Computers and Internet Books

Practical and effective. A balanced book with an understandable writing and depth of analysis.

At the peak of the dot-com bubble, buying Internet stocks was momentum investing at its most pure - get in when a new stock or sector is on its upswing, and get out while the gettin's good. But Peter S. Cohan has created new criteria for Internet investors to apply in the traditional method of fundamental analysis. Instead of looking to old-line gurus like Graham or Buffet for advice, Cohan draws on the business strategies of John D. Rockefeller to come up with fresh e-commerce attributes like economic leverage, closed-loop solutions and adaptive management for investors to measure. We [...] recommend this book to executives, employees and students with equal vigor, although consider yourself forewarned that Cohan's extended barking-dog analogy will grate on your nerves. Nevertheless, anyone who invests in Internet companies or even traffics in Internet commerce for business or pleasure will gain insights from this book, regardless of whether Cohan's investment criteria prove to have staying power.

This is the most lucid, sensible analysis I've read thus far of the likely implications of engaging in e-commerce from different strategic perspectives and business models. Cohan provides a valuable framework and applies it to scores of real cases. I find myself returning to his book time and again to apply his methodology. His only off-base advice: don't invest in companies led by folks over 35. I'll forgive him that one. The rest of the book is a real gem. It should age well.

I enjoyed the book tremendously, and think Peter's done a fabulous job dissecting the Internet investment frenzy, providing the logic to the momentum everyone else seems to have missed.

This book is good for Newbie to the internet but certainly don't worth a look for someone looking for insight.

The framework is nothing new but more or less a simplified business plan.

In Chapter 13, Advice for Internet Management and Investors sounds like a common sense and existing strategy using by most of the dotcom. Common Sense: Strategy 1 of those advices is moving the company into a more profitability region in short. (It dividies the market into 3 levels of profitability. so called Lossware, Brandware and Powerware. Well, no matter if it is New or Old economy, there is always different degrees of profitability.)

Existing strategies: Selling out of a porfolio builder, deep pockets and restructuring. We are seeing consolidation in the market a long long time ago and a lot of big or small players already know it is the way.

This book is more like a news reporting and a lot of newly invented words cannot make this book a standard of new economy rules but disappoint me only.

Very clear explanations of the core security technologies. The author doesn't shy away from the hard subjects, and makes them quite accessible. The IPSec chapter is the best explanation of the subject I have seen anywhere.

I used this book to pass the CCIE security written exam, and highly recommend it. It is also a very good reference for practicing consultants and network security architects.

Not only for exam preparation, this book is for every Cisco lover. Covers a lot of stuff, took me over 2 months to finish but I feel way more knowledgeable now.

CiscoPress's "Network Security Principles and Practices" by Malik is truly an awesome work. The book weighs in at over 750 pages, and not a page is wasted. The book is split up over multiple sections (Intro to Network Security, Building Security into the Network, Firewalls, VPNs, IDS, AAA and ISP Security). I have found this book of value as I pursue my CCIE Routing & Switchng lab and to better enhance my basic understanding of Cisco's vision towards network security. I also used this book to prepare for my CCSP and CISSP studies.

Practically on every page is either a diagram or detailed configuration explaining the subject at hand. In particular, the configuration examples are extremely helpful as the configs, themselves, are appended with detailed notes of their syntax. Chapter 13, IPSec, is probably the best one-chapter discussion on Cisco's implementation of IPSec and VPN I have found anywhere (and I have over 50 CiscoPress books). Another testament to it's superb level of expertise is the few and far between typos or errors that I have found.

One item to note - you will need to block off a few weeks (or months) to fully understand and appreciate the value of this book. I reference this book often, as I find information in this book I cannot find documented or presented the same way in other books.

I give this book 5 pings out of 5:
!!!!!

Very, VERY good. The IPSec chapter alone is worth the book, and the AAA chapters are _great_. Saadat has been able to explain in a great technical level and very clearly subjects which you're going to find in your day to day work - if working with Cisco and security. But not only that: chapters about IPSec, RADIUS, TACACS, are of value even if you do not use Cisco gear.

Missing from the book: a better chapter on NAT, PPTP. Saadat should write the 2nd edition adding those two topics, updating the IDS section, IPSec (including NAT-T), maybe add a little something about SSL VPNs, PIX 7.0 ? The section on ISP security could also benefit from a refresher (CoPP, uRPF?)

4.5 starts because it shows it age - otherwise, 5 stars for sure.

