Equipment and Software Books

This was one of the best technical books I have read in years. Embedded Controller Hardware Design provides an excellent introduction to the world of embedded controller design. The author has a writing style that is very readable and he uses sufficient examples to illustrate to the reader how to apply what they have just read .

The book primarily deals with the hardware design aspect of controller design, and focuses on the 8051 microcontroller and its variants. Most of the book is spent developing a systematic method of making sure a design will work reliably, even under the unfavorable conditions of a "worst-case" scenario. The book would probably be most useful to electrical engineers, electronics technicians, and serious hobbyist who are just getting started in embedded systems and need some good background material. It could also be useful to programmers who are migrating from the desktop/PC environment to the embedded controller environment and want some information on the structure of embedded hardware.

This is the best book that I came across treating embedded systems. Most other embedded systems books treat the subject from the point of view of one microcontroller. And they focus a lot on assembly programming. You won't find that in this book. There are only a few pages discussing the 8051. The focus of this book is on the hardware design of microcontrollers and how to interface to them.

Most of others microcontroller or microprocessor books I've read only touch a little on the hardware system design, more often just using ideal models. For instance, most books explain how to construct address decoder using 74138, and thats it. That is sufficient if you are only doing computer simulation. However, when you want to design the real thing, fresh engineers would probably wonder, 74LS138, 74HC138 or 74ACT138 to be used? What are the uses of capacitance value, voltage range,timing diagram etc on datasheet? You will find the answers in this book.

The author use detailed and real example in explaning timing, loading, voltage range, logic families etc. This is the book for fresh graduate who doesnt know where to start, and also for engineers who want to build a realiable circuit.

Great book for beginners and for experts. Really easy/enjoyable to read.

I think the greatest thing about this book is that it describes quite well how one should interpret eletrical specs of devices. The examples are quite practical and use real spec numbers. A must.

I'm not sure about the glowing reviews here, but I fail to see how this book can be much help to current embedded designers? While the copyright is 2004, most of the book reads as if it was written in 1994 or even earlier. The book talks a lot about discrete logic, something that's rarely (or barely) used in modern embedded designs. Likewise, the author largely assumes external memory, which is also increasingly rare.

Most people, today, use SPI, I2C and/or CAN serial interfaces within (and even between) embedded devices and peripherals. The book doesn't provide useful coverage of any of these (or even mention some of them). It's as if the author's last real world embedded development work was with the 8051 a few decades ago? It's the only processor he goes into any detail on and not even the current System on a Chip versions.

The book does contain a useful primer to basic electronics and microcontroller theory. But like the rest of the book, much of it is out of date relatively to current embedded design and the same material is covered much better in other books.

The only reason to POSSIBLY buy this book, in my opinion, is the chapter on worst case timing and loading analysis. But even that section is showing its age. Signal levels, PC board design, bus/signal termination, impedance matching techniques, etc. are largely done differently today than what the author suggests. For example, do you know anyone using TTL discrete logic in their current embedded designs? Apparently both Ken Arnold and Newnes/Elsivier think someone does? You can have my copy back Amazon.

The book begins with a definition of digital photography. Then the following chapters are presented in the order of a good classroom course. The second chapter covers digital photography basics including light, color and an overview of digital cameras.

The other chapters include photo correcting, scanning, exposures and output. There is even a chapter on hardware and software. The section on masking explained what it was and its uses in clear, understandable words.

The authors use lots of visual graphics so you can see what they are talking about. The CD-ROM has a tutorial and demo versions of Photoshop, Live Picture, xRes, Painter, quantum Mechanic and Valis Flo Sampler.

For a Web Designer, this book is a must have. It will bring you up to speed on Digital Photography and Photoshop and show you how to make great pictures to add that special touch to your or your client's web.

El libro esta un poco desactualizado pero es la biblia de la imagen digital para fotografos A eso me dedico en mi estudio en Bs As y encontre la guia mas rápida y completa de todo lo necesario para trabajar en imagen digital. Agradecido

The book may not be the most inspirational I have read about digital photography, manipulation or techniques. However it is one of the most complete, thorough and in-depth texts I have stumbled upon. Hard to find material on color calibration is there and I found it quite valuable. It is not a book to browse through just looking at the pictures, it is a book to reach for whenever you need to deepen your understanding.

