Human-Computer Interaction Books

This book is readable, nice to look at, and does a good job of pulling a lot of information into one place. Finding information about the different GIS packages in the web is a challenge. If you don't know GIS already, like me, you're lost. This book helped me find my bearings, and in no time I was able to take shapefiles, do processing on them, and display the results in a web page dynamically.
The problem with this book is that it's fairly shallow. It will give you a couple of basic examples of how to use some pieces of software, but for anything more complicated, you have to look elsewhere. There is frustratingly little information on mapscript, but, overall, I'd say the book fulfills its role.

Author doesn't assume you know anything. Examples are UNIX, but he explains very well. He doesn't talk down to Windows users (apparently Mapserver installs easily on Windows). Very exciting. Explains map projections well. Good reading on the airplane. If you're an open source geek and/or a GIS person and a UNIX enthusiast, you'll be very happy.

This is an interesting, well written intro book for open source web mapping enthusiasts. I found some helpful tips and also appreciated the traps to avoid sections. The material gave me a greater knowledge and appreciation of MapServer in particular allowing me to move onto more in depth books quickly.

To be short and to the point... the title basically covers the primary issue I had with the book... I felt most of the book could be summed up in about 20 pages but yet it was still a full book of how to go get a free piece of software, connect a GPS, and chart where you were going...

Note: I was most likely disappointed because I was truly looking for a much more technical discussion on how GPS databases work and how to decode GIS information. In the past when I have prucased books form the publisher they were much more in depth on technical aspects of the systems, data, and so forth. In this case it was a discussion of how to sue free software and a GPS... no truly what I had in mind.

Oh, well... other I'm sure will enjoy it... just didn't fill the bill for me...

With revolutionary technology, Google Earth now lets computer users zoom through space to specific sites all over the world. Mapping is also making great strides in the law enforcement world, where geographic information systems (GIS) have been replacing pin maps. Systems such as New York City's COMPSTAT have been highly successful in mapping and depicting virtually any combination of crime/arrest locations, crime hot spots, and other information in real time.

While not specifically written for law enforcement, Web Mapping Illustrated is a valuable guide for those who are interested in using maps and other GIS tools. The Internet hosts many open-source mapping tools, making the creation and publishing of online maps much easier and more effective.

Web Mapping Illustrated is written for those wishing to avoid expensive commercial software mapping systems and instead use open-source and other free tools. The book details the use of free mapping software and tools such as MapServer, GDAL, OpenEV, and PostGIS. It also explains how to find, collect, understand, use, and share various mapping data sources.

All 14 chapters are well written and organized, progressing from the basics to the publication of sophisticated interactive Web maps. Fittingly, the book makes effective use of numerous full-color maps and software screenshots

I bought both your book as well as Mental Models AS PER YOUR RECOMMENDATION AND REGRETTED THAT MORE.

Yours is information vaguely spread along 560 pages and Indi's book is totally abstract, which I am still trying to understand. I would have appreciated if you could have cut all the fluff in 60 pages instead.

GOD KNOWS how do you guys get all the five stars FROM

I can recommend this book. It is well-written and readable, with practical advice and examples. I am referencing it as part of my daily work as a Usability Analyst in a large government department.

This book rocks! Of all the reference resources I have in my cube, this is the one I lend out to people who ask, "jb, what is user research and how do you do it?" Mike's book has the techniques down - soup to nuts -- useful for the novice and seasoned practitioner.

If only all my college textbooks were this well written and practical, I would have saved tons of money on coffee! The style of the book is conversational, the organization is clear, and the user research tips are great! This book has been a valuable resource to frame my graduate course in human computer interaction. Each week we cover a chapter and post our reactions to our Shiny Happy People user experience blog. The book has many layers, so that the usability novice to expert can glean plenty of tips and techniques.

I'm always recommending this book to my colleagues. This is not a book that is meant to be read cover to cover. It's more of a desk top reference for all kinds of user research techniques. I've found it to be very comprehensive. Buy it, you won't regret it!

The word 'design' in English covers such a wide range of activities that it has become unusfully vague, applying as well to designing a business model as to designing a frock. Bill Buxton describes the activities of designers who have usually been to design school rather than engineering or business school. Not many people know what they do, beyond a vague impression that they make things look good. Bill Buxton's book describes, with excellent examples, the range of designers' activities--both functional and aesthetic--and the value to a company of their particular skill: imagining and visualizing ideas for products or services so they can be developed and assessed before time and money is committed to building them. This book is a great demonstration of the value of design to the bottom line and how it can be incorporated in the product development process in the digital realm.

I bought this thinking it would be about interactive design (e.g. web, flash, etc.) It's a meandering book that hardly addresses those concerns at all. I kept waiting for it to get to some real meat, but it just walks through examples of industrial design and abstract concepts. A waste of money for me.

I was fortunate enough to see Bill Buxton lecture last year. After the lecture, I picked up this book since it extended on the themes he was discussing. I found his thoughts on the fidelity of the designs for different levels of development extremely helpful.

