I am constantly asked, “What are the best resources for learning web technology?” I learned by reading books. Blog posts are great, but you also need
I am constantly asked, “What are the best resources for learning web technology?” I learned by reading books. Blog posts are great, but you also need an in-depth comprehensive look at the subject. In the beginning, all books were beginner books, teaching HTML, URLs, and how to use a browser. When CSS came along, the books assumed you’d already been using HTML, and taught you how to change to the new techniques. Then CSS3 came along, and all the books taught us how to add new CSS properties to our preexisting understanding of CSS2. Of course there were always books for beginners, but they were super basic. They never touched on professional techniques for aspiring professionals. Each new generation of books assumed that you had prior knowledge. Great for those of us in the industry. Tough for anyone new. But how in the world are you supposed to read about two decades of techniques, discarding what is outdated, and remembering what is still correct? How are you supposed to build a career from knowledge that’s so basic that you have no idea what real pros code in their everyday jobs? You can’t. That’s why today when people ask me for a book recommendation, I have only one answer. This book.
—Jen Simmons Designer and Developer Advocate at Mozilla Member of the CSS Working Group
The consequences of sleep deprivation aren’t pretty either. Try immune system failure, diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression, and memory loss just to
The consequences of sleep deprivation aren’t pretty either. Try immune system failure, diabetes, cancer, obesity, depression, and memory loss just to name a few. Most people don’t realize that their continuous sleep problems are also a catalyst for the diseases and appearance issues they’re struggling with. Studies have shown that just one night of sleep deprivation can make you as insulin resistant as a type-2 diabetic. This translates directly to aging faster, decreased libido, and storing more body fat than you want to (say it ain’t so!). Now stretch that out over weeks, months, even years, and you can start to see why lack of sleep can be such a huge problem. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal showed that sleep deprivation is directly related to an inability to lose weight. Test subjects were put on the same exercise and diet program, but those who were in the sleep deprivation group (less than six hours per night) consistently lost less weight and body fat than the control group who slept for over 8 hours per night. [...] Other studies show sleep deprivation encouraging cancer, Alzheimer’s, depression, and even heart disease. [...] At first glance, we might think that working more and skimping on the sleep will get us there faster. The research is in and it’s 100 per cent conclusive: when you don’t sleep well, you get slower, less creative, more stressed, and underperform. Basically, you’re only utilizing a fraction of what you’re capable of.
My less than six hours of sleep and I don't feel anxious at all about this introduction....more
Y lo hace con una virtud poco resaltada en el ámbito intelectual: escribe de una manera muy clara. A Han se lo puede leer sin trabas, es comprensible
Y lo hace con una virtud poco resaltada en el ámbito intelectual: escribe de una manera muy clara. A Han se lo puede leer sin trabas, es comprensible y ameno. Pero no por eso menos incómodo, angustiante, a la hora de ser digerido.
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And he [Byung-Chul Han] does it thanks to a virtue not often seen in the intellectual sphere: he writes in a very straightforward way. Han can be read without hindrance, he is easy to understand and entertaining. But no less uncomfortable, distressing, when it comes to being digested.
"'No-Cosas', una dura advertencia de Byung-Chul Han sobre el uso excesivo de las redes sociales"; Juan Brodersen, Clarín, 5/12/21
My kind of philosopher (and person). Some topics are already complex, why make things more difficult by writing in a cryptic and confusing way?
365 consejos para mejorar tu inglés is a useful book that includes, as the title suggests, 365 tips and mistakes Spanish speakers usually make while l365 consejos para mejorar tu inglés is a useful book that includes, as the title suggests, 365 tips and mistakes Spanish speakers usually make while learning English, which thus might turn into Spanglish. Daniel Smith is an English teacher who lives in Spain. The reader will find everyday Spanish words and sayings and their BrE versions, including some colourful aspects of the British way of life. Since I'm from Argentina, I had to look for a few Spanish words I’ve never heard before. (Although, when Smith mentioned “agujetas” and then talked about feeling stiff after playing pádel, the meaning wasn't such a mystery.) In the end, I discovered a couple of interesting idioms I didn’t know about, and others I didn’t recall (I'll probably forget all about them in a few days, that's just how this works). I also wrote down some tips I know will come in handy. However, I’d recommend this book to beginners:
DO YOU CONFUSE "HE" AND "SHE"? This is one the great mysteries of the world. Why do Spanish speakers mix up these two all the time? This is an example sentence that I hear very often in class: "Yesterday I went with my SISTER to the shops and HE told me that there are some amazing offers at the moment" When you mix "he" and "she" up it becomes extremely difficult for someone to understand WHO you are talking about. Your English might be brilliant but a native speaker will be completely confused. I have asked many students why Spanish speakers mix "he" and "she" so often and I have never had a convincing answer!