I have made research and tought graduate courses in image processing so I may not be the typical reader, but since I do a lot of digital photography and manipulation in my free time, I can only conclude: one of my best book buys so far.

As a digital imaging professional, I highly recommend this book. It covers absolutely everything you'll ever need to understand and practice digital imaging and digital photography. Digital imaging can be mind-boggling at times so use this book as your best resource for all those answers that you need.

The book was really well written and the photo examples are perfect. The CD-ROM contains really valuable calibration tools that no one should be without.

The hardware (computers, cameras, scanners, etc.) and software (OS's and bitmap editors) used in this book are antiquarian and for the most part no longer available. The techniques are also for the most part out dated due to new features in the latest software versions such as contained Photoshop 7. This book is useful only to someone running Photoshop 3 on MAC OS 7 or Windows 98 with 64 MB of RAMwith 1GB drives.

I am a software engineer, new to Labview. I bought this one a few months ago for a limited-scale project at work. I now think that if I could get only one kit to get started with Labview, this would again be it.

The book has a nice balance of simple and intermediate techniques. It is pretty concise yet has good scope of coverage. The included Labview Student edition is Excellent and includes a ton of examples and many of the advanced features of the full product versions of Labview to get you introduced to some more meaty capabilities.

I highly regard reduncance in learning, but I knocked one star off the top because it is slightly too redundant, recycling thru previous material a little bit too much for my taste. The chapters appear to assume that there has been some time since your last session and you have forgoten a chunk of the last one. Or maybe they just wanted less linkage and interdependence between sessions. But do not let that stop you from getting this resource.

This is a book and smart software to learn and work. Very good for engineering students and labs.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0131999184/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

The book was in brand new condition and arrived within the time frame as promised.

To get started learning about LabView, I ordered a copy of the Student Edition of Labview 8 in October. It arrived, I installed it, everything was happy for a bit. Then I upgraded to Leopard. The installer complained, claiming the media was bad (I was very careful with the media, and even copying the media works fine & without error).

I called in to NI to see if they had any ideas.

They explained that LabView version 8.5 came out in August (remember I purchased this from Amazon in October; I'd unfortunately made the assumption that Amazon would be carrying the latest edition), and 8.2, the version that came with the book I bought, is not supported on Leopard. And apparently NI's policy, at least on student editions, is to require customers to purchase the new revision rather than offering upgrades.

I'm assuiming Amazon is still only selling the 8.2 edition (there's nothing I can find to indicate this book/software are 8.5).

Good book and software. I am currently a physics student taking a class that uses this software. I am fairly impressed with both the book and the software. If you plan on buying the full version don't bother with the student version. If however you are like me going to school and don't plan on buying the full version anytime soon then the student version is well worth the money.
Book is pretty easy to understand. It is almost a little too basic and slow moving but it is fairly thorough which is good.
It is nice to have the student version software so I can follow along with the examples in the book and try the exercises without having to head up to school to the lab.

These authors write clear, unembellished prose, with none of the annoying attempts to be cute or excessively colloquial one finds in many computer books. The information is generally accurate and more up-to-date than most. Those who seek a comprehensive understanding of PC hardware should take a look at this book.

When I first got this book, I thought it looked good. Now I think it is great. I eventually took it in to the I.T. department where I work, we love it. I have already used it's section on SCSI to help solve a LVD termination problem. All the tables, especially the tables that show the various CPUs and their features, are awesome. It's a nice big book, with lots of stuff in it.

I recommend this book very highly. It is a truly accurate and complete volume. There is a wealth of information available, including some very up-to-date information that I haven't found in some other recent publications. This is an indispensible manual that any computer enthusiast should not be without.

This is the WORST hardware book I have ever purchased. Not only are there errors in technical data, but I have found that the information that was correct, looks as if it were taken from a different publication. This book is lacking in content and accurate technical data. If you are a serious Computer Tech I DO NOT recommend you purchasing this book.