Bill Buxton does an outstanding job exploring the role design should play in an organization which really sticks in your head. He also explains how a sketch can go a long way as a communication tool during the product life cycle. Just brilliant.

This is a compelling book. It manages to blend business, organizational and design thinking on the user experience. In doing this, Bill Buxton makes the case for (i) the centrality of design in driving business value and (ii) the importance of investing in the design process. The importance of exploration and play in design is called out, and the role of making multiple light, inexpensive sketches of alternatives as an important part of the design process. Buxton also brings together the separate histories of the industrial design (the people who make things) and the software design worlds, sprinkling in some lessons from film making for good measure. And he reinforces the importance of knowing the traditions and their high points if you want to innovate. All of these lessons are vital to our collective future.

I liked this book enough to buy copies for people on my design and business teams, and I will probably give my copy to my boss. I may get a copy for my son as well, who is involved in furniture design in Vancouver.

The book does have a couple of weaknesses. The most serious is that Bill seems to think that people don't sketch in code. I am pretty sure that this is not what he thinks - he has seen plenty of people sketch in code and most of the code created by university researchers is a form of sketch - branching code that explores, plays and demonstrates possibilities. The book can also be read as advocating a waterfall process rather than something more agile. One reason may be that he is focused on the design of interactive objects and environments where there are high production costs. But this kind of waterfall approach is not all that useful for people (such as myself) who are building businesses around the delivery of software as a service. And taking Bill's own advice, and looking out a few years, it seems likely that most of us will have 3D printers in our homes and that eventually these 3D printers will be able to print 3D programmable objects. With shape memory plastics and other such smart materials, one of the things with behaviours (interactions) may even be the shape itself.

Still an important book, and one that points to more thinking and more learning. The gallery of important user experience sketches is worth deep study.

This book does not cover design of the interface well at all.
Not worth buying for design. Ok for how to talk to a user

If there is one strong message in this book, it is: Go talk to the people who will use your product. It's an important message. Software designers and writers spend too much time with each other developing clever tricks, while the poor user, often left to self-train with a poorly written manual, gives up in frustration. The authors follow their own advice--in addition to telling you how to conduct a site visit to the end users, there are clear instructions (based on experience) on planning a visit, structuring questions, how to make the site visit useful for both the analyzers and the users, and figuring out what the user said and what it means about the product. There are reminders about release forms and examples of the forms themselves. Case studies help make the points clear and undestandable. A thoroughly readable book in clear and simple language that can be started anywhere for quick help, or read cover to cover for a complete course.

I like it a lot this book, because really can help you how to do a Good Design, The book show a lot techniques an examples than help you to understand and make it easy. This book has usability itself. I enjoyed a lot.

This book was the best out of several others that I have read realted to usability engineering or UCD. It had several practical examples and stories attached to each topic. Its excellent for starter as well as proffesionals who are working at companies and have to justify several things. Several formates for reports and other resources are available for conducting a good Users and Task Analysis. More so its really easy and interesting to read with all the stories and the diagrams.

First of all, I have not read this book cover to cover. I have used it as a manual for task analysis in bits and pieces. Eventually, I will read it cover to cover, as it deserves this attention and I need the information.

I was recommended this book by a colleague and since recommended it at least a dozen times myself to fellow human factors engineers and software/system designers. It had the answers to many of the practical questions I was asking and being asked.

This book gives practical advice on how to analyse a task based on the "things that need to be done" to the "people that need to do them". Based on the recommendations, these are not "pie in the sky" ideas but practical tips from the people that do this work day to day.

If you read through the table of contents that Amazon provides you will find most if not all of your questions on how to go about this type of work answered within the pages of this book.

Briefly the Chapters are broken up into main segments of this type of work:

1. Introducing User and Task Analysis for Interface Design

UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT OF USER AND TASK ANALYSIS

2. Thinking about Users

3. Thinking about Tasks

4. Thinking about the User's environment

5. Making the Business case for site visits

GETTING READY FOR SITE VISITS

6. Selecting techniques

7. Setting up site visits

8. Preparing for site visits

CONDUCTING THE SITE VISIT

9. Conducting the site visit-Honing your observational skills

10.Conducting the site visit-Honing your interview skills

MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM ANALYSIS TO DESIGN

11. Analysing and presenting the data you have collected

12. Working toward the interface design

13. Prototyping the interface design

14. User and task analysis for Documentation and training

Appendix A: Template for a site visit plan

Appendix B: Resources

Appendix C: Guidelines for User-Interface Design

The appendices are a collection of very useful information to jog your memory while doing a site visit as well as some general user interface guidelines. This makes for a nice checklist to check if you forgot anything.

Not only is this book chock full of good tips, advice and an idea of how to structure this type of work, but it was designed well visually. The fonts and typography are pleasant to look at and the examples, graphics and important points are well illustrated. I guess they did a good job of analyzing the task of the reader as well.

