Even though I’m a big fan of eBooks, I still love browsing through honest to goodness physical books. I find that there are some types of books that I prefer to be of the dead tree variety. One of these types is the large format, picture rich, coffee table book. I have a great example of a coffee table book that a large percentage of you that read The Gadgeteer will probably love to flip through. It’s The Cult of LEGO by John Baichtal and Joe Meno, from No Starch Press. If you love LEGO, you’ll really enjoy this book.

The Cult of LEGO isn’t like most of the other LEGO books that I own, that only show pages and pages of model examples. This book isn’t going to show you how to build a race car, but it does have tons of content about LEGO brick history, as well as AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO) and their creations.

The book is full color, hardcover, with 304 pages. There are 12 chapters that cover topics such as: The History of LEGO, Minifig Mania and LEGO Art.

I love some of the tidbits included in the text, such as the fact that there are over 200,000 LEGO videos on YouTube! Wow, who knew? Now I want to go waste hours watching them Or what about the over 1 million photos that are tagged with LEGO on Flickr?

The Cult of LEGO has interesting stories about people like us, who still enjoy playing with these colorful bricks even when we’re in our 40′s and beyond. There are also stories about people who have taken LEGO building to another level. You’ll definitely be inspired to go looking for your collection of bricks stored somewhere in your house, or to your local Walmart to buy a bucket if you don’t have any.

This book is fun and a great addition to any geek’s library.

The Cult of LEGO is current available for Pre-Order, but will be available in November. It’s priced at $39.95 through No Starch, but you can get it for less through Amazon.

Filed in categories: Geek Toys, Kid Gadgets, Reviews

Tagged: Book, LEGO

Cult of LEGO Book Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 24, 2011 at 5:00 pm.

Here’s a great gift idea for your favorite gadgeteer. It’s a coffee table book titled Gadget Nation by Steve Greenberg aka “The Innovation Insider”. Steve travels the country looking for innovative products and reports on them through various television programs such as NBC’s Today Show, CBS’s Early Show, ABC’s World News This Morning and World News Now, Fox & Friends, and others. Gadget Nation is a 244 page book that highlights over 100 interesting and wacky products. The book is available now through Barnes & Noble for $14.36

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous, News

Tagged: Book, Spotlight Gadgets

Gadget Nation – Coffee Table Book for Gadgeteers originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 23, 2010 at 2:17 pm.

If you thought the LEGO Stop Animation Digital Video Camera that Janet posted about earlier today was interesting, you might want to check out the 3 volume series of LEGO Technic Idea Books from O’Reilly. These books offer 100′s of ideas through photographs with little to no text. Volume 1 is The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Simple Machines. This volume focuses on gears and power transmission. Volume 2 is The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Wheeled Wonders and its main focus is on vehicles that can drive, turn, move things, and go backwards. Volume 3 is The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Fantastic Contraptions and it offers ideas for combining LEGO Technic propellers, motors, weights, magnets, and other parts to make creations that walk. Each book is $19.95 and is currently available for pre-order with availability sometime in October.

Filed in categories: Do-It-Yourself, Kid Gadgets, News

Tagged: Book, LEGO, Spotlight Gadgets

LEGO Technic Idea Books will Inspire Enthusiasts to Design, Invent, and Build originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 9, 2010 at 5:28 pm.

Do you think your tweets are so wise and profound that they should be captured forever? No one should ever forget the tweet about your 10 inch tall pastrami sandwich masterpiece and subsequent bathroom episode an hour later. Your tweets can live forever in a TweetBookz. TweetBookz are 5.5 x 8.5 inches wide hard cover or soft cover books that are composed of up to 200 tweets, one per page, starting from your most recent tweets (you can chose to remove any tweets you don’t want included). Hard cover books cost $30.00 and soft cover books cost $20.00.

Filed in categories: News

Tagged: Book, Spotlight Gadgets, Twitter

Your tweets will live on – TweetBookz originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 23, 2009 at 7:30 am.

EgoR likE dIs buk

Windows 7 will be available in October.  If you are a Vista survivor this will be a long-awaited and welcome relief.  And this book will be a nice read as your blood pressure returns to pre-Vista values.  I can tell if a book passes my goodness test if, while reading it, I pause and double-check the name of the author on the front cover.  I found I did this a couple times while reading the first few chapters of “Microsoft (R) Windows 7 Unleashed” by Paul McFedries; SAMS Publishing; 2010; $49.99

I’m not so sure that I would have embellished the title with the term “unleashed”.  The terms “unleashed” and “Windows” just don’t mash — it’s like saying “ hey — there’s a giant wild-eyed rabid rat running amok outside gnashing his teeth; let’s take off his leash!!  “Microsoft Windows 7 Less Annoying” might have been a more suitable moniker.  But there are enough tweaks and tips that I found the volume worthwhile nonetheless.  I installed the pre-release candidate of Windows 7 on an “experimental” machine and walked through the first several chapters of Windows 7 Unleashed.  After spending a few weeks with Windows 7 on this experimental box and armed with this book I’m ready and looking forward to the switch in October.

