Macintosh Books

upgrade of my first review.The cd is a bit dated but is quite substantial.the book is clearly the best Mac book.

this is the best book l have found for a performa home user with internet access.it has the detail an intermediate level user wants.the cd enclosed was dated and a bit of a letdown.the book still is worth the price.

This is a PeachPit Press "Visual QuickPro Guide"--similar to their "Visual QuickStart" training book series, but aimed at more experienced users. The series uses a task-based training approach, teaching skills through short step-by-step exercises. This approach has some major drawbacks for me, although this particular book seems to have dealt with some issues fairly well. My first complaint is that task-based training tends to focus too much on quick, "surface" results without really giving an understanding of what is happening and why it works. This makes it difficult to apply skills effectively in future situations, or to know when they ought to be applied. A task-based organization also makes it difficult to use a book as a reference, since information is dispersed throughout the exercises.

I was pleasantly surprised with Macromedia Flash 8 Advanced in many ways. First, I found that the chapters had a good mix of theoretical instruction and practical exercises. Almost every exercise was accompanied by an explanation of topics: what might be new to Flash 8, how the techniques might be important in a larger context, and an overview of how they work. There were a lot of explanatory sidebars and tips that offered very useful, relevant information. I was also pleased with the indexing, and I was able to find information on several topics as I worked. Most of the step-by-step instructions were very general, giving a basic process without getting sidetracked into specific projects.

Overall, I found that this book does just what it claims to do: it gives good, quick explanations of some advanced Flash topics and skills, such as external communications, sound and video, and dynamic content, as well as complex handling of things like movieClips, text, and buttons. It does not offer much in-depth discussion on any topic, and it does not focus on any area of Flash development specifically, but it takes a very broad approach to expanding Flash skills. I should particularly mention that I wouldn't recommend the book to someone trying to learn actionscript, since the actionscript in the book lacks the depth or focus that can be found elsewhere (O'Reilly's Actionscript for Flash MX), and information is dispersed throughout the book. It also does not really cover Flash components. I would recommend it to Flash users who want to expand their general skills and (especially) keep current with some of the growing capabilities of Flash. The book also includes a CD with working files for the exercises and a trial version of Flash 8.

I really enjoyed this book. It goes in depth in covering the actionscript language for Flash 8, and starts off at a relatively slow pace so you don't feel overwhelmed. My only complaint is that it relies a lot (at least in the beginning) on using the script assist mode which I think is a waste of time for those trying to LEARN actionscript. In it's defense, the book weans you off it as it goes along, and I can see someone with no actionscript experience finding that extremely helpful. Knowing a decent amount of actionscript before reading this, I found it a bit annoying but like I said, it fades out of that as the book goes on. Great for learning the newer way to code, and gives a good basis to really use Macromedia Flash to it's full potential.

This book is very good for understanding concepts of relational databases, layout design etc. In other words, the nuts and bolts of Filemaker database design. It is useful for anyone with more than an elementary grasp of FMP to take the next step. However it is quite thin in the advanced area, with minimal explanations of how to get the most out of FMP with scripting, automation and advanced calculation: this is the real power behind FMP and most users have or will never tap into this power. If you are looking to move that next step, I suggest looking elsewhere.

I use this book almost daily. It is my favorite FileMaker book, covering almost every aspect of creating FM Pro databases with enough detail to be useful in most situations. If you have any interest in FileMaker Pro at all, this is the first book you should buy. For many people it may be all you ever need

The book, while a bit dated (chapters on older keyboards' quirks and such may not be very useful to musicians with new gear), does contain excellent descriptions of all types of MIDI messages, as well as hardware implementation details and flowcharts for implementing MIDI data reception, in case you're writing a MIDI program or designing a MIDI hardware gadget.

The MIDI protocol has remained essentially unchanged for long enough that this book is still a great reference for MIDI musicians, software and hardware designers.

