Array Studio Reading List - a list of useful books

Path to SitePoint Stardom September 14, 2006

Our dear colleague Jelena (you can read more about her on our team page) must really love what she does, because beside all the work we are doing together she managed to find time and strenght to be one of the most active people on SitePoint.

Now we are proud to announce that Jelena has been promoted to SitePoint Advisor. As an Advisor she is joining a handful of people who are leading one of the biggest web related community. Congratulations!

In honor of her promotion to SitePoint Advisor she was interviewed for SitePoint Community Crier Newsletter. Here is the whole interview (you can also read original interview):

Staff Interview

We looked through the archives and found, to our surprise, that jelena had never been interviewed by SitePoint.  Anxious to find out more about our newest Advisor, we were happy to sit down with her recently and ask her a round of questions.

First of all, congratulations on becoming an Advisor! How does it feel?
Thanks! It feels great! I was really excited when I got the invitation to join the team. It is really an honor to be part of the staff as those are people who work so hard to make this community one of the greatest on the Internet in the area it covers.

Be honest: have you tried to ban stymiee yet? (Don’t worry, we’ve all tried it…)
Not yet, but I might try it later! Now seriously, John is a great guy. This community wouldn’t be the same without him.

You were one of those members who really dove into the SitePoint scene after joining, and have never looked back. What led you to the SitePoint Forums in the first place?
My boss and friend of mine thebasti showed me the forums. At first, I was hesitant to start posting, as it looked like there were enough people who knew all the answers here, so I just backed off and kept browsing for the first few months. However, once I started to answer questions myself, I couldn’t stop and I still can’t. It’s a great feeling when you help someone to learn something new, or you help them solve a problem that was giving them lots of headaches.

What made you stay?
The people and the level of expertise. You can ask a question here and get the answer instantly — that’s really amazing! I’ve also made some great friends around the boards from all over the world. In fact, I’m planning to meet some of them very, very soon.

What are your favorite SitePoint Forums areas?
To tell you the truth, all of them. I’m browsing most of the sub-forums, but as a PHP programmer, I usually post in PHP forum. I’m also very glad that we opened the General Application Design and Theory sub-forum, and that it has gotten a good response so far.

Though a lot of our readers may not know it, you help out with the production of the Community Crier every issue, and you have had a hand in many of the behind-the-scenes projects and jobs that SitePoint staffers do… what’s your secret to all that energy?
Secret? You mean, you don’t know?! I have one of those super ultra power energy source machines (model: XM D1 Turbo M5000) in my apartment that aliens gave me last time they visited me. Sometimes, it makes me stay awake for weeks. I was sure you had one, too!

When you’re not on the forums, what are you doing?
I work for a small web development company — Array Studio — as a Project Manager and Programmer and I’m really enjoying it very much. I usually spend my free time with my loved one and my closest friends. I’m not much of a party person, so I would rather go for a walk to get a break from my work instead of going to some crazy parties.

What sort of music do you listen to? Do you have a favorite band or singer?
I do enjoy ambient and classical music most of the time. I don’t have a favorite band or singer but some of them that I like are: Antonio Vivaldi, Enya, Kitaro, and Loreena McKennitt. Ok, laugh as much as you want, but sometimes I do enjoy French chansons as well.

What was the last non-web development book you read?
Uh oh. That’s a tough question as it was a long time ago. I think it was "Life is Real Only Then, When "I Am"" by G.I. Gurdjieff.

What is the one place in the world that you would like to travel?
Well, if you had asked me that few years ago, I would have said Paris, but I’ve been there and absolutely loved it. However, my choice at the moment would be a beach on a remote island with palm trees, and small fisher boats in the offing. An Internet connection is a must.

And what would you do when you got there?
What do you mean what would I do? I would do nothing, of course.

Could I tag along? Ok, ok, never mind… Finally, is there anything else you’d like to tell the members of SitePoint?
It is really a great pleasure to spend time around the boards and have the opportunity to meet other developers and exchange knowledge with them. Thanks everyone for making this community one of the coolest places online. See you all around. Oh, and one more thing: read the guidelines, guys and gals!

Interview with Jelena has been taken from SitePoint Community Crier Newsletter.