Multimedia Books

The author of this book has shown us so much about how to use the taking and sharing of digital photos to express yourself that I feel really grateful to him for having written it. The ideas in the book are wonderfully creative, and it's a beautiful book to boot. I intend to give this book as a gift to my daughter for her birthday to accompany the new digital camera her dad and I bought her.

I was able to get an advance copy of Dane's book and am so glad that I did. There are so many books out there on digital photography, mostly how-to's that are basic. What Dane does in this book is attack the issue from a completley different point of view - how to use the images to tell a story.

I especially appreciate his very tactical advice on how to start the process - what picture to use first, how to setup a sequence that conveys a mood and character to the story line.

I really liked how he used real examples (his daughter) which helped take this practical book out of the theoretical and into the real world of dealing with images.

My girlfriends father relies on me for technical support for his camera (which we got him for Christmas). So for Fathers Day we bought him his own copy of Dane's book - and a copy of Microsoft's Digital Image Suite software.

He is loving both!

mark sylvester

This is a really amazing book that goes beyond the technical aspects of digital photography (those books are a dime a dozen) and explores the issues of organizing, archiving, and ultimately telling stories with your digital photographs.

I believe this book will have a lasting impact on the world of photography because it helps the reader capture better pictures, streamline the tedious parts of digital photography, and how to tell effective digital stories with photos. Stories and memories, isn't that's why we take photos anyway?

It's also a beautifully designed book that I'll keep just for the design even after I've absorbed all the content.

I just book the Italian version of this book which has just been published here.

This simple and lovely book is not about how to use my new sophisticated digital camera (I will have to study the manual) but has encouraged me to free my amateur photographer mind from concepts carved there like "don't shoot until you are pretty sure the scene is good enough and that film is not wasted". It didn't teach me either how to download the photos to my Mac but certainly has broaden my world and taught me creative ways of sharing my good memories with my Spanish family.

The photos are really nice and support very well all the concepts. The language is clear and so are the explanations even if I doubt I will use the Microsoft products mentioned in the book. I am sure I will be able to "replicate" them with my Mac. To cut a long story short: as the proverb says "it hasn't give me the fish but has given me the knowledge to catch fish by myself".

This book is about capturing experiences, not just photos. It is an excellent read for any beginner (or digital camera buff) interested in learning not just how to take digital images, but how to take and create photos that tell a story. I was originally looking for a book to help me expand the way I use my digital camera when I came across "Sharing Digital Photos". What an unexpected surprise. As soon as I went through it, I knew it was a great find and was amazed at the breadth of possibilities that exist.

Dane covers a multitude of options available for the digital photographer, and covers various methods, programs, and techniques for sharing, managing, and tweaking images. The clarity and simplicity with which the book delivers this information is refreshing. He delivers clear descriptions of the mythology and uses personal family experiences as examples. These personal stories form the heart of the book and make the concepts easy to understand. Each chapter continuously serves up an honest and straightforward delivery that helps create a solid perspective on the different techniques.

Access to website links allow you to experience the solutions and further demonstrate the possibilities. He uses "easy to follow" language, plenty of photo examples, and well laid out graphics in various combinations to effectively communicate the essential message in each lesson while encouraging you to dive in along the way. This book has changed my paradigm concerning digital images where they no longer sit idly in my hard disk! Happy story telling...

I feel the addition of a CD with examples and demos of the software programs would have made the experience even more enjoyable.

