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Here's an example for a book I needed this quarter:

Digital System Design Using VHDL

$59 (shipping included) to get it from the UK shipped priority to me in California. $115 at amazon new, $65 or so used. Took only a few days, the same it'd take if I bought it in the US, and probably quicker than the Media Mail that amazon marketplace and half.com usually offer.

Once there was an optional book I wanted to study from that went for about $50-$60 on half.com. Saw a used one on ebay for $15 that looked pretty much new when I got it.

Gancarz has come out with an updated version of the book, now titled Linux and the Unix Philosophy. Here's a non-amazon link. If you have the original, there's not much new to recommend it, just updated (mostly Linux-based) examples; but if you're new to either OS, or want to give a book to a friend to explain why you love it/them, this is a good one.

AddAll does the work of finding the lowest price.

Shop around. Couple copies at half.com and cheaper than amazon at overstock.com. Addall is very helpful when buying my textbooks..

Shop around.

...why does anyone look at Amazon and one other store? You'd think there are two book stores online. Try looking here: For a full readout of BestBookBuys' listing on this book (specifically)

There are three good urls for book shopping:

BookPool, AddAll, BestBookBuys. Why not let bots do your shopping? And if you like the newer bots, check out Froogle.Google

Both AddAll and Froogle show it at Overstock.com for $5 less than Amazon, with the advantages that they don't give referrer fees to anonymous trolls or support obnoxious patents.

Yeah, and you can get it even cheaper from buy.com. Or cheaper still if you don't mind a used copy. Do yourself a favor and use a book search tool. I like addall.com, though there are many others to choose from.

Froogle isn't anywhere near as good as addall.com for books, or pricegrabber.com & pricewatch.com for tech.

--

This should be required reading.

Instead of comparing just B&N vs. Amazon all of the time, why not use the book shopping bots? (Amazon and B&N are not the cheapest books every time you buy a book (they may be in this case (I checked), but in many cases, the others are much cheaper)! The bots search a lot of the book stores and rank the prices (including handling/shipping), present opportunities for discounts, and even point out the ability for finding books which may be out of print but can be purchased used.
Think of this as a book equivalent to PriceWatch

(these links were tested in 'preview' mode before posting.

BookPool
AddAll
BestBookBuys

Except that the symbol-font comments being discussed in this thread (about rmfree) are not in Linux. The part that is identical comes from a textbook. And where in your ass did this 890,000 LoC number come from? URL please?

Unless both Linux and SCO legally copied the code from a BSD-licensed version of UNIX(tm). Or unless SCO stole the code from Linux. Until each party shows verifiable changelogs for the relevant sections, it's very much an open question.

Wow... That's a GREAT link. I've never seen it before. Thanks!

Of course, if /. linked to it, it would probably get /.ed. :-)

psxndc

Besides it shows that there is a "used" copy on amazon for $12.99.

Agreed. Even if portability is not a concern, using STLPort is almost a must. And MFC is a fairly ugly piece of goop. But your GUI should be abstracted away in a different component. (As you mention later in your post.)

Another problem with C++ which has been bothering me, and I would presume, the developers of Peekabooty, is the tendency towards static compilation and inclusion of everything. I looked at the source files here, and the sheer number of include-files compared to source files indicate that this probably does not compile quickly.

This is a pretty much solved problem. I reccomend Large Scale C++ Software Design by John Lakos. Google for redundant #include guards, pimpl idiom, and handle/body pattern.

There is a way around this, if the application can be divided into several major and fairly independent components which then are compiled and linked as a number of dynamical libraries (.DLLs on Windows, .so on Linux and Unix). Now, with proper design, recompiling the whole lot is not necessary for smaller changes within one of the parts where no changes in this part has taken place. The trick here is encapsulation: do not let code in any one part know about any of the internal structure of code in any other part.

You've gotta watch out for longer link times if you're statically linking and longer load times if you're dynamically linking.

Link it to addall.
They even show how to link right to a book price search with ISBN, etc.. how to link.

Ryan

Link it to addall.
They even show how to link right to a book price search with ISBN, etc.. how to link.

Ryan

And it's even cheaper if you buy it here, plus the advantages of not supporting companies that abuse the patent system, and not giving a commission to users who post self-serving adverts on slashdot.

I usually go to addall.com to find the best prices. Under $30.00US here.

I usually go to addall.com to find the best prices. Under $30.00US here.

Oregonian

The Register

Dan Gillmor

DirectX, RDX RSX and MMX Technology

(I didn't bother submitting it 5 days ago when I first found out about it, because of /.'s 99% rejection rate.)

Amazon has a decent browsing systems in place, but once I find something I want I use a cheap book search engine or go elsewhere to find cheap computer components or use another engine to fine cheap stuff. In the end I pay less for the product + SH than any browser purchaseing directly from amazon.

Amazon does charge different people different prices, dumb people who shop there end up paying a lot more money.

I searched addall.com for this book and got these results.

I searched addall.com for this book and got these results.

Shamelessly taking from Usenet research and Appendix B of Red Book:

Aragorn was born in Third Age year 2931, and he meets Frodo at the Prancing Pony on September 29, 3018. He is therefore 88 years old, but as a true Numenorean he is still in the prime of his life. 60 years of wandering the wilderness will take some toll on your skin, though.

King Elessar (Aragorn) gave up the ghost at the age of 210, by an act of will. His physique at that point was comparable to a modern man in his 60s.

