Digital Books

This book was extremely useful in helping me clean up many old family photos, some more than one hundred years old. The instructions were clear and I was able to do a good job (with practice) of restoration without fear of doing further damage to the originals. Thank you Laurie Ann Ulrich!

I am reasonably new to the world of digital photography and restoration of old photos, and have been searching for "the" book that will guide me as to the best way to approach certain situations in restoring my old photos. I found exactly what I was looking for in this book. This book is not about Photoshop Elements generally, but specifically addresses the restoration and retouching of photographs. It is the perfect resource that I have been searching for.

I have been retouching photos for awhile now and recently bought this book just to check it out. I found myself not being able to put it down. From beginning to end Laurie has done an oustanding job presenting each step in simple easy to understand steps. I dont think anybody will be dissappointed buying this book.

I usually search the web and ask friends for help when I have to learn software, but the cover of this book made me want to check it out, and I'm glad I did. This is a great book!!! Laurie Ulrich really knows about retouching and restoring photos and you can tell she really cares about her readers and has a feel for the kind of stuff people want to do with their family photos, old pictures, and so on. The book is fun to read and is written in a very easy friendly and readable style. She doesn't talk down to you and she doesn't make a lot of jokes (like in a Dummies or Idiots book) to make her point. The author respects her readers and what they want to accomplish and I recommend this book to anyone who wants to really learn Photoshop Elements and start making use of all those photos you have lying around or the really damaged ones you thought would never be useable again. GET THIS BOOK!

This is my third book by Laurie Ulrich on Photoshop and Elements, and it's great. I got the Elements Bible, and had her Complete Reference on Photoshop, and they're both great. This author is GREAT at explaining things, and gives really realistic examples that make sense. I wrote to her with a restoration question after I got the Bible, and she not only answered the question, but she retouched the photo I sent her and told me how she did it. That made me want this book so Icould do what she did without help, and it's been a great investment. GET THIS BOOK!

I paid for overnight shipping and did not recieve the product for 3-4 days. The product was in great condition though. Very pleased with the book itself, just not my waste of money on shipping!

A very highly recommended instruction guide and reference work for filmmaking students and aspiring filmmakers, Practical DV Filmmaking by Russel Evans (Film, Video and Multimedia Lecturer, internet broadcasting advisor and freelance writer on video production) is an informed and informative guide to minimal-budget film making, including all of the diverse "tricks of the trade" involved in the production a marketable film. Enhanced with an accompanying CD, Practical DV Filmmaking is sure to enable even the most novice filmmaker to attain a mastery of the filmmaking process for the low-budget end of the entertainment or documentary market.

The book itself is excellent and answered most of my questions. The depth of the book is in the supporting material. So many internet links to great content can take you months to read if you wanted to spend the time. Very intelligent in the layout. It gives you exercises to complete before you go to the next step and the exercises are designed to get you to know yourself as film maker and to get to know your equipment and tools (ie limitations). This book goes a long way in helping you realize yourself as a DV film maker.

This book is just filled with great advice for newcomers to video/film making.

It fully meet my needs as a starting point to clearly layout basics that one needs to take into consideration not start out blind, it really saves you time by focusing on the esential quickly.

It also helps by defining many concepts one perceptivelly understands or thinks one does.

I have bought several of the cinematography/videography books on top of the "must have" lists and by far, this is the one I can hardly stop reading.

Highly recomended, go for it, you will not regret it.

The CD included is of very little value, trial versions of software and transcripts in Word format instead of a nice multimedia just sucks.

Next time Mr Evans, have your editors work harder if they want to "include" something.

Include printable forms like storyboards and frames with the thirds rule and alike with real practical value for begginers.

Maybe spreadsheets with basic calculations...be creative, the files included are very boring, more so after going through such an entertaining and educational book.

