Applications Books

I have loved this since I was a kid. I only have it on tape (I'm old). Once you get used to the actors and once you stop trying to compare it to the movie, you will like it.

The only scene I hate is the one where Vader is torturing Leia. It is laughable. Actually, you should listen to it because I guarantee you will laugh it is so poorly done.

I remembered listening to this production on NPR when I was a kid and now that my own children have discovered Star Wars I decided to share this version with them on a recent trip to visit grandma. We loved it! The Star Wars story is expanded and the writing and voice acting is so well done that it will keep the kids and adults entertained. Our trip seemed almost too short because we enjoyed listening so much.

Don't waste money on a DVD player in the car. Stories like this one are much more entertaining and leave the special f/x to the imagination.

I recently wrote a review for the Return of the Jedi adaption on NPR which I gave a mere three stars. I cited poor directing, acting and lack of added material.

These complaints cannot be levelled against this, the first of the NPR dramatisations.
The acting is spot on, with Perry King providing a rougher verion of Solo that goes over well, as opposed to the next two adaptions where it begins to grate. Mark Hamil and Anthony Daniels are naturally perfect at the characters that defined them for a decade and more after the original trilogy finished. Bernard Behrens does a surprisingly good Ben Kenobi, and Brock Peters likewise with Vader. They are not Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones, but they're good enough not to cause problems.

The direction is great, and I never found myself noticing the obvious radio 'cues' which tell the listener what is happening. THe music and sound effects are good and the pacing is not rushed, unlike ROTJ.

And as for added material? Deducting front and end credits gives us roughly five and a half hours, nearly triple the length of the film. The vast wealth of extra material is great and never seems out of place.

In all I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in the Star Wars original trilogy.

In 1981, the phenomenally popular movie Star Wars was adapted into a radio drama. The series ran as 13 half-hour episodes. This being about three times as long as the movie, a lot of extra scenes were added, especially back stories for many of the characters. The only actors from the movie that reprised their roles from the movie were Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, but most of the actors taking over the other roles do a good job. Most Star Wars fans will probably enjoy this.

I have fond memories of myself eagerly awaiting each installment of this fantastic radio drama adaptation of the original "Star Wars" film back when it aired originally in 1981. Brian Daley did an excellent job via his superb scripts giving us more details of the relationships between Luke Skywalker and his Tatooine friend Biggs Darklighter and between Princess Leia and her father on Alderaan. We also learn here how Princess Leia obtained the technical plans for the Death Star. Both Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels give superb performances of their screen characters, Luke Skywalker and C3PO respectively. However, the rest of the cast is just as fine with a fine - if somewhat restrained - Darth Vader voiced by Brock Peters and Ann Sachs as Princess Leia. Both the sound effects by Ben Burtt and of course the original film score by John Williams are absolutely splendid. This is a spellbinding radio drama that should appeal to diehard fans of "Star Wars".

Build a personal library of information using free web resources with the help of Tomaiuolo's The Web Library: Building A World Class Personal Library With Free Web Resources, edited by Barbara Quint. The Web Library is simply packed with web links and updates, as well as assessments of the pros and cons of given reference sites. Anyone can use no/low cost Web resources to build a comprehensive personal library of data, documents and images: The Web Library outlines keys to locating such gold mines and includes interviews with librarians and leading content providers alike.

I usually steer clear of web site directory books because they become obsolete very quickly. This book presents more than lists of sites. It contains some unusual and even provocative information concerning whether it is preferable to read in hardcopy or online; it also has interviews with people who create content at the freebie sites and this gave me a fresh perspective on the availability of free resources. The best thing is that isn't chock full of screenshots, it's full of information.

I spend a lot of hours searching the web for work. I bought a copy of this book and it kept disappearing off my desk--borrowed by co-workers. Now I keep it locked in my desk drawer--they'll have to buy their own copies! Well done, Nicholas and Barbara! Hope to see more of your books in print.

This book was a wonderful book which I was pleased to share with my co-workers, most of whom are all resourceful men and women who search the internet for work. As a businessman, I must say that this book was incredibly useful in my many projects and has brought my company's profit up by 3%.

I was lucky enough to be given this book as a gift, because my parents know that I often use the web to locate information for school projects. It has tons of useful websites and is well-organized. I definitely recommend it.

