Web Books

Teens and their parents will find Flash Animation For Teens to be a very fine guide to creating animations using Macromedia Flash: Flash 8 is used to teach techniques to create games, web sites, cartoons and more and you don't have to be a computer or Flash expert to use it, either. Parents thus will find it as useful as their teens.

This book is awesome for a beginner or ages 9-100. Don't let the title fool you. It is not just for teens. I do web design work, and I bought the book because of the writing style and examples made it easy for me to teach my 10 year old some Flash basics. NOT for a Flash Professional - it is true - it will take you from zero to beginner, but you can have a lot of fun doodling after you finish the book.
- Laura from Vermont

This is a very good book for anone who has never used flash before. I have used flash before and was expecting some animation tips but this takes you from novice to begginer. I still like all the extra features it tells you that you other wise would have missed , but this book is best for a begginer.

I've reviewed various books for learning Macromedia Flash MX 2004. This is the best. Along with this is "Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash MX 2004". They are both wonderful and each have their own purpose. I started with Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash MX 2004 in 24 Hours and use "...At Your Fingertips..." for an excellent reference guide. I recommend both books.

Review: FLASH MX 2004: At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need

The title of this book: FLASH MX 2004 At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need, really says it all! The book is so well organized and tabbed that the information is truly "at your finger tips". The reader can get in, find exactly what is needed and get out quickly and easily. The problem is that you can never do that with this book! You get in, and in, and in... it's a veritable black hole that sucks you into its instructional depths and keeps you there forever. When your fingers go numb and the book accidentally closes, you realize it's the next day and your brain is about to explode with new and exciting things to try with the program. Well, that may not happen to everyone, but for computer geeks like me, watch yourself! Beginners don't be afraid, you too can be victims! This book is written for every level of user and for both PCs and MACs. The graphics and text couldn't be a better combination unless some how Sham and Jen could transport themselves into your living room to accompany their words and pictures. As applications manuals go, this one's a "keeper"- it keeps you.

FLASH MX 2004: At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need is composed of five sections and a special inset section all about color (which is actually in color!); 1) Flash Workspace, 2) Authoring Tasks, 3) Scripting Tasks, 4) Testing and Publishing Tasks, and 5) What's New. The color section is all about panels, pickers, spaces and video color. Included with this section is a gallery that shows some really interesting examples that will challenge your understanding of design and development (deselopment - a new word for me).

A nice thing about the interface overview section is the contents outline that delineates Windows versus MAC. Right up front you have the information you need as a specific platform user. Being a MAC user, I knew right off which sections I could skip and didn't have to "double read" any of the sections pertaining to Windows users.

Quick tips and cross-references are listed in the outside page margins that give you chapter and section references for more information, alternatives and related activities. Both Windows and MAC keyboard short cuts are listed in the margins as well, saving an incredible amount of time in finding the short cut keystroke as well as referencing the short cuts at a later time.

FLASH MX 2004: At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need is crammed full of screen shots and examples that help the reader understand what is being explained. An unusual, but extremely helpful addition to this book is the little black labels that match the text. These quickly draw the reader's eye to the area of the screen shot or graphic being discussed. There is no confusion and no guessing about what is being demonstrated or shown, or where to find the corresponding item.

I found the scripting section to be extremely helpful. While I am still not crazy about writing script, I did like the authors' explanation of scripted animation versus timeline animation and creating timeline flow with scripts. While all of the scripting components are discussed at length (button, checkbox, combobox, list, loader, numericstepper, progressbar, etc), the authors don't forget to add explanations of basic things like spell checking and creating a custom mouse pointer for the beginning user.

For those who are veteran Flash users, the new v2 components (some of which are listed above) make life in the fast developer lane just a little more efficient. FLASH MX 2004: At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need now has enhanced import options for Adobe PDF and Illustrator files as well as enhanced supports for MP3 meta tags and runtime loading. The de-bugging panel works like a charm and can be manually changed during an SWF run session. The "What's New" Appendix provides a great chart of enhancements and where to find the corresponding information. No long dialogs about new improvements to wade through - just a simple, easy to read chart and a reference to find out more... if you want.

All in all this is a great reference book for FLASH MX 2004. Although the title says "Get In, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need" - be forewarned. You may get in but getting out is a bit harder! And you will get much more than you need.

