Reviews (4)

From the Source means literally that
I just noticed that the Macromedia "Training from the Source" series bear a striking resemblence to the pdf manuals that are available with Macromedia products.That is, anyone can log onto the Macromedia (now Adobe) web site, and access their "manuals" in pdf format free of charge.This and other training from the source manuals appear to be rewrites of these basic manuals.I am not faulting Macromedia, as this makes sense from a business perspective.
Great Book
This book makes things simple by allowing you to work and read at the same time. The lessons are long. So time myst be made to learn the lessons.

Go With the Flow
A nice overview of the workflow of Macro/Adobe's well-entrenched, tightly integrated website creation suite; This collection of tutorials is both a good introduction and a decent update to the current versions of Fireworks, Dreamweaver and Flash, without going too deeply into any of those programs (which would be way too much for one book). It's well written, better explained than some books I've read on the subject, with some errors (par for the course with Training From the Source), but nothing too debilitating.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Animation    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Desktop Publishing    6. Electronic Publishing    7. Macromedia Studio    8. Macromedia Studio (Computer software)    9. Computers / Electronic Publishing    10. Internet   

Editorial Review

While there is a plethora of books available that provide tips on Web design, most authors leave a significant gap between the theory and practice--a gap that is left up to the reader to fill. Read more

Reviews (67)

Nielson disappoints again
Admittedly, I've been biased against Nielson's works since the publication of `Designing Web Usability' in 1999; finding his tendency to oversimplify and `deconstruct' rather ineffectual. And as usual, `Homepage Usability' disappoints as an overly sensational and inaccurate evaluation of homepage usability. There are good parts, in particular, the statistics you may want to reference for your own usability initiatives. But the `50 webpages deconstructed' portion is not much more than Nielson spewing hot air. If you learn (or are entertained) best through critique by an impossible standard and ideal, by all means, this book is for you. If you are looking for a USABLE and real life guide to homepage design, look elsewhere.

Jakob Nielsen is a huge dork!
I was forced to use this book for college in a "Website Admin" class.I think the first 53 pages make a good reference for web design but the rest of it is all about how fortune 500 companies have bad websites.Yahoo, Amazon, eBay, etc... come on now, these companies ARE the internet and this guy is "deconstructing" them and critisizing what they do wrong.Anyway, design is completely relative so use this as a guide only.By the way... pages 54 through 320 can be removed as far as i'm concerned.
detailed critiques of major websites
This book excels in giving detailed critiques of the home pages of 50 prominent websites. These include Microsoft, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, General Electric and Boeing. The websites span the gamut from appealing to a mass audience, like Amazon and MTV, to more specialised corporate sites like GE.
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Subjects:  1. Business enterprises    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Networks    5. Computers    6. Design    7. Desktop Publishing    8. Desktop Publishing - General    9. Internet - Web Site Design    10. Web site development    11. Web sites    12. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    13. Publishing on the Internet    14. World Wide Web (WWW)   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - MCSE    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Communications / Networking    5. Networking - General    6. Computers / Networking / General    7. Networking packages    8. Wide area networks (WANs)   

Reviews (19)

Special Edition Using Office Microsoft FrontPage 2003
This is a great book for starts with MS FrontPage.A great way to get started with HTML.

Returned it
I know my way around front page. I bought this book so that I could learn more. I found that it offered me nothing but hundreds of pages of text that really did nothing for someone like me who wanted to create a visully stimulating website.
Great addition, but not for beginners.
This is a great book if you know the basics of Frontpage 2003.This is not a beginners book, but an intermediate.Has alot of ways you can improve your site.I am always referring to it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books And Software    3. Computers    4. Design    5. Electronic publishing    6. Internet - Web Site Design    7. Internet - Web Site Design - Frontpage    8. Internet - World Wide Web    9. Microsoft FrontPage    10. Web sites    11. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    12. Desktop publishing software    13. Internet languages   

Reviews (2)

Betsy Bruce's writing is clear and easily digestible
In the computer world, things change in the blink of an eye.The Sams Publishing Teach Yourself . in 24 Hours series can get the reader up and running in a matter of days.Concepts are delivered in units that are designed to be completed within 1 hour per unit.Betsy Bruce's Teach Yourself Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 in 24 Hours is no exception.
Scratches the surface and just that...
This is a great book for beginners that want to create amateur-decent websites. Any knowledge beyond the intermediate level will have to be sought elsewhere.
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Subjects:  1. Authoring programs    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: Web Programming    4. Computers    5. Design    6. Desktop Publishing    7. Desktop Publishing - General    8. Internet - Web Site Design    9. Web sites    10. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    11. Internet   

Reviews (14)

Excellent book
The book is very indepth and the author really knows what he is talking about.I would not say it is a beginner's book by any stretch.

