Internet Books

If you practice law and are finding that clients are increasingly demanding you to be more tech-savvy, you'll want a copy of Jerry's book on your shelf. Sharing the same high-quality information that Jerry has put into his presentations for years, he makes this book a superb collection of lessons that will keep you flipping pages through to the end. This book is not one that you'll read once and put away - you'll find it answers just about any question you'll have about using the Internet on a day-to-day basis. Unlike most books about the Internet, this is one whose value will remain for quite some time.

Jerry Lawson's The Complete Internet Handbook for Lawyers (1999), is the standard reference for attorneys who use the Internet or who don't yet but should. Besides providing his own substantial guidance for using the Internet, Mr. Lawson surveys, organizes, and synthesizes data and resources from and about the Internet. If there is one book for attorneys about using the Internet, The Complete Internet Handbook for Lawyers is it. The book is a bargain at $50 given the time it will save and revenue it will help generate.

You could run all over the Web just identifying the opportunies and issues presented by the Internet for your law firm. Then you'd need to evaluate a slough of disparate information to arrive at answers to those questions. Or, you could buy this book and have an astoundingly comprehensive and qualified treatment in one convenient and easy-to-ready package. I had a copy that somehow walked out of my office. I know why it's not coming back. Whoever has it is using it. I bought another copy, which I am now guarding.

T. R. Halvorson, author of Law of the Super Searchers: the Online Secrets of Top Legal Researchers.

The Complete Internet Handbook For Lawyers is comprehensive, definitive, and exceptionally well organized survey and explanation of the Internet specifically designed for law students, practicing attorneys, legal paraprofessionals, and law firm staffers. From the essentials for getting started on utilizing the Internet, to doing legal research on the Internet, to marketing legal services on the Internet, to ethic and security issues involving the Internet, to philosophical and practical considerations for the present and future practice of law and the influences of Internet, Jerry Lawson's The Complete Internet Handbook For Lawyers is a highly recommended, essential, practical reference and guide.

Rarely, law books are published which teach a complex and essential subject effortlessly. This is such a book for Lawyers about the Internet. The author's explanations of relatively new and still arcane subjects are excellent. His section discussing Public Key Encryption is a good example of the style and ease of learning thoughout the book. Other lawyers have tried and generally failed to explain this type of encryption in a way which is comprehended by the average lawyer who barely passed or may have even flunked algebra. Using a 250 word analogy, author Lawson teaches it in a manner that lawyer and layman alike can easily understand. Realizing that the Internet is new and changing in ways no single person can fully comprehend, the author also includes a unique chapter by a number of knowledgeable lawyers and support personnel who contribute their own observations and conclusions. No lawyer who has to practice for the next decade can ignore the Internet. For those who haven't started, or those who haven't yet incorporated the Internet and Email into their practice, there is no better place to begin than with this handbook.

This normally is not the type of book I would read, however found it to be rather enjoyable. The characters were very believable. Almost as if you were truely reading someone else's private email. A good quick read.

The sequel to Chat starts in an extremely one-sided manner, but continues in the same strain as Chat, both in content and in style. Brilliant stuff

This is the first time I found an author who based her stories on a chat line story. An it was so well written that the minute you start reading it, you simply can not put it down!!! It doesn't matter the age, or sex, this serie will appeal to everybody.

I found the whole series of these books to fantastic and well written. They are short but they make great books to read while you are in line at the bank or whatever.

The characters are believable and I could relate with their feelings and emotions very well. I recommend this whole little series.

The second novel of her cyberseries "connect" develops Bev's and Max's relationship, redifining the boundries of their romance. I loved this book but it must be read in sequence. McCarthy uses words and emoticons to express the feelings of each character without the need of introspection, inner monologues or descriptions. The ease with which the characters "speak" to each other is wonderful and natural. Could not put it down. Couldn't wait to pick up the next one and find out what happens to them.

Connecting Online is a fascinating text that explores two worlds--the Internet with its many tentacles and the public relations industry--and how to merge them with powerful results. Sherwin and Avila start off with a well-written explanation of the Internet-not just the World Wide Web, but also ftp, e-mail, Usenet, Internet etiquette. In short, all the various pieces that fit under the umbrella of the Internet. They also explore the public relations world if briefer than they did with the Internet--releases, media relations, crisis communication. Having accomplished the groundwork, they set out on their main objective--explaining how to have effective public relations online.

They demonstrate a variety of interesting, if not necessarily the most innovative techniques. Examples abound, including finding the right consultants, costs, hardware, software, and utilizing websites for maximum advantage. In this, Connecting Online is none too dissimilar to Michael Levine's Guerrilla PR: Wired, which also covers using the Internet as the means to attain public relations objectives.

