It’s always good to have more than one source for things, so I present another site with free tech books. They also have lists of free magazines you can either subscribe to or get a free trial of. Some of the magazines are in print, some are just online, but they’re certainly worth checking out.

It’s nice to have everything you need, in one place when you’re trying to do anything computer related. Trying to search all over the internet can be fruitful, but can take quite awhile.

That’s where books come in. Books are great. Despite the popularity of websites and electronic copies, I still say that there is nothing like a hard copy of something. I find it much easier to bookmark a particular place and come back to it later than with something on the computer.

On the other hand, sometimes you can’t get your hands on a hard copy for whatever reason. In that case, you might want to try looking at these free computer books online.

There are multiple topics covered (many dozen, in fact), and even links to other book sites. It’s definitely worth a look.

One good thing about books, as opposed to websites, you can print out an electronic book. It’s a bit more difficult, though still doable, to print out a complete website.

I love places like W3Schools that let you play around with HTML and such right there, without you having to mess around with your own text files and servers.

I found one that may be even better than W3Schools, however: HTML Playground. They define a tag, show example code and then show what the code does, which isn’t too special, but they do show it all on one page, in iframe boxes. This is nifty. Go check it out and see for yourself.

Invariably, if you’re doing anything on the internet, you’re going to have to create or modify graphics at some point in time. My favorite program for this is Adobe Photoshop. The downside of this is the expense of the program, which really is a bit much (over $600!).

I don’t think it’s worth that much, even though it is a very nice program. Thankfully, I got a free version with an old WACOM tablet I bought years ago.

Anyway, I’m always looking for hints and tips on making and editing graphics with Photoshop. That’s how I found ‘Laurie McCanna’s complete list of Photoshop tutorials‘.  I’m not sure how ‘complete’ it is, since it makes reference to older versions and to Win95, but there may be a few things you didn’t know about Photoshop there. I know I found the seamless pattern tile creation useful, since I keep forgetting how to do that.

For April Fools Day, ThinkGeek introduced the 8-bit tie. Supposedly, if you purchased you would get ‘retro’ geek points instead of the numerical number normally displayed (thus making it easy to tell the jokes from the non-jokes).

I thought the tie was pretty cool, and so did others apparently. I don’t know how many people emailed ThinkGeek, telling them that they wanted the tie, but it must have been dozens; at least judging by the message now displayed on the tie page:

Hey! You! Quit emailing us to make this for REAL already We promise, we’ll make it. In fact we are already working on it. You’ve just forced our hand! Click the ‘email me when available’ link above to get notified! Thanks! I guess the joke is on us this year :p

I want the tie, but I’m also waiting for them to make the Piranhaz - R/C Battle Fish a reality.

Apple has announced that they will be releasing a new product later this year: The iPot. The iPot will be available by November, just in time for Thanksgiving.

The iPot is a combination Crockpot and microwave type device, with the addition of internet connectivity features. Like a Crockpot, the iPot must be plugged into the wall (as opposed to being used on the stove). Like a microwave, you can program the iPot for various foods.

You will be able to put food into the iPot in the morning and it will keep the food cool (using reverse thermal induction technology) until the afternoon, when it will start cooking. By the time you get home from work or school, your food will be hot and ready for you to eat.

Sensors in the iPot will tell the attached mini-computer the exact temperature and moisture content of the food, letting the mini-computer know when your food is cooked to perfection. Once your food has finished cooking, the iPot changes to ‘warming’ mode, letting you retrieve it at your convenience.

The iPot also comes with an Ethernet port, allowing you to hook the mini-computer up to your network to download recipes from the official iPot site. The recipes will be free and allow you to cook a variety of thousands of different dishes without having to program the iPot yourself.

The iPot also has a slot for flash memory, allowing you to take the recipes you’ve programmed with you wherever you go (for example, to give to a friend).

For those worried that the mini-computer will be damaged by the heat, it will be connected to the iPot itself by a long cord which will allow the sensitive components of the mini-computer to be separate from the heat generated by cooking.

The iPot will come in sizes from 1-quart sauce pan all the way up to 8-quart stew pot. Plans are also in the works for a ‘bacon & eggs’ breakfast model, which will be a frying pan.

Prices for the iPot have not yet been announced.