Internet Books

Clear and concise, this book has taken me from knowing nothing about web design to publishing a site of my own in 3 weeks. While there is much more to learn, my site is running smoothly and 100% W3C Strict compliant.

this book is the greatest that i have read ever.
though that i have a little expiriance with HTML and CSS , but this book give you the actually way to write your code only at XHTML and CSS , with a great way of explaining .

I've been studying at web design and construction for over 10 years. Since I'm both dyslexic and limited in my short-term memory, I've had problems with doing more than just the basics. Understanding XHTML and CSS have been problematic for me, and I've had to rely on programs like Dreamweaver and Front Page to write my pages. This book is finally bringing home how web pages are constructed, and how CSS is used for both styling and positioning things. Virginia has put together the best method of presenting the material in a manner that I can comprehend, and hopefully retain. I've purchased a lot of books on web construction, but none have helped me as much as this one has, and continues to do. I'll keep it over all the others as a reference in the future.

Virginia DeBolt's newest book is an excellent resource for modern, standards based design. It combines the depth of a well qualified instruction with lively, real world examples of practical web applications. This book will save you so many hours of work and research by showing you how techniques have evolved and how each application meets the various standards. Webpage structure (including columns), various navigation methods, working with images and picture galleries, banners, links, blogs, and much more are all discussed. Also included (in color) are inspirational website designs showing these modern CSS based techniques.

In the course of designing our numerous large websites for parent support I have read over a dozen design and coding books on html and css, and this is one book I return to over and over again.

After having completed Microsoft's MCAD certification, I am using this text along with the Tom Carpenter text to prepare for MCTS and MCITP certification. Though I haven't taken the exam yet, the material appears to be covered in a thorough and in-depth fashion. Yet, it does not get bogged down in unnecessary detail.

Excellent book!

Well written and in depth, this book should cover everything necessary to pass these tests.

I have two complaints:

1) The book is laid out functionally for SQL Server, not for each test. So, for example, when you are studying for the 70-442, it may involve a portion of chapter 3, 4, 5, and 8, but all of 12 and 13. All this information is entwined with the stuff for the other tests.

2) You choose to only take one of the tests on the CD. For example - you couldn't say just test for the 70-441 test. I found the CD questions less useful than books dedicated to one test because of this.

These are minor complaints though, and I'm not really sure the issues can be avoided to begin with. Don't let them stop you from using this as your resource to pass these three tests.

For the 431 exam, I used the (Tom) Carpenter book as my primary study guide and this book as a side reference. My main reason for purchasing this book is for the next two exams (441,442). After taking the 431 test and looking up some questions I guessed at in this book, I regret not using this book as my primary study guide. This book seems to point out the exact information needed to get through the test. I look forward to using it for the next two exams. Note that the author of this book is the technical editor for the Carpenter book.

Update to previous review:
I just passed both exams (441 & 442) without difficulty and with plenty of time remaining (each exam took about 2 hours). This is definitely the book to use for these exams. The topics and sample questions are on target with the actual test. Be sure to review the topic list for each exam in the front of the book before taking the test. The 'what you need to know' section at the end of each chapter is not always accurate. Also - the explanation of cascade deletes is incorrect in the book.

The end-of-chapter exam questions were perfect for helping me know what I know and what I don't know. I already passed the 70-431 and 70-441 exams and the questions I looked at in the back of the chapters hit the knowledge needed to pass these exams.

Unfortunately I failed the 70-442 exam before this book was released. However, after reviewing the end-of-chapter exam questions, I saw exactly what I needed to brush up on. I spent several days in a marathon study session doing the exam questions in the back of each chapter for the 70-442. For anything I missed, I studied the material in the chapter. In addition to learning what I needed for the exam, I also learned a couple things I didn't know about in SQL Server 2005. I then took and passed the 70-442.

This book was just what I needed. I only wish I had it before I took the 70-442 the first time.