Drawing upon their experiences in both the Web and in the public relations industry, Sherwin and Avila provide several valuable pieces of advice. What makes this text even further stand out is the style in which it is written. Deft uses of humor in the technical explanations assure that even those with a layman's grasp of the terminology and technology will have little difficulty in understanding, grasping, and using Sherwin's and Avila's methods and advice.

In Connecting Online: Creating A Successful Image On The Internet, Gregory Sherwin and Emily Avila draw upon their extensive expertise and experience in clearly and definitively explaining the history, demographics, features and benefits of the Internet; show how to utilize email, the World Wide Web, Usenet, FTP, and other Internet tools; explain Internet etiquette, press release, crisis communications, security, and other public relations essentials, reveal how Web pages work and provide some strategies to research, build, maintain, and keep websites current. Connecting Online also covers issues such as costs, hardware, software, hiring consultants, and obtaining proper technical support for establishing and maintaining a website or an Internet presence. Connecting Online is an ideal, informative, comprehensive "user friendly", and highly recommended guide for learning all of the aspects of establishing a an effective online public relations strategy.

This book was exactly what I was looking for. Although, I am not sure I agree that my business isn't ready to jump into online sales... the significance of applying public relations techniques and solid, thought-out strategies online is certainly important to me at this point in my business' life. Connecting Online provided the answers I was looking for on the relationship between the Web and maintaining my company's overall image. The book also offers some great information, data, and step-by-step procedures. Although I wasn't looking for a site management book, this book covered new territory that will certainly help my communications with our Web team...all on terms I understood. In fact, the humor in this book made the most technical areas quite fun!!! What can I say, I just got done reading it and I highly recommend it! What a great read!

Connecting Online: Creating A Successful Image On The Internet explains why it is essential to establish a solid image and a communicative environment with specific Internet audiences. Authors Gregory Sherwin and Emily Avila have collaborated to created a guidebook that will help the most novice of computer users to get up and running with image building strategies, even when they have had no prior experience with, or training in, public relations. Connecting Online covers the history, demographics, features and benefits of the Internet; how to effectively use email, the Web, Usenet, FTP, and other Internet tools; Internet etiquette, press releases, crisis communications, security, and public relations essentials; how Web pages work including strategies to research, build, maintain, and keep them current; costs, hardware, software, the hiring of consultants; the technical support required to establish and maintain a website or an Internet presence; and much, much more. Connecting Online is "must" reading for those new to Internet communications and public relations and a handy reference for anyone needing a refresher in the art and craft of building a successful and profitable Internet presence.

The authors of Connecting Online have chosen to supplement the book with a companion Web site of the same name, which includes a wealth of information for PR people who want to use the Internet to its full advantage. This site contains updated links, organized by chapter, to all of the Web sites mentioned in the book. Connecting Online is the best resource I have seen for online PR professionals.

I liked reading it. Was simple to understand. I got a lot of info. on starting a web page. The only thing is it shows you how to use a program to get a web page going but its only 2 programs so if you don't have the programs that it helps you with than don't buy this book.
The programs are Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 and Microsoft FrontPage. It also helps you learn about some basics about photo editing and some graphics. I got some good use out of it. I just wish that it had the info. on my program I have. Other than that its a great book very informative about the basics of running your own web page.

i generally have found the for dummies series to be helpful, and this book is no exception -- you can sit down, thumb through it, and create a photo album online quickly without having to wade through any technical jargon or fluff. i'm no slouch in the web development department and even i found lots to like about this book -- it has helped me explain certain concepts and steps to my less technical family members. i'm including it with my standard baby shower package from now on (which also includes an aromatherapy relaxation candle, lip moisturizer, charmin-to-go, dove facial cleansing wipes, hand sanitizer, and other small items that new moms appreciate).

What a lot of helpful information, and it's written so average folks like me can understand it! My family is having fun sharing photos from our family reunion, and this book made it so much easier. Other books I've seen assume I know things I don't know. If you want to create a Web site but aren't sure how, I recommend this book.

If you've ever been bugged for photos from the family reunion, or wanted to show off your new kid/cat/car, this book actually makes it seem easy. I know, I know, putting up your own website has a reputation like dragging all your neighbors in and making them sit through your vacation slides used to. But this book shows you how you can still show off a little, without boring everyone to tears. Actually, you can do some pretty neat stuff, which can be really fun when your family is scattered all over, and you don't feel like running up the long-distance bills just so you can keep up on current events.

Very highly recommended.

As with the other For Dummies books, this book is intended for beginners and absolutely minimizes the jargon. At the most basic level the book provides a series of templates that can be used with a fill in the blank approach to get a site up and running quickly. Then it branches out to increasing the creativity by designing your own pages. At this level there is almost no mention of dynamic database driven sites. This is building a static web site with pictures and text. This is a book to get you started.

