Reviews (16)

Great software, but pricey
I passed the PMP test on my first try on September 25th 2006. My preparation material:
Great resource- worth the money
I just passed my PMP exam (first try) and have to say that the questions and format of the CD tests were a perfect test preparation tool.By reviewing the explanations I learned a lot about how to answer real test questions.
Very good practice for the PMP test
I just passed the PMP test on the first try using Rita's book, "ThePMP Exam" by Andy Crowe and PMFASTrack software.I read both books three times filling a thick notebook with notes and spent 3 weeks drilling on PMFASTrack just prior to taking the test.I was scoring around 80% on the tests before taking the PMP test.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Internet General    2. Computers    3. Internet - General   

Editorial Review

Usability design is one of the most important--yet often least attractive--tasks for a Web developer. In Read more

Reviews (298)

A must read for anyone involved in website creation
An infinitely quotable book which takes you through the fundaments of designing websites that customers will find easy to use.Easy to use websites of course being successful websites.
The Title Says It All
I've read a lot on usability, and this is the single-best source I've seen. Every site designer and developer has to read this book. In fact, everyone on the decision food chain in your organization at least needs to be aware of what Krug teaches us. I will forever use usability testing often and early in the process now. Remember, it doesn't matter how cool your application or website is--if people can't use it, they will get frustrated and leave. Please--give us all a better experience!

definitely not a waste of paper :-)
This is a wise book, intentionaly kept small to be qucikly digestible. Very cleanly and simply the author describes where are the problems customers/users encounter while browsing the web, and how web contents designers should avoid making users think (more than absolutely necessary) while trying to do something on one's pages (look for/report/buy/pay/etc). The best book I have read in years.
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Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: Web Publishing    3. Computers    4. Design    5. Internet - Web Site Design    6. Internet - World Wide Web    7. Web site development    8. Web sites    9. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    10. World Wide Web (WWW)   

Reviews (61)

The Antithesis of Winner-Take-All
If you became hopelessly depressed after reading "The Winner-Take-All Society" by Frank and Cook, then "The Long Tail" will provide you with some solace. Nothing ever reaches its logical conclusion, and economic rewards will not aggregate to the top ad infinitum. The ability to make an infinite number of copies of the "best" song or movie or book contrasts with the infinite shelf space available on the internet. "The Long Tail" demonstrates why that shelf space will be a highly democratizing force. People are always looking for something new, and the traditional, monopolistic channels (or gatekeepers) are under siege, even now.

Pop-science goes marketing
The big thing these days seems to be science writers like Malcolm Gladwell coming up with best-sellers that, charitably put, are very light on facts and very long on sometimes outlandish assertion. Chris Anderson, editor in chief of Wired magazine, joins the parade with his silly - yes, silly - claim that businesses like music and movies are no longer driven by hits, but by the "long tail." That it is the thousands of titles that people buy or rent infrequently. Somehow, according to Anderson, the idea of web merchants making a zillion titles available and some of those titles being sold or rented once or twice will be the "transformation . . . coming to just about every industry imaginable." Uh, no it ain't. Nowhere in the book does Anderson factor in the reality that someone pays for the production of all those videos and music tracks that rent or sell infrequently. Nor does he account for the reality that not every web merchant can acheive the volume of an Amazon or eBay. In other words, Anderson has discovered the obvious: if you make 30,000 movies available for rental, let's say, through a Netflix, many of the cult titles and dogs will be rented. Anderson pounds on this "long tail" effec while glossing over the fact that the neighborhood video rental store won't carry 30,000 titles. The profits from the occasionl rental of the 30,000th item on the list won't match the cost of acquiring and keeping it in stock in a store, while it makes little difference to a Netflix.
Insights that influence Google's strategic thinking.
98 Rule: Netflix reckoned that 95 percent of its 25,000 DVDs rented at least once a quarter. Amazon using an independent academic research on its book sales suggested that 98 percent of its top 100,000 books sold at least once a quarter.Digital space cost per DVD is very cheap and represent almost no physical inventory space excepting magnetic medium storage.In the sale of one or two DVDs, the traditional retail runs out of steam because it can turn inventory fast enough to pay for physical space, but the economics of online retail keep going.Eventually, Amazon will localize and print digital media using high-speed printers producing a book in seconds from an electronic catalog, the birth of a book replication. DVDs will be replaced by wireless iPods, who are paying subscribers to iTunes, will increase the speed of distribution and volume of sales of the media they prefer. The 80/20 rules are changing.
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Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Consumer Behavior - General    5. Economic Conditions    6. Economics (General)    7. Economics - General    8. Internet marketing    9. Market segmentation    10. Marketing    11. Marketing - Research    12. Sales & Selling - General    13. Technological innovations    14. Business & Economics / Economic History   