Unlike Jakob Nielsen who uses his personal opinion to judge web usability, Tom provides excellent explanation every aspect of usability based on the scientific research. This is the best book to learn and know about web usability. - LT

This book contains a lot of usable usability practices that really works! You can get literally all the details of usability testing practices in this book, as well as how to run them. And good amount of pages are spent for user needs analysis and task analysis as the first steps explaining Web site engineering approach.

When reading this book, my first impression was that many worksheets, checklists and forms were included throughout this book:
- Client Interview/Web Site Information Worksheet
- Goals checklist
- Sample of Web survey
- Focus Group Preparation Worksheet
- Information Architecture Review Checklist
- Mockup Checklist (in Envisioning Design)
- Mockup Style Review Form (in Envisioning Design)
- Writing Guidelines Checklist (in Web page writing)
- Form for Brainstorming Icons
- Form for Testing Whether an Icon Is Recognizable
- Problem Report and Resolution Form (in Pre-Launch)
- Problem Summary Report (in Pre-Launch)
- Postproduction Checklist
- Web Site Final Approval Form
- Minimal Maintenance Checklist
- A Detailed, General-Purpose Checklist (for Inspection)
- User Testing Preparation Worksheet (for Evaluation)
- Typical Testing Script (for User Testing)
- Consent Form (for User Testing)

These materials are really helpful in conducting actual usability testing to get effective results. And many concepts are also categorized, organized, and explained in a lot of tables.

In engaging Web usability testing, the most important thing is to understand your audiences. This book contains very specific way of putting them into action using scenario approach. The most impressive approach of this book is in enumerating user characteristics as seven user navigation models:
1. Omnipotent model: Because people have perfect knowledge, they donft err in any way.
2. Most rational model: People click interesting links only.
3. Minimum effort model: People behave in ways with least mental efforts.
4. Mental map model: First, people build their mental map according to the Web site structure. They donft use navigation in that site which doesnft fit with their mental map.
5. Repeat fixed ways: People like his own way. They repeat their fixed ways irrespective of their inefficiency.
6. Get nearby information: When handy resources are found nearby, people use them and donft go outside.
7. Cost-performance approach: Best strategy will be determined by this cost-performance approach.

One more important practice to develop a Web site that really works is to consider the gInternational Differencesh such as languages, units, symbols, currencies, date & time, and conventions. These points are correctly addressed in this book to make your Web really workable in the international grounds as well.

This book is a really remarkable work from the point of usability practices. Don't miss this book!

This book is great and very informative, however the only thing I would change (perhaps for a second edition) would be to make it spiral bound so it could lay flat while I am using it at work, which would also make it easier to photocopy the different checklists (very helpful!).

This is one of the best books ive ever read from any category. The author's flow from chapter to chapter is excellent. He describes in very good detail the pitfalls that many websites fall into by sacrificing appearance for usability. He makes his convincing case why the central focus of websites should be usability which is indeed rarely emphasized. The book elaborates as to the various stages you should involve users and various members of your design team into your development. Definately a keeper.

When I'm working and need to grab a book to take into the bathroom, it has typically been something light and definitely not work-related. The Stranger, maybe, or a Bathroom Reader. However, ever since I bought "Usability for the Web", it's been my bathroom book. I've already read it cover to cover, but opening it to a random page and reading for 10-15 minutes (or, what the heck, even 45 minutes) always gets me thinking of ways to improve what I'm working on. As other reviews have stated, there is nothing groundbreaking about this book. However, this is the ONLY book you will need on web usability. In fact, this book effectively replaced my books on usability, design, and architecture. All of which I read, and mostly enjoyed, but few of which I will ever pick up again.

The design of the book is also very nice, easy to read and with full color throughout.

Finally, responding to one critique, the authors DO reference outside sources throughout the book. There is also a section at the back which includes additional references.

I really like Webmin and use it often since I'm not a Linux geek. There is good information in the book and it is well edited and presented. The problem is, the book describes an outdated version of Webmin. The program has a completely new interface which is sufficiently different to make this book much less desirable as a guide to the program.

In my view, this book contributes to understanding some of the Linux configurations for which Webmin provides an interface. But, if you are looking for help in using Webmin itself, you may be disappointed. I was. I probably won't return it, but I wouldn't have bought it had I known. I would love to see this book updated.

Being a fairly new Linux System Administrator, I find Jamie Camerons book a huge help. Not only does it cover evey aspect of Webmin, but also covers the essentials of Linux System Administration and how Webmin can be used to make things easier. The book follows a good sequence and builds upon previous chapters. I'm actually looking at purchasing another copy as I already have this one full of tabs and nearly worn out!

Gary Hull
Katterbach, Germany

Webmin is a pretty neat tool for administering a server using a GUI, particularly remotely. Managing Linux Systems with Webmin, written by Webmin's author Jamie Cameron, is an extensive look at using and extending it, a good guide not without flaws.