I really wish I had discovered this earlier! I received it yesterday and have already fell in love with the wide array of add-ins that are included on the cd. The book is a great tool to quickly identify the effect that I want. This is a must-have for anyone who has Photoshop Elements!

The book isn't worth much, but the plugins are great. The one click stuff is a great time saver for me, and it really does make things look more snappy without too much hassle. Well worth it for the CD full of plugins!

I love this book. I've already used alot of the layer styles already. Lots of examples. Tons of ideas.

I have had Photoshop Elements 2 for over a year, but until I got this book and CD ROM I had no idea just how creative I could be with the program. There were a lot of effects that I tried to apply to my art but did not quite get the results I desired. This book has helped me unleash my "creative genius". As graphic design student, I have found it to be the best investment I have made besides my computer components. You will find the book helpful, as well, to view the layer styles before applying them to your art. I had found at first that I spent a great deal of time applying and deleting styles and effects before finding the right one, and then I read the book (duh!). I found full-color samples of all the different presets contained on the disk scattered throughout the chapters. It is a small book, but it is very content-rich.

I had used Photoshop 7 in the graphic design lab at school , but I could not afford to buy it. This book and PSE 2 together cost less than $100, and I have no problem duplicating lessons and completing projects at home that are supposed to be done using PS 7.

When Adobe introduced Photoshop Elements it had a low-end program for newcomers to digital photography. It based the cut-down Elements program on its expensive and complex main Photoshop program. However, when you buy Elements you are actually installing quite a lot of the main program (even though no menu commands exist to use new features), and people have been finding ways to exploit the advanced features of Photoshop that Adobe thought would be too complex for Elements users.

Several web sites and two books supply software to advance the capabilities of Elements. One book lets you use some of the professional-level features of the main program, and the other provides some wild effects. That book is the One-Click Wow book I'm reviewing here (the other one is Richard Lynch's The Hidden Powers of Photoshop Elements).

Years ago I wrote a book on Photoshop version 3, and even without enhancements Photoshop Elements 3 is close to being equal to it. The effects in One-Click Wow can be done in several steps in the Main Photoshop program, and in fact that's how they're produced. Unfortunately the effects are of the "take it or leave it" variety - there's no way of altering them - but luckily Jack Davis has produced effects that will appeal to most people.

Because this is a "cheat" and not an officialy approved set of program extensions, you have to manually copy the extensions from the CD to your hard drive. If Elements is running you need to reboot, and then you'll find them listed in the menus for Layer Effects and other places.

One set of extensions work on photographs, and as well as those allowing you to change the appearance of the whole photograph there are other effects that let you add frames or edges. There's a whole series of effects that allows you to change a photograph so that it looks like a painting.

The major set of effects works on graphics and type. They'll change your designs and words to look like chrome or many kinds of natural materials, as well as plenty that look like neon signs. In fact there are several hundred effects, as well as extra brushes and patterns.

It's easiest to see this product not so much as a book, but more like a software add-on with an instruction manual that gives examples of almost every effect - in full color. There's even a multi-page tutorial in using the effects which should explain all you need to know about how to use them.

Davis has been producing the Photoshop Wow books of effects since the beginning of the main program, so the effects here will make a major difference to your pictures. What I've also noticed is the way Davis crops his pictures which is a tutorial in itself - he crops very tightly and you can see the improvement.

So if you can see a copy of this book before you buy it, take a look because what you see is what you're going to get. For most people it's a no-brainer buy, especially since even if you had the main Photoshop program you'd have to do numerous activities on your pictures to equal what you get here.

For the price, it's an amazing bargain for the extra powers you get. I have both this and The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements, and the two of them make Elements a much more powerful and worthwhile program.

I bumped into this book by way of "Head First PMP", also written by Stellman and Greene. Because I liked the PMP resource so much, I thought I should give this book a chance and I was not disappointed. Packed with useful information, case studies and examples, this book is a resource any technical project manager will want to have in their collection.
One bonus I did not count on was the companion website which includes downloadable templates, PPT slides and other electronic assets.

Highly recommended!

This is a nice book, everything about it is so neat and nice. I am glad I purchased this book from Amazon.