I absolutely LOVE the new layout in this book. Instead of having to go through pages and pages of explanation to find one specific topic, this Fingertips book is divided into specific topics, with very specific information related to what you are looking for. Using the table of contents, you can easily find what page the tip is on, go to that page, and get the specific you need for that topic. Most tips are on one or two pages. I hope this 'fingertip' idea is used in other application books! Thanks for providing this great reference book!

This is an extremely comprehensive volume that covers all the ground that designers, budding designers and photoshop enthusiasts need to know...The case study even tells you how to create a postcard ready for the printers and how to create your own site using ImageReady. There's stuff on printing, workflow, image correction, filters, as well as the obvious like layers and selection... This book is another winner from friendsofED!

I've had Photoshop for over a year. I've spent most of that time being frustrated with the program. I bought Foundation Photoshop 6 a little over a month ago and am now learning in leaps and bounds. Foundation Photoshop 6 is truly excellent for beginners, providing easily understood instructions, explanations and exercises. With this book, anyone can learn to create amazing graphics. I highly recommend it.

For me as a beginner it was really helpful and covered a big range of topics

Franklin and his friends go out to play and Franklin is told not to go into the woods. His friends play hide and seek and he knows the usual places each of his friends hide, but he believes that the fox is going to try to fool him and go into the woods. So, Franklin forgets what he was told about not going into the woods and he thinks fox is going to trick him and hide in the woods. Not thinking the others would go home without him, Franklin goes into the woods and gets lost. At six o'clock they were all to go home, so the others thought Franklin must have started home, because they knew he was not to go into the woods. They all went home as they were told to do and Franklin was left behind, lost in the woods and it started to get dark. Luckily his parents came and figured out what happened after speaking to all of his friends and found a very frightened Franklin, who went home, ate and went to bed, knowing to follow the rules, and his parents were very happy to have found their son safe but very frightened and alone in the woods.Mrs. Symmington

My preschool daughter loves this book on how Franklin inadvertently gets lost while playing hide and seek. All ends well when Franklin is found by his parents. One cautionary note - the TV show version is different than the book. In the TV show Fox is lost along with Franklin. In the book, Franklin gets lost looking for Fox. My daughter noticed this right away. Regardless, its a very rewarding story.

My daughter just happened to receive this book from a friend for her birthday. It has been her favorite book ever since. She has learned how important it is to listen to her parents even when we say something she may not like to hear. We always have her best interest at heart.

I didn't think there would be anything easier than the "... for Dummies" instructional books. However, this FrontPage 2000 for Visual Learners by Chris Charuhas and all of his Visual Learners series, by far, are he easiest to follow. Every step, even graphically showing you to click the right mouse button, enables even the most challenged computer user to program web pages and designs. The pages have simple one to two lines of written instructional text and mainly graphics to allow users to visually see each step. Definitely a must for anybody learning to develop web pages.

I've been a Information System Director over 35 years with my Masters in Computer Science. Staff size 30 to 140. During this time I've seen and used about every type of manual dealing with computers as one can imaging. Thus far these are the best. Not only are the manuals easy to understand, the people behind this concept are never too busy to take my seemly-mudded questions and reply with a simple to the point answer. Their writing plus the pictures make each manual a winner. I for one thank you for your straight forward approach

This book provides both a great way to learn FrontPage 2000 and a super resource for quick reference. I am a technology educator in a K-8 school with a masters in educational technology. I strongly believe we should not do for children what they can do for themselves so my review has to include a child-centered test. I like to teach them to use reference materials, because what they do from year to year both in school and after will always be slightly different. I want them to grow up knowing how to follow written directions when working with technology. Part of my criteria for purchasing is that books can be used by students. To test the value of this book, I placed it in my classroom library and allowed students in grades 5-8 use it as we worked on web building. I actually used the book to teach a related unit to younger children (3rd grade) about web page construction.
They did a marvelous job! I got exclamations from many children! Although I have several other resources this book quickly became a favorite. This book is definitely a valuable asset in my library. I recommend it to anyone learning or teaching FrontPage to anyone; at home, at school or in the workplace.

