hooked on phonics, and self-taught electronics
If I had to make a list of my favorite things, perusing bookstores might well top it. I love bookstores. I love everything about them. I particularly love the old ones, whose stacks are filled with worn, used, dusty volumes on diverse and esoteric topics. There’s just such a place within walking distance of my apartment: McIntyre and Moore Booksellers. Great place; not very big, but it bursts at the seams with the type-set thoughts of countless authors of various stripes, alphabetized and Dewey decimalized for your convenience. Each book, of course, contains the same basic ingredients (wisdom, ignorance, arrogance, candor, wit, and others), but the recipes are infinite. I always find something interesting there. Even a quick stroll through the gardening aisle can yield something cool.
Several weeks ago, Kara turned me on to a repository of information that I find to be equally intoxicating: Lynda.com! For a very reasonable subscription price, you get access to video-based training on hundreds of software titles, computer topics, and programming applications. I’ve probably logged over a hundred hours in their Online Training Library since I subscribed. In nearly two months, I’ve studied Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Adobe GoLive and Photoshop, PowerPoint, Typography, Color Theory, HTML, XML, CSS, and JavaScript. I’m addicted. It’s like the Matrix, although it isn’t quite as easy as having the information downloaded directly into my brain (and despite my repeated inquiries, lynda.com has yet to release a program teaching Kung Fu).
I just got a marketing email announcing lynda.com’s latest release: Digital Audio Principles. Just last week, I was wishing they’d create a title on this topic! Either lynda.com can read minds, or I’m omnipotent. There’s only one way to find out: if by this time next week, Katie Couric is reporting that world hunger has been ended by the miraculous appearance of steak-growing trees, we’ll have our answer…
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