This is one of the first books I read for anyone preparing for CCIE Security. I found this book to be very comprehensive in its approach. The author has combined all the network security technologies in one book and now this is tough. It starts with an Introduction and then builds on that. It covers the whole nine yards VPN's Firewalls, IDS, Access Control. The Troubleshooting part of the book is very helpul to working professionals as it starts with troubleshooting NAT and then covers everything from Firewalls (PIX and IOS), VPN's, IDS and AAA. A lot of issues can be resolved just using this part of the book. I recommend this book as it will surely help everyone looking for everthing about security. This book is a must read for professionals pursuing the CCSP and CCIE Security Certifications.
Niloufer Tamboly, CISSP

The problem I've seen with technical books is that either they are in tutorial/textbook format which includes lessons and then review questions at the end of each chapter, or they are purely reference type books ideal for looking up things on occasion and not really good for a beginner to learn the subject matter. This book was the first one I felt that was ideal in both textbook form as well as a reference book for looking things up.

The chapters were basic enough for the beginner to grasp the material, and the lessons were rife with hands-on examples which I thought was the best part. I like to try things out as I go through the lessons and so the material was very useful for me.

The printing of the material was interesting and draws the reader into the subject, important notes and pitfalls are highlighted between the text to avoid the paragraphs from becoming too long and drawn out. The writer's diction is sometimes humorous to avoid the reader from losing interest.

The book is kind of bulky and thick so as a consequence of regular use, the glue based binding gave way somewhere in the middle of the book so when I open it, the first half of the book is attched merely by a shred to the second half, so I have to be careful now when I lookup things in it. I wouldn't trade this book for anything.

I have never taken any instructional classes on Perl scripting and can safely say that everything I know about Perl scripting I've learned from this book. That being said I am able to write fairly sophisticated perl scripts and have the ability to understand fairly obfuscated perl code without difficulty. I use perl as a very strong and useful tool in my day to day tasks for scripting and text processing needs and I often dazzle and amaze my colleagues at work with the tricks I'm able to pull off by using perl scripting and I owe it all to this book.

In short, I give two enthusiastic thumbs up for this book and the 5 star rating that I gave this book was merely due to the amazon limitation on the number of stars you can give in your review.

I started learning Perl two years ago. I first browsed libraries, free tutorials, news groups etc... It was nice for the beginning but soon enough I understood that's not the way :)

I started looking around for good Perl books and somehow got to this one. I think I can clearly say, that this book did the work. Teached me Perl from the ground up. I'm now planning on buying "MySQL and mSQL" to start working with databases. I also consider buying "Mastering Algorithms With Perl" & "Programming Web Graphics with Perl & GNU Software".

Anyway, if you want to start learning Perl, buy this book. I also use it as a reference.

The book is a good and detailed tutorial for all novices who want to learn Perl. No hit around the bush stuff and the chapters were well thought of. Credit should be given to the author and the publishing group for these helpful information. The Source codes on the CD-Rom comes handy when when you want to test out the sample codes in the book. The questions at the end of each chapter is a good revision after scanning the chapter. I strongly recommend those who want to learn Perl to get a copy of this book as their first book.

After the Camel book, of course. This book is very well paced with well thought out examples. I needed it as a refresher last year, and now use it as a reference.

The only down side is that the Web Based interactive segment is no longer available. not a big deal since it's the same quizes as in the book, but there was a gee-whiz, isn't it fun factor to have it available online.

This book covers everything from soup to nuts. It starts the learner off slowly with the basic perl syntax and then smoothly moves into subroutines, OOP, DBI modules, Security, etc. all with the same interesting and amusing style.

I don't know if it's mentioned in the Editorial review, but the author is the Editor of The Perl Journal (www.tpj.com) which is a magazine devoted to the perl programming language. So Jon Orwant *knows* his topic.

I've read and use most of the Perl books out on the market today, but none comes close to getting you going well with Perl as does Jon Orwant's book. I still use it as a reference today, but it is the best any money can buy for learning Perl. I'm back buying another copy because I loaned mine to a friend and I miss it so much that I want to make sure I'll always have a copy handy. My old copy is so well worn that a fresh copy is enticing also. As for extras in the book: the quizzes are great for testing your understanding, and someone has done a great job at proofreading this book -- I don't know whether that person is at the Waite Group or is Jon himself, but I know that anytime I have questioned an answer, or a script, or anything in the book I have always found the book to be accurate on closer inspection. It is very much like the Camel Book in being authoritative -- what Jon says is Perl Gospel Truth - if I had to pick two Perl books, I'd pick this one for learning and the Camel Book for ultimate reference. Jon's book should be rated a 5 and a half star - this is the best that it ever gets!

