You got chocolate in my peanut butter:
technica q&a: mick farren (who's watching you?)
ink q&a: daniel h. wilson (where's my jetpack?)
event: ken ross (a mathematician at the ballpark)
movie and video editing sale
happy birthday, richard feynman
isepp lecture series
o'reilly rails conference
history of science
new arrivals
dvds
doug brown's factoid
bestsellers

How is it possible? Just yesterday, the days were dark, cold, and rainy. The icy damp penetrating my coat, and Fup curled up in her plush bed for hours. But — hurrah! — the glory of May is finally here. Lush flowers are everywhere, and it's time to hit the Portland Farmers Market on Saturday mornings. Oh, wait: this is only a dream; it's still stormy. Wake me up in July.

TECHNICA Q&A: MICK FARREN
He's a columnist, a critic, a recording artist, a teacher of a science fiction and horror courses at UCLA, but he still had the time to root out all kinds of covert surveillance facts and put them together in this disturbing commentary on the state of privacy in the world. Sounds like a comic book hero to us — SuperMick? Save 30% on Who's Watching You? and read his succinct Q&A here.

INK Q&A: DANIEL H. WILSON
In Where's My Jetpack? roboticist Daniel Wilson takes a hilarious look at the future imagined through movies, television, and comic books. He reveals which technologies are already available and those that do not yet exist and explains what stands in the way of making them real. Save 30% on the book and read his INK Q&A, where Wilson reveals why he writes, what makes his favorite pair of shoes better than any other, and more!

EVENT: KEN ROSS
Ken Ross, a retired math professor from the University of Oregon, is a baseball fan who can chew over probability problems and beer nuts at the same time. His latest book, A Mathematician at the Ballpark, has just been published in paperback, with a new appendix for fantasy baseball. Join us at Powell's Technical Books for a fun evening of baseball and numbers on Tuesday, May 15, at 7 p.m.

MOVIE AND VIDEO EDITING SALE
Martin Scorsese's long-time film editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, just won her third Oscar. Scorsese's first student film was butchered so terribly that when he found Schoonmaker in 1971, he began a collaborative partnership with her that has lasted more than thirty-five years. It just goes to show you, an editor's skills can make or break a movie. These terrific books on movie and film editing will help you realize your artistic vision onscreen. Buy any of our featured titles and save 30%!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RICHARD FEYNMAN
Work through some physics problems and bang your bongo drums to celebrate Richard Feynman's birthday on May 11. We all know about his work on the Manhattan Project and his Lectures on Physics, but did you know that he liked to hang out in bars just for the conversation and people watching? He abstained from alcohol — instead, he tanked up on soda and whiled away evenings talking, dancing, and, occasionally, picking up on hostesses.

ISEPP LECTURE SERIES
Don't miss this one. On May 17, Dr. Rebecca Goldstein, MacArthur Fellow and philosopher, will explain the vision that inspired Godel's mathematics in her lecture, "Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel." She uncovers the ironic twist that led to radical misinterpretations of Godel's theorems and work in his time. Save 50% off the ticket price by using the promotional code found on the following Ticketmaster page.

O'REILLY RAILS CONFERENCE
It's official: O'Reilly RailsConf 2007 is now sold out and the Ruby on Rails phenomenon gets bigger every year. If you're one of the lucky geeks who pre-registered, please come by our booth to see our great collection of books about RoR, all at a juicy discount just for you. We'll be there for the duration, May 17-20, at the Oregon Convention Center, so don't be a stranger!

HISTORY OF SCIENCE
May 18 is the anniversary of Mount St. Helens famous blow-up in 1980. Fifty-seven people died, including Harry Truman, the innkeeper of Mount St. Helens Lodge, who famously refused to leave the mountain. The force of the blast was equal to 27,000 Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs. When President Jimmy Carter flew over the devastation, he said the once pristine mountain looked like the moon.

NEW ARRIVALS
In preparation for summer, tune up your dusty bike with Mel Allwood's Complete Do-It-Yourself Bike Book, filled with extremely detailed photos and instructions. Stephen Hawking's latest is God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs That Changed History. David Montgomery's Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations will get you nervously running to your compost pile. And, finally, a book that the late Ted Hughes would like: In the Company of Crows and Ravens by John Marzluff and Tony Angell, who write about the symbiotic relationship between the black birds and humans.

DVDs
According to Paul, our DVD guru, these are the must-have DVDs for the budding spring season. Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man will keep you far away from bears; Jim Henson's Labyrinth features a young Jennifer Connelly, and David Bowie with huge hair; New York Doll reveals that Morrissey has a soft spot for Arthur Kane; and catch the dearly departed Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein. Not to mention all are sent straight to your door with no shipping fees. With all these great titles how can you resist? Pass the popcorn!

DOUG BROWN'S FACTOID
How big do snakes in America get?  The largest rattlesnake is the eastern diamondback, which has a record length of 96 inches (8 feet).  The largest western diamondback ever measured was exactly 7 feet long.  The largest snake ever recorded in the US was an indigo snake in Florida 103 inches long (8 feet 7 inches); indigos have sadly become threatened in the US due to habitat loss.  The largest snake west of the Mississippi is the gopher snake; the record was 100 inches (8 feet 4 inches).  Even for these large species, wild individuals over 7 feet are rare.

TECH BESTSELLERS
1. Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug (Web Publishing)
2. Programming Flex 2.0 by Chafic Kazoun (Web Applications)
3. Wordpress 2: Visual QuickStart Guide by Maria Langer (Web Applications)
4. Designing the Obvious by Robert Hoekman (Web Publishing)
5. Digital Photography Pocket Guide by Derrick Story (Digital Photography)
6. Ugly's Electrical References 2005 by George Hart (Construction Code)
7. Code Check Building by Michael Casey (Construction Code)
8. 2007 Oregon Structural Specialty Code by ICC (Construction Code)
9. MATLAB Demystified by David McMahon (Mathematics Software)
10. Statistics Demystified by Stan Gibilisco (Statistics)

Technica
By Carole R. and Danielle

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