Applied Software Project Management
Reviewed by Steven D. Sewell, PMP
Project Management Institute, Tampa Bay Chapter

Having been peripherally involved as a software release project team member in the past, I knew enough to get my piece of the puzzle delivered. The information in this book allows me to broaden my perspective and actually comprehend the picture I see on the puzzle box cover. The book is written in a straight ahead manner. If you are one who like examples of what is being discussed, then this book is for you. The use of clear definitions makes each topic understandable and the analogies make them memorable. Tables and scripts are used throughout to exemplify each tool and technique. Most useful in practice are the sections that aid in the diagnosing of problems that can be encountered. This book definitely hits its goal of delivering a practical guide into the hands of a software project manager. The only improvement would be to have "handbook" or "guide" placed somewhere on the cover.

This book covers concisely all the modern aspects os software project management, without the complexity found in more formal PM sources like the PMBOK. Moreover, the job of translating the broad and general concepts covered in the PMBOK to practical day-to-day scenarios is the major benefit from buying it. It won't, however, cover an specific issue like estimation to the level that enables you to be an estimator (this subject, for instance, is only 17 pages long), but will provide you the guidelines and references to additional material to do so.

Do you work for a software organization who where there are chronic problems producing software on schedule and without defects? If you do, then this book is for you! Authors Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene, have done an outstanding job of writing a practical book that describes the specific tools, techniques and practices that a project manager needs to put in place in order to run a software project or fix an ailing one.

Stellman and Greene, begin by showing you the vision and scope document. Then, the authors cover the wideband delphi estimation process. They continue by covering project schedules. Next, the authors show you how to do an inspection. Then, the authors discuss use cases. Then, they show you how to do configuration management. The authors continue by showing you how to test plans. They also introduce you to practices, tools, and techniques to your organization's culture. Next, the authors show you why it is important to understand responsibility, authority and accountability. Then, they show you how to prevent the most common sources of failure in outsourced projects. Finally, the authors show you why it's important to understand when process improvement is useful and when it isn't.

A project manager can use this most excellent book to diagnose and fix the most serious problems that plague software projects. More importantly, this book contains essential project management tools, techniques and practices, which have been optimized to be as straightforward and easy to implement as possible.

This book pulls together a number of sources from across the globe and gives an in depth explanations of a number of wireless architectures. It not only explaines key featuers of those architectures but also provides case studies which put them into context. Great for the budding and the experienced architect!

I was drawn to this book because I figured a big outfit like Cap Gemini Ernst & Young must have learned a lot, probably the hard way, showing clients how to build a wireless infrastructure that turns profits. And it turns out that's just what I found here. There are lots of examples in this book, ones from the best consultants in the world, that I can use with my own clients.

What I most liked about this book was the approach they used to provide business justification for technological decisions. It provides the approach necessary to avoid purchasing the wrong technology for the wrong reasons, ie: purchase it because it was featured in the latest tech magazine as the coolest technology when it really is a poor fit to our requirements.

This is a good read and a must buy.

An excellent collection of solid practical content, a book that can be chosen as an academic course to be taught in variety of engineering disciplines such as electronics, computer science, Internet Technologies, etc. because of its solid practical approaches to deliver solution as opposed to hypothesizing on untested value propositions.
In the era when many people rush to write books on any new technical catch phrase for the mere gratification of having authored a technical book that may augment their professional aspiration, the authors of "Wireless Enterprise Application Architecture" have provided the reader with a reference book that is a valuable knowledge source. Relatively small font size and condensed and to the point graphics that enhance readers understanding of major points discussed in the 630 pages of text are all indication of authors being the true subject matter specialists.
The views presented in the book are both from 35000 feet and at the landing level suitable for enterprise strategists as well as technical and tactical workforce.

I was doing research for our company's wireless project and came across this book. The chapters on wireless in the supply chain were excellent and highly relevant to my project. I wish I had known about them before I presented my findings to my colleagues. Either way, the book will serve as an excellent reference for my project.

Well, I finally finished the book. I guess I will join the many 5 star reviewers. After reading this book, I have a great foundation of all the features AE offers. I didn't want to do too much as far as working the tons of examples the book offers this go'round, I just wanted to learn the "language". Now I will go through the book again. This time tackling the projects along with my own ideas.

I was a novice going in, and still am to an extent, but the Meyer's takes the intimidation out of you and teaches you principles where when you do speak to other seasoned artist you understand and can execute anything they do.