I love books like this, which take a different approach to teaching. They begin not by going through, chapter-by-chapter, each individual building block of a network, but by showing you just how horribly wrong you may have been in your thinking all along. Then, they basically say, "Do we have your attention now? Good. Now we'll show you how to mitigate these risks." In my opinion, that's the ONLY way to teach a computer geek, since many are quite set in their ways.

In my opinion, this is THE best book I have ever read (and I have read a few) on security in a Windows network. It is very well written; unlike a standard security book that simply has configuration guides and checklists. These guys are not only security gurus, they are very good authors who know how to write. They not only offer explanations on various security best practices, but they also dispel many myths about Windows security "recommendations" by so-called experts. The book has a definite Microsoft bias (as it's title would suggest), but I found very little that I would disagree with. As a long time Windows Administrator (MCP NT4, MCSA 2000/2003 and CompTIA Security+ certified) and also being a security minded individual (though not a security specialist)I highly recommend this book.

Great people these two authors and very charismatic. If you happened to visit one of the IT forums or speeches you'll know what I mean.

Really a great book with a logical processing of different topics. One of the great things is that they create awareness by giving everyday examples of hacking attempts and how to take the right precautions. Things you'll recognize in your daily work. It's easy to read and while the book is a couple of years old, the practical site of it hasn't changed a lot. I hope they update this with Vista and Server 2008 in mind. So certainly worth buying!

Rob Faber [CISSP, CEH, MCSE]
The Netherlands

The simple truth is that if you're directly responsible for the health of a Windows network, you need to read this book. It contains a wide enough breadth to be applicable to all Windows administrators running a variety OS and application levels, while still managing the depth required to be truly informative and serve as a good everyday reference. It provides an incredible amount of detailed theory and hands-on practical advice that will give you the background information, tools and motivation to improve your defenses and keep hackers away from your data.

Those directly responsible for securing the network should read this book through and then read it again, perhaps discussing it with a peer. There's a lot of information to unpack, so a critical study of how to contextualize the recommendations to your environment would benefit from a team of individuals dedicated to understanding and carrying-out the guidelines that are given. In contrast, high-level managers and decision makers who have a more hands-off role would be well served by taking a half an hour to read the first two chapters, giving them a sobering first-hand account of the ease with which a knowledgeable attacker can subvert an entire domain. It will be 30 minutes well spent! A final group, the technically-savvy supervisors who don't actually implement (but monitor those who do), should quickly read the entire volume and hold their employees accountable for upholding at least the principles, if not the specific practices, mentioned throughout. All three groups should read it with the goal of acquiring a security mindset, filtering all their projects and goals through the "lens" created as a result of the truths learned from this pair of gurus. It is the unique combination of sufficient depth with comprehensive breadth that gives this book the edge over most recent Windows security titles from other authors. If you have to pick just one printed manual to take with you into battle, this should be your weapon of choice. I heartily recommend it as a great read for now, and as an investment for your go-to shelf later on.

Jesper and Steve begin the journey with the same eye-opening SQL injection attack you may have seen in one of the talks they present around the globe in their roles as security experts for Microsoft (Jesper has since changed employers). They exploit a poorly-written web application by feeding SQL code directly through the web form, eventually compromising the entire network, even though it's fully-patched and even somewhat hardened. They describe the intricacies of the attack from beginning to end, laying the groundwork for the defense techniques described in the remaining chapters. After taking over their victim network, they round out the section on fundamentals with a chapter on patch management. This was the low point of the book and, in my opinion, it glosses over the realities of just how time-consuming and complex change management and regression testing can be in a heterogeneous environment. Don't get discouraged by this chapter; slog through it and enjoy the informative--yet surprisingly fun--chapters that follow.

Having established the basics, more groundwork is laid with above average, but not spectacular, sections on administrative policies and physical security. These are the most "CISSP-ish" pages of the whole book and should look very familiar to members of the (ISC)^2. While the advice in these early chapters will stand the test of time, there's not much in here that won't already be a part of your daily arsenal. If you haven't figured out such basics as having a written security policy and that users will always choose convenience over security, then study this section hard. For the rest of us, you will find yourself saying "Amen" a lot as you review these four well-written and comprehensive middle chapters. The real epiphany comes at the end of Chapter 7 when they declare that the days of having a notion of a "perimeter" are over. If you haven't realized by now how incredibly porous your network is, this book should help bring you back to reality.

