5 comments about The Photoshop 7 Wow! Book (WOW!).

1. received in condition as described in a timely manner. would purchase from again!



2. I thought I knew Photoshop - until I bought this book. I bought this book just for the extras; syles, textures, etc. But, ended up learning a lot - such as, how to create & use a texture map for realistic 3D effects; how to use a gradient for a neon sign effect, and tons more. I still, to this day, refer back to this book for reference. If you are wanting to learn more about Photoshop, these are the series of books that you need.



3. This book contains a lot of information and illustrations but could be better organized as it seems to jump from topic to topic. The CD is a bonus as it contains styles and actions that can be used in later Photoshop versions. This book is a very good bargain if you are still using Photoshop 7.



4. I am a novice photoshop user but very good with computers and software. I purchased this book in the hopes that I would immediately be trying stuff with photoshop... wrong... The first chapter is all introduction. The first 50+ pages are all discussions on techniques and shortcuts to work more proficiently in photoshop... not actually working on a project. I was expecting more of an interactive tutorial type book and the first chapter of this one was difficult to get through because it really is not interactive.
   
   As the book reads on in chapter 2 (and the remaining chapters), things get much more interactive. The tedious first chapter starts making sense! There is great information in the first chapter and I can see how the author might think it is the key to the book. But for me, it seems this information could have been demonstrated (or illustrated) in a better way. Maybe a reference chart or an appendix?
   
   This is a good book with a lot of great information in it. I would give it 4+ stars if it weren't for that first chapter. I expected to be engaged in the first paragraph with the photoshop program opened on my computer and instead I found myself fiddling with the computer and losing interest in the book after the 5th page. I'm glad I held out fo the other chapters.



5. I bought this book as a Christmas gift. Seems to have gotten good reviews and my sister is a freak about Photoshop.

5 comments about Oracle SQL*Plus: The Definitive Guide (Definitive Guides).

1. Well written, plenty of examples, very easy to read and follow. As someone who is new to SQL*Plus, I appreciated that. Once I got things installed and running, it was easy to get right into iSQL*Plus (running SQL commands through a browser interface) - really cool. The chapter on Create HTML Reports was very nice as well.
   
   I found this book very helpful.



2. I have found this book to be a really great guide that is easy to follow. The author provides a gentle, but thorough introduction to topics like creating reports, writing scripts, customization etc. He offers methodologies and alternatives beyond the syntax that you can find in the manual. For example, he presents and evaluates six ways one can achieve some kind of if-then-else flow control in SQL*Plus.
   
   [...]



3. The glories of the command line. SQLPlus [I am not going to write that irritating asterix] is an acknowledgment of the reality that for many large computer programs and operating systems, a command line utility is vital. The book explains this for the specific instance of hooking to Oracle's database. It is meant as a definitive reference. Showing every command, often accompanied by example code.
   
   For an Oracle DBA, a good acquaintance with SQLPlus is probably mandatory. From the book, you can see how to quickly interrogate the database and get results in various useful paginated formats. Plus, and vitally, you can see how to build script files that can be run, where these files encode your experience in amassing customised sequences of commands specific to your needs. Exactly analogous to batch files in most operating systems, and just as useful.
   
   Along those lines, SQLPlus is conceptually not that hard. When using Oracle, it is often far more important, and harder, to design optimal tables for a given problem.



4. Oracle SQL Plus: The Defnitive Guide
   Jonthan Gennick
   1-56592-578-5
   
   This book is great for those using the SQL Plus tool. I use SQL Plus for Oracle 8 and 9. This book covers up to 8i but I have not had any trouble using the commands in 9i. I have not tried the commands listed on 10g yet. The book is easy to use since the topics are split into reasonable chapters and the font is large enough to read with the book beside the keyboard. I also like the chapters that list commonly used items in tables. One example would be the chapter listing the user_ and all_ views. The chapter covering the SET command is one I use frequently. This book is fairly specific to the usage of SQL Plus itself and does not delve too deeply into the inner workings of the Oracle database, but it does have examples in SQL query language and PL/SQL stored procedures. If one is looking for a book on SQL itself, I recommend another title. If one needs a book on SQL Plus, get this one.



5. This book covers the basics of using SQL*Plus for adhoc querying through using it for batch processing. An excellent, extremely readable reference.

