Software Books

Great book!

However, it arrived very slightly damaged (one corner bent). Not enough damage to bother with a return; but disappointing on a brand new, expensive book.

Amazon does not seem to be paying as much attention to packing/shipping as they once did.

As a dotNet Developer, I am often called upon to write my own database code or maintain existing db code. I am also called upon to diagnose performance problems or set security. Sometimes on lightly staffed projects, I am a defacto DBA.

I have always strived to have a comprehensive understanding of the technologies I use. However, my level of understanding of SQL Server was more limited then my understanding of the other technologies I use.

I purchased this book based on existing Amazon recommendations. In particular, I was interested in the Performance and Security sections, as well as what is new. It did not disappoint. The depth on items like Indexes was exactly what I was looking for. The discussion of new items was enough to get we to a working level.

So it definitely fulfilled my needs and expectations.

However, the book seems aimed at DBAs. Given the number of topics covered in the book, I suspect it could not be comprehensive enough to take an intermediate DBA to the Advanced stage.

But for someone like me, who is often called upon to be an 'acting' DBA it serves as an excellent reference; in addition to providing a tutorial on the topics mentioned above.

El libro cumple con su cometido. Resulta ser una excelente introducción para las múltiples caracteristicas de SQL Server 2005 sin ser una enciclopedia que profundice en dichos temas. Muy recomendable, sin embargo habrá que considerar dos elementos:
1. SQL Server 2008 se liberó este año y
2. La información en Internet resulta ser más actualizada en algunos rubros.

This is the best and most comperehensive book for beginners and advanced programmers alike.

I changed to this book half way into Sql Server 2005 for dummies and find language and examples used really easy to understand as if we are learning this in a class room.

So if you want to graduate from a simpleton to a SQL Server 2005 expert this is the best book recommended.A+ marks.

There are a lot of typos and grammar errors in the book. Like "or" instead of "for", for example.

This is a good resource. Provides good information on many topics, and provides specific information.

Just as the introduction promises, full of just what you wanted to know about all the things that are too simple to be taught in medical school or on your ER rotation, but that you nevertheless weren't born knowing. As a recent graduate from Family Medicine residency, I keep this with me anywhere I'm seeing patients.
This book came recommended to me, so I didn't shop around much, but I can't imagine a better urgent care reference. It also has most of what you need for office procedures, though still doesn't replace "procedures for primary care" by pfenninger and Fowler.

This book should be stocked in Emergency Departments/Urgent Care Centers as a necessary piece of equipment. Great for nurses!!!

Minor Emergences is making the rounds as the resource to have in the remote field. I'm a medic that works in isolated camps or offshore vessels with the closest MD available only via phone or email. Sometimes evacuating a patient to a higher level of care is not an easy thing to do or even a possibility. Being able to take care of minor problems and recognizing when you cannot is always a consideration. While no book or manual could possibly take the place of adequate training it sure is nice to have such a wealth of knowledge close at hand.

Minor Emergencies - Splinters to Fractures is more than worth having to pack its weight around and has a permanent place in my very limited traveling library.

Sandy Fraser
Remote Medic

I used the first edition of this book while working in a busy urgent care center. As a point of care reference, it is a true godsend. The information is based on the authors' real-world experience and presented in a straight forward manner. The reader is not overwhelmed with detail. The clear, informative illustrations greatly enhanced the utility of this text. As a student rotating through the ED, on more than one occasion I impressed my clinical instructors with knowledge gained through this book.

I bought this product about a week ago. Im somewhat familiar with photoshop cs2, but know-where near an expert. This book opened my eyes to all type of creative ideas. The tricks that are in this book are easy to follow, thanks to the step by step tutorial. The tricks that I thought i knew, thanks to this this book i found easier ways to complete a project with less time. If you are a beginner I strongly suggest this book. If you are an intermeidate I strongly suggest this book.

The only thing i wish is that they were actaully 100 tricks. Few tricks are your computer settings. A few other tricks are plug-ins, you must have plug-ins to complete about 5 or so tricks. This is nothing to worry about, because this book compensates for that.

You can not beat the price for this book! GREAT BUY

This book is easy to follow. The step by step illustrated instructions are easy to follow. Great book!

This is a wonderful book for those of us that learn by SEEING rather than just reading words on a page. Each project takes you step by step from start to finish. You see every screen. Listed in oder, it is easy to follow. Excellent for those of us "cyber challenged" users.

