Reference Tools Books

The book was sent in an orderly amount of time. There was some writing in it, but all in all in good condition.

If you feel bad about yourself that you have the inability to draw, then this book is for you. This book will show you that the most stupid doodle that you've ever drawn has meaning and that you can enhance your scribbles to look like graphic design from the year 1979.

If you have been sketching for years then read someone else's review for a more accurate portrayal of this book. 3D, Perspective, Techniques, Depth, Light, Shadows: Previously, these were all completely beyond me. Practice is the key; the ability to sketch does not lie in a book, but rather in the pencil you are holding. This book gives you a starting point for practice. I've gone from appalling to amateur in a couple of months.

If you are seriously interested in tackling the tougher aspects of drawing: ie, drawing from your imagination, perspective, visualization--this book may be what you are looking for.

I have almost every conceivable how-to drawing book, and while this book seems deceptively simple, it's exercises are profound. He has you learn a visual recognition and intuitive understanding of perspective, and applies it to later studies on form, shading, perspective plans, etc..

DO THE EXERCISES, DON'T JUST READ IT.

He tries, in essence, to teach you to apply 3-dimensional thinking to simple shapes at first, and builds on that.

I can't recommend this book more heartily.

...maybe 3-1/2 Stars. The basic principles in this book are pretty solid; it's the basic presentation here that leaves a bit to be desired.
This is one of several books that I have with this great, sideways physical format & dimensions: Drawing: A Creative Process, and Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Guide being 2 others easily worth mentioning. In any case, Rapid Viz helps creative people with getting their ideas onto paper: quickly, clearly, and in a systematic fashion. Quick & accurate sketching in any medium can be the foundation for finished, professional work. In fact, as this book explains, using a systematic process in developing our ideas can save us a great deal of time in the long run. This book details this systematic process. The ideas here aren't completely new: it's the gathering of these ideas into a single book *for the 1st time* that makes this 'a new method' in its presentation. It's split almost evenly into 2 halves: the first explaining the basics of perspective; the second detailing the specific steps in this quick visualization process. Perspective is clearly the foundation here, which leads me to my biggest criticism: if half this book gives us watered-down perspective, why not just get a full-blown perspective book? And some would say the 2nd half of this book is simply common sense. Of course the answer here is equally simple: common sense isn't always that common(!). It really *can* help to have this process clearly stated in a book. But the entire thing has this sort of watered-down, unfinished look, making it seem like maybe a better version could be just around the corner. As it turns out, there *is* a newer, 3rd edition of this book, and it's actually available today. Since I haven't yet bought this newer version I thought I'd detail my current thoughts in this 2nd edition's review. I actually like to think of Rapid Viz and Ching's Drawing: A Creative Process together as being 2 sides of the same coin. Whereas Ching's book isn't clear & concise but has visual detail & depth, Rapid Viz *is* clear & concise but *lacks* visual detail & depth. If these two could be combined, it might make for a really great single book on rapidly visualizing the creative process. Both have their benefits and, in my opinion, are basically worth getting. Yet I'm not exactly confident others will agree. Maybe the new Rapid Viz 3rd Edition has improved on these ideas...

*UPDATE*- I just bought the new 3rd edition, and I'm very sorry I did- it's a smaller-sized version, a completely unnecessary downgrade, and for me a total & complete waste of money- at best. This here 2nd edition is easily the one I recommend!

As a beginning woodworker, I can't recommend this book enough. It covers just about everything to get you going - laying out a shop, table saws, hand tools, ideal tools to own, dovetail joints, finishes, the list goes on and on. I'm constantly referring back to it as questions pop up.

This is not too bad a book, very informative of the basics, if you have at least a rudimentary knowlege of the jargon used by woodworkers. If you don't, you will be a jargon expert by the books end, alternativly, you may end up totally confused.