This book is fantastic. Evans outlines everything from the direction that audio waves are received depending on which external mic is used, to the compression rate for web movies. The book is incredibly up to date, as it should be considering it just came out. The set up of the book is very much like the 'for dummies' series, considering that there are projects along the way for you to undertake to sharpen your skills, along with info and ww link boxes. Most other books out there just outline what you need to do but don't tell you how to do things. This book really tells you what is going on when your making a film, and just doesn't say, if you do this then the picture will look pretty. He gets technical, and that's what needs to be said to give people getting into this a better understanding of what they are doing . He starts off with a great intro, for those who are just getting into digital filmmaking it really outlines what needs to be done to succeed. He identifies each technical aspect that he is going to cover, and then goes on to explain how you need to get to know your camera. Its obvious that a ton of research has been put into this book, as it really tells you everything you could possibly need to know. If you buy this book first then there really is no need for any other book out there. I've read this book cover to cover 1 time so far, and plan on reading it 2 more times.

Nancy Cott's Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation seeks to illuminate marriage as government control of the population politically and socially by the U.S. government purposely regulating marriage with legal measures. Cott further depicts how gender and race were discriminated against by the Christian monogamous based institution of marriage in the United States. Cott's intention in this book was two fold. Firstly, to highlight how the concerted efforts by the U.S. government to promote Christian monogamous marriage and discourage other forms of marriage had a significant impact especially on gender roles in society in which all forms of public and private lives of men and women were affected. Secondly, the institution of marriage had a strong hand in creating the definitions of gender itself.

Cott asserts that the institution of marriage that has been promoted by the government shapes human identity in both public and private spheres and strongly influences gender roles within society and that these pieces of information are integral to understanding society as a whole. Cott sets out to accomplish proving her assertions by giving a systematic historical account of marriage from the beginning of the United States until present day. Cott discusses at great length, legal measures that supported monogamous marriage and discouraged other forms of human union throughout United States history. Cott also discussed in great length the changing economic positions of men and women through the history of marriage. Cott definitely demonstrated that Federal, State, and Local authorities whether the legislative or judicial had a strong role in shaping and charting the direction of marriage in the United States on a course of Christian, monogamous marriage. Cott in turn analyzes the results of government intervention in the institution of marriage and how it related to men, women, and minorities. As the reader of Public Vows there is not a dispute that this is a correct interpretation of monogamous marriage as a government promoted institution and it had differing effects on men, women, and minorities. If this book was written and published in the 1950's for example, it would have been shocking new information, however, since this book was published in 2002 the information that marriage is bound within a legal institution with civil benefits attached that benefit those married is now ordinary information that most know, or at least most who have been married know. The question for this reader was what kind of new information does this provide?

The answer is none because after hearing her explanation of the origins of her idea for this book in the seminar I attended, it was clear Cott's goal was not to provide new information nor were the goals of the book solely the ones mentioned in the book. Firstly, Cott mentioned that the inspirational idea came from her observation while standing in line to purchase a ticket at a movie theater. She noticed that people pair up as male and female couples and she wondered why this was so. Secondly, her association with a colleague that works for a civil rights organization for gay and lesbians wanted her input and expertise to help justify their cause for gay and lesbian marriage. Cott's intention was to illuminate the idea of marriage as an institution that provides legal and civil benefits for the individuals that are married. Cott's true goal was to provide tangible written evidence for what people in the 21st century already know which marriage is a heavily legal institution that provides civil benefits to those that are married. This assertion subtly implies that all couples should be able to enjoy the civil and legal benefits marriage provides. Cott provided evidence for the true goal of this book with her own words in the seminar.

Two pieces of evidence from her own explanation of why she wrote this book points to the fact her intention was not to provide new information, but to lend credibility to the idea of marriage as civil institution to hopefully benefit couples who are currently not allowed to enjoy the civil liberties marriage provides. Firstly, Cott hinted to the fact this was common knowledge in the 21st century because of her surprise at the reaction of the people who listened to her testimony in Vermont about marriage as a civil legal government institution. According to Cott, the people listening to her testimony were taken aback at the thought of marriage having more to do with civil liberties than a religious and spiritual bond between two people. Secondly, Cott mentioned that these individuals were from the small state of Vermont and implied these people were not in tune with modern thinking on marriage. The mere fact that Cott recognized these people listening to her testimony on marriage were not representative of main stream thought on marriage by people in the United States in the 21st century provides evidence that she knew she was not providing new information, but only taking a common cultural idea that marriage is a legal institution and illuminating it for those few who are not in the know already.