With the first half of the book used as an appetizer, the authors start serving the main course of practical, detailed advice about how to protect every aspect of your clients, servers and network infrastructure. Their incredible insight into password theory and how exactly a real password attack would work is so refreshing--these guys are experts, and it's demonstrated most profoundly in their chapter-long advice on the subject. Here and throughout the book they constantly bring you back to reality by refuting myths common in "security theater" and give you the best advice, with enough background to understand why it works. One particularly sobering moment was the sweeping dismissal of biometric authentication because of the myriad (often foolishly simple) flaws that can defeat even über-expensive fingerprint readers, retina scanners, etc. In the next two hundred or so pages the give you just enough instruction about IPSec, 802.1X, two-factor authentication and server/client hardening to help you understand the critical pieces of theory and find the detailed implementation instructions for yourself. You'll feel like you finally know the reasons to do all these things instead of just getting a litany of the individual steps to implement a particular setting or policy. Microsoft has published a lot of dry technical guides on every registry setting and tweak imaginable; these guys tell you the background information of why any of this stuff matters and they do it in a winsome, often satirical way that makes you want to keep reading.

The key concepts I took from reading this book were: a healthy skepticism about merely doing tweaks or checklists that have an air of sophistication but don't actually improve security; a sense of empowerment about how to untangle my network from a web of dependencies caused by shared service accounts (they even provide a handy utility to make their advice doable); and renewed sense of encouragement that least-privilege is actually obtainable. They end each chapter with an immediate call-to-action that addresses the most important steps you can take to do the most good quickly. If you can force yourself to do these challenging tasks for every area they address, you'll be well on the road to a more secure installation.

The problem with some computer security books is that they are nothing more than pages of checklists with myriad dos and don'ts. But after all the checklists have been dutifully completed, readers still don't understand the underlying concept of how to secure a computer. Within a short time, their computers and networks are insecure, and they are back where they began, as fodder for hackers.

The distinctive nature of Protect Your Windows Network : From Perimeter to Data is that it suggests ways to secure your Windows workstation and network, but it also takes a much broader approach to security and shows you how to address the issue of securing systems as a whole. This panoptic approach to securing systems is quite refreshing, and it makes the book a fascinating read.

The theme of the book is that there are three elements of a successful security program: people, processes, and technology. In 17 chapters covering the gamut of security from server hardening to password protection, the book details how to use these people, processes, and technology to ensure that Windows networks stay secure.

Early chapters deal with the basics of how attacks work and show the reader how they progress from low-level social engineering to the code manipulation that leads to the exploitation of software and vulnerabilities.

The book is filled with easy-to-understand practical and tactical solutions that can be implemented by everyone from nontechnical end users to system administrators, helping them to ensure that their Windows-based network is as secure as possible. Even at 550 densely packed pages, the book is quite readable.

Penny Sansevieri is an expert marketer, I have watched her over the years and based on her success, I bought her book and it didn't disappoint. When you read this book make sure you have a notebook and pen handy, you will want to take notes as you go along. The best books are written by people who have "been there, done that" and Penny certainly has.

Penny's books is terrific given that it not only lays out the info one needs to understand how the Net can affect book promotion but that it also outlines a comprehensive strategy to utilize the Net's power. This approach is invaluable for helping us "old world" authors move into the brave but unfamiliar new environment of Internet book promotion opportunities.

If you are interested in promoting on line...there are some great tools and ideas explained in this book. Definitely recommend it.

My agent recommended this book to me. I'm finding the information contained inside to be very useful and I'm anxious to see it work for me!

This is a concise, information-packed guide through the maze of the on-line world as it relates to book promotion. I found the author's ideas and tips extremely helpful and current. Recommended for any new author!

This is a short book, so I only anticipated a rudimentary overview and basic instructions on creating podcasts for a novice. I was pleased to find a good range of information, mostly for people who have had some experience with digital audio and content syndication.

The book is essentially a catalogue of all things related to podcasting. It compares everything from podcatcher software, microphones and headphones, audio editing programs, distribution methods, and all things in between. It also provides a basic guide on creating audio and video podcasts using the iLife products on the Mac or Audacity and Movie Maker on a PC. I felt the best feature of this book was that almost every page included an image of each interface or piece of hardware being discussed. Again, it gives the reader a great side-by-side comparison of the most popular and up-and-coming technologies related to podcasting.

