 4 or 5 years now and this is the first book I’ve found that does a good job of walking the reader through the entire thought process of planning and creating a structured strategy for designing websites. If you’re sold on the idea that smart thinking and great design thrive on a methodical approach, this book will delight you. That said, it’s not a how-to book on building code or using tools like Photoshop, so if you’re just getting into web design and you’re itching to learn specific skills for building stuff, you’ll probably want to hold off on buying this for now and come back to it later when you’re ready to start doing professional projects. Just do so knowing that, when you do eventually come back and read it, you’ll probably kick yourself for not reading it first ;-).

For those of you interested in buying the book, here’s a quick list of pros and cons:

PROS (many):

  • There’s zero fluff-factor. Brian did a solid job of explaining things simply and succinctly and moving on. Every page gets straight to the point. You’ll get through it quickly without feeling like you wasted any time.
  • It’s easy on the eyes. There are plenty of visuals to support the content. If you surf though CSS galleries a lot looking for inspiration for your projects, you’ll also get a lot of value just from flipping through the pages.
  • It’s an ideal start for aspiring design professionals because it provides a comprehensive, horizontal look at the design process end to end. If your goal is to learn how to manage big design projects, the book helps you develop an essential vocabulary and a broad awareness of things you need to consider (and why you do) before you get started.

CONS (few):

  • The information in some sections is a little “light”. I said at the beginning of this post that I wished the book was longer. And again, I’ll say that at 255 pages, that’s not really a knock. There’s plenty of great info to chew on. The book was clearly designed for breadth, rather than depth, which is why it succeeds in giving the reader a complete and broad awareness of the design process. Depth needed to be sacrificed in order to cover everything. Entire books have been written on each topic covered in this book (like SEO, usability etc). The good news is that being aware that these are critical steps in the process will aid you in your search for deeper dives into how this stuff is done.
  • No suggestions for further reading. Recognizing that this book was designed for breadth, it would have been useful to have had a short list of suggested resources in each section to guide the reader to deep dives. For example, Daniel Pink’s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us includes a vetted list of “further reading” after every section. This isn’t a make or break by any means, it’s just a nice to have.

So in wrapping up I just want to acknowledge one last thing. Funny enough, I actually found this book while searching the iPad app store for web design tools. It has an accompanying iPad app with a neat grid building function and a few short interviews with Brian that are tied into a sample of the first chapter. If you’re still wondering whether this book might be for you and you have an iPad, download the app. It’s only a buck, the tools are neat and it’s a great way to figure out whether you want to spend an extra $20 on the paperback. I doubt you’ll be disappointed with either. The paperback is collection-worthy.

June 22, 2010 · Disrupting Education, What I'm reading

The Best Learning Hubs For Web Design, Development and Multimedia

Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time learning on the web. I’ve temporarily put blogging and all the social stuff on hold in the name of focusing on teaching myself things I’ve always wanted to learn, as well as essential skills that, as a freelancer, help me deliver value to clients and broaden my skill set.

February 17, 2010 · Blogging and Writing, Cyberculture, Journal, What I'm reading

Connecting and Making An Impact

This morning I got a pleasant surprise. The mail man dropped off a hardcover copy of Seth Godin‘s new book Linchpin sent from a new friend. Totally made my day. Luke, thanks for reminding me again why I love to write this blog, and why helping others and giving generously are the best ways to connect with others.

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July 22, 2009 · Psychology & Philosophy, What I'm reading

Alan Greenspan On Self Esteem, Our Nature and Our Need For Connectedness

greenspanIt’s been almost a year since I read The Age Of Turbulence, but I find myself repeatedly returning to a few of Alan’s thoughts on human nature and self esteem that resonated with me. Despite being discussed in the context of human factors in economics, the following passage in my eyes stands easily on its own and speaks volumes of truth about what drives us all and why we have a strong, fundamental need for connectedness. Any time I find myself in a discussion about community, authenticity, accountability, open source or the economics and culture of “free” on the web, I come back to this.  Does this speak to you?

As I’ve traveled across the globe for nearly six decades, I have found that people exhibit remarkable similarities that by no stretch of the imagination can be construed as resulting from culture, history, language, or chance. All people appear motivated by an inbred striving for self-esteem that is in large part fostered by the approval of others … People have an inbred need to interact with other people. It is essential if we are to receive their approval, which we all seek. The true hermit is a rare aberration. What contributes to self-esteem depends on the broad range of learned or consciously chosen values that people believe, correctly or mistakenly, enhance their lives. We cannot function without some set of values to guide the multitude of choices we make every day. The need for values is inbred. Their content is not. That need is driven by an innate moral sense in all of us, the basis upon which a majority have sought the guidance of the numerous religions that humans have embraced over the millennia. Part of that innate moral code is a sense of what is just and proper. We all have different views of what is just, but none can avoid the built-in necessity of making such judgments. This build-in necessity is the basis of the laws that govern every society. It is the basis on which we hold people responsible for their actions.