Rare is the book that, when faced with as complex and crufty a standard as MIDI, can explain it in terms that you can pick up the first time, and still be useful as a reference later. This is that kind of book -- useful for exeryone from the mildly curious, to serious MIDI developers.

The text describe the nitty gritty of coding or porting your OpenGL applications to the Mac OS X environment. To a limited extent, the book has a general treatment of programming in OpenGL. But it is not meant as a text on the latter. Instead the focus is on the "issues" that making for possible problems on OS X.

One of which is that OS X has 2 types of windows, Carbon and Cocoa. It might perhaps be nicer if there was only one. But this is what you have to deal with. The Apple OpenGL (AGL) is the interface to Carbon, while you need the Cocoa OpenGL for Cocoa. It is slightly unusual that a major platform would have 2 types, and you may want to code just for one type. The book gives many details about both APIs, as well as the GLUT API. An evenhanded discussion. Different readers might well have different preferences.

Some of you should check out the discussion about multithreading, if intensive graphics performance is needed in your applications. The OS X OpenGL engine is said to have much better performance due to its multithreading, than typical serial engines.

This book has a lot of shining points. First, all its explanations are crystal clear, focused into the concepts and techniques OpenGL developers really need. Furthermore, the book comprises OpenGL architecture and configuration on OS X, and the various APIs we can use in order to create OpenGL applications, specifically, CGL, AGL, Cocoa, (our old buddy) GLUT, and X11 APIs. A chapter focused into API interoperability is also included. But there is much more information in this book: history notes, a germane review of Mac's hardware, OS X programming, compatibility between Mac platforms, and a discussion about OpenGL extensions. Appendices contain an useful Glossary and notes about Cocoa API for OpenGL in Leopard. Last but not least, the book is the OpenGL/Mac companion we were demanding.

This, however, is not a book for starting to learn OpenGL (use the OpenGL SuperBible or the Red Book instead). This is a book aimed at two categories of programmers: Mac developers in general, and those with OpenGL foundations who want to explore the enormous benefits of OpenGL development on Mac OS X. I do strongly believe that any OpenGL developer will benefit of studying this great book.

Personally, Chapter 11 is the one I've enjoyed the most. The technical wisdom revealed in such chapter almost justifies by itself the full cost of the book. It's such a fine chapter. The almost 5 pages covering the "Axioms for Designing High-Performance OpenGL Applications" are very interesting, particularly the care we must have when doing our OpenGL drawing in Object-Oriented programs; we could easily incur considerable glVertex overhead, if our code is not properly structured. The little tutorial section "Putting It All Together" includes a detailed optimization of an OpenGL program, "Please Tune Me". Delicious. Very Recommended.

I love the life lessons that can be found from women in the Bible. And especially the deep truths that come from good teaching on those women. This book offers practical insights from 16 women found in God's Word taught by seasoned pastors' wives and a womens ministry leader. Each chapter ends with great application questions that can be answered personally or used for group discussion. Many churches are already using this book for their women's Bible study.

A companion journal to this book is available also. It is called An Extraordinary Journey: Discovering God's Purpose for Your Life. And it has further thought-provoking questions along with plenty of room to record the answers the Lord reveals to you.

My prayer is that our extraordinary God will use this book to transform you from the ordinary into an extraordinary woman He can use.

Our church did a bible study based on this book. I do love the way this book is layed out. Each chapter is a different women of the bible, and is assigned to a different author. The authors are Pastor's wives from Calvary Chapel's.I do love getting a different writing style, and theme to each chapter, it makes the read more interesting and go much faster.

I can't give a reason for giving it only 4 stars. It was very good, and I enjoyed it very much, but I just didn't love it.

I would suggest reading it though. It is insightful, and helps you get a little back ground on the life of a pastor's wives as well as the women of the bible chosen for each chapter.

I would recommend this book for the ped's nurse to refresh your memory, or get extra ped's tips. Good for a beginning ped's nurse also. I'm always hungry to read anything that can improve my knowledge base and patient care skills and this is a good all around pediatric nursing book.