The value of the networks to your web connected homes will be awesome for you and your family...IF...you participate (See "Metcalfe's Law" p.187-188). The near future holds great surprises for you and your family...IF...you participate (See "The 57.5 Year Megacycle of Prosperity" p.69). Just wait till the wireless web hits the masses. Yes. We must dream bigger, and buy this book!

It seems especially appropriate to review this book on September 11th. Mr. Feather points out that September 11, 2001 changed the way we will all think about and experience our lives in North America. How will we respond in the future? Although no one can know for sure, Future Living is a helpful inspiration to look for the opportunities to improve the world for everyone.

When the stock market bubble burst in 2000, many people assumed that the aggressive forecasts for the on-line world also burst. Some did, but the on-line world is still developing rapidly . . . adding new possibilities and changing behaviors.

The book begins with a look at major forces that are affecting us, "G-Forces" in the book's nomenclature. These are social forces (increasing aspirations for the top part of Maslow's hierarchy), technological innovation (especially microchips, software and the Web), economic modernization (the effects of long-term economic cycles are about to turn positive), and political reformation (democracy reasserts itself against special interests).

Trending those thoughts into the future, Mr. Feather describes a world that has most of the good qualities of both the Agricultural and the Industrial eras with relatively few of the drawbacks. See the comparison on page 21.

The core thought is that your world will become home- and cyber-based at the same time. People will telecommute rather than physically commute, shop on-line and have most things delivered, bank on-line and manage their money there, use the Web for at-home learning (replacing even school), take more responsibility for one's own health and health care, use the Web for more forms of entertainment, increase spirituality through on-line activities including on-line congregations, vote on-line and start e-businesses based at home.

I found the speculations about changing democracy to contain the most interesting ideas. Most of the other forecasts have already happened to a large degree with one member or another of our family.

I was also very interested in his thoughts on economic cycles. I hadn't heard anyone say much about Kondratieff Waves and Juglar Cycles in years. Mr. Feather's analysis (summarized on a stylized graph on page 69) is most interesting, and seems to suggest that the best days are ahead (at least though around 2020).

Although no one can be sure until it happens, I think that Mr. Feather is more right than wrong in his forecasts. We have yet to see the full benefit from the Web and advances in microchips. We will inevitably start to gain disproportionate benefits as time passes and people become more accustomed to the possibilities.

The only major conclusion that I disagreed with was that most people would be better off setting up a multi-level marketing business than trying some other form of start-up. If you run the economics of having everyone do MLM, you quickly see that there will be little long-term gain. I think that local services for the elderly or Web-based information services based on proprietary survey data would be better bets.

I was especially drawn to the notion that we now have the potential to spend more time with our families, expend less energy in nonproductive ways, and devote ourselves to more meaningful lives. That potential is certainly there, but we have to grasp it . . . or it will not happen.

If you still commute a long distance to work, hopefully this book will get you to rethink that choice.

Future Living will be most appealing to those who are relatively unfamiliar with using the Web, especially older people. For teens, the reaction to reading this book might be . . . "so what's new about that?"

After you finish this book, spend some time thinking about how you could make more time available for your family and yourself. Then discuss with your family how they would like to spend any additional time you can make available with them. Then this book will have had a great payoff for you and those you love!

