Software Books

This encyclopedia is a leading resource written by leading philosophers and scholars. It is indispensible for researchers and students who need to refer to a philosophical topic or a great thinker and their thought. It is also good for the casual reader who may be interested in philosophy and wishes to learn more about the subject.

The encyclopedia is very comprehensive and covers all the main areas of philosophy as well as both Eastern and Western philosophy. Jewish and Islamic and African Philosophies are also well represented. There are many biographies of leading philosophers, as well as scientists, theologians, lawyers, writers and politicians who have covered philosophical questions.

The price puts this resource beyond the means of most individual buyers, but all good libraries should stock it.

It is the best encyclopedia of philosophy available in English,
and as comprehensive as one could reasonably want on the
Anglo-American analytic tradition. However, it is still inferior
to the magisterial Historisches Woerterbuch der Philosophie, ed.
Joachim Ritter (12 vols., of which 11 have thus far been
published) - the one true indispensable philosophical reference
work.

We bought this encyclopedia set to the Royal School of Library and Information Science in Copenhagen (both the 10 vol. hardbound and the cd-rom version). I simply find it indispensable and so do many of my colleagues and students. My experience is that this effect comes from the first glance in this work. We are not using this work as professional philosophers but as library and information scientists who needs a broad orientation about fundamental problems related to knowledge, its production, dissemination and use. In my opinion there is a general trend in many of the social sciences towards more theoretical and philosophical foundations. In this process it is extremely important that you have works that bring concise introductions to various traditions in thinking and scientific methodology. The importance of this work is in my view, that it allows researchers and students in social sciences and other fields to have a central reference point when we put forward our arguments.

This work is useful along several dimensions. In this review I shall only mention epistemology and the philosophy of science. We have in all the sciences (especially in the social sciences, psychology, media and information sciences) many approaches or "paradigms", for example: (social) constructivism, critical realism, empiricism, feminist epistemology, hermeneutics, historicism, paradigm theory (Thomas Kuhn), Marxist philosophy of science, critical rationalism (Karl Popper), positivism and logical positivism, postmodernism and poststructuralism, pragmatism, rationalism, and realism (with scientific realism and antirealism). One simply need to be informed about the basic principles behind such approaches, and the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is the only place where you can get a reasonable detailed and comprehensive overview. Add to this that every article starts with a summary, and ends with references and reading lists (often annotated). This is simply a very user friendly design. Of course no work can answer all questions, and of course serious students need much more than this (and of course a few articles is a little disappointing). This work is, however, an important tool, that in my view cannot be overestimated. Its real importance is, I think, that it can strengthen the theoretical approaches in many sciences because it provides us with a common overview and reference point. When I am introducing or discussing Library and Information Science, I am trying to connect the different approaches or paradigms in this field to basic philosophical questions (se my article "Library and information science: practice, theory, and philosophical basis in the journal Information Processing and Management, vol. 36(3), 2000, pp. 501-531). In this way I hope to be able to contribute to the development of this field. In my opinion all other fields should benefit in a similar way. Why is philosophy important for most fields? Because the empiricist and positivist view is simply wrong. You cannot produce knowledge from observations alone. You simply have to consider many theoretical issues which have been clarified through accumulated experiences.

This collection, especially the CD-ROM version is a very useful resource. It is easy to use and very consice, full of information. This encyclopedic collection contains all themes in philosophy and some in religion, which makes it useful when someone is trying to make connections to other fields. Individual philosophers and a general overview of their life works and projects, different idealogies and terms are all explained in full extent in this simple to use encyclopedia.

It is so exciting to be able to use this resource. It is a recent acquisition at the college's library, and since I have discovered it I haven't been able to put it down. I give it 5 stars, and although I haven't read it entirely (for obvious reasons), I think it will be a resource I will be using for the rest of my life.

Check it out and see for yourself!?!

I was excited about this collection, but I thought it was 37 dollars and 75 cents, so I was a bit disconcerted to find a $3,775 dollar charge to my Visa. However, once I started reading the collection, I realized it was worth every penny of the cost -- for all you get, this is an absolute steal, really! Now I'm sending the collection to friends and family as gifts. Take out a loan, beg, borrow or steal: Do whatever you need to do to get the money to order this series -- you won't be disappointed.

