Hardware Books

The publishers have just reprinted the book, with new page breaks. The only addition that I can see are solutions to select problems, tacked on at the very end. Get a used copy, save some money, and buy other good books out there!

Faster than expected delivery and still in decent condition. Even has cd though outdated. Overall, very satisfied.

The Informaiton Technology Association of Ammerica gave sites this book as meeting Industry Best Practices

The books is truely the encyclopedia of the y2k problem. Not a doom and gloom book. I found practical and real world advice that I have put to use.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highly recommended.

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

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

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

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

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

Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Rating: 5/5

Introduction


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

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

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

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


Conclusion

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

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

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

I have used this book as text for a Basic Computer class that I have taught three times for adult students. I have used it both as a preparatory refresher text for myself and also have recommended it for my students. They were very satisfied with it also. The best part of this book is that it gets down to the basic level and covers computers and everything concerned with computers on a level that everyone can understand. The illustrations are also first rate. I heartily recommend this book as a basic text for anyone that does not have any knowledge of computers. It is also an excellent review for anyone who thinks that they know it all. It is well written, well-organized, and has a wealth of easy-to-understand illustrations for all to follow. It covers all aspects of computers from the basics to the internet. The only complaint I have is that the binding leaves a little to be desired, however for its cost it is a good buy.

This book is perfect for the beginner--full of basics & easily read & followed. The later edition in 1998 was equally as informative, and also full of really helpful how-to tips. Nowhere in the books do you get bogged down with information you really don't need as a novice---TERRIFIC!!!!

Human Development is an excellent textbook, and one of the best textbooks I have ever used in my studies in Psychology. The author has laid out the chapters in chronological order from infancy to old age. Theories of development are clearly explained and charted. Many true-life examples of research and studies are scattered throughout the text, making theoretical material easy to comprehend. I would highly recommend this textbook to any instructor who is in search of high quality up-to-date material.

I used the eighth edition of this book for my graduate level course in human development. It is an excellent resource for anyone involved in child-related fields.

Goo

this is a neat deal! I realized that Amazon's price works to about half that of Border's for this bundle.. The only downside is that the quicken book might be of no use to someone who does not use it (like me). But, hey if you get it for free, who's complaining!

Independent Component Analysis is a young and interesting topic that gained attention and still receiving more of it.

Until now this is the best introduction that has been written.
It is comprehensive, clear and unbiased.

I think that the book is a step toward making the subject not only a common field of research but also a reference for those looking for new challenging topics.

What worths mentioning is that the authors are very envolved in the development of the theory of ICA ,other books are good but are deviated by their author's own approachs and this is normal but unhealthy for a first book on any field.

What constitutes a great help for understanding ICA are the relatively easy concepts if one just intend to pick an algorithm(ex:FastICA), but this is not the case regarding its theory.

One colleague once argued that ICA should have emerged long before the begining of the 90's, claiming that Gaussian forms
(Central Limit-Theorem) killed the idea of dealing with other kinds of distributions and therefore the signal processing community went assuming every thing was gaussian (noise was gaussian,signals are gaussian),but the emerge of HOS relaxed the gaussian restriction and ICA became possible and no longer 'blind' .

I think this should prepare researchers to deal with coming challengs more intelligently and efficiently .That is why I recommend this book since it tries to give a broad view to the subject .

This is a nice and self-contained book on the subject of independent component analysis (ICA). The authors start with relevant mathematical and statistical background (in Part I) to prepare readers for the derivations of ICA (though seasoned researchers may want to skip the first part of this book). The authors discuss the motivation behind ICA and present several ways to derive ICA (since this subject has been approached by several communities). The authors also compare and discuss the pros and cons of these approaches. The authors discuss several applications using ICA in Part III.

Compared with other ICA books, this manuscript has much depth and completeness. I highly recommend this book to any reader interested in this topic.

This book deals with both technical and managerial issues of emerging technology and has provided an architecture framework for integrating C/S, OO, Networking, WWW together. Highly recommended for people who have to manage emerging IT in a firm

William Sheridan/Systems Analyst/Ottawa, Canada

Two of the hottest topics in information technology circles these days, are (1) client-server systems, and (2) object-oriented programming. Using a writing style that is both technically sophisticated AND readily understandable, Jerry Grochow outlines what each means, and how each works. THEN he explains why both client-server and object-orientation are part of the larger framework which will enable business to create satisfied customers (both internal and external) with the new information technology.

As Grochow describes it, the key to these future possibilities is the concept of SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE. As more and more people, at work and home, get desk-top computers AND access to networks (the organizational intra-net and/or the global inter-net), computer power becomes DISTRIBUTED through communications. The change from main-frame centralization connecting dumb terminals, to decentralized machines with distributed intelligence, has fundamentally altered the structural pattern of informatics and telematics.

This structural pattern is the SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE, and the alteration now in progress both empowers every user, AND requires new principles of design and operation. Grochow, a 25-year veteran of systems design and network computing, has been tracking these kind of changes through the many successive stages of micro-chip evolution and network service enhancements. What he argues is, that the very dilemma which the technology has created (namely information overload), can now be managed by broadening the application of intelligence from individual nodes to the entire network.

Object-oriented programming is the software answer to the distributed computing question. As people share data and applications over the networks, the internal design of software itself faces new challenges. Monolithic relational databases and structured programs do not serve networked computers very well. As needs for distributed data entry and program customization increase with the spread of knowledge work, the coordination of version control and extension implications can no longer be handled by the inflexibility of previous designs. Just as Grochow sees all computing as client-server based now, he forecasts that we will all become object-oriented users shortly.

And Grochow is certainly right about the speed of change in this field. In regards to system development methodologies (SDMs), an object-oriented approach has already obsolesced both the "waterfall" and the "spiral" models. Scott Ambler's Pinball System Development Life Cycle method is actually far more reflective of the dynamic reality of application development than the overly-formalized models of the past (see Ambler's THE OBJECT PRIMER). But with the flexible outlook that Grochow exudes, developers will be as easily able to accommodate such a methodological change as they will any other technological advance. INFORMATION OVERLOAD really is a map of the future of the new information systems technology. And when you are heading into new territory, its always wise to consult a map

This book was a real eye opener for me. It is well written and easy to follow in terms of how to construct these simple and powerful printing devices. I enjoy the writing style and the context that the author is able to provide on how inkjet works.

Perhaps the most compelling part of the book is the "Foreword" written by Hewlett Packard's Chief Technology Officer. This kind of prose is inspiring to all hobbyists and educators who might choose to buy and use this book. HP turned its little inkjet invention into a massive business that has enjoyed many years of success.

This book enables the hobbyist or the teacher to plug into that environment and devise new inventions based on the exact same technology that is described in the foreword. This is a great book that enables the reader to get started very quickly in configuring their own printing device. And once that first step has been taken, innovation and creativity follow soon after.

I recommend this book highly to hobbyists and educators and anyone who might have an interest in projects involving the Basic Stamp microcontroller. Matt Gilliland has written an excellent book to get us all into the invention mode.

In the same way that all of Matt's books have been really useful in helping people like myself make interesting stuff with basic stamps, this book enabled me to make actually create printed output. Pretty cool. He must have a lot of friends in HP to have gotten access to this. Nice job Matt.