I absolutely love this book!! It is easy to follow and shows some terrific tips. If you're looking for a book to make some Photoshop CS2 editing easy go for this book. I rate it 5 out of 5 stars for what information I'm looking for.

I gave this book only four stars as it was a little to basic for me. This was the only reason!

There is lots of valuable information and it is very easy to follow the instructions to get the desired results/effects. Some things I had already learned either on my own, from another book, or from a two day Photoshop CS2 class I took.

Would recommend to beginners or maybe beginner/intermediate looking to expand with fast tips.

I bought "Hacking Photoshop CS2" use off of Ebay, Amazon has them new, but this book really paid for itself just in the first chapter of tweaking the Photoshop preferences, etc. Starts up noticiably faster on my laptop now! Would recommend that book highly for intermediates and up.

Until someone writes something really comprehensive, this is the best there is in podcasting.

Yes, it's true. I'm contemplating adding a podcast to my blog. So, I bought "Podcast Solutions" on Amazon and read it, front to back. This is a very useful book, and it comes with a CD of demo software you can use for podcasting.

Anyone who is thinking about podcasting should read this book BEFORE they start purchasing any equipment. One of the most valuable things I found in this book was information about the equipment you will need to get start. A large portion of this book is devoted to getting good quality recordings from your recording sessions so that it doesn't turn potential listeners off with popping, clicking, hissing, etc.

One of the other great things I found in this book is podsafe music. Never heard of it? Podsafe music is music from independent artists that is licensed for you to use it free of charge in your podcasts. Check out these sites: GarageBand and PodShow. The music is really good. I'm digging it.

What is podcasting?

If you don't know by now - what's wrong, have you been living under a rock? ;)

A little over a year ago, I had no clue. I actually thought it was using an iPod to broadcast mp3s over FM waves to a radio (which is actually done quite often, but has nothing to do with podcasting). In fact, podcasting has little to do with iPods at all. If I had had a copy of this book a year ago, I would have know that - and a whole lot more!

"Podcast Solutions: The Complete Guide to Podcasting" is just that - a complete guide. Have no idea what podcasting is? This will tell you. Know what it is, but not how to listen to them? This book will tell you. Would you like to know how podcasting started? Look no further. Ever wondered what the relationship between podcasting and blogging is? You can find out. Want to start your own podcast? Then this is the book for you! It even comes with a CD with all the software you'll need to start podcasting right away, and it doesn't matter if you use Windows, Mac OS X, or even Linux - the CD has software for all three platforms. The book even tells you how to start making money with podcasts!

From recording the audio to publishing the XML to getting your podcast heard - it's all in the book. You should really pick this book up if you have any interest at all in podcasting. Highly recommended!

Michael Geoghegan and Dan Klass have done a great job in this 240 page book on podcasting. A great book for any podcaster. They do a good job of taking you through all of the steps necessary to learning podcasting. The book runs the gamut of the steps you'll need to preparing your podcast, to recording and subsequently publishing your podcast on the web.The book is easy to follow and has lots of links to websites for additional reference. Overall the best book on the market for podcasting.

I started out knowing diddly squat about podcasting. I read "Podcast Solutions" by Michael Geoghegan (what's up with that name?) and Dan Klass and now I know everything. But much more important than my over-generous opinion of myself I got my podcast up swiftly, easily and on time thanks to this incredible book.

They answer questions with the insight of someone who really knows all the angles, who really knows what they are talking about, who has actually done it. The book will take you through the entire process and get you up and running. And isn't that what it's really all about?

I especially enjoyed Chapter 10 "Getting Heard" which offers rich detail and many astonishing ideas about how to get people to actually listen to your podcast. And isn't that what it's really all about?

Finally, the price on this book is right. Just right. Enough to make you realize you're getting something valuable (which you are) and low enough that it's well within reach of anyone who's ever splurged on a cup of Starbuck's coffee. And isn't that what it's really all about?

Buy the book. Do it now! Buy a brand new book all for yourself. Don't chintz out and get a used one from Amazon. There's a CD inside that you need and it will probably be missing from any used copy.

Blatner and Fraser have the right stuff. This book is based on what photographers need, unlike many of the Photoshop after market manuals. This is the text to use for digital photographers. Inspiring (technically) for the students and the instructor.

As an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop I think I can talk about this book with some soft of knowledge.