After listening to Nancy Cott in the seminar it is clear that the book was written with the main intention to take an intangible idea floating around in the cultural consciousness and transforming it into a tangible idea in the printed word to ultimately serve a cause. Cataloging an intangible idea in black and white on the pages of a book inevitably gives any idea more credibility. Nancy Cott''s goal was to lend credibility to the idea of marriage as a legal and civil institution which hopefully in the long run would prove that gays and lesbians should have the right to marry and enjoy the legal and civil benefits marriage provides individuals.

Although the institution of "marriage" among humans is generally considered to be thousands of years old, it has a much shorter history as a public insitution in the United States. Nancy Cott's book dives straight into the history of marriage in the U.S., from early societal attitudes and government regulation during the push westward to later government attempts to reign in those with differing sexual mores throughout the 18th century. Her discusison of the state of marriage in the 20th century is equally revealing.

Nancy weaves a tale with many facts that few people are probably aware of: that marriage was frequently unregulated in early America, that divorce was relatively common (but frowned upon), and that religious and utopian communities were challenging the status quo of marriage and state control of the institution from very early on in our nation's history. She makes the best case I've ever heard for proving that marriage is a public institution subject to the will of the state and men in power, transformed and changed over decades by government, often for purposes of exercising control over the population (especially women) and for imposing on the nation the perceived natural order of things.

Marriage may be ancient in origin, but Nancy Cott does an excellent job in the end of showing that "marriage" in the U.S. did not simply grow organically from these ancient traditions, and that government is capable of altering the institution for its own purposes as it sees fit, regardless of what might truly best for society or the individuals in it. While Cott does not explore the impact of her findings on same-sex marriage in great detail, it is very enlightening to understand that debate in light of the changes in marital law over the past 200 years that Cott cleverly elucidates for the reader. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand the evolution of the institution of civil marriage in the United States.

Just shy of 300 pages and 9 Chapters that cover An Archaeology of American Monogamy; Perfecting Community Rules with State Laws; Domestic Relations on the National Agenda; Toward a Single Standard; Monogamy as the Law of Social Life; Consent, the American way; The Modern Architecture of Marriage; Public Sanctity for a Private Realm; and Marriage Revised and Revived.

As the author notes Mae West had the best quote about marriage when she said "Marriage is a great institution ... but I ain't ready for an institution yet". But it is the rich historical facts she shares that provide great insight into the deep misogynist roots of marriage and how it was usually and in some cases still is a contract a man has with a woman. This is why I have always seen marriage as nothing more that legalized prostitution and a protection of material wealth.

The author shows how Protestants and to some degree Catholics have decreed what marriage should be as well as how strong men and women have risen up over the decades and even centuries to denounce attempts to regulate whom they could have sex with and attempts to require that people marry to have sex, own property in common.

The books discusses Americas racist and sexist history with marriage and how some politicians were as eugenic minded as well. And how the rich were and have always been given the slight nudge and wink to do damn well what they want which included having lovers. The hypocrisy of American marriage laws.

A detailed history of how legal, lifelong, heterosexual monogamous marriage has been actively promoted, mandated, and enforced by various means throughout the history of the USA, with little or no tolerance for those who espouse nontraditonal relationship forms. Well researched and well written. Highly recommended.

This book doesn't say anything that most don't already know, that marriage is a form of public institution. The goodness of this book comes from that fact that most people can't really explain exactly how or why marriage is a public institution, and if they can their arguments are short and unsupported. Cott gives us tons of strong evidence and supports her arguments with alot of outside sources, so that the reader can get a real understanding. Of course with all books, there is some bias on the part of the author, but the reader doesn't have to agree with Cott in order to get something out of this book.

I am a cousin 4th removed from Janet. She came from Cape Town and I from Johanneburg South Africa. We barely knew each other at the time. However, on the rare occasions that I vacationed in Cape Town I saw her briefly and was told that she was very bright, much to the chagrin of her Aunt whose daughter was regarded as the buxom blonde bombshell, with zero brainpower. When reading Janet's story I was most impressed by her wonderful descriptive powers, her accuracy and her sharp retentive memory. I can highly recommend reading this snippet of her life.

