Blog
24 July 2008
I know what you’re thinking. “Three posts in one week Ruscoe? You neglect your blog for all this time, managing to squeeze out a maximum of one post per month and now all of a sudden you’ve got blogorrhea? What gives!?!”
Well – to answer your question – “what gives” is that I’m not as busy as I have been so far this year. I’ve pretty much finished going to the gigs (actually, there are a couple more coming up this year), I’ve partied like it’s 1985, I’ve moved house, and I’ve reviewed two books for O’Reilly’s Missing Manual series, which is what this post is about...
Google Apps: The Missing Manual was finally released on 27th May 2008. It’s a book aimed at people who want to get the most out of Google’s online applications, such as Google Docs, Gmail, Google Talk, Calendar, iGoogle, Page Creator, Google Apps and Google Sites.
Reviewing a book like this, which covers Google’s ever-changing online services, meant that I had to keep right up-to-speed with all the features as they were being released. Even after finishing each chapter, I kept emailing the editor with updates when Google changed the Google Docs toolbar and Google Speadsheets kept adding new features! Of course, as soon as the book was released it was inevitable that some parts of it would already be out-dated. That obviously doesn’t mean the book was immediately worthless though. Only a few parts now contain minor errors, and it’s mainly omissions as new features have been added rather than outright inaccuracies. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed reviewing this book and am pleased that all my (what many people probably see as being useless) knowledge about Google could finally be put to good use!
You can read a bit more about it on Google Blogoscoped. And while you’re there, check out Philipp’s book, Google Apps Hacks.
JavaScript: The Missing Manual was released yesterday and I just got my copy today. After reviewing the Google Apps book, I was approached to do this one. I figured that I would probably know everything the book had to offer but how wrong I was! Not only does it cover standard old-fashioned JavaScript techniques, it also covers the jQuery JavaScript library in quite a lot of detail.
For anyone who’s only ever used raw JavaScript, jQuery is like a programming language from the web of the future. It’s everything that JavaScript should have been. It really does make pretty much everything so much easier to implement. Whether you want to create a simple image rollover (which is one of the first pieces of JavaScript I wrote or, more accurately, copied and pasted!) or a highly dynamic AJAX website, this book helps to explain how you can go about achieving it quickly and easily using JavaScript and jQuery.
So if you think you’re a JavaScript guru but you’ve never bothered looking into jQuery, this book is a great place to start and will help to completely change how you think about developing dynamic websites!
Labels: books, development, google, javascript, personal
23 October 2006
A couple of months ago, I read That Peter Kay Book, the unofficial biography of Bolton’s very own Peter Kay. Having spent a few nights staying away from home on a training course last week (without any Internet access in the evenings, if you can imagine that) I managed to finish reading yet another book – The Sound of Laughter: The Autobiography of Peter Kay.
If you’ve ever seen Peter Kay’s stand-up shows, watched his TV series and / or listened to his director’s commentaries on his DVDs, you’ll already be aware of how much crossover there is between all of his material; many of the jokes he tells on stage also appear in Phoenix Nights and stories told during his DVD director’s commentaries also often appear in his TV series. What you realise when you read this book is that practically all his comedy sketches, and particularly those found in That Peter Kay Thing, are based on actual events he’s experienced throughout his life. Does this make him less funny? Not at all!
Now, I realise this probably slows down my reading speed but whenever I read books, I tend to read them aloud in my head. (I know that’s a bit of a contradiction, but I’m sure you know what I mean!) As I was reading Peter Kay’s autobiography, I could imagine him speaking every word to me, especially because he writes very much like he speaks. I actually think reading it that way made the book much funnier – it’s often the way he tells them after all! Downloading his first chapter as an audio book a few weeks ago probably helped me to read it like this too.
Whilst reading the book, I felt as though I’d got quite a bit in common with Peter Kay. For a start, we’re both Bolton boys, so I know many of the places he talks about in his book. We were also both altar boys at church when we were younger. Neither of us are really football fans. We both hated P.E. at school. But we both loved drama and we’ve both been in a school production of The Wizard of Oz. As Peter says:
“I’ve always believed drama to be an important subject. It’s not just about play-acting, it’s about giving children confidence and ironing out their inhibitions. [...] I guarantee that they’ll exude charisma and confidence for the rest of their lives as a result of being taught drama.”
