Review: Professional ASP.NET MVC 3

  • August 20, 2011
  • James Skemp
The following is a review of Professional ASP.NET MVC 3, written by Jon Galloway, Phil Haack, Brad Wilson, and K. Scott Allen. Having used ASP.NET MVC since around the time 1.0 was released I was a little interested in what Professional ASP.NET MVC 3 would bring to someone like myself. Would this book provide enough new content to someone like me who's tried to keep up on the framework? So when I was contacted by someone at Wiley to receive a copy for review I was of course interested.

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Review: jQuery Mobile by Jon Reid

  • July 17, 2011
  • James Skemp
The following is a review of jQuery Mobile, written by Jon Reid. A great introduction to jQuery Mobile development While jQuery Mobile has not yet had a final release, a number of alphas, and most recently a beta, have been released. When a new technology or framework is released it's sometimes difficult to determine when the best time is to start learning about it. Generally I try to stay away until a final version is released, but since this project is tied to jQuery, I can only assume that good things will come from this framework.

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Review: The 12 Chinese Animals

  • July 25, 2010
  • James Skemp
This is a review of The 12 Chinese Animals, written by Master Zhongxian Wu. Like everyone who's been to a Chinese restaurant, I'm well aware of the 12 animals. Thanks to Philip K. Dick I've got a couple copies of the I Ching around the house, and enjoyed learning about the Asian philosophies during college. This last aspect of me was pleasantly surprised reading through this short work, as the author does a good job of explaining that there are not only animals for the years one is born, but also for the month, day, and hour.

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Review: Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease

  • May 28, 2010
  • James Skemp
This is a review of Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease, written by Gary Greenberg. I selected this book based on the following lines of a highlighted review: "He offers a measured dose of philosophy in contemplating whether unhappiness should be regarded as a disease or instead as an essential part of being human. Ultimately, his book is a sobering critique of the marketing wizards who have overhyped the dubious benefits of antidepressants and of an American public all too eager for quick fixes to life’s inevitable challenges and disappointments.

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Review: Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey

  • April 25, 2010
  • James Skemp
This is a book review of Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey, written by Chuck Palahniuk. Rant, like the rest of Chuck Palahniuk's works of fiction, features sex, facts which may or may not be true, and distinctive characters. However, while told in an interesting way, through the voices of over a dozen characters, Rant seems more of the same-old Chuck Palahniuk, and I fear I may have read the last of his work.

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Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls

  • April 17, 2010
  • James Skemp
This is a book review of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, written by Steve Hockensmith. First, I haven't read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and didn't realize that this was a prequel to that tale. However, as one who has been known to enjoy a zombie movie, now and again, this short tale was rather delightful. The language only flirts with being period, so there's no worry of slogging through any of that.

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