Great resource for an experience Java Programmer
I am an experienced Java programmer. This book together with the NetBeans IDE allowed me to come up with a J2ME application in less than a week. The examples in the book is a great resource for learning to write J2ME applications. I learn best when I'm coding. In my case, I used the source from the PeekAndPick RSS Reader to come up with my J2ME text reader. The program has been heavily modified since, but the book provided sample code that was a great starting point for my learning.
Non-Beginner Advanced Reference
This title is for the schooled j2me coder. The material is rather advanced, and the topics covered involve programming you will only really see on the corporate level. If you have just got that phone from xxxxx- service provider, don't start here if you want to write a quick app or game. Instead, go to J2ME The Complete Reference from Osborne/McGraw Hill- this will prove more beneficial. I was able to gain knowledge of what my future held with Java Micro if I chose the path, and this book put everything into perspective. Thanks IBM ;)
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Science    3. Computers    4. Computers - Languages / Programming    5. Java (Computer program languag    6. Java (Computer program language)    7. New Business Enterprises    8. Programming - General    9. Programming Languages - Java    10. Wireless communication systems    11. Computers / Programming Languages / Java    12. Java & variants   

Reviews (12)

nice collection
Very nice collection of programming challenges and very well presented.
Recommended to practical people
I must say that I bought this book together with "The Algorithm Design Manual" and I'm very satisfied. The problems presented here are challenging for a large category of people interested in algorithm designs and are really well selected from thousands of possible problems.
Mostly Helpfull
This book provides programming challenges from UVa in a topical manner which is a nice way to study certain topics, it provides some helpfull hints on the challenges. The only shortcommings come in the preparation to the programming challenges, I felt they were rushed and not very complete, true you could easily write a couple thousand pages on the topics covered, but I thought there should at least be a complete algorithm breakdowns to the problems presented, I'm not talking about code, but at least some approaches. Example, in chapter 2 there is a 5 page (plus or minus) introduction to containers (mainly stacks) and then several challenging problems that didn't neccesarily require the review the book just presented. For the most part this is a very helpfull book when I was preparing for the ICPC, but could have been a little better.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Science    3. Computer programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Logic Design    7. Programming - General    8. Virtual Reality    9. Computers / Programming / General   

Reviews (11)

It's about communication not design
This book does not cover design of the interface well at all. Excellent Practicle tips
This book was the best out of several others that I have read realted to usability engineering or UCD. It had several practical examples and stories attached to each topic. Its excellent for starter as well as proffesionals who are working at companies and have to justify several things. Several formates for reports and other resources are available for conducting a good Users and Task Analysis. More so its really easy and interesting to read with all the stories and the diagrams.

Read it before you need it.
If there is one strong message in this book, it is: Go talk to the people who will use your product. It's an important message. Software designers and writers spend too much time with each other developing clever tricks, while the poor user, often left to self-train with a poorly written manual, gives up in frustration. The authors follow their own advice--in addition to telling you how to conduct a site visit to the end users, there are clear instructions (based on experience) on planning a visit, structuring questions, how to make the site visit useful for both the analyzers and the users, and figuring out what the user said and what it means about the product.There are reminders about release forms and examples of the forms themselves.Case studies help make the points clear and undestandable. A thoroughly readable book in clear and simple language that can be started anywhere for quick help, or read cover to cover for a complete course. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming - Software Development    5. Programming - Systems Analysis & Design    6. Programming Languages - General    7. User Interface    8. User interfaces (Computer syst    9. User interfaces (Computer systems)    10. Virtual Reality    11. Calculus & mathematical analysis    12. Computers / User Interfaces    13. Human-computer interaction   