This is *NOT* one of those watered down "dummies" books. If you have a hardware question, or want to know more about some particular piece of hardware this is THE book. It covers some very useful topics like the difference between IRQ 2 and 9, the speed difference between SCSI and ATA-66, what many of those cryptic BIOS settings are and what they do to get the most speed out of your machine.

I ordered Photoshop 7 Savvy because I wanted to get deep with Photoshop. While I consider myself a novice user, I have done enough work with the program to make basic manuals redundant. This book fits the bill nicely. It covers some basics and it gets more advanced as number of chapters increase. I would have given it 5 stars except for the many typos I've found. Many of the keyboard shortcuts are simply wrong and will confuse, or worse discourage, someone who is new to photoshop.

Overview.
I am impressed with the quality of the content of this book from the Savvy range. I am sure that as programs get better, so does the production of how-to books associated with them. Possibly because not all the information needs to be re-written, now that the good programs don't have to re-invent the wheel with each new issue.

Features.
Easy to read and understand without talking down to the reader.
Useful lessons, in a sensible format.
Removes the mystique from a complicated program.
Gives good examples of problems likely to be encountered by the average user, and the means to correct them.
Includes instructions on the use of ImageReady.
I felt that a little more time could have been spent on explaining the use of curves and levels, with more examples. These are the major image preparation tools for photographers and graphics manipulators, although what is here is well explained. These two elements of Photoshop alone, could probably have books written about them.

Bottom Line.
This is more than just a useful book on the use of Photoshop 7. This book is one that can be used for any edition of Photoshop. Some of the commands may differ, but the new features of version 7 are highlighted as you go. The rest is a good book on using Photoshop, and why things work the way they do. The book contains a CDrom with tutorials that relate to examples and instructions, and some free and demo programs to enhance your work.

Book Description.
A paperback book of 600 pages broken into 5 sections.
1. Photoshop Core contains most of what you need to know to use Photoshop of any release.
2. Part 2 deals with colour and how it works.
3. Part 3 is more advanced, and teaches about the retouching and manipulating of images.
4. Part 4 is devoted to the Web, and how you can use Photoshop with digital video.
5. Appendices, which contains tool descriptions, file formats and most importantly, blending modes, how they work and what they mean.

To use Photoshop you really need to understand the way that the different commands affect the image that is being worked on. This book does a good job of explaining these things. If you know what is supposed to happen when a command is applied, and why you would use that command instead of another, you are much more empowered than just following a rote learning system.

Every program has it's own jargon, and a lot of the graphics programs, because they come from a print based background, use terms that can confuse the beginner. If you don't believe me, try explaining a clipping group to someone with no knowledge of this type of program.

The descriptions of how to repair old and torn images is very good, and most useful for professional and hobbyist alike. Photoshop 7 has a healing brush which is like a glorified clone tool to make this job easier, but other versions can use the same principles.

Not too much time has been spent in detailed use of all the filters, except for the most useful ones, and the others are explained in an easily unserstood way. Filters can be used to excess very easily, but once again, if you know what is likely to happen when a filter is applied, you can use them sensibly, and this book takes time to put that point across..

There is quite a large section on image preparation for the Web, and there are good tips on how to reduce file size without sacrificing quality. Also, a lot of time has been devoted to print needs as well, and the differences between the two fields.

There are descriptions of the different file formats and when and how to use them, along with descriptions of some of the more obscure settings that appear when saving or exporting files. Normally you just accept the defaults, but with understanding comes more control.

Type gets it's own section, and it is a very detailed one. This is all good and useful typography information, as the new version of Photoshop offers more flexible use of text, which is treated as vectors and not rasterised as before. For earlier versions, do your text in another program and then import it as an image file, but there is some sensible help here.

Layers are covered mainly by use of a hands on excercise, which is probably the best approach for those unfamiliar with this incredibly powerful aspect of all graphics programs. They are not too difficult to understand, but are best explained in a practical way.

The index section at the back of the book is large and detailed and a really useful resource. This consists of, A. Tool Tips, B. File Formats, C. Blending Modes, D. Keyboard Shortcuts. Maybe this section will get overlooked, but resist the temptation to skip it. Having read the rest of the book, this section is a useful quick reference on tools and what they do.