review by Tee L. Guidotti, MD, MPH University of Alberta Edmonton
JAMA 1995; 273(12):971. Understanding Lung Sounds, by Steven Lehrer, 2nd ed, 150 pp. with Illus, paper, and 1 audiocassette, $35.95 ISBN 0-7216-4902-5, Philadelphia, Pa, WB Saunders, 1993. Steven Lehrer's introduction to auscultation is a primer of pulmonary diagnosis using lung sounds as its unifying theme. Intended to educate the ear as much as the mind, his kit is a self-contained learning experience for the medical student. It may also be useful for critical care and pulmonary service nurses. The kit is an excellent learning system and is highly recommended as an introduction to the topic. The book begins with an homage by Victor McKusick to the Golden Age of auscultation, introduced by Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec in 1816. The sketch is too brief to elaborate on the fascinating history of auscultation, which at the time was a monumental undertaking. Laennec codified his work in 1819 in his book Traité de l'auscultation médiate, an effort that exhausted him and extracted a two-year period of recovery from his career. Laennec was a pupil of Jean Nicholas Corvisart, the leading advocate and systematizer of chest percussion. Mentor and student defined the chest examination as we know it. Lehrer continues the work, as the transmitter of a grand tradition. The first chapter reviews the anatomy of the lung and the physiology of ventilation, omitting blood gas interpretation. Lehrer also introduces common pathological conditions, briefly exploring their auscultatory findings. The second chapter shifts attention to the other end of the stethoscope: the listener. Lehrer discusses sound characteristics, the hearing mechanism, and the stethoscope as an instrument. In the third chapter, he introduces the history and physical examination of the patient with chest disease. Here he departs from the emphasis on auscultation to provide the student with a context for the auscultatory examination--an appreciation for the findings that are likely to accompany the abnormal sounds. Chapter 4 discusses normal breath sounds. This is a fine outline of physical examination of the chest, worth a complete physical diagnosis teaching session with students. It also introduces a simple graphic system of notation. The interested specialist may welcome the discussion of recording systems and waveform analysis. The novice may find this tedious, but the visual display of a waveform does help to prepare one for informed listening. Chapter 5 is what most students will consider the meat of the program, an outstanding and comprehensive treatment of abnormal lung sounds that does not ignore minor phenomena such as mouth noises. Mixing clinical observation with experimental findings, Lehrer explains the origins of abnormal lung sounds and interprets them in keeping with structural and functional changes in the lung. The script to the accompanying tape, a glossary, and an index round out the book. The script and tape provide examples of the more important normal and abnormal lung sounds, followed by a short quiz. Each lung sound is introduced, demonstrated, and explained. Lehrer has the student listen to the tape through a stethoscope to ensure realism. For the more experienced reader, the text reminds one how unsatisfactory the usual descriptors of lung sounds have become. After Laennec's elegant system in French, his English-speaking disciples (who are legion) seemed determined to add their own vocabulary. Both the American Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians have tried to standardize the terminology, in so doing unfortunately reducing it to an impoverished few words: rales (or crackles), wheeze, and rhonchus. Lehrer is wise to use British descriptors, which are more precise. However, there is something evocative about terms like "consonating rales," and one misses the poetry of authors like J. Milner Fothergill, who wrote in his Chronic Bronchitis (New York, NY: GP Putnam's Sons; 1882: pp.23-24): "Careful percussion . . . tells much about the complications of chronic bronchitis; even when it has nothing to say about the malady itself. Auscultation, however, is eloquent, even loquacious, about the disease.... Sometimes, especially when the patient is asleep, there may be quite a musical note...." Medical texts will never be written like that again, but Lehrer's prose is as clear and precise as Fothergill's and on occasion even gets mildly carried away with the romance of its subject.

Simply superb CD/booklet for lung sounds. I recommend it to all students (interns, respiratory, etc) and clinicians who need perfect their skills on chest chest sounds (eg, respiratory therapists and "new young" MDs).

Steven Lehrer's introduction to auscultation is a primer of pulmonary diagnosis using lung sounds as its unifying theme. Intended to educate the ear as much as the mind, his kit is a self-contained learning experience for the medical student. It may also be useful for critical care and pulmonary service nurses. The kit is an excellent learning system and is highly recommended as an introduction to the topic.

The book begins with an homage by Victor McKusick to the Golden Age of auscultation, introduced by Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec in 1816. The sketch is too brief to elaborate on the fascinating history of auscultation, which at the time was a monumental undertaking. Laennec codified his work in 1819 in his book Traité de l'auscultation médiate, an effort that exhausted him and extracted a two-year period of recovery from his career. Laennec was a pupil of Jean Nicholas Corvisart, the leading advocate and systematizer of chest percussion. Mentor and student defined the chest examination as we know it. Lehrer continues the work, as the transmitter of a grand tradition.

The first chapter reviews the anatomy of the lung and the physiology of ventilation, omitting blood gas interpretation. Lehrer also introduces common pathological conditions, briefly exploring their auscultatory findings. The second chapter shifts attention to the other end of the stethoscope: the listener. Lehrer discusses sound characteristics, the hearing mechanism, and the stethoscope as an instrument. In the third chapter, he introduces the history and physical examination of the patient with chest disease. Here he departs from the emphasis on auscultation to provide the student with a context for the auscultatory examination--an appreciation for the findings that are likely to accompany the abnormal sounds.

