This book is surprisingly easy to read considering the depth of its contents. It takes a human-capabilities first approach to considering interaction design based on scientific principles. It’s a very interesting read to learn more about our brains and how it relates to the things we build.
This book is fun. It’s an eminently browsable coffee table or armchair kind of book. Architecture (the building kind) is one of the places Software Engineers steal many of their metaphors from. The book is a 35,000 foot view on some of the interesting ideas and techniques that the author learned.
Don examines how things are built, maintained, and how a little thought can go a long way. It’s an entertaining read. If you read nothing else in this book, read the first chapter. You’ll never look at a door the same way again.
This is one of the two “romanticized histories of technology” that I’m recommending here. Soul of a new machine is full of stories from engineers from back when computers were delivered on pallets.
This is the second history I’m recommending. I tend to subscribe to the idea that “The Network is the Computer”, or if you are on the other side, a “local first” person, then you must also recognize the contributions made at Bell Labs. Bell Labs was the place where many of the necessary inventions of our modern age were incubated and developed. The characters are interesting and the story is well told.
Networks of New York is a field guide to physical infrastructure. It just might change how you view your city.
Tufte has a very particular point of view on what makes a good chart. Tufte’s view of the world encourages incredibly dense information that rewards an expert viewer. It’s not appropriate for every circumstance, but the tools Tufte uses are useful to everyone who has ever presented any information visually.
Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec’s “Dear Data”.
Ignition!
Crade to Cradle
Several Sentences about Writing
Confessions of an Ad Man
Stuff Matters
Visualizing Black America
Open Borders
A Burglars guide to the city
Shop Class as Soulcraft
Textbooks that still fall under "Easy Reading"
Watchmaking - George Daniels
Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals
19th December 2019
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I'm Issac. I live in Oakland. I make things for fun and money. I use electronics and computers and software. I manage teams and projects top to bottom. I've worked as a consultant, software engineer, hardware designer, artist, technology director and team lead. I do occasional fabrication in wood and plastic and metal. I run a boutique interactive agency with my brother Kasey and a roving cast of experts at Kelly Creative Tech. I was the Director of Technology for Nonchalance during the The Latitude Society project. I was the Lead Web Developer and then Technical Marketing Engineer at Nebula, which made an OpenStack Appliance. I've been building things on the web and in person since leaving Ohio State University's Electrical and Computer engineering program in 2007. Lots of other really dorky things happened to me before that, like dropping out of high school to go to university, getting an Eagle Scout award, and getting 6th in a state-wide algebra competition. I have an affinity for hopscotch.