The book is structured as 60 chapters, without any division into sections and I have serious arguments with the order of chapters; why are the chapters about configuring Webmin at the end, for example. That said, the book has a fine index and the usual two-level contents make it a fraction easier to find what you want.

I do, however, have a little digression about the `Bruce Peren's Open Source Series,' of which this book is a member. Frankly, I think they all need, and deserve, a much stronger hand in editing. With this volume it is the bad structure and order; with "Intrusion Detection Systems with Snort" I found myself engrossed by the information and furious at the appalling grammar and sentence construction, particularly in the introductory chapters. The others in the series look significantly better at first glance but could still use better editing.

Once again we have an author or publisher who throws Linux into the title to make sure that it gets found by the greatest mass of likely readers while the tool described is more (not that I criticise the practice, they want to sell books.) Any *nix system can be controlled using Webmin -- including a great deal of Mac OS X not available through `System Preferences.' Indeed, I'd recommend the tool to all OS X users who want to gain better control and install better tools for the underlying BSD layer in OS X. I use it myself for just this reason. If you run any other *nix system don't be put off by the `Linux' in the title: very little of this book is Linux specific.

This one is well written -- Cameron has a light, informative style that I look for in a tech book. The book is well laid out, he gives good examples, good explanations and screen shots.

Cameron starts out with three introductory chapters on Webmin, its installation and security before launching into forty three chapters on using various Webmin modules, but with no real pattern to the order of most of the chapters. Why, for example, is the NFS module at chapter 4 while the Samba module is discussed in 43? I could list another half dozen examples without raising a sweat.

There is then a chapter on Usermin, the Webmin system for ordinary users. This is followed by three chapters on the server clustering system, a few on Webmin configuration and logging before the volume ends with chapters on building modules and themes.

Some of the chapters on the modules within Webmin border on merely stating the obvious, others are extremely useful. Overall they constitute a good manual to using the system, Webmin users who have not spent a great deal of time administering servers will find them particularly useful. The chapters on clustering, using Webmin on multiple servers to perform the same task at the once on many machines, are a good guide to administering and using this useful facility. I found the chapters on writing your own module more than adequate, I'm well under way to writing my first one after only a short time with the system and book.

One final complaint. Where in this book does it tell you how to start Webmin? I didn't want Webmin running from boot, so I answered No to that question and Webmin then ran. Nowhere did it tell me how to restart Webmin after I rebooted my computer and having the script `start' in the directory specified as the config directory is a little less than intuitive.

In conclusion, this is a good book. With a little work on the structure it would be an excellent book, rising from a rating of six to an eight or nine. the lack of structure makes it unduly hard to find what you are after. I would recommend Webmin, as a tool, to almost everyone running a supported server. If you have no need for the section on clustering and writing your own modules you could buy The Book of Webmin for a few dollars less or browse the same book (even download a PDF version free) at Swelltech, which is less comprehensive but much better structured (and tells you how to restart Webmin). If you want a guide to Webmin that includes notes on writing your own module then this will do until something better comes along, or they release a second edition with greater thought to structure and order.

Webmin is an open-source web application which puts a graphical user interface on the typically command line oriented tasks involved in administrating a Unix-based server. I personally have been using Webmin for many years already, although I initially acquired most of my administration knowledge by getting my hands dirty at the command line level. If administration is not your main job and you don't have all the administration tool syntax memorized or the time to wade through man pages, having a helpful interface like Webmin is a godsend.

The book's author, Jamie Cameron, is also the main developer of Webmin. When you read the book you realize that he is first and foremost a command line administrative guru. However, he wanted to develop something to help novice admins get important jobs done quickly without getting bogged down in learning syntax.

The book has a useful "Contents at a Glance" page at the start which is handy when you want to quickly look up a common administrative task. Then there is the main "Contents" section which contains all of the chapters' subtopics and titles. The end of the book contains a very thorough index. Although the book has 60 chapters, the author did not bother to explicitly divide them up into sections. On my first glance at the book, it seemed as though the chapters were not very logically ordered, but upon further inspection I realized that they follow the general ordering of the modules within the Webmin application. The one exception is that the chapter on configuring Webmin itself is found close to the end of the book although it is the very first module in the actual application. If I had to split the book up into sections, I would do so as follows: Introduction/Installation, System Modules, Networking Modules, Hardware Modules, Miscellaneous Modules, Server Modules, Usermin, Clusters, Webmin Configuration, Custom Module Development, and The API.

The book starts off with a rather short but efficient introduction, installation guide and security suggestions for Webmin. Maybe a few more ideas should have been included in the "Securing Your Webmin Server" chapter. I'm sure security is a topic which many admins would like to see emphasized because of the general mistrust of granting power to a remotely accessible administration system which might easily allow a hacker or ignorant admin to take down a critical server.

Webmin lets you perform many high-level tasks without ever knowing what files on the server are being affected. For myself, as a programmer who sometimes gets involved with administration work, I have configured sendmail services using Webmin many times and I have just let it work its magic without worrying about the file changes being made. This book, in addition to explaining usage of the application, fills in the details of what is going on behind the scenes.