Chapter 4 discusses normal breath sounds. This is a fine outline of physical examination of the chest, worth a complete physical diagnosis teaching session with students. It also introduces a simple graphic system of notation. The interested specialist may welcome the discussion of recording systems and waveform analysis. The novice may find this tedious, but the visual display of a waveform does help to prepare one for informed listening. Chapter 5 is what most students will consider the meat of the program, an outstanding and comprehensive treatment of abnormal lung sounds that does not ignore minor phenomena such as mouth noises. Mixing clinical observation with experimental findings, Lehrer explains the origins of abnormal lung sounds and interprets them in keeping with structural and functional changes in the lung. The script to the accompanying tape, a glossary, and an index round out the book.

The script and tape provide examples of the more important normal and abnormal lung sounds, followed by a short quiz. Each lung sound is introduced, demonstrated, and explained. Lehrer has the student listen to the tape through a stethoscope to ensure realism.

For the more experienced reader, the text reminds one how unsatisfactory the usual descriptors of lung sounds have become. After Laennec's elegant system in French, his English-speaking disciples (who are legion) seemed determined to add their own vocabulary. Both the American Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians have tried to standardize the terminology, in so doing unfortunately reducing it to an impoverished few words: rales (or crackles), wheeze, and rhonchus. Lehrer is wise to use British descriptors, which are more precise. However, there is something evocative about terms like "consonating rales," and one misses the poetry of authors like J. Milner Fothergill, who wrote in his Chronic Bronchitis (New York, NY: GP Putnam's Sons; 1882: pp.23-24): "Careful percussion . . . tells much about the complications of chronic bronchitis; even when it has nothing to say about the malady itself. Auscultation, however, is eloquent, even loquacious, about the disease.... Sometimes, especially when the patient is asleep, there may be quite a musical note...."

Medical texts will never be written like that again, but Lehrer's prose is as clear and precise as Fothergill's and on occasion even gets mildly carried away with the romance of its subject.

Tee L. Guidotti, MD, MPH University of Alberta Edmonton
JAMA 1995; 273(12):971

Understanding Lung Sounds 2nd edition review from Chest:

"Understanding Lung Sounds is a paperback with accompanying audiotape that provides an introduction to the art of auscultation of lung sounds and physical diagnosis of chest diseases. The book affords a written explanation of the mechanics of respiratory findings and couples it with the schematic representation of sophisticated lung sound analysis. The audiotape provides examples of the described auscultatory findings.

In this edition, Dr. Lehrer covers both normal and abnormal lung sounds, which allows the novice a unique experience in physical diagnosis of the chest. His text is concise and very understandable for the medical student, nursing student, or physician. The accompanying tape is of excellent quality and provides findings that would be hard to assemble at one time, if patients were required. This variety of findings allows the listener, for instance, to compare and distinguish normal from abnormal and low pitched crackles from high pitched crackles.

This text would be a good addition to any medical student's library. As a teacher of Physical Diagnosis, this reviewer also found it to be a highly recommendable adjunct text for the course. Although a bit simplistic for the experienced practitioner, it is well written. This text is an excellent introduction to understanding lung sounds through sight and sound.

Tim Ferguson, MD Evansville, Indiana/ Chest 1995; 107:20

This book-and-tape package guides readers through the sounds and skills of chest auscultation. They get an easy-to-follow, 60-minute cassette that presents actual lung sounds and an accompanying manual that gives them the background to understand what they hear. The reader will be better able to differentiate between normal and abnormal noises, detect pulmonary disorders early, and help plan a management strategy immediately. The 2nd Edition presents how to examine patients by auscultatory percussion, frequency differences between adults and children and the Fourier transformation method of lung sound analysis.

"The content is timely but relatively timeless; it will not soon go out of date." Annals of Internal Medicine

I liked this book a lot. I am not a video engineer - however, I need high performance hardware and I need to understand how to connect it all. I needed to understand what it takes to put together a networked high performance system of relational databases (emphases on high performance and databases) - SAN's, NAS's, RAID's, etc. This book describes it at the correct level.

I was looking for a general overview of SAN's, NAS, DAS, and other high throughput fast storage and networking descriptions. This book has it without overwhelming you with 8B/10B encoding and modulation nonsense.

As a systems integrator in the broadcast and professional video industry, we face issues associated with the converging IT and professional AV media environments on almost daily basis. To date, we have had to build our own knowledge base to address these matters and have found no one source that appropriately deals with these merging industries - well this book addresses these issues head on.

Personally, I found this book really "hit the spot" as it relates to the broadcast and media industry as it stands today (as well as in the near future). I found this book to be up to date and topics discussed exceedingly relevant. Although this book tackles a broad array of topics, from media network deployment and management to video system fundamentals and architectures, the information covered was well presented and logically organized which made it a very comfortable read.

This book is a must for anyone (IT managers, as well as network and video engineers alike) who have an interest in producing, managing, and distributing video media.

This book is of interest to any technical professional working with video. In the past, we could view the world of IT as of increasing value but not central to a video system. No longer. This book comprehensively lays out the myriad of technologies and issues to be considered as we incorporate the power and economy of IT servers and networking ever more broadly into our broadcast and production facilities.

Last year at a Hollywood Post Alliance meeting a senior technical production executive said to an audience of technical professionals, "If you don't have a strong foundation in video, networking and IT....you will not work in our business any longer."

What he was really saying is, go out and get Kovalick's book and read it. And then read it again.

As a professional who serves the pro-video and broadcast market, I've been eagerly awaiting my copy of Video Systems in an IT Environment. I just received my order a few weeks ago from Amazon.com and I've now had a chance to absorb several chapters -- with more to come.

First impressions: Wow! Substantial. Meaty. First of its kind. When you receive this book in the mail, the first thing you notice upon opening the package is the sheer weight and tasteful abstract art on the front cover. This is a hefty 600-page volume packed with hundreds of detailed illustrations and lots of examples. When it comes to understanding principles of modern networked media for video and audio, this Focal Press work deserves a prominent place in any serious video or IT engineer's reference library.

Although this book is oriented towards the professional media or broadcast systems engineer (as opposed to a video consumer building a home media network), the author does a nice job of weaving together the essentials of networked media from "A to Z" including a handy glossary of terms for those of us who can't keep our acronyms straight. I've known the author, Al Kovalick, who's a well regarded figure in the broadcast community. His breadth of knowledge is evident throughout each chapter, yet he writes in a witty, practical style that's both educational and fun to read (including some pretty subtle humor that will make an engineer chuckle). Without sacrificing depth, this book takes a complex technical subject and brings it down to earth, making it suitable even for less technical (but motivated) readers. I like the "It's a Wrap" section found at the end of each chapter that summarizes the salient points of each chapter.

Bottom line, this book is for you if you're seeking a solid overview of key engineering considerations when designing or recommending networked video architectures, including networking fundamentals, virus and firewall protection, video servers, NSPOF (no single point of failure) storage design including RAID and RAIN methods, as well as other innovative architectures. Several real-world case studies complement the teaching benefits including specific examples by leading-edge media companies and broadcasters.

Chapter Highlights:
Networked Media in an IT Environment
The Fundamentals of Professional Networked Media
Storage System Basics
Storage Access Methods
Software Technology for AV Systems
Reliability and Scalability Methods
Networking Basics for AV
Media Systems Integration
Security for Networked AV Systems
Systems Management and Monitoring
The Transition to IT: Issues and Case Studies
A Review of AV Basics

I loved this book. It is rare to have a computer book that you can read cover to cover but this is one. It is meticulously researched and written, with good questions and exercises at the end to test what you learned. The only thing I didn't understand was why there were only answers to odd questions, but it didn't really matter. Finally there were excellent online references for future learning. This is a classic.

As a Flash beginner, I found this book to be the perfect starting point: concise, clearly written, and full of practical advice for creating basic Flash animations.

Kay writes in an accessible and engaging style, walking readers through basic Flash concepts like vector graphics, the stage and timeline metaphors, up through more advanced topics like coding interactive behaviors and working with sound. Finally, he introduces readers to the basics of Actionscript, the advanced Flash programming language used to create more complex applications.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this book for beginners like me who are interested in getting started with Flash.