You can find this book on Amazon.

Filed in categories: Miscellaneous

Tagged: Book, Windows 7

A Wild Eyed Salivating Rat? “Windows 7 Unleashed” Book Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 13, 2009 at 12:01 pm.

Palm
Organizers, a book by Jeff Carlson, proclaims right on the front cover
that with it, you can "Teach yourself how to use Palm OS-based devices
the quick and easy way!" Does it do this? As we say here in West Texas,
"You Betcha!"

Not only is Palm Organizers easy to read, it actually does cover just
about every Palm OS device out there. Times being as they are – a few new models
have come out since this book was published in 2000; however, this book does
contain information that pertains to every model available that uses the Palm
OS.

This book begins with a hilarious excerpt from an interview between Microsoft
CEO and Chairman, Bill Gates and Charlie Rose on the "Charlie Rose" TV
show (March 4, 1998). If you never have a chance to read Palm Organizers
- this will at least give you a sense of the humor that this book was written
with:

Bill Gates: "The future of the PC is to be a tablet-sized device
or perhaps larger than a tablet….But then you also have a lot of other
devices, things like – I think I’ve got one in my pocket."

Charlie Rose: "A Pilot in his Pocket."

Bill Gates: "No, no, no, no. This is the competitor to the Pilot.
Don’t say "Pilot." Geez. This is the – "

Charlie Rose: "Does that look like a Pilot? I rest my case."

I had to laugh! It’s true, whatever you want to call them – be it
"Pilots", "Palm Pilots", or "Palms", the little
gray box that Jeff Hawkins made has completely permeated our society to the
point where "Palm" or "Pilot" is almost a generic
term! 

But what if you are late getting on this "technology-bus"? What if
you have just made the purchase of a brand new Palm, and you haven’t got a clue
about where to begin?

I believe that this book will not only help you get started, I think there
are also some things in here that people who have been using the Palm OS for a
while will still find quite useful.

Written by a man who purchased his first Palm Pilot in 1997, Jeff Carlson has
a real grasp of some of the issues that face a new Palm user. As a current Palm
user, he also offers up some of the "tips and tricks" that he
personally finds useful in integrating the Palm with his day-to-day life.

Beginning with detailed descriptions of each of the available (at the time of
printing) Palm OS models, Jeff quickly jumps into all of the basic functions of
each device. From there,. he describes in detail how to do everything from
changing your batteries without losing data, to the importance of protecting
your screen from scratches, to what accessories are available to make your Palm
do even more.

I was surprised to see that TRG upgrades, Targus & Landware keyboards,
and even Concept Kitchen Write-Rights, among MANY other brand names, were
actually given mention in this book under accessories. I think it is refreshing
to see somebody say the names of the brands that they like…I kept looking for
one he didn’t like, just to see if equal time was being given. :0)

The subtle differences between the different versions of Palm OS available
are discussed in Palm Organizers, whether it be version 1.0 vs. 3.0, or
the date-book versions included with the Handspring Visor vs. the Palm III.
There is a enough information available in this book to get you started, no
matter which unit you are using.

If you have a question – this book will most likely answer it: Do you know
the four ways to activate the onscreen keyboard? Look on page 30; Having
trouble figuring out how to beam from your Handspring’s Date Book+? There is a
reason…check out the bottom of page106; Want to rename the Address Book custom
fields on your desktop and Palm? Turn to page 127; Wondering how to work
Handspring’s advanced calculator? There’s a great overview starting on page 165.

Want some info you may not have been aware of? Here’s a nibble: The Find
feature begins its search in the application you are currently running. Did you
know that all you have to do to quickly jump to a particular program on a Palm
screen so full of programs that the scroll bar is showing – is simply enter the
first letter of the program’s name, you’ll go straight to the first program
starting with that letter.

Sure there are parts of this book that may make someone with a lot of Palm
experience yawn, but if you are new to Palm, this book is a treasure trove of
information.

From the ins and outs of the Palm Desktop on both PC and Mac computers, 
to the joys of actually discovering all of the hidden talents of your indispensable
"brain" that fits in your shirt pocket – there is something in this
book for everyone…Enjoy! :0)

Price: $16.99 MSRP 

Published by Peachpit Press
322 Pages

Pros:
Reads like a conversation with a humorous friend – who just happens to know A
LOT about the Palm OS
Plenty of pictures, screen-shots, and demos of actual Palm OS devices and
software
The Gadgeteer is mentioned on page 20 :0)

Cons:
The Gadgeteer is mentioned as a resource for Palm cases on page
20. :0(

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Book, Palm OS related

Palm Organizers by Jeff Carlson Book Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 4, 2001 at 12:00 am.