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How to become a Mac Geek in 11 books |
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 Geekiness. The glue that binds the universe together, or is that cheese that binds the universe... whatever.
In order to become a geek you must first think like a Geek. To help you get started, I've put together a list of books that not only teach but also entertain.
The Essentials
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
This is probably the funniest Science Fiction you will ever read. The "ultimate" has all five novels from the Hitchhiker's series plus a bonus story. A great book and a Geek must have.
Learning UNIX for Mac OS X Panther by Dave Taylor & Brian Jepson
Not really a good general UNIX book, but a great book for beginners. It teaches the most common commands and how to use them. If you want to use UNIX on your Mac and you've never used it before, this is the book to get.
Teach Yourself Applescript in 24 Hours by Jesse Feiler
No self-respecting Mac Geek could live without AppleScript. This book teaches you how to write powerful scripts that can make your life very easy. It even teaches you how to make advanced applications using AppleScript Studio.
The Adroit Geek
Teach Yourself UNIX in 24 Hours by Dave Taylor & James C. Armstrong Jr.
A whole lot more about UNIX. You should be well on your way to Geekville after reading this one. It's a great reference to keep around, just in case.
HTML For Dummies by Ed Tittle & Natanya Pitts
You can't be a Geek using WYSIWYG HTML editors, you need to be able to hand code your web pages! HTML For Dummies, like all Dummies books, is easy to get through. You'll come away with a wealth of HTML goodness tucked neatly inside your geeky brain without hurting yourself. Also check out XML For Dummies if you want something a bit more... better.
Learning Perl by Randal L. Schwartz & Tom Phoenix
You can't be a Super Geek without learning a few things, and Perl is one of those things. Perl is an awesome language that can be used to automate just about anything.
Learning Python by Mark Lutz & David Ascher
Delve into object-oriented programming and create powerful stand-alone programs and scripting applications with Python. Why? Because you're a Geek.
C for Dummies Volumes 1 and 2 by Dan Gookin
The guy who wrote these books is a bit of a jerk (he likes to poke fun at Mac users), but he seems to know what he's talking about. Do you need to know C to be a cool Geek (oxymoron alert)? No, but if you know C you can write really great applications that fill a need not being filled by commercial software, and that will make you a Super Geek.
The Elite Geek
The Art of Deception by Kevin D. Mitnick
The world's most famous Hacker exposes the giant holes in security that you face everyday. This is a book about hacking people to get what you want (like free pizza for life), but it is also a book on how to prevent such things from happening to you. Great book.
Hacking: The Art of Exploitation by Jon Erickson
If you know how to exploit poorly written code you can test your own code to make sure it is secure. Use your knowledge for good, or bad things will happen to you. One word: Karma.
The NEW Hacker's Dictionary - Compiled by Eric S. Raymond
Funny stories and whimsical definitions of words that you thought you knew. Good for the bathroom.
All of these books are available at Amazon. Reading all or some of these books is worthwhile, although no amount of reading will turn you into a true Geek. A nerd maybe, but not a Geek. Feel free to add your own suggested reading in the comments section. |
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April 20 2004, 11:03 PM EDT, by
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Comments:
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| Fuzzmanmatt |
4/21/04, 1:15 AM EDT |
boo yah! HHGG is the cool ness gnosity. Anybody played the game? It's development kinda died after Douglas Adams did, but it's fun nonetheless.
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| Robert |
4/21/04, 10:58 AM EDT |
Bzzt. Nice try. You're right on the mark as far as range of topics covered, but no self-respecting geek is going to have *any* books on his shelf with "...for Dummies" in their titles.
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| rlhamon |
4/21/04, 11:32 AM EDT |
I beg to differ Robert. Actually HTML for dummies is a great read. This book is straight forward and will show you shortcuts and codes that you would use instead of other HTML books that essentially talk about one piece of coding for chapters and chapters and you still don't feel that you've learned anything.
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| sweetjimmyhugs |
4/21/04, 2:26 PM EDT |
While I understand that a "Dummies" book may not be best books for a true Geek, they will get you started in the right direction. Dummies books are great if you don't know anything about a particular subject and want to get started right away, without having to learn every in and out. They are meant to be primers, not an all encompassing authority. I wouldn't use one to write my master's thesis, but I would use one to learn how to code HTML (or C) for the first time.
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| Jonahan |
4/26/04, 8:10 PM EDT |
Great list!!!
I think Dummies books are great. They get you the information you need and no more. Some geeks will go for "Black Books" or Bibles, but I for one like something that's just going to give me what I need to know. If it's something obscure, I'll look it up online. Besides, if something is so obscure it's going to be hella hard to find in a big ole "Black Book" (Proof in point is the MySQL Black Book where the guy babbles on and on, makes no sense, and it's very difficult to find anything).
Oh and SJH, there used to be a "Learn C on The Macintosh", but I can't seem to find it on Amazon.com. I got it shortly before OS X came out, so I think the software it was written for exists only in 9/Classic mode ---- but it was a good read and of course from the Mac point of view.
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| nhmacusr |
5/10/04, 2:23 PM EDT |
Pretty good list sweetjimmyhugs.
One I would add, for C there is none better than the source (no pun intended)
The C Programming Language by Kernighan and Ritchie.
Also, for the elite geek list:
The Unix CD Library from O'Reilly - nothin' bout Unix left out here.
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