I made a slightly more readable HTML version (with linked TOC and back links) here -> http://bit.ly/lSLTVT

This could be converted to an ePub I think, with the linked TOC. If this a problem let me know and I will take it down, or maybe you could post it on http://edweissman.com/53640595 to get the linked TOC?

One problem though - you lost most of the paragraph formatting and spacing; you can see the difference on almost every entry if you look closely enough. Fix that and I'll just put your version on my blog.

[Once again: thank you everyone for the kind words and feedback. You made my day!]

I also posted a version as PDF - again it has the linked TOC which makes it easier to navigate. The PDF isn't as nice as the HTML though.

[PDF] http://bit.ly/inAWAc

I looked up some python examples to start with:

python epub docs http://www.egofile.com/2010/01/convert-openofficeorg-writer-...

http://code.google.com/p/python-epub-builder/

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/tutorials/x-epubtut/se...

I made this one with Calibre, and its optimized for the iPad. Let me know how it looks for you.

Loved this story, and I enjoy coding the more I do this.

The problem is to keep it focussed on "productive" output - otherwise you end up like that guy who wrote TeX instead of The Art of Computer Programming; or Blart Versenwald III¹; or

    6. It automatically classifies unread comments based upon similarity
    to classified comments and some rules. (The idea was to classify the
    first 300 comments and have the software classify the remaining
    3,700. I realized this capability was unnecessary when the book
    would only contain 256 entries. Oh well.)

1. One of the greatest benefactors of all lifekind. http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~soundarm/book4.html

I purposely omitted references to the original Hacker News threads because I wanted the book to stand on its own.

Hope this helps:

http://edweissman.com/index-from-the-best-of-edw519-to-the-o...

[Many thanks to everyone in this thread for the well wishes. You guys are helping to make my day!]

[I had trouble expressing this in the GP, and went for over-conciseness, as "comment" is ambiguous. I still can't think of a brief but clear way to say it - there's probably some TeX typesetting terminology for it].

and [PDF] http://bit.ly/inAWAc

Edit: I tried to buy it, but Scribd won't allow me to do it because I'm not from US (and neither is my credit card). Is there any other alternative?

Wishing you a very happy birthday!

Thanks for the interest and the well wishes, chanux.

http://www.mediafire.com/?b736ucvz8rn7phu

Question for the peanut gallery - embedding images in LaTeX seems to suck. Any recommendations? (I'm using MacTeX 2010-basic)

(edw519, alumnus of Theta Chi, Beta Chi Chapter)

Thank you so much

Would you welcome typo corrections if people are making efforts to do sophisticated formatting?

If so here's one that seems worth correcting: (from item 2.)

"The most challenging is finding a project big enough to not be boring but small enough that-['s] it's +[not] too difficult to make good progress."

Secondly, I am reading through this and came across this:

14. Should I still be a programmer? "I lack the fundamentals of Computer Science, the things every programmer should know: Algo's, Data Structures, Operating Systems an understanding of compilers and being profficient with linux."

Relax. That's true for 99% of all programmers.

I feel like I am in the same exact boat as the original poster. However, I am a senior in college who has several interviews lined up. I have interviewed several times before and always flop on the "fundamental questions". Is there any further advice someone can give me? Thanks in advanced.

Have you considered learning the fundamentals? Its not a snarky comment I'm genuinely curious.

If you are programming, find you enjoy it, and wish to continue doing it for money, continuing education should be right up there on your list of things to do. (whether you have a Ph.D in CS or just a high school diploma, new stuff is coming out all the time).

There are a lot of free resources now online. You can get the syllabus and curriculum for classses that are taught in places like Stanford or MIT or UC Berkeley. So even if you spend the next two years of nights and weekends 'filling in the gaps' in your knowledge you will find that not only do you get better at your 'day job' but you will start aceing those 'fundamental' questions.

There was a time when to do this you would have to audit a class at a nearby university which imposed limits based on schedules, location, etc. But those times are behind us now. Take an old desktop machine from the e-waste dumpster behind some company, load up FreeBSD or Linux on it, and start doing the home work from some of these courses. The fundamentals are fundamentals because they apply universally, and you don't need a fancy rig to compare the performances of various sorts, or explore bloom filters, or key exchange algorithms. You can run MySQL on crappy hardware for the size databases you need to run to learn SQL.

Granted the assumption is that you can currently access the internet and you live somewhere that is currently consuming IT hardware (pretty much most of Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand. and the N. American continent).

If you are a 'Senior in college' and your major was CS and you flop the fundamental questions then there is a bigger problem here.

Yes. Stop interviewing with Google.

There are plenty of places that need smart folks, who get things done, who are not jerks. And can look things up or ask around when they need to.

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...

Selling is only allowed to people in the US? What on earth for?

I realize it's available free but I wanted to buy for the principle of the thing.

still think it was totally worth it!

thanks and happy birthday!

The knowledge which is packed in the book will save a lot of blood, sweat and tears in the coming years down the line.

You're truly a blessing!

But it's Mark Zuckerberg, not Mark Zuckerman ;-)

I couldn't buy your book, but now i can get it free. Thanks a lot :)

So H.B. to you.

good job/ haspy birthday>!