It is no secret that I like the Sybex Savvy series, just from reading two of them, but I think that the formula that is being used is a good one, and I guess that progress in the field of written information must change as we think differently about what was useful a few years ago, and what is applicable in the more sophisticated world of programs that we now have.

When I first got Photoshop 7 I really didn't know much about it, however after I bought the Photoshop 7 Savvy book I became much more experienced with Photoshop 7. I was able to explore new areas within the Software that I would have never discovered on my own. There are lots of good tutorials for advanced layering techniques and advanced selection tools that can be very useful for the first timer in Photoshop.

The only thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars is the fact that it did not explore much into advanced filtering techniques. There are so many interesting effects you can create using the filtering tools and this book hardly covered any of them. Other than that this book is great.

As a constant "student" I am always looking for new books to give me a great handle on a program.

Photoshop 7 Savvy is not only a new book, but also one that has a somewhat different taste than most other Photoshop how-to books.
The book was quite thorough in the new features of Photoshop 7, which was the main reason behind this pruchas, and I liked the different graphics and illustrations incorporated with the lesson tutorials, but as for the set up of each lesson, I didn't find it completely effective.

I already had a fairly strong handle on the software, and was looking for a book to update me fully on Photoshop 7 since it has been a while since I have used Photoshop at all...

There is a lot of cramming information regarding features, etc, before you actually get to a tutorial to solidify the knowledge. Then, the tutorials have a tendency to be "half-completed" leaving me feeling like the teacher did the hard part before I just finished it off. Admittedly, this might be effective for a lot of people but for me, I felt that I was a little ripped off - I learned how to select in one chapter, but in the next, it had all been done for me, and the focus was on something else. Effective for quicker learning, but not for thorough application -

As for everything else, it is extremely complete when it comes to exploring features, new possibilities, etc, but I still don't feel as attached to it as I do my other favorite Photoshop books. It boils down to great content, fabulous and new tutorials, great exploration of each possibility in the software, but lack of thorough application for the user, and a lot of cramming before getting to a point where the new knowledge can be used.

PHOTOSHOP 7 SAVVY
AUTHOR: Steve Romaniello
PUBLISHER: Sybex
REVIEWED BY: Barbara Rhoades

BOOK REVIEW: The first thing that is noticeable in Photoshop 7 Savvy is the color images that goes with each chapter are not included in the chapter but rather in a center section. It is very inconvenient to have to flip to this section to see in color what the chapter is describing.

For anyone new to Photoshop, Photoshop 7 Savvy is a wealth of knowledge about all the wondrous abilities Photoshop has available to the artist. Retouching old photos, creating backgrounds, warping images or text, changing color to Black and White, enhancing the color of a photograph, the ability to work in levels, and, of course, making the graphics web-ready are all explained in this book. There is also a section on Digital Cameras and resolution and image versus monitor resolution.

A CD is included and contains the images so you are able to work through the tutorials in the book. There is also a demo of Photoshop 6 Learning Studio by Sybex, an interactive trainer and reference to the features of Photoshop. This allows you to learn at your own pace and go back over anything you are unsure of or just want to review again. And finally, the CD contains a trial version of Photoshop-friendly plug-ins.

This book has over 600 pages of insightful and power-packed information for getting the most out of Photoshop 7. It will become a Bible for anyone needing the most from Photoshop.

Very useful guidance,hints and tips - really helps me get the most from my camera.

This book is great an amateur like myself. It gave me the courage to try some new things and made digital photography both easy and fun. I would recommend this book to anyone who is just starting out with a digital camera or someone who wants to learn to get the full potential from their camera.

202 Digital Photography Solutions contains much useful information for anyone wanting to learn more about photography, including topics often barely touched on by similar books, e.g., caring for lenses. Yet the reader is not overwhelmed by useless detail. The information is well chosen and well organized, and the numbered "tips" layout is easy to follow.

There are two problems with this book. One is that the author's somewhat offbeat sense of humor eventually begins to grate on the reader's nerves. Must every pun and play on words be explored? He'll warn about creating "dark shadows" and then add ("like the tv series"). And on and on.