I used this book after finishing up with the Meyer's fantastic "After Effects Apprentice" book. This book, "Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects", was a great way to firm up what I had learned from other sources.

Highly recommended!

Excellent and well supported work. Starts from the very basics and gets into the esoterics. I use this work as the primary resource for mastering After Effects.

This is a great book. It has a little bit of beginner stuff (enough to get you started if you don't know AE) and then goes into intermediate and pro stuff.

I would not consider this book to be only pro level techniques, but still full of good stuff. The content on the CD is really nice to add to the collection although some (well, all of the Artbeats stuff) is watermarked in the lower right corner. Most of the other footage is not.

This book makes a nice companion to After Effects Cs3 Studio Techniques by Mark Christensen (another awesome AE book)

--
Kevin

Advanced After Effects Motion Graphics is for the editor with some AE miles under their belt. It is not really a beginner book, but does start you off slowly with great step by step instruction. However, you will eventually need this book but buy it together with the Meyers' After Effects Apprentice which starts you off in the AE wourld. Any of the Meyers books are just what you need to learn AE. Highly recommended!!

This book covers all the basics about Quantum Mechanics for Chemists. I highly recommend it for all Chemist Students.

Don't let anyone tell you quantum mechanics is easy because it isn't. It is the hardest subject anyone can even attempt to learn. In my experience most books are written by people who are too brilliant and use maths which is too advanced for the average non-brilliant person to understand. This book is one of the best simple introductions to quantum mechanics I have read. Yes there is a lot of hard maths but let me assure you it is one book you should have on your bookshelf when you get totally lost and need to start again.

John

This is the best ever text in quantum mechanics. Every one which intents start in this field should read this book. It contains all the elementary steps to understand this difficult field in a language and in such detail which is not found any more in the modern books.

As an alum holding both undergrad and graduate degrees in a related field, I figured I would pick this title up for some pretty heavy reading. I was right. Even thought the title says "an introduction", there are several pre-requisites to understanding Quantum Mechanics, and the style of Linus Pauling's writing in general. The book reads very much like a textbook, and I would suggest at least a pretty good understanding of physics, mathematics, and technical writing before diving in. It's a great book, and a classic text. It's just not a casual Sunday read.

I read it once and don't use it too often. It's still an excellent book, but I think there are newer texts that are based on this one that may "look better" even though they cover the same topics. I enjoyed it very much. Pauling knew how to take a complicated subject and simplify (but not too much) it for ease of teaching.

Great, great book.

I put off writing a review on this book for a long time,...Since Mr. Wu is my teacher. I did not want anyone to think I was Jumping on the band wagon, when this first came to Paperback, So I waited to review it.
So here it is:

This book is probably the most needed book on Kung Fu, Gong Fu, Shaolin.
It is HUGE,.....I mean HUGE!!
It just doesn't get any better than this book.
This book is "SO" worth the money that it is ALMOST OBSCENE!!!
Buy it, I guarantee you will not regret it.

Very detailed book, exellent reference material, as well as gives some insites into different styles.I am very happy with it and it has helped me already. Highly recomended to anyone intrested in the martial arts of this type.

This book does not illustrate the visually captivating "flowery fist" kung fu often seen in the movies. It really addresses the root elements of kung fu.Not only does it cover the fighting elements but also the fitness and spiritual aspects as well. This is a must have for anyone interested in martial arts.

I think this is one of the most complete book on Wushu that I've came across.
It contains information on warmups, techniques, sanshou, chin na, and chi kung.
The appendix at the end of the book was very informative. It provides information about many of the Wushu figures and styles.
The only thing I was unclear on is how to actually apply the wushu techniques from forms in free sparring or fight. It seems that there is a disconnect between the techniques used in the forms and the techniques used in Sanshou. The technique used in Sanshou looked more like a combination of Kickboxing and throws or even jeet kune do.
Maybe for many people, it questions the usefulness of learning technique used in forms other than for training movements and calesnetics.

This volume is nothing but great. It covers all the things you'll need for your wushu training and is crammed with loads of extra information about styles, people, weapons and more.

I especially like the fact that it stresses jibengong, the fundamental excercises of wushu, and not taolu (form). The sanda applications are well explained and covers a lot of ground. A little bit more fighting strategy and tactics would be a good thing though. The explanations and presentation of neigong, the internal martial arts, are also very good. I think that neigong and qigong have to be felt and describing them in words is an impossible task that nobody ever will be able to do well, but Shou Yu Liang does a good job none the less. The glossary in the end is very impressive indeed. It has a LOT of entries of which many are illustrated. Very well.