Most of the book is on showing you how to do things using Microsoft's Front Page. But on the CD is a trial version (30 Day limit) of Dreamweaver MX 2004. In addition, the CD includes:

Family Tree Maker
Contribute
Fetch, and
WS_FTP.

If you're a complete beginner to web design and programming, here's a good way to get started.

Creative Destruction presents a fascinating revival of an old concept in the context of recent technological developments and innovation. It offers a brilliant account of how information technologies accelerate the process of creative destruction today and helps understand how information society articulates with in a wider framework of economic history. Those interested in Latin America will appreciate, in particluar, the recent developments in the telecommunications industry in the region.

It is a thorough analysis of the technological advances of our era and the depth of the internet industry. I was particularly interested in the implications for Latin America and the technological transfer from liberalization. It is a useful book for practictioners and for more academic minds.

This is an outstanding collection of articles. These papers combine scholarly depth with usefulness for practitioners. They will help you understand where we've been and forecast where we are going with the Internet. I teach courses on Internet Business Strategy and will use this collection next year. My favorites are Baumol's "Innovation and Creative Destruction; McKnight's "Internet Business Models: Creative Destruction as Usual" and Lehr's "A New Theory of the Internet Firm." They provide a solid conceptual basis for understanding the implications of the Internet economy. One thing truly unique about this book is the thoughtful and detailed discussions of the implications of the Internet on international business. There are six papers that focus on these issues. I have not seen this anywhere else. In a world where people publish books peddling derivative nostrums about the network economy, it's a pleasure to finally find one that deals with these issues in a serious, thoughtful and, most of all, useful way.

Rather than focusing on a single angle and building a long argument in its favor, this compendium's treatment of diverse dimensions of creative destruction lets the reader paint his or her own picture of the net effects of Schumpeter's famous concept. The book's 11 articles touch on topics as diverse as the future of telecommunications firms in a Net-centric world, the impact of regulatory reform on the Internet in Europe, the institutional barriers to Internet-driven creative destruction in Japan, and the impact of open-source software business models.

Creative Destruction is a Lego-box of interesting ideas that managers and academics can recombine into constructs valuable to their work, teaching, or research. I found it very rich reading.

There are three recent publications with the same title (Creative Destruction) whose authors correlate Joseph Schumpeter's concept of "creative destruction" with the contemporary business world. Foster and Kaplan explain "why companies that are built to last underperform the market -- and how to successfully transform them" whereas in their work, Nolan and Croson offer "a six-stage process for transforming the organization." In the third volume co-edited by McKnight, Vaaler, and Katz, various authors and co-authors of 13 anthologized essays examine various "business survival strategies for the global Internet economy." I highly recommend all three volumes as well as two of Schumpeter's works: Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, and, Essays: On Entrepreneurs, Innovations, Business Cycles, and the Evolution of Capitalism.

This book grew out of a symposium held at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the spring of 1999. The topic was "Creative Destruction -- or Just Destruction?" Those who presented papers were asked to address "the key technological, regulatory, organizational, and competitive dynamics compelling change in the way firms and stakeholders do business in an increasingly global and Internet-centric society." At the symposium there were (and in this volume there are) four points which are consistent with the theme of "creative destruction":

The Destruction of Traditional Industry Structures

The Destruction of Traditional Regulatory Structures

The Destruction of Traditional Competitive Positioning Strategies

The Destruction of Traditional Technological Assumptions

It is important to keep in mind that this is not a manual. Although there are numerous suggestions, checklists, points of emphasis, graphic illustrations, and examples offered, the volume's primary purpose is to stimulate continued discussion and debate on the major challenges now facing firms, governments, and other players -- while suggesting "how to exploit the new opportunities created by creative dynamics."

The material is organized within five Parts: Introduction, Theory and Practice of Creative Destruction, The Global Context for Creative Destruction, Business Destruction Strategies in the Global Internet Economy, and Creative Business Survival Strategies. For the reader's convenience, the editors offer brief comments about each subject and about each of those who address it. After reading the excellent Introduction, you may decide not to read the everything that follows from beginning to end. In that event, select what is directly relevant to your and your organization's most immediate and urgent needs and interests. (In all probability, some of those needs and interests will soon change.) The editors provide three supplementary sections (Contributors, Notes, and References) which assist and encourage further study as well as "continued discussion and debate."

I am curious to know what Schumpeter would say about the material in this book if he were discussing it as I am now. My guess (only a guess) is that he would observe that his basic concept of "creative destruction" remains relevant but the process is occurring at an ever-increasing velocity and in ways and to an extent he could not have envisioned 50-60 years ago. Another guess (only a guess) is that, based on what is now happening (and not happening) in the global community, he would suggest that process of "creative destruction" in all organizations (regardless of their size or nature) has only begun. The Chinese character for the word "crisis" has two meanings: "peril" and "opportunity." For many (perhaps most) organizations, the process of creative destruction means death; for others, it offers the opportunity for at least survival and perhaps regeneration. The authors represented in this superb volume help us to understand the differences between the two groups....also, the probable consequences of those differences.

