The latest interesting book bundle from Humble Bundle is the Cybersecurity and Forensics Bundle, which gets you 19 cybersecurity and cyberforensics books by CRC Press for a mere $25 — that’s just $1.32 per book!
As I write this, you have 17 days before this deal disappears. If you need books on cybersecurity and forensics, get these now!
Click here to go to Humble Bundle’s Cybersecurity and Forensics bundle page.
I love No Starch Press’ Python books. They’re the textbooks I use when teaching the Python course at Computer Coach because they’re easy to read, explain things clearly, and have useful examples.
And now you can get 18 of their Python ebooks for $36 — that’s $2 each, or the cost of just one of their ebook, Python Crash Course, Third Edition!
Check out the deal at Humble Bundle, and get ready to get good at Python! At the time of writing, the bundle will be available for 20 more days.
Consider these books recommended reading for the Tampa Artificial Intelligence Meetup, which is now under my management, and holding a meeting later this month!
Want to get a head start on the artificial intelligence wave? Among other things, you’ll need to get a solid understanding of Python and machine learning, and the $10 level of Humble Bundle’s “Cookbooks for Coders” bundle has three great books to get you started:
Plus, you get seven other books covering a number of topics. I personally would benefit from the React, PowerShell, Raspberry Pi, and Regular Expression cookbooks.
I love the “cookbook” format, since it lives in the space between reference books, which are often too dry and provide no usage examples, and tutorials, which can often be a little too directed at solving one problem. Cookbooks give you just enough information to learn how to use a particular language or framework feature so that you can apply that knowledge to solving your particular problem or building the app that you have in mind. I find that I learn the most about a language or framework when I use material from cookbooks and other people’s code in building my own application ideas.
The “Cookbooks for Coders” Humble Bundle is available for another 13 days at the time of this writing. For ten dollars, it’s a pretty sweet deal. I’ve already picked it up, and if you want to get in on some of the machine learning opportunities that are already coming in fast and furious, you should too!
If you’re looking for free office tables and chairs for your startup or home office and you can get a truck or van to the Westchase area in short order, you might want to come and pick these up. They were listed this morning on Facebook Marketplace, and I can’t guarantee they’ll be around for long.
Once again, it’s September 13th — the 256th day of the year (on non-leap years)! As the number of values that can be expressed in a single byte, 256 means something to programmers, and as the largest power of 2 that will fit into 365, the 256th day of the year is a perfect excuse to declare it as Day of the Programmer.
Here are some things that you might find useful on this special day…
Want a free programming book? How about a whole lot of free programming books? GoalKicker.com has a series of notes for professionals for a wide array of programming languages and platforms. You can download them for free, but if you’re feeling really grateful and generous, you can buy them one or more coffees!
There’s Humble Bundle’s Python Superpowers bundle, which provides a lot of goodies for $25, including some really good Python video courses, ebooks, and a 6-month free license of PyCharm Professional Edition!
All work and no play makes Jack/Jackie a dull programmer, so why not play some programming games, like Shenzhen I/O, pictured above? Here’s a list of nine coding games that could sharpen your skills.
And finally, if you’re a new programmer or just need a Git refresher, you’ll want to check out Get Gud with Git.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive Android phone for doing development work or testing, or just as a phone, Motorola, my go-to vendor for inexpensive Android devices is having a Labor Day sale!
Here are three of the phones that are currently on sale that I think would be good for someone who wants to get started with Android development. Yes, you can always use an emulator, but there’s no substitute for developing and testing on an actual device.
All of these devices are fully unlocked, which means they’ll work on any carrier. Motorola don’t include much junkware on their phones — it’s as close to stock Android as you’re going to get without buying a Pixel. All were released this year.
Motorola’s G line has always been a reliable way to get mid-level features at a starter phone price. If you want to get a device that performs at the level of the typical Android phone for users who live outside the G7 bubble (and let’s face it, that’s most of the world), or need to provide a workforce with a mobile computing device, you want this one.
At the current discount price of $250, the Moto G Stylus is the phone on this list that provides the best bang for the buck. As its name implies, it has a stylus, and if you’re looking for a cheaper alternative to the Galaxy Note line (and a much better choice than the LG Stylo), give this one a look.
I’m including this phone in this list just to make this list of $500-and-lower phones complete. My personal recommendation is to pay $50 less and get the RedMagic 6R, which gives you Samsung Galaxy S21-level power.
At its normal price of $700, I’d say “no”, but at a $200 discount, I’d say “think about it”. You’re getting near-flagship level features at mid-level prices. This phone boasts a 144Hz screen refresh rate (good for gaming), a solid chipset, and cameras with great specs.
But still, I’d say that if you’re looking for maximum computing bang for the buck at this price point, you want the RedMagic 6R, which currently starts at $450.
The 256th day of the year (the 100th day in hexadecimal) is known as the Day of the Programmer. On most years, it’s September 13th, but on leap years — which includes this one — it’s September 12th.
The day was proposed by two Russian programmers, Valentin Balt and Michael Cherviakov, who petitioned their government to recognize this day. The recognition came on September 11, 2009 when Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed the decree, making it official.
Whenever an “official unofficial” day like this happens, there’s always at least one vendor offering a deal. Day of the Programmer is no exception, and Fanatical are offering a bundle of three books from Packt for free in its honor!
Yes, I know that Packt is almost industry shorthand for “Not necessarily good, but not necessarily bad,” but at this price, you can’t say that these books aren’t worth every penny.
Here’s a video that goes a little deeper into deal, and a little deeper into poking a little fun at Packt: