Interactive Books

I thought this was a wonderful book about blogging. It is not a thin and light book. But, instead, is packed with lots of information and well worth its cover price. It is well written and well organized. And to see specifically what is covered I recommend you examine the Search Inside material provided by Amazon for this book. There you can find a basic Table of Contents and a very detailed one, too.

There were four topics I especially liked the coverage of in this book: (1) blogging tools, (2) blog styles, (3) blog theory, & (4) how to start a blog.

The blogging tools covered were Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, and Expression Engine. I have created blogs at both Blogger and Wordpress. And I think the discussion of both in this book was very fair and representative. I have heard Typepad is a really great service, and it is very reasonably priced. But I have opted to do my blogging on the freebie side so far. I have no experience with Expression Engine. But this book has me thinking of doing some investigation into that service.

The blogging styles mentioned were:
>> Personal diary
>> Views & reviews
>> From the desk of...
>> Organizational outreach
>> Internal organizational
>> Community

I was surprised the style I use for my current blogs was not mentioned: Question & answer. But there really are an unlimited number of blogging styles. That's the beauty of blogs - you can make them what you want them to be and to do.

Throughout the book the author covers blog theory. And he gives us his take on how to actually start a blog. He includes notes, tips and sidebars to help the reader better grasp the material in the book. If you follow the pointers in this book you will probably create a real winner of a blog. You might even include images, video, audio, forums, tags, wikis, and some moneymaking features. But you don't have to. Hopefully you'll get more hits, more fans, more friends, and even more customers. 5 stars!

Do yourself a favor: don't judge this book by its (awful) cover. I've had this book by my side every step of the way while setting up my very first blog, and I have to say it has been a huge help. Stauffer's style is direct and engaging, not cutesy. He tells you what you need to know to get started, without a lot of fluff.

I wanted to write a review here because I think this books deserves a big audience, and because the Amazon listing tells you little about what's covered. So here's what's inside:

"Web 2.0 Blog" covers four different blogging platforms: Blogger, TypePad, WordPress, and Expression Engine. So if you're interested in one of these four, you'll find the book very helpful. If you are trying to decide which of the four to go with, the book is even more helpful, as you can compare them feature by feature. For instance, you'll see that while Expression Engine seems quite powerful and flexible, it's obviously more complicated than the other three. Stauffer does a good job of helping you weigh the pros and cons of each.

The book covers quite a lot in a 450 pages, and it does it very well. There's even a basic introduction to XHTML and CSS, giving you a peak at how each blogging platform works under the hood. Other topics covered in depth are:
- RSS feeds
- Photoblogs, podcasting, audioblogging, and adding video
- Working with social bookmarking sites such as Digg and Technorati
- using wikis to collaborate with readers
- adding a forum to open the discussion beyond comments
- community and group blogs
- sending e-newsletters to your subscribers
- getting traffic and monetizing your blog

Highly recommended.

I have purchased this book from amazon and used the information for uploading video images on You Tube. For someone who is technically challenged, I found this book very useful.

reviewed by Dr. Eric Flescher, Olathe, KS: (dreric1kansas@aol.com)

Author: Chad Fahr
Publisher:McGraw Hill Osborne www.osborne.com
Released: 2008
Pages: 192
$30 USA
$39 Canada
15 UK
# ISBN-10: 0071498656
# ISBN-13: 978-0071498654

Strengths: This book has screenshots which are easily readable but are a little lackluster in terms of visuals. This book has a nice objective oriented listing in the inside cover of the front cover page as well as a nice website resources listing on the inside of the back cover. The index is nicely done and a helpful glossary is included. The Chapters are well thorough out and and have easy to read numbered tutorials. A few tips and notes are sprinkled within the chapters. ) Good solid information for both Macintosh and PC/Windows users was well done.The index is well written.

Weaknesses: The book has only black/white text which makes the chapters a little drab. There a few screenshots and they don't have screen pointers or anything else within these to explain how to use hardware or software.

Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Rating: 5/5

Introduction


Who would have thought YouTube would have been such a success. But it has "blossomed" and grew. Even now it is changing how we think and display all videos. Also our elections process have integrated with YouTube for video conferencing . While I have started working with Youtube, I still have a lot to learn. But I think I found a real good book to improve my work with YouTube that could also help you. It is called How to Do Everything with YouTube. While it might not explain all you need to work with Youtube, it sure is a great one to start out with or improve your "Youtubing " skills.

The author is an author, filmaker, has worked extensively with video editing , hardware and software and has created his own films and videos. While my experiences include these on a much more rudimentary level as , I have much to learn. I wanted to see what else I could learn from his much more extensive experiences especially how to use Youtube in many ways. And his experience and knowledge are evidence in many ways throughout the book.

There are only 7 chapters but they are packed with useful information. These include starting off with YouTube; Shooting professional-quality videos; learning how to edit your videos with Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, and Remixer; sharing and uploading your videos; joining the YouTube community and sharing ; customizing your YouTube Channel and the utilizing of special tools and finally publicizing and promoting your YouTube experiences. While I have dabbled with YouTube, the book let me know more of my potential.

What I particularly liked is his information about adding audio tracks with AudioSwap, helpful hints on using lighting and adding sound and special effects. Learning how to create a short film, vlog, or video mashup was very insightful. Optimizing and uploading, creating playlists, subscribing and customizing channels, and participating in groups and ways to promote the audience had some really helpful and sensible ideas.


