Don't worry. I always leave things until the last moment:
event: bill buxton (sketching user experiences)
technical q&a: carl zimmer (microcosm)
technica q&a: mark g. sobell (a practical guide to ubuntu linux)
oscon
ink q&a: mark alpert (final theory)
technica q&a: jeffrey kluger (simplexity)
game design sale
new arrivals
doug brown's factoid
bestsellers
The Tech store loves the Rose Festival, especially the Starlight Parade. We close the store at 9:00 p.m., walk a couple blocks, and we're in the middle of high school bands, Royal Rosarians, and anarchist drummers. But the best part is watching the end of the parade. The television lights dim, but you can see 100 volunteers frantically bagging the litter that the giant street-cleaning truck blows to the curb. Amazing! If only they made house calls.
EVENT: BILL BUXTON
Whether it's an orange-juice squeezer or an avalanche shovel, design and functionality are extremely important. Bill Buxton, author of Sketching User Experiences, is concerned with human aspects of technology. Come to Powell's Technical Books today, June 11, at 5:00 p.m., for our book signing with this world-renowned designer.
TECHNICA Q&A: CARL ZIMMER
Just the term "E. coli" makes me squirm. But Carl Zimmer, author of Microcosm:
E. Coli and the New Science of Life, finds the little buggers fascinating. He even kept a dish of it by his computer desk as he wrote this latest book (now that's dedication). In Carl's exclusive Q&A for Powells.com learn about his obsession with the Mutter Museum, find out what writer he'd love to be reincarnated as, and discover why he can never quite relax. And save 30% off the cover price of Microcosm while our promotion lasts.
Thar' she blows!
On June 11, 1991, volcano Mount Pinatubo erupted on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The blast had a Volcanic Explositivity Index of 6 (Mount St. Helens measured 5 on this scale), and blew out 10 times more debris than Mount St. Helens did. The massive amount of dust in the atmosphere even affected lunar eclipses; the moon wasn't visible at all to the naked eye, when usually the moon is merely dimmed during an eclipse.
TECHNICA Q&A: MARK G. SOBELL
Mark Sobell, author of A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux, is a hands-on technical writer. He enjoys typesetting, laying out the design, and crafting his words for the page. "Ideally," Sobell says, "a sentence is both artful and unambiguous." In this Q&A, crafted especially for Powells.com, learn about his link to Linus Torvalds, his childhood hobbyist enthusiasm for Heathkit projects, and why he doesn't own an iPod. Get into the open source spirit for OSCON and save 30% on A Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux.
OSCON
We love the O'Reilly Open Source Convention so much that we are positively giddy to be its official bookseller! Taking place at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, July 21-25, the annual event attracts computer programmers from all over the world. Don't you want to be part of it, too? Powell's Technical Books will be selling books outside the exhibition hall at a 30% discount for the duration of the convention. Come by and say hello! And save 10% on your OSCON registration by using Powell's promo code.
Dehumidifier Needed
Did you build a paper model to celebrate architect Frank Lloyd Wright's recent birthday on June 8? Born in 1867, Wright is best known for his houses that feature low-slung roofs and incorporate nature. Fallingwater is his best example — a house above a waterfall in Mill Run, Pennyslvania. The structure is quite beautiful, but natural elements take their toll on architecture. The original owner, Edgar Kauffman, nicknamed the house "Rising Mildew."
INK Q&A: MARK ALPERT
Mark Alpert tells great stories, so it's no surprise that his debut novel Final Theory is a thriller about Einstein's proposed unified field theory (finally, a potboiler even a Tech store customer could love!). In this exclusive Q&A, read Alpert's accounts of "Unkie," the Twinkie-eating boar, find out what famous writer he met at New York's Chelsea Hotel, and see his picks for the top "Five Novels that Have Wonderful Scientist Characters." Plus, save 30% on Final Theory for a limited time.
TECHNICA Q&A: JEFFREY KLUGER
Jeffrey Kluger is undoubtedly familiar with that automotive koan: "objects in mirror may be closer than they appear." In science, things are rarely what they seem. Kluger's newest book, Simplexity, explores a new kind of science that examines why complex things are actually quite simple, and why simple things — like a column of marching ants — can be much more complex. In his Q&A, you can read about his writing motivations, find out which Adams is his favorite, and why he thinks India might be the world's technology leader in 10 years. And enjoy 30% off the cover price of Simplexity while our promotion lasts.
Merriment in Economists' Camp
June 5 is the birthday of economist John Maynard Keynes, born in 1883 in Cambridge, England. Not only was he brilliant, but he was also a member of Virginia Woolf's Bloomsbury clique, acted as director to the Bank of England, and caused Bertrand Russell to remark that Keynes was the "smartest man I've ever met." Keynes famously said, "It is better that a man should tyrannize over his bank balance than over his fellow citizens."
GAME DESIGN SALE
Since we're still having a bit of a rainy spell this early summer, you, like us, may be spending more time in front of your computer than you usually do in June — So, might as well sharpen your game programming skills. Come browse our Game Design Sale and save 30% off selected titles, including Hans Bacher's exquisite Dream Worlds, MoCap for Artists by Midori Kitagawa, and Tracy Fullerton's Game Design Workshop. Act now, because these prices won't last much longer.
NEW ARRIVALS
In preparation for the upcoming lazy days of summer, we offer these books, hot off the presses, which are just waiting to be read in your lawn chair with a nice, cold drink nearby. We think this science DIY book, published by the fine folks at Make magazine and O'Reilly, is a gem: Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments by Robert Thompson. How the States Got Their Shapes by Mark Stein is a goldmine of fascinating history factoids and politics. Vincent Virga, writer and picture editor, has given us a gorgeous book called Historical Maps and Views of New York. And, to demystify the advent of the 99-cent bottle of water, check out Elizabeth Royte's book Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It. And speaking of bottles: while we can't retrieve another icy one, you can check out all our refreshing New Arrivals here.
DOUG BROWN'S FACTOID
Most terrestrial vertebrates have lungs, but not all do. There is a large family of salamanders that are lungless; they are slender to maximize their surface/volume ratio and absorb oxygen through their skin (biologists call this cutaneous respiration). Some of the common salamanders around Portland are in this family, including Ensatina and the red-backed salamander. A few frogs that live in cold, swift streams have reduced lungs, including the Northwest's own tailed frog. Recently in Borneo, however, a completely lungless frog was discovered. Like our tailed frog, it lives in cold, fast-moving streams and absorbs oxygen through its skin.
POWELL'S TECHNICAL BOOKS BESTSELLERS
1. The Rails Way by Obie Fernandez (Computer Languages)
2. Advanced Rails Recipes by Mike Clark (Computer Languages)
3. Deploying Rails Applications by Ezra Zygmuntowicz (Computer Languages)
4. JavaScript: The Good Parts by Douglas Crockford (Computer Languages)
5. The Ruby Programming Language by David Flanagan (Computer Languages)
6. CSS Pocket Reference by Eric A. Meyer (HTML)
7. Advanced Rails by Brad Ediger (Computer Languages)
8. Subject to Change by Peter Merholz (Web Design)
9. The Art of Agile Development by Shane Warden (Software Engineering)
10. The Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun (Business Technology)
Technica
By Carole R.
