Reading List

Here are a few things I've read recently, apart from papers and reports:

• Press On: principles of interaction programming, by Harold Thimbleby: (devices often have frustrating user interfaces, but we can apply intelligent computer science informed by context to get much better ones, and he provides some programs to do it; although the book is not as beautiful as one of Edward Tufte's, there is a similar intellectual range and excitement, including relevant historical analogies, and the importance of context to any design)
• Chris Okasaki's Publications (data structures and algorithms for functional programming languages)
• Software Engineering for Internet Applications, which is online, although I bought the paperback (only 2006, and the technology is already outdated, but the book is still worthwhile for its extensive design discussions and revelations about the worrying low-level stuff underpinning web applications, and of course the technology is still in use)
• Beyond the Desktop Metaphor (as it suggests, looking for alternatives to the over-present desktop, but I didn't find it had much fizz, compared to Press On, and although there were a few ideas worth applying, I thought most of the results were dull compared say to just using Acme or an iPhone)