And I agree... of course! ;-)
Fortunately, I had more success with musical instruments than him; he ruined his saxophone by cleaning it with Jif in the kitchen sink and subsequently gave up learning how to play it. I managed to get ten more GCSEs than him, although we both passed our GCSE in Art. I didn’t have as many part-time jobs as him; I can count all of mine on one hand, whereas he might even struggle to remember all his. I found learning to drive much easier than him; I took one test and passed, he took and failed several...
So maybe we don’t have that much in common after all! I guess it’s a bit odd, but even though our lives were so different growing up, I can still relate to much of what he’s written. Is it just because we grew up in Bolton during a similar era (he’s just a few years older than me) or is his comedy so wide-reaching and clever that he can make everyone feel like they can relate to his experiences? Maybe we’re all just like Peter Kay, with hundreds of funny, sad, interesting and just plain boring anecdotes to tell about our lives.
Anyway, if you’re a Peter Kay fan, I think it’s worth reading both of these biographies as they really complement each other. Of course, just as you’d expect, there are a few parts of Peter’s life that appear in both books, but it’s always good to get two sides of the story.
Labels: books, peterkay, tv
14 September 2006
Whilst at the airport before going on holiday recently, I noticed WHSmith had That Peter Kay Book by Johnny Dee on display. Being a Peter Kay fan, I picked up the book and had a quick flick through. To my amazement, I immediately spotted that the list of Internet Sources towards the back of the book included the following:
<ruscoe.net/maxandpaddy>
“That’s my website,” I shouted to Suzy (despite her being stood right next to me). The author must have found my Max & Paddy’s Road To Nowhere Location Guide website whilst researching material for the book. Anyway, I called my mum and got her to order a copy from Play.com (just because it was £4 cheaper than WHSmith) so that I could read it when I got back.
I remember seeing Peter Kay on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross saying how he didn’t like the idea of someone else writing his biography, which is why he’s written his own (due to be released on 5 October 2006). I seem to remember him implying that all these people do is dig for dirt on a celebrity and publish it, making money off the back of their fame.
Having read Johnny Dee’s book, it’s obvious that he admires practically everything Peter Kay’s ever done. Of course, there are things in the book that Peter Kay won’t have included in his autobiography, but not because he wouldn’t necessarily want them to be published – more because he wouldn’t even know some of those things about himself! Contained in this book are some honest opinions from Peter’s school friends, teachers, other comedians, co-workers and various other people he’s come into contact with over the years, many of whom would never have divulged this information directly to him.
I thought I knew quite a lot about Peter Kay, especially coming from Bolton and reading many of the stories and articles that the Bolton Evening News printed about him, but reading this book made me realise that I knew practically nothing about him at all. Starting with his childhood, then the numerous part-time jobs he had before becoming a stand-up comedian, and eventually his slow rise to fame as a star of TV and film, Johnny Dee’s experience as a journalist has allowed him to speak to many of the key people in Peter Kay’s life – including Peter Kay himself – with each one providing amusing tales and anecdotes about his journey so far.
So where does my guide to locations used in Max and Paddy fit in? After reading the entire book, I’m pretty sure that content from my website was only used for a couple of items in the “The Little Book o Mis-Kay-Lany” at the back of the book:
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TRACKLISTING TO JERRY ST CLAIR’S SOLO ALBUM YOUNG AT HEART – this was possibly obtained from this photo of the fake album (as featured in Series 2, Episode 2 of Phoenix Nights) that I found whilst visiting the motorhome used in the series
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MAX AND PADDY’S ROAD TO NOWHERE LOCATIONS: ALL ROADS LEAD TO BOLTON – undoubtedly taken from my Max & Paddy’s Road To Nowhere Location Guide website
I thoroughly recommend this book to all fans of Peter Kay. Even when his autobiography is released next month, I’m sure it will be worth reading both of these books.
(For a more detailed review of That Peter Kay Book – or The Story of How Peter Kay Became Bolton’s Biggest Export – see Chortle.co.uk.)
For any of my readers that have never even heard of Peter Kay – you’ve either been living under a rock or don’t live in the UK – you can catch some of his work on Google Video, although it’s mainly just his John Smith’s adverts and short TV appearances.
Labels: books, personal, peterkay, ruscoe.net, tv
14 June 2006
Following my previous post, I’m pleased to say that my copy of 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google finally arrived on Monday. Here are a few comments on the whole experience...