Well, this book is awesome. No doubts. From a certain point of view it's even embarassing: I've read things never seen elsewhere, small tips, too small even for the manuals (but sometimes really helpful), and Big concepts explained really well. Every single page of this book hides something useful. This might be not a good thing to say if you're a certified expert, but that's it.

Of course this book is not for everyone: you will get the greatest experience if you're an expert Photoshop user and you work daily with it, as it concentrated on productivity issues and professional tasks. Forget this book if you're a Photoshop enthusiast and you're just looking for pseudo-creative tips&tricks: there are no special effects recipes, no step-by-step tutorials and no bundled clipart CDs.

This is 800 pages of deep Photoshop production techniques. I think no other book, except for Dan Margulis' "Professional Photoshop", can teach such a lot of things to already-expert readers.

First off let say this. If you just beginning to used photoshop cs, this is not the book for you. This book is aimed at the experience user who not only want to know more advanced photoshop techniques but also want to know why photoshop does what it does, in other words how photoshop thinks. Its not an encyclopedia that cover every little feature methodically, instead it covers advanced concepts in themes such as Color management, image manipulation and output. Great book, very informative, like a textbook in some respects. Until you've read it, you dont' really understand photoshop.

This book gives extremely in-depth coverage to topics that cover the gamut from the basic of images and color spaces, through to image editing, filters, typography and finally output. The coverage is very in-depth. This is not a step-by-step book. The idea is to give you a fundamental understanding of the technology and then show it's application in Photoshop. The sections on building selections and using the sharpening features are particular standouts.

If you are the type of person who learns by understanding the fundamentals and not a raw process then it's a tossup between this book and Photoshop CS Artistry. The latter is a little more terse in it's style. This book is more relaxed in style so it's a little easier to follow.

This book is absolutely, no doubt, without question, surely the best book on Photoshop CS out there. It's a real pleasure to read a book by people who actually know what they're talking about. Scott Kelby's "The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers" is an exceptionally fine book if you're just starting with CS and trying to get your photographs under control and don't have time to read about the finer points, but once you've begun to get the hang of it and want not only to know "how," but "why," this is the book you absolutely have to have.

Real World Microsoft Access Database Protection and Security
I found it to be a good rescouce of the various stages of MSAccess DB developing protection for a data base. The end user would also benefit by having a reliable data base.
Braxton Foist

This was a great find. I just wish I had read it sooner. There are things in here that every Access developer should read. Lots of good advice, techniques, and code samples. Very well-written and easy to follow. Right to the point. I especially appreciate the humility that Garry shows in his writing. He obviously knows more than most about Access, yet he gives credit where it is due and provides lots of links for the reader to go out and get the background themselves.

I have read some of the other (excellent in their own right) big books on MS Access, and there were a couple of "non-security" things in here that I did not find elsewhere (not to mention the security issues that were new to me). I highly recommend this book for anyone who may be creating a multi-user database.

Gary Robinson is a master at Access security and this book proves it! This is one of the books that stays on the shelf close to me when I am developing. It has great resources for setting up different types of security and he provides forms and code to help you develop security based on your needs. I highly recommend this for developers, especially those who are just designing more complex databases and need a good background on security. He is such a great resource that I subscribe to his newsletter now! I can only hope that he writes another book soon! A+

All of the other reviews pretty much say it all, but I wanted to place a more recent review in the list. Although I have just started using some of the basics Gary clearly discusses, I am anxious to get to the rest. Being able to secure Access has always been in the back of my mind. Now I know I can tackle the issue and get it done in a consistent manner that I can carry into all my Access projects. Thanks for the good work Garry.

A good book will find the reader. I would like to thank Mr. Robinson for a well written read. Besides all the other things I have in my life to do I was able to finish his work in about two weeks. I have read all the other reviews; there is nothing I can add. I can however tell you that if you are into Access database (and you know if you are) then this book is an imperative. I have had many books on Access database pass my way, nothing compares with Mr. Robinsons' book on security and protection.

Mr. Robinsons' is the first technical book on Access I have ever read from cover to cover with a never ending want to turn the page to see what Mr. Robinson was going to teach me next. I'm going to begin a reread of his work and this time I'm going to use the examples with both Northwind and my own database to incorporate his methods; especially enjoying combining the OS and workgroup security to provide my data a secure base from my clients, friends and enemies.