Having read many a "hacking" book and attended the odd course too, I was very interesting in looking at this product as it is an adoption of Security Associates actual Defensive Hacking course.

This self study guide does a good job of replicating the actual course environment. The DVD video has all the labs which are clearly narrated by the instructor.

I would rate the contents of this book better than the genre of Hacking Exposed and so on...this study guide is really aimed at the proffesional pen tester (or hacker) but not a script kiddie level of person.

On the down side whilst the contents are good they are really deep. The DVD alone in 4 hours + so in effect this product attempts to be "Jack of all trades"...perhaps a focus on a smaller content base would have made it more managable to digest.

But on the whole good stuff.

I have bought self study guides from Security Associates for all of there current three primary course (Hacking, Forensics and Deployment).

This hacking study guide is good stuff, well presented, neat DVD (2 DVD's actually), easy to read contents. I really like the way the instructor clearly explains each and every single point.

The price may seem a bit high, but to be fair there is a lot of content covered, the DVD alone is around 3 hours plus, the written content is 300 pages + and you get 3 months support.

Well worth a look for the newbie and the experienced pro.

This is great stuff, not good but really GREAT. By far the best thing on the market with respect to how to really hack, and hack from a security proffesionals perpective, not a script kiddie.

This study guide does not teach you how to do port scans or use NMAP but talks (more than talks actually, rather shows live on the DVD video) about advanced techniques such as fragmentation attacks, advanced DNS hijacking attacks and so on...its the kind of thing which every security admin needs on his/her desk as the essentail reference guide.

This is really a good Self Study Guide full of material for those who really want to see how it is done and how to do it.

The live DVD of the labs and narration of the presentation is absolutely great as they provide numerous opportunities to re-read and review the material.

I've also attended the DefensiveHacking course and rate this book on par with attending the actual course.

For one (like me) who is fed-up with all the poor script kiddie hacking books on the market which teach nothing new...then I really recommend you try DefensiveHacking.

This self study guide taken from Security Associates globally taught course goes beyond the repeated stuff books like Hacking Exposed talk about again and again...what Hacking Exposed talks about in 300 pages DefensiveHacking completes in 30 pages and then in the rest of the 200+ pages gets stuck into advanced hacking and penetration techniques which are really an eye-opener, even for someone like me, who has been in the security industry for 6 years.

I recommend you take a look at this self study guide which comes with a super DVD to give one the impression who have actually attended the course, but at a fraction of the price!

I personally cannot wait for the other Security Associates courses such as Defensive Forensics and Defensive Deployment to released in self study formats.

I have been reading this book for the last 30 minutes and it's one wow after another. I just turned to my dog and said "This book is amazing!" hehe.

Seriously. The dive in and "look what you can do with ps" style of this book is very impressive. I bought it as an alternative to the more advanced wow book. This is the one I was looking for. 4 thumbs up!

you can start learning photoshop fast and easy. This book is suitable for beginners. It's full of illustrations and pictures, and to the point. In addition, you don't have to read a lot. it's a quick start. it's so informative and you can use it as manual too. even filters are covered, what are they and how you can use them step by step. good work Deke.

Photoshop is a deep and complex program and this book makes it (almost) simple. The book has several strengths -- first is McClelland's astonishing knowldge, next is his ability to explain complex things in terms even a beginner can understand, third is the brilliant way the information is organized. Face it, no matter how much knowlege a book contains, if you can't find the knowledge it's useless to you. The publisher and book designer make McClelland's information always easy to find, even if you are looking for some obscure feature like using the Color Range command to make a mask. No matter what your skill level, this book will open the Photoshop world further to you. I'm a graphics professional and I have a dozen Photoshop books on my shelf -- and this is the one I always pull out.

I love this book! I wish all software books were written this well. If you took 20 Photoshop books at random and put them through some magic process that took all the good stuff out and condensed them into 1 easy to read, well-organized, no fluff, no 1500 pages and 4 pounds of paper book, this would be what comes out.

When I picked this book off them shelf and started reading it, it was immediately obvious that the layout and organization were very good. The more I've used the book, the more I appreciate what it has to offer. Simply, a superior reference to Photoshop 6! It's really a "textbook" example of how to present information in a logical and easy to use fashion.

I didn't find having the images in black and white a problem at all. In the context of this book, color images would not add much information at all, although I'm sure they would add a lot to the price.

A superb reference book, well-written and organized. The Adobe user guide and Classroom in a book are now relegated to the back of the bookshelf.

Please please please...software book writers, use this book as a model of how to create your future books. This book shows well that less is often more. People are not buying software books by the pound, they are really more interested in quality information, not quantity!!