Placing the order
I ordered my copy from Lulu.com and paid a whopping £9.01 for the ‘International Express’ shipping option in order to receive it within 4-8 business days. For some reason, that option had increased to £12.49 when I checked their website yesterday! And since the book only costs £9.20, I think that’s a little high. (My copy actually came from Spain.)
I noticed that other authors selling self-published books through Lulu opted to make them available for download. With international shipping costs being so high, that would seem like a more sensible approach if they plan to sell lots of copies to people outside the United States – especially since royalties aren’t received from the shipping costs. Having said that, I would much rather read from a physical book in my hands than an e-Book on my screen, so I probably would have opted for the printed version anyway – I just wish the shipping charges were lower!
Checking the quality
The print quality and appearance of the book is pretty good – much the same as most mass-produced books for this price. However, I did notice one small oddity whilst reading the book; the pages seemed to be narrower at the spine of the book than they did at the edge. I wasn’t sure whether this was just an optical illusion or not so I actually measured the book. To my surprise, the book was indeed a whole 2mm narrower at the spine! This is a bit odd, but obviously no big deal. To be honest, most ‘normal’ people wouldn’t even notice this (and if they did, they certainly wouldn’t measure the book to check). You probably even get this on shop bought books, but I don’t actually read that much so I wouldn’t know.
Reading the book... finally!
I love books that just contain lists of fun facts and seemingly useless information; you can pick them up, read a bit and put them down again a few minutes later. 55 Ways is definitely one of those books. Having said that, I read the entire book from cover to cover in around four to five hours over two sessions. But I was reading pretty fast so that I could (i) give my feedback on the book as soon as possible and (ii) see how many times my name was mentioned!
The variation in style of each chapter was quite refreshing. Some chapters are quite short, others consist of just pictures, there are a couple of quizzes, short stories, a few games you can play with Google, plenty of interesting facts and many other things you can do with Google.
Having been an avid reader of Google Blogoscoped (and other Google-related blogs) for over 18 months, I was already aware of many of the “55 ways to have fun” listed in the book. However, despite being the ‘Google expert’ in Chapter 8 and getting only two questions wrong in Chapter 26, even I had learnt a few things by the time I’d finished reading!
In conclusion, I think that 55 Ways is an excellent book for anyone who has an interest in Google or just wants to know what else you can do with the most popular search engine in the world. This isn’t a complicated reference guide on how to use Google as a tool – it’s an entertaining book on how to use Google as a toy!
Update: 22 June 2006 (20:21)
“The full PDF of my book, 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google, is now available on 55fun.com. As the book is Creative Commons licensed, you are encouraged to copy, read, share, remix, convert, quote, browse, and print the PDF to your liking.”
– Philipp Lenssen, Author
Labels: books, google, personal
1 June 2006
In November last year, Google Blogoscoped’s Philipp Lenssen announced that he would be writing a book titled “55 Ways To Have Fun With Google” about... well... fifty-five ways to have fun with Google.
Philipp interviewed me a few days later as he needed a “Google expert” – and those are his words, not mine – for one of the chapters in the book, firing question after question about Google’s services at me which I had to answer spontaneously.
Anyway, 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google has finally been released via Lulu – which is apparently ‘the only place on the web where you can publish, sell and buy any and all things digital’ – and I’ve just ordered my copy. (I’ve even finally registered an account on Digg and dugg it to try and get it a bit more exposure.)
I know Philipp’s worked hard on this book, so congratulations to him on finally getting it finished and let’s hope it sells well!
[Via Google Blogoscoped, of course...]
Update: 22 June 2006 (20:14)
“The full PDF of [...] 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google is now available on 55fun.com. As the book is Creative Commons licensed, you are encouraged to copy, read, share, remix, convert, quote, browse, and print the PDF to your liking.”
– Philipp Lenssen, Author
Labels: books, google, personal
16 March 2006
Those of you who know me are probably aware that I don’t “do” books. They’re boring. There’s always something better to do than read. In fact, I don’t think I’ve read a proper book all the way through since leaving school. Even then, I only read books because we had to and, where possible, I’d always opt for non-fiction rather than fiction.
Well, all that’s about to change! Suzy bought me A Teaspoon and an Open Mind: The Science of Doctor Who by Michael White for Christmas. She’s bought me a few books now and I always feel a bit bad because I don’t read them. Anyway, a few weeks ago, I ditched reading the free Metro paper whilst tramming it to work in favour of my book – and, no, I’m not just sulking because they didn’t print my letter!