The book is really well written, covering even more topics (i.e. Networking) than the first edition. Considering the advanced nature of the book, it's surprisingly easy to understand.

However, i would recommend reading Operating Systems: Design and Implementation (3rd edition) by Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Albert S. Woodhull before this one if you're not familiar with Operating Systems, as this book covers advanced topics which are not for begginers.

Reading this book, I think it helps to know UNIX and some C already, but is ok if you don't... This book gives great details and examples. Must have for anyone working on/with solaris 10.
Yes.. it explains how zones and things like that work...

Do you want to know how the Solaris kernel works? This is the book for you!

If you've read any of the other titles by these authors you'll know how clear and succinctly written this book is. The book is not your normal 2nd edition "nip and tuck", it's a rewrite!

One of the things I really like about this book is that it describes the internal theory and implementation of many kernel subsystems, but is not a code walk through or reiteration of other books / manuals.

The book covers many of the new and recent features of Solaris, so it's also valuable for long time Solaris engineers that need to keep updated. People that are new to UNIX internals will also like this book as it starts with the assumption of some UNIX principles (but not too much), and takes you a *lot* further.

There are pointers to other material for the truely adventurous, and small examples with sample output that keep the subject material relevent and enable to reader to make the connection between the theory and their system.

Very highly recommended!

The book "Solaris (TM) Internals and OpenSolaris
Kernel Architecture (2nd Edition)"
is one of the best
books (perhaps the best one) that I own on
the Operating Systems related field.

I study also the Linux Kernel which is also
technically elegant, and I recommend to anyone
interested in Operating Systems design and
implementation, to study the
OpenSolaris Kernel also,
since is very well designed and
in my opinion is technically
the best design that I know until now.

The book is excellent, it has clear presentation of the
advanced algorithms used at the Solaris internally,
and the reader has a lot to gain by elaborating
the internals of perhaps the most
advanced modern operating system.

Well written and detailed. If you wish or need to know about the internals of Solaris this book is the source. This is a second edition and covers 10 and updates information on 8 and 9. The first edition covered 2.5.1, 2.6, and 7. I liked the first edition and waited for this edition based on the books/authors web site and have not be disappointed. Highly recommended, a reasonable background in OS theory is helpful with the type of material covered here - but not required - it will aid in understanding however. Recommended more general OS books would include "Operating System Concepts" by A. Silberschutz, J. Peterson, P. Galvin, "Operating Sytstems" by A. Tanenbaum, A. Woodhull, and "Unix Internals" by Uresh Vahalia among others.

While working on a 90 page directory for our church, complete with written history, pictures, and lists of official acts in columns, I ran into a few formatting questions. I ordered this book and I found it answered my questions in lanugage I could easily understand, point by point, after looking up the difficulty in the books' Index. I highly recommend the book to those using WordPerfect X3. The boxed "Tips" on many subjects from the two authors are a nice plus.

I found the book to be quite useful in adapting to WordPerfect Office X3. My only complaint: My copy started falling apart almost as soon as I started using.

I've been using WordPerfect for about 20 years or more. It's a fine WP for anyone writing books. I bought this resource book after getting the X3 office suite and I find that even though I thought the upgrade of the word processing feature was not much advanced over version 6 or 9, the "Using" book shows me otherwise. I need it to make sure my investment in X3 is fully realized. It seems clear, complete, and with enough detail to keep me busy when I need to know something.

Having used WordPerfect since version 4.1, it remains my word processor of choice. When forced to (usually when dealing with other people's files with multiple inserted images) I can grit my teeth and use the "other" program, but I always bail out of it and get back into WP as soon as I can.

This guide is big and user-friendly, and fills the gap caused by software makers providing less and less in the user guide department. On-screen help and PDF on-disk manuals have their place, but there are times when nothing works like a hardcopy manual that you can tag and make notes in and that doesn't clutter up the screens you are trying to work on. This guide is well worth the price if you only need it once in a while.

I've been a WordPerfect user (and never much of an MS Word user) ever since adolescence. A major attraction for myself and many others being the Reveal Codes function. However, this review is not about WordPerfect vs. MS Word, but about the book Special Edition Using WordPerfect X3.

One of the most important features of a book such as this (which is about 2 inches thick) is its index. I find the index to be well laid out, easy to read and a good combination of bold and plain text. There is also a Contents at a Glance on the very first page, as well as the Contents proper.

