Patrick Talmadge » Reading

Finished Reading High Performance Web Sites

Patrick Talmadge — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:51:49 +0000

Finished Reading High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers by Steve Souders. In this book Souders presents 14 rules that will cut the response time of a site by up to 50%. Steve Souders, Chief Performance Yahoo!, discovered these best practices while optimizing one of the highest traffic sites on the internet.

Unlike other books that focus on server side optimizations, this book focuses on client side performance improvements for Ajax, CSS, JavaScript, and images. Souders focuses on client side optimizations because the bulk of display time is in communications between the browser and the server. High Performance Web Sites provides specific examples and code snippets for the following 14 rules:

Make Fewer HTTP Requests
Use a Content Delivery Network
Add an Expires Header
Gzip Components
Put Stylesheets at the Top
Put Scripts at the Bottom
Avoid CSS Expressions
Make JavaScript and CSS External
Reduce DNS Lookups
Minify JavaScript
Avoid Redirects
Remove Duplicates Scripts
Configure ETags
Make Ajax Cacheable

I recommend this book to anyone interested in improving the performance of their website on a budget. The majority of these rules take very little time or money to implement. I’ve already added the YSlow extension to my FireBug extension in Firefox to start testing my site. I’m interested to find out what new information Steve Souders discusses in Even Faster Web Sites: Performance Best Practices for Web Developers, his second book.

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Finished Reading Voyager

Patrick Talmadge — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:24:59 +0000

Finished reading Voyager (Outlander, Book 3) by Diana Gabaldon. In Voyager Gabaldon continues the Outlander saga of 20th-century physician Claire Randall and 18th-century rebel Jamie Fraser. The book begins 20 years after the last book left off. Jamie is imprisoned, and once he’s pardoned he buys a printing business. Believing that Jamie died at Culloden, Claire returns to her own century. She is reunited with her first husband and gives birth to a daughter, Brianna. When Claire’s first husband’s dies she takes Brianna to Scotland to introduce her to her true heritage. After some research they discover that Jamie survived the battle at Culloden. Claire decides she must find Jamie and once again steps through the stones on Craigh na Dun to find Jamie in Edinburgh in 1766. Once reunited Jamie and Claire want to lead a quiet life, but the kidnapping of Jamie’s nephew throws the couple into a new pursuit.

I enjoyed Voyager as much as I enjoyed the other books in the Outlander Series. I’ve already started the Drums of Autumn the 4th book in the series.

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Finished Reading Dragonfly in Amber

Patrick Talmadge — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:56:45 +0000

Finished reading Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, Book 2) by Diana Gabaldon. Dragonfly in Amber is the second book in the Outlander series. It’s now 1968 and Claire returns to Scotland with her daughter, Brianna. This is Claire’s first trip back to Scotland since her and her husband Frank visited 22 years earlier. Frank just passed away and Claire wants to learn what happened to Jamie Fraser, whom she married on her journey into the 18th century. Claire hopes Brianna will believe her story about who her real father is. The majority of the book consists of the second half of Claire and Jamie’s adventures in the 18th century. After escaping a death, they flee to Paris, where they secretly work to foiling Bonnie Prince Charlie’s plot to regain the Scottish throne.

I was concerned how Gabaldon would retain the Outlander plot in the second book without becoming cheesy. In Dragonfly in Amber Diana Gabaldon was able to preserve the travel between the 1900’s and the 1700’s without awkward story transitions. I enjoyed the character development in Dragonfly in Amber and I’m looking forward to Voyager, the third book in the series.

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Finished Reading Outlander

Patrick Talmadge — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 06:09:52 +0000

Finished reading Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. The Outlander is about Claire Randall, a strong-willed woman who leads a double life that spans different centuries. While on a belated honeymoon to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank in 1945, Claire is thrown back in time to Castle Leoch. While trying to understand the forces that brought her back to 1743 Claire encounters Frank’s evil ancestor, British captain Jonathan Randall. Claire’s life suddenly becomes entwined with James Fraser, a Scottish warrior, when he saves her from Captain Randall.

I enjoyed the unique plot in Outlander because of the time travel between the 1940’s and the 1700’s. Outlander is the first book in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. I’m curious to see how the other books in the series try to retain the same unique style without becoming cheesy.

