30 Nov 2003 djcb   » (Journeyer)

reading. I am one of those sorry souls who brings his laptop computer, even while backpacking. Actually, it is quite handy to have all my stuff (photos, music, email) near me. And nowadays, I can usually plug my machine in into the local internet-cafe's network and exchange data with the outside world. Nevertheless, I spend quite some time off-line. I will talk another time about what software tools make this nomadic computing a bit easier, but want to focus on reading material now.

I love reading. Both fiction and loads of non-fiction. But of course I don't want to carry 20 kg of books with me. Below are some of the electronic books I found. All are free for download (or browsing, but httrack and friends help...), but the licenses differ wildly. And some are PDF, some are HTML or txt. It takes some time to get used to reading books from a computer screen, but it's worth the effort!

  • Dive into Python. Python for programmers. Nice refresher course. It's even apt-getable.
  • Handbook of applied cryptography. Skimming through it, it seems pretty solid. But I haven't really read this one yet.
  • Introduction to methods of applied mathematics. Sean Mauch's excellent book on mathematics. Far from being a mathematician, I found his book a good way to freshen up / expand my math skills. Well, I only read a part, its 2300+ pages!
  • Simple nature. Benjamin Crowell's introductory/lightweight book on physics.
  • The Art of Unix Programming. Eric Raymond's (ESR) attempt at describing (and prescribing) the Unix programming philosophy. Even if I don't always agree with the book or with ESR, ESR is a good writer and the book is an interesting read.
  • Free as in Freedom is Sam Williams' biography of Richard Stallman. A fascinating book.
  • Nikola Tesla's Autobiography. About a man I would call an 'applied genius'; he never really got the recognition he deserved, and man was hestrange.
  • Hacker crackdown - Bruce Sterling's account of the 1980's hacker (i.e. cracker) scene. Great read!

Now, what I am still looking for are a good general work on chemistry, on statistics and on discrete mathematics.

I'd like to compile a longer list, preferrably with only 'free'/'creative commons' - licensed books. If you have suggestions for this list, please email me.

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