My only real criticism of the work is that I don't think it covers wushu history well enough. It's too much of a runthrough and dosen't really give any in-depth information. It is a subject that is very dear to me so I guess I'm biased on that point. Also their explanation of the character wu (as in wushu)is not satisfactory. There are generally two mainstream theories in linguistic circles of the original meaning of the word (the most popular by far is Berhard Karlgrens) none of which is the one presented in this volume.

However, that is only a tiny complaint and it dosen't alter the fact that this is a very impressive book. It truly IS the best book on wushu in English. I live and train traditional wushu in Beijing and have trained for some 8-9 years. I am of the opinion that wushu cannot be learned from a book, no matter how good it is, but it can definitely help you improve and clarify things for you. This book is a very good reference, especially for beginners, but also for the advanced student. It offers a lot of information and is WELL worth the price.

This study bible is really an eye opener for a deeper understanding of so much. The commentary notes are so helpful, you could teach a sermon just from them. Who ever buys this will be so blessed. This bible also has studies in the back that you can also use. Auto biography's on so many patriarchs, disciples etc. I would highly recommend this bible to new believers on up.

Great for the beginner and scholar alike. Maps throughout so the reader can view the region where the passage is taking place. The print is a good size although it could stand to be a tad larger.

I originally bought this Bible in the hardcover version and have upgraded to this nicer one now.

I find the notes, maps and cross-references to be very helpful study aids. Some of the life application notes are geared toward the new believer or not-yet-believer but overall I think they are valuable to all.

The NLT is a very readable and, I think, accurate translation. For more indepth study, I use the ESV ESV, Thinline TruTone Bible (Chestnut Diamond, Red Letter)with this Bible and am very happy with this system.

I am so impressed with this Bible. It has so many helpful things including a HUGE concordance as well as lots of helpful notes on each page that help with understanding the Scriptures. The Bible is very nice looking and I am so excited about this purchase!

I received my NLT Study Bible with the beautiful tan leather cover about 3 weeks ago. I love reading it, as I find the NLT (New Living Translation) so easy to absorb and recall later. The notes and various study guides and commentaries really bring the Bible to life and will be very helpful for the new Christian, as well as those of us that have walked with The Lord for many years. I only have one "tiny" issue...that being as a 55-year old with not-so-perfect vision I find the print a wee bit small, but still very legible. There are large print editions, but they weigh a ton (bought one for my wife) and I wanted something a bit more manageable. Great version, great tranlation into modern American english, and a very handsome tan leather cover.

This is a wonderful book. I have had it now for almost a year and use it constantly. It reads like a recipe book, which makes it extremely user friendly. I use it alone and in conjunction with "Photoshop Elements: The Missing Manual".

I have another Photoshop book which is good but this one has additional info and different ways of doing things that helps. Only downside is the version it's based on is earlier than mine. But most of the suggestions that had changed, I could figure out.

I echo the comments from everyone else. This is the best choise book to buy to learn how to use this product.

I have uesed this book more than any book I have on photoshop. This is my seconed copy. My first I gave to a friend. Everyone who sees this book wants it. Mat makes everything so easy, you will wonder how you ever did with out it. I give this book five stars. I would love to give it 20 stars,but they only give me five. You will be working in elements and photoshop like a pro in one day. Debbie

I've used Photoshop Elements for several years. I started with Elements 2 & upgraded to PE3 a couple of years ago. I found it too complicated so I went back to PE2. The problem is, I never learned to use layers & fudged on restorations & enhancements. Some looked pretty good, some looked "fake". Without layers there was lots I couldn't do. I got the PE5 program a few months ago & thought I might be able to figure it out. I gave up until 3 weeks ago. That's when I got Matt's book. I have worked thru most of the book & love the detailed visual guide for each lesson. I don't want theory, I just want a simple explanation on how to do things. I can't say enough about this wonderful book. I was able to go to Matt's website & download all of the "before" photos that are in the book. I followed the instructions for each lesson using his photos. After finishing each lesson I worked with photos of my own. I can't imagine a better PSE how-to book than this!