I am an experienced pediatric RN and I am studying for the CPN Test. This is a great review. It is concise but addresses much information.

This is really an encouraging book for those of us who took one look at Photoshop 5 or 5.5 and threw up our hands in despair. It begins at the very, rankist beginning (where I was!) and progresses simply, logically and humorously. There are ample and helpful illustrations. The book is very simple for newbees, who don't know anything about Photoshop. Its explanations are worded in plain English and any tech-talk is interpreted into English. In my copy, there is an addendum for the 5.5 upgrade. This book, and only this book, got me started and has kept me going in Photoshop, finally, and I love it and use it almost daily. It is really worth a lot more than its measly price.

I guess you can't really expect any more from a "for dummies" book than the basics, but I was hoping that it would have a little more than just the basics. I do like the photoshop program for either the MAC or the PC, but the MAC one seems to be a little faster and a bit cleaner. I would recomend this book to anyone who actually never really used photoshop or know little about it. But if you have taken a class in photoshop it is pretty much a waste of time and money.

The Visual Quickstart series is, in my opinion, the best replacement for a manual, or for those excuses for a manual that appear in software boxes. The Photoshop Elements book fits that need to a T.

The numbered steps take you through each of the operations, and I've yet to find an error or omission in any Quickstart book I've read. The reason that this book doesn't get five stars is that Photoshop Elements is a difficult book to fit in the Quickstart format.

In writing a dual-platform book, author Craig Hoeschen faces the problem that a large part of the program (the Windows Photo Organizer) only shows up in one version. It is possible to work without the Organizer, but most Windows users will adopt it, so then there's the problem of looking for what you consider the basics only to find they're in the last chapter of the book.

Many programs need no explanation of how to use them in terms of what you need to do at the meta level - there aren't books such as How to Write a Novel in Microsoft Word. It's assumed that once the user learns the difference between the program and the traditional way of doing things (like MS Word versus the typewriter) then no more help is necessary.

But Photoshop needs lots of project-based instruction, and although Craig Hoeschen makes a good stab in a chapter called Creative Techniques (and in many instances through the rest of the book), you really need another book to help with this (which is why I bought Jennifer Fulton's "Photoshop Elements 3 in a Snap"). Then I found the book to extend Photoshop Elements called "The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 3" (by Richard Lynch) which came with a CD that added many useful features to the program.

So the Quickstart Guide can't deal with all your Photoshop queries. It will satisfy your needs for an easy-to-get-to guide for many program operations, but you'll need other books to get the most out of the program. All these books are good, but be warned that no single Photoshop Elements book will show all you need to know.

I like the format of the Visual QuickStart Guides. Generally speaking, the pages are divided into two columns. The outside column has a headline explaining what the page is about and text to describe how to do it, and perhaps include a bit of explanation or a Tip. The inside column has a screen shot of what the monitor should look like as you do that particular operation. This is combined with an index that directs you to the page based on what you need to do.

I find that this approach works very well for me. I also happen to like the writing style that Craig Hoeschen has. He seems to pick just the right level of detail that I want to start doing some function.

This particular book is on Photoshop Elements, version 3. Version 3 has some nice extensions to the older versions of Elements, but if you've used Version 2 you probably don't need this book to pick up the differences. If you're new to Photoshop Elements, this is an excellent place to start.

I have had this book for a while and it is great because it has lots of illustration. I also had version 6 book of this men and it was wonderful.

I'm still working my way through this book, but it's been very helpful for a novice user of ProTools. I would really give the book 4-and-a-half out of 5 stars. The only reason it doesn't get 5 is because there are some wickedly complex elements of ProTools that the book can't quite explain easily, since it's written at a beginning and intermediate level. Still, I like the simplicity and clarity, because it's what I need. The book even has a few sidebars that explain basic audio recording facts. Experienced audio types will probably find these sidebars laughable, but they're great for newbies.