Unfortunately, because the book is so focused on current technology, it will become obsolete very quickly. In fact, the book is barely a year old and is already dated. The author realizes this and attempts to be as forward thinking as possible. This is the second edition of the book, and no doubt subsequent editions will follow.

This book provides everything a person needs to know if he or she is seriously considering creating an episodic podcast right now. It even features some interesting interviews with veteran podcasters. If you do buy this book though, don't expect that it will have a long shelf-life.

You have to admire anyone who tries to write a beginners' guide to a technology this new and that is growing this explosively. Farkas really does an excellent job. His second edition got me up and running on my own podcast within 48 hours of my buying the book.

Most valuable: the author's evaluations and recommendations of products and software. Yes, this material will quickly become dated, but Farkas gives us a good starting point to research gear in online forums and discussion groups.

Least valuable: same as above, as you have to accept that this technology is growing so quickly that any book will quickly become dated. But don't shoot the messenger. Farkas does a great job, and he cannot be blamed because he has written a solid guidebook and cannot control changes within the world of podcasting. Do your own research as needed. Many podcasters are thrilled to discuss their own history with this emerging form. At least Farkas can help you sound like you have some idea of what you are talking about when you ask for help!

Also helpful: descriptions of RSS and script for your own RSS feed, descriptions of hardware available and discussions of each, along with interviews with successful podcasters who maje their own recommendations.

It does help to know a little HTML going into the RSS section, though.

This book is only good if you have absolutely zero experience or knowledge of podcasting. If you have already recorded a few shows, this book isn't for you.

Secrets of Podcasting--Audio Blogging for the Masses
By Bart G. Farkas
Published by Peachpit Press
ISBN 0321369297

Reviewed by Jim Lauria-HuNTUG member

Real world guidance on creating podcasts

A well written and well illustrated guide for beginners looking to create or locate podcasts on Windows or Mac machines.

Farkas includes plenty of screenshots and illustrations to simplify the informative text on how to download podcasts on MP3 players, create scripts and set the flow of your podcast, picking software for editing and recording, and legally playing music on your podcast.

He also offers advice on choosing the right equipment and distributing your podcast and RSS/XML feeds.

An interesting book for beginners which gets a 5 star rating.

Although I haven't (yet?) created one, I am becoming more interested in the podcasting phenomenon. A very good "get your feet wet" book to get someone started in that area is Secrets of Podcasting - Audio Blogging for the Masses by Bart G. Farkas.

Contents: Podcasting Basics; Jumping In; Creating a Podcast; Podcasting Distribution; Appendix; Glossary; Index

Yes, there's only four chapters... but they're *long* chapters... :)

I don't know that I would have titled this book "Secrets of". That almost implies that the book covers the nitty-gritty of podcasting and goes into great detail on specialized topics. That's not the case. Instead you get a broad coverage of the subject matter, from what it is to how to create your own. I've reviewed a number of other podcast books that go into great detail on mics, setting up your own studio, etc. Not here... This is really targeted at someone who either wants to know more about this strange new thing called podcasting, or someone who wants to create a podcast and wonders how to go about it. The information is highly practical, and you get all the "must know" information in order to make sure you are successful your first time out. If you then want to continue on and carry it to the next level, you can look for the books that get into the esoterica of sound theory and such...

I liked how Farkas listed a large number of software packages and hardware recommendations to get started. There's no emphasis on "buying the best of everything", but rather making solid purchases (or downloading solid open source software) that will serve you well going forward and make sure you don't sound like a rank amateur out of the gate. With coverage of Mac, Linux, and Windows platforms, you're pretty sure to find something that will fit your configuration. Also, if you're just into listening, chapter 2 (Jumping In) will give you everything you need to know on how to find, download, and manage the podcasts you find. All this is done with some off-beat humor and a number of interview sidebars with actual podcasters. Getting the perspective of where things are going from more than just the author adds quite a lot to the mix.

So long as you're not looking for expert level tips when you buy the book, you should enjoy the material and get real value from it. I certainly enjoyed reading it, and learned a bit in the process...

