In general the recipes are short and to the point. Each provides a code example and a reasonably detailed explanation for what is going on.  This isn’t the kind of book you’d read cover to cover, but it is an excellent reference to have on the shelf after you’ve walked through a few basic Arduino tutorials.  Whenever you run into a “how do I?” question or just run out of ideas you should be able to get some guidance and maybe inspiration.

I found Chapter 6, Getting Input From Sensors, particularly interesting. With a separate example for each of the most common sensors it provides a good starting point for gathering and reacting to real-world conditions.

Full disclosure: I received a free PDF version of this book for free in exchange for writing this review. I’ve followed the review guidelines set by O’Reilly. Especially (and always) “First and foremost, we want nothing but complete honesty in your reviews”.

 

If you are new to Python you definitely want to start with Learning Python or some other introductory book. Once you are familiar with the basics Programming Python should be your next step.  While the author repeatedly mentions that this is not a reference book I think you’ll find yourself referring to it frequently. The tutorial programs are not only excellent examples how to do something in Python, but also how to do it well.

This version of the book covers Python 3, the latest version of the language.  Since Python 3 and Python 2 are not fully compatible this is a big change.  If you are new, start with Python 3 and then only reach for Python 2 if the need arises (say a module or library that isn’t yet ported to v3).  The examples in the book can, for the most part, be used with Python 2 with relatively minor changes.

At more than 1600 pages even the PDF is heavy. But it is well enough written that, as far as programming books go, this is a real page turner.

Full disclosure: If it wasn’t obvious I received a free PDF version of this book for free in exchange for writing this review. I’ve followed the review guidelines set by O’Reilly. Especially (and always) “First and foremost, we want nothing but complete honesty in your reviews”.

 

SQL Pocket Guide is exactly that, a small guide to most things SQL. You won’t find a lot of background or extraneous content. Instead you’ll get good examples of SQL syntax for nearly every SQL command supported by PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, DB2 and Microsoft SQL Server.

I’ve been using this book daily at work, and while it doesn’t officially support the SQL database engine we use, I’ve found it to be most helpful. This isn’t the type of book you’d sit down and read. It is meant to be a reference, but I find the content to be interesting enough that I often read about an extra command or two after the command I was looking for.

Don’t buy this book (at least not first) if you are new to SQL. You need a working knowledge of SQL and relational databases to make the most of this. But if you do work with SQL on even a semi-regular basis I really recommend it.

The only thing I’d like to see changed is adding support for SQLite. It is, after all, by numbers of installations, the most popular SQL engine in the world. Plus it is the one I prefer to use for most of my projects. Still much of the content is applicable, but it may take some trial-and-error to find the precise syntax.

Full disclosure: If it wasn’t obvious I received a free PDF version of this book for free in exchange for writing this review. I’ve followed the review guidelines set by O’Reilly. Especially (and always) “First and foremost, we want nothing but complete honesty in your reviews”.

 

Javascript Step-By-Step is an introductory Javascript book. It covers the very basics from Javascript syntax and usage to more advanced topics such as AJAX and JQuery. Unfortunately by covering so much it delivers little of use.  One of the key refrains is “however, learning how to do that is beyond the scope of this book”.

Full disclosure: If it wasn’t obvious I received a free PDF version of this book for free in exchange for writing this review. I’ve followed the review guidelines set by O’Reilly. Especially (and always) “First and foremost, we want nothing but complete honesty in your reviews”.

 

Tumblebooks.com is a great site for kids of preschool to elementary school age.  They take books and give them simple flash animation and narration.  Wesley loves these things.  The animated books remind me a lot of these movies we had as kids.  They were, I think, Little Critters movies.  The animation was very simple with movement suggested by backgrounds shaking and the characters slid across the screen rather than actually walking.  It is enough to maintain your interest, but doesn’t really distract from the story.  And significantly cheaper than actually animating it like a cartoon which I suspect is the real reason behind it.

For some reason, and I’m guessing it is a fluke, you don’t actually need a SPL card to reach this site which is normally about $400 a year.  Simply follow this link from the SPL site and enjoy.  They have other items, but the books I’m talking about are under the “Story Books” button.   If you have small kids or work with small kids give it a try.  There are some great stories on there.  I’ll write more about one of them later.

 

It was quite a while ago that I first heard about Librivox.org, but our upcoming trip (specifically the eight to ten hour drives in each direction) brought it back to my attention.  Librivox is a site that as they say “provides free audiobooks from the public domain.”  They do this in a marvelous way.  Once a book is chosen one person steps forward to manage the project.  They then recruit volunteers, folks just like you and me, to record one ore more sections of the book.  The sections are generally one chapter, but it depends a great deal on the format of the material.  While most books are read by a number of readers, it isn’t uncommon for someone to read the entire book.  The readers use their computer to record their reading to an mp3 file which is then checked for accuracy, clarity, etc before being approved.  Once the entire book is recorded it is made available for download at no charge.

The projects greatest strength lies in the fact that anyone can read and record a section.  Readers often identify themselves or their location at the end of each chapter (the text is approved beforehand by the project lead).  So I can tell you I’ve heard heard books read by at least a dozen people from at least the following countries: the US, UK, Turkey, and France.  The quality of readers varies to put it simply.  Some readers you hope will only read one chapter while others would be at home recording books professionally (ah… Chip from Florida, you made Treasure Island come alive) .  Part of the fun for me is thinking how I would have pronounced this or that differently or being grateful that I didn’t have to pronounce that part at all.  Some of the readers simply read the words, others do voices, and others almost act out the parts.  Voices, accents, pronunciations are ever changing.

It certainly isn’t a “professional” quality product.  But I think it more than makes up for it in its sense of community.  I have to admit I’m tempted to try my hand at reading a chapter or two.  If I do, I’ll post the link to the book I’ve read some small part of.  Until then we’ll be listening to the first three books of the  series as we head west across Texas.  Who knows, maybe at some point in the future, we’ll each take a hand in voicing a children’s book that Wesley and Jillian will listen to.

 

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