Computers and Internet Books

Mr. Bassiri definitely has an excellent grasp of the Netscape Server architecture. After reading this book, I have gained a better understanding of the Netscape server inner workings. I found the chapters on WAI very helpful! I would definitely recommend this to anyone developing applications for the Netscape platform.

My only complaint is that some of the sections are too wordy and redundant.

I thought I knew a lot before I read this book. I was just fooling my self..... Must own book if you work with NES.

Just got my copy of this book and it is great. Wish Netscape provided such accurate and detailed information in their books. Mr. Bassiri seems to know what he is writing about. He seems to write from experience instead of reading Netscape manuals and rehashing the old story. Appendix A and B are really helpful. They included a complete list of server configuration settings. The NSAPI tutorial is the best around and the WAI section provides a true programmer's review of this API. This book is packed full of information. If you want to know how the Netscape server works and program applications for it, you should definitely buy this book.

If you administer or develop for Netscape servers, you will benefit from this book. Administrators: the knowledge you gain from this book will allow you to modify the config files to do correctly what the Server Manager sometimes doesn't do properly, and configure features that simply cannot be administered from the Server Manager. Developers and Architects: Having read this book, you will know what options you have, and be more easily able to decide which architecture is best for your application -- and you'll be able to code it. In addition, your understanding of the key concepts will allow you to grasp quickly how external but related technologies (like Forte's Web Enterprise) work. Well-written, detailed and comprehensive; highly recommended.

Easy to read, I delved in and finished it in 2 workdays without falling asleep. The info is clear and the examples great. Two suggestions: more examples, and greater focus on what the non-threadsafe functions are. He lists NSAPI funcs and says to use 'em (util_sprintf() for instance) but doesn't mention if strlen or other functions are threadsafe. Also, the time function - I can't get a compile using time funcs that don't have a local time_t or timeb structure (instead of pointers to system structures). That should be noted. Otherwise, totally required book and excellent for beginners to get into it.

This the best book on the subject of data and information quality! The authors have provided us we the means to implement a practical and simple way to achieve data and information quality with the notion that data are products. The emphasis of IT is shifted towards supporting the production of data and information products. Data and information as products, also encourages interactions with consumers of these products. The authors illustrate the importance of this with long chapters devoted to consumers surveys about information timeliness, packaging, content, meaning, and packaging. My organization was fortunate enough to have Dr. Wang offer a seminar based on his book. In the seminar, Dr. Wang emphasised the importance of data and information as products whose quality ia judged by access, interpretation, content, and timeliness. The depth of knowledge and pratical use of basic quality principles to achieve consumenr satisfaction is well demonstrated by Dr. Wang and his co-authors. As all of us must live in a world where data, information and knowledge are commodities of trade, this book is a necessary guide for success.

Deming's TQC(Total Quality Control) and Kanban method were the key for Miracle Japan economy growth after World War Two. Japanese economy were struggling during 1990's decade, one of the reason is to ignore the power of the information structure, and depend upon the old paper information system, which speed cannot catch up with the society change speed. This book will help Japanese Society to enter New Era. Last month, Daiwa Bank's ex-board 11 members were ordered 830 million USD indemnity, because of Daiwa Bank New York officer's fraud. Snow Brand, Mitusbishi Moter, Bridgestone/Firestone, many companies are facing trouble by lacking Total data Quality Management. This book is really help for 21 centure enterprize direction.

This book presents the readers with an objective and scientific description of IQ (information quality) and a systematic way of measuring, analyzing and improving IQ. It is valuable for enterprise IQ personnels to read this book before fulfiling DQM (Data Quality Management) tasks.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

This book will help Japanese Society to enter New Era, October 24, 2000 Reviewer: teruo miyagawa (see more about me) from hiratsuka, kanagawa Japan Deming's TQC(Total Quality Control) and Kanban method were the key for Miracle Japan economy growth after World War Two. Japanese economy were struggling during 1990's decade, one of the reason is to ignore the power of the information structure, and depend upon the old paper information system, which speed cannot catch up with the society change speed. This book will help Japanese Society to enter New Era. Last month, Daiwa Bank's ex-board 11 members were ordered 830 million USD indemnity, because of Daiwa Bank New York officer's fraud. Snow Brand, Mitusbishi Moter, Bridgestone/Firestone, many companies are facing trouble by lacking Total data Quality Management. This book is really help for 21 centure enterprize direction.