You just know when you've latched onto a memoir that's bigger than life and transcends all others. That's because this comes through not just for its astonishing content, but because the style reflects oh, so much knowledge, wisdom and poetry. Hollywood, eat your heart out. This is the real deal.

Amazing, poignant, sadly believable but most of all ...real.
I can't wait to get my hands on the finished work.

This is a wonderful beginning to what looks like a rich and intriguing memoir. I note that at least one other reader didn't understand it was the first chapter of a book - but thougt it would make a good one. I, for one, will be waiting eagerly for forthcoming chapters.

EK

Sometimes you can find the same levels of magic in autobiographical works as you can in fiction, but empowered by reality in ways that make-believe can't achieve. River of Stones is a wonderful slice of a rich, full life, and if it's any indicator of things to come, the beginning of a truly amazing book.

One doesn't need a telegram to be reminded how terrible human beings can be. However, one needs writing as fine as Joyce Faulkner's and her visit to Auschwitz to let us truly see from a new angle what we must never forget. This piece brings sights, sounds, smells, and memories into the electric bursts of your synapse. I feel I just accompanied her to Poland. This slice of life, a shaving for a slide mount, reveals so much. You must read it. A companion piece to this is "How Ordinary People Can Perform Unthinkable Acts" by Allyn Evans (http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-People-Perform-Unthinkable-Acts/dp/B000PAU32U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200947204&sr=1-1), which goes into the psychology of what brought us Auschwitz in the first place. With both pieces, I'm reminded why some people write. It's important.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." In Dante's Inferno these words are part of a poem inscribed over the gates of Hell. We can all imagine Hell, but few of us have visited it and returned to tell the tale. Powerful, wonderful, and horrible, "Rosa" is the story of the author's visit to the hell that was Auschwitz. It is a reminder of the absolute evil that humans can inflict on each other so arbitrarily and irrationally that a lovely young girl named Rosa would lose her hopes, her dreams, and her life for no other reason than that she was Jewish.

At the start of the essay, Faulkner said that she couldn't understand what drew her to Poland and Auschwitz as she is neither Jewish nor Polish nor German. Perhaps she was drawn there to tell Rosa's story, to be Rosa's voice speaking out against a horror that none of us should ever forget.

Humans haven't changed that much since Auschwitz. We still commit genocide against others we hold different and inferior, as in Bosnia and the Sudan. We still kidnap and sell other humans into slavery. We have not changed yet. Hopefully if we continue to read stories like "Rosa", we will.

Anyone who has visited a Nazi concentration or death camp will relate to Joyce Faulkner's superb essay, "Rosa." I have not visited Auschwitz, but I've visited others and the detailed description that Faulkner gives us sums it up. It may be the next best thing to visiting one. It is told precisely and well.

I am projecting your next question. Why would anyone want to? Go there. Or subject oneself to reading about it. And here's the thing. Faulkner addresses this in "Rosa" but you may need to know it in order to read it. For those who can't see, should at least read.

This is the thing. One doesn't expect it, but the most valuable thing you'll carry away from visiting a death camp--or an essay like "Rosa"--is a sense of the vitality of the human spirit. Not the smell of deadly gasses, real or imagined, but the indominatbale will of the people who were there and died, were alive until they died. Their luggage. Their photos. Their ribbons. Some of it gruesome reminders, certainly.

But it does depend on how you look it.
---
The reviewer is a poet and novelist who explores the corrosive quality of intolerance in her writing and keeps a page on her website with resources for exploring the connection between bigotry and evil, including war.

Joyce Faulkner has given us an intense, compelling story about her visit to Auschwitz and Rosa, a young girl who died there. Not so long ago, and not so far away were these atrocities; these unspeakable evils, visited upon the innocents.

Faulkner takes us with her to Poland on a tour of this place of horror in a rather hushed, descriptive manner. I was very touched.

I highly recommend "Rosa" because...we must never forget.

After reading Joyce's book: "In the Shadow of Suribachi", I will always be interested in her work. Thanks, Joyce, for sharing Rosa with us.