Reviews (42)

Good but over-rated
Good but it could be much better. The selection of books on this topic is poor to begin with. But this happens to be one of the best in that underserved category.
A Refreshing Approach to Presentations
I ran across this book while researching a college workshop on perfecting presentation, dealing with public speaking and effective use of PowerPoint. As one who has suffered through numerous electronic slides that did little or nothing to augment the speaker's efforts, I was delighted to see this fresh and innovative approach. I believe this process works best, however, when one's speech is primarily persuasive in nature. Although these ideas helped me set up a strong introduction and conclusion, in a recent lecture I resorted to bullet points for the material I felt the students had to master. Perhaps as I get more used to Atkinson's technique, I'll better about using it in lecture. However, the business applications seem quite worthwhile. My students' workshop presentations that used his techniques were highly engaging. I highly recommend this book and the supporting web site.

Powerpoint Presentations that POP
If you do any kind of powerpoint presentations, this book is a must read.It provides insight into why you don't want to have your audience reading while you are presenting.It also provides you options and resources to make your presentations better, more informative and credible. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business Software - MSOffice    2. Business Software - Powerpoint    3. Business presentations    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer Graphics    6. Computer Graphics - General    7. Computer programs    8. Computers    9. Computers - Accounting Packages    10. Graphic methods    11. Microcomputer Communication Software    12. Multimedia systems in business presentations    13. Presentation Software    14. Computers / General   

Reviews (12)

the nice guy finaly finishes first
I just read the book iWoz. If you are a Mac-head, or just a computer geek who is intrigued by the origins of the PC industry, thisbook is definately a must-read. It gives a great, human approach to the subject of Steve Wozniak, inventor, and the people in his life who helped draw him out and create the Apple I, the computer that really signified the true arrival of small, affordable computers for the masses. The prose is written in a very informal and relaxed style, as if Steve is sitting across from you and telling you his story himself. I found it very engaging. I am a very tough critic, but this is definately a book I will read again.

Gives you a great sense of the Woz.
This is an excellent book about a truly interesting and innovative man. It provides real insight into his work, his style and his personality. I had the pleasure of seeing Steve on his speaking tour and I was really impressed by how the book captures his style, tone and spirit. Steve has a real childlike quality to him which shows through alternatively as playfulness, humor, goofiness and innocence.He also has a long history with promoting education and teaching.
Great Promise but Poor Delivery
The real problem with the book is that it's packaged and sold as an adult book but it's actually a children's book. Stories are toned down for the child audience and at one point, even self-censored, as not being appropriate for a "family audience," as though Woz imagines the family drawn up around father's easy chair to listen to the evening reading. As if... The book ends, as all good children's books do, with the ending that he hoped his twelve-year-old audience will be as lucky as he was...sort of a go though and do likewise.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Business    7. Computer engineers    8. Computer industry    9. Computers - General Information    10. History    11. History Of Technology    12. Industries - Computer Industry    13. Inventors    14. Personal Memoirs    15. United States    16. Computers / History    17. Miscellaneous Items   

Reviews (20)

Best Excel development book to date
The depth of Excel development knowledge of the authors can be readily seen a few pages into the Introduction.If you have been frequent visitors to Excel/VBA programming newsgroups like myself, you will notice immediately that all three authors are well-recognized experts in this domain, and have answered countless tricky questions on the topic of Excel/VBA.In my opinion, the particularly valuable chapters include:
Looking to take your Excel to the next level?BUY THIS BOOK!!!!
I've been working with Excel for years...
Goes Beyond my Expectations
This book is a fantastic edition to any programmer's skillset.
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Subjects:  1. Business    2. Computer Books: Spreadsheets    3. Computer programs    4. Computer software    5. Computers    6. Computers - Spreadsheets    7. Development    8. Electronic spreadsheets    9. Microcomputer Spreadsheet Software    10. Spreadsheets - Excel    11. Spreadsheets - General    12. Computers / Spreadsheets / General    13. Excel    14. Software engineering   