You could incorporate and then hold copyleft in the company name. You'd have to use your real name to form the corp, but it would provide one step of shielding for you. Incorporating on your own is trivial and inexpensive (I did it). Get the appropriate book for your state, and you might also look at the Corporate Publishing web site.

Betsy Devine, aka EnlightenmentFan

p.s. No, I don't get money if you buy a copy. No, I don't know Nate Elldredge, but he has great taste in books. No, I'm not writing a book of /. jokes, and if anybody here wants to write such a book, I wish that person well. Yes, I am too a nerd (engineer/physics type), despite my gender. Yes, I am writing another book, just not one about /.

Sorry for the shameless plug -- I just use them, I don't get anything out of this.

Note, my location is in the URL and it uses this to calculate shipping. You will need to re-search for shipping costs...

Always compare prices before buying books. Here's a listing of the lowest prices from Addall.com.

If you goto http://www.addall.com/ you can search for it in hardcover and electronic form also. They search some 24 different sites and give you the lowest price. That is what the internet is about - enforcing competition.

Why pay more,... or amazon and RedWolves2...
I am not associated with addall.com, I like cheap books.

This works because I don't throw my mp3/ogg, pr0n, etc into the repository. I'll have to figure out a new solution when I hit the 650MB/800MB limit, but it works for now. I'll probably just have my repository on a different computer and use ssh or a get another HD speciffically for backup purposes.

I started using this system after reading the Pragmatic Programmer. They recommend throwing using CVS for everything that is important. It's great for more than just code. And this way, whenever I install a new distro, I have all my settings since I save my .emacs, .mozilla, .kde, .etc directories.

$25.00 plus shipping (coverprice is $49.99)

http://www.addall.com/

remember to copy & paste the
ISBN 0735710015

Instead of paying too much to Barnes and Noble, you can get it from AddAll for quite a bit cheaper.

Free shipping on orders over $49

Addall shows it at several places for the same price - including shipping (well, to AZ anyway). One place in the list has it for a couple bucks less.

Add to that Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen.

This is kind of offtopic, but I just read a book called Bold Science: Seven Scientists Who Are Changing Our World. It talks about Venter's interesting background. Other scientists mentioned:

Susan Greenfield,

Geoffrey Marcy,

Polly Matzinger,

Saul Perlmutter,

Gretchen Daily, and

Carl Woese.

There's a reason I ask: Individual Education Plans.

These IEPs are wonderful little inventions that many states have written into their education laws; basically, what they are is a way out for you and your school when/if you want to do something other than sit with a babysitter who happens to have teaching credentials.

It may be difficult to write an IEP until you get into high school, but you can begin researching some of the possibilities now. I remember finding The Gifted Kids' Survival Guide most helpful when I was about your age, though I didn't get off my ass and seriously pursue IEP stuff until 11th grade.

If you live in a state with sensible gifted education laws and in a school district which respects those laws (or have an intimidating attorney ready to go to bat for you), then it is possible to essentially write your own education plan. You may at most be able to get a few periods a week - there are still some courses you'll have to take, and doing poorly in them could scuttle everything else, so you'll just have to suffer through history of Western Civ. However, in the "spare" time you'll be able pursue anything you want; my personal suggestion would be to contact professors at some local college or university (there are probably some community college professors who would love to see anything approaching a talented and motivated student) and get them to sponsor some computing projects. This adds an air of academic legitimacy which your public school is going to need to feel good about letting you do something school administrators can't understand.

My IEP senior year specified AP Physics, since the offered physics course was a complete and total joke. I was lucky, and got five periods a week and an expanded book closet with desk. Occasionally they'd throw some old hardware at me, and halfway through the year the teacher who was nominally supervising me got promoted to an administrative position and I was left completely alone. It was a good year.

• Mutual agreement, more specifically,
• Mutual understanding of the agreement
• Mutual benefit (sometimes called "consideration")
• Mutual right to remedy upon breach
• Mutual obligation
• Competent adult parties (sui juris)
• Proper subject matter

Nothing beats addall.

Mike

Listing of prices at addall.com

For true completeness.

Or if you are sure which one to get, compare prices at AddALL or one of the other book price comparison sites.

Bookfinder searches a bunch of other sites, and then gives you a bit list of new and used prices... Now, I buy most all of my older books used, both for cost, as well as environmental reasons.

is not the cheapest place you can buy this book. Check out AddAll for a price comparison.

...is not the cheapest place to get this book. Take a look here for a price comparison. Examples:

Fatbrain: $28.48
Bookpool: $24.92
Amazon: $24.99

Slashdot must have some sort of contract to sell only books from FatBrain (stupid name, BTW). If you want the absolute best price on a book, check out Add All.

Or use AddAll.com and find a copy for $15.24 (used, including shipping).

Or use AddAll.com and find a copy for $15.24 (used, including shipping).

Instead of AddAll, I prefer to use BestBookBuys. Both AddAll and BestBookBuys appear to have similar functionality (for instance, they both identified BookPool as having the lowest price), but I personally prefer the interface on BestBookBuys.

But, I do share your sentiment about Fatbrain. Sure, it used to be independent and cool, but now they're just yet-another subsidiary of Barnes & Noble (bleh!). Besides, Fatbrain also costs $18 more than the lowest AddAll/BestBookBuys price.

Alex Bischoff

Does Fatbrain pay someone to link to their site for every book review? They are not even close to the cheapest site on the net. If you want a good price comparison, go to AddAll. Just type in the title, and it will search about 30 online book retailers for the lowest price, including coupons and shipping/handling.

Besides, does anyone else besides me think "Fatbrain" is a stupid name?