New features of WordPerfect X3 are listed on pages 2 to 7. Note that I don't consider the addition of the Yahoo! toolbar, and the Y! icon (which I couldn't get rid of - it kept reappearing) as enhancements. This is clearly a commercial move rather than purely an enhancement, which brings me to my only complaint with this book, it seems to lack a critical edge. Not once in the whole manual is there a "bug", nor "plugin". Come on, let's get into the workarounds and tweaks! Anyway, this isn't enough for the manual to lose any stars in my opinion.

The ease of pasting unformatted text from other programs/documents (an essential feature - done in a more round-about way in MS Word) is described on page p339. I use this feature all the time, I'm very pleased to learn (p339 - again) of the shortcut key Ctrl+Shift+V to do this very quickly.

Just to go back to the WordPerfect vs MS Word debate for a minute. The #1 downfall of WordPerfect is becoming more and more clear in our globalised world: The lack of unicode support (especially obvious when it comes to Asian languages).

Overall: Highly recommended. Special Edition Using WordPerfect X3 complements the simplicity and comprehensiveness of WordPerfect itself.

I was given this book when I first joined Mcdonnell Douglas back in the early 90's, as every programmer did. It is the bible of design books. Every software engineer and designer should have a copy.

One of the first book written on structured systems analysis and still, after 20 years, one of the best. The techniques has stood the test of time.

I read this book over 20 years ago. It is still the best. I keep it right on my desk.

I was introduced to Data Flow Diagraming in college with this book. Since then I have seen many other books describing DFD's. All fail to explain them as clearly as this book does. I highly recommend it!

As a business process consultant and information systems designer, I am constantly looking for effective techniques for capturing business details and new system requirements. I have looked at every new tool and method to come along, but this is STILL the best one there is. A testament to this book and it's methods is that many of the latest software tools, using the latest technology, still build on the methods and diagrams used in this book. And it's all still valid. Every consultant, business analyst, and systems designer MUST have a copy of this book in their library!

The is a very good resource. It gives great ideas on how to use the internet in the classroom. What I like particulary is the wealth of ideas it gives on how to incorporate the internet in the classroom.

I highly recommend Teaching with the Internet to the novice and experienced net user. It is a great sounce of "current" web sites spanning the educational needs for K-12 students. I have used lessons taken directly from the book with great success. I consider the text to be an invaluable resource in my personal journey in understanding the "net" as well as to open new areas of exploration for my young students. This book is also a wonderful tool for parents trying to assist their children with study projects, book reports, etc. The information in this book is updated regularly through its web site as changes take place on the www. This educational tool is a wise investment for anyone who uses the "net".

Teaching With the Internet: Lessons From the Classroom is a practical, hands on guide well suited for layman use. It encompasses both Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers as well as the IBM and Macintosh systems. Each chapter is devoted to either a specific Internet strategy such as navigating and communicating or to specific subject areas and concerns within the public school curriculum K-12. This text should be included as an essential component in every school's technology reference library and utilized as an indispensable resource in effective Internet teaching. It is packed with countless creative teaching suggestions and noteworthy web sites as well as step by step instructions on how to implement it all.

This book proved to be very informative, giving step-by-step models to use to incorporate internet resources into classroom activities, computer workshops, research projects and student inquiries.It is organized by chapters that give curriculum based internet ideas, with excellent related educational web-sites. It is geared for all levels of teacher ability, so everyone can get their classroom started. Although some ideas and sites seemed repetitious, it allows you to refer to a specific chapter by subject area to find related sites and sample activities. This book is comprehensive enough to highlight features of various navigation tools, cover both MAC and PC platforms for grades K-12.

Don and Deborah Leu have created a great Interent reference/teaching guide for teachers of all computer skill levels, from beginners to old pros!

The book not only inlcudes explicit explanations of Internet terms and procedures, but includes plenty of figures and examples of what the screen would actually look like as you are working. The Email to You sections contain real teachers describing real projects that they have sucessfully done with their students. Leu and Leu also provide many, many links to resources and project ideas in the major academic disciplines for teachers to use as they begin to incorporate the Internet in to the classroom.

I would highly recommend this book to teachers and teacher educators alike. I consider my self to be an advanced user of the Internet and I learned several new things from reading this book!

