5 reading responses

Rationale

Computer science has many, many instructional books, but most of them revolve around a specific subject such as programming language or an operating system. Furthermore, most fiction books revolving around computer science have some aspect of them which is incorrect and therefore misleading. Therefore, in this reading response log, non-fiction books were chosen which where possible, are practical and/or interesting. Because students perform better and enjoy school more when they enjoy class, a variety of books were chosen, from history to home automation to appeal to the widest possible range or students. If students don’t like one of these books, perhaps they will enjoy another.

Title: Home Hacking Projects for Geeks Author: Tony Northrup and Eric Faulkner Illustrator: Mark Frauenfelder Publisher: O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472 Copyright: 2005 O’Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN#: 0-596-00405-2 Genre: non-fiction Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Central Branch
Summary: This book contains a collection of projects which allow people to expand the capabilities of their computers themselves. Projects include items such as accessing your media collection from the internet, setting up a video monitoring system for your house, remotely monitoring a pet, and, in general, involve home automation of some kind. Many of the projects are low-cost, use software that is freely available and at no cost, and some of the projects don’t require any spending whatsoever.
Personal Comments: This book provides a multitude of computer projects for amateurs, geared towards home automation, and is an excellent book for people who enjoy working with computers and stretching the boundaries of their capabilities. Furthermore, for motivated do-it-yourselfers, this book provides an excellent outlet for their talents. The book provides detailed instructions for configuring any needed software for home automation projects, including code samples, and for most people, this is a boon to their ability to complete the projects. Furthermore, this book provides an excellent medium for teaching the relationship between software and hardware. It is important to note that the title of the book somewhat misleading. The word “geek” here is not intended as a negative connotation, but rather as a personality type, and the word “hacking” is not meant in to describe malicious activities. Hacking in this book’s context is meant to express tinkering with software rather than any malicious connotation.
Suggested Use in Classroom: Home Hacking Projects for Geeks provides excellent extra credit or in-class lab projects. Additionally, because students tend to be more motivated when they see practical applications for their learning, reading this book would provide them with a good resource for instilling this motivation. Because most of the projects are a little too pricy for students to be able to afford on their own, this book would be most useful for in-class use. However, simply flipping through it could give students ideas about their careers, learn how computer science is practical, or give them an idea of they might like to do with their skills in their spare time.

Title: Computers in Plain English Author: David Strode Akens Illustrator: Eugene L. Klein Publisher: PC Press, Inc., Huntsville, Alabama Copyright: 1999 by David Strode Akens ISBN#: 0-87397-977-4 Genre: non-fiction Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Central Branch
Summary: Computer in Plain English provides anyone with a thorough explanation of computers, as the author says, in plain English. It starts with a small history of personal computers, moves on to explain the basics of computer chips, and finishes with an explanation of all the types of input and output devices, as well as software, that a computer user will probably use. It also includes a thorough glossary in case an average computer user with needs to look something up.
Personal Comments: The cover on this book contains the phrase “should be required reading,” and true to this phrase, the book contains all the information that any computer user should know. The book does not show favoritism for PCs or Macs, nor does it recommend specific software or hardware. It instead explains what desktop publishing software, spreadsheets, and databases are and what they are for, and how computers are organized in general. It also explains the purpose of hardware, such as hard drives, the mouse, and keyboard. This would be an excellent book for any new computer user or for an old computer user looking to round out his or her knowledge. The glossary is especially helpful.
Suggested Use in Classroom: This book provides information that fulfills several of the TEKS computer science objectives, and consequently, provides a good supplement to the textbook, because the writing style is fairly vernacular, is easy to read, and is also interesting, because the content, though somewhat dated, is easy relatable to concepts to which students have probably already been exposed and is definitely current enough to be useful. Computer science students who have little experience with computers, such as those who do not have a home computer, would also find this text useful in case they would like to catch up with other students or learn the need for some of the computer’s internal computers, such as the hard drive. Finally, the glossary is extensive and provides an excellent resource for vocabulary that students should know.