The Web Wizard's Guide explains not only how to use Flash, but how to design with Flash. Tech-manual writers are notorious for leaving out context when describing a software interface, which makes learning most programs difficult. Kay's down-to-earth writing style simplifies the process. He uses practical, realistic examples to explain the concepts behind each menu command. He teaches you to know when to use Flash, and when not to use it. Read this book to learn good Flash design and keep the product manual around simply for reference.

I am a busy Art Director/Designer who, at last, is making the necessary transition from print to the web. The Web Wizard's Guide to Flash by Michael Kay has just become my most recent bible. I just love this book and can't put it down . . . it's like having your own web wizard always at your fingertips.

Michael Kay has done a great job in presenting a lot of intimidating technical information in an accessible way. The instructions are direct and clear and the language of the text is simple and friendly--not loaded with dull or confusing tech speak. The format of the book relies on well honed step-by-step technical objectives which, when applied, give fantastic results.

Best of all, I have been able to use these lessons directly in my day to day layout and design process. After working through this book, my web pages are now alive with animated motion and pizzazz, finally breaking me out of the amateur design crowd!

I highly recommend this text as a must read for any web designer or student or teacher who wants to learn and apply Flash - fast - in a painless, easy-to-read-and-use format. It should also be made more available on book store shelves in general.

as a web design instructor, i've read many books on flash and i am always looking for new reference/learning material to recommend to students. this one covers all the important topics very well. from the basic screen tour up through the nitty-gritty of actionscript, this book does a fantastic job of breaking down a difficult set of topics for a beginning flash animator. i would suggest this book to someone just starting out with the program, or for a person who's self-taught and is looking for the 'correct' way to do something. definitely a good investment.

No review here since the book hasn't come out yet, but I am sure it will be an excellent source of information regarding its stated topic.


SWEATY B!

I've been searching for a book like this for quite a while. I was primarily looking for a book that explained how to use Windows Media Player. Other books would skim the surface but this one goes into detail for people who enjoy organizing and listening to their music in various ways. When the author finishes teaching you the in's and out's of Media Player, he's just warming up. The author then goes on to explain how to set up your computer for music to get the most out of it, how to record from analog sources into your computer, how to use portable digital players (such as I-Pod), ripping CD's and burning them, downloading and purchasing music, listening to the radio via your computer, and finally setting up your own computer-based, home recording studio and using it. whew!! I'm a professional musician and even I learned things from this book. Besides explaining the main topics of the book, Mr. Williams goes into detail well enough so that you don't feel like you are left hanging. Before this book came out you would have had to buy maybe three or four different books to cover the same information. It's well worth the price in my opinion. For someone who is wanting to get involved with any or all aspects of Digital Music and looking for a starting point, I highly recommend this book. Well done Mr. Williams.

What a charming book. I picked it up in a bricks-n-mortar retailer who shall remain unnamed... then slammed it down before I let my fingerprints mar the surface and be forced to take out a loan to pay for it. I would recommend purchasing the book, chock full of informative, helpful, and timely advice-lets here and saving a pretty penny, though. It's not like I wanted to buy the store... just this excellent tome of digital wit that will help the user navigate the recesses of Al Gore's Internet (does he have that phrase copyrighted yet?) and remain out of prison and without "severe monetary penalties" (or, more succinctly, consequences and repercussions).

This is a pretty good reference book for anyone who is just getting into digital music.

It is particularly focused on the Windows Media player. There is also useful information regarding ripping and burning CDs, creating a computer jukebox, portable music players such as IPods, etc. The author also discusses the different formats for storing/playing digital music and the online services that offer downloadable songs for each.

Overall, I would say it is pretty good as far as being a beginning resource for one's digital music needs.

This book saved my life. Covered every aspect I needed it to.

I found this book on sale in a New Jersey mall. It doesn't belong on a sale rack! What a funny and inspiring book. It got me back taking pictures after a too-long hiatus. Highly recommended for anyone with a quirky sense of humor.

I found this book on sale in a New Jersey mall. It doesn't belong on a sale rack! What a funny and inspiring book. It got me back taking pictures after a too-long hiatus. Highly recommended for anyone with a quirky sense of humor.

