Scott Rutherford

So, not sure what algorithm Amazon are using to power their self optimizing links, but it doesn’t work – the books haven’t really changed in the 35 days its been on my blog. Of course I could be the exception but it seems to me to be, well, crap.

Quite disappointing really, I would of thought it would be possible to be a lot more targeted, especially as I already have links to their site from my posts so even returning the “others have bought” books would be an order of magnitude increase in performance.

Basically I have been a combination of busy, lazy and ill recently that has led to me being a bit slack on keeping up with certain aspects of my life. Going to the gym is one!! Posting on here has been another. Anyway here are three books I have read recently that I thought were great and well worth a look:

They aren’t exactly in the same vein by the way, but each has a lot to offer in its own sphere. Freakonomics and The Wisdom of Crowds share some mind space, but Liar’s Poker stands alone. Check them out….

In this book Robert Scoble and Shea Israel have done a great job of pulling together a whole raft of real world examples of why blogging is important as a business tool. They also present a wide range of opinions on the subject, some a little extreme for my liking, but all in all it provides for a very balanced read.

Bulding Rails apps, buy this and read it cover to cover first, you will be amazed at how many issues have been solved for you. The book is comprised of a selection of ‘full’ recipes (sort of full plans to achieve something – like versioning) and snack recipes (hints on improving your code – postback actions). I would say I will probably use around 50% of them within the next couple of months.

So this is the second post about books I have recently finished and as with The Cathedral and The Bazaar it is a book I really should of read about 5 years ago. Doh. Having said that, it is very interesting to see how the companies and ideas outlined in this book have developed (or died – e.g AllAdvantage.com) in the last few years – which lets face it have been both turbulent & interesting in the world of the web and e-commerce…..

Having said that, some of the viruses outlined in this book have nothing to do with the web, Polaroid and Tupperware for example, although they do show how important the web can be in the determination of how virulant your virus is.

I first came across the ‘manifesto’ (to steal a term from Seth Godin) that is ‘The Cathedral & The Bazaar’ a couple of years after it was first was published on the web in 1997 and it played a part in helping stimulate my interest in Open Source and Linux. However, at the time I was a bit like a kid in a candystore with computer languages and all things webbie and I sometimes failed to follow up on things, unfortunately (for me) that included the other essays of Eric Raymond.