Hardware Books

If your do not read these you are definitely missing out on some of the neatest hack ever.

This is a really nice magazine for anyone who loves tinkering with electronics. We are trying to find the old issues we have missed and Amazon is definitely the right place for that. The mags are pretty expensive for the subscription but are really resonable here.

I have a job with a lot of "reading time", so I bring books to work. This book was GREAT for studying at work - the illustrations helped me grasp new concepts and techniques about Photoshop, without having my computer in front of me! The book is lavishly illustrated (hence the "visually" in the title) and this is a great learning aid. A lot of the information stuck in my brain because I could see a visual reference in the book. It's also a good book to just thumb through, and find out how to use a new technique.

I wouldn't want to rely on it as my *only* Photoshop book, but I found it to be a great study aid. I intend to get the Photoshop 6 edition, since I have recently upgraded my software. The only downside to this book is that all the screenshots are of Windows! Since I use my Mac for most Photoshop work, I wasn't crazy about all the Windows screenshots - but I survived! ;-)

I found this book to be refreshing compared to the other overly thick manuals that are available for beginners of photoshop. The pictures make it so much easier to understand some of the complex concepts involved with this graphic application. Also they do not try to overload the information. It is dispenses it bits and pieces, which is so much easier to understand.

3D graphics are exciting because they look so realistic. Yet few books go beyond the basics and the mechanisms. Using different programs (from Photoshop to Strata StudioPro to Lightwave to 3D Studio MAX), this book shows you how an artist's mind let itself be expressed beautifully.

After working through another of Bill's books(Advanced 3D Photorealism Techniques),I was anxious to see what this book had to offer.I was not the least bit dissapointed!Bill continues to inspire with his methods of teaching,not doing the work for you,but causing you to use your own creativity to learn.Overall,I am very pleased with this book and would recommend it to anyone serious about being creative in digital art!

This is an excellent resource for anyone who is looking to negotiate Fedora. The book is very direct, pragmatic, and well written. The author speaks clearly and has the material organized in a manner such that it can be applied directly and understood easily. I have been working on the CompTIA Linux+ exam, and this book has taken me 'to the next level' in terms of understanding what is going on and how to apply it. An absolute beginner to computers would be best to look for something more basic. A beginner to Linux may take a bit of time to absorb the material. I'm convinced there's something in here for anyone who is into the Linux OS.

This book is great! I covers alot of things I need to understand & know. I know basic linux commands & when work wanted to implement a fedora core 5 server I knew I had some work to do. There are many things that this book has shown me that I am able to do more than just find, grep, and ps commands that this book has taught me do actually use! A definate MUST buy for anyone useing core 5 applications (and you are not a master already)

Ever since I failed my 70-291 test, I've supplemented all my certification studies with these shortened Exam Cram books. They always provide a great summary of what I've learned the 3 weeks or so I spend studying more detailed guides.


This one SEEMED a bit longer than the others, but there is alot of material for this test. Either way, I was able to read it in about a week (just 1 chapter each day, less than an hour), and it really explained things much clearer than MS books. The difficult concepts from the material fully sunk in, and I felt twice as confident for the test - which I aced with an 826.

I've also used the Exam Crams for the 70-291 and 70-293, but this just clearly has been the best so far. It reads very smooth - the author has a natural way with words, and turns simplicity into an art form.

I wish I could give a more detailed review of where it helped me most, but it's been a few weeks now and I'm on to my next test. On the positive, I don't remember any errors - spelling or technical. The study guide I'm reading now has already had a handful of errors in just 5 chapters!

After this book, I am giving much more consideration to using the full Exam Cram study guides for my tests! Bravo to Que - books of this quality should just boost their reputation into outer space.

My thoughts - HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

As it says in the introduction, this book does not teach you everything you need to know about a topic, it is aimed strictly at test preparation and review. The authors have studied the test and put together a guide that if diligently worked will almost certainly enable you to pass the test. 70-294 is one of the core exams that everyone gaining an MCSE must pass.

This book contains a number of parts that are designed to provide information on the test. The first thing in the book is a Cram Sheet that provides key facts about the exam. This is a brief document, but covers the general areas with which you should be familiar. This is followed by the main part of the book, broken down into nine chapters. The chapters concentrate on a major area of the test and are followed by a short examination. Following this are the two complete practice examinations and their answers. [...]

I used these books in conjunction with Microsoft Official Curriculum. I passed all four of these tests on my first attempt. I do not have as much experience as others but I really worked hard with this material and the MOC.

One pet peave about the computer simulation. The design is great and it mimicks the test fine. However there are about 150-180 questions in each book, each test uses 50 random questions. However the second time you take the test, the questions are random again, meaning you can get some of the same questions twice.

My recomendation for passing MCSE. Exerpience, if you don't have much be prepared for some hard work to catch up. You will need the eval copies of server at least if not pro as well. Use all of the tools and services that each test covers for a good 30 minutes each, preferably much more, so you know what each one does and looks like. Next buy the Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit. It is rather expensive, hint you can probably find it slightly cheaper at an all IT bookstore. Finally each section of these books gives references to chapters in the Resource kit. Read each of these chapters and practice again with the services with your eval copy. Pay special attention to the troubleshooting sections. Next take the test on the computer once. You should score above 60% if not you really shouldn't be doing this, because you obviously are not motivated enough to study the material thoroughly. Then review you problem areas. Finally open the book and do EVERY last question and understand why you got it right/wrong. This should be enough for you to pass.