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Frank Feather is a to-the-point business futurist who marshalls an extraordinary amount of evidence on future trends but presents it in common-sense terms and in few words. This book is only 200 pages but it is jam-packed with valuable info for citizens, businesspeople and policymakers alike.
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Feather presents a big-picture view of the impact of the Internet on North American life and society. Nine entertaining chapters then spell out the implications on how a critical mass of North Americans will soon live a Web Lifestyle. These 9 chapters are as follows:
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Chapter 1. Telecommute: Escape the Skyscraper
Chapter 2. Shop Online: Have it Delivered
Chapter 3. Bank Online: e-Manage Your Money
Chapter 4. School @ Home: e-Learn a Living
Chapter 5. Self-Doctor: Heal Thyself @ Home
Chapter 6. Digitize Your Fun; Download It
Chapter 7. Cyber Worship: Congregate Online
Chapter 8. Vote Online: Click the Rascals Out
Chapter 9. Build e-Wealth: Start an e-Business
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This is no pie-in-the-sky futurism but facts about what many people are doing right now. Feather does not argue that everybody will be doing all these things all of the time. But that (as Bill Gates argues) the majority of people will be doing some of these things at least some of the time to live a Web Lifestyle by later in this decade -- what Gates calls the Digital Decade.
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The implications are profound for consumer businesses because the Web Lifestyle is radically altering the way in which products are made, marketed and distributed. (Amazon.com is a prime example.) The Web Life also will require changes in many laws about telecommuting and home-based businesses. And for families caught up in harried lives, the Web Life offers an exciting future that frees up a remarkable amount of time, saves money, and even can help families make money by starting their own online business. Indeed, Feather predicts that, with 630 million people worldwide already online and starting to shop online, most future economic growth will come from family-owned enterprises rather than large corporations.
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These and other forecasts are well argued, backed up with solid facts and, whether you agree with them all or not, are bound to provoke your thinking. As for me, I'm getting a Web Life. And this book is going to be my roadmap. I rate FUTURE LIVING highly. I think you will too.

I started using Groove and it is a great piece of software.

Get in the Groove: Building Tools and Peer-to-Peer Solutions with the Groove Platform is a great book as the Groove documentation, while excellent, lacks a lot.

To many people, p2p software and networks are synonymous with unauthorised copying of music or video. Hence all the to-do about Kazaa, Gnutella and BitTorrent. But along comes Stanhope with his explanation of what you can do with Groove, to put a different spin on matters.

He shows how you can use Groove as a framework for ad hoc groupware, for a set of users scattered over the Internet. Prior to the Web, the concept of groupware certainly existed in the 1980s. Groove is a natural extension of those ideas. Plus others that have also proved fruitful. Like using XML to encode configuration settings. And Groove supports several programming languages, like C++, Visual Basic and C#. Alas, no Java at this point.

The book can be intense. The author assumes you are already experienced in one of those languages. He dives in quickly into the gritty details of coding. Which is probably what you need.

Stanhope deserves credit for helping show that p2p can be used for valid and serious purposes.

Packed with very useful information and examples for the developer. It hits the ground running - just pure code that gets you up & developing in no time. Lucid text, content & layout, tips & cautions, tools and sample code on CD-ROM - a great way to start developing for the Groove platform. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel to this book - developing for Groove with C#/.Net ;)

This book has proven quite useful to me as I'm trying to more and more take advantage of the free offerings that Google has. Google Apps, as they're currently known, are still in their development stage, but have a lot promise for moving your digital life on-line. This book has excellent tips on how to make the most of these apps. It is well organized (by app) and rates the "hacks" by difficulty/involvement. They're not hacks really, but rather unique ways to take advantage of using Google Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, Gmail and more. It is appropriate for the beginner to the moderate user, introducing CSS techniques and Greasemonkey (in some of the more useful tips.
All in all, well worth the money if you want all the information about using Google apps at your fingertips.

The title "Google Apps Hacks" is slightly misleading because this book covers so much more than the so-titled Google Apps suite: Google Docs, Gmail, Google Sites, Google Calendar, and Google Talk.

Phillip Lennssen covers a TON of Google applications: from Picasa, to Sketchup, to Maps, to Analytics.

I've been reading his blog for awhile: blogoscoped.com and always appreciated his insights into the industry.

The hacks covered in the book range from beginner to advanced, and one of my favorites is unicode characters in your email signature. It adds an extra flair and is delightfully.

If you use Gmail, or any other Google applications, this book is for you.

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Sometimes I wonder how Microsoft can presume to compete with Google in the Web world. So much depends on search nowadays -- the Internet is one big store of valuable information. Yet I have to use an unsupported freeware utility to search my little Windows XP hard drive because the search feature that comes with the operating system is so slow and inflexible.

**Google Apps Hacks** introduced me to a Google universe that was even bigger than I had expected. I expected --and got-- lots of material on plugging into Google maps (lots of people are taking advantage of the possibilities here) and lots of tips on using GMail, gadgets, calendars and news feeds.

The biggest surprises for me were contained in the chapters on Google Docs. Part of the material was basic "how-to" and "did you know that..." information to help get acquainted with the features of Google word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software. In fact, it appears that this book itself was collaboratively composed by Philipp Lenssen along with O'Reilly staff with Google Docs.