*** Seeing no voting buttons? To ensure fairness and impartiality, we allow you to vote only for other customers' reviews.***

WHY MY COMMENT IS NO VOTING BUTTONS? IS MY COMMNET NOT FAIRNESS AND IMPARTIALITY? LET ME KNOW. TERUO MIYAGAWA

IT has often had it backwards, such as when companies seek to automate what already adds little value. If the data are degraded in the process, you fall back instead of forward. The downside risk is real, as is the upside opportunity. While many books talk in abstraction about knowledge management, this book provides a practical process that will vastly improve IT effectiveness. IT managers should read this first, as should their clients. I hope that this book will be but the beginning of an emphasis on first dealing with the problem, then looking for the right way to deliver and use the data while protecting them, then look at the software and hardware choices. I look forward to future books that provide even more examples of what can go right and wrong with the knowledge and data. This is the way that best practices should be spelled out. I also look forward to seeing how best practices will evolve in this field into future best practices. There is a lot of room for improvement.

The book is easy to understand. There are plenty of examples and the exercise help reinforce what you learnt. The two negatives are: it's not XSLT 2.0 and the printing and binding of the book is poor. It is still a good way to learn XSLT. It would be great to have a study group guide.

Some PROs and CONs...

Pros:
Topic flows very well. Author was able to explain each topic without asking reader to refer to upcoming forward chapters. Best part of this book are the examples. They are relevant and short and sweet enough to understand. Best of all, there are lots of examples. The author doesn't just slap them on the page and tell you to figure it out yourself. The author walks the reader thru them.

Cons:
Some areas reads like a technical manual.. causing me to reread sentences over and again. But that said, the book still comes across as tutorial friendly (You figure that out.).

Comparisons:
I rate the book 5 stars. I own Beginnning XSLT 2.0 by Tennison, XSLT 2.0 by Kay, and Mastering XSLT by White. My opinion is that XSLT in 21 days is the best book to get you to learn it the quickest because of the author's superb examples.

If you know absolutely nothing about XSLT, this is the book for you. Very straightforward. I got through the first week (7 chapters) in about a day. You could easily read and understand most of the content in this book in less than a few days. Great for anyone wanting to pick up the language quickly. For advanced users, this is probably not your book.

This book works. It does, however, assume that you have a meaningful level of computer proficiency. This is probably a safe assumption for anyone intending to go spelunking in XML files and performing transformations on same.

To complete the book's lessons, you'll need to download and install one of the free XSLT parsing engines listed in the book. Alternatively, I used the jEdit free text browser and its associated XSLT plugin to run the examples.

I don't believe in assigning five stars, or I would have for this book.

Best book to start out with XSLT;
quickly takes you to the point where you can put knowledge from the book to work;

ALSO - it is very easy to follow the Book on the road BECAUSE it explains exactly what each line of code in examples does;

Very thourough analysis and not much mumbo-jambo (as in xslt for dummmies book)

Have been using code from this book with great success, extending the functionality of SSJS objects (SuperFile, SuperMail)--until now (SuperClient). SuperClient can't seem to see the [client] object in an iPlanet WebServer 4.1 environment. So, digging around in vendor supplied documentation for that version, we find [customClient]. The description of this [customClient] object is very similar to [SuperClient]. Now, while merging the functionality of the two, the book continues to be a wonderful asset.

iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition Server-Side JavaScript Guide (v4.1)* March 2000 (p140 ff) Creating a Custom [client] Object

EXTRACT: Properties of the predefined [client] object can have only string values. To extend the [client] object with a custom object include the following line at the beginning of pages that require it: [var customClient = getCustomClient();] If this is NOT the first page that requests the object you get an existing object, otherwise a new one is created.