I believe Webmin is a great tool for junior administrators or hobbyists to learn Unix-based administration as long as a book like this one is used so the processes are thoroughly understood. This book probably won't be of much use to a professional administrator with lots of experience and a repertoire of scripts to handle all daily admin tasks. Although, if you are a pro and have grown weary of tedious command line work, this book will help you quickly get up to speed with the Webmin interface.

I found that the book also introduced me to a few concepts I had only heard about but had not really bothered to delve into more, such as Usermin and Clustering. Usermin is basically a trimmed version of Webmin meant for use by the average user on a system. I can see this being used in cases where an administrator wants to give users enough power to control their own email and website settings without giving them shell access. The author devotes three chapters to clustering and explains its usefulness, management and configuration.

At the end of the book you will find a number of useful chapters on creating your own Webmin modules, including explanations of standard module flow structuring, API function descriptions, and a sample dissection of the default theme structure. This section alone may be reason enough for some to purchase this book.

The writing is fairly clear, although as I mentioned before, some of the unusual chapter ordering and missing section divisions are distracting. All in all, this book is a very thorough explanation of the Webmin administration interfaces as well as an introduction to the lower level work being done by the interface, and a short but informative section for those wanting to create their own modules.

Before buying this book, I used Webmin and thought it was pretty easy to use and didn't think I needed a book about it. Was I wrong.

Not only does this book teach you all the things that you can do with Webmin, it is an excellent general Linux tutorial. The author goes into details about each subject (including what command line programs are run or which config files are changed by Webmin) and provides the meaning behind each setting. Along the way, you learn things that you didn't know existed or couldn't figure out how to do. For example, I had no idea I could mount a folder from a Windows machine without using samba or NFS. If you need to set up Raid, LVM, Apache Web server, Samba, the list goes on... this is the book.

If you need to set up Linux in a home or small office with Windows file sharing, internet gateway, web and mail hosting, DHCP server, etc., you should buy this book.

In this accessible, provocative, and thought provoking text Andy Clark argues nothing less than what the title suggests: Human nature is predisposed and especially adapted to create and interact with technologies in a way which advances human cognition. Thus, "human-machine symbiosis" is not only a fact of our future; it is that of our present and our past. We are, in a phrase, "natural-born cyborgs". The arguments that Clark presents to establish this are in fact persuasive, and I encourage anyone interested in the relationship between human beings and technology to read this book. For, whether the reader has at anytime in the past considered this complicated relationship or not, they are not likely to look at it the same way after coming away from the text.

That is not to say that all is well in Professor Clark's analysis, for he tends to take what has been referred to as a techno-enthusiast approach to technology, blatantly negating any undesirable consequences that may arise from such an intimate acceptance of technology into our everyday lives. This despite the fact that he devotes an entire chapter to supposedly addressing some of the potential negative impacts that technology poses. Yet, these are so minimized that it is obvious that for Andy Clark no price is too high for what he sees as the inevitable evolutionary advance of the human species. In addition, Clark tends to overlook the political aspects of technology involving the decisions over what sorts of technologies will be developed and how they will be implemented. Without going in to too much detail it is suffice to say that Clark's analysis is in no way comprehensive and tends to overlook the ethical dimensions of the question of technology. Still, his book is a worthwhile read (and an easy one at that) and I think as long as the reader keeps these things in mind can take much away from the text. No matter what it's lacking I do not want to minimize Clark's insight into human nature and the human-technology relationship for which he makes the strongest argument. I am convinced after reading this book that we are "natural-born cyborgs" and I suspect others will feel the same. It's when Clark starts delving into the implications of the "human-machine symbiosis" that he becomes a little shortsighted and unconvincing.

What is the future of humanity? Is the next phase of human evolution the merging of humans and machines? Or perhaps, are we humans already merged with machines and have we been for centuries? These and other questions are ones that occupy Andy Clark, director of the Cognitive Science Program at Indiana University and author of this thought-provoking book written for an informed but lay audience. Clark makes the case that long before cyborgs became the villains of so many popular films--the "Terminator" and "Matrix" series, "Blade Runner," and "2001: A Space Odyssey" come immediately to mind--humans had become inextricably linked to machines in a way that ensured that they could not survive without them. Accordingly, even without electronic implants Homo Sapiens are cyborgs, and have been as far back as the first time one of our ancestors picked up a tree limb and used it as club. Clark argues that the human-technology symbiosis is totally natural and has been for millennia. The speed with which the merging of human and machine is advancing expanded greatly in the twentieth century as such technologies as pacemakers, artificial hips and knees, prosthetics, and other electronic implants have enhanced and sometimes prolonged the lives of millions of people.