Also, the first project they give for a beginning woodworker involves owning a biscuit joiner. Noone brand new to woodworking even THINKS about buying such a thing, and at $100 a pop, they may be a bit spendy for someone who just plopped down a truckload of cash on tools.

but I digress.... Overall a very handy reference, and comes reccomended.

This is not a good book for those without any woodworking experience. There is too much jargon that is unexplained, and no real starting projects. I'm certain that there is excellent info for beginners who are looking to expand their knowledge and skills, but for people with no background who are looking for the most basic advice, I would look elsewhere.

I don't recommend this book. It was too general in the information that it provided and was not very useful.

My desire to get back into woodworking after many, many years has led me to purchase about a dozen different books on setting up shop, buying tools, woodworking techniques, etc. Now I wish I had found this book much sooner.

The book itself is a collection of articles from "Fine Woodworking" magazine. For the most part, the editor's choice of articles is excellent. For example, the Setting Up Shop section has three articles: 1)outfitting a shop, 2) buying used hand tools, and 3)converting your garage into a workshop. Although I found little of interest in the 2nd article, I learned as much from the other two has entire books on the subject. I especially liked the fact that the article on outfitting a shop had the pull-no-punches opinions of 3 different woodworkers. This lets the reader see that no two experts agree on the subject, but there is enough agreement that it should help a beginner make wiser choices.

The 4 articles on buying wood, sheet goods, glue, and sandpaper were all full of practical information normally lacking in other books.

The Tools and Techniques sections have 13 well-chosen articles, although the collection is far from being a comprehensive survey of the subject. The only power tools covered in any depth are the table saw and router. You may want to supplement your education with other books on these topics.

I found the sections on "First Projects" and "Finishes" to be a little weaker than the other parts. These articles suffer from the fact that this type of book no flow of logic from one chapter to the next. The chapters on finishing suffer from considerable overlap and some conflicting information. Still, I found the individual articles interesting.

In summary, I think this book is an excellent place to start if you are new to woodworking. After buying this very inexpensive book, you can go straight to more definitive books on only the topics you have real interest in. From what I have seen, you can safely skip the other introductory books.

I am finding this book is living up to its name - 8 books in 1. I have other ProTools reference guides, but I am finding this is the first place I start when looking for a solution to a problem. For pros, it won't replace the Digitools training, but for serious amateurs like myself it is well worth the price.

Hi There,

just to share with you that this book gives what is announced:

learn how to use protools for people that are starting.

moreover I was surprised to see a lot of additional chapter covering things such as home studio, effects, mics...

It also provides very good sections around mixing and mastering.

I recommend this book :-)

cheers

A huge book, but I found it very lacking. If you have a question, it might be in here, but I never found answers to most of mine. Almost impossible as a guide to anyone who doesn't already know a lot about Pro Tools. Very disappointed.

I have some working knowledge of protools but can't find answers to most of my questions in this book. The index is probably the most useless part--this book tells me all about what certain functions are, but nothing about how to use them. Waste of money.

This is a very good reference for newbies to pro tools like me. The tutuorial dvd that came with my ignition pack was so drab. I honestly fell asleep 3 times watching it before I finally made it all the way through. This book allows you to go at your own pace and build a solid foundation.

This book has great information on American switchblade history. There is very little information on italian switchblades. All pictures are black and white. If your into American switchblades, this is your book. If your looking for information on Italian switchblades, pass on this book.

Some pictures and grading info, has a wide array of types and years of knifes. "Antique American Switchblades" is ten times a better source.

The most comprehensive book on collectible early switchblades on the market
Well layed out easy to understand, very good book.

Richard Langston is an acknowledged expert in this field and a well known avid collector of automatic knives. He does not disappoint in the "Collector's Guide to Switchblade Knives" . While the book is a little heavily oriented to towards the early twentieth century companies of Pressbutton, Schrade Walden, and their derivatives, this is in keeping with the spirit of the hobby as these are generally the most sought after knives. His insights on the histories of these companies is invaluable from the standpoint of determining age of these products. On the down side, I would have liked to have seen a little more historical and dating information about other companies products and imported knives, but you can only get so much in one book.