The other problem is a more serious one. The sample photos are all in black and white, and are so badly printed that they detract from the book's effectiveness. There is nothing visual to inspire the reader or amateur photographer. Eventually one may wonder why, if the author knows so much about photography, his photos are so bad?

If you have a camera with any manual settings and know how to use them this book may be too basic for you. As another reviewer mentioned the images are poor quality, which can make it difficult to discern the point being made.

If you're new to photography in general this isn't a bad book. If you're beyond that look elsewhere.

As of the copy I bought this book is no longer really up to date with the latest techniques and the latest version of PS - CS2.
As a senior Vfx artists there was some stuff of interest but it would be much better for a student than a practicing VFX artist.

It is not a waste of time but it would be nice to see more on newer things like Smart objects, HDR, layer groups and alike. It would be worth checking out if there is a new edition.

This is by far a very informative in-depth guide to advance on the subject of or brush up on Photoshop and VFX skills even for the amateur "that's me" and there's an ample amount of books out there to choose from. I would say that this is worth checking out.

there are hundreds of books on Photoshop but none that have been made specifically for VFX Artists. Except this one.
VFX Artists means those that create the materials and do the mapping for 3D objects as well as Matte Painters.
Although targeted for the intermediate to advanced user you don't have to know much about photoshop to read this book. Lopsie invests the first 92 pages to explain all the basics and make sure that everybody will be able to follow the following chapters.

Part two is all about textures. She introduces her own version of a UV-testing checkerboard which is (as her example clearly shows) better suited for checking the correct alignment of all UVs than the standard black-and-white checkerboard often used for mapping-tests.
She also explains how to create your own tileable textures from any photo, even when the tiles on the photo have been shot in a non-orthographic angle.
She shows how to create custum brushes for dirt maps, create actions and lots more.

Part three is about matte paintings. Having read that Lopsie Schwartz has been doing work for "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", and "Hollow Man" i thought that this chapter would be filled with inspiring examples of fantastic matte paintings, fantasy landscapes and so on. Well, it's not. But that's okay. If i just wanted inspiration and examples i could have ordered "the invisible art" by by Mark Cotta Vaz and Craig Barron. What she does instead might be less stunning but more valuable: she shows how to handle common tasks and problems. Such as removing unwanted elements in a photo, how to sharpen images using the highpass filter, reduce the noise, extract portions of an image, change the color of objects and scenes, merge two photos into one, change a daylight scene into a night scene (pictures on the front cover show before and after) and the list goes on ...

Lopsie Schwartz has a very nice way of writing and explaining things. She also has humour. Reading the book is a joy.

The book is all in color. Pictures for the exercises can be downloaded from the publisher's website.

Summary:
Adobe Photoshop for VFX Artist is a great book and covers a topic that has been left out so far, even though there are already so many books on Photoshop. It might not cover everything you need to know but i believe it's the best way for you to get started.

You will make nothing cool in this book as far as examples, tutorials go, but what it will do is concentrate on solid methods you can use to get the most out of photoshop. Most content is geared toward small tweaks, processes you can use to add quality to your work. For example, most people use the unsharp mask or sharpen tools to crispen images, in addition to this, she will show you some lesser-known features such as high-pass, which may give better sharpening results in many situations. This whole book is based on stuff like that. So if you are interested in exploring lesser-known ways of going about things, then you should get it. My guess is that intermediate artists would benefit the most from this. Even beginners will get something out of it. All in all this is a good title.

This is not a "how to" book in any sense, but it can provide inspiration when the "visual arts muse" has abandoned you. I keep this book around for those moments when I am looking for ideas, or when I just can't figure out how to create a certain effect that I can see perfectly in my mind. The broad overviews of what it took to create the different images will drive beginners nuts, but will provide more experienced Photoshop users with enough information to charge "gaily forward" into their own creative endeavors!

Digital Wizardry is not a tutorial nor a "How to" book but a "How I did It" book describing the author's step-by-step creation of a selection of complex Photoshop images from the inception of an idea to finished commercial product. This book is geared for the accomplished professional, preferably in the advertising field. However, one must be fully competent in the use of advanced Photoshop skills to utilize the described techniques. For that target audience this book could warrant 4 stars (I don't qualify to judge). For a beginner, its usefulness is limited.