I remember Antin's postcards and am so thrilled to see them collected in book form! Her work was considered revolutionary at the time, and it's a great pleasure to own such an elegant reproduction of the entire series.

While taking a photography course at my school, I stumbled across this book in the bookstore. The idea of taking a series of photos of 100 boots and then mailing them as postcards appealed to me immensely, even though i was not alive at the time of of the postcards. Not only do the 100 boots tell a story through pictures, the photos themselves are wonderful works of art. Definitely buy this book.

This one is the best book i've had so far because it's just as the title says. hands on training books are perfect for learning

As an educator who teaches Digital Imaging on the college level, I have become familiar with hundreds of training texts through the years. This book is excellent in that, unlike so many others, it starts at the beginning. I am not entirely sure why training books and digital courses so often pick up somewhere near the middle when we are all trying to encourage others to surrender to the digital age.

After completing 3 books on Adobe After Effects 7, I think I have a fairly good view of the types of instruction books that are available. "Classroom in a Book" by Adobe, this one by Fahs & Weinman, and "Creative After Effects 7" by Taylor.
My earlier rating of "Classroom in a Book" should probably have been at least 4 stars since it's the best of the 3 (for beginners) that I've read.
This one by Fahs & Weinman is straight forward and easy to follow, but isn't quite detailed enough in comparison to the "Classroom" book.
The book by Taylor mentioned above is so filled with typos that it's virtually unreadable and that's why I rated it poor and is definitely the worst of these 3.
After Effects is a very complicated video software effects program and has a steep learning curve on par with the still image processing program Photoshop. The more time you spend with it and the more instruction you can get, the better.

when you are done with this book, wade into the massive haphazard stew that is the Meyers books. Start with this one though, it starts at the beginning, tells you what you need to know when you need to know it, breaks it down just right. AE is a fairly vast program, and it's easy to become overwhelmed and discouraged, so getting the right book can be the difference between sticking with it or not.

This book helps ease the monumental transition from Avid to FCP. It is definitely a must for anyone going through the change, but becomes less useful once you get the hang of FCP. Once you are through the transtion, then get the book Final Cut Pro 5 for Mac, which answers the rest.

This book I could only find used, it is not easy to come by...

If you are ever forced to quickly learn Final Cut pro for the odd job where Avid is not a viable option, or you want to start editing your on stuff on the cheap, buy this, read it and practise it for a week and you will be a Pro at Pro, knowing everything there is to know, at least, where to find it and whether it is doable or not. It is a book written by an Avid editor for Avid editors who have to go through the same learning curve. You can be very surprised going through it on how similar the two editing systems are and most of all, how quickly you can synthesise the information and make it second nature. I fervently recommend this book being so well written, going always to the point and covering everything properly.

As an Avid editor and now learning FCP, I can recommend this book for helping to understand where everthing is. This book is a must unless you want to tear your hair out. If you know how it feels going from Media Composer to DS, then you will understand why you need this book and I might add others.

We have been an Avid only edit house for years, but reciently purchased two Final Cut systems. Most of the transition was pretty easy, but trying to figure out how to do some of the things in FCP that we did in our sleep on the Avid slowed us down a bit. This book draws great parallels between the two systems.

Apple Training Series: iLife 04
By Michael Rubin
ISBN: 0321256069

Book Review by Al Simukonis, Tucson Macintosh Users Group

Peachpit Press has published a guide to Apple's iLife '04 Programs. The book's author is Michael Rubin.

Michael Rubin self-describes this book as "not so much a training manual as it is a way to show you how to enrich your world by weaving digital audio, photos and videos into many aspects of your life." He promises to skip entire areas of functionality of the programs in order to teach "media literacy" in your life using the iLife programs: iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and Garage Band. He also promises to explain how to share your completed vision with friends, family and clients through iDVD and the web via .Mac.

The book is divided into 14 chapters which consist of projects that introduce the reader with audio capabilities of iTunes, progress to still and moving visual expression using iPhoto and iMovie. Final lessons detail how to combine digital sound and vision into a usable and interesting slide presentation or a movie. These later chapters also show how to easily distribute your created vision and message using hardware and software .