5 comments about designing web graphics.4 (4th Edition) (VOICES).

1. Group 1.
   - Do you want to know everything about web graphic design to decide where to dig deeper?
   - Are you looking for a colorful reference that contains huge number of websites to help you learn web graphic design?
   
   If so, then this book is for you!
   
   Group 2.
   - Are you looking for a book that guides you through steps to perform different tasks in web graphic design?
   
   If yes, then forget about this title!
   
   I will give it 5 stars, because I'm from Group 1



2. This is a good reference book for Web Designers. It covers the basic concepts of color usage on the Web. It also gives many hints and examples of good Web design.



3. I have this book for a long time now. It's a very thorow guide for building a website from the very beginning. And I mean from the moment you are trying to get a customer intrested in your websites. telling you how to reach you customers, builiding a concept, video on your website, etc etc. Lynda is the best. I hope there is going to be a upgrade of this book telling you al the new gadgets.



4. I own a total of (4) of Lynda Weinman's books.
   
   Very detailed, very informative, and an excellent reference to have on your book shelf.
   
   I definitely recommend this author, and this particular book.



5. The book gives insight to some basic knowledge in web design, eg colors, file types etc. It builds up the information smoothly.

1 comments about Microsoft SharePoint: Building Office 2007 Solutions in VB 2005 (Expert's Voice in Sharepoint).

1. This is as close to being a PERFECT computer book as I have ever read. I'm a SharePoint architect/developer with 30+ years of IT experience, and I own every SharePoint title that has been published since SharePoint started shipping 8 years ago. This book is the best. It throughly covers almost every aspect of SharePoint 2007 in layman's (and technical) terms with solid, complete, well-thought examples of every aspect of SharePoint implementation. There is simply page after page where you pause and think "Wow! That's interesting!"
   If you only plan to buy one SharePoint 2007 book make sure its this one.

No comments about FPGA Prototyping Using Verilog Examples.

5 comments about Web Development and Design Foundations with XHTML (4th Edition).

1. I saved 50% on my purchase of a book in excellent condition and it even had a useable link to the online account for further instructions for my college web programing;the campus bookstore was behind in ordering two weeks into the class. I am very happy once again with my amazon used and new book purchases.Web Development and Design Foundations with XHTML (4th Edition).This book is great for serious beginners of web programming; it is up-to-date with the lastest markup language and css rules.



2. WASTE OF TIME
   This book is a complete waste of time and it will sap your joy. You will learn far more with almost any other book. It is poorly written, the editing is non-existent, the educational constructs are poorly formed, the B.S. content is over the top, and the typos are serious enough to sabotage your web pages. In fact, the educational tone seems designed to sabotage your understanding of what you already know. Most of the details in the book are common sense and yet presented as ultra-orthodox truths from antiquity, as when the author refers to 10 years ago as "the last century."
   
   LACK OF INFORMATION
   The presentation of information is difficult to follow because the pages are clouded with stylistic jargon ripped-off from other publishing companies which have maintained a fine reputation for educational success because they know how to educate. To see successful authoring, go to any book store and see how many books there are in the following series: DUMMIES, IDIOTS, VISUAL, MADE SIMPLE, VISUAL QUICKSTART, or MICROSOFT PRESS. These series are designed to educate, empower, and inform. This book is designed to obfuscate.
   
   STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE
   For instance, take a look at the cover of this text book (as posted here on Amazon) and you will see a paint roller. This is the author's special icon to let you know you are still reading the same book. Section after section you see a paint roller, to open a section and to close a section. Apparently Web Design is colorful. Other icons, such as FAQ's are just "cute" but useless, because they are not FAQ's but just page decorations. Font decoration is random, extra spacing is random, and highlighting is random.
   
   SUGGESTIONS
   What the book needs is a table of contents that is useful, and a glossary so the book can be used as you read it. The index is skimpy (the most important part of the book) and each preview section and review section is non-usable. If you read as much as I do, I know that you have a method for learning, and for most people that method involves: Preview, Skim, Read, Review, and then use the book as a reference. This book does not have previews (more like hopeful affirmations) does not have reviews (except to tell you you're done with the chapter, ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT encourage skimming (the pages are meaningless jumbles of jargon) and the reading sections, when available, are short, and punctuated by meaningless faux-FAQs, comprehension-testers, points to ponder, and other monotony breakers, instead of real information. There is no way to review later because the book withheld active, authentic learning in the first place. You cannot even save this book as a reference because the tables are incomplete and incoherent, and the appendixes are poorly organized.
   