Reviews (42)

This is the book you need, stop looking...
Im a college student, ive taken multiple classes that were supposed to "teach" us software via textbooks and this is by far the easiest book to follow. I have no formal experience with the software, i just bought it recently because this is the last year i will be able to take advantage of a student discount on software, and i thought it would come in handy... ive burned thru the first 1/2 of the book in 3 nites, prolly 2 hours a nite.. Its not tedious at all, very straight forward and color illustrated step by step... They give you the keyboard shortcuts, as well as the pull down menu commands upfront, and it guides you through the things you will actually use without alot of b.s. i will be ordering the rest of the series on adobe software to learn the rest of the web bundle, probably the best $45 ive spent on textbooks yet.

Well organized and easy to understand
I've tried learning photoshop many times before, but each book I read made me loose interest. This book is fun, and arranged in a way so that lessons are neither too long nor too short.

Get Deke McClelland's instruction books instead
Adobe's instruction book are: very basic, and . . . boring.Get Deke's books--you'll be glad you did. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop    2. Adobe Photoshop (Computer software)    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    5. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    6. Computer graphics    7. Computers    8. Computers - Other Applications    9. Desktop Publishing    10. Desktop Publishing - General    11. Interactive & Multimedia    12. Microcomputer Graphics    13. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    14. Photoshop   

Reviews (3)

Working on your MCSE? Then get this set of books
This was my sole study guide for the MCSE Server 2003 based certification path, and I was not disappointed.The format is clear and easy to read.The books do a fantastic job of outlining WHY you are learning something, not just WHAT you need to know to pass the exam.I think this is what sets MS Press books apart from the competition: the book itself is structured to the best LEARNING format, and NOT to just passing the exam.I came away from these books with a much greater appreciation for Microsoft's Server and AD technologies (I come from a Linux background since 1995 and I'm the first to knock MS), and these books will be on your reference shelf for years to come -- or at least until the next version of Server ships.
Well Done.
I've belonged to the Unix world since 1993, working with low level stuff as kernel, device drivers, virus, assembly, C, etc.. and now I'm trying to learn Windows a bit and have enough conditions to take all tests (290, 291, 293, 294). No problems. This a very good kit about MS Windows 2003, well written,well organized and deserve 5 stars.
Pretty Good
I would recommend that anyone buying this looks at the publication date as a lot of errata has been corrected in the most recent editions.Orin Thomas has a very useful forum http://www.certtutor.net/
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. General    6. Microcomputer Operating Environments    7. Operating Systems - Windows    8. Programming - Software Development    9. Software Engineering    10. Computers / General    11. Computing and Information Technology    12. Microsoft Windows   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (150)

Fast and painless way to learn Design Patterns
This is the first book of the Head First series that I've read, and I have to say that I love it! I think their teaching approach is very very efficient. Each concept is presented to you in many different ways and at the end your brain finds its way to metabolize it. Sometimes it's a picture that catch your attention, sometimes it's just a joke but at the end the concept sticks in your head and is gonna be there forever (at least I hope so :-))) ). Moreover this book is so easy to read. I recommend it to anybody that wants to learn Design Patterns (in Java) in a painless and fast way.

A fun way to learn Patterns
Patterns are boring. This book makes them fun. How they did it, I'll never know.

Number one!!!
So far i bought about 30 computer books from amazon. This is the BEST!!!!!! First book that explains something real good but doesn't assume that you (the reader) actualy understood it so they re-explain it and attack the problem from a deferent point of view. I bought steven mezger's design patterns with c# book and read it cover to cover. It doesn't even come close to this piece of art although this is wrriten for java programers. I read "decorator" pattern in mezger's book more than 5 times and didn't actualy understand it. First time i read it in this book and i feel like a design patterns master! I'm thinking a lot about their teaching style. Its briliant!If you realy want to understand design patterns even if you are a c# or c++ programmer, By this book!
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computer software    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Design    6. Development    7. General    8. Internet - Web Site Design    9. Java (Computer program language)    10. Computer Programming    11. Computers / General    12. Computers / General Information    13. Computers / Programming / Software Development    14. Head First, Design Patterns, Object oriented programming, OOP, Java, Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates, Eric Freeman, Elisabeth Freeman, programming, software engineering,   

