books, magazines, reading
Review: Roadies, by Stuart Coupe Compelling account of the road crews that make live music possible, with a particular focus on capturing the roadie’s life in Australia in the 70s-80s, a time that has since evolved into something else. Each chapter reveals another character – and they’re great characters – building a multi-layered, cross-referencing tableau […]
Well, here it is the third day of March, which means summer in Australia is technically over. As I sit here in 30 degree heat looking at a cloudless, sparkling blue sky with just a mild, cooling breeze – that’s hard to credit. Nevertheless, it’s as good a time as any to summarise my summer […]
When I started this binge of Oz Rock books, I was fully expecting that some individuals would recur from book to book, being significant figures in our music industry – people like Ted Albert, George Young, Philip Mortlock, Michael Gudinski and Molly Meldrum. And, indeed they all do pop up variously in The Angels by […]
In 1999, the Australian rock band You Am I, a trio since their inception 10 years earlier, decided to hire a second guitarist. They could have had their pick of any number of white hot players who could learn their repertoire. Instead, they chose an 18-year-old fan who had come to their attention by accurately […]
Call it synchronicity, if you like. I wrote a review of Steve Krug’s book Rocket Surgery Made Easy in 2010, after I bought it online. I stumbled across it again yesterday, when I logged in to Amazon to look at another book entirely (Make: JavaScript Robotics: Building NodeBots with Johnny-Five, Raspberry Pi, Arduino, and BeagleBone, […]
Those of you who have been reading along for a while will know that one of the joys I get from web design and development is the opportunity to work with people and organisations over a number of years, crafting new approaches to their web presence that reflect ongoing changes in my clients’ lives and […]
Well, that year flew past. I’ll give a more detailed account soon but, for now, suffice to say SitePoint kept me pretty busy in 2013. I left in December and a mere month later I’m ready to again pick up the digital pen. I’m going to start with a review of the seventh issue of […]
Title: Insites: The Book Author: Keir Whitaker and Elliot Jay Stocks Publisher: Viepwort Industries Link: http://shop.viewportindustries.com/products/insites-the-book/ Why: Twenty interviews with 21 of “the most inspiring designers, developers, and businesspeople in the web and tech industries” in a very classy 256 full colour softcover boxed set. (more…)
Time for an update to my Reading List. If you’re a web designer or developer and you’re up for some self-directed professional development reading, these titles could be useful to you, too. Title: PHP & MySQL: Novice to Ninja, 5th Edition Author: Kevin Yank Publisher: SitePoint Link: http://www.sitepoint.com/books/phpmysql5/ (more…)
Back in March 2008, I designed a site for a Sydney author to promote her book, Mosaic, a “collection of favourite prayers and reflections chosen by a broad range of Australians from different backgrounds and faiths“, which Ros Bradley was inspired to compile in the wake of the 2005 London bombings. It was a lovely […]
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