I have been using and referring this book to development teams for the past year. An excellent tutorial and reference point for people exposing the power of Server-side JavaScript.

The book was very good with the best history of JavaScript (server and client-side) I have ever read. However, nobody in the professional world will start a project today in SSJS, the language is extinct. Only legacy web applications will be using this and there are so many better server-side languages available now.

I have scanned this book, and true to what the other reviewers have said, this book looks excellent. I like that SSJS seems to separate the business stuff from the presentation stuff (HTML) unlike ColdFusion and ASP's. How many people are using SSJS?

If any one wanted to learn good SSJS programming techniques, this is the best buy. Authors not only have real stuff but they explained in a much better way than anyother about SSJS concepts with wonderful, real life examples. Ofcourse, you shoud know about javascript fundamentals (core javascript) before you read this book and authors are very specific about the content of the book and their target is only for users of SSJS

Of the many audio engineering books I have encountered, Sound FX stands out in several distinct ways.

The Book is incredibly thorough and detailed. After covering the basic function of each studio effect, Sound FX goes on to describe many different uses that each effect can serve. For example at the end of the chapter on compression (page 163), nine different goals that compression can accomplish are listed. Over the course of the chapter, compression has been analyzed so thoroughly that you will understand how and to achieve each one of these nine desired effects and why and when you would want to.

Why would an engineer pick one compressor over another? There are several paragraphs outlining characteristics that change from model to model. Knowing what to listen for helped cue me on to some subtle differences that I had previously not heard. Sound FX is filled with details like this about every effect that mixing engineers use. Other studio effects are described just as carefully. (EQ, expansion, gating, reverb delay, pitch shifting, distortion, and so on)

Have you ever listened to a compressed track, and cranked the compressor's release time from as low as possible to as high as possible and not hear the difference? Sound FX explains what you need to listen for. Have you tried adjusting the "room size" on a reverb unit and not heard the difference? Again Sound FX explains what this means and what the sonic results are.

While engineers working on material that is not musical may find valuable information here, the book is primarily about working with music. A fair amount of technical information is presented, but the material always circles back to how the technology can be used to accomplish musical tasks.

It's taken me time to learn what effects are needed to to find the sound I want to hear. Understanding the complexity of what each effect has to offer and knowing what to listen for when I adjust parameters has drastically improved my mixes. The authors experience and meticulous attention to detail comes through here and analyzes the material more effectively than any other source I have encountered. After reading, I'm always left with a powerful urge to rush to the studio and put the material to use.

Sound FX by Alex Case is a MUST have for anyone recording music. It's a clear, concise read with a delicate balance of the technical and creative aesthetics of any outboard gear (or plug-in). Five stars!

I have been a home recording enthusiast for ten years now. I feel that I have picked up many skills over those years, albeit from scattered sources. I was finally ready to dive in and get my head around all of these things that I had available to me, and along came Sound FX. This book is an indespensible reference for aspiring engineeers who have already cut their teeth in some way, and understand a few things about electronic music and general sound properties. That being said, the book stays grounded at a level that is not tailored for acoustic engineering pros. There is a technical aspect to the flow of the info, but as soon as that's covered, you're right back to getting into practical applications. It truly is a perfect balance. And, Alex Case keeps an amazing sense of humor throughout his writing. This book reads like a breeze. This is not an easy topic to cover this way. Additionally, this book gives hope to the budget-minded recording enthusiast, and tends to play down the idea that you need to buy lots of expensive gear to get the job done. Too many references and 'how to' books are pushing gear, big gear. Not this one. Alex Case only teaches you to push your creativity to brink. Keep this book next to your mixer at all times!

Sound FX is a comprehensive, beautifully laid out resource for all levels of recording engineers. Professor Case has found a way of re-examining the tried and true building blocks of music production that imparts new perspectives while covering fundamental topics. The book aims to empower engineers to understand the science behind the tools of the control room in order to inspire greater creativity within their recordings. Many of the described effects utilize tools found in most studios, but in a way that will be new to many of the readers, even those working in major recording studios. Musical references have been included so that the reader seek out discussed effects first hand.

Perhaps the greatest asset of Sound FX is the manner by which the material is presented; Alex Case has included a light hearted, witty narrative that makes the reading experience a breeze regardless of the material.

As is probably true of many audio people, I own several books covering various topics in recording but none that are as insightful and as inpiring as this one; highly recommended!

I think this is a terrific book that fills a need for engineers and musicians looking to develop a serious understanding of audio technology and studio production and composition. The emphasis on acoustics and psycho-acoustics while still providing practical advice on using processing is unique. It is very much the approach I've been trying to design into my classes and Alex Case does it with great accuracy and style. He makes the science understandable (and includes plenty of it), he cautions against the hype in our industry, always emphasizes the musical result, and his sense of humor makes it fun reading. Alex Case teaches much more than effects with this book. I am planning to use it for a text in a summer course I'm teaching and will probably use it next spring in my undergraduate class.

Jim Moses, Brown University MEME (multimedia and electronic music experiments) program.

The book is great for the experts, geeks, average user and the inexperienced newbie who just went "online" and started using email.

It goes into details but yet explains things in a way that can be understood by anybody. The power of metaphors and examples from the offline world from everyday life do the trick.

This book is the most comprehensive book to the subject of email spam, its various forms, its purpose and why it is so hard to stop it.

If you already receive a lot of spam an wonder why you got it, even though you did everything correctly and protected your email like you protect your credit card numbers, read the book. Even if you did not receive a lot of spam, read the book, no, YOU have to read the book.

I would also suggest it to anybody who just went online and thus is vulnerable to phishing and 419 fraud due to the lack of experience.

You are reading this review, which means that you are online. Don't browse away without buying this book!

How do spammers select their targets, make money on gaining email addresses, and gain information just from a preview of a spam message? How spammers and hackers work is revealed by veteran technology interpreter Danny Goodman in SPAM WARS: OUR LAST BEST CHANCE TO DEFEAT SPAMMERS, SCAMMERS, AND HACKERS. Chapters tell how criminals and scammers operate, how they use the email system, and when anti-spam technology and laws can't help. It also provides tips on how users can protect themselves and their email against attack. An invaluable, important guide.

Spam Wars is truly a computer book for the twenty-first century. Award-winning technology interpreter Danny Goodman teaches readers Spam 101 followed by an intermediate course in Spam, including how to recognize spam, the importance of firewalls, spam, virus, spyware and malware filters that should be installed on every computer, and much more. In a day and age where the worst possible spam can lead to identity theft and worse, Spam Wars is much-needed reading for every small business and household that relies heavily upon computers and the internet. The basics for protecting oneself from attack are presented in plain terms that even the technologically clueless can quickly grasp, and special attention is given to the exploitable flaws in Microsoft Windows and the Outlook email program. Highly recommended.

I was recently sent a review copy of the book Spam Wars by Danny Goodman. This is an excellent read for anyone wanting to understand where spam comes from and how the whole "spamonomy" operates...

