Slightly off-topic, but...

> I am posting anonymously because he knows me and I know him

So? You have a valid point - why do you feel the need to post as AC? Or are you to afraid to say this to Simon's face? He won't bite! :-)

I don't understand how such a comment can get AND KEEP a score of five! If you have mod points, please mod him/her down. I won't repeat the reasons - just read all the comments - they capture the fact that this person has no idea of economics.

I tried various tethering-apps ever since I got my G1 (dev-phone and therefore rooted). The best one I found is hands down Wifi Tether, which converts the phone into a hotspot. Very cool, especially as it makes it very easy to give other people access (at the same time, no less!). It's free, so I donated a few bucks.

I consider the basic crucial, as they provide a solid foundation. Along those lines, I found Gödel Escher Bach extremely useful and entertaining to read at the same time (mind you, it's not an easy read). In the book, Hofestadter develops some simple programming languages and talks a lot about the properties of formal systems.

Another excellent read is A Discipline of Programming (Dijkstra), which goes to the core of the issues in programming.

In fact, the above List on Wikipedia may give you some more ideas.