Why do people rush out to buy "Learning Perl in 24 Hours, Unleashed, in a Nutshell, for Dummies" ... especially when Norvig argues convincingly that it takes ten years, not 24 hours :)

Good point, though I've read a few For Dummies books, and some of them are not bad. Yet, perhaps I'd prefer something like "Getting Started" title. On the other hand, books like "learn $x in $y days|hours" are something I definitely avoid.

And BTW, nice references, as always.