Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Author Mania: Teen / Young Adult (Mc - Z)

Most libraries have separate children's departments and frequently a teen / young adult section. Amazon.com is no different. Deciding what qualifies as teen reading is an inexact science at best -- especially since the teen years include everything from middle school to college. I don't know if I would have included Camus and Dostoevsky here, for example. Nonetheless, these are the selections Amazon.com features, and I hope you will find them helpful.

Teen / Young Adult Authors (Mc - Z)

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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Amazon Associates Web Service

I've been struggling with the Amazon Associates Web Service for some time now, using the simple "3.0" version with some online resyndication tools to create some pretty useful dynamic content. (At least I think it's useful!)

When I learned that the deprecated 3.0 version would expire this March (March 1? March 31? I don't know.) I broke down and ordered Jason Levitt's The Web Developer's Guide to Amazon e-Commerce Service, but didn't get serious about "Migrating from Amazon ECS 3.0" until quite recently. Big mistake!

While Levitt's book is extremely useful, it is a bit out of date, which wouldn't really matter much if Amazon's support for older ECS 4.0 versions was better. Unfortunately, there are a lot of holes in Amazon's documentation of the many sub-versions (or "subversions") of ECS 4.0 denoted by dates in YYYY-MM-DD format.

As if to make a bad situation worse, Amazon has timed the rollout of it's newly renamed Amazon Associate's Web Service to coincide with the expiration of AWS (E-Commerce) Service 3.0 -- Yikes!

I've yet to see any indication that A2W (as they like to call it) is anything more than an incremental 4.0 upgrade, but it does serve to further muddy the documentation waters.

There really seems to be no alternative to really learning XML and XSLT fast. Here are a few of the books I'm using in this quest:

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Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Great Valentine's Day Gifts

When people say that holidays have become too commercialized, they're probably talking about Valentine's Day. (Christmas is a lost cause by now!) The greeting card industry has been pushing Valentine's Cards since the 19th century, and since the schools are now involved, kids are pretty well locked in now.

If your girlfriend says she "doesn't want anything," beware! She may think she really means it, but women all want to feel special, and when all her girlfriends are showing off the expensive gifts they received, you're going to be in the doghouse. Depending on the stage your relationship is in and your station in life, the cliche items -- red roses, boxes of chocolates, trashy lingerie, books of love poems, heart-shaped jewelry, exotic perfumes ; may either be just too cliche -- or mandatory. You'll have to figure that one out.

The thing is: you're looking for something that is both sentimental and personal. I know -- you spend sooo much time dwelling on sentimentality... Just pick something from the varied Listmania lists below, or if that doesn't work, try some More Listmania® Lists

Now, ladies: If your man says he really doesn't want anything for Valentine's Day (apart from the obvious.) He probably really does mean it, but he's forgetting something. He'd really like to get through this most sentimental and sensitive of holidays with his masculinity intact. A guy can only tolerate so many candles and love songs before he begins to focus on RED MEAT!!!

If your situation calls for a gift, consider something unromantic and utilitarian. Tools are generally appreciated, possibly a nice red Swiss Army Knife or a Leatherman tool. Then there are always performance auto parts, or barbecue accessories. Most men would appreciate just about anything, as long as it was more macho than frilly!

Kids' Valentine's Day Listmania

Teen Valentine's Day Listmania

Adult Valentine's Day Listmania

Valentine's Day Book Listmania

Since most people think of books when they think of Amazon.com, they are "probably" a little over-represented here.

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Sunday, January 27, 2008

Growing Mushrooms

The recent popularity of Mycelium Running by mycologist Paul Stamets has set off a flurry of activity around here. Suddenly, the idea of cultivating mushrooms, specifically Morels has gone from "crazy," to "logical," and is rapidly approaching "imperative." Swell.

Mushrooms require consistently moist conditions and deep mulch, so growing them fits right in with raising worms, but that's another story. The important point is that cultivating fungi is consistant with the practice of organic gardening, and a great human-scale method of carbon sequestration. Given that mushroom varieties other than the common Agaricus bisporus are typically gourmet items, cultivating these valued delicacies is a practical way to put some variety into your cooking, or possibly even starting a sideline business.

By all accounts, the two "must have" books for mushroom cultivation are Stamets' Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms and Mushroom Cultivator: A Practical Guide to Growing Mushrooms at Home (with J. S. Chilton). That being said, there is every possibility that you can get acceptable results with far less research. Your local agricultural extension office should have some basic materials, and after all you are just facilitating a natural process. Just as anybody can put some seeds in the ground and enjoy a beginner's gardening experience, there's a good chance that you can put down some appropriate wood chip mulch or log, (see 100 Edible Mushrooms), get a mushroom kit, and stand back!

Now obviously the more you know the better your results will be, but don't let an obsessive desire for immediate perfection become an obstacle to getting started! The worst that can happen is that you'll have to start from scratch and try again. You might also be interested in:





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