Contents: Introduction; Email Predators, Guardians, and Victims; Grasping Spam (not SPAM); How We Got into This Mess; Behind the Curtain: How Email Works; It's the Spamonomy, Stupid!; How Spammers Get Your Email Address; Meet the Spammers and Scammers; The Spammer's View of the World; How Spam Differs from Junk Mail; The Antispammer's View of the World; Spammer Tricks Part 1: Headers; Spammer Tricks Part 2: Messages; Beware Geeks Bearing Gifts; Rule #3: Spammers Are Stupid; Technology as a Partial Solution; The Law as a Partial Solution; An Email Manifesto and To-do List; All about Email Message Headers; An Introduction to Span Sleuthing; Online Resources; Glossary; Index

Unlike books that offer purely technical solutions to reduce the amount of spam you receive, Goodman takes a step back and lays the groundwork for how we found ourselves in the current environment. Any reasonably intelligent person will be able to take this book and begin to understand just how much of a problem this is. It's not just the 50 (or 500) emails you have to delete every day. It's the billions that get sent out continuously by spammers and scammers who don't deliver on their offers. And because there are people dumb enough to respond, it's a very lucrative business that has no regard for the victims... those of us who don't want to increase certain body parts or meet girls who are hot for us. Please!

Goodman has a very irreverent style of writing in this particular work, and it's fun to read. He has no qualms to call spammers "stupid" and then back it up with examples that are far too numerous. I also appreciate that he doesn't attempt to offer some "silver bullet" that will magically take care of all your issues. There isn't one, and he openly acknowledges that. Technology can fix part of the problem, and laws can somewhat address another small segment. But in his final chapter, the "manifesto", he offers a series of steps and actions that each of us can take to start reclaiming our rightful possession that the spammer has stolen from us... our email address.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn't understand what the fuss is, or to those who have reached the end of their rope with spam. You don't have to be a techno-geek to read and understand the material, and you can start to make a difference in your little corner of the internet. And if enough people take the same steps, perhaps things will become better for everyone...

There is one classic book that sits on my bookshelf and shows the wear and tear of repeated use and that book is the JavaScript Bible by Danny Goodman. So when I found that Goodman had written a book about the eternal struggle against spam and phishing scams, I really wanted to get my hands on a copy of Spam Wars: Our Last Best Chance to Defeat Spammers, Scammers, and Hackers (Select Books, 2004, ISBN 1-59079-063-4, 330 pages) to see his take on this subject.

In a writing style that would make "Dr. Phil" proud, Goodman pulls no punches in providing a tough love narrative weaving history, challenges, and opportunities to attack this enemy head on and win the war. At US$12.21 a copy on Amazon, there is no reason potential readers should hesitate to buy a copy for themselves and copies for all their well meaning friends and relatives who do the stupid behaviors that spammers more than profit from.

Goodman makes no apologies for his approach to the topic and the fact that it is driven by his personal philosophies, but unlike the author of another spam title I recently reviewed, he gets his research and facts right, not only providing citations but links to source documents. From his "outing" of the first commercial spam from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) on ARPANET in 1978, to his plain English explanations of how email is routed, to his line by line explanations of what is contained in email headers, Goodman undertakes and successfully delivers content for the lay audience, as well as technical readers.

In some ways, Goodman may be overly optimistic that if the economic vitality that fuels spam is cut off, then the problem will go away. I myself have fought too many unsuccessful uphill battles with family and friends to either not forward mass e-mails or learn the simple BCC concept. But there is much more likelihood of success if we do this. Why? Because as Goodman illustrates very well, lobbyists and special interests have very successfully watered down any attempts at real legislation with teeth, and even the most rigid laws stop at our borders. He also shows how the original developers of the Internet are the real root cause of the problem, regardless of how good their intentions were.

And his book also educates beyond technology and spam/scams. He teaches you about things like the fact that you do not have to return a warranty card to a manufacturer to have protections of the warranty. He talks about elements of social engineering not often discussed: the use of certain words and phrases to exploit the god-fearing, the bleeding hearts, and the lonely.

So if you want yet another great reference book from Danny Goodman, then this book fits the bill. The only fault I have with the book and hopefully the publisher can address this is that this book was not released under a Creative Commons License like "We The Media". The reason for this is that Goodman wants the content and "gospel" passed onto as many people as possible. Creative Commons licensing would have definitely jumpstarted this effort, since there are no handy download documents or information sheets that can easily be distributed to others. However, I view this as gravy and in no way detracts from this book.