Measuring the User Experience is a good resource for practitioners who aren't well versed in making their user studies hold up statistically. Even if you're focused on qualitative usability tests with small numbers of participants, it's important to be aware of what you're not testing. The book also includes useful advice on judging nonverbal and emotional feedback from participants, and presenting results clearly to stakeholders.

This book is absolutely fantastic. I received my copy of it last night and stayed most of the night reading through it as I simply couldn't put it down. I've been working as an interaction designer / usability tester for a couple of years and this has overnight become my new favourite reference book. It's easy to read without glossing over essential detail (a criticism I have of many modern usability books). The advice on graph selection would make both Edward Tufte and Stephen Few proud. This book is filled with practical advice on how to communicate data, manage integrity and measure the user experience in a business setting.

I agree with the previous two reviewers that this book is a must have bible for everyone involved in usability evaluation.

Finally, a book that brings together all the best practices and methods for collecting, analyzing and presenting metrics for usability evaluations from all the best (and most reliable) sources. The book is concise and succinct, and draws so much of its content from industry research and experience. It's pure gold!

I simply couldn't believe that everything I have learned (through experience) and read (through research) over the last 7 years was put into one place!

In my opinion, this book will easily become required reading (as Jakob Nielsen's - "Usability Engineering") and used by those new to the field, and practitioner's as reference.

Evaluation is near and dear to my heart and this book is straight forward, easy to read and gets right to the point. It is pragmatic and practical -- exactly the kind of book practitioners need. But it is also nice for those of us that think of ourselves as applied researchers too. It not only talks about various measurements -- how to take them, how to present them, when to use them and their positives and negatives etc., but it also gives a briefing and/or references to the related research both pro and con.

I would rate this book as a "must have" for anyone that does evaluation.

I am please with my purchase. The book arrived on time, in vrey good condition.

If you think you are ready for the exam and are not sure what is going to be on the test, this is a great book. This is NOT to learn from if you do not know Microsoft Office, it is for someone who believes they know the material but don't know what they don't know.

I am a certified expert on Word 2002, and lately took a class at community college about what is new in Word 2007. I got hooked on the new Ribbon interface. I asked the teacher about any good books for the new certifications for Office 2007, and she recommended this one. This book is concise and direct. It is an excellent resource for anyone already familiar with Office who wants certification, and also great for everyone else who wants to see the features available in Office 2007.

This book is for those who already know how to use MS Office Applications, but need to either review or learn more advanced aspects of them in order to acquire business certification. It is well designed and easy to follow. A CD with practice exercises is included and very helpful. Be sure to review the system requirements before purchasing to ensure you will be able to run the CD on your computer.

I haven't taken the exams yet, so am only giving four stars!

You could accuse me of a little bias...i used to work for HP..and Tony Redmond is regarded as a legend.

All of that aside...this book is brilliant. It covers everything you want to know, in all the excruciating detail you need. I design E2K7 architectures in my line of work...and this book is always within a .5 second reach.

Thoroughly recommended.

This book is one of the best "computer" books I've read. Compared to another book "unleashed" about Exchange 2007, this one gets straight to the heart of Exchange and gives you the knowledge you really need. It doesn't waste half a book explaining things that Exchange administrators should already know. If you need to know how Exchange really works, this is the better book on the market right now.

I purchased Tony's book after I had previously purchased another book on Exchange 2007. I found the first book too overwhelming with regard to detail and found that I had to read paragraphs when one or two words would have been adequate. Tony Redmond knows his subject; so well that he knows what you need to know, and what you don't. My installation went without a hitch (well, maybe a small hitch here or there). Definately the book for the knowledgable network admin who has had some Exchange and other email experience. Extremely helpful.

Ive been reading Tony Redmond's Exchange books since the one written for Exchange 4.0 Ive only just started reading the latest one for Exchange 2007 and so far this book has exceeded my expectations. The differences in Exchange 2007 from previous versions are vast, but Tony passes on this knowledge to the reader in a gentle, logical and very readable fashion. I had to smile when previous versions of Exchange were described as "...more like a monolithic messaging behemoth"!