Conclusion

The black on white text and the lack of color within the chapter makes things a little dull. But while the dull visuals do not "stand out" the insightful chapters do. What I enjoyed about this book is not only the breadth and depth in which the author explains how to use the hardware and software information but even more importantly, specific helpful techniques concerning what kinds of videos to create with YouTube directing your messages, ideas, creativity and more. The screenshots will not explain visually how to use YouTube especially if you run into a little trouble. But what I have found YouTube is not that difficult to use and this book can help start and master using the Video editing and sharing capabilities. If you need more information another book may suffice.

As a confirmed Macintosh user, I like that the author included information about iMovie 6 and the new one iMovie 8, as well as PC/Windows related information. The author includes a section about the compositional use of video involving "the rule of thirds". I thought this was really nice as I found this idea this technique only used for photography. It is "little" specific gems, like this, that are integrated throughout the chapters and really make this book a very good one for learning about YouTube.

In short, this book is "crammed" with good solid information that will not only have you " up and running " in no time but also help you in your improvement of your YouTube movies, ideas and creativity. Mostly for novice or intermediate users, even Advanced users may learn a trick or two as I did.

I read this book because a former colleague recommended it. We were having problems dealing with our advertising agency--especially its creative people. My company would make what looked like a simple request, but we just could not get the results we wanted or expected. It's simply uncanny how accurately Ms. Salz describes the advertiser-agency relationship as my company has learned to understand it! For awhile, her book became required reading for everyone in our advertising dept. "Our people" have a new-found respect for "their people," and the agency is already sending us work of a quality we had only dreamed of before.

My agency AE gave me this book so I was skeptical about it, to say the least. But I have found it enormously helpful. Salz just demystifies the whole marketer-agency relationship. I especially loved the quotes from people on both the agency and marketer sides of the business telling the truth about what they want and need from the other members of the team. Salz explains what challenges I face and how to meet them as I go through the steps of developing an ad. Now I know what to do to motivate my agency people. How to critique advertising. And I know what not to do, too. I found the book invaluable and recommend it highly to anyone who's new to working with an agency. Or people who want to know how to get their agency teams to do the best work for them.

I am always look for ways to intergrate Art into my 7th Grade English classes. We have a unit of making non-fiction books. This is a GREAT way to boost kids' creativity as they look for ways to illustrate their books. The instructions are easy to follow and require almost no explaining by me.

This is the second book on the same subject. This one teaches you more ideas for pop-up cards. Also shows you how you can make GIANT pop-ups that can be used for playing in and around-sort of a scene for kids to build around. Again written for children but a good book for beginners in making pop-ups.

I've used this book when teaching a human-computer interaction (HCI) course in an engineering psychology program. While there are two extensive texts on HCI I found their emphasis too much on the engineering side. Bailey, while including good technical material, also provides a perspective that fits well with engineering psychology. His information combines well with that in books by Wickens.

Bailey's material goes well beyond PC issues and provides good understanding of various system design techniques. For exampe, his descriptions of ATM system design gives good direction on how to do design. He provides a good foundation on such important topics as human limits, human senses, memory, usability assessment, task analysis and ways to help people work better.

While this book isn't cheap, it is worth every penny (or kronor).
It is on my shelf.

It's a very good book. I liked it because it illustrates many problems with human computer interaction/design and it also gives you hints on how to avoid these problems. The book is very straightforward and easy to understand. I specially enjoyed the sections dealing with readability and reading distances. This is the preferred book to have on my bookshelf when I'm designing consumer products. Happy reading

I was required to purchase this book for my class. It's easy to read and understand. I especially like the fact I do not have to highlight vocabulary because they are again defined at the bottom of the page it appears on.

The online study guide is very useful as well.

This is a college text but I purchased it for my teen and I am glad I did. Every parent should be armed with this information to help older children figure out what human sexuality is all about.

I wish I had this information when I was younger and I am glad I read it. It got me thinking about my personal values and learning a few new things as well. I am old enough that I thought I new everything there was to know but more importantly, it helped me connect with a younger generation.

As a school counselor, I purchased this book for my schools that I service for young learners who are experiencing separation anxiety and not wanting to go to school. It is an easy read and understandable by a preschooler and kindergartener. It allows parents to talk to their child about going to school. Even the kindergarten teacher borrowed it to share with the entire class! Great storyline and book is illustrated beautifully.

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Florrie Binford-Kichler, Founder of Patria Press, Inc.- an award-winning independent publisher and Member of The Children's Book Council; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

My order was received in a timely manner. Every time I have purchased items from Amazon they have been perfect! Thanks for the great service and for the quality of the merchandise!

Andy Stanley is anointed to bring unique insight with great common sense. We highly reccommend

I couldn't agree more with the previous reviewer. My 5 year old son was also delighted with this book. The designs are fairly easy, and space is a favorite subject. Great for airplane or other travel. We'll definitely buy more.

This dot-to-dot book is a big hit with my 5YO son. He has trouble with pre-writing skills but this book motivates him to use his pencil correctly. Also good for number recognition. I thought at first it would be too hard for him, but the pictures really grab his attention.

My students enjoyed this book immensely. We used it as part of our unit studying winter habitats. The illustrations are fabulous. The concept helped my students become nature detectives.

Two children have to go sledding without a sled. On the way they see evidence of animals and guess what they were. Would have been better if the illustrations would have shown the footprints, when appropriate. Saving grace: the blurbs at the end that explain how the children knew which animal had been there. Contains excellent black and white illustrations and will be of interest to the students from the 3rd grade through the 7th grade levels.