Web Books

and that is hilarious.

I've been reading Two Lumps ( [...] ) since the beginning, and the adventures of Eben and Snooch and their poor suffering mom have been a delight since day one.

We get the first years worth of strips here, along with comments from author Mel Hines and artist James Grant, which is a great bonus.

If you actually know what cats are like, I can't recommend Two Lumps enough, buy the book already.

I first discovered "Two Lumps" on line about two years ago and have been a faithful reader of this funny and deliteful comic ever since. The book is even better! I can't wait for volume 2 - the second year!

This is the funniest comic on four (or eight) feet! The art is fun, the stories witty (and damned accurate as any cat "owner" can attest). And now in the book we get additional commentary from the artist and writer that had me rolling on the floor laughing.

I've been a fan of the Two Lumps strip for a while now on the net, (www.twolumps.net) and I'm very happy to finally have a bit of it in my hands.
To quote Jennie Breeden's (author of excellent webcomic The Devil's Panties) introduction to the book, "Plenty of cartoons have explored the eccentricities of cats. Yes, they chase their tails. Yes, they lick their butts. But they also drink vodka and compose sonnets.If you have two cats, then you know Ebenezer and Snooch. The criminal mastermind and the fat, lovable idiot."
Eben and Snooch are both instantly recognizable and yet very much unique characters. If you haven't lived with them, you've met them, gone to school with them, or worked with them. The humor in this strip is a perfect mix of straight-up pratfalls, highbrow insults, and wicked innuendo.
If you have cats, you should have this book. If you have a pulse, you should have this book. If you have a pulsing cat, you're about to receive a hairball.
I pre-ordered this the minute I heard it was being produced and I will definitely buy the next ones.

What a great book. L. Patrick Gray is a tragic figure. Stumbles into the FBI Directorship job, gets caught up in all the FBI backstabbing, and on top of it, gets his name thrown in with the criminals of Watergate. Even more tragic is that Mark Felt comes out a hero for being Deep Throat.

Without giving anything away, Nixon's Web will give the interested Watergate reader a very different perspective. It's really easy and good reading. I like the style, it's to the point, very little fluff if any. It's a shame that Gray didn't come out with this sooner, but the announcement of Deep Throat compelled him to break his long silence.

If you've been a Watergate reader, you absolutely cannot go without reading this book.

This book is very easy to read and extemely interesting. I felt very bad for Pat Gray because he is still accused of things that he was never found guilty of doing. He tried to change the FBI and the people working closest with him were never on his side. It's a sad story. I was very disappointed in Mark Felt, Bernstein and Woodward. Felt lied to Gray on many occasions, probably because he wanted the top job. Felt was convicted of crimes but Gray never was and Gray received apologies from the senators who accused him of crimes. Gray's son interviews Bernstein and Woodward about their ongoing accusations against his father. Woodward comes across very badly because he can't seem to explain the notes that he took while writing his book, even though they don't match the Watergate tapes. After reading this, I'm convinced that Felt was not "deep throat". No question that "deep throat" was a combination of a lot of different people who liked to leak information without giving their names. Great book!!!

Very good historical review that clears up several mysteries. L. Patrick Gray make a good case for clearing up misstatements about his involvement in Watergate and indicates why the one person identified as the Deep Throat source actually had to be more than one person. Resentment about an outsider being appointed as head of the FBI turns out to be the reason for most of the leaks. Gray defended the FBI based on good faith that his associates wee truthful.

The packaging was a problem. The plastic tabs that were to be lifted to get the discs out were not well separated despite the grooves. I actually damaged one disc beyond use by my attempts to get to it.

I found the book fascinating. It was a real page-turner for me. Parts are absolutely gripping, especially when L. Patrick Gray is sitting in Nixon's office perplexed at what his boss is trying to tell him. Gray is an honest man and a straight-shooter and Nixon is trying to get him to be a conspirator without coming right out and saying it. Gray's mind just doesn't have a place for the idea that the President of the United States is a criminal.