Theology of the Body (T.O.B) gives a dynamic vision of the human person. Pope John Paul discusses human sexuality, vocation (marriage, religious life,etc) through the lense of biblical revelation.

PJ II quotes Vatican II in saying that we are the only creatures on earth "that were willed for their own sake" (Lumen Gentium 26). All the other creatures were created for mankind. Humans were commanded to rule the other creatures.

I found T.O.B to be the best exegesis of Genesis. Truly brilliant and amazing. I was so inspired that I am devoting part of my next book on this very topic.

PJ II tells us that Adam and Eve didn't merely want to be equal with God but they sought to usurp their Creator. They were sharing in the love of God and so they weren't inferior to God. However they believed in the word of a creature over that of the Creator and thought they could take God's throne and take His power!

Yes it is a correlation between human sexuality and God. But it is even more than that. It is about the dignity of the Human Person and Psychosomatic Unity of the Human Person. In giving of ourselves so totally we discover who we are. This is what happened with Adam. He was alone and could not identify with the animals until Eve came from His rib (or as the late Pope puts it, his heart - wow!)

Pope John Paull II does not use the word "SEX" as contemporary society does. He uses it to refer to male or female. Personally I think the word "sex" depersonalises a sacred act. Let me explain. The Catholic Church uses the word Conjugal Union. This refers to a union of body and soul and open to the gift or trasmission of life. Ok, so it may be a mouthful, "Conjugal Union" and take a bit to get used to. Let me challenge you to learn it and use it in discussions. Another word used is "Conjugal Love" Doesn't this sound better than making love.
Through Conjugal love the husband gives himself totally body and soul to his wife and his wife gives herself totally body and soul to her husband.

Did you know that through the Eucharist we can receive Conjugal Love. Christ gives himself totally to us, "Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity!" Now this is a really big WOW! This is awesome, inspirational and mind-boggling. Christ unites with us in the Eucharist.

So yes, Conjugal Union is spiritual and so is receiving our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ in the Eucharist!

I have a MP3 talk I've given on Theology of the Body which I can send you. It was a brief talk - only 10 minutes + questions given for a "Faith, Revelation and Theology" paper I have just finished studying at our Catholic Theological College. Email me through my website [...] and I will send the MP3 to you. My next book (my fourth) will feature explaining Theology of the Body for lay people.

I am really happy that more and more people are hearing about Theology of the Body and beginning re discover the richness and power behind the writings of Pope John Paul II. Let's continue to read His works and spread the messages he bestows.

God bless

Brendan Roberts

Those with a philosophical background may regard JPII's leaning toward phenomenology as either a peripheral "quirk" or a departure from traditional (i.e., Aristotelian-Thomist) realism. "Theology of the Body" should dissuade of either conclusion. JPII's approach to phenomenology is foundational to his celebration of human personhood, and totally realist and thus thoroughly compatible with traditional Christian philosophy. The theological significance of JPII's philosophical approach is clearly demonstrated in his phenomenological exegesis of the existential signficance of man's transition from "original solitude" (before Eve's creation) to "original nakedness" (Adam's encounter with Eve). JPII's meditation on how man's personal self-awareness - and thus his personhood - is fulfilled through the bodily disclosure of another person literally "fleshes out" the teaching of the universal Catechism: God is an eternal exchange of Love, in which man is destined to participate (CCC 221). I only regret that the Pope did not develop the analogy implicit in his meditation between the purely relational Personhood of the Blessed Trinity and the nuptial meaning of the human body.

The Theology of the Body is comparable in depth of thought to the works of Augustine and Aquinas.

The writings speak to a reader at numerous levels: the personal, the organizational, global, sacramental, familial, paternal, maternal, fraternal, vocational, scriptural, anthropological and many others. The beauty is the integration of teachings at and across each level!

The teachings encapsulated within this work synthesize many truths about humanity and Catholic Christianity.

The book's writings shed light on the fullness of Truth revealed in and over the fullness of time. What was implied in the truth of the Gospel is revealed in a more explicit way in the Pope's analysis.

Topics of interest include: the dignity of the human person, the human body in art versus pornography, the intended relationship between man and woman from the beginning - in the present - and future, what the physical human body reveals about the nature of the person and God, the call to Chastity and Modesty, the universal call to holiness, the mystery of Body of Christ, the mystery of the priesthood, celibacy, and the mystery of the Eucharist and much, much more.