Andy Clark explores this increasingly close relationship of humans and machines--the "cyborg-ization" of humanity--in eight chapters. Beginning with the argument that we are already cyborgs dependent for our lifestyle on all manner of technologies, he moves through a succession of possible steps into the future that will find us more and more closely tied to the technologies we have created. Eventually, we will reach a post-human state. Rather than invoking fear that we will become non-human, Clark celebrates this possibility and the wondrous potentialities it offers. He urges caution in this transition, for not all possibilities are desirable, but generally Clark is optimistic. He asks: "if it is our basic human nature to annex, exploit, and incorporate nonbiological stuff deep into our mental profiles [and he firmly believes that it is]--then the question is not whether we go that route, but in what ways we actively sculpt and shape it. By seeing ourselves as we truly are, we increase the chances that our future biotechnological unions will be good ones" (p. 198).

In my own research concerning the past, present, and possible future of spaceflight, I find much in Andy Clark's study that is useful. One of the truly fascinating developments associated with the rise of robotic capabilities is the possibility of post-human migration. In fulfilling the spacefaring dream, the intelligent life to leave Earth and colonize the galaxy may not be entirely human in form. Extensive discussions have taken place in recent years on the relationship between artificial computer intelligence, biotechnology, and human evolution. In spite of its obvious relevance to space travel, little of this has been extended to outer space. The early space pioneer Robert H. Goddard suspected that humans might be obliged to transport genetic material to distant stars rather than go themselves. The rigors of galactic flight that will likely confine humans to the inner solar system might not confine our machines. Given the great difficulties of interstellar flight, these would have to be machines with human-like intelligence or even possibly humans reengineered to withstand long-duration space travel. The possibilities are truly amazing and somewhat weird, and as remote today from common experience as were the early images of space travel to the people who first envisioned them centuries ago. Nonetheless, they are not wholly impossible. Given current directions in technology as envisioned by such authors as Andy Clark, a post-biological galaxy teeming with enhanced human intelligence is not beyond the realm of possibility. In one such vision, biological species become so technologically proficient that they cease to exist in purely biological form. The possibilities for post-human evolution has the potential to radically alter the dominant paradigm of human spaceflight.

"Natural-Born Cyborgs" is a challenging and useful book. Highly recommended.

Clark presents an argument that we do not need to implant microchips or electronic prostheses in our body to become Cyborgs, - We are already Cyborgs. The argument is based in our natural ability to use tools and technics to enhance our capabilities for movement, cognition and perception.

The book is easy to read and draws upon research from the fields of robotics, cognitive science, neuroscience, cybernetics, dynamic systems theory, feminist theory, cognitive anthropology and english litterature studies.

The fact that he draws upon such diverse fields of research does not reduce the logic or persuasiveness of his arguments, but rather show the interdisciplinary basis for the book. The breadth of the arguments' basis is a major plus with this book, showing that the interplay between humans and technology are not merely technical but also something which changes who we are and how we understand our selves.

Irritatingly predictable, I might add. One might sum up the entire book by flipping to just one of the expected photographs of some idiot with gizmos attached to every limb. This is technology out of control. We should not be serving technology, it should be serving us. Just because it's a gizmo and hooked up to a computer doesn't mean any sane person will prefer a digital life over a biological life. I may just be biased because I found Portman's TECHNOPOLY before I found this book. If you think technology and gizmos attached to the human body are cool, go ahead and reinforce your geekhood by reading this book, but don't expect to be surprised by any of the cliche's found herein.

Normally, we think about 'cyborgs' in terms of 'Star Trek'-like creatures, such as the Borg: a mixture of organic and inorganic stuff, quite unpleasant to look at and even more unpleasant if you encounter one. And here we have a cognitive scientist and philosopher who writes a book with an incredibly odd-sounding title: natural-born cyborg - isn't that a contradiction in terms?

No, it isn't. Read Andy Clark's book and be amazed. When I read it, I was completely converted. What Clark does is not simply write a book describing how modern cognitive science (especially the science of embodied and distributed cognition) is dealing with human action (that too!), but what Clark does here is rewrite a lot of Western anthropology: the way we think about human nature.

Clark's idea of humans as natural-born cyborgs is not that we are all in some sense Borg, but simply that humans have remarkable capabilities of dealing with the things that surround them. Especially, in using things that are around us as tools (in the widest sense of the word; hammers, computers, libraries are all tools), we are able to blur the boundaries between our bodies and technology - as in the practice of hammering the difference between the hand and the hammer disappears, as both are now one in the activity of hammering - but with informational tools such as computers, encyclopedias or simply pen and paper, we are also able to blur the distinction between our mind and the world. We are cyborgs because we are able to relate to and interact with our surroundings in a myriad of different ways. And we're doing that quite naturally. Clark brilliantly describes what philosophers and cognitive scientists are nowadays discovering about our ancient technological skills.

For me, this book was an eye-opener in the best possible way. That may seem strange, given the fact that I am a philosopher of religion and theologian. But for me Clark's approach makes sense. I will not go into details, but if you're interested, read Clark's book first and afterwards Philip Hefner's "The Human Factor" and his "Technology and Human Becoming" (both available through Amazon.com) and hopefully you'll know what I'm getting at...