Although I was only a boy when the Watergate scandal broke, it was a
formative chapter in my life. One of my early memories is watching my
father (a Massachusetts McGovern supporter) listen to the 1972 returns
in dismay. Later I watched the Watergate hearings on TV at school, transfixed by the historic importance of what was happening.

I've since been keenly aware of the far-reaching damage Nixon did to our
country. I was less cognizant of the damage he and his henchmen
inflicted on the personal lives of so many. L. Patrick Gray's story brings this starkly to light.

The extent to which the book also puts the press in a bad light is timely. I was one of those, reared on the Woodward and Bernstein myth of reporter as white knight. In the past 15 years I've come to see the press more for what it is, a self-serving business/political entity. I know there are people of good faith in both government and the press, but they don't seem to be the ones running show, bless 'em for keeping at it!

This book starts to rewrite the fictional construct "Deep Throat" that Woodward and Bernstein created in order to sell a book and a movie, and cast themselves as heroes in the process. "All the President's Men" is a good story but it's far from the truth. "In Nixon's Web" is a first hand account backed up with FBI files, Senate Committee testimony, and the famous White House tapes.

Patrick Gray, a highly respected naval submarine commander, accomplished lawyer and former assistant Attorney General, doesn't cast himself here as a hero, just someone trying to do the best he can for his country. He admits to being naive, especially in trusting people who have been given a high level of trust by the entire nation.

Watergate left a lot of U.S. citizens disillusioned with their government. Patrick Gray was one of them. He has every right to be bitter, but this is not a bitter story. It's a tragedy told directly and without embellishment. The events themselves are enough for a terrific tale.

An outstanding investment. Very current information and links (5th printing dated 10/99).

NOTE: The author takes great pains to include PC and Apple information throughout. It is small enough to stuff in a coat pocket, yet 500 pages in length. Excellent cross referencing as well.

At any price, let alone Amazon's, how can you possibly get more for the money?

In the course of reviewing many general Internet texts for client distribution at our firm, I had the pleasure to come across this work. It is truely a level above everything else out there. Clear, concise and complete. This is a must have reference work for every Internet surfer.

While taking a course on "Basic Internet" I was forced to buy another book that was really confusing. I found "The Internet - the Rough Guide 2000" at our bookstore and it has saved my life. The explanations and suggestions are much clearer than our text book and actually gave more information in a smaller size - really handy to keep by the computer or carry with you. I would definitely recommend this to anyone learning to surf the net, build a web page, research, etc.

This book is teriffic. Unlike most Internet books out there, author Angus Kennedy doesn't try to overwhelm you or sound like a techie know-it-all. He explains everything in a easy, complete, and detailed manner, making the internet as easy to use as possible. He also has a good sense of humor, keeping the book fun and interesting throughout. Hats off to Mr. Kennedy! I dare you to find a better Internet book.

Many books and magazines just go through the motions trying helping customers shop online, or so it seems to me. I wanted a epinion I felt I could trust that didn't seem too cynical. The selling point for me was the suprisingly colorful design. That really interests me.

My friend gave me this book because I wanted to buy a blender online, and I've used it to find so many other things since then. The reviews are really funny, and it's nice to know that somebody has already checked the sites for credit card safety.

Amazing ! Never knew how much shopping there was on the net. Like all the times I was reading previous editions of Internet Cool Guide I was really sorry when I wasn't near a PC to try out all the excellently reviewed "cool" sites. Well done, Rula. ooking forward to more !

Wow. Totally cool! I knew of all the biggies online but Internet Cool Guide: Shopping has tons of ones I didn't know about. inshop, bluefly bargains galore all available from my lap top. It's gonna make Christmas shopping a snap.

Nice book for teachers to become more proficient in using the internet in their teaching activites. Features lots of internet activities for teachers and their students in a wide range of grades. This is the fun, easy, and practical way for teachers to find out more about the internet.

I used this as a text in my professional development courses. Everyone loved it.

I've reordered for all my courses next year. A must read!

We just reviewed 35 books for our inservice program and chose this one. We're buying one for every teacher in the town. It's perfect for beginners and advanced teachers learning the Net.