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Finished Reading The Accidental Sorcere

Patrick Talmadge — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:07:44 +0000

Finished reading The Accidental Sorcerer (Rogue Agent) by K.E. Mills. Gerald Dunwoody, a third grade wizard and safety inspector for Ottoslands Department of Thaumaturgy. Gerald career is thrown for a loop when he inadvertently blows up a wand factory while trying to prevent disaster. After being fired Gerald takes a job in New Ottosland, an almost bankrupt district, as royal court wizard for King Lional the 43rd. To prove his powers to King Lional and the king’s sister, Prime Minister Princess Melissande, Gerald turns a cat into a lion. With the Princess in danger, a talking bird who can’t stay out of trouble, and a war to prevent, Gerald soon suspects that he is in over his head.

In The Accidental Sorcerer K.E. Mills pulls you into a fascinating fantasy world. The Accidental Sorcerer is the first book in the Rogue Agent trilogy. This book sucked me in. I’m looking forward finding out where Mills takes Gerald’s character.

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Finished Reading Go Mad

Patrick Talmadge — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:02:51 +0000

Finished reading Go MAD – The Art of Making A Difference by Andy Gilbert.

Go Mad is an introduction to Andy Gilbert’s Go Mad framework. Gilbert describes each of the seven principles in-depth and relates them to practical real world examples. Go Mad contains lots of excellent information. If you’ve ever wondered why it is that some people seem to have the ability to make things happen this book will give you some insight.

Gilbert’s writing style is the perfect match for this book. If you are looking for a little inspiration to get a project started or finished you will get it from this book.

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Finished Reading Reality Check

Patrick Talmadge — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:57:00 +0000

Finished reading Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki. The subtitle for Reality Check references outdoing your competition, but in reality the majority of the book focuses on getting a startup off the group. If you can forget about the irritating overuse of “bullshittake” Reality Check is useful book. The book is caulk full of do’s and don’ts in regards to presentations, budgeting, forecasting, hiring lawyers, and networking. One of the most useful topics in the book is Guy’s discussion on common startup mistakes. If you can learn from these mistakes the book will more than pay for itself. In addition, Reality Check contains a lengthy section on getting venture capital. I recommend this book to anyone looking to start a business.

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Finished Reading SuperFreakonomics

Patrick Talmadge — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:13:55 +0000

Finished Reading SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. SuperFreakonomics picks up where Freakonomics left off. In this book Levitt and Dubner examine bolder, funnier, and even more surprising topics than in the first book. Like Freakonomics, SuperFreakonomics challenges everyday beliefs by exploring the hidden side of everything. In the book the authors ask questions like: How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa? What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common? Can eating kangaroo save the planet?

The two authors, Levitt and Dubner, mix intelligent thought and great storytelling like no one else could to create an extremely compelling book. If you enjoyed Freakonomics you will enjoy SuperFreakonomics. If you haven’t read Freakonomics, no worries you can start with either book. The books cover completely different topics.

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Finished Reading The Alchemist’s Pursuit

Patrick Talmadge — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:36:33 +0000

Finished reading The Alchemist’s Pursuit by Dave Duncan. The Alchemist’s Pursuit is the third book in Dave Duncan’s Alchemist’s series, a Venetian fantasy mystery. In this book Alfeo Zeno, apprentice to Nostradamus, is in search of a killer who’s targeting Venice’s prostitutes. After three women are strangled a courtesan and friend of Alfeo, Donna Violetta Vitale, begs Nostradamus to find the killer and prevent the next death. Alfeo barely escapes the unseen murderer after the fourth victim is stabbed. Alfeo and Nostradamus must rely on more than clairvoyance to save Violetta and unmask the killer.

I really enjoyed the Alchemist’s series. Duncan created an amazing mix of magic and history along with an entertaining set of characters. The series made me want to read some of Dave Duncan’s other books.

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Finished Reading The Alchemist’s Code

Patrick Talmadge — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 23:06:06 +0000

Finished reading The Alchemist’s Code by Dave Duncan. The Alchemist’s Code is the sequel to the Alchemist’s Apprentice. In this book an ordinary case of a missing girl turns serious when Venice’s Council of Ten asks Nostradamus to find a spy. Nostradamus’s only clues lie in a ciphered message that hasn’t been decoded.

Dave Duncan does it again with the Alchemist’s Code. I really enjoyed this book; the second book in the series. Duncan continues to build the main characters from the Alchemist’s Apprentice. I’m starting the Alchemist’s Pursuit soon, the third book in the series.

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