I'd like to give this book 10 stars, but 5 will have to suffice.

I **LOVE** this book! I've been using Photoshop since version 4 and i'm self-taught. I am not an expert yet but then i don't consider myself a novice either.

This book is for everyone. What i most like about this book is the easy style and sample pages, The quick shortcuts to just about doing everything, and the explanation of why one tool works better than another.

I just attended a 2-day Photoshop class and the instructor highly recommended this book. at first, i thought that it was for the very beginner, but it's some much more. It's like a dictionary... you keep it for reference.

as i glanced at the instructor's book, i noticed that it was truly worn. she said that she's had to buy a second copy because she's used it so much. you can't possibly memorize everything about photoshop.. so why not have the best resource in town?? This BOOK!

Come on.... admit it. You've always wanted to jerk the chain of those spammers who try to get you to part with personal information so they can scam you out of thousands of hard-earned dollars (pounds, pesos, whatever). Bob Servant did just that in 2007 and turned the email exchanges into the book Delete This at Your Peril: One Man's Hilarious Exchanges with Internet Spammers. This was a funny read, gifted with Servant's bizarre sense of humor and the pathetic attempts of the scammers trying to get the information they're after.

Contents:
Introduction - Meet Bob Servant; Editor's Note - An Overview of Spam; Lions, Gold and Confusion; Bob and the Postie; Alexandra, Bob, and Champion; Uncle Bob's African Adventure; The Sea Could Not Take Him, No Woman Could Tame Him; From Lanzhou to Willy's Chinese Palace; Bobby and Benjamin are New Friends; Peter's Pots; Acknowledgments

Each chapter consists of the email exchanges between the scammers and Servant. The scams revolve around 419, local agents needed, and fake Russian brides. I wish the timestamps on the emails had been preserved, as it would have been fun to see how eager these people were to accomplish their goals. In nearly all cases, Servant is dealing with "English as second language" people, so right there you get a fair amount of amusement as they try to string together decent sentences. But the real joy is when Servant starts to lead them down the path of his fictional life in Broughty Ferry, Scotland. Actually, his life is real. It's just the incidents that are way out there. For instance... Lions, Gold and Confusion starts with a 419 scam. Servant tries to get his percentage of the take moved from 20% to 30%. Once he gets 30% through a series of exchanges, he goes for 40%. From there, he says he doesn't want the money in cash as he can't hide it from the taxman. Instead, he wants it in diamonds and gold so he can move it through pawn shops in Lochee. He then introduces the possibility of taking payment in livestock (like lions) for his neighbor's private zoo. We go back and forth on the detail of the "gold lions", only to have Servant insist that he meant *real* lions. Oh, then the lions have to talk... he'll only accept talking lions... or four lions, two leopards, one elephant, one alligator, two parrots, and one hedgehog...

I enjoyed this on a number of levels. For one, Servant's Scottish culture comes through strong in both text and situation. Having a few Scottish friends, I wasn't having a hard time seeing these crazy situations play out in my mind. Servant's fantasy lives are so far out there, that you wonder why *anyone* would maintain the email exchange past the first couple of volleys. I also got a kick out of seeing the spammers beg and plead for personal information, only to have Servant respond with another "day in the life" email, excuses as to why he can't comply just then, or something else completely out of the blue. The change in the spammer's tone from accommodating to *DO THIS NOW!* was almost a given every time. But actually, in a couple of exchanges, he calls them on the scam at the end and they actually 'fess up to it.

I wouldn't suggest that everyone start doing this to spammers, as there's always a chance that you could tick off someone or some group with the ability to do you physical harm. I think I'll just continue to delete them as they show up. But if you want to live vicariously through Servant, here's your chance to turn the tables.

First let me qualify my review by saying that I have not yet read the entire book. Instead I had the pleasure of reading a 22 page excerpt in electronic format (PDF). If you work with email at all then you must surely be receiving the same spam that I am daily. The Nigerian "1919" scams are comical enough when you just read the email scam attempt alone, but what the author has done done in starting running correspondences with these folks is truly comical.

My only regret is that the book is not yet available for purchase in electronic format. I will definitely purchase it the minute it is made available to read on my Kindle.

Have you ever been tempted to respond to any of the ridiculous scam messages that flood your inbox on a daily basis, just to see what kind of response you get back or to see how far you can take the discussion before blowing the spammer off? Well, one man has taken that idea and flat-out run with it, and you won't believe the results. If ever there were a true character on this earth, it has to be "Bob Godzilla Servant," former window cleaner (until some gypsies stole his ladders, but don't get him started on that again), veteran of Dundee's Infamous Cheeseburger Wars of 1988-89, all-around man about town, gifted tall tale teller, and now a hero for the twenty-first century. Not only can he vanquish spammers with one hand tied behind his back, he's even capable of leaving at least one of them laughing about the whole thing.