I can't wait for Andy Clark to write a follow-up on this one!

It's a quick read, but it tells a long story. The Well is one of the earliest and longest-running online communities, and I've been a member for more than 10 years. Hafner's writing reads like much of the writing in the Well: personal, insightful, and very human. She looks at the evolution of the business, as well as some of the highlights -- and low points -- of the relationships among members. Even the darkest of days and most difficult situations is addressed with grace and empathy. Of interest to members, online historians, and community organizations everywhere. An important chapter in the development of the Net!

I liked this book. I've been there on well.com now and then, and it's true that the site was influential in forming the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other key initiatives in protecting the freedoms of the 'net. But the book is cool because even though Hafner says the Well is historic and unique, it's more like a very strong example of something we've all seen.

There's a soap opera pleasure to the conflicts in the book.

The Well's traditional attention to "process" can get annoying, but over all it's not so bad that any sanction against a user is heavily debated, unlike on some boards. You'll recognize the personalities and see the problems of trying to attract a wide range of smart outspoken people who can be jerks at times. You've seen this all before somewhere, and not just on the web.

Keeping a group at all cohesive when it is made of hundreds of strong personalities is classic challenge. The book is ultimately more about the problems of being in groups and communities, and of being human.

[Full disclosure: I am a member of the Well and have been for almost seven years as of the publication of this book.]

It's always been difficult for me to describe the Well to my non-Well friends, because there are so few virtual places that even approximate it, and they're even smaller, and practically no one knows what they're like either. "Computer conferencing" is what I say to my friends in business. "On-line community" is what I say to the people I think Might Get It. I also call it "the Peyton Place of cyberspace" and that metaphor (small town where everyone knows everyone else's history of indiscretions FAR TOO WELL) might be the most apt of the three, at least in my own experience.

Like any big amorphous concept, the Well is difficult to write about for a general audience. So Katie chose a story -- with love and friendship and grief and humor and all the other elements that make up a good story -- to carry her narrative. She chose a good one. Of course there are others. But this book (and before it, the WIRED article the book is based upon) comes closer to conveying the essence of the Well than anything else I've ever seen or read.

When the WIRED article was published I gave a copy to my mother, just to help her understand how it was that I had dozens of close friends I had never met. For a reader who wants to understand the astonishing power of true online community, in the light of human nature in all its ornery glory, I can't think of a better introduction.

I finished the book with a sad, sober feeling. Yes, the word "death" absolutely belongs in the title. The book is about life and death. It's one of those little books that appears to be about something concrete and specific, and is in fact evocative of much deeper issues. I was reminded of what I experienced as the sometimes toxic atmosphere on The Well by the posts in the book, and by the accounts of some of the principal players. As well as the beatific spirits who made the whole thing run behind the scenes. The influence of the Farm -- that was new to me -- but it explains a lot.

Will people realize that this is an emotional story, a sad sobering story of dreams fulfilled, frustrated, and failed? That is what got me about it. It contains more pathos than many novels whose goal is to move readers. Going in, I took the subtitle as ironic, like the "Fear and Loathing" title of the gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson, but it is literal and straight. The very first page sets the tone and the book is true to that. The Well wasn't my way to the Internet, but the 17-year arc of the story made me feel my mortality.

This is a terrific book. I appreciate that Katie Hafner understands her strength to be narrative. Limiting the focus of her narrative to the lives of a few of the core founders and early pioneers of the Well allows her to reach the sort of depth I recall experiencing there when I was a "Well being" for a time in the late eighties. I mostly hung out in the Parenting conference, because I was the father of teenage children and our family seemed to reel from one crisis to another during those years. The support and love I found there was extraordinary, and I have found it nowhere else since, except within my own dear family. Hafner succeeds remarkably in capturing the intangible essence of the Well, the special human warmth that no one could have predicted or planned ... and no one has succeeded in duplicating since.

Hafner also deals with the core issue of community, an issue central to the Well's success, and possibly central to it's eventual - what? - transformation. I was about to say, "dissolution," but an incarnation of some sort of Well lives on at Salon.com. The early Well, the one I knew, was a pioneering online community, before that phrase became today's buzzword meaning little more than a chat room. The online community was the core of a larger, real-life, flesh-and-blood community, in which people truly lived and loved and became sick and got well, and sometimes died.

Everyone who hungers for community - and that means everyone awake to the grief of modern life - should read this book. Most of us understand true community by its absence. My most vivid and unexpected realization about the meaning of community occurred many years ago, when our children were still little. We lived for a time in an Eichler suburb in Mountain View, California. Each house on our block was surrounded by a high fence. After some months of living there, we hadn't met a single neighbor. I was out mowing the lawn one sunny Saturday morning, with no one in sight, and I suddenly understood in a way I never had before that our commercial culture has a vested interest in the destruction of community. Without community, each of us becomes a consuming atom, each with our own lawnmower, each with our own set of tools, each with our own copy of every trinket. In a true community we would be sharing tools and sharing labor. GNP is maximized by eroding community. Our commercial culture has a vested interest in the destruction of community. And conversely, true community subverts this culture.