Despite all the highly scientific references, which I struggle to understand at 8:30 in the morning, this book is remarkably easy to read for anyone with an interest in the future, time travel, aliens, telepathy, teleportation or just science fiction in general. And it’s not just a book about Doctor Who; this is used purely a reference point for the author.
The book obviously covers far too much for me to comment on here, so I’ll just summarise what’s realistically going to be possible or not at sometime in the future:
- Time travel: Possible
- Aliens: Possible
- Interstellar travel: Possible
- Telepathy and telekinesis: Possible
- Supercivilizations: Possible
- Teleportation: Possible
- Robots and mechanoids: Possible
- Ability to live forever: Possible
- A transdimensional machine like the TARDIS: Impossible
I know some of that might seem a bit far-fetched, but you have to read the book to understand why something isn’t necessarily impossible just because it’s not possible yet. There’s one thing of which I’m sure though. Michael White’s arguments for why time travel and aliens might be possible are infinitely more convincing than Mark Haville’s arguments for why evolution is impossible.
Since this thing they call ‘reading’ was so enjoyable, I’ve already chosen my next book: Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. No doubt I’ll post something about that too once I’ve finished reading it. Just don’t hold your breath; it’s a big thick book...
(And don’t forget, you can always see whether it’s fair to judge this book by its cover over on Judge A Book By Its Cover.co.uk – where you really can judge a book by its cover!)
Labels: books, personal, tv
22 February 2006
Chris Riley’s brain was working overtime a few weeks ago. You could almost hear those rusty cogs turning! He was thinking about how he could use Amazon Web Services to power a cool new website. After throwing a few ideas around the office, he someone (probably the other Chris) finally came up with the concept for Judge A Book By Its Cover.co.uk.
The idea’s a simple one: view the covers of books, CDs or DVDs and rate them from one to five stars based purely on how they look. Once you’ve submitted your rating, compare what you and others thought about the cover to the Amazon rating to see if it really is that unreasonable to judge a book by its cover. If you want to see for yourself whether you judged correctly, you can easily click-through to Amazon to buy the book, CD or DVD and make your own mind up.
I prefer the Head to Head! version of the game. It’s much easier to compare two covers and choose which you think is best than it is to rate a cover from one to five. (Sometimes, you’ll be faced with two covers that are so similar that you can’t decide which one gets your vote – but don’t worry, you can always call a draw if that happens!)
There’s more to read in the About & FAQs section of the site and you can keep up to date with the latest news on the site’s blog.
Get judging!
Labels: books, film, links, music
8 June 2005
My mate Dave (yes, that’s right – the one Papa Lazarou always talks about) introduced to me to The League of Gentlemen (not literally) when I was in my 3rd year of uni. Their 2nd series was airing on BBC2 and I’ve been hooked on their work ever since. In January 2001, I visited Hadfield to take a tour around the real life Royston Vasey. When you walk around Hadfield, you really do feel like you’re in Royston Vasey; the local butcher even sells special stuff sausages...
Earlier this year I came across The League of Gentlemen Scripts and That book, which was released ages ago but wasn’t really very well promoted. I bought it Dave for his birthday hoping that he’d already have a copy so that I could keep it. (He didn’t have it, so I had to buy it again for myself.) It contains all the scripts from the series, biographies of each character, and loads of pictures. It’s an ultra-heavy hardback book that every TLOG fan should own.
At the moment, The League seem to be pulling out all the stops. Not only have they just released their first motion picture, but they’ve also released The Complete Collection DVD Box Set (all three TV series and that disturbing Christmas Special) and a new special edition of their Live At Drury Lane DVD, featuring five minutes of new footage from their hugely popular "Local Show for Local People". They’ve also got another live show planned for later this year titled "The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You" which I’ve just booked some tickets to see at Llandudno’s North Wales Theatre.
Until very recently, they didn’t have an official website (there were, of course, hundreds of "unofficial" fan-sites popping up all over the Internet) but with The League now moving from cult to mainstream, it’s not surprising to see official sites starting to appear. For anyone that hasn’t managed to track them down, here are the ones I’ve found:
And in case you’ve never been to any of the unofficial sites before, here are some of the better ones that have managed to survive:
Labels: books, film, links, personal, photos, theatre, tv