Subjects:  1. Games    2. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    3. Games/Puzzles    4. Video & Electronic - General    5. Computer games    6. Games / Video & Electronic   

Reviews (127)

By far the BEST book for CISSP certification
I have been teaching the CISSP certification for IT Mentor for the last 5 years.This is the book I use for all of my students.I must say, this is the best book you can buy.I have over 20 CISSP books in my library, but I always recommend this one.
Good book, though some turn offs
The book has a good coverage on most of the topics. I think if you already have Telecom and Crypto background, you'll be fine with this book, as those don't seem to be done well enough though they are important fot the exam.
How to study and pass the CISSP.
Three weeks after I took the CISSP exam, I received an email telling me I had passed. I came out of the exam fairly confident I'd pass but one can never be too sure with the CISSP - the questions are quite ambiguous and quite often you are making an educated guess in picking out what you think is the best among the 2 choices you have narrowed down to. It has often been said that the CISSP is an exam that is an inch deep and a mile wide. You'd be lucky if you use more than half of what you studied for this exam. I am a software engineer and I know I will never have to choose which fire extinguisher to use for which kind of fire, unless I am actually struck in one!
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computers & Technology    3. Computers - Certification    4. Education    5. Security    6. Security - General    7. Computers / Technical Skills    8. Systems management   

Reviews (12)

helped me to get my green belt
if you are taking your green belt then buy this book

a six sigma implementation caravan
This book is a complete reference of implementing six sigma. It does not focus that much on preparation or building infrastructure of six sigma, however, it is good to have it while implementing six sigma.

Great Six Sigma Book
This is my first Six Sigma book, but from my other research, this covers about every subject you would expect for this subject matter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Entrepreneurship    5. Handbooks, manuals, etc    6. Management - General    7. Production management    8. Quality Control    9. Six sigma (Quality control standard)    10. Statistical methods    11. Business & Economics / Quality Control    12. Production & quality control management    13. Project management   

Reviews (30)

This is practical money-making info, unlike most internet marketing BS...
I've spent thousands (ok probably tens of thousands) of dollars on information about how to make money online. If you're like me, you already know that 99% of the stuff out there is garbage.
One Thumb Up
This text was good in providing elementary facts of adsense. Most of the content is filler, though. It's published on cheap, thick paper. I implemented several things, though.

Very Few People Really Want to Tell you Their Adsense Secrets.
Hi Adster, ,
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Subjects:  1. Advertising & Promotion    2. Business & Economics    3. Business / Economics / Finance    4. Business/Economics    5. E-Commerce - Internet Marketing    6. Business & Economics / Advertising & Promotion    7. Business & Economics-E-Commerce - Internet Marketing    8. Business & Economics/E-Commerce - Internet Marketing   

Reviews (10)

You need to see BEAUTIFUL EVIDENCE
This fourth Tufte title continues his themes of pairing image with text, focusing on how information can be transmitted graphically and focusing on 'sparklines': data-intense, word-like graphics. Perhaps it's impossible to adequately describe this concept using plain print: for more, you need to see BEAUTIFUL EVIDENCE, blending cartography, diagrams, science and art in a winning survey of measurement-based images.
Recycled?No problem!
I for one am the opposite of the people who read this and, as fans of Tufte's other works, felt let down.There seem to be a lot of complaints about recycled material.Yes, a lot of stuff in here is found in his other books.Yes, his whole Cognitive Style of PowerPoint pamphlet is reproduced here (I think?).No, I don't think that's a problem and in fact I think this is his best work ever.
Beautiful Figures, Shallow Words
I was disappointed by "Beautiful Evidence". It seems to me to be a medium primarily for the reproduction of many gorgeous drawings, graphs, and tables done by others and the author, and an opportunity to make a rant on PowerPoint. Yes, many bad figures have been created and Dr. Tufte has made valid points and good suggestions, but they are not as densely presented as one would expect from his own words.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    3. Computers    4. Graphic Methods    5. Visual communication   