This book allowed me to work with the interent in many areas. I have been able to locate information I did not believe existed on-line. Williams explains things in easy to understand language and then walks you through the exercise. The glossary is also very helpful for the computer neophyte. The attached CD installs Adobe Acrobat Reader and explains its many uses. I found this particularly helpful in downloading material on-line. This book is a must for any person wanting to use the Internet effectively.

This is the 4th edition and I buy it every year. It's very resourceful and saves much time from trips to the library. Very thorough and credible in the quality of links. The tiny cd travels lightly in my planner, as well.

I found the book as helpful as the telephone yellowpages in a strange town. The easy to use format leads you to the right place quickly and efficiently. I found things I didn't even know I was looking for. Excellent easy to handle guidebook.

Once again Ms. Lindell and Dr. Hersh have done excellent job...whenever I need to find something fast I just look it up, and go! This small handy pocket book is packed full of websites, for all your medical & health internet searching needs, there isn't a subject or topic that you can't find! You name it this book has it! Well laid out and easy to use and small enough to take with you! I highly recommend this excellent resource book to any health, medical, or legal professional. Great resource for students, too!

The Internet Medical & Health Searching & Sources Guidebook is an excellent reference both in cd and pocketbook form; for medical/legal professionals, students at any level, or the curious medical consumer. Directs you to reliable resources. Priced significantly below it's true value and therefore an invaluable tool in reference. User friendly and written by well accredited professionals. Excellent gift idea, as well. Two thumbs up!

Although the book uses a specific JMS engine for the examples the details and the concepts were all right on and covered everything I needed for JMS. It literally saved my bacon, especially the peer to peer stuff over topics. Whew!

Super job.

Sam

Eric Bruno's JAVA MESSAGING explores different ways of messaging using Java software, from JavaBean events and JMS to SOAP. Web programmers receive all the basics to using these features, tips on how and why to use each feature and when to choose something else, how to combine features, and more. The basics of Java communication processes are revealed in chapters which form 'classes' to link related information in a logical progression. An excellent, basic foundation for Java users.

As we look at how much we use the web, it is sometimes hard to remember just how new this concept of worldwide packet switching really is. Java was started as a new language before a lot of the new concepts like XML and SOAP were conceived. But as a new language it has been able to move into using these new concepts faster than nearly any other language.

What I especially liked about this book was the first chapter. So often computer books start with programming. This one starts with a description of what we're trying to do here. He gives several examples of the types of communications that he is going to cover in the book. I had a particular application in mind when I got the book, but in reading the first chapter I began to see several other ways that messaging would help our system.

After the first chapter, I've go to say that it's a pretty regular computer software book. It tells you how to do the things that you want to do. It is quite clear on all the different software protocols, packages, and philosophies. Basically it is all that a Java programmer needs to implement messaging in Java.

The CD included with the book gives you all the sample code from the book, as well as the complete messaging toolkit and several open source tools.

Excellent introduction to messaging, including healthy portions on JMS and web services.

The writing style is clear, consistent, and to the point. Probably what I liked most was this no-nonsense writing style. If it's on a page, it's important to understand. The author doesn't waste your time with irrelevant discussions or out of scope topics.

Editing and code presentation are top notch, making it easy to follow, and build upon from one example to the next. The author also shares some gotchas and considerations that I wouldn't have expected to see in an introductory discussion which were particularly valuable.

Another great feature is one of the drawbacks of the book. The framework presented in the book is elegant, but in many of the examples, there is too much cognitive overhead involved in grokking the level of abstraction in the framework, and this takes away from actually learning the concepts. I would have liked to see more non-framework code for the introduction, which is then tied together with the framework.

Easy to follow, very concise examples, wide variety of topics

Firstly, this book does a great job of introducing the javascript core language in a thorough and engaging way. The author goes to great lengths on topics that will concern real-world developers and discusses in depth the right and wrong way to write code.

This leads on to a more general reference on the language. It is here that the book really shines. As well as lots of examples, the fundamental principles behind the langauge and any associated technologies are mentioned. All this is done in a very avuncular style and I must admit I enjoyed reading the book, and trying out some of the examples/topics on my PC.