"Bob Servant" is unique, which makes it impossible for me to communicate just how funny this book is. He is as much in his element in front of a keyboard as he is down at the local pub regaling anyone and everyone with his stories, schemes, and ideas. There's just no way I could adequately describe the likes of "Bob's" best mates Frank the Plank, Chappy Williams, and Tommy Peanuts, let alone "Bob" himself, to you here, nor could I even begin to do justice to the halcyon days when "Bob" dominated the cheeseburger van market. Even if I could, it wouldn't be right for me to do so. You are in good hands with journalist Neil Forsyth, who tells you everything you need to know (and then some) about his good friend "Bob's" extraordinary life and times.

Fittingly, the fun begins with the original standard bearer of spam, the old 419 (better known as the "Nigerian" scam). In this case, it's the son of a dead tribal king in Togo seeking help transferring a fortune from his home country into an American bank. "Bob" wants more than the standard cut and ends up getting his African friend promising to deliver talking lions as payment. The guy who offers him a wonderful textile distribution opportunity ends up advising "Bob" on the legal problems he faces after kidnapping his postman. Then he's wooing his new Russian wife-to-be in his own unique way (it involves an ostrich), turning another 409 scammer into the primary advisor to the ultra-realistic African restaurant he plans to open, starting an online love affair (pretending to be a woman, of course) with the son of a dead general in Sierra Leone, etc. There are eight sets of genuine email correspondence in all, each one of them as hilarious as the next.

Frankly, I can't even begin to describe just how entertaining every single page of this book is. "Bob Servant" is the best character to come along in a long, long time, and Delete This At Your Peril is the funniest book I've read since I discovered The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Red Dwarf many years ago. Heck, this might actually be the funniest book I've ever read, period. You won't just enjoy reading this book; you'll want to tell your co-workers about it, buy it as a gift for friends, and light a candle in hopes that "Bob Servant" will someday regale us with more stories or - even better - pen an autobiography of his exceptional life.

I've passed through Broughty Ferry many times on my way to and from my ancestral homeland in Montrose, but apart from remembering the name, I've never really given the place much thought. Nevertheless, it is clear that within Broughty Ferry there live some highly entertaining characters, none more so than Bob Servant, the author of this book. He seems to have had a variety of jobs including window cleaning and running a fleet of cheeseburger vans, but this book is devoted to an amusing sideline that he started after winning a computer in a raffle. I expect that even those who lost in that raffle will be glad that Bob won if they read this book.

Bob soon discovered spam email as we all do, but he chose to take the spammers on at their own game. Eventually, he showed a long-time friend, journalist Neil Forsyth, what he'd been up to. Neil immediately recognized the potential for a book and, with Bob's agreement, set about assembling it. He picked out eight of the spammers and the exchanges that followed them, editing where necessary to remove addresses (postal or email) and providing footnotes as necessary to point out various untruths. He left all the swear words in, so you'd be best to avoid this book if they upset you (surely not, in this day and age). Each spammer gets their own chapter in this book, which also includes an introduction to Bob and a brief overview of spam, both written by Neil.

The cases allegedly concern, respectively, an Afican prince whose tribal king father had just died. a British man killed in an accident in Nigeria, an artist having problems with the way he is paid for his work, a belt manufacturer seeking British agents, an African military general whose father has died and, finally, an organization extracting material from Africa seeking representatives. I'm guessing that these scenarios are familiar to many people who do not have adequate firewalls on their computer. I saw (and deleted without further action) some of those when I had my first spell of being online from home. I have not seen them when using library computers, internet cafes or since re-connecting to the internet from home in 2008.

Bob responded to these emails in ways that the senders could never have anticipated. In the first case, he responded by demanding more than he was offered, progressing to ever more ludicrous demands. He didn't want cash, preferring lions and other animals. In one of the other caes, Bob suggested setting up an African restaurant in Scotland. In the artist's case, Bob chooses to commision a painting instead of helping directly with the artist's finances. In all cases, Bob avoided giving any of the original senders what they want, content to string them along until either he realized that it was time to finish the exchange or they gave up on him.

Bob's wicked sense of humor makes this a higely entertaining book. Maybe he will inspire others to take revenge on the spammers too, but very few would be as outrageously funny as Bob. Will there be a second volume? I don't know, but I suspect that if this book is the success that it deserves to be, the spammers will blacklist Bob so his source of material will dry up. He could then set up an email account with a different identity but if he does that, he may become the first person ever to change his identity to ensure that he receives spam.

Yes, this is a hilarious book that anybody who has ever been spammed can enjoy.