   SUCCESSFUL OPTIONS
   If you are required to use this book as a text-book for a class, just drop the class. You are smarter than that. Google the words "web design" and you will get all of this information for free! You don't need THIS book, just get a good book. The problem is, if your instructor requires THIS book then you will spend all of your time doing examples and not learning XHTML and CSS.
   
   YOU CAN DO IT!
   If you don't have other time-demands in your life then this book can walk you step-by-step through some ideas about web programming, but it will treat you like a Junior High School student. If you ARE a Junior High School student then you are WAY TOO SMART for this book. This is a text-book written for Junior College students who want to get a job, and their school is designed to make it hard to graduate. This book will not prepare them for a job. It only weeds out the students who don't have the guts to finish the course. If you want to be weeded out you won't make it as a programmer. If you want to be a programmer you won't put up with this book. If you really want to learn for fun, then get one of the other books listed above. Don't even buy this one for $.01 plus shipping. There's nothing in it worth looking at.
   
   EDUCATION
   My Bio and Bias: I am a doctor who teaches medical school, I have been programming computers for over 35 years, I am a life-long learner, I am a professional teacher, and my students would not put up with this book, nor would they put up with me if I required this book. My students, my peers, my friends, and most importantly, you...do not deserve this kind of condescension.



3. Basically, if you're going to buy a tech book, 95% of the time, just go find the O'Reilly book and you're set - you'll learn, you keep it on the shelf as a reference, and you'll use it until, most likely, the subject dies off (although my Pocket Perl guides still get daily use.) What does that have to do with this book, you ask? Forced to buy it for a class so that a lazy instructor could use it for lessons and not have to put together course material, this thing is slow, poorly written, full of mistakes (and on the fourth edition no less!) and once I'm done with the class, will be worthless - if I can't sell it for probably 20% of the outrageous price it was new, I guess I'll start a fire next winter with it, because it provides almost nothing that would make you want to keep it as a reference at all. It's really just a class outline with study sections, homework and assignments for students, for instructors who are too lazy to want to actually put effort into teaching a class. Really, even if it was $10 is wouldn't be worth reading, but at the price, it's just yet another sad example of "academic publishing" where you pay a high price for a book that you should only buy if forced for for school (as I have) and then hope, nay... pray, that you may be able to get at least a tenner or Jackson back, if you're lucky, because it's mostly worthless as a textbook, and when the class is done, it's not even worth the paper wasted to print it. Avoid unless you've no other choice... or if you have absolutely not the slightest clue about the subject and want to buy a book that will make you feel like an expert when you're done - until you try to get a job or use what you're "learned" and Reality slaps you down hard and you realize this doesn't even begin to plumb the depths of a very deep, hard-to-grasp and rapidly changing subject. The author should be embarrassed.



4. Great book! It was easy to learn to design web pages with XHTML and CSS using this book! This college textbook has lots of examples and hands-on practice exercises. The book has a companion website at webdevfoundations.net that has lots of useful links, extra info, and updates. I highly recommend this book!! The author did a great job starting me out with a basic foundation in web design concepts and skills I'm continuing to use!



5. Great book! It was easy to learn to design web pages with XHTML and CSS with all the hand-on examples and practice exercises in this book. This college textbook presents XHTML, CSS and web accessibility techniques, explores web design best practices, and even includes web promotion techniques for web designers! The companion website has links to useful websites and updates to the chapter. I highly recommend this book for web design or web development courses.

5 comments about Programming with Microsoft Visual Basic 2005, Third Edition.

1. Excellent book with all the necessary illustrations to make it easy to understand. Just follow the instructions on the book step by step and you will be writing code very quickly.
   
   If you are interested in database management, then you will need another book after you read this one. The author just gives an introduction on how to work with Microsft SQL Server databases.