Reviews (49)

Key book on enterprise patterns
Even if you find enterprise stuff immensely dull, dealing with databases and web pages is a pretty common task, most of the action in software development revolves around it, and who wants to be completely ignorant of the the alphabet soup of various technologies the IT blogs, books and websites are floating in?
A must-read for tech leads and architects
Martin Fowler is making a name for himself as a luminary in the area of Software Development. He writes very practical books that have a wonderful blend of theory (e.g. design patterns, UML, refactoring etc.) with experience as you can tell he has applied many if not all of these patterns in real-life projects. This book is an exposition into architectural building blocks that will help every architect and tech lead / senior developer build code that is more extensible and easily maintained (among other things). I found the chapters on O/R structural and behavioral patterns particularly enlightening. By reading this book your "toolbox" of solutions rapidly expands and you get to focus more on the business problem at hand rather than infrastructural "plumbing" things (e.g. how do I build my objects when my data is in a relational table). Very highly recommended - and definitely one of the top 5 software books I have *EVER* had the pleasure to read.

Patterns for Business Applications
I loved this book!It was exactly what I was looking for when I went searching for patterns that would help with a new business application.It provides alternative solutions to the typical implementation problems associated with business systems, both from a design standpoint and from the perspective of the implementation.The alternatives are compared and weighed in light of the execution environment and cost of implementation, with a comparison of advantages and disadvantages, along with Martin's recommendations.I had the feeling that the comparisons and recommendations were made not based purely upon a theoretical optimum, but also based upon practical and real-world experience with these patterns. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Application software    2. Business    3. Business Enterprise    4. Computer Architecture - General    5. Computer Books: General    6. Computer Books: Languages    7. Computer architecture    8. Computers    9. Computers - Languages / Programming    10. Development    11. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    12. Microcomputer Application Software    13. Programming - Object Oriented Programming    14. System design    15. Computer Communications & Networking    16. Computers / Programming / Object Oriented    17. Software engineering   

Reviews (12)

From a network administrator's perspective
I read this book as part of my first course in a Ph.D.-MIS program. I thought it was a great overview and history of MIS, and provided insight into alternative IS management styles and strategies. The case studies were relevent, current, well written and interesting. I recommend this book for all network and systems administrators. It gives insight into what thought processes should be occurring at the CIO and IS manager levels.

Great paperweight, good consolidation of other people's work
This book provides various sources of information but no analysis by the book's authors.It is a patch work of case studies, excerpts, and paraphrasing of other texts to which I hope the original authors are getting paid royalties for. Ideal for learning about IS management
I bought this book for my MSc in Analysis, Design and Management of Information Systems and I consider that it was extremely helpful. The chapter about the perspectives of IS and the role of the CIO are very interesting. In the chapter about Information Systems Planning, they included lots of concepts related to strategy, linking IS Planning with six different approaches/techniques: Stages of Growth, Critical Success Factors, Competitive Forces Model, Value Chain Analysis, Internet Value Matrix and Linkage Analysis Planning. The chapters about managing systems development are really instructive also. I strongly recommend the book for those IT practitioners whom are seeking a managerial position. It is very useful to managers and strategists as well. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business/Economics    3. Computers - General Information    4. Information Management    5. Information Technology    6. Information Technology (Engineering)    7. Information resources management    8. Management Information Systems    9. Business & Economics / Information Management    10. Business information systems   

Reviews (11)

Credible, but I'll have to see for myself.
The Scrum principle is simple. It starts with some common observations: that projects generally succeed when someone sidesteps the formal process and gets the job done anyway, and that big teams spend more time tripping over each other than typing code. Scrum starts with the radical idea of announcing that we're going to do what we were going to anyway, then mixing in big handfuls of eXtreme Programming.
Real agile development
It's very hard to part with the practices accepted for generations. Many companies talk about a new, better way of a project planning, developments' ehgagement and other agile techniques. When trying to apply these techniques, these companies immediately hit the wall of a management looking for traditional ways they've been using for life and with a success (at least, in their estimate). This book makes a Scrum approach very clear and very compelling. You can read chapters from this book to your manager (by the way, I'm a manager myself) and move