My first book review is incoming and back to school

Some time ago, the e-mail address for my podcast  made it onto some kind of distribution list at O’Reilly. For months, every time O’Reilly released another book I would get an e-mail with an offer for a review copy or to interview the author. Most of the books didn’t interest me, but I finally found one that did: the third edition of Google Hacks by Rael Dornfest, Paul Bausch, and Tara Calishain.

To make a long story short, I requested a review copy and received it last week. So, as soon as I finish the book I’m currently reading I’ll give it a go. I’ll most likely have both a written and an audio review. Stay tuned.

In other news, this weekend is a four day weekend for me since I’ve taken Friday off and I’ll be observing the holiday on Monday. I will be without wife or kids and I plan to enjoy my first such time all year. I guess this will be my last hurrah before classes start again on Tuesday.

I guess I’ve never really mentioned it, but I am working on my Master’s degree in Information Technology at the University of Maryland University College. I guess that’s because I took the summer off and haven’t really thought about it much. This semester I’ll be tackling MSIT 650 – Systems Engineering which is described in the course catalog as:

Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach to developing complex systems that satisfy a client mission in an operational environment. Information technology is at the heart of most systems. This course is an examination of the systems engineering process with special emphasis on computers and software systems. The course includes an overview of system theory and structures, elements of the systems life cycle (including systems design and development), risk and trade-off analyses, modeling and simulation, and the tools needed to analyze and support the systems process. Case studies from the information technology domain will be used to illustrate the systems engineering principles.

MSIT 650 is the last core class and marks the halfway point towards the goal of getting my degree. Next semester I have to decide on one or more elective tracks and start down that path. At the end, there’s a capstone class to wrap it all up. Not bad a for a degree that can be completed entirely online.