Richard Langston's book is best summed up by the title of this review. His historical and informational references are effused
with his personality and wit. I enjoyed reading the beginning of this book so much, it left me wanting for more. The early days
of the cutlery industry in the United States, and Upstate New York in particular, were a fascinating time. To read about this
history from the perspective of someone who has been an enthusiastic student for most of his life, is a gift not often discovered.

I figured out at least a dozen thing to build and add on to my machine in the first half of the book. I find myself rereading it over and over for more little Jewels of info. If I were to lose this book. I would pay even twice the price I paid to start with. To say this is a great book is an understatement to say the least. Good luck and do enjoy.

dray

As an operator of a small development machine shop, I found this book fairly helpful in trying to develop an EDM capability. Although more "nitty-gritty" technical stuff would have been helpful, this book gave me enough information to get started in setting up a small EDM capability in our shop.

The book is fairly well organized, and would probably be useful to small operators, such as myself. It gave some useful information on current requirements and modulation waveforms for the edm process, as well as good pratical discussions on techniques that would be useful with limited resources.

More technical characteristics of the flushing fluids and power supply requirements, as well as expected feed rates, would have been useful, but this book had information that I was not able to get from any other source. I recommend it as a good start in electrical discharge machining.

Mr. Guitreau's book is by far better than any other book on EDM. It covers everything from the basics and theory to the tips and shortcuts he has learned himself in a shop. (he is a very good speaker too)

We use Mr. Guitrau's book in our Industrial Science and Manufacturing Technology classes. This book is clear and consise and written to be completely understood.
Although our Computer Science department has no need for an EDM book, they use the "Machine Intelligence" chapter from THE EDM HANDBOOK for it's easy-to-understand explanations of AI systems and Fuzzy Logic.

This book is one of the few and by far the best of all books on EDM. The author has obviously used EDM to make a living. The concept of discharge-dressing was new to me and now we use it in our shop. We sponsor and train apprentices and this book is mandatory reading for apprentices and toolmakers alike. We can't wait for the next update.

Joe Santana

Nothing new here and it is wordy. You should read it carefully, underliner in hand, to mark fishing grounds worth remembering.

I can't praise enough this book. The First section explain the Basic about Storytelling, the Second section expose The Screenwriting Tools, the Third Section from the page 100 to the end provide an Analyses of 16 Films using the following tools/elements:

Protagonist and Objective, Conflict, Obstacles, Premise and Opening, Main tension, Culmination and Resolution, Theme, Unity, Exposition, Characterization, Development of the History, Dramatic Irony, Preparation and Aftermath, Planting and Payoff, Plausibility, Action and Activity, Dialogue, Visuals, Dramatic Scenes.

My conclusions:
1) The information is clear and concise explaining the essential elements of a script
2) The Analyses Section provides examples in depth
3) The book is cheap

Is a favorite between my 12 books about Writing, you can't go wrong with this bok even if you are a Pro because the analyses of the films provide you a comparative of the central principles of a good movie.

If you have never written anything, in any genre, in any format, then this book would be an excellent tool to help develop your writing skills. However, as a book on screenwriting, this book gives the very basic of basics. That is, to sum up 97 pages of text, you need to have characters, a plot, conflict, a resolution. Oh, yeah, and it all has to make sense.

Each concept is "delved" into in about two to three pages. Most of this, however, is just primer to the Analysis Section in the back of the book, where the writer now explains how all those elements take place in various movies he considers Good.

Not a great book.

Forget all of the other books out there...or, buy the other books, but make this one first on your list. Howard and Mabley are both accomplished professional writers and they know their tools of the craft, which they now share with you. This book succeeds immensely simply because it lists the elements of a screenplay and tells how each is best used and why. It has all of the basic elements: Dialogue, Dramatic Irony, etc. But ever heard of "Preparation and Aftermath", "Future and Advertising", "Planting and Payoff", or "Plausibility"? If not, then learn how to include them in YOUR screenplay to make it better, more exciting, and more fulfilling in a dramatic and universal way. Absolutely the best book on screenwriting. Period. Buy it now. I have read it a countless number of times and each time I learn something new or it spurs my imagination to create something new in the world of my screenplay. Please do yourself a favor and get a hold of this book. A masterpiece of screenplay instruction.

