Books

Where My Head’s At…

Been quiet here on both blogs and in the photography department – right is the reason why. Did you know that ROM packs better than EEPROM, and EEPROM packs better than RAM? Or that the Vpp contact on smartcards is no longer used because it could be exploited via simple power analysis – preventing PIN entry attempts from being written to EEPROM? No? Well neither did I. :-) Man I’ll be glad when this is over. Only three months to go and I get my life back. That said I’ve packed more into my cerebral EEPROM in the last six months than I have in the last six years. The Web security and identity management stuff has been particularly good. Not 100% sure yet – but might like to do something in the area of identify management and privacy for my final project. Watch this space…  

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Computer Networks and Internets

One of the texts for the Network Security module I'm currently studying is Douglas E. Comer's book  'Computer Networks and Internets (5th Edition)'.

comer

The book is a tour de force of all things networking. It's written in a clear, uncomplicated and beautiful narrative. Comer is obviously brilliant (like I'm able to judge - just search for his bio online). But what makes this book really special is the way you are constantly reminded of where you are in the bigger scheme of themes; how everything fits together - from data communications, carrier frequencies and modulation, to LAN/WAN and wireless network technologies, to higher level protocol and application layer features. I don't think I've ever read a technical textbook that I actually didn't want to put down (at least at times). It normally takes me about a month to work through a 500+ page textbook, longer if it's a yawner... but in a little over a week I've nearly finished Comer's book - highlighted and marked up. It will remain a permanent member of my reference library.

Whether you're a technology professional, or just curious about 'how stuff works' - this book is for you. (I also love the dedication at the beginning of this book... "To Packets Everywhere".) Thank you Douglas E. Comer.

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Current Reading

You know sometimes I wish I'd been a plumber...

Not all of these are cover-to-cover magnifying glass reads, and this is only a small part of my library - however these are currently at the top of the pile. Linq in Action has so far been a brilliant book - and it will be a cover to cover careful read. CLR via C# is a must read for anyone that's been programming in .Net for more than a year or two (I'm thumbing through it for the 2nd time in my spare time). C# 3.0 in a Nutshell has so far proved to be an invaluable desktop reference and Joseph Albahari is a brilliant author. 

What I particularly like about this book are the examples and gotchas included with every entry; much more than just MSDN in print and much better than an "I feel lucky" Google attempt. With ASP.Net 3.5  I was worried (like a lot of people) that this 1626 page tomb would be just the docs... in printed form; however it is a good combination of reference material and author input. Head First Design Patterns is really a fun read. I've opened other design patterns books, including the famous GoF Design Patterns and various C# flavors - but the format of the Head First series is just fantastic - humorous and educational.

The rest are a mixture of things I'm interested in, things I need to read to try and stay ahead of the avalanche, and things I'll need to read for my course. Security Engineering (now in second edition) is a classic for anyone interested in computer security and should really be read in combination with Secrets and Lies from the very famous Bruce Schneier.  

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CLR via C#

CLR via C# – another great “roll your sleeves up” book. As the author says, there are a lot of “top down” books out there that will teach you how to use a tool, an application, or a framework, but fewer that will take you on a “bottom up” tour of the underlying technology.

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Planning

Abraham Lincoln: “ If I had six hours to cut down a tree, I'd spend four hours sharpening the axe.”...that and other lessons in 'The Art of Project Management' by Scott Berkun. I've not had my yellow highlighter out as often in a long time. A fantastic read and an even better bibliography.

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