July 11, 2009 · What I'm reading

Cracking Open The Wisdom Project

thewisdomprojectA week has gone by since I eagerly placed the order for The Wisdom Book on Amazon. To tell you the truth, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this amped to get a book in the mail. When it got here this morning, I was genuinely excited. The box is massive (because the book is), and opening it felt deliberate and ceremonious – like the size and weight of the book was symbolic. I’ve been flipping through it for a half hour and I’m grinning. I normally don’t get worked up about binding, design and photography the way I am right now – I generally read happily on whatever surface, wherever the words happen to be – but I feel some empathy for true bibliophiles today. The book is gorgeous.

January 5, 2009 · What I'm reading

10000 Hours, Hits and Experts

Over the break I had the chance to read Malcolm Gladwell’s new book Outliers. The book’s been talked about a lot since it’s recent release, and for good reason. It’s engaging, thought provoking and well written – everything we’ve come to expect from Malcolm. One of the main arguments of Outliers is that becoming an expert takes about 10,000 hours of hard work.

Seth Godin recently posted some thoughts on what’s becoming known as the “10,000 Hour Rule” – this part in particular stuck out:

“For me, though, some of the 10k analysis doesn’t hold up. The Doors (or Devo or the Bee Gees) for example, didn’t play together for 10,000 hours before they invented a new kind of rock*. If the Doors had encountered significantly more competition for their brand of music, it’s not clear that they could have gotten away with succeeding as quickly as they did. Hey, Miley Cyrus wasn’t even 10,000 hours awake before she became a hit.”

I’m glad he used the word “hit” and not “expert” because I think that the difference between an expert who produces a hit and a hit itself is a critical distinction that clears up a lot of the confusion around the 10,000 hours debate. Hat tip to Seth. He’s cleverly drawn that distinction. The reason that the 10K Rule doesn’t work for superstars like Miley or Devo is because it doesn’t apply. A hit can come out of no where because it instantly fills an uncontested niche that was begging to be filled (a new kind of rock (The Doors), for example). Another good example of this type of instant hit would be the invention of “Chunky Spaghetti Sauce” (If that sounds like a strange reference, check out the video below). Said another way – a product/song/idea can become a hit because it fills a need in an uncontested space, which, of course does not require 10000 hours of expertise.

The reason for the confusion is probably that Outliers misses when it explicitly combines the 10,000 hours rule with the opportunities arguments, and leaves out sub 10K examples. Bill Joy and Bill Gates, for example, put in their 10,000 hours in a time when the programming space wasn’t highly contested, so when their “born in 1955 opportunity” put them in prime position to be the leaders in their field it allowed them to put their expertise to good use at just the right moment. Theirs was an issue of potential energy (like squashing a spring and letting it go at the right time) AND getting through The Dip, as Seth argues (spending 10K on something that requires at least 5K). The point is that some “hits” don’t require the 10K, they just require the right timing and an audience that desperately wants something that it hasn’t gotten yet.

For those that are interested, Gladwell’s argument in this video illustrates exactly what I’m talking about – how filling a need in an uncontested niche can create a hit. In this case, it was chunky spaghetti sauce.

March 23, 2008 · Web Strategy, What I'm reading

Book Review: The Adsense Code – What Google Never Told You About Making Money With Adsense, By Joel Comm

Before I dive into the pros and cons of this book, I think it’s important to acknowledge how significantly the book has impacted the way thousands of Internet publishers use and understand Adsense. At this writing, the book is just over a year old and it has been heralded as an instant classic in the growing world of Internet marketing. After making the New York Times best sellers list in 2006, The Adsense Code firmly established Joel Comm as an authority in the world of contextual advertising. Regardless of what I say in this post, the numbers tell the story. This book was a hit. Here’s why.

Although countless millions of websites run adsense ads, very few sites actually generate enough traffic to really see large, consistent adsense earnings. When web site traffic is low, infrequent and unpredictable, it’s tough for site owners to see how small tweaks in the placement or configuration of ads on a page affect click rates and earnings. This makes maximizing your adsense income difficult. But big numbers don’t lie. When a website is getting large amounts of consistent traffic, small changes in the way ads look and where ads are placed can make a big difference to the number of clicks they get.

October 27, 2007 · What I'm reading

Feelings, nothing more than Feelings

Consider this excerpt I pulled out of my book notes from Stumbling On Happiness:

Nothing more than feelings? What could be more important than feelings? Sure, war and peace come to mind, but are war and peace important for any reason other than the feelings they produce? If war didn’t cause pain and anguish, if peace didn’t provide for delights both transcendental and carnal, would either of them matter to us at all? War, peace, art money, marriage, birth, death, disease, religion — these are just a few of the Really Big Topics over which oceans of blood and ink have been spilled, but they are really big topics for one reason alone: Each is a powerful source of human emotion. If they didn’t make us feel uplifted, desperate, thankful, and hopeless, we would keep all that ink and blood to ourselves. As Plato asked,”Are these things good for any other reason except that they end in pleasure, and get rid of and avert pain? Are you looking to any other standard but pleasure and pain when you call them good? Indeed, feelings don’t just matter — they are what mattering means.