I think this book stands out from others in the heap of books on screenwriting in at least two salient aspects.

First, it does a fairly good job of defining the terms being used. There is great confusion in screenwriting terminology; different authors have differing definitions for commonly used terms -- or none at all. They just throw out terms as if the reader already knows what it means or the meaning is so intuitively obvious it doesn't need definition. Or they define the term vaguely and apply it inconsistently so it seems to mean one thing in one paragraph, and then something else in another. Terms do need clarification and authors need to be consistent.

Second, whereas some authors emphasize a particular element or technique as a sin qua non -- if not the sin qua non for creating a marketable manuscript -- this book discusses all the basics with no particular emphasis or preference for one.

After surveying the basics, the authors apply their analytical schema to 14 notable films from various genres including The GodFather, Rashomon, Annie Hall, sex lies and videotape and Hamlet. Though I don't always agree as to how they apply their schema, it's a practical schema.

Not as helpful as I thought it would be. I am trying to get the red eye out of my photos and it had only a brief description of how to do it. Actually, the adobe 5. doesn't work as well as my photoshop elements 2.

Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 A-Z: Tools and features illustrated ready reference

Very worthwhile purchase

I was a bit annoyed that between the time I ordered this book and the time it arrived the new version of Elements was released. The book is well illustrated and easy to find instructions by subject.

Philip Andrews writes great books and this is no exception. It covers about everything in Photoshop Elements 5 in a nutshell. It is a really great reference book--easy to find answers to questions as you are working--both written and visual. I have his advanced book and it is wonderful, but this is the one to keep close by the computer for reference.

Each feature and control has an illustrated description and example. Excellent reference work, recommended. If you are looking for an intro or a book to learn how to use Elements 5.0 this is not it.

g

Whether you are creating a technical help desk, customer service operation or enterprise effort, the Microsoft Sourcebook is the guide to follow. Detailed approaches and examples are given for all aspects of creating and managing a help desk operation. Helpful topics include ticket management, staff projections, and working with expert tier two teams. Many help desks use the job descriptions from the book when posting positions. A CD for the sample forms is very helpful.

I am a network administrator here in our university (U of Chicago). Most of the time when students asked me for help this is the first book I would consult, it gives the technical and the psychology of hands on computing in a Microsoft environment. All I can say is this book is a must for instructors and administrators who are responsible for novices!

It seemed that Microsoft Press needed to fill many pages before publishing this book. It does do what it says, include info on how to get people into a help desk and what can be expected. It trains and gives ideas to the managers and I especially liked their grid on staffing the help desk and all the things to take into consideration.

Still, it lacked info, like what were the best ways to create a knowledge base for the help desk, it just kept mentioning that it was important and left it at that. And the websites as reference at the back of the book are not that hot. The CDs could be better also.

So in other words, it is a typical Microsoft product, something with great potential that does not live up to expectations but is expected to sell wonderfully because it has the Microsoft logo over it.

For the price of the book I was expecting some great tips and wisdom on help desk and support. Instead, the book only offered surface level information. Almost the last half of the book is a Resource Directory - Most, if not all, of this information can be found in simple web searches. To add insult to injury, the CD does not offer any usable templates or checklists.

I have been looking for the Sign Language for everyone book, it was nice to get the book at such a good price. The book was in nice shape and it arrived in good time.