I loved this book and found it to be extremely useful...If you use FrontPage 97, get the 2nd edition of this book called FrontPage 97 Unleashed, which is also written by William Stanek

No other FrontPage book compares. Clearly Stanek knows everything there is to know about Web publishing and design with FrontPage AND he's not afraid to share it with the world.

Great examples!

Great insights!

Great organization!

Sams marketing team is asleep at the wheel on this one. This book should be packaged with the FrontPage software and there should be in store promotions everywhere! William, find a new publisher. Sams is doing you a disservice.

Microsoft's FrontPage 1.1 is great, but I NEVER would have learned how to get the most out of the software without this book. If you use FrontPage 1.1, I highly recommend this book. If you use FrontPage 97, get the second edition. Either way you won't be disappointed. This book answered every question I had and opened a whole new world of possibilities. William, your book truly made the difference

Best coverage of FrontPage 1.1, which I still use. If you use FrontPage97, the second edition of this book covers it in great detail.

This is by far the best ISA Server book on the market.
Worth every penny I paid for it.

This is THE book if you are looking to learn ISA 2004. It is structured in an easy-to-understand manner for windows admins who are familiar with Windows but may not have been exposed to ISA Server or are upgrading from ISA 2000. All in all this is the only book on the subject you'll need.

I found this book to be extremely helpful in understanding ISA architecture and how it might fit into our organization.

The book is well laid out, concise and readable. The first section lays out a high level view of ISA functions and provides a clear overview of how to assess which components are appropriate for solving specific network security issues. The section on deployment goes into more detail, explaining how to install and configure the various components of an ISA deployment. Part III on securing servers and services goes into the specific details of configuring ISA to protect messaging, web and RPC traffic.

Microsoft networking products continue to improve both in functionality and ease of use. Having guides like this make understanding and implementing new technology viable even for small organizations with limited budgets.

The book is poorly named. "Unleashed" suggests to me wild and wonderful things to do with complex features or even tricks and undocumented things. This is definitely a black Labrador on-the-leash kind of book, and it will get an administrator safely across the broad avenue that is an ISA installation. It's a great book in spite of the name.

I used "Unleashed" as a guide for installation of ISA Server 2004 (replacing ISA Server 2000) on the perimeter of a small office network that has ten servers on three different domains (including a web server and a mail server) and twenty workstations. I studied this book and Shinder's "Configuring ISA Server 2004" extensively before beginning the installation, and I had previous experience doing the installation and maintenance of the ISA 2000 installation that ISA 2004 replaced.

I preferred this book ("Unleashed") to the Shinder book as an installation guide, but I like Shinder as a reference because of its greater depth (twice as many pages). Both books promote ISA, but the Shinder books examines (in a defensive but very useful way) competing options to ISA more thoroughly. Shinder's book then would be more useful for those evaluating ISA versus competing products.

I also have the Microsoft MCSA/MCSE Training Kit. This book is the only ISA 2004 book that includes a 120-day trial version of ISA Server 2004. I have spent only two hours with this book but found the questions and answers at the end of each lesson helpful reflecting on key points. I did find a glaring error early on. It is not true that "the IP address assigned to the external interface [of the ISA server] must be routable ON [emphasis added] the Internet." The truth is that this IP address must be routable TO the Internet; and a private address (10.1.1.1 for example) will do just fine if there is (as in my case) a router with a public address between ISA and the Internet. Microsoft books are of coure authoratative and prep well for the exams in spite of an occasional error.

Our ISA server is connected on the Internet side with a private (nonroutable) IP address to an $89 Linksys router, which is configured with simple firewall filters. The Linksys router has a public IP address and connects to a Verizon DSL modem. A laptop in the DMZ between ISA and the router is used for testing ISA protection. The ISA server of course could be connected directly to the DSL modem; but we like the presence of the additional appliance (the Linksys router) as an additional level of defense. We run GFI (number one Exchange spam filter) on our Exchange server since ISA and most other firewall products only do token spam filtering.

