I don't know who it was, it might have been one of the guys my dad worked with, be they said "You won't be able to write a game with a book like that, but you might be able to write a phone directory." Didn't phase me.

I remember someone asking me later on if I was going to write a game. I just looked at them blankly and said: "I'm going to write a phone directory".

I just learned today that "Sams Teach Yourself C++ in 24 Hours" was co-written by Jessee Liberty, one of my all-time favorite technical book writers. "Programming C#, 2nd Edition" was a great book.

I loved tech stores too. I still have all of the Apple pamphlets that CompUSA had sitting next to the display units.