Web Books

I nearly wept with joy when I read this book. It contains clear guidance to stuff I've been trying to get InDesign CS3 to do for months. They make it look easy - and it is with this book - but if I hadn't tried on my own for so long I wouldn't have appreciated how useful this book is. I would have paid $500 for this and would have considered it a bargain, let along $33.

Despite being an Adobe Certified Instructor in InDesign, I never really understood working with XML until I read this book. Maivald and Palmer have taken an otherwise mysterious language and made it clear and understandable for anyone. This book has no peer and is a must for those interested in harnessing the power of XML.

I recommend this book for any classroom. Web, hybrid, or traditional can all benfit from this approach.

Anyone thinking of starting an online course or already maintaining one will find this book quite useful. The background information provided for the teacher is complete and detailed. The activities recommended are quality assignments. I will be sure to use this book often as a supplement to my online curriculum! Found lots of insightful reviews before purchasing here on the publisher's site .......

When I came across this book on the O'Reilly website I was immediately interested, as web applications are becoming more and more prevalent. And other than thinking it covered methods of securing web applications I had no preconceived assumptions. My main aspiration for this book was to give me better awareness of security in the area of web applications and to provide me with some tools. After having read this book I can say that it has done both.

Each of the chapters in this book seem to follow a pattern of first defining the topic, second giving real world examples, and finally providing the reader with solutions. The book begins by providing a history of the hacking methodology and defining the various types of hacking. It was interesting to learn about some of the various hacks and hackers. For example, I had no idea Steve Jobs (Apple Computers) used to be a hacker.

In chapter two the author discusses what he calls a "Code Grinder", and how to not become or produce a code grinder. A code grinder is someone who works in a highly regulated environment where creativity is discouraged. I found it interesting that a code grinder environment typically produces more unsecure code then an environment that is open and promotes creativity.

Chapter three discusses the risks associated with mobile code. Chapter four covers vulnerable CGI scripts and introduces the reader to some tools such as Nikto and Web Hack Control Center to scan your website to find vulnerabilities. The author goes on to discuss the issues faced by the various CGI scripting languages, and then provides an outline of rules to writing secure CGI scripts.

Chapter five covers hacking techniques and tools. This section gets you into the mind of a hacker, what are their goals, how are those goals achieved and what tools do they use. In chapter six the topic is "Code Auditing and Reverse Engineering." This chapter I found exceptionally interesting and helpful. The author takes you through various types of vulnerabilities and with each weakness explains how it affects each of the more popular programming/scripting languages. And to take it a step further the author also provides the reader with the functions/methods for each programming/scripting language that are vulnerable to attack and then explains either how to use those functions securely or gives an alternative function/method that is more secure.

Chapters seven through ten cover securing code in specific languages; Java, XML, ActiveX, and ColdFusion. Chapter eleven discusses developing security enabled applications using such technologies as PGP, SSL, and PKI. Finally in chapter twelve the author wraps up the book by taking the reader through creating and working with a security plan.

CONCLUSION
--
I found this book to be interesting and a good read. I plan to make use of some of the tools it introduced in hardening applications I work with and develop. And as I mentioned before, the chapter on code auditing will be extremely useful to me in cleaning up existing apps and developing new ones. I liked this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is writing code.

With the increasing number of incidents of crime that is occurring on the world wide web it behooves every programmer to become fluent in all aspects of information security. This book provides a great overview of the various methods a hacker uses to penetrate various forms of web architectures. The author's goals it seems was to cover a broad subject by touching on all important aspects of securing a website.

Throughout the book a hacker mindset is presented and how to design your website to overcome the tools and tricks of the hacker. For instance in many of the chapters the manner of attack that a hacker would use to exploit a piece of technology is covered. Overall I believe this book to be a good introduction to the field of securing websites. Since security in of itself is such a broad subject and the Internet is also a broad subject it is unfair to expect one book to cover all aspects of a complex and dynamic environment

Every thing was done professionally, I am complete satisfied with the service I recieved.

This book was written as a college-level text. It also targets IT professionals who need to quickly understand the differences between e-commerce applications and traditional information systems as a secondary audience.

As a college-level text this book is one of the few that will prepare students for the real world. The scope of topics, level of detail, and carefully chosen case studies are impressive because they capture the key knowledge areas and issues that working professionals deal with.

As a refresher for working professionals who need to understand the big picture and intermediate details associated with e-commerce applications this book's wide coverage of topics makes it ideal. While students will need to work through the entire book, an IT professional can choose the topic areas selectively. For example, the chapter on E-commerce applications that covers supply chain management, e-tialing and auction sites will have more appeal to a working professional, while the chapters on programming will probably capture a student's interest.

Additional features that will be of interest to each audience include:

- Students and Instructors: (1) CD ROM that comes with the book contains exercises, source code, and additional study material, (2) a companion web site that provides 296 PowerPoint slides that augment the course, and (3) links to over 750 web sites that reinforce the lessons.

- Working professionals: the CD ROM that comes with the book contains the full text of the book, which will allow searching for any topic or keyword. This is an excellent research resource, that is all the more valuable since the book is up-to-date and covers current technologies (Java, relational databases, XML, etc.), as well as important business issues.