Teach Yourself Acid 3.0 is an excellent resource. Although Acid comes with a manual on PDF, everybody knows that switching between your software and Adobe Acrobat Reader is tedious and a strain on the eyes--which in turn means that you probably won't learn all about Acid's possibilities. With TYA 3.0, you can have the book open while you work with Acid (this alone vastly improves your learning curve); additionally, every chapter (or "hour") of this text has exercises and activities that you can do with the supplied CD-Rom loops. I really recommend doing the exercises--they WILL give you ideas for your own Acid projects.

While it might initially seem a little pricey, the tips, exercises, and CD-Rom make it invaluable.

This book is terrific! I just recently started experimenting with computer music using the ACID 3 programs, and this book makes an already easy to learn program even easier to understand. It is clearly written with the beginner in mind yet will take you as far up the technical ACID 3.0 learning curve as you wish. There is only one change I would make in the contents of Sam's Teach Yourself ACID 3.0 in 24 Hours, and that would be the inclusion of a comprehensive TROUBLESHOOTING section. The book is carefully written in a fashion, that if you follow the instructions to the letter, you should experience no technical problems. But as most will not have the infallibility to successfully follow the instructions without at least a few mistakes, I would wish there be a simple and quick to reference TROUBLESHOOTING section that helps you to easily go back and correct what you may have missed. But with this aside, the book is terrific. Definitely written for actual human beings. Well done.

As a Sonar user, a Sound Forge user, a Vegas Video user, I was completely amazed to discover the power hidden within Acid--whose very name unfortunately causes scornful and undeserved ridicule as with the review below.

Many see Acid as a toy, and it is anything but as anyone who digs beneath the surface will quickly discover.

Acid 3.0 is a professional tool used in professional environments to achieve professional results faster than ever before and where time is money, Acid shines.

For anyone wanting to push this tool past it's apparent limits, using it as the ultimate tool with which to bring together tracks from various sources (including Cubase) this book is essential to understanding its hidden strengths, and workarounds for inherent weaknesses found in some extreme BPM and pitch-shifting tasks. "Acid 3.0 in 24 Hours" is essential to understanding track management, bus usage, FX options, video scoring, and timing adjustments to name but a few.

Do not be fooled. Acid is a most powerful non-destructive digital audio construction tool, although its name may draw prejudice. This book is as worthy a companion and reference as exists for it.

Buy this book. Even the Acid experienced will learn from it.

i got the software and this book on friday, by monday i was making incredible music, i dont know anything about music
i am a flash developer and this works great for flash too.
i only read half of the book and it kicks ...!!!
acid pro 3 is to music what flash is to the internet. it will change everything... the book is excellent, it starts out basic and take you in fast, this book is great for the novice as well as the advanced user. also check out sound forge power book here at amazon, these two programs together and you can do anything.

This is a carefully-written explanation of a complex piece of computer technology. It takes way more hours than the title promises. But it is a wonderful introduction to the fascinating world of audio recording technology. Super Dooper!

How absolutely charming! A witty yarn with substance, grace, humour, pathos and wonderful characterization (these characters literally jump off the page with No-No's vivid and amusing descriptions--Ray and the drop of golden rum being a prime example) all knitted together with love just like Aunt Fluff's Cape Breton afghan. The writing is intelligent, mature and well crafted--you can tell that Ms. Gracie has spent a lot of time with her novel and has sculpted her characters and their toils and tribulations with much tenderness, affection and good old-fashioned elbow grease. A very solid beginning to what promises to be a bittersweet tale of the complex relationship between mothers and their grown daughters (a relationship that Ms. Gracie very aptly describes in the image of the rubber band pulling No-No and Do sometimes together with a snap and oft times apart with a forced tug). As they'd say in Cape Breton, she's right some good b'y!

The beginning of this book has it all. Not only that the prose is exquisite, but it is attractive too.
The story line is strong, the characters vivid, and the language alive. There is a lot of energy in
these pages. If the rest of the novel matches the beginning, then here is an excellent candidate
for the top prize.

Margaret Gracie does a wonderful job of examining the mother and daughter dynamics as the daughter struggles with her past and the want to blame her coma stricken mother for her failed relationships and social insecurities. Full of vivid descriptions that succeed in making the reader feel as though they are part of the story, Sundown Salute is an engaging story that left me wanting to read more from this talented writer.