Who Should Read This Book?

Everybody. This includes you, your significant other, your grandmother, your neighbor, and/or anybody else who uses the Internet and really needs to understand the consequences of their behaviours.

The Scorecard

Double Eagle on a Par 5

Now I have not read the book all the way through. I only use it as a reference when I can't figure something out on my own.

It has had the answer every time I needed it, so I am very impressed so far. Also bought the book on the new version of Office by the same authors and have the same thing to say about it.

Good Stuff

This product was in excellant condition upon arrival and arrived before expected.
I have used Que Books by the same authors previously. I find these are excellent reference books.

Very detailed, as you would expect from a Que book, but quite well organized. Except for unique requirements, the book blurb is true - "the only book on Vista you will ever need".

I have read and put to work about half of this book and I'm impressed with its thorough coverage. However be aware that to fully benefit from this book you must have intermediate to advanced prior knowledge of the Windows OS. This new edition includes SP1, but I found several remnants of references to pre SP1 Vista features that were not corrected or edited. For example, the Search link was deleted from the Start Menu by SP1. Yet the book refers to this link as if it was still present. If these minor problems had been corrected I would have rated this book 5 stars.

A very comprehensive treatment which lives up to its title of the only vista book you need.A real bargain at the price.

It delivers how to know user's thoughts and express it in effective way to others. And also remind me a lot of thing I know already but I forgot while working.Good for someone who interested in user experience design.

It is clearly one of the best books on webdesign, a compulsory one on any IA's or IxD's bookshelf.


What I liked:
- the insights this book gives you are instantly actionable, it is really a step-by-step guide
- the authors discuss the topics that are relevant to persona creation (and take it literally, there is great information on survey design, how to segment results, what sources to use to find a photo for your persona, etc.)
- you will find good real world examples
- the book shows multiple approaches based on different needs and constraints
- the copywriting is also outstanding, no nonsense and easy to digest

What I didn't like:
I am trying hard but really can't think of anything :)

This book has got to be one of the most comprehensive on the topic of personas available. Between the detailed types of personas and processes on when and how to use them, it's almost overwhelming in scope for such a relatively small book.

The power of this book is the amount of experience the authors have in the subject. Where other books may make a cursory review of personas and how to apply them, this one makes clear delineations of the two types it describes (qualitative and quantitative) and how/when they should be used and their limitations. Examples and discussions of successful projects as well as when "personas are taken too far" distill a lot of practical experience.

This book is for the serious UI/usability designer/developer. Though it is not so technical as to be over the heads of executives, managers and stakeholders, once past the first chapter the details are likely to be more than most will need.

When companies want to skimp in a development process, whether that be for a web application, a desktop application, a content management implementation, a usability project, or a documentation set, the first thing they'll cut (if they even thought of it at all) is doing persona development. They'll say it's not important, or that it will get captured in the scenarios (if they do those), or in the use cases - and that's if they do the types of use cases that capture user experience, not the type that simply talk about database interactions. In their book, The User Is Always Right: A Practical Guide to Creating and Using Personas for the Web, Steve Mulder and Ziv Yaar dispel all those naive notions and show how personas set a sound foundation on which to build. Skipping this step means building on what is likely an unstable foundation - and from the world of bricks and mortar, we know the steep costs associated with shoring up buildings with badly-constructed underpinnings. A great book with concrete suggestions for practitioners.

This comprehensive guide approaches user experience research like never before, and is well-written, easy-to-read, and quite user friendly. It provides real-world examples of how user research is done in just enough detail that it can both inform an executive of the role of usability research as well as introduce methodology for persona creation to someone starting out in user experience design.

"You are not the user."