Anyone who uses the internet at all has to be familiar with unsolicited junk email, commonly known as Spam. Some spams are also scams. In particular there is a regular traffic, known in America as Phishing, in efforts to obtain banking and credit-card details from the unwary. Neil Forsyth, recently the author of a perceptive and sympathetic study (Other People's Money) of the young Scottish credit-card fraudster Elliot Castro, now turns his attention to the phishers.

This time he comes in from a different angle. He categorises the main forms of phishy correspondence - vast Nigerian giveaways, bogus Russian brides, local agents and franchisees solicited for non-existent businesses - but this time he entertains us with his replies to the phishers, pretending to hide behind the persona of a certain Bob Servant (?geddit?). For me at least, a lot of the interest and fascination of the exchanges was in wondering how many of them were real and how many invented or enhanced for the purpose of making a book out of them. I could have asked Neil, but whether or not he would have told me I decided that would have been unfair and so I have refrained. Obviously, the more of these messages that are genuine the better the whole joke is. I like to think that at the very least all the original emails received from the various would-be hoaxers are as they sent them.

One has to wonder what success-rate these hoaxes enjoy. Some are in such bad English that surely they must raise the suspicions of all but the most trusting, gullible and inexperienced. Others look a bit more professional, but are open to perfectly simple and obvious responses - e.g. after receiving several requests from a firm in Australia to send them £10 to cover the cost of their sending me some enormous sum I finally wrote back suggesting that they deduct their £10 from the said fortune, and I imagine that anyone else who would have so much as taken the trouble to reply at all would have replied in the same terms. What Neil Forsyth - sorry, Bob Servant - has done is to keep stringing them along and see how much of their time he can waste, and it really does read as if once the phishers have got a bite (or think they have) they can be pretty gullible themselves, to judge by the patience they show in the face of some rather obvious kidding and stalling.

No two of us have the same sense of humour, and I don't know whether this book will appeal to yours. To me it's not so much rolling-in-the-aisles stuff as an intriguing mixture of very clever and ingenious on the one hand and completely barefaced micky-taking on the other. Searching for a comparison, the one that sprang to my mind unbidden was the late Humphry [sic] Berkeley's spoof correspondence from H Rochester Sneath, headmaster of the nonexistent Petworth School, to various public school heads. This might seem an odd parallel as Berkeley was the English of the English and Bob Servant operates from the dour Scottish fastness of Broughty Ferry, but I think that if you know and enjoy Berkeley's effort you will likely enjoy Bob's too. If you do not know, and consequently cannot enjoy, Berkeley's fake correspondence with real-life stooges you can find it in The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose.

This collection could be sold as having a social purpose in teaching the rest of us how to deal with pests like these, but Neil Forsyth does not try to sell it in these terms so neither shall I. I also wonder whether it may do for Broughty Ferry what the TV series Tutti Frutti did for Buckie in terms of publicity. If so, I trust that this fine community will reward the author with e-vouchers exchangeable in its numerous bars.

Eric Eaton's "Designing Web Site Interface Elements" is perhaps the most comprehensive book on the design of web site interactive elements (links, buttons, forms, windows, etc.). This relatively narrow focus-most "web books" have to widen "the lens" to fill their pages with enough useful insight-allows for very in-depth treatments of interface design topics. For example, in the section on links, Eric talks in great detail about links styles (text vs. graphical), arrangement, density, grouping, placement, description, color, etc. The sections on button and form element design are similarly comprehensive.

Topics covered:
- links;
- buttons;
- form elements;
- control elements (window controls mostly; important if you're using DHTML or Flash to create your own windows, sliders, etc.);
- metaphors (physical world, paging, tabs, etc.);
- custom and experimental interface elements (again, good resource for those using Flash or DHTML to create their own interface elements).
- a good selection of case studies with discussions of what works and doesn't work, and why.

Overall, this book will make a worthy addition to any web designer's library. Also recommended: Paul Gokin's "Interface Design for Ecommerce Applications" (search for this one on the web), and Bob Baxley's "Making the Web Work."

It has tons of ideas for how to go beyond the same-old same-old in Web
design, Eaton gives scores of examples and techniques for designing
interactive interface elements, but without the pedantic, how-to
language that people like me hate. Before you know it, you've learned more about usability and site design than you would expect. A few too many pages are spent on the basics, from site architecture to how links work; but half the book is relevant to advanced interactive Web design. Not quite as edgy as the stuff he wrote for Webmonkey, it's as humorous as a useful guide can be. A useful tool for a wide range of designers.

It has tons of ideas for how to go beyond the same-old same-old in Web
design, Eaton gives scores of examples and techniques for designing
interactive interface elements, but without the pedantic, how-to
language that people like me hate. Before you know it, you've learned more
about usability and site design than you would expect. A few too many
pages are spent on the basics, from site architecture to how links work;
but half the book is relevant to advanced interactive Web design. Not

quite as edgy as the stuff he wrote for Webmonkey, it's as humorous as a
useful guide can be. A useful tool for a wide range of designers.