Reviews (7)

Not just a successful start up story
Philosophy, international labor, high tech, economics, globalization, the internet and virtual universes are all neatly wrapped together in this book.It is a very successful telling by Mr. Dibbell of what is going on right now...not just in the MMO world but in many aspects of society.It was so fascinating for me to read.He did not hype up the metaverse phenomenon.But, he did make it a bit less complicated.You really get the message that what is currently undergoing is not trivial and has serious implications to how we all live our lives.Play versus work, the lines are getting more blurry.But, it might not necessarily be a bad thing.If "Liar's Poker" is the must read for the financial markets, "Play Money" should definitely be the counterpart for virtual economies.

Patchy
This book is well-written (mostly) and a good look at an interesting subject.However, the author seems not to trust his own subject, since he constantly moves away from the interesting part of the book (the story of how the strange market in imaginary goods works) in order to pad the book out with boring digressions on watching his daughter play, or even more boring half-baked essays on What It All Means (no surprise that the author is a contributor to Wired magazine.)Still, if you read the reporting parts, which are good,and skip over the self-indulgent, meandering attempts at philosophy, which are not, you'll learn a lot and enjoy yourself.

Making Hay
Play money is a fantastic read.It pulls you into its tale of Internet adventure and doesn't let go until the final word.I loved its refusal to separate the author's exploration of internet games, and his meditation on the economies they've generated, from the events of his off-line life -- child care, depresssion, marital break-up.Like a teenager, he starts out killing lizardmen in the fabulous realm of Ultima Online and ends up selling enchanted swords, pieces of gold, and miraculous suits of armor for a living.A real living, not a virtual one. (Is this play or is it work is the question.) The race to see if he can meet a deadline proving that he can earn more selling magic weapons and gold pieces than he can at his day job keeps the pages turning, and the painful -- and sometimes joyful -- unfolding of events in his actual life is riveting.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Business    3. Business & Economics    4. Business/Economics    5. E-Commerce - General    6. Economic aspects    7. Electronic commerce    8. Fantasy games    9. History - General History    10. Modern - General    11. Sales    12. Video & Electronic - General    13. Virtual Reality    14. Investment & securities   

Reviews (15)

Good Explanations but not Practical
This book has generally good easily digestible explanations for Exchange 2003.I really appreciate the informal down-to-Earth style and discussion of a lot of pieces. I was especially happy to see some good coverage of LDAP, IMAP, and POP configuration, which is seldom adequately covered in other Exchange books.
Overall, not too bad
I would hardly consider this book "Mastering Exchange" but the author does take the time to step you through all the property pages and settings so you at least get a basic idea of what it all means. You will have a solid basic understanding when you are done but you certainly won't be a master by any stretch of the imagination. I found several errors throughout the book specifically related to Windows and networking. The author should stick to Exchange because when the topic shifts to something else, I had my doubts about what I was reading. For instance, I believe the author stated that in an NT 4.0 Domain, if a PDC goes down, the other DC's elect a new one. WHAT!!!! Maybe a browser, but not a PDC. Its been a while since I read the book but I am pretty sure I read that in a side bar. As I said, overall, not bad if you what a basic intro to Exchange 2003. The title should be changed to Exchange 2003 basics.

Poor writing style
Maybe the content of this book is ok, but the writer has constant urge to put useless text lines and useless personal opinions between the technical explenations. This shouldn't be a story book ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Client-Server Computing - General    2. Client/server computing    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Science    5. Computer networks    6. Computers    7. Computers - Communications / Networking    8. Microcomputer Communication Software    9. Microsoft Exchange server    10. Networking - General    11. Programming - General    12. 21st century    13. Computers / Data Transmission Systems / Electronic Mail    14. Electronic mail (email)    15. Networking packages   

Reviews (2)

ActionScript Components: One of the best tech books I have seen
I don't know Antonio De Donatis, but I wish I did.
Well worth it!!
As a java coder who has recently been writing Flash/Flex for rich database-driven UI products, this book has been a huge help. My understanding of the best way to use inheritance and the component architecture has improved a ton with this book. And the section on skinning has helped alot since the UI guys just give me pretty mockups, and then i need to actually make them look and work that way.
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Subjects:  1. ActionScript (Computer program language)    2. Computer Books: Web Programming    3. Computer Graphics - Flash    4. Computer animation    5. Computers    6. Computers - Desktop Publishing    7. Design    8. Internet - Web Site Design    9. Web sites    10. Image processing    11. Multimedia   