Title: Careers for Computer Buffs & Other Technological Types Author: Marjorie Eberts and Margaret Gisler Illustrator: This book contains no illustrations Publisher: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY, 10121-2298 Copyright: 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. ISBN#: 0-07-145877-8 Genre: non-fiction Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Central Branch
Summary: Careers for Computer Buffs & Other Technological Types provides a summary of today’s market sectors in the computing industry, followed by excellent summaries of careers in all major sectors of the computing market. Examples of such careers include programmers, technical writers, systems analysts, and hardware engineers. Career summaries have salary ranges, job descriptions, job requirements including the type of degree needed, and in many cases, the type of personalities that people who choose these careers are likely to have. It even includes examples of the types of tasks that a given career path may entail.
Personal Comments: This book is a first-rate resource for anyone who likes working with computers and would like their vocation to reflect that. The book’s extensive list of occupations does not exclude those such as musicians, writers, or salesman, which makes it a superior read for people who enjoy working with computers but do not necessarily want to write software, design hardware, or choose a career which is otherwise traditionally associated with computers. For anyone who is considering a career working with computers, this is a good book.
Suggested Use in Classroom: As the title likely suggests, this book would be a good recommendation for students who are digitally oriented and are considering a career working with computers, but do not necessarily know what they want to do. The book contains enough content to give the reader an idea of careers they may not have considered, and furthermore, what those careers are really like. For students with a specific vocation in mind, Careers for Computer Buffs & Other Technological Types will provide an explanation of that vocation and what it is like.

Title: Computers: The Life Story of a Technology Author: Eric G. Swedin and David L. Ferro Illustrator: Contains public domain photographs from various institutions, universities, and corporations. Cover Images by J.W. Mauchly Publisher: Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT, 06881 Copyright: 2005 by Eric G. Swedin and David L. Ferro ISBN#: 0-313-33149-9 Genre: non-fiction / historical Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Central Branch
Summary: Computers: The Life Story of a Technology provides an historical overview of the entire history of computing machines, from prehistory to modern times. The book provides explanations of methods of computing before computers existed, the earliest computing machines, the first digital computers, and advances in software. Content is written so that the chronology of advancement corresponds with the writing in the book, so the earliest advances are mentioned first and the latest technology last. The book includes photographs, where available, of historical computing advances, and describes the people or corporations responsible for their development.
Personal Comments: The authors of this book describe it as an overview, but in my opinion, this is more than an overview. The authors provide very thorough explanations of why any mentioned advances are important and how they are relevant, and the timeline given in the book puts the increasing pace of advancement in computing into its astonishing perspective. Worth mentioning is the fact that the underlying technologies behind advances in computing are noted. For example, mechanical computers in the 1800s are described, and then the book describes how electronic computers with capacitors replaced those, and then how digital computers with vacuum tubes replaced those, and then finally the movement to the use of transistors. This book’s historical account of computing should make it interesting for anyone.
Suggested Use in Classroom: Most likely, the best use of this book in the classroom would be as recommended reading for any computer science student who also likes history. Reading this book would make anyone appreciate the pace of advancement in the computing field and how rapid the pace of advancement in this field is and has been.

Title: How Personal & Internet Security Work Author: Preston Gralla Illustrator: Eric Lindley Publisher: Que Publishing, 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana, 46240 Copyright: 2006 by Que Publishing ISBN#: 0-7897-3553-9 Genre: non-fiction Library Location: Amarillo Public Library, Central Branch
Summary: This comprehensive book describes many, many different types of security-related technologies. From the World Wide Web to parental controls, this well-illustrated text provides step-by-step and simple descriptions of these and many other technologies. Not only are computer technologies, described however. The book describes other technologies such as airport metal detectors. In the computer world, security starts with locks on doors.
Personal Comments: How Personal & Internet Security Work is an exceptional book for regular people who want to learn about computer security. It is actually a very effective introduction to computer security, with emphasis not on threats from malicious hackers, but on spyware, anti-spyware, malicious hackers, and even the government equally. In my opinion, the fact that identity theft, credit card security, and workplace surveillance are mentioned alongside firewalls, proxy servers, and the TCP/IP protocol is important because in the digital world, security breaches usually do not happen through digital channels, but rather through tactics such as digging through the garbage for materials that should have been shredded. This book, through its wealth of information, states this fact rather elegantly.
Suggested Use in Classroom: Because this book is colorful and easily understandable by anyone, it provides a straightforward and approachable outlet for enrichment or supplemental reading. Any topic could be examined in the book without the need for learning about other topics. This fact provides the teacher with a method to answer the questions of curious students, to increase their understanding of real-world subjects, and facilitate the learning, motivation, and inspiration of computer science students by helping them to learn how about computer science in the real world.