Good production quality and nice photos but it should be clearly marketed to an advanced audience.

Reading Bryan Allen's step-by-step instructions on how he combines photography and computer graphics is like watching a magician explain how a complex trick is performed. The book is facinating reading, and Allen is indeed a genius at how he formulates his ideas and executes his plans to create amazing images. This book is a must for anyone in the photography/imaging field.

This is not a "how to" book in any sense, but it can provide inspiration when the "visual arts muse" has abandoned you. I keep this book around for those moments when I am looking for ideas, or when I just can't figure out how to create a certain effect that I can see perfectly in my mind. The broad overviews of what it took to create the different images will drive beginners nuts, but will provide more experienced Photoshop users with enough information to charge "gaily forward" into their own creative endeavors!

The End of Software is a well written book about the opportunities and challenges of Software as a Service (SaaS). Not only does it go over key concepts, but it illuminates these with apt examples.
Software as a Service has tremendous potential and this book explains why.
The book focuses definitely more on the benefits of SaaS and does not cover some of the challenges that SaaS has, e.g. usability, service integration and others. HTML is very good for several scenarios, but it does fall short in some areas and simply should not be used. But today with Flash/Flex and Silverlight there are solutions that address several of these short comings in the usability area. Similarly, integration products make it easier to integrate SaaS solutions with on-premises software, so the barriers for getting more SaaS solutions to the market are getting less and less.
For anyone getting a good grounding on SaaS I can definitely recommend this book.

While there are strong arguments in favor of the software on demand model of usage and Dr. Chou makes most of them, he also sometimes descends into a rambling state. There is some repetition and some irrelevancies; my estimate is that ten percent of the material could have been left out. Dr. Chou is the president of Oracle on Demand, so of course he has a vested interest in praising the software on demand model. Nevertheless, he does a reasonably good job of keeping his prose from reaching the level of evangelisms.
The software on demand model is one where the user essentially rents the software on an on-demand basis. When needed, the latest version is either downloaded or run directly on a server. The primary advantage is one of remaining current. The present situation regarding regular security patches is only marginally viable. Nearly all system managers live in fear of failures whenever a new service pack or patch is installed. The recent situation with the latest Microsoft XP service pack is a case in point. When a vendor has to include a list of all the applications that will fail after the service pack is installed and how to get them functional again, then there is a major problem. If the software runs on the vendor's server, then this problem is alleviated.
This will also prevent the current problems with unpatched systems. IT people are generally swamped and the fear of crashes after installing a patch is one of the primary reasons why patches are not applied. Many of the recent systemic viral/worm attacks occurred well after a patch that could prevent it was available.
Of course, there are problems with the distributed computing model. It will require that all vendors have bulletproof servers and connections. It would only take a small amount of downtime or a major security breach to convince many customers that they prefer to have the software on their machines. Also, the current model forces application developers to create significant upgrades. For if they don't, users will continue to use the older versions and the revenue stream will dry up. Therefore, if an oligarchy or monopoly were to develop, innovation could suffer. Finally, since the models for on demand software are not yet clearly delineated, no one knows how providers will interact with their customers. Many people have doubts about how this will work, and the recording industry has recently engaged in some disturbing legal actions. These actions could be unique to the recording industry or a precursor to how the on demand world would function. While Chou does mention some of these problems, they are not delved into in great detail, which is a weakness of the book.
If you are someone whose portfolio includes the planning of organizational software usage, then you should read this book. The strengths outnumber the weaknesses, so if you read it keeping the perspective of the author in mind, then you will learn the most significant aspects of a new way of "consuming" software.

Although titled The End of Software, the book really doesn't mean that. It's about outsourcing the IT function along the lines of EDS, IBM's Global Services, or Oracle On Demand. As president of Oracle On Demand, most of the busines stories concern successful contracts where Oracle On Demand has set up or replaced the IT department in a number of companies. What the title means is that the end user does not buy the software, he buys the service provided by that software. There's still an awful lot of software involved.