I'm still getting to know the many changes in Microsoft Office Home/Student for 2007, but one thing I really appreciate is the ability to save documents as earlier versions of Word, like the 2003 or earlier versions. Computers that don't have 2007 versions of the Office components don't seem to be able to open the 2007 version files. Even my HP laptop with Windows Vista on board couldn't do more than read and print the Word 2007 files after the trial version had expired. I think being able to save docs in earlier versions is crucial! Beyond that I'm still learning to navigate around the menues, etc. I'm sure it's a great product, I just think the learning curve is a bit steep!

Good book, if you do not want to buy all the individual books in the Office Suite, this one give you a good leg up. If you want advanced features, the help file links provided and the ones within Office will get you to the site.

I liked this book and it provided allot of answers to the new functions of what in my opinion are good products for what each are suppose to do and MS usually does a good job at patches as needed. The book was informative and laid out well and is a good reference when needed.

I am a long-time subscriber to Woody's Access news, so I expected to find an enthusiastic, simplified approach and am not disappointed. Great resource.

Every "Using" book I own (more than a dozen) has been valuable, well written and packed with good information. This is no exception. The authors know Office. I started with Word and quickly absorbed the "flavor" of the new interface. This book will cut my frustration time dramatically.

I really liked this book and the way it was written. It captures you in the beginning by giving you a look in the journal of the stalker, and from there it does not dissapoint.

Mina and Camille were bestfriends until Camille bacame popular and started hanging with the "cool crowd". She pretty much dithched Mina throughout thier Senior year, which was why Mina was so suprised to get a call from her. Camille asked mina if she wanted to go to the mall, and while hating herself for it, she said yes.

The trip started out rocky and didn't get better from there. As they were eating frozen yogurt Camille asked Mina if she would go with her to meet this guy named Andrew, that she had been talking online to. Mina told her she shouldn't meet him and they fought. Mina caved in and said she'd go, but Camille didn't want her to come anymore. She said she'd take the bus home and stormed off. Mina went home and then recieved a phone call from Camille's mother.

She asked if she had seen Camille and that's when it all started. Camille wasn't back by the next morning so the police were brought in. She was labled missing and they were looking for her.

In an attemt to help Mina went to Camille's locker looking for some kind of clue. There she met up with Camille's Boyfriend, Mick. From there they start trying to find Camille and in the end........

This is a really good book and so are the rest in the [...] series that i have read. The way ti was written captures you, and i LOVE the characters. A really good read, i would suggest tit to anyone.

I love this book. Mr. Cray knows how to right. This story is about a girl named Mina. Her ex-best friend, named Camille, is missing so her and Camille's boyfriend start looking for clues. Before long they find out that she was kidnapped. Unfortunatly she dies so Mick(Camille's boyfriend) and Mina start to look for her killer. They uncover a BIG mystery.

After a quarrel between the two ex-best-friends Mina and Camille, also called Camy, Camille is missing. Her parents, the police and the other people think she has just run away as it is typical for teenagers. But Mina doesn't think so. With Camy's ex-boyfriend, Mick, the scornful girl makes investigations. They come across a dangerous stalker who terrorizes the famous actress Deva Winter ... The case becomes more complicated but then a dead body is found - Camille's. Nevertheless, Mick and Mina don't give up and keep on hunting the murderer. They've just one chance: Mina must play the stoolpigeon in order to trap the Stalker. A dangerous task ... This book shows that life for popular teenagers isn't so easy as you might think. You can be lonely as well. Jordan Cray's novel is very sad, you sympathize with the characters, especially with Mina and K.D. and understand them. Impressing is Mina's change of character. The sarcastic girl becomes a strong, sensible, thoughtful and lovable person. It's not only a simple Internet crime novel, it has depth and truth. Once started the story demands to be finished. One of the best books I've ever read!!! I also recommend "The ShadowMan" and "Dead Man's Hand" .

This book is really good! It's addicting beginning to the end!
Story line: Mina and Camille were best friends starting from their early childhood. They looked the same and everyone thought they were sisters, they were inseparable, But one summer Camille goes with her mom to stay by the beach the whole summer. When Camille comes back she's a totally different person. She has new clothes, lost some weight, and even had a summer boyfriend. When they go back to school the following year Camille becomes totally popular and leaves her somewhat geeky friend, Mina, behind.
When Mina and Camille get in a huge fight at the mall about Camille's new cyberfriend, and how Camille is going to meet him/her, Mina tries to talk her out of it. Camille then storms away saying she's going to take the bus home. But when Camille is missing the next day Mina gets worried. So Mina and Camille's boyfriend go hunting for clues leading to her dissapearence.
This book has a great twist in the end and I would highly recommend reading this book.