As an interaction designer and information architect for the past 12 years, I have been most drawn towards books that go far beyond principles and theory to ones I can actually extract from and use their contents for the praxis of the craft, rather than just reading descriptions of a process. This is a great book that is a blueprint to follow to get it right. It defines the entire user research and persona creation process and offers insightful case studies from successful companies that Mulder and Yaar worked with like Vista Print.

The use of personas has become an increasingly popular technique being used by the interaction design community to address user needs. Introduced into the mainstream in 1999 in The Inmates Are Running The Asylum, personas have gained momentum in both the software and website design communities, but still faces hurdles.

What are the benefits of personas?

A key aspect to any practitioner responsible for bringing real user centered design to an organization's product design process, being able to evangelize the importance of user research and persona creation is absolutely key. Many interaction designers understand the importance of persona creation, but lack the arguments to persuade management to both fund user research and persona creation, and to incorporate real users into the design process. This is where the book is particular important - selling proper user research and persona creation to upper management constrained by resources and deadlines.

According to Mulder and Yaar, personas bring many benefits, including these:
* Users' goals, behaviors and attitudes become a common point of focus for the team. (They keep repeating this mantra until I found myself chanting it in the shower)
* The team can concentrate on designing for a manageable set of personas knowing that they represent the needs of many users.
* By always asking, "Would Will use this?" the team can avoid the trap of building what users ask for rather than what they will actually use, or the problem which is far more pernicious - building features that a product champion thinks are important.
* Design efforts can be prioritized based on the personas.
* Disagreements over design decisions can be sorted out by referring back to the personas.
* Designs can be constantly evaluated against the personas, getting better designs into usability testing.

What is a persona anyway??

A persona is a fictional person that the team creates to reflect what is know about one of the key audience groups (sometimes that knowledge is gained from interviews, focus groups, or surveys). Typically, a team creates two or more personas to represent different user segments, while identifying a few key archetypes as the primary personas.

Helpful persona profiles include demographic information, levels of computer expertise, descriptions of the personas' needs for the particular site in development, and the goals and tasks they would have in mind when using the site.

The User Is Always Right takes you through each step of persona creation, including tips for conducting qualitative user research, new ways to apply quantitative research (such as surveys) to persona creation, various methods for generating persona segmentation, and proven techniques for making personas realistic. You'll also learn how to use personas effectively, from directing overall business strategy and prioritizing features and content to making detailed decisions about information architecture, content, and design.

What characteristics are included in a persona?

Some of the information Mulder and Yaar say a persona usually includes:
* a name and picture
* demographics (age, education, ethnicity, family status)
* job title and major responsibilities
* goals and tasks in relation to your product/web site/application
* environment (physical, social, technological)
* a quote that sums up what matters most to the persona with relevance for your site
* A narrative that brings the persona to life

The User Is Always Right is an entertaining and clearly written book that is also filled with great insight into the process, both qualitative, and quantitative, of creating user personas based on real research and how that can help interaction designers, product designers, and other user experience professionals make more usable and useful software. There are also extensive samples and examples throughout the book of real personas, actual user research data, and analysis spreadsheets. These give a very clear idea of how the recommended approaches work in practice.

For the first time (as far as I'm aware), this brings together two very different approaches: qualitative research based on interviews and observation; and quantitative research based on surveys and usage data. The authors' overall methodology provides real answers on when to use field research, when to conduct surveys, and how to combine the two sets of results. The end product are personas that have much greater rigueur and impact.

In summary, this is a must-have book for people tackling the design of complex sites, applications or devices, or for user-centered designers seeking more rigorous methodologies when creating personas. I cannot recommend this book too highly.

Protocol and practice.... unlike 21 days in HTML, the authors teach me something big...

This is a fabulous book, technically competent, well-written, easy to read and well-organized. It comprehensively covers all the tech-weenie needs to know about clients, proxies, servers, HTTP, and a bunch more without drowning you in math or killing you softly with a gazillion irrelevant details. I found the last chapter, the "Research Perspectives," to be particularly up-to-date and useful. There is a ton of information about HTTP floating around out there. Figuratively speaking, Rexford and Krishnamurthy have taken as their input the coal and produced as their output this diamond.

