1 comments about Advanced Web Design with FrontPage 2002 30-Day-Trial.

1. The book, Advance Web Design was just what I was looking for. I would recommend to anyone whose already has basic knowledge in web design.

No comments about Mathematica - A System for Doing Mathematics by Computer.

5 comments about Pantone Web Color Resource Kit.

1. I got the book all excited and working with the Pantone color web system, but the next day I upgraded my computer to Mac OS 8 only to find out I made a very expensive mistake. The Pantone software isn't compatable with OS 8. However on the upside, I still have the book, and the Mac OS comes with a free HTML color picker which is actualy a bit better. At the $65.00 price tag you might be better off spending the extra $25 and buying the next Mac OS



2. From: Steve Urmano, Pantone, Director of Sales There is a bug in System 8's color picker extension which causes the PICS picker to crash the system. We have reported this problem to the Apple OS development team and are awaiting their response. In the meantime, there is a work around to this problem - have the user install the System 7.x color picker extension that ships with ColorWeb. € Before the user installs the System 7.x picker extension, they should place the System 8 color picker extension in the "Disabled Extensions" folder. € Then the user would simply drag-copy the System 7.x Apple Color picker extension from the ColorWeb disk to the System folder for where it will then be placed into the Extensions folder. € Restart the computer PLEASE NOTE: The new System 8 color pickers will work with the System 7.x extension so the user does not lose those features such as the Crayon picker. We feel that the review of this product has been tainted by the bug which at this time Apple has agreed to fix with the next maintenance release of OS 8. Please edit your book list to refer to this fix. We plan to make this fix available on our Web Site (Pantone.com) ASAP.



3. The book is really interesting about color systems etc. It's a good introduction to color theory. The problem with this kit is the cd, which is supposed to be windows compatible, but forget it. The folders of the html-pages are wrongly named. Copying them to the harddisk, looking at the html-source and renaming the folders can solve this problem. The editors don't recognize this problem. I mailed them, but they said they didn't know about it.

   Another thing that's really missing is the interaction between book and cd. The theory is nice, but they don't connect to the software.

   All in all, the book is interesting, especially when you're into webdesign and print too.




4. This package includes an excellent book, but more importantly, a color swatch book. Using the Pantone (R) colorweb swatch, you can quickly locate and apply Internet-safe colors to your Web site. Each color displays a Pantone reference number, RGB values, CMYK values and HTML code to give you the color you need in a variety of entry formats. You'll quickly find various tones of each color and good colors to go with them. The only drawback to this package was the CD-ROM, which is only useful on the Mac. I'd like to see an updated release which also includes at least evaluation versions of Adobe PageMill and Pantone Color Web for the PC.



5. Before I opened the book I mentioned to my wife that I was certain I would have to wade through how color appreciation began with the Greeks and rested with white people. Needless to say my expectations were met throughout the book.
   
   Because the book negates the appreciation of color by 90% of the people on the planet (including those no longer here)it falls severly short on 'color theory, application and appreciation'. Except for European appreication - a late comer at that - there is little to gain on how people in general are impacted by color. That even white people are impacted beyond their cultural borders by People of Color and their use of color goes far beyond the very narrow, limited and culturally biased interpretations of color these authors present.
   
   It is apparent these author did little to no reseach on the subject. It the authors stuck to an appraisal of color on it merits alone the book would have been better than this treatise.
   
   However, this editon is out of print (thankfully) and is available for under $10.00 used.
   
   There are a few ideas to be gleaned from the subject of blending, juxtaposition, and color schemes. I do like that handy 'pocket guide'.

3 comments about 3D Studio Hollywood & Gaming Effects.

1. When I first picked this book up I was expecting it to be another book on teaching the beginner how to do simple effects. I could never have been so wrong. Starting at an advanced level, the book assumes you not only have lots of experience with 3D Studio, but some additional software tools as well. Then, it shows you, in detail, how to create certain effects, all of which can be easily adapted to your scenes. Some of the effects include overlaying your animation with video so that it 'fits' together, or extended use of 'Bones Pro' and 'MetaBall Modelers'(which are plug-ins for 3D Studio) to create organic models.

   For beginners, I recommend "3D Studio Special Effects/Book and Cd Rom" while this book is more for users with a solid grip on 3D Studio.




2. First of all, I want to say that I'm from Sweden, so please be indulgence with my language. I've read the magnificant book of 3d Studio & Hollywood Gaming Effects. I used both 3d Studio and 3D max for the tutorials, and I was quite impressed. The book is based on examples and tutorials, made by pros'. The examples in the book are very detailed, and are understandble, even for an amateur like me. And the best thing is that, if you dont understand what they're talking about, just put in the CD-Rom (that comes with the book) find the chapter for the example, and run it. There you have it, step by step, all the exaples in the book on the CD-Rom are explained on the CD-Rom too. A book for both amateurs and proffesionals, that increase the flexibilaty you need to become a graphic artist. And even if you're using 3d Max, the examples in the book - and on the CD-Rom - works properly. Since Max and Studio are based on the same system. The examples in the books are well illustrated, and the layout makes it very easy to find and read. You learn new things every time you browse through the book. And just by watching the exapmles on the CD-Rom, you can load a project - and go through it - see for your self how it's build. And in that way learn some useful hints & tricks. A low cost educational book, that you can get useful hints & tricks from, that you cant get from anywhere else. As I said, my English is bad. I sometimes can't find a way to express my feelings in words. But it is a good book. I rated the book with a 9. Now that, is self explained. Happy rendering, Your Friend In The Jungle Of 3D.