DO YOU KNOW HOW TO SAY "LOS DEDOS DE LOS PIES" IN ENGLISH? Many Spanish speakers don't know how to say this in English. Most of the time they say "fingers of the feet" but, of course, they know that this is not correct. The correct translation is "toes" which is pronounced exactly the same way as the famous brand of jewellery called "Tous".
Judging by the last example, the teacher taught them how to say "fingers of the feet" and forgot to mention "toes". Blimey.
Overall, it is a book that serves its purpose: to reduce Spanglish in a fun and relaxed way (or is it "descontracturated"?). Smith’s writing oozes warmth, kindness and playfulness—qualities you’d probably wish to find in a teacher, especially if you’re having too much trouble learning the language. Nevertheless, I must say that, sometimes, I found myself disagreeing with the author:
"NEVER IN MY LIFE"? Spanish speakers sometimes say: "never in my life" which is a direct translation from Spanish: "nunca en mi vida". I probably don't need to tell you that "never in my life" is spanglish. You were expecting that. The best way to translate "nunca en mi vida" is "I have never" (this is the way your English teacher will say it) or "I've never" (this is the way most native speakers say it). The "I have never" construction is generally easy to use but you need to have knowledge of the present perfect tense to be able to say it properly. So, yes, you need to know those three horrible columns of irregular verbs that you hated so much when you were studying English at school: put, put, put! Once you have learnt those you can create a sentence like this: "I've never been to Japan, but I would like to go"
Are you drinking my hair?** "Never in my life" is a delight; it should be considered proper English.
Aug 22, 21 * Later on my blog. ** Spanglish for Are you kidding me?...more
When we fall in love, we hope—both egotistically and altruistically—that we shall be finally, truly seen: judged and approved. Of course, love does no
When we fall in love, we hope—both egotistically and altruistically—that we shall be finally, truly seen: judged and approved. Of course, love does not always bring approval: being seen may just as well lead to a thumbs-down and a season in hell.
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I used to believe, when I was 'just' a reader, that writers, because they wrote books where truth was found, because they described the world, because they saw into the human heart, because they grasped both the particular and the general and were able to re-create both in free yet structured forms, because they understood, must therefore be more sensitive—also less vain, less selfish—than other people. Then I became a writer, and started meeting other writers, and studied them, and concluded that the only difference between them and other people, the only, single way in which they were better, was that they were better writers. They might indeed be sensitive, perceptive, wise, generalizing and particularizing—but only at their desks and in their books. When they venture out into the world, they regularly behave as if they have left all their comprehension of human behaviour stuck in their typescripts. It's not just writers either. How wise are philosophers in their private lives?
Above all, there is the introspective voice of Sōseki’s narrator as he reflects on his world. Reminders of death and dying abound. Friends and relativ
Above all, there is the introspective voice of Sōseki’s narrator as he reflects on his world. Reminders of death and dying abound. Friends and relatives are gone, yet he remains a bemused observer, a reluctant survivor. The mind itself seems incapable of retrieving anything more than scraps of the past, much less grasping the totality of things. People do strange things, hurtful things, and one can do little to improve upon the human condition. But the world inside the glass doors is by no means one of unremitting gloom and self-pity. Rather, it is precisely inside these glass door where one can find solace, peace of mind, a safe haven. […] “Now that tranquility has returned to the house and to my heart, I shall open the window wide and finish off this piece of writing, taking pleasure in my task and enfolded in the calm light of Spring. And then I intend to have a nap on the veranda, my cheek resting on my hand.”
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