The beginning of each chapter lists the goals (i.e. familiarity with using iTunes) that it intends to achieve in that section, the tools necessary to complete the goal (i.e. a personal music CD or an optional camcorder), and the estimated time it will take to complete that section. Lessons range from a 15 minute iPod introduction to 90 minutes for many of the others. To complete every lesson should take about 15 hours.

The book is very well laid out, has very clear illustrations of screen shots you should expect to see on your own computer, and photos of hardware you will be using. There is a logical progression to the lessons that builds on previously gained knowledge and experience.

If you have the iLife programs, at least a G3 Mac with FireWire and at least system 10.2.8 (minimum 10.2.6) with 256 MB Ram, 1024 x 768 resolution, QuickTime 6.4 (the latest version at this moment is 6.5.1) you can begin. Other recommendations are a 600 Mhz G3 for Garage Band, a 733 Mhz G4 for iDVD, iSight, a digital camcorder, a digital camera, a tripod, a .Mac account. If you have all this equipment this excellent book will show you how to use all of it to express yourself well. If you do not have all this hardware do not let it scare you away from the book.

I found that there are three ways to approach this informative iLife familiarization guide.

The first, of course, is to have a computer with a DVD burner and player, all the camera equipment he covers, and the $100 or so per year dot Mac account that allows you to easily share your creations with the world via the web. After you finish the very clearly explained features of the software and hardware in your arsenal, you will have a core of media knowledge that will give you the potential of being the next George Lucas.

The second way is to go through the book using only the 4.2 GB of photos, video clips, and music on the included DVD. This should be downloaded onto to your hard drive, so a hard drive with sufficient free space is necessary. The full iLife program, Michael advises us, takes an additional 4.3 GB if it is not already on your computer. With limited hard drive space you can get by 250 MB if you only use iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie. An Apple with a DVD player (and preferably burner) is essential for this option.

The examples in the book and the DVD are shown from the perspectives of a student with a school project, a father shooting his daughter's birthday party and a ceramics studio owner who wants to show customers a technique via a video presentation.

The third way, if you are not ready to invest in all the hardware and software that this book covers, is to go through it using only hardware you already have. For example, first I read the book cover to cover. That was a very clear introduction to the potential available to me with my little iBook and the iLife software. I had already played with iTunes, and have a substantial collection of digital photos on my hard drive, but do not have a DVD player on the iBook. Instead of using the photo examples on his DVD player I was able to substitute my own pictures in his lessons. It took a little imagination to substitute his ceramics demo for my cactus garden, but the principles of the program remain the same regardless of the actual images used. If you do not have your own photo collection you can often find legally downloadable images on the internet that you can use for this purpose.

The scope of this book is quite vast. Digital cameras, theories and practice of good composition and lighting, image manipulation, creating books, organizing digital photo albums, creating slide shows with music or narration, making videos from still pictures or camcorders, time lapse photography, theory and use (or not) of pans, tilts and zooms, burning DVD's and creating your own music with Garage Band are all covered. It is like a semester in college taken at your own pace.

One of the best quotes in the book is "editing is not about throwing out bad material. Editing is about building something interesting and watchable" .

With time and practice this book shows any media non-professional how to use the Macintosh and the iLife programs to achieve this goal relatively easily. It does this clearly, logically and interestingly. After the versions of these software programs change this book will not be obsolete because the principles of good audio-visual presentation will remain the same.

If good communication is a necessity or a hobby or if you simply want to know how to get more personal enjoyment from the music and visual capabilities of the Macintosh take a good look at this very well-written book.

Mr. Rubin covers each of the iLife products -- iPod (2 chapters), iPhoto (5 chapters), iMovie (5 chapters), GarageBand (1 chapter), and iDVD (1 chapter). Each chapter covers a specific set of tasks in a step by step manner. And, with nearly every step, he provides explanatory material -- things to look out for, hints, tips, etc. Furthermore, he not only tells you what to do but why you are doing it. By the time you complete the chapters about an application you are well-grounded in how to use it because he has explained all of the basic tasks as well as some of the more arcane features of the program. He even devotes an entire chapter to camcorder shooting techniques. I purchased this book primarily for some instruction in using iMovie. By the time I completed the iMovie chapters I felt comfortable in my ability to shoot digital video, import what I shot to the computer, edit the clips, add sound effects and music, and put it on a DVD. The publisher also includes a disc with the book that has every photo clip, video clip, and sound clip you need to complete the exercises. In many cases the disc also includes a file with the finished project so that you can compare what you did with a professionally completed sample. This is absolutely the best book of its kind that I have ever used. The publisher, Apple, Mr. Rubin, and everyone else involved in this book's production should be very pleased with the result.