Unfortunatly I arrived at Virginia Commonwealth University's graphic design program after Phil Meggs had passed away. His legacy still lives on. Rob Carter on the other hand has been my professor. He is a great man who pushes his students into experimenting and becoming comfortable with their own styles of design. He is by no means a "stuffy" guy. I have some of their books and I don't have one problem with them at all.

By the way, this book is a good one!

The Digital Designer is a quality publication , plus it covers enough ground to be useful in all of the classes we teach, so students going through the program will probably keep it and use it in several classes.

Your text is written in a friendly, accessible tone, and is a relief from some of the stuffy "Design is the Center of the Universe" books out there. As an example stuffy books are anything by Stephen Heller, Phil Meggs, or Rob Carter.

Their books are really good, of course, but frankly too focused on defining design as an official profession. Their books to me always seem like they are stiffly trying to define design as a formal, codified, yet creative event.

You seem to have achieved that friendly informative tone with ease. Kudos to you on your well resolved text. Frankly, this book is more useful to our program than any Rob Carter book, because of its accessibility.

Practical. comprehensive,philosophical guide for any web user. This book is extensively annotated and illustrated - Deft and witty, it is a boon to academics and the rest of us in understanding the revolution to the way we think about framing our world, it's past and present and preserving it in digital form accurately efficiently and cheaply.

A remarkable mix of history and "xml", presented with a readable and often amusing text. The "screenshot" examples were very helpful.

"Discover the Internet" is the simplest, least expensive way to learn about exploring the Internet, this book teaches readers not only the most enjoyable places to visit in cyberspace, but also the most important functions the Net can serve. This book has lots of useable information and I would recommend it to anyone using the Internet. This guide is both fun to read and lists many useful sights and places to go. You will learn how to navigate the web, join in chats, visit you ancestors, and zillions of cyberspace information and activities. This is a great place to start.

What is it about blogging that inspires millions to commit their feelings to a public place? The author of Dispatches from Blogistan : A Travel Guide for the Modern Blogger is a technology journalist and media pioneer who here surveys the culture of blogs, reviews its tools and design features, and considers related issues of privacy, trust, and safeguards on the Net. While it's a cultural and social overview, it also provides novice bloggers with plenty of facts about the online self-publishing revolution - and the hot topic will prove popular not only for computer libraries, but for general-interest holdings and college collections interested in the culture of the Internet.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is a shortened copy of a review that I wrote for TidBITS [....]

In today's world of profit-pumping book publishing, a blog-related title is easy - the technology is simple enough to explain without much research or tech-writing talent and the buzz factor should make the book easy to market. Suzanne, however, pleased and surprised me by taking the text far beyond a get-rich-quick effort seen in other blogging titles. She includes historical context and piles of advice, and dishes it out with an appealing writing style intermixed with interviews and quotes from Internet denizens such as Cory Doctorow and Laura Lemay.

My favorite part of the book is the section covering topics like why an RSS newsreader is cool, and what the deal is with tags, tag clouds, blog search engines, [...] trackback links, permalinks, Flickr, and other jargon that savvy Internet users fling around widely but rarely explain with any sort of satisfying depth. I read this section with avid interest, since I hadn't previously understood how it all fit together.

Suzanne's prose is personal and witty, and I expect to keep this book on my shelf as a reference for a few years and perhaps as a memento of an era after that.

I basically just jumped into Dreamweaver 4 with no prior experience aside from a basic HTML program. I needed a book that I'd be able to understand and have enough visual reference so I know exactly what I was supposed to be clicking on. Originally, I had bought "Teach Yourself Visually: Dreamweaver 4 and Flash 5". I was extremely dissappointed in what it offered, so I returned it for "Complete Reference: Dreamweaver 4". It completely made up for the hassle of the first book return. It's easy to understand and easy to navigate through. I even found something specific by looking in the Table of Contents instead of the index. It also contains just enough pictures to be helpful instead of being an annoyance. I highly recommend this book, even if you're just beginning to learn Dreamweaver 4.

This book is an incredible resource for the Dreamweaver 4 user. I am pretty much a novice, with limited Dreamweaver experience thus far. I find Ms. Kettell very clear and logical as she presents the Dreamweaver 4 program features--from the basics to the more complex functions. The illustrations are excellent, and the color illustrations included are a welcome sight. There are also instructions on how Fireworks and Flash work with Dreamweaver 4. I highly recommend this book--in my opinion, it is the only Dreamweaver 4 book you will need as a reference.

This book is very easy to read, has lots of info on common troubleshooting problems in Dreamweaver. It can be also a reference book on how to install Apache, mySql on your PC if you didn't know how to install them.

Now that MX2004's come out, there's another swathe of massive books, each with the same tired old 300 pages explaining the menus, the panels, what is a computer, how the web works etc etc. If you're not a newbie - if you know your way roudn the products, but you still need a bit of advice on CSS or sone server behavior wierdness, this is a cool book. The authors genuinely know their stuff. I first "met" Gareth and rachel on DMXzone.com where they write power-user tutorials, and this book translates that idea well into print. It's saved me a lot of hours chasing bugs.