Reviews (19)

Review of Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Str
Are you overwhelmed with the need to create more content, faster, customized for more customers, and for more media than ever before?Do you consider storing documentation on a server as an effective a content management system? Do you want to learn how content management will empower your organization? The answer to these questions and many more is covered in Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy by Ann Rockley with Pamela Kostur and Steve Manning of The Rockley Group. The Rockley Group is one of the leading providers of content management methodologies. A must for Content Management projects
This book is an absolute must for Content Management projects. It touches all of the important aspects: Technical, functional and process. There is something for all stakeholders in a EMS/CMS project. Misleading title...really unifed content creation
I was disappointed that the book was really focused on how to create reusable elements that go into product information such as data sheets, marketing collateral, technical support, etc.It focused on auditing the content, finding the reusability elements across departments, then designing an appropriate hierarchy on top of a content management system.It assumed that content drives the information architecture when in most applications it is the business processes that drive the architecture.It ignored the majority of enterprise content like email, word docs, design specs, forms, etc. that make up the real information content of the enterprise.Read more

Subjects:  1. Business Enterprise    2. Business enterprises    3. Business records    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Communications / Networking    7. Data processing    8. Desktop Publishing    9. Electronic Commerce    10. Internet - Web Site Design    11. Internet - World Wide Web    12. Management    13. Management Information Systems    14. Networking - General    15. Computer Programming    16. Computers / Internet / General    17. Network security   

Reviews (32)

Excellent Source Book
This book is great!It covers many aspects of Coldfusion Development which I had always wanted to know. Samples, Source Code and detailed explanations are excellent! A must have for any web developer interested in mastering their skill with Coldfusion.

The best ColdFusion book out there...
I have gone through numerous ColdFusion books. I came across this book, Macromedia ColdFusion MX Web Application Construction Kit Fifth Edition, from a reference from a friend. So far into it, I have to say it is superb in the manner of which it is written, and is easily understandable. All terms, as well as common myths (such as the hits per page) are explained in detail broadening your knowledge in general of the Internet and its capabilities. Databasing and the basics are covered in the earlier chapters, followed by lead-ins to ColdFusion, and ColdFusion itself. If you're strongly interested in learning CF inside and out, you should also buy the bundle Amazon has with the Advanced Macromedia ColdFusion MX Application Development Third Edition.

Experience Coldfusion MX
So you want to code in Coldfusion hey? Start here. Having had no previous experience in Coldfusion, I picked up this book and was creating user login's, search interfaces, dual purpose insert and update pages in no time. This book covers it all, and a whole lot more.Read more

Subjects:  1. ColdFusion    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Bks - Internet    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer Networks    6. Computers    7. Database Management - General    8. Database design    9. Electronic Publishing    10. Internet - General    11. Internet - World Wide Web    12. Microcomputer Database Management Software    13. Web databases    14. Computers / Electronic Publishing    15. High level programming languages    16. Publishing on the Internet   

Reviews (9)

Thanks from a beginner
I bought a couple of books about Dreamweaver and I want to thank you for creating one that even a beginner could follow. The other books I bought were way over my head and I found myself lost before I even got started. I guess if I get more advanced I may appreciate some of the other books, but as someone who is new to Web design, I want to thank you for helping me get started. I couldn't have done it without you.

Covers the Basics
Having only once created a webpage on FrontPage, I thought I was a bit ahead of the game. Still, I decided to look into a how-to book for dummies like myself.
A rush job
The first 75% of the book deals with plain HTML, forms and other buttons and takes one from 0 to 5 on a scale to 1000.A lot of space wasted on mechanical clicking around the interface.Explain the menus and options and how to use them and don't need to walk through each one as if I've never seen a mouse.Now, if all you want in a web site is a bunch of words, links and pictures, all you need is MS Word and then Save as HTML.So, I imagine the fun part is when you have a database, to make the site smart... The database examples have missing steps and built in assumptions, no clue as to what could go wrong, etc.Needless to say, I spent many hours searching the net to fill the missing spaces left by this book.To my surprise, I found Macromedia's ONLINE UltraDev help a much better resource, with better explanations and a lot more graphics.Thanks Jannine, but no thanks! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer - Internet    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Data Processing - General    5. Design    6. Desktop Publishing    7. Desktop Publishing - General    8. Dreamweaver (Computer file)    9. Internet - Web Site Design    10. Programming - General    11. Web sites    12. Computer Software Packages    13. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design    14. Databases & data structures    15. World Wide Web (WWW)   