I was most impressed by how easy and flexible the spreadsheet application is to use. The author provides a pile of tricks and tips useful for both the ordinary user and the programmer.

This book should attract programmers (and other Web citizens) who want to investigate and test drive the latest cool things that many people are having fun with -- and a bunch more are making money from.
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Even though this book is supposedly out of print, you can still order a copy of it from the people who made it. Just email hackersguide@mods.com tell them that you want to order a copy of hacker's guide to navigator.

This book has a rare combination of clear, readable text combined with all the technical information you are looking for! Dan Cradler obviously knows his subject - there are wonderful Netscape 'tricks' throughout the book I haven't found elsewhere. I highly recommend it!

This book has something for every level of Netscape user. Tips and tricks, shortcuts and a good section on how Internet security works (for all you people out there afraid to use your credit card on the web). Reading this book has definitely enhanced my surfing experience.

I bought this book about 4 years ago, and still find myself going back to it again and again for reference. To this day its the only technical book that I have read cover to cover. While I have not yet checked out the 2.0 book for web apps, I still feel you can't go wrong adding this book to your arsenal.

this book is quite complete, very utile to learn all about security on web applications.

I recently received copies of Hacking Exposed: Web Applications, 2nd Ed (HE:WA2E) by Joel Scambray, Mike Shema, and Caleb Sima, and Professional Pen Testing for Web Applications (PPTFWA) by Andres Andreu. I read HE:WA2E first, then PPTFWA. Both are excellent books, but I expect potential readers want to know which is best for them. I could honestly recommend readers buy either (or both) books. Most people should start by reading HE:WA2E, and then fill in gaps by reading PPTFWA.

Before proceeding I should note I used to work with the two ex-Foundstone authors of HE:WA2E, although I haven't been afraid in the past to review books honestly.

I read and reviewed the first edition of HE:WA about four years ago, and I rated that book five stars. Authors like Scambray and Shema exemplify the best aspects of the HE series: explaining technology, then showing how to exploit it. Frequently the first time security people hear about new applications is when they are being attacked. By digesting books in the core HE series, readers become familiar with the latest services, their flaws, and attacks against those technologies. HE:WA2E continues this tradition.

I was pleased to see HE:WA2E is largely a thorough reworking of the first edition. (This has not always been the case with HE books, considering there are five editions.) In one case, however, this worked against the authors. Ch 8 (Attacking XML Web Services) references non-existent material in Ch 1. Ch 1 in HE:WA2E is completely different from Ch 1 in the first edition, which contains the referenced diagram. A positive aspect of the rewrite is the frequent reference to outside material, instead of repeating techniques and tools already published. Combined with the extensive chapter-ending references list, this makes for a book packed with value. Note that the second edition still offers 520 pp, vastly exceeding the 386 pp of the first.

HE:WA2E is very consulting-oriented, which delivers some excellent real-world experience. For example, Ch 2 (Profiling) explains how to identify and deal with load balancers and web application firewalls. This seems to contrast with PPTFWA which says, for "IDS/IPS Systems," "[m]ake sure your client disables these." I thought HE:WA2E took a more realistic approach to this problem.

HE:WA2E's major weakness is its coverage of Web Services. PPTFWA does a better job addressing this important area. In fact, HE:WA2E's Web Services coverage seems fairly similar to the first edition's material. PPTFWA also includes a larger variety of attacks and tools, albeit in a manner not as organized as HE:WA2E. Ch 12 of HE:WA2E would be conceptually stronger if so-called "threat trees" were called "attack trees," as originally developed by Bruce Schneier in 1999. Furthermore, the list of "threats" on pp 404-5 are mostly vulnerabilities. The figures of Ollydbg in Ch 12 are also too small.

Despite these issues, I think HE:WA2E is the best general-purpose Web application security book available. I would definitely add it to your HE library. In other words, if you have HE:5E, you still need HE:WA2E. If you have the first edition of HE:WA, it's time for an update. After reading HE:WA2E, read PPTFWA. Perhaps both sets of authors could collaborate on a comprehensive Web app attack, defend, and test virtual machine, building on the one Andres Andreu built?