His book provided me ample margin to take copious notes along with my read, it will prove helpful in preparing for deployment. Mr. Robinson is a professional database administrator and this book is written as from such, you will think like he does at the end of this read and be the better for it. Mr. Robinson is a wonderful dbase admin, author, and now teacher. Again many thanks for his efforts and a heartfelt appreciation for my newly gained knowledge. Should Mr. Robinson ever have a worldwide tour on the subject, sign me up.

All of the reviews are positive, I suggest a review of Mr. Robinsons' Table of Contents and more important, the wonderful Index. A review of these documents will give you better insight into the level of Access database security Mr. Robinson clearly and distinctly explains. Mr. Robinson has the world's attention on this security subject and rightfully deserves it.

The Table of Contents and Index may be found at:

View the table of contents (http://www.vb123.com/get/AccessSecurityBook_TOC.pdf)in PDF format.
View the index file (http://www.vb123.com/get/mapindex.pdf) in PDF format.

Tom Pickett
May 9, 2006
Berea, South Carolina USA

The intended audience for this book is the seasoned and open minded UNIX SA who has a smattering of understanding the Microsoft way of doing network based file sharing. The book dives right into detailed real world configurations that can be deployed right away. This book proudly sits in my library as one of the most utilitarian pieces of technical literature I own.

It is a very well organized book, usable as a reference. However, the lates version of Samba are not cover: a kind of "release notes" would be nice.

A superb book that covers all aspects of samba Config. My only critisism is that it is somewhat out of date (latest Ver 2.05) but that is OK as the principles havent changed much. Combined with the info on the samba site this book is the bible of samba, a must have.

Samba in a cinch. You pick up this book and within an hour you can have Samba running. There is really nothing to it. John Blair is a member of the Samba team, so he REALLY knows his stuff. He's also a remarkably good technical writer.

All the details are here, and the index is great. If you need something that this book doesn't cover, then you're way beyond me!

Have to setup Samba in a hurry? Overnight this book. The day you get it, flip through it for 10 minutes. Update the SMB.CONF file a bit. You're done - inside an hour - no question.

If you want to get fancy, this book covers that too. I haven't yet seen anything that wasn't in this book. In fact, I've found stuff that was in this book that I couldn't find ANYWHERE else.

Excellent book. Great to learn Samba. Great reference to keep handy afterward. Truly excellent book!

I do UNIX system administration for my company and I bought this book hoping it would help me offer UNIX printing services to our Windows 95/98 PCs. It was a waste of money. While this book is not terrible, neither is it for everyone. If you do not have a good knowledge of Microsoft networking concepts such as Master Browsers, this book will be as useless to you as it was to me. The explanations of Microsoft networking concepts so ineegral to Samba are very poor in this book. The author basically assumes that you know as much about Windows networking as he does. Example configs are poor and good luck trying to debug any problems you might have. If you don't know what a Domain Master Browser is, you would better off to do what I did and get the new O'Reilly and Associates book _Using Samba_ which does a much better job of explaining everything you need to know to make Samba work.

I bought this book a year ago because:
1. I was promoted to be an architect role and wanted an extra advice
2. The reviews for this book were exciting

Actually I was very disappointed with this book. This book will not teach you how improve your architecture but rather deal with techniques to review existing architectures.
The techniques themselves seem to be rather archaic and heavy and serve a little in practice, since the different work environment and organizations are not taken into account.

I can assume this book can be useful for an IT dept. architect that mainly focusing on evaluating 3rd party architectures and has full freedom to set the methodology.

If you want to learn some more real world practice, check Release It!: Design and Deploy Production-Ready Software (Pragmatic Programmers) (Pragmatic Programmers) which does not pretends to, but is actually one of the best architecture books I've read both for IT dept. architect, solution architect or development architect.

I bought this book for my husband. He uses it to help him with work. He is a Senior Software Engineer.

At the risk of adding one more gushing review to this excellent book - let me say that this book is very good for relatively non-technical folks also. I am working as a manager of a technical team and I used this book to come up on speed on the basics of software architecture. The material layout is very clear and consistent - it helped me to get through the basic concepts quickly and come back for a more detailed reading. The book helped me to ask the relevant questions and focus the team on the right sense of issues.

Only suggestion I have for a subsequent edition is to include one full blown case study.

Having been in the IT world for more than 25 years and studying this topic for many of those years I have found this book to be extremely accessible. I reference it often. I like the way it deals with real business world issues as opposed to on board jet navigation systems etc. I rate it right along with Craig Larman "Applying UML and Patterns".