"Unleashed" provided sufficiently detailed and accurate guidance for each step that I took: hardening the OS, installing ISA, configuring the networks attached to the ISA NICs, setting up firewall rules, publishing an IIS web server, publishing an Exchange mail server, and setting up Outlook web access. The total time required was only two hours even with a couple of errors.

ISA is a complex product with routing, caching proxy and reverse proxy servers, firewall (including stateful and advance application level inspection), VPN server, and simple spam filter. Michael Noel in "Unleashed" clearly shows how to use the greatly improved ISA administrative interface with its templates and wizards to configure my simple architecture and also more complex architectures that place servers in the DMZ as well as the limited single-homed topology with the ISA server in the DMZ. My company is not using VPN, but the book provides thorough coverage of VPN, which many be mission-critical to those with branch offices and road warriors.

Lastly, if you are new to ISA, be aware that ISA 2006 was released as a beta earlier this year. Many reviews suggest that ISA 2006 is not a major change. Microsoft says that upgrading from 2004 to 2006 will be supported. Amazon shows no titles as yet for ISA 2006. My guess is that the final release of 2006 will not come before the end of the year.

These cards are everyhting I hoped they would be. And very fast shipping too. I wouldn't hesitate to use this person again. Thank you.

The quick reference cards purchased from BrainStorm Inc. were an enormous aid to us. A life saver for the situation we found ourselves in. Thank you for your excellent service and timely distribution.

Given the differences between Office 2003 and 2007, these card are essential. They are easy to read and of high quality. I just bought my second set for a friend.

I teach Word and Excel and needed a quick start over the summer before school starts. These cards are great for both home and school.

This book is an overview of Groove for people that have never used it and need to learn how to use it out-of-the-box.

I was hoping that this book would go into more detail on how to customize Groove using the Forms tool, but the book doesn't discuss the Form tool at all.

So far I have been unable to find any books that describe how to use the Groove Platform API to truly customize Groove to an organization's specific needs.

Groove

What is it?
A Tool Box for Project Managers or Information Managers
How does it do it??
Groove is set up with 10 to 15 tools that will assist in the process of infomation transfer. Each tool is explained to the "T", about not only how, but when & where the tool should be used.
Features glore.
The tools in MSGroove provide methods to track your meeting schedules, Meeteing Decisions, Meeting Notes and share the Project folders (Files), pictures, track issues, Alerts, project calendars, Integration of InfoPath forms, instant messages and the list goes on and on.
One important aspect is that the engineers realized you may need to use a specific tool over and over. Example is the calendar tool. You can create numerous calendars, for example, one calendar for each of your sub-contarctors, entering all the dates of expected work or information, then you can combine all the calendars into one complete calendar or combine any number of calendars together, somewhat like an overlay system adding one at a time to see if problems exist. Very Cool.
One small problem is that the sketch pad for doing your drawings needs to have an eraser for sketch errors
Groove can be a very powerful tool for any project PM or information manager. Combining this Program with "MS PROJECT" on the larger project side, provides complete project shareware anywhere.
Finally a ((secured workspace)) to share important information with your partners & Employees in business. Not only can you share information, you can also allocate responsibilities and see the follow up, through the use of the Alert system. This program works on a server or on any stand alone PC to PC. If your looking for better ways to control project information, this is your baby and Rick, John & Berry will take you through the information Step by Step.
My hat is off to the engineers of MS Groove.
Great Job Bill>"M"

Groove has been around for about 7 years now and since it was bought by Microsoft in 2004 has enjoyed increasing popularity and usage. What was always missing was a resource that allowed "Joe/Jane user" to really understand how to get the best out of this intriguing application.

Well, now you can quickly and easily make your self an expert or just a very competant user; thanks to this book. I have used Groove for a while and found some of the concepts a bit difficult to grasp. Groove is different and having an expert guide like this has helped me to open up a whole new world of possibilities and opportunites to use the tool to it's full extent.

If you have Groove (or are thinking aboout it) this is a MUST have!