There are some caveats:

This is not a book for pure novices. Previous exposure to other languages is inferred and the author(s) point out similarities with Java and C++.

Netscape is the preferred browser here, but unlike some other tomes, at least IE gets a mention and differences are noted, though the writing does favour the NS browser.

These are small gripes with what is otherwise a much needed and well scripted (sic) resource.

This review is based only on a quick glimpse of the book, so read this with some reservation. I might follow up with a more thorough review later.

This book looks very comprehensive, and seem to be very much up-to-date with latest browsers and W3C standards, including DOM 1 and DOM 2.

But more than a 1000 pages probably makes it very difficult to read in bed ! ;-)

Giving 5 stars might seem a bit optimistic without further investigation, but I'm pretty sure it is a at least a 4-star book.

I wanted to learn JavaScript, up and rearing to go. So I got David Flanagan's book "The Definative Guide". But the concepts flew over my head. Its the best book on JavaScript, without a shadow of a doubt, but simply fearful to the poor old newbie like myself. Don't get me wrong, its well written, but if he had written it the way I needed it to be, it would have taken up 100000 pages. Shipping would be a nightmare!

Anyway, about this book.

It's a good book, great for newbies. I don't know why the other author review mentions that you need to have prior experiance with a programming language. That's rubbish IMO. Sure he mentions Javascript having a simularlity to C/C++/Java, but its not like you gotta learn those languages, its just a mention, thats all.

He explains basics, like what a token is, how if/else/for statements work. You know, basic stuff for a newbie to learn. If you are a programmer already, just skip the first five chapters, and you'll be in the meat of the book about JavaScript, so its just as relevant for experienced programmers too.

Anyhow, once you are finished (and applied the concepts with a mock up webpages) you are no longer a newb. Then move on to that gem which is David Flanagan's Definative Guide. After going through that and applying it, you'll be well on your way to becoming a "good" JavaScript Programmer.

P.S: Becoming actually Good is no mean feat. Take JavaScript seriously folks!

P.P.S: You MUST learn HTML and CSS before reading these books. JavaScript is almost entirely based in the real world on manipulating markup and style sheets. To attempt to learn JavaScript without knowing them properly (I do mean properly) would be a major folly.

Excellent reading material written in a format that kids can relate to. I highly recommend Callie Gregory's "Jeeves, I'm Bored" to individuals with kids interested in adventures on the internet.

Even if you aren't a parent, odds are you have children in your life. How refreshing to find things my nieces and nephew and I can do together on the web besides raid tombs and kill centipedes! I am internet savvy, but have never had any need or time to see what is available for children. I found this guide to be a handy and valuable resource. The best part is, the children and I found things to do that we both enjoyed.

Excellent idea and outstanding presentation. Callie Gregory is right on target with this book! I recommend it to all of us that have kids with curious thoughts about what do do on a rainy day!

As a teacher and a mother, I highly recommend this book. It is an excellent way for kids to have fun while learning at the same time. Great idea by Callie Gregory!

I like the way Ms. Lemay wrote the book, She makes it easy for a beginner like me in VBscript easier to understand the language. It is like one of her Teach Yourself books! I highly recommend this as a good reference!

If you want to learn vbscript quickly (and correctly), pick up this book. Vbscript is rapidly becoming a great scripting language for MS internet web sites. This book gives tons of great examples that actually work when you type it in! And there's several thorough programming references in the appendices

Excellent step by step lessons on using ActiveX and VBscript. This book cleared up alot of questions I had. I just bought this book a week ago (May 1999) and I wish I had bought it a long time ago. Although this book was published in 1997, it is unbelievably useful today!

This book does a very good job of getting you right into ActiveX, and then slowly adds the VBScript. While the examples on the CD are well documented, I couldn't get a few of them to work (SelectedIndex) for one. However, I would recommend this book as both a good reference and usuable tool. Note that you should have a pretty good understanding of HTML. If you don't, you'll have problems, but the CD has an HTML book on it that is easily indexed. It helped me out greatly.