Huh.

October 23, 2007 · Psychology & Philosophy, What I'm reading

Book Review: Stumbling On Happiness

Stumbling On HappinessIf you chose to only read one book this year, I strongly urge you to consider this one. It ranks at the very top of a small collection of books that have fundamentally changed the way I think. Daniel Gilbert is not only brilliant, his writing style is irrepressibly humorous, charming and entirely accessible. Stumbling on Happiness, which won the 2007 Royal Society Prizes for Science Books, is a joy to read and will change the way you look at just about, well, everything.

Stumbling on Happiness is based on a very simple but powerful concept – that what makes human beings unique is our ability to think about the future. Gilbert draws on the latest scientific studies from psychology, cognitive neuroscience, philosophy and behavioral economics to provide answers to some of the most profound mysteries of how the human mind really works. In these pages, you’ll learn, among other things, the science of how our experiences of the here and now color our memories of the past and imagination of the future, why our innate drive to predict and control how we will feel a day or a month or a year from now today often leaves us ill-prepared when the future finally comes, and, most of all, how happiness itself is elusive. I’d be lying if I told you that the lessons in this book didn’t haunt me on a daily basis in both times of joy and stress. Gilbert argues his points expertly. Trust me, you owe it to your yourself to read this book. Gilbert himself admits this point – “No one can say how you will feel when you get to the end of this book…but if your future self is not satisfied when it arrives at the last page, it will at least understand why you mistakenly thought it would be.”

Buy The Book (Hardcover) on Amazon

Buy The Audio Book (Unabridged) on Amazon

October 22, 2007 · What I'm reading

Speech Patterns and Intonation: Why Audio Books Read By The Author Give You A Little Something Extra

I first got hooked on audio books some time in the summer of 2005 when I began working as an IT Auditor/Consultant. I travel a lot – more than most. Some weeks I spend as much as 10 to 15 hours in my car or in airports, which leaves me a with a lot of time to fill. Audio books are a great way to turn commute time into something productive.

My audio book addiction has seen a significant resurgence these past two weeks due to heavy commuting – I polished off 4 books in traffic over a two week period – my first read of Po Bronson’s Why Do I Love These People, and my second read of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, Daniel Gilbert’s Stumbling On Happiness and Howard Zinn’s A People’s History Of The United States. It had been a while since I’d listened to an author read their own work, but I’m realizing all over again why I’ve come to appreciate the experience of consuming a book that way for all the reasons that make it different to turning pages myself. Here’s why I love (and recommend) audio books read by the author:

October 16, 2007 · What I'm reading

Book Review: The Elephant And The Dragon – The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us

It’s almost daily now that I hear some reference, whether from the Western Media or otherwise, to China or India. If you’re currently on a modest diet of TV and Web news, you are well aware that jobs in the U.S. are threatened by off-shoring, that China is rapidly becoming the world’s factory, and that India is becoming the world’s back office. You probably also know that, because of rapid advances in Internet and other communications technologies, the world is “flattening.” I’ve you’ve been AWAKE at all this year, you know that pollution is going to be a global fight for the next 50-100 years because you’ve been exposed to the hype about global warming. What you may not know is how the heck things got to be the way they are today. This book, in combination with Friedman’s The World Is Flat, is a killer combo for anyone looking to put everything that’s going on politically and economically into sharp perspective.

October 1, 2007 · What I'm reading

It’s All About Healthy Incentives

A common phrase I’ve heard associated with Tyler Cowen’s new book Discover Your Inner Economist is Mind Grenade, and less than 50 pages in, it becomes clear why. Although I have yet to come across an explicit and concise definition of Mind Grenade, this phrase has undoubtedly been used heavily when talking about this book because of Cowen’s uncanny ability to create “aha! moments” through expert story-telling using extremely well-considered, simple language.

Here’s Cowen on The Virtues Of Capitalsm and Why Fostering a Sense of Control Should be An Inherent Element in Any Economy:

One of the least-heralded virtues of capitalism is how it blends and melds different kinds and mixes of rewards and penalties. Capitalism is not just dollars, dollars, and more dollars. It is also the best system for mobilizing intrinsic motivations toward the greater good of mankind. And that includes allowing people a sense of control.

Capitalism is about knowing when to change incentives and about knowing when to stop thinking about money. The problem with Soviet communism was not just that healthy incentives were too weak, but also that bad incentives were too strong. For most people in the Soviet Union, the only way to have a decent life was to court the Communist Party. This pressure was always present and always overbearing. The choice was to be a total rebel — which usually led to a very bad end — or to court or at least tolerate power. Virtually every social and economic decision was influenced by this calculus.

Of course, this was an unhealthy incentive, but that was not the only problem. It is less commonly understood that the Soviet Union offered less scope for incentive-free behavior than does capitalism. A state-controlled economy led to less pay, most of all in the realm of creating and implementing new business ideas. Play was pretty much restricted to close friendships and family relations. The result was less creativity and less personal human investment in making our world a better place.

And that is a big reason why communism failed.

– Tyler Cowen