I am trying to teach myself sign language, and I have purchasd many books on this subject. This book is one of the best I have used, and I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to learn sign language alone. The illustrations and the directions are easy to understand and to follow and perform. I especially like the Bible memory verses at the end of each lesson as well as the suggestions of songs and the sentences for practice. There are two videos that go with the book and they help a great deal, but the book can "stand alone" in successfully teaching the novice how to "sign". The videos give extra help in that they offer practice sessions for review. Cathy Rice gives clues for remembering some of the signs..and that is a great help for me. I can totally recommend this book (with or without the videos) to anyone who wants to learn sign language. I also use The Joy of Signing to great advantage. However,Sign Language for Everyone is more relaxing to work with.

Currently, I am leading a Signing class at my church. Using both the videos and book, has helped many who have never been exposed to Sign Language to learn it in a weeks time (depending on their commitment to learn.) Kathy Rice does a good job describing how to form the signs with helpful hints on remembering them. However, some of the signs are a little outdated, but they are still useful. I would recommend this course video and book to anyone who would like to begin learning Sign Language.

This is a very good book that is small enough not to overwhelm a beginner. Also, it is ASL-based with a great explaination of how deaf think (samples of letters written by Deaf individuals are included). Many signs are out-dated, but most of the important ones are the same. You will need another book (or a deaf friend) to explain the signs for the countries listed, as the ones in the book are not used anymore.

There are short lessons followed by practice work such as sentences, songs, and a Bible verse. You might need the help of a deaf friend to check your abilities on this.

This book is a religious book written by a woman who desired to share the Gospel with her deaf child. If you aren't looking for religious sign, don't buy it. It does include many basic conversational words.

I sign and used this book to teach my hearing children. Very good book!!

I did not realize this book would be so Christian-oriented. I cannot use this in my classroom as a public school teacher. Also, many of the practice phrases are quite strange (For example, "Pretty baby is bad.")

This is a really helpful cookbook which describes cooking implements as well as ingredients both for common and global kitchens. I think it is a must-have for the beginning cook as well as for a more experienced person in the kitchen. The photos are spectacular! A piece of cookware is explained, alternatives are given and then several recipes are included for each. Tips for use are included as well. There are also explanations for ingredients used in cooking around the globe too. This would make a great shower gift for the bride to be as well as a wonderful gift for the cook or want-to-be cook in your life. Get one for yourself while you are at it. You won't regret it!

This was an anniversary gift for our son & daughter-in-law who are "foodies" like we are. After perusing the copy we purchased for ourselves, we got one for them and they love it too!

This is a very pretty book, and it certainly provides a nice overview of cooks tools--but be forewarned that it looks and feels more like a product catalog than a top-shelf cookbook. Yes, there are sexy pics of the equipment, a little (sometimes very little) informative text about how to use and care for the equipment, and recipes related to the kind of hardware being discussed. And while I appreciated the breadth of the material, the author covers so much ground that depth is seriously lacking. In sum, I found the book to be slight, vaguely corporate in tone (read: the author's voice is indistinct), and generally unsatisfying--especially given the relatively high asking price. This is one of those titles that demand a thorough examination of the "Search Inside" feature at Amazon to decide for yourself if the book is worth the price.

This one gets four stars for ambition, but only two stars for execution.

Great book.. I recommend for all budding cooks. If you are a gadget person, this book will point you in the right direction.

Why waste your money on this when Williams-Sonoma has already done it much better? This is a nice looking book if you are interested in paying for a Sur La Table catalog. Otherwise, there is nothing here that you can't find elsewhere and much cheaper. Buy this book if you want to see advertisement after advertisement of products that you don't really need and will never use if you buy them. Not to mention that there is very little information offered about the tools they want you to buy. As far as a cooking book goes, this is nothing new, just a way for Sur La Table to make more money by selling their own line of books at the expense of the individual authors they used to support. "Things Cooks Love"? It should be called "Things You Don't Need That Sur La Table Loves To Try To Sell You." Hey, if you want to pay for their advertising be my guest. If you want to contribute to big business and CEO profits at the expense of the independent cooks and authors, that is your choice. But this book is lame... don't say I didn't warn you.