You've built a B2C or B2B web service. You get great response time from your office, but there are times when your customers across the country report poor performance.

This book with help you understand the entire path between browser and web server and how Internet latency and intermediaries like Proxy servers add to transaction delay. This is the only source that I've seen that a) Defines HTTP 1.1 and b) describes the relationship between HTTP and the TCP/IP protocol stack, making recommendations on how to tune the stack to reduce the effect of latency.

You'll learn that many of TCP's flow control mechanisms were designed for FTP, Telnet and Rlogin and some default settings are not optimized, or even appropriate for HTTP.

This is so totally readable and comprehensive in its scope, that it was an absolute delight. This one is a keeper and a re-read if you need to understand what the word "web" or "data" means.

...but it is very thorough.

Although I am a certified Power Point Professional I don't use Power Point anymore. Let me explain. Since Apple came out with Keynote it is far better so I left Power Point in the dust and has never been easier. For Power Point I will agree with the other commenters this book is one of the best I have seen even better than the "Dummy" books I used to recommend to my Community College classes. I would love to have seem a CD with some sample complete presentations.
The main thing I disliked about the book is the fact the illustrations are in Black & white. The only color is on the covers. I believe the book would be better if they were color and what is there would have better resolution.
I am a full time Minister and would love to see something from the stand point of when you have a lot of material you need to give the audience. I speak to the same audience 52 weeks a year and roughly do 110 presentations. I do pickup some points out of every book and this one is no exception.
I am waiting for a book, probably by a preacher who does as many presentations as a do to the same audience, dealing with how to deal with a lot of text putting full Scripture passages in the presentations.
This one is ok but I find it written more to the fellow that does business presentations. There is another audience unless I am the only Preacher that uses Power Point or Keynote.
Great job though Rick.

Why Most PowerPoint Presentations Suck
Altman's writing sets a new standard for "computer" books. I use the quotation marks because this book doesn't just cover PowerPoint, but also provides solid teachings on delivering more effective presentations, making it more of a "professional" book than one just on computing subjects. That aside, this is the best-written computer-oriented book I've read. Altman has an entertaining style while also clearly demonstrating his expertise on the subject through genuine tips and techniques that are easy to understand and use. If the title doesn't grab you the content certainly will.

I did not like this book as much as the other five-star reviewers on this page seemed to have liked it. And since someone else has already said something similar, I found my voice too.

This book tries to do too much in a series of unrelated chapters and is not too suitable for simple PowerPoint users. It also assumes too much from the reader and gets into technical PowerPoint jargon without considering if the readers knows what it means.

One of my friends on the PowerPoint newsgroup was not too happy with this book, but I disregarded her opinion and got this one based on the opinions from all the other reviewers here. I wonder why these reviews don't say more.

The author is more interested about his own life, events, and contacts than about PowerPoint. Almost everything is unoriginal and the author says that he learned this trick from this friend, and that friend. No wonder all the info comes up as half the info and although the writing style is good, the content is not deep enough. I'm sorry but that's my opinion.

In his introduction, Rick Altman opines that his book attempts to reduce his billble hours by half, because of all the advice he has packed into its 271 pages. In fact, Altman's billings will probably explode because in this book he firmly establishes himself as the leading expert on every aspect of PowerPoint.

It is a remarkable acheivement. The book is packed with tips on the mechanics of creating PowerPoint presentaions. It is also packed with advice on how to make your PowerPoint presentations interesting. I have a number of books on PowerPoint and none are anywhere near as complete as this one.

While Altman covers PowerPoint 2007, his hints and tips are mostly applicable to earlier versions as well.

This is a book that every PowerPoint user, no matter what level of expertise they think they possess, should buy and read every page of. It is truly that good.

Jerry