Web pages are truly a functional art form. The best are a combination of complex functionality, have a small digital footprint for quick downloading, can easily be deciphered, and are pleasing to the eye. This is a tall order and although design principles have been studied and refined for years, most do not satisfy all of these high requirements. Eaton has written a book that shows you many of the simple features that can make the difference between a site that blocks and a site that rocks.
One very striking feature of the book is the high quality of the pages and the images. The paper is slick, and nearly all pages are in full color. From this, you can see exactly how the pages would appear on the screen. In fact, very few screens would render them in this vivid a form. The advice, sensible, but also artistic in nature, shows you how to appeal to the facets of art appreciation that nearly everyone possesses. As humans, we share a common heritage for forms, some of which attract, others which repel and those which can do both, depending on the context. Eaton understand this very well and does a good job in describing and demonstrating this knowledge. Not all mouse clicks or buttons are created equal, and it is essential that the web interface designers understand the circumstances that make them different.
Packed with essential knowledge, not all of which is obvious, this is a book that should be read by all people who code the parts of a web site that will be seen.

¶
The aim of the DesignWhys series is to focus on the Why of interface design, not the How. A lot of work and creativity went into this book but it fails embarrassingly every time the author ventures into the How.

The author has much to teach and he does it well with vivid illustrations. His contention that Web widgets often imply assumptions and behaviors with surprising implications is something every Web application designer should pick up on and learn from.

Unfortunately, the author veers from his plan to be agnostic on technology and from beginning to end makes implementation recommendations that defy modern practice. It is as if his coding experience ended with Netscape 4 on the Macintosh, a particularly unfortunate combination.

He defines "traditional HTML" in a way that strips it of its current power and dynamism -- and then unfavorably compares it with Flash, naturally enough. Cascading style sheets (CSS) are introduced more as a complication rather than a systematic solution. The first positive mention of CSS is to point out that it can be used to get rid of those horrid link underlines -- a recommendation certain not to please the usability people.

The W3C-deprecated and destructive FONT tag is used throughout the book. On page 124, he warns that a drawback to using JavaScript to change form elements is that it forces an entire page refresh. This was true of Netscape 4 but not of any other browser released since 1997. His references to "Netscape 5," a version never released to the public, indicates that some of the book is refurbished from old material.

Whenever the author gets into implementation, beware. For instance, his suggestion that a 50-item dropdown be divided into two 25-item dropdowns. There are more elegant and usable ways to handle that situation nowadays.

Following the author too literally would result in sites and Web applications very expensive to develop, even more expensive to maintain, and with a severely restricted usability.

The book ends with illustrations of sites the author considered ennobling. People who make Web interfaces for real people, not for other designers, will find them tediously irritating. The book would have been more valuable if it had covered the widgets of our daily bread a tad more seriously.

When it comes to Web design Why's, do as the author says, not as he does.
¶

i am Happy to see the site, i cannat spellwords,

sorry

nithyanandan

I found this book to be a great way to become familiar with the range of issues that come to bear on incorporating graphics into a web page. Despite the exclusive use of Photoshop in the examples, the concepts are explained in such a way that makes it easy to identify the same graphic-editing techniques needed to be used with other software such as Paint Shop Pro, my graphic editor of choice. Good clear explanations and excellent examples do a great job of illustrating how "tweaking" things like the color depth and color pallete affect file sizes, download times, and picture quality. Originally, I kept renewing this book from my local library until I finally just bought my own copy. A great book!

Although the book is oriented around Photoshop on the Mac (which is even better if you use a Mac), the concepts are universal. The book is visually pleasing, very informative (especially on graphic formats), and an inexpensive way to get started

The book is deceptive. The author makes it seem simple. In fact she packs in a lot of very cogent points whilst retaining a friendly style. Great for anyone starting out in graphics for the Web (though it does more or less assume you will be using Photoshop).

I found this book by accident in the library when I was starting the process of designing our office's web site. Because I was a rank beginner to the world of web design (although I knew the PC, Windows 98, Microsoft Office, FrameMaker, PageMaker and a little Photoshop), I needed some hand-holding to get my feet wet. This book was better than anything else I found for that task.

There are other web design books I like (like Roger Black's book on Adobe Press) but this is the best one I have seen for the person who literally knows nothing about the topic.Yes, it was written in 1996 and is somewhat dated for the person who wants to be cutting edge, but you have to crawl before you can run, and this book got me through the crawling stage so I could start to feel comfortable with the concepts I would need to work with my Adobe (and now Macromedia) software.

The writing style is crisp and clean and right to the point. I read it in three hours.

Try this book if you don't know anything about web design, then take a look at Roger Black for one designer's viewpoint on design issues. Once you have those two books under your belt, the author's latest book, Web Design in a Nutshell, would be a great next step.