The book is a difficult read if you are not familiar with the Pope's method... but well worth it!!

Pope John Paul II has given us one of the best (if not the best) books of modern theology today. This book is a compilation of many weekly addresses the Pope gave in the early 80's. Now compiled into this one work, we can view the absolute genius of the mind of Pope JPII. His insights into humanity, creation, the human person and the body are without equal. In fact, he may be known for this work more than any other when history judges him in the future. He has given the Church new insights into the dignity of the human person, marriage,... and made it challenging to all of us.

If you haven't read any of the Pope's writings, I suggest you start with his encyclicals, and study them hard, before jumping into this work. The Theology of the Body has already started several grass-roots evangelism projects and my guess is that we are only starting to see the fruit this book will bear.

Buy this book. Awesome, awesome explanation of
how we are trully to love .

Thanks !

I have been reading Gene Steinbergs great computer books since I got my first bondi-blue IMac, which was the very 1st Apple IMac - the one that made Apple famous - again! Mine was the second revison of this great computer, made in 1998, and has had one repair under the 4 year aftermarket extended warranty. I finally upgraded to my current IMac G-5, the last of the ones with the old Motorola chips, before the switch to Intel chips. My trust bondi-blue baby - that I still miss - has been set up for a friend, after being serviced, even more ram put in, and set up - so 10 years later - it is still working!
Gene has a neat,simple way of communicating on how to do things - I may use a Apple product - but I am not a genius technical dude - and Gene can communicate to me about how to do things on my mac, and how to help prevent problems. I have also e-mailed Gene for years with problems I have had, and he is the only
author I can think of that has actually taken the time to answer my questions - above and beyond the call of duty for the author of fairly inexpensive books!
Today Gene is also known for his great e-mail newsletter The Night Owl, as well as the Paracast. Gene and his son Grayson are also the authors of "attack of the Rockoids" - a great sci-fi book, written when I believe Grayson was still a teenager.
Overall, a great computer book that you will use again and again, one to keep on a shelf near your computer!

I have had this book for just about a month now and have used it to upgrade my processor, level 2 cache, video memory, RAM, and change my clock battery. I am fairly proficient with Macs (14+ years) and I own 4, which I keep in excellent shape. This book is an excellent reference for the do-it-yourselfer who is not afraid to "get under the hood" of their Mac.

After skimming through other sections, I found many more tips on improving MacOS performance and Web browsing performance. When I think about an upgrade to any of my Macs, I look through my book to see what is involved, and if it is worth the trouble. When my Macs start "acting up" I can usually find the solution to the problem in my book.

All in all, this is an EXCELLENT book for any Mac product owner. It comes with its own CD of demo software and is well worth the cost. If you can find the "Mac Manuals 2.0" CD from James Engleby, you have a pretty complete collection of the tools, manuals, specs, and software you'll need to fix-up ANY Mac.

I can't believe you really read that book. I found tons of things in Mr. Steinberg's book that I didn't know and I've been working with Macs for years. I couldn't name five people who know how to really set up their monitors, for example, yet "Upgrading & Troubleshooting Your Mac" told me how to use the onscreen menus, what all those strange functions mean and how to calibrate the color. I don't know of any other book with this sort of information. Maybe that reader from San Francisco knew all this, but most folks dont.

Being computer litterate, but knowing just a few facts on Macs. This book has helped me through the transition from "the other platform" as Gene describes it. Easy to follow and fun to read(even for a non-native english speaker as myself). You feel as having an informal conversation with the author thougout. Hard to put down, you will want to finish it as soon as you read the first chapter. If you know a bit of hardware this book is a great guide for conecting and upgrading your Mac.

Our publishing company has 12 newspapers, (3 dailys) and all of them use > Macs for desktop publishing. We started using Macs in 1986 and I've been a > Macintosh systems manager for several years, but even an old dog can learn > a new trick now and then. You have taught me several during the reading of > your book (Upgrading & Troubleshooting Your Mac). > I look forward to your next one.

Your VB2008 book is terrific. I'm now using it all the time.
It's a great reference library. It has been very helpful in making my applications user friendly and accomplishing my objectives. Great Job.