There are clear advantages to this kind of outsourcing. The big outsourcing companies have exonomies of scale, they can buy dozens or thousands of computers, all just alike. This minimizes the maintenance effort, they can upgrade the software on all units cheaper than a company can do it on a few machines. It improves reliability, they can use this machine if that one is broken. They can fully understand the laws, such as the privacy laws relating to human resources information. And they have many other advantages.

Unfortunately this does come with some disadvantages as well. For one thing, they use standardized software packages, if your application fits, that's great, otherwise, well....

Then you have to be of the right size. Too small and they're not interested. Too large and you probably have your own legacy systems that switching off may lose you a lot of historical information.

This is an interesting book, well worth reading if you are in the IT department of a middle sized business. It clearly explains the advantages of the outsourcing business model.

Directed at a nontechnical reader, Chou suggests why a radical turn towards a new model of on demand software might help your company. He cites the massive cost that companies already pay, in maintaining software. From annual licensing fees to the cost of sysadmins to manually install patches and upgrades. Chou points out, as have others, that the Total Cost of Ownership can be several multiples of an initial outlay.

Therefore, his branch of Oracle advocates a utility-like approach. You buy capacity on an as-needed basis. There are possible trends, like an increased automation of patches and upgrades, that aid his case.

Left unsaid in all this is how Oracle is playing catchup. For example, IBM has devoted massive resources in this field, under such names as Globus, utility, grid, autonomous and on-demand computing. This book is rather skimpy. Apart from general statements, I kept searching in it for more details. A far more substantial book is "On Demand Computing" by Fellenstein (IBM Press). You may want to check that book instead.

I thought this was a pretty good introduction to Matlab with lots of accessible examples. I liked the whole book except the part on GUI which I felt was to cursory.

My criticism is that the section on creating GUIs with GUIDE needs to be beefed up. I have yet to find an book that really explains how to use GUIDE clearly so that the user can get some basic functionality such as using a GUI to get user input for a simulation. It would be useful if a MATLAB manual such as this one discussed how a programmer should go about building a MATLAB application that includes a GUI interface. GUIDE has alot of built-in structure that is not intuitive (at least to a non-programmer such as me). It would be great if a guidebook could break it down in enough detail that one is not left wondering about "handles" and "gcbo" and how the code behind the GUI really works. There needs to be more of a blueprint/roadmap to the GUIDE-generated code and the framework that one must work within to make GUIs. How to you get values to use as parameters for a function. How do you pass values to the GUI to display results, or dynamic content. All the examples use code typed right into the GUI's M-file. But what about if you have bigger projects that you want to add a GUI interface too?

Overall, a good book which does live up to its title by providing "essential" basics of Matlab.

This book isn't bad, but it does leave a lot to be desired. I was hoping for a comprehensive desk reference on commands, syntax, and maybe even suggestions on strong and concise code for frequently used and frequently problemmatic routines (ie, iterations and for if elseif until stuff). If you are also looking for this, DON"T GET THIS BOOK. If you have some limited programming knowledge and just want to get an overview of Matlab so you can play with it, this would be a fine book. It's written so that it is meant to be used hand in hand with the often inscrutable matlab help files. But if you need a more authoritative source for lengthier and more difficult programs, look elsewhere.

I have just finished teaching a semester course on Mathematical Programming and Modelling with MATLAB. The students each obtained a copy of the book and I worked through the book with them. The book has very good exercises but I augmented these and, more or less, sat back and watched the students teach themselves in front of the computers. Some of the students had no programming experience at all. This text allows for that situation and gives good advice to the novice. All the students passed the exams, some with 100%. I have the exams as TEX files, if anyone is interested to see what the students can learn in thirteen weeks with the aid of this book. The book is slightly dated now and a few of the MATLAB functions, such as SETSTR, have become obsolete. Of course, this is not a problem and I recommend this book to both students and lecturers.

This is a very helpful introduction to Matlab, which can be used by complete beginners and also more experienced users. I think this is one of the better if not the best of the current batch of introductory Matlab books.
In addition to the usual material there are good simple discussions of logical vectors, GUI's, vectorizing code, simulation and numerical integration/differential equations- enough to give you a sensible start.