Book: "Apple Training Series: iLife `04" (377 pages)
Author: Michael Rubin
publisher: Peachpit Press, 1249 Eighth St., Berkeley, CA 94710
published: 2004
price: $29.99
Phone number of company: 1-800-283-9444
Pros: easy to read, nicely organized, great color illustrations, excellent index, overall very helpful for the beginner or advances iLife user
Cons: no real cons; ideally, I would like to have seen a second CD included that would have allowed people with OS 9 to get a sample of the iLife lessons

This book was of particular interest to me to review since I will soon be using Apple's iLife '04. This an awesome program with 5 subparts: itunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand. I wanted a good overview of all five, and was very pleased with what I found. It was easy reading, and its organization, a series of 14 lessons, allows you to learn at your own pace. The book also comes with a CD that you play to work along with the lessons. For me, I had to skip that part for now but certainly will be using it next month after I get my G-5 and begin using OS X (required for iLife). But even without it, the book alone is great for introducing the power and relative simplicity of iLife '04. The great illustrations and index also help a beginner, and would be very useful too to advanced users of iLife. I particularly liked the nice organization and clear writing style of the book, with each section ending with a review of what you learned.
This book is set up as if you were three different people learning about the various parts of iLife '04, namely a parent with a 12-year-old daughter, a high school student, and a small-business owner. Through those people and their needs, you get a real hands-on understanding of what the program can do for you. In all, you learn to 1) create custom CDs and play them on an iPod or a regular stereo system; 2) organize and use still images from your digital camera to create great photos and books of photos, plus slide shows; and 3) create movie DVDs combining still photos with music, special effects, titles, narration, music, and more. Finally, you learn to upload your slide shows and videos to the Web and burn DVDs. Additionally, there are nice "extras" at various logical places in the book, like tips on using your digital camcorder.
Below are the names of the 14 lessons, which further show the progressive nature of the learning process this fine book offers. In all, I would highly recommend this book. It is a great learning tool and well worth the money.

Lesson 1: Making a Custom CD from your music collection
Lesson 2: DJ a Party with your iPod
Lesson 3: Shooting Digital Snapshots and putting them in your Mac
Lesson 4: Organizing and Refining your photos
Lesson 5: Printing and sharing your photos
Lesson 6: Adding motion and effects for a dynamic slide show
Lesson 7: Making a time-lapse video
Lesson 8: Shooting and assembling a very simple movie
Lesson 9: Adding narration to your dynamic slide show
Lesson 10: Shooting with Hollywood-style techniques for better videos
Lesson 11: Editing and finishing a professional-looking movie
Lesson 12: Creating unique music for your projects
Lesson 13: Putting your slide show on the Internet
Lesson 14: Burning DVDs of your videos and slide shows

This is the official Apple Training Guide to the iLife software packages.

Apple doesn't include much documention with their iLife products. This book is a quick and easy way to learn these packages. As an Apple certified product, this is the book used in the Apple Training and Certification program. You can use it by yourself at your own pace where it's broken down into fourteen lessons.

The lessons are aimed at the practical use of the packages, not some esoteric project just made up to show off the software. It starts off discussing audio. Then it moves to mnaging still images, printing still images, and finally moving images, i.e. video.

From his background in the motion picture business, the author has written some very interesting pages on how to use Hollywood techniques in your own movies.

This is the most complete iLife book.

I did such a great job on the test and I improved my reading and verbal skills a lot! This book gives you an in-depth explanation of the test and will definitely help you succeed!

My verbal score went up 200 points in about two months!

I also recommend using the vocab links/SAT prep at HomeworkCentral.com--the combination was terrific for me!

This book helped me improve my score by over 250 points. Friends who used other SAT prep books kept borrowing mine - I definitely recommend it.

I bought 5 different SAT books to try to improve my score. This one was by far the best! After I practiced the techniques in this book, my score went up by 200 points! I'm only a C+ math student and I even went up in the math section!

If you want to prepare for the SAT, buy this book!!!!