Very short, sweet and touching but it lacked the depth of The Red Tent. I was hoping for a deeper, fuller and perhaps more intricate narrative of the friendship between the two women.

I’m really dissappointed with this translation. It is lacking in transmission, not even one iota of depth is present in this text. The author removes an integral part of the Gita, the pace and sense of dialogue between King Janaka and Ashtavakra. Although there is only one author, one voice (one master), the duality in verse is as much a part of the wisdom of this Gita. It’s what makes the original so genius!

What’s more upsetting is that the author even tells us about removing this subtle dialogue in his Notes. On page 79 he says, “Except here and in a few other verses, there is no clear or natural colloquy and no attempt to distinguish the voices of King Janaka and Ashtavakra. On the contrary, a single voice, speaking with undisputed authority, dominates every chapter. For these reasons I have dispensed with the fiction of dramatic dialogue, except for the opening question.”

Argh!

Forget Good To Great this approach makes way more sense!

Frustrated with the way software is designed? Cooper’s approach to design, and his stress on the importance of an interaction designer is enlightening and edgy. He shows us the difference between building a Microsoft empire (one that could crash at any time) and building a successful sustainable one. I think every person involved with technology in any capacity should read this book. I highly recommend it.

And of course, I must admit a little bias, since I am an IxD practitioner myself. And I can’t wait until the day the whole world knows what the heck it is I do! And if you know what an interaction designer does, come find me at pashmina blog.

I read this book about 3 years ago, and remember thinking how much the concept of permission marketing holds true in our economic situation. And it still holds true for internet marketing and a growing customer base. It explores the differences between mass media marketing which is invasive and does not necessarily build trust for a new product, and permission marketing which is specific, invited, and builds trust. It reminds us, that with the onset of technology, individual dialogues are most important. However, the strategies in the second half of the book were not at all useful.

More priceless information from the same author of Guerrilla P.R., except now the strategies are adapted for the Internet. I definitely learned a lot from the examples and stories but this book is outdated now. It’s waaayyy behind the technology curve now, and was just about to hit it when I read it back in 2002. I think the author may have tried too hard to define construction of websites, and not enough time encouraging innovation. So, a little off track, and not timeless.

Reading this book was more of an energizer than a good source of information. It helped spark some creativity, and kept me motivated. The book reminded me about how important it was to have a focused process, marketing and creative plan, and to commit to it. If there’s anything you take from the book just remember these three key words: commitment, investment and consistency.

Zeldman, one of the founders of the Web Standards Project, writes an intelligent and convincing argument for the use of web standards recommending a variety of combinations from XHTML, XML to CSS for different types of website purposes and cases. The book carefully points out flaws in the current model of design and coding, and quickly explains the benefits of creating sites that are forward compatible and pay attention to accessibility. Part 2 and 3 of the book go into great detail about implementation methods of XML and CSS.

What isn’t covered in the book but SHOULD have been, as it would have convinced the non-techy crowd, is how much standards effects the finability, marketability and manageability of a website. Not to mention that clean code always makes search engines happy, which leads to higher ranking websites that are optimized for the web.

This book was great because it gives explanations for the simple visual things that we often take for granted. Although the book is a little dated, I have yet to find such a refreshing and concise introduction to visual literacy. The illustrations compliment the text well, and the writing is plain and easy to understand. Highly recommended.

What makes an object desirable? From this book I know now that it is not just great design but also the effort put into the production and the marketing of the object. The book isn’t a how-to, but I can relate to many of the examples. But the book wasn’t exactly a fun read, and I don’t think that the examples were much fun. Plus the illustrations weren’t that amazing or useful either.

Talking about design… this book wasn’t exactly well designed!