3. But you need to have a few comercial plug-ins and this means spend money, instead of this you can learn many tricks other people learn with experience and time. I really don't know if the book isn't good enoght or 3D Studio is very incomplete, filling the holes with expensive IPAS.

No comments about Career Diary of an Animation Studio Owner (Gardner's Guide series).

1 comments about Microsoft Windows XP Color Management.

1. Color used to be so simple, you left it to someone else to handle. To be sure you could select the film you wanted to use to highlight blues or reds or whatever, and when printing the image you had some control over the printing process. With the advent of desktop publishing this has changed. Color management is in your hands.
   
   This is a book that concentrates on color. It uses Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 2 as the standard software package for illustrating what can be done. And there is one chapter on using Quark Express.
   
   The book starts with the simple question -- why doesn't the image coming from your printer match what you see on the screen. By the end of the book you'll not only know why, but you'll know how to fix it.
   
   As you can guess from the title, this book concentrates its discussion on Windows XP platforms. It's a welcome addition to the literature of handling color

No comments about An Introduction to 3d Studio: Autodesk.

No comments about Computer Graphics: A Programming Approach.

No comments about Welcome to Nigeria (Welcome to My Country).

2 comments about Absolute Beginner's Guide to Winning Presentations (Absolute Beginner's Guide).

1. 
   This is one of those books that poses more questions than it answers. The biggest question being:
   
   Whoever decided this book was appropriate for "absolute beginners"?
   
   Because that's one of the things it certainly isn't.
   Seeing that this is just one book in a series - like "XXX For Dummies" - I suspect that the title has far more to do with giving the book a uniform appearance than with the contents.
   
   Second question - did the big name half of the writing team that produced this book (that's Jerry Weissman) bother to read the finished manuscript? The reason I ask is that the hype at the front of the book (page xi - which has the wrong page header, by the way) claims that:
   
   "Jerry Weissman is the world's number-one corporate presentations coach"
   
   Yet several of the anecdotes in the body of the book suggest that his "coachees" forget everything he has supposedly taught them and have to call him in again when they want to do another presentation. Good for business, perhaps, but I wasn't exactly reassured about the quality of the teaching I was likely to get from this book. And sad to say, I my expectations were fully met.
   
   Which brings us to the third question - why was it necessary to strew the text with stories about Mr Weissman and this or that big-name company board member? Are we supposed to be so dazzled by this array of senior business people that we overlook the quality of the teaching? A little blowing of one's own trumpet is fair enough, but the seemingly continuous name-dropping in this book is so far "over the top" that it goes from being 'incredible' to being 'uncredible' - in this reviewer's opinion - long before the book is even halfway through.
   
   Which raises the next question - why is the book so long?
   In fact the main text is just over 200 pages long, but for many of those pages the text consists of far too much waffle and far too little information.
   Now this is not to say that the book doesn't contain "any" accurate or useful information. It does, but nothing like enough to warrent reading through the acres of waffle that constitutes a majority of the text.
   Which is why I suggest the book is in no way suitable for "absolute beginners."
   
   It seems to me that if you are just getting started as a presenter then you want something as succinct as possible, which covers all the basic points you need to know as briefly as possible so you can get on with actually putting the information to work. What you get here is the opportunity wade through pages of "what I told The Chairman of the Board at Mega Corp. in nineteen hundred and frozen stiff," and a few useful guidelines.
   
   If you enjoy reading about someone else's experiences - and you have the time for such luxuries - then you might enjoy this book. If you want a genuine "nut and bolts of presenting skills"-type book then I'd recommend "Successful Presentation Skills" by Andrew Bradbury. It has to be one of the best, and most comprehensive, books on the subject that I ever bought.



2. Jerry Weissman's book is a product of his experience coaching high profile professionals but is it really a book for beginners? Parts of it are. He identifies three "must have" skills to organize presentations. He discusses Five Sins of presenters any one of which can undermine an otherwise good presentation. He uses Stephen Covey as leverage in making the point to prepare each presentation with a clear goal in mind at the onset. His advice to heed the need of the audience is wisdom for the experienced as well as the unexperienced.
   
   The bulk of the text includes helpful guidance that can contribute to winning presentations after a great deal of practice. However, true beginners will probably find it far in advance of what they are wanting. The cover of the book exclaims, "No prior public speaking experience necessary!" That may be true for people with high self-confidence or for those who are in authority over their audience. For the true beginners I have seen in team meetings, civic clubs, and Toastmaster meetings, those who approach the front of the room with fear and trembling, the guidance needed is more basic and more at the level of survival. True beginners typically need help in topic selection, thought organization, posture, verbal pacing, effective eye contact, and other "front of the room" basics.
   
   I like Weissman's theme that successful presentations are essentially stories. The book struggles to maintain the focus of that theme by distracting the reader with talk about brainstorming, linkages, and flow structures. The story here is that the book can be a valuable resource for the beginner after you have mastered some basics. Of course, at that point you would no longer be a beginner. A word to the wise for true beginners: as you start the book, buckle up for a challenging read.