Reviews (4)

A classic
This is a classic in the field, written by two highly-respected usability specialists. I was fortunate to read it as one of the textbooks in a class on usability testing taught by Dr. Dumas. It is a very practical book, covering planning, testing, and reporting the results. The strengths and weaknesses of usability testing are discussed, and there is some information about other usability evaluation methods and basic design principles. necessary reading
This is required reading for usability professionals. It's a detailed look at testing, covering everything from test plans and lab construction to data analysis and how to handle unqualified testers who slip through the screening process. It covers lower-budget tests in addition to full-scale ones. It's clear that Dumas and Redish have loads of experience, and they're not shy about sharing it. Insightful, Useful, and Usable - The Best Usability Book
This is a step-by-step quide with checklists, offering insight into everystage of usability testing.It should help any software developmentproject produce more usable software (assuming the developers are willingto make changes based on the results of testing).Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Science    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. General    6. Human-Computer Interaction    7. Virtual Reality    8. Applications of Computing    9. Computer Programming   

Reviews (8)

Bad from the get-go
I've had reasonable luck with the Visual Quickstart series (the PHP/MySQL books are very helpful, in my opinion) but this volume has proven confusing right from the start, and that seems pretty odd for a how-to book on software that's basically self-explanatory.I got as far as the discussion on how use sidebar widgets, which precedes by 5 chapters the discussion of how to install a theme that utilizes sidebar widgets.Pretty crazy.Buy a different book (or just use the WordPress documents on-line).

Useless even for a novice
I have just started building my website using WordPress and bought this book to help me understand the intricacies of WordPress. The book falls way short of providing any sort of help. It is supposed to be a 'QuickStart Guide' which means that it should help in getting up and running quickly. It fails miserably in this task. Too thin on substance. No clear instructions on even the simplest of tasks e.g., it shows you to create a new page but doesn't say anything about how to make that page availble on the homepage via a link.

Not Much Help in Getting WordPress Up & Running
I generally don't complain about someone else's hard work and I've stumbled across some bad books in the past.This is the only negative review of a book that I've felt compelled to write.
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Subjects:  1. Blogs    2. Computer Books: Web Programming    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Design    6. Desktop Publishing - General    7. Internet - General    8. Internet - Web Site Design    9. Programming - Software Development    10. Social Aspects - General    11. Web publishing    12. Web sites    13. Computer Software Packages    14. Computers / Social Aspects / General    15. Publishing on the Internet   

Reviews (26)

Solid Foundation
Excellent book to start from the ground-up with AJAX (please note: not from the ground-up with Web dev!!).The title is truely relevant to the content.
Clear explanations
This book describes clearly all the concepts you need to start rolling your AJAX applications. Nice explanations through all the book and examples that will help you to grab this new way of developing the Web 2.0.
AJAX to the rescue...
We really liked the book as it's real easy to read. We appreciated the overview of JavaScript patterns and very much liked the overview of getting your JavaScript development environment in order with tools like: JSDoc, JSLint, JsUnit and GreaseMonkey.
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Subjects:  1. Asynchronous transfer mode    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Books: Web Publishing    4. Computers    5. Internet - Web Site Design    6. Internet - World Wide Web    7. JavaScript (Computer program language)    8. Web site development    9. Java & variants   

Reviews (32)

worthless....
This is without a doubt the worst reference on typography that I have ever read. It is filled with useless metaphors and examples. I really expected more from the Adobe Press.

5 Quick Truths
1. Entertainment, not resource. Provides insight into the uses of type, as well as a brief history of many different typefaces. Robert Bringhurst's "The Elements of Typography" (0881792063) is a better book for those in need of a resource.