It is a very thorough and well written book. Authors have introduced idea of perspectives (viewpoints related to cross-cutting concerns) and I totally agree with authors on benefits of using perspectives rather than treating them as viewpoints. My AD of new project is based on viewpoints and perspectives separation suggested by authors.

Upgrade Your Life is a great book. I've followed the blog for several years, but it's nice to have an analog version when you want to practice the best techniques available.

Recommended for information or technology workers who need to get more productive to survive and/or avoid insanity.

This book has some great tips as responses have noted. My one issue - at least a quarter of the book -- possibly more -- are tips that apply only to PCs. While often there will be a separate entry for PCs (usually longer) and Macs, there are a good number of suggested tools/tricks that only apply to PCs. I would have like to be able to read through only relevant ones.

I'll keep this review short and sweet: I love this book. I loved its predecessor, "Lifehacker", and love this one more.

It taught me things about what Windows, Office, and Firefox can do that I would have had no idea about before - and I thought I was reasonably astute! It also points you in the direction of an enormous number of great downloads, websites, and other resources - most of them free or quite cheap.

I've given this book as a gift a number of times and have always heard raves.

I'm currently running XP Pro and Office 2003 and it offers a lot of ideas for turbocharging those programs, but has even more ideas for Vista and Office 2007. I have tagged several dozen ideas to implement when I get around to upgrading.

This is an outstanding tool. Very eye-opening. You won't regret it.

If there's one book that's provided me with value for money recently, this is it. I've had it for over a week and I look at it every day. The other reviews here do a fine job of telling you the content, so mine is a more personal review.

I have plenty of experience in computers, so I can see the advantage of many of the tips. Since buying the book I have changed my browser from IE and my e-mail from Yahoo to Thunderbird, as well as downloading some of the many freeware programs she recommends. It's improved my life immensely, and often the time spent downloading has been paid back in minutes.

I stop short at some of the suggestions for advanced users, but that's because I don't want to change things for the sake of changing them. Otherwise I have more programs that I know what to do with, but that's because there are so many of them.

What's good is that Gina has covered the recommendations down to the last detail, especially living your life with them. Too many books on software run through the features with no recommendations as to where and how to use them. So if you're a person with any level of computer experience you will be using these programs and tips more or less from when you adopt them.

So thank you Gina (and Terra) for bringing this book about. I would guess it's made me 50 percent more effective in the first week. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't do marvels after reading this.

I remember reading the first edition of Gina Trapani's Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better and thinking how wonderful it was. Of course, when the second edition came out, I had to get that one too. And as with the first one, I have all sorts of post-it notes scattered throughout the book for reference and "go back and try this" notes. Well worth the time and money you spend here.

Contents:
Control Your Email; Organize Your Data; Trick Yourself into Getting Done; Clear Your Mind; Firewall Your Attention; Streamline Common Tasks; Automate Repetitive Tasks; Get Your Data To Go; Master The Web; Hone Your Computer Survival Skills; Manage Multiple Computers; Index

Over the span of the chapters above, Trapani presents 116 different "hacks" that you can incorporate into your daily computer life to, well... work smarter, faster, and better. As with most books that are a compilation of different tips, some will resonate strongly with your current needs, while others are skimming material that may not be relevant. For instance, the hacks in the first chapter, Organize Your Data, hit home. I'm working towards consolidating multiple email addresses with Gmail, and I'm cutting down the number of folders I have, relying on search to find what I need. Master The Web also had some cool tricks, like having multiple home pages in Firefox and using Google Notebook for web clippings. I wasn't quite into the Managing Multiple Computers as much, as my current setup doesn't call for that. Still, it's good information to have around should you need it at a later time.

I actually found a couple different things occurring as I read through the material. There were hacks where some software was presented that did a certain task, and I'd realize I've been looking for something just like that. Similar to scratching an itch that you couldn't quite reach. Then there were the hacks that opened your eyes to whole areas you didn't even know you needed. Let's call that finding AND scratching the itch you didn't know you had five minutes prior. After going through some of the Automate Repetitive Tasks hacks, I have started to look at a lot of things I do with a view towards eliminating the manual repetitive effort that I just accepted as necessary before.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who spends most of their waking hours in front of a computer, and/or earn their living in front of one. Taking away even a small handful of nuggets can radically change the way you do things.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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