A weighty tome with substance to match the heft. Mr. Stephens knows his material and knows how to make his knowledge accessible. This book has become a necessary adjunct all of my VB projects.

I have taught programming for about 20 years in a local college. I have several other Rod Stephens books so when I needed a book to help me with the new features in Visual Basic 2008, this book was my first choice. I was not disappointed. At over 1000 pages it covers just about everything you might need, whether you are a beginner or an expert. The good explanations are backed up by good examples. I highly recommend it.

For the novice user this book will take you by the hand, and guide you through VB.NET from the IDE, to basic principles and concepts of OO programing, and into concrete examples, covering a vast amount of information. There is an incredible 200+ page appendix.

Like most other books on the subject, the sections that cover parts of VB that I work with daily (and thus understand well) offered few new insights. The other 75% of the book has proved to be extremely helpful!

If you truly "know" VB.NET '08 inside and out, then you don't need this book (or any others for that matter!), for the rest of us the useful information abounds.

I'm experienced with VB.Net but needed a quick reference book for the new features (esp. LINQ) and that would also provide an overview for features I might not otherwise discover.

My first project with VB 2008 sent me right to the book. I was able to easily adapt code lifted right off the page on the first task. However, different code from the book for a second task was less successful (LINQing on a data set table). The syntax (in the book) for the ORDER BY clause was erroneous and raised a perplexing error. (Perhaps the Wrox web site corrects this; I haven't checked.) Googling brought me to a Microsoft web site with an example with the correct syntax.

I guess you should expect such issues when applying 15th century technology (i.e., printed paper) to a bleeding edge tool.

All in all, however, the book was worth the modest investment. Make use of Amazon's excerpts to evaluate it for your own needs (I did).

By the way, the (first) one I received was damaged (crumpled pages, torn backcover) in packaging, but Amazon redeemed themselves by promptly sending an intact replacement.

I work in a non-technology based field, yet found this book to be a great tool for inspiring some new marketing ideas.

AT LAST! A definitive, concise, readable, understandable, helpful book on this subject that has literally changed the way I communicate and network in my business. Thank you, thank you, thank you, to the authors!!

The world can be divided into two groups: those that get it, and those that don't. Real estate is a very competitive industry -- you not only have to be "with it," you have to be "ahead of it." This book is a must have for the business person -- in this case, realtor -- who needs and wants the cutting edge advantage.

Like many people looking for a book or information on web conferencing I was frustrated in my search by the surprising lack of available material. Needless to say I was thrilled when my search ended having come across "The Web Conferencing Book..." and was happier still when I found the book to be as an informative and engaging read as it is. Extremely comprehensive, The Web Conferencing Book answered virtually all of my questions on the subject - and even provided me with information I didn't even know I need to be aware of. I can't recommend this book enough for people needing to know more on the subject as it will undoubtedly have an immediate and highly positive impact on your web conferencing abilities and overall knowledge. The authors have provided us with an amazingly valuable resource and I'm now offically on the lookout for future technology books by them.

I'm a computer services manager working in local government, so I am probably not part of the target audience for this book.

This book will give maximum benefit to a non-technical person who knows nothing about on-line collaboration. The book is effective in giving a survey of the conferencing products and services available on the market at the time of publication.

Here is my description of my "wish list" for a book on Web Conferencing:

1. Target audience: Information systems professionals
2. Detailed coverage of network issues involved with Web conferencing, including bandwidth, infrastructure and security issues.
3. Cost structure for each product reviewed.
4. Some coverage of manipulating low cost configurations to provide high levels of service. (How to do more with less).
5. Professional, rather than chatty, tone.

Rick certainly does tell you how to make your presentations better. I love how he talks about animations and shows you how to tell a story using animations. He shows you some wonderful, eye catching ways to use photos. And you'll understand how he explains the PowerPoint features. In fact you'll enjoy reading about them. When you apply just half of what he says in this book, you will be ahead of most presenters. I have a business in presenting and I learned so many useful tips and tricks. Buy it now.

The book is well written by an author who knows how to make effective presentations. This is not a "how to" book for mastering PowerPoint. It is a guide for how to use PowerPoint to enhance presentations. People who suffer through tedious presentations and yearn not to inflict the same on others will benefit from reading this book.

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

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

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

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

Jerry

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

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