The start of Ms. Gracie's book is a perfect blend of sadness tinged with humor. I love her prose, especially the line addressed to her mother, "what are you doing in there?" She makes me feel as if I were in the room with her when she talks to her mother. I would highly recommend this book.

Margaret Gracie's "Sundown Salute" is a breath of fresh air in the book industry. Well written, raw and exploring the human faults which all of us have and hate to admit, Ms. Gracie pulls you into her book from the very beginning. This excerpt is not nearly long enough. As a reader, I am now left waiting and wondering what happens to No-No and her mother. I would love to see this book published and would be the first to buy a copy for myself, as well as recommending it to everyone that I know.

This was without a doubt one of the most amazing pieces of literature I have ever read! I would love to read full length novels from this author. I don't often review art, but I felt I had to say something about this beautiful masterpiece.

Great read. I already love the character Cat. Can't wait to get the completed novel.

Congrats Mandy. I hope you go somewhere with this, I can't wait to read the rest of the story. Good luck on the rest of the journey...to becoming successful.

This isn't even the best part of the story! So if you like this, you'll love the rest! I may be her sister, but she's also my favorite author! This is definitely a story you won't want to put down!

What better way to begin a life than to spend eight years with parents living in remote areas of the globe? In this excerpt we meet a young girl who basks in the freedom of the African jungle as her parents document the flora and fauna of the continent. While the synopsis relates that this utopian existence will soon end, the short look into a life in Africa is enjoyable and interesting. Descriptions of the people,the countryside, and the wildlife add to the story of an exhuberent young girl and her family. While there are some places were the dialogue is stiff and unreal (maybe a few too many words and transparent explanations) they do not detract from the narrative. This is a good start to a promising read.

This story of redemption and forgiveness is deftly, beautifully written. After I read it, I found myself thinking of the characters, always a sign of a powerfully written piece.

Richelle demonstrates her capacity for understanding forgiveness and her passion for life in this strong and yet healing work. I strongly recommend this little gem as a study into man's complex capacity to scar and reconcile,two seemingly antagonistic concepts.

Truth and mercy go hand in hand; forgiveness follows. Richelle Putnam has given us a methodology for forgiveness in this fine piece of writing. Her sharp clear language flies at you like bullets as she lays out the details of a crime that shattered the heart and spirit of a young girl.
As a kind friend guides the girl to face the truth, she begins to forgive and thus to heal.

Yes, I had tears in my eyes as I finished this story of forgiveness, and I must admit.....I am not easily moved. Children must survive in a harsh world...so many children experience life times of pain before they reach their teens, which is supposed to be the most difficult time of their young lives. Ms. Putnam has shown the emotions of Lizzy full measure, from the depths of misery and pain to the sweetness of regaining her family through her Daddy and his becoming a part of her life once again. A very eye opening read and these conflicts, unfortunately, are becoming more frequent....but the relief and our great hope is that society is learning how to bring the hurt of our children back into a normal and life......

Once again, Ms. Putnam has proven that she can indeed write a story that grabs you from the first sentence and won't let you go until the very end. She has captured the gripping fear, agony, and anger of a child who cannot comprehend the horror in her life. Each of us can identify with at least one of those feelings and understand both the point of view of the child and her father. Beautifully written story of emotional healing.

The detail of the story makes for an interesting, engaging read. The specifics of wine-making and law are enough to add to the story rather than bog it down with minutiae. There's enough to make someone want to know a little more (well, maybe just about wine...).

Dolan paints pictures and raises questions that compel one to press on (read: buy the book). He does a good job of inviting the reader to watch the story unfold.

This book has it all. Well developed characters, suspense, intrigue, and genre-defying original ideas and plot twists. The world that the author created pulls you in and keeps you riveted until the very end. Bravo!

This is a great story, well written and very suspenseful. The characters are believable and appealing and the wine making background adds another layer of interest. A good read!

Vintage Justice is a beautifully written mystery with fine twists and turns. The characters stay with you, and the author looks at the rich complexity of wine making as a character in itself, revealed through a season of growth from birth to maturity. An excellent read.

This is a compelling story that really draws the reader into its world and the lives of its characters. It's especially fun as the excitement builds and it becomes a real page-turner. I enjoyed reading about the behind-the-scenes world of winemaking as well.