Good Luck
krkeegan.com

Study for the MCSE 2000 and think you ready for the actual exam? Want to make sure you have done the final prep? The readiness review may be the answer to those questions and more.

The complete set covers the four core exams as well as the accelerated exam. The books are made for the final prep and not for those looking for the one stop answer; you'll need other material along with this set of books.

Breaking down each exam objective the topics discussed is in an exam cram like design followed up with a few review questions. There are screen shots to bring a more visual effect to the learning environment and overall the information is good.

There are too many topics to list but a few are installation and configuration of Windows 2000 Professional and Server, DNS, DHCP and active directory. The cd-rom included has practice tests on all 4 exams.

Overall Microsoft bundle a nice package and the prices is good. The software installed without a hitch and worked with Windows 95, 98, NT and 2000.

New Riders has done an outstanding job of formatting and explaining X.500 directory services in this book. Windows 2K is an enormous departure from the 4.0 environment and this book does a great job of not only relaying the info you need to pass the exams, but also can be a very handy desktop reference.. Tim McDuff MCSE,MCP,CLS

New Riders has done an outstanding job of formatting and explaining X.500 directory services in this book. Windows 2K is an enormous departure from the 4.0 environment and this book does a great job of not only relaying the info you need to pass the exams, but also can be a very handy desktop reference..

Well written text. Clear, easy to follow instructions. Will give you all you need to start programming.

This book is an excellent example of how an IT book should look like. Explaining the depths of .Net Framework, as well as using J# and Asp.net. It's a shame that a great deal of people do not pay attention to the importance of J#. J# is the best way for Hardcore Java programmers to combine their knowledge of Java with the superiority of .Net Foundation classes in order to produce Windows Applications. J# is a very good option for Asp developers, who would rather use Java for their applications, rather than Jsp. The war on the future of Java has begun, and C# and J# together are tough to beat.

I can't believe there is only one other review of this book on here.

This book is the most detailed and complete reference to Windows 2000 Server I've ever seen -- period. Additionally, as the review before mine mentions, the information contained within is still very relevant and useful for troubleshooting Windows 2003 Server based networks, so don't be put off by the title if you're looking for something to help you administer Win2K3 Server as well.

This book has almost no "fluff" in it, either. To give you an idea of its detail and completeness, the chapter on "Active Directory Diagnostics, Troubleshooting, and Reovery" is almost 200 pages long and full of detailed information I've never seen in any other book on Win2K or Win2K3.

I don't think Microsoft put out an upate to this, which is too bad, but it's still relevant today and will be for the next couple years, at least.

I always liked Microsoft Press Books and when there is some subject I must look for, my first priorities is to look in Microsoft editions if there is something related to it.
This Book has tons of invaluable information regarding Server 2000 o/s in lots of subjects and in such a level of detail that administrators with experiemce levels from little to very advanced, will definitely benefit from this book. It certainly is a valuable volume with information that is very helpful for providing resources and theory to help in Microsoft exams preparation also. Of course this is not a book solely indended for that purpose. It is mainly intended to provide resources, like all so called "Resource kit" books do, for better and efficient o/s maintenence and configuration, in the many many fields it covers. I give this book 5 stars because I realize that not a single day passes without referring to it. No Microsoft Administrator should miss this heavy volume. Get it and will be rewarded. To my opinion, you can be benefited from the material in this book even if you started your administrative career with Windows server 2003 o/s. it covers topics that 2003 server related books do not, at least not in that extent, maybe because they take ii for granted that most of 2003 admins have gained experience already from working on Windows 2000 environments.

This bundled set of books contains just about everything it is possible to know about Windows Server 2003. Well, maybe not everything, but everything you can include in four thousand six hundred and fifty pages, yes, 4650 pages.

In one slipcase, there are eight separate Microsoft manuals:

Windows Internals (4th Edition)
Windows Group Policy guide
Windows Security Resource Kit (2nd Edition)
Windows Server 2003 Performance Guide
Windows Server 2003 Troubleshooting Guide
Windows Registry Guide (2nd Edition)
Windows Administrator's Automation Toolkit
Windows Server 2003 Tools and Digital Resources (on CD)

The CD contains more material than the rest of the books put together including (guaranteed to be true as it contains all of the manuals just listed in eBook form),
More than 300 esential tools and utilities,
And collections of Technical References on:

Active Director
Core Operating System
Group Policy
High Availability and Scalability
Networking Collection
Storage Technologies
Windows Security

It would be pointless to talk about the contents of each book here as they are already described under their individual titles. What you get in the bundle is: lower price than when purchased individually, extra material on the CD, and a cardboard slipcase to keep them in.

The 2003 performance guide was probably one book that's worth the price of this entire package. Mark Friedman, the author of Windows 2000 Performance Guide, wrote this book for resource kit. That explained why he never published a follow-up of his famous 2000 performance book. The other books in the kit were also extremely helpful. This is THE set of reference book to get for authoritative Windows 2003 information. Also included is a disc with all the ebook versions of everything, including some bonus books not in the resource kit. So stop Googling for unreliable second hand information, and get your stingy boss to cough up the money for this must have tool.