2. In the summer of 2008, I am scheduled to teach an introductory class in programming with Visual Basic at the college level. Therefore, when I examined this book, it was for possible use as a textbook in the class. Within that context, I found the book deficient.
   The word visual in Visual Basic must be taken seriously when you are considering a textbook. So much of the execution of the operations needed to develop an application is based on navigation, so illustrations are essential. Compared to other books, this one has significantly fewer illustrations. Most of the instruction is textual rather than visual. There are questions and exercises at the end of the chapters, but few (if any) that I would consider worthy of being a programming assignment. Many of them are based on completing partial solutions or altering solutions that have already been coded. Therefore, there is a decided lack of rigor.
   For these reasons, I rejected this book as a usable textbook for my course.



3. I am using this book as a textbook for a course at a community college. Like some of the other reviewers, at first, I was disappointed by lack of CD accompanying this book. However, having gone through about half of the book, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I was force to type in all of the code myself in doing the exercises. This is an excellent book for a beginner who is learning to code. It explains everything and does not take anything for granted.
   
   My only complaint against this book is that it does not provide correct answers to the the questions and exercises at the end of each section of the chapter. However, I have still given this 5 stars.



4. This book is terrible. If you have no background in programming, you will gain a minimal fluency in Visual Basic. However, I think you would be better off to have bought Visual Basic for Dummies and Teach Yourself Visual Basic in X Days/Weeks. They will give you a much better grounding in the language and you might have saved some significant dollars.
   
   Here's one specific example. The section on reading/writing files only gives instruction on moving the content of a text box to/from a disk file. No instruction at all on moving fixed-block records or on doing any sort of file processing. Granted, most file processing has moved on to databases and table processing, it's still a good skill to know.
   
   Though no CD is provided with this book, you can download all of the sample code from their web site. And this brings up another point. The exercises are little more than taking a previous exercise or sample and adding one or two lines of code. Very lightweight. It seems like these are "feel good" exercises that can be done very quickly rather than exercises that will test your grasp of the subject and use what you've previously learned.
   
   This book is a huge waste of time and money, and if you are attending a college that requires this book, I would complain to as many administrative officials as possible. If your employer is paying for your tuition and offers to buy the book back at what you paid for it, then you're in a good place. And if you have courses that require other books by this author, based on the quality of this book I would scrutinize those other books VERY closely before buying them.
   
   I have been programming since the late 70's in a variety of languages and various versions and incarnations of Microsoft Basic, I have been doing relational database development for over 20 years and have been a Microsoft SQL Server database administrator for over a decade, going back to version 4. I've seen good programming books before, and this isn't one of them unless you're looking for very superficial knowledge. If you're going to be earning your living coding VB, this book is a waste of time and money.
   
   If I could give it zero stars, I would.



5. When it comes to programming books I have to say not all are easy to follow, or are the best to get to the point. This book is just like all others to be honest but I needed it for my class. With this book I was able to follow the tutorials very easily and the nice feature is that at the end of the chapters it prints the actual program you where working with and you can compare what you wrote to what it had. This feature also allowed me to go straight to the finished programs on the book and use concepts given in each tutorial for my own programming projects. Sure beats googling the functions and getting bad syntax or bad programming from other users, who can be pros or newbies, you never know what you get when you google it.

5 comments about Color Management in Digital Photography: Ten Easy Steps to True Colors in Photoshop.

1. Written by photographer, software designer and teacher Brad Hinkel, Color Management in Digital Photography: Ten Easy Steps to True Colors in Photoshop is a methodical, full-color guide to making the most of digital color photography using Photoshop software. Numerous computer screenshots illustrate the step-by-step instructions, and the straightforward text is written to be accessible to digital photography novices as well as seasoned digital photographers who are relatively unfamiliar with what Photoshop has to offer. Steps range from the most basic "Select a Color Space" (such as RGB or Adobe RGB) to "Profile Your Monitor" to "Advanced Printing" and "Adjusting Your Color for Printing". Enthusiastically recommended for any Photoshop user interested in improving the quality of their digital color photographs.



2. For years I struggled with how to deal with a simple problem of getting what I see on screen to be the same as what I print a photo lab. Color management shouldn't be such a difficult task though it usually is unless you know some preparation and steps you need to take. Most casual photographers don't give a thought, and photo ops do a pretty decent job producing printed photos that make us happy enough that we don't think color management is an issue. But if you're taking photos that include portraits, sunsets, landscapes or any situation where precise colors matter, you began thinking about color management.
   