After a quarrel between the two ex-best-friends Mina and Camille, also called Camy, Camille is missing. Her parents, the police and the other people think she has just run away as it is typical for teenagers. But Mina doesn't think so. With Camy's ex-boyfriend, Mick, the scornful girl makes investigations. They come across a dangerous stalker who terrorizes the famous actress Deva Winter ... The case becomes more complicated but then a dead body is found - Camille's. Nevertheless, Mick and Mina don't give up and keep on hunting the murderer. They've just one chance: Mina must play the stoolpigeon in order to trap the Stalker. A dangerous task ... This book shows that life for popular teenagers isn't so easy as you might think. You can be lonely as well. Jordan Cray's novel is very sad, you sympathize with the characters, especially with Mina and K.D. and understand them. Impressing is Mina's change of character. The sarcastic girl becomes a strong, sensible, thoughtful and lovable person. It's not only a simple Internet crime novel, it has depth and truth. Once started the story demands to be finished. One of the best books I've ever read!!! I also recommend "The ShadowMan" and "Dead Man's Hand" .

It has been a couple of years since I read this book, but I'm sure most of it is still relevant. It's definitely one of the first books you should get if you're interested in web analytics. It's one of those books you can go back to and use as a reference when you need valuable input.

I bought this copy and Web Analytics Demystified. This book repeats a lot of information in "demystified" plus it gives you coding tools to build your own metrics. More bang for the buck here.

Companies are looking for more and more business intelligence from their Web sites, both to improve their marketing efforts and determine ROI. This is a good thing. This is an exemplary "how-to" guide for Web Analytics. Extremely useful.

I think that the book is for differente people: programmers and marketers. But I found it quite interesting althought you have to select what hacks are appropriate for your job.

Web Site Measurement Hacks is the best book in the Web Analytics field. The book explains introductory topics as well as the most advanced ones in a chronological natural way. Subjects like what is web analytics, how to choose a vendor, how the technology works, and how to implement a web analytics program in your company are covered extensively.

Besides being well written and almost encompassing, it presents also the point of view of several of the Web Analytics' experts and vendors. Many of the Hacks are co-authored by big names, such as:

* Bob Page (Yahoo!)
* Bryan Eisenberg (Future Now)
* Jim Sterne (Target Marketing!)
* Jim Novo (Drilling Down Project)
* Jim MacIntyre (Visual Sciences)
* Jason Burby (ZAAZ)
* Brett Hurt (Coremetrics)
* Xavier Casanova (Fireclick)
* Jeff Seacrist (WebTrends)
* Akin Arikan (Sane Solutions)
* Jay McCarthy (WebSideStory)
* John Marshall (Clicktracks)
* ... and many more!

The index is very helpful and you find subjects very easily. The book is well organized and I refer back to it every time I have doubts. It works for me as a Web Analytics' Encyclopedia.

I bought this book for reference rather than than study use, but it has served its purpose well. First, this book provides decent coverage of Cisco Pixes. Brief overviews are provided of key technical concepts - enough that you can understand what exactly you're configuring. Secondly, the book provides excellent example configurations, even going so far as to step you through basic software setup. (i.e. A step-by-step guide to setting up the integrated PPTP Windows 2000 VPN client, including screenshots). Finally, it provides some of the best coverage of Cisco Pixes that I've found outside of Cisco's website.

There is only one thing I would have liked to see included in this book: A basic configuration example for those who want to use the Cisco Pix as a termination point for Cisco VPN Client connections. For THAT, I had to go hunting for information on Cisco's website. Thus far, this is my only complaint about the book.

I can whole-heartedly recommend this book for anybody who needs a good reference on setting up, configuring, and managing Pix firewalls.

Excellent book, everything you want to know about the Pix. Very thorough, topics are explaned well, in great detail and with good examples. This is the best Pix book on the market that I know of.

I got this book to configure a Cisco Secure ACS with VPN clients, and i reached my goal. And you can get many other topics in a cookbook style. You can read the technical information or only take ideas from examples. Excellent PIX firewall book.

This book well and truly paid for itself after the first couple of chapters. We found a number of areas where our setup was wrong and this book provided a very indepth look at the PIX product and enabled us to fix this easily and quickly. Good book for all users.

If you use PIX, get this book, it has a LOT of great info.