It's because of this paradoxical dynamic that the Well - to the extent that it *was* a true community - could not retain its character while evolving as a commercial enterprise. This is part of the story.

Read this book. Let it provoke you to examine the role of community in your own life.

This book is great to introduce beginners to MVS and is a handy reference when working in MVS. I give it 4 stars because it has not been updated since the 90's and the introduction uses examples that are very dated. Otherwise it would get 5 stars.

This book has very poor standards. As soon as I open the book to read, I didn't like it at all. This is good one for COBOL programers, who wants to learn Clist or REXX.

I intendent to learn Clist and REXX.

I needed the product for work. The response was timely and the price was fair.

I'm pretty disappointed in Amazon, actually, as the book I received was the same in title & author, but the cover of my photo was very different than the one pictured on Amazon. Note: I didn't buy the book from an individual seller, I bought it new directly from Amazon. Amazon really needs to make an effort to update their photo library whenever a book cover changes. Instead of a purple book, I received a book with a light brown front cover.... Very disappointed.

Quite good book. However the book has old information. I mean the content of this book is exactly the same as it was 20 years ago... They just reprinted the cover.
Most of information is still relevant because ISPF hasn't been changed a lot. Though, it's quite funny to read about keyboard layout on 3270 terminal :)
I think this book is primarily designed for application programmers (e.g. COBOL, PL/1 programmers) who want to learn how to work with ISPF or want to improve their effectiveness with ISPF. There is nothing about TSO and how it works.
Bottomline: the book is very helpful for application programmers or for those who is just starting to work with ISPF/TSO environment. For those who need exhaustive explanation of how the TSO works this book will not add any value.

I have read and re-read this book until the cover is nearly worn out. I originally used it to get up to speed on what web site usability means to me as a User Interface designer and Information Architect. I more recently re-read it to prepare a presentation on Usability Engineering. Unlike many fluffy "design concepts" or "best practices illustrated" manuals, Mark's book goes into detail on "how to" evaluate web sites for potential usability problems. It goes into more depth (and yet is easier to comprehend) than most other texts I have read on the subject of web site / web application usability. After re-reading it for 1.5 hours I was able to put together an effective outline for my usability engineering presentation; the outline contained over 15 3" x 5" note cards distilling the essence of good usability practices into a series of audience understandable bullet points, and was successful in landing me the opportunity I was seeking with a very demanding client. I have also used it in the past to spec out the equipment, roles, staff, and monies needed to put together an effective usability testing center. Regardless of whether your needs be instructional or professional, this is the Usability primer for you!

The author states that the book was created as a text for his class and it certainly reads like a textbook. For a book that is about usability, the text is almost unreadably tedious at times. (e.g. "...the first step toward Web site usability is to figure out the main goals of your Web site. For labeling purposes we will call these 'goals of the purpose.'") Each of the points in the book is better made and illustrated in other texts (Krug - "Don't Make Me Think" is good). The attempts to lighten the subject with gratuitous cartoons and humor were more irritating than amusing.

I loved this book. I am a new psychology PhD looking to get into web usability consulting and this book was perfect for me. I have not read other books on the topic but i can say that I am glad I found this one. It was a very easy read, and i really learned a lot. I like how it takes a psychological viewpoint much of the time. I also really like how he sets you up 100% to be a usability tester. He tells you everything you need to know from A-Z with very little budget. He is also very generous giving away all his secrets and a CD rom that has all sorts of pre-made forms to get you started (powerpoint presentation on usability to show clients, informed consent forms for experimental participants etc...). Now I feel i am ready to read something more technical.

The concept of what should go into a web site is constantly changing. Therre was a time not too many years ago when every site had to open with a long Flash sequence just to show you that the developer knew Flash. This soon changed as site developers learned that visitors came there for information and were not usually in the mood to watch a cartoon or type flying across the screen. Now the big sites seem to have gone away from all but a little bit of Flash.

This is just one example of things being done to make the web more usable. This book talks about making web sites more usable. It is not a checklist or simple cookbook of things to do. Instead it is a text on the overall concepts that you can use to put together a study to determine the usability of your site. Indeed it has enough information for you to become an expert working in this area as a consultant or corporate employee.

This is the second edition of this book, the main differences are that it is brought up to date, and is written in a much more serious tone as the whole concept of web usability has become more professional.

I loved this book. I am a new psychology PhD looking to get into web usability consulting and this book was perfect for me. I have not read other books on the topic but i can say that I am glad I found this one. It was a very easy read, and i really learned a lot. I like how it takes a psychological viewpoint much of the time. I also really like how he sets you up 100% to be a usability tester. He tells you everything you need to know from A-Z with very little budget. He is also very generous giving away all his secrets and a CD rom that has all sorts of pre-made forms to get you started (powerpoint presentation on usability to show clients, informed consent forms for experimental participants etc...). Now I feel i am ready to read something more technical.