Category: Writing

author: Ethan Marcotte
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2011/09/25
date added: 2011/09/26
shelves: non-fiction, own, technology, favorites
review:
A very short book; I think it took me an hour or so to read all the way through. BUT…it brings together all the threads of the Responsive Web Design concept in a clear and useful way. (He’s self-deprecating about it, but the math for calculating a flexible grid’s proportions based on a pixel grid is easy and just what I needed.) I ended the book fired up to do design this way from now on, and to go back and update sites I already have out there. Great color screenshots, easy-to-read code. And I like the quirky friendly voice.

A notable thing, from my POV as someone who’s been making websites for well over a decade (!), is his references in the acknowledgements to “A Dao of Web Design” – that article marked a critical moment in my growth as a web designer. It was written back when IE5 was the new hotness, IIRC, but it’s the same philosophy undergirding this book, and that’s a damn good thing.

author: Ethan Marcotte
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2011/09/25
date added: 2011/09/26
shelves: non-fiction, own, technology, favorites
review:
A very short book; I think it took me an hour or so to read all the way through. BUT…it brings together all the threads of the Responsive Web Design concept in a clear and useful way. (He’s self-deprecating about it, but the math for calculating a flexible grid’s proportions based on a pixel grid is easy and just what I needed.) I ended the book fired up to do design this way from now on, and to go back and update sites I already have out there. Great color screenshots, easy-to-read code. And I like the quirky friendly voice.

A notable thing, from my POV as someone who’s been making websites for well over a decade (!), is his references in the acknowledgements to “A Dao of Web Design” – that article marked a critical moment in my growth as a web designer. It was written back when IE5 was the new hotness, IIRC, but it’s the same philosophy undergirding this book, and that’s a damn good thing.

author: Ethan Marcotte
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2011/09/25
date added: 2011/09/26
shelves: non-fiction, own, technology, favorites
review:
A very short book; I think it took me an hour or so to read all the way through. BUT…it brings together all the threads of the Responsive Web Design concept in a clear and useful way. (He’s self-deprecating about it, but the math for calculating a flexible grid’s proportions based on a pixel grid is easy and just what I needed.) I ended the book fired up to do design this way from now on, and to go back and update sites I already have out there. Great color screenshots, easy-to-read code. And I like the quirky friendly voice.

A notable thing, from my POV as someone who’s been making websites for well over a decade (!), is his references in the acknowledgements to “A Dao of Web Design” – that article marked a critical moment in my growth as a web designer. It was written back when IE5 was the new hotness, IIRC, but it’s the same philosophy undergirding this book, and that’s a damn good thing.

author: Ethan Marcotte
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2011/09/25
date added: 2011/09/26
shelves: non-fiction, own, technology, favorites
review:
A very short book; I think it took me an hour or so to read all the way through. BUT…it brings together all the threads of the Responsive Web Design concept in a clear and useful way. (He’s self-deprecating about it, but the math for calculating a flexible grid’s proportions based on a pixel grid is easy and just what I needed.) I ended the book fired up to do design this way from now on, and to go back and update sites I already have out there. Great color screenshots, easy-to-read code. And I like the quirky friendly voice.

A notable thing, from my POV as someone who’s been making websites for well over a decade (!), is his references in the acknowledgements to “A Dao of Web Design” – that article marked a critical moment in my growth as a web designer. It was written back when IE5 was the new hotness, IIRC, but it’s the same philosophy undergirding this book, and that’s a damn good thing.

author: Richard Wiseman
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2011/08/10
date added: 2017/03/06
shelves: ebook, non-fiction, own, psychology, read-again, self-help, favorites
review:
Started reading in ebook, and enjoyed it so much that I actually bought a copy. (At Borders in downtown Seattle at 30% off, FWIW.) Condenses lots and lots of psychology research that I’ve read elsewhere combined with plenty that was new to me. For the practical person, includes exercises, quizzes, tips…which was why I wanted a copy, since those bits were tough to read on my phone, and I wanted to write in the margins! A quick read in an engaging tone. Each chapter covers a different area of human psychology (motivation, relationships, happiness, etc), looks at the most current research on what works and doesn’t, and then makes specific recommendations for how to use that research in your own life. Liked it a lot, planning to reread it, probably fairly regularly.

author: James Gleick
name: Elaine
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/08/01
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: ebook, history, non-fiction, science, technology, read-again
review:
Overdrive “returned” it for me a couple of weeks ago before I had a chance to finish. Interesting start, lots of stuff about this history of information theory and related things, but I got stuck at the Gödel chapter. (Unsurprising, given my history: never have been able to make it all the way through Gödel, Escher & Bach.) Might try again someday.

author: James Gleick
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/08/01
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: ebook, history, non-fiction, science, technology, read-again
review:
Overdrive “returned” it for me a couple of weeks ago before I had a chance to finish. Interesting start, lots of stuff about this history of information theory and related things, but I got stuck at the Gödel chapter. (Unsurprising, given my history: never have been able to make it all the way through Gödel, Escher & Bach.) Might try again someday.

author: James Gleick
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/08/01
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: ebook, history, non-fiction, science, technology, read-again
review:
Overdrive “returned” it for me a couple of weeks ago before I had a chance to finish. Interesting start, lots of stuff about this history of information theory and related things, but I got stuck at the Gödel chapter. (Unsurprising, given my history: never have been able to make it all the way through Gödel, Escher & Bach.) Might try again someday.

author: James Gleick
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2011/08/01
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: ebook, history, non-fiction, science, technology, read-again
review:
Overdrive “returned” it for me a couple of weeks ago before I had a chance to finish. Interesting start, lots of stuff about this history of information theory and related things, but I got stuck at the Gödel chapter. (Unsurprising, given my history: never have been able to make it all the way through Gödel, Escher & Bach.) Might try again someday.

author: Daniel H. Pink
name: Elaine
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2008
rating: 3
read at: 2011/07/10
date added: 2011/08/18
shelves: business, didnt-finish, non-fiction, psychology, self-help, science, sociology, read-again, own
review:
It’s been a while since I read this (early July?), and I wish I’d gotten all the way through before it had to go back to the library — I didn’t read all of the supplementary/how-to material in the back. Interesting stuff, some of which I’d read before, about how rewards can backfire and other things about motivation & behavior. But as a cog, generally speaking, in the employment wheel, somewhat disheartening. It’s hard to see how one can influence a larger system to go in a more rational direction. Might try it again to see if there are tools I can integrate into my life, though.