A great book for the beginner to more advanced "Groover". The screen shots are very helpful as is the commentary. The book is easy to read and follow. A must buy!

This is an interesting book about the people who are looking for more detailed information about mobile advertising. Mobile advertising models were also deeply concerned and I strongly recommend the people who are related with the new challenges in advertising .

The book is also clear to understand and get focused therefore I strongly recommend for the people who are involving the digital advertising business.

This book is a must-read for all mobile marketers and folks who are in the mobile content space. The book is interesting, informative, well-organized and detailed. I really enjoyed the primer on the history of advertising and was amazed at the amount of up-to-date information that this book holds(facts, figures, quotes, trends, market analysis) along with practical insights and recommendations. The case-studies and the essays (by mobile executives) are very helpful and gives you a global perspective on mobile advertising - what has worked (or not-worked) and why? A must-read..

-Sunil

This book is exceptionally well researched and written, covering comprehensively the full spectrum of cellphone advertising, from the pioneer markets such as Finland and Sweden, to the backwards markets of mobile telecoms such as the USA to the cutting edge markets such as South Korea and Japan, to markets in developing countries such as India. The content is totally up-to-date, including the brand new mobile ads based UK wireless carrier Blyk. The authors have interviewed numerous industry thought-leaders for the book, include 16 case studies and even short essays by 13 executives from major players. The book is very well balanced covering the advertising and media angles as well as the cellphone side. It is also a robust and realistic treatment of the current state of the industry, not pulling punches, and admitting to lots of issues that need to be resolved. A thoroughly useful, practical and insightful book that I can recommend to anyone interested in advertising on cellphones.

Tomi T Ahonen
Author of 5 books on cellphones and convergence
Lecturing at Oxford University short courses on cellphones
Hong Kong

It's today's freshest (March 2008) book on Mobile Marketing. I am half through the book and I want to share my immediate impressions.

I like how the book is organized. The way the presentation unfolds enhances my reading experience - I am interested to be reminded about all existing marketing channels. Even if you are a teacher of marketing or an experienced marketing professional, it is still good to review - even if one has to battle the temptation to exclaim "I know this!" - the history of marketing. And what this history is teaching us, or at least is making clearer for me, is this: it is hard (the change is usually revolutionary!) but possible (it is just growing a lot!) to predict the next turn in development of marketing.

March 1, 2008 article at http://www.alleyinsider.com/ by Henry Blodget cites a poll of 1,979 adults surveyed online by http://www.zogby.com/. In this, claimed representative, sample of the US population:

* 48% said their primary source of news is the Internet (up 20% from only a year ago)
* 29% of Americans say their primary news source is TV
* 11% say it's radio
* 10% say it's newspapers

Whatever the statistics, here is a general trend: people, on average, spend more time on the Internet than with any other single media. Obviously, the ad budgets follow eyeballs of people (in 2007, the online portion of the total ad spend was estimated at 30%).

The shift of marketing to the Internet is truly revolutionary. Growth of the channel and its effectiveness are amazing. The speed is "7 percentage points of market share in a single year". Effectiveness is truly redefined - to paraphrase the famous quote of John Wanamaker, we now know which half of the advertising dollars is wasted. It became possible with the invention of online search advertising model that was introduced by Google. Ads became relevant and contextual; campaign planning became easier; campaign results fairer. What is even more important, in my view, is that marketing campaigns become measurable. Also note that the Internet combines all the features of the old media, to wit: video, audio, pictures, text. At the same time, there is something very new about this channel. It's also interactive.

Now think about this: in 2008 the Internet will be more frequently accessed on mobile phones than on PCs. In Japan and Korea, browsing is used by 90 percent of all cell phone users. There are 3 billion cell phone subscribers worldwide, three times the number of PC users, who stare on their phones at least daily. There are two times more people using SMS (TXT) than email.

What does it mean? It means that the potential is huge and that it has been building up for the last ten years, now reaching its tipping point. So what is awaiting us soon and how to capitalize on the opportunity?

Read! (I also have to finish the book!)