   Brad Hinkel does a superb job explaining the reasoning and science behind color spaces and how it applies to digital workflow color management. From the beginning to end this relatively short and concise book takes the reader through 10 important steps of not only understanding but how to accurately reproduce your intended photos in all their vibrant color glory. From choosing a good monitor to converting your colors to the right color space for the intended output, when you read this book you will approach managing your photos with a new expert eye.
   
   Beginners might have a bit tougher time with the learning curve of understanding color management even with this well-written easy-to-read title, but an intermediate to advanced user would find it highly educational and a fast read. This one definitely falls in my highly recommended category.



3. What you see is seldom what you get when you make the arduous journey from digital image file to hard copy. It's a royal pain in the ASCII.
   
   Most of us pass off the color difference between what we see on our monitor and what we get in our prints with a shrug of the shoulders. It's just one of those vagaries of computing, right?
   
   Generally, that's a healthy attitude for the casual computer user/digital photographer. There are enough hassles in life without looking for new ones. On the other hand, if you're trying to make a living in graphic arts/photography, color management looms large in your professional life.
   
   Some days, when I'm working on several computers, each with it's own color quirks, it gets frustrating. The book nicely bridges the color management gap with thorough explanations of color space and how to calibrate and profile your monitor.
   
   Obviously, a good monitor is going to be an important component of the management process. Hinckel covers the related subjects as well as making some specific recommendations. He also looks beyond the monitor and discusses a good work environment.
   
   There are specific software packages like Monaco OPTIC and Monaco EZcolor that are more powerful than the color management programs that come with printers and photo/graphic editing software. There is a good explanation of how these work.
   
   Hinkel explorers numerous printing option, tells how to test your system, and then he moves into Advanced Printing.
   
   This book presents a comprehensive, easy-to-understand overview of color management. Hallelujah. This book may actually inspire all of us color-management-procrastinators to jump in and get this vital area of graphic arts under control.



4. My color experience is from being a long time film photographer. Digital color management principals were new to me before this book. Having completed it, I feel that I understand the fundamentals and have made some excellent color prints using Photoshop CS3 on my Intel MacMini printing to my HP B9180 archival printer. These prints are as good or slightly better than any I've made using traditional chemical color printing processes. If you want to make better prints on any inkjet printer, this is a great handbook!



5. I found this book well written ,easy to read and helpfull in a general way ,the information was organized and presented a logical manner .However the subject matter seems somewhat dated and lacking in the depth that I was looking for

5 comments about Professional WCF Programming: .NET Development with the Windows Communication Foundation (Programmer to Programmer).

1. I've been using this book for several weeks now, to assist me in writing several WCF Services.
   
   This book has served me well. Coming from a standard .Net background, with some basic Web Services behind me, I've now written many services that leverage WCF Security, extensibaility, interoperability.
   
   Certain sections, while not as deep as I would like, proved an excellent primer into getting things done. For example, the section on integrating the ASP.Net Membership & Role providers with WCF services allowed the rapid creating of public facing, secure web services.
   
   Scott focused quite a bit on the extensibility of WCF, which is nice. Personally I have more use for the turn-key scenarios, and have gotten much out of that aspect of the book.
   
   I will also say I've found this book to have more depth, in the relevant areas, than many of the web site and blogs I've used as resources.
   
   Overall: Excellent book that hightly relevant to the majority of work I'm doing with WCF.
   
   Chris Mullins, MCSD.Net, MCPD:Enterprise, Microsoft C# MVP
   http://www.coversant.net/blogs/cmullins



2. I'm still shocked how a book can be this bad! I think the only goal in the writer's head was to publish this book as soon as possible to be one of the first books about WCF. The errors in the book are not only typos or overlooked stuff, the writer does not have a good understanding of WCF. In some parts of the book the writer copies some text from previous chapters as it is and forgets to change some of the words to suit the new subject.
   
   I just finished chapter 6 in which I found a shocking fact! The writer tries even to cheat to make the example about Message Contracts work! The source code of the example (provided as a download from Wrox) is different from the source code he shows in the book. This is because the source code shown in the book would not even compile. So what he does in the downloadable source code is that he deletes the lines where the compiler gives errors and then the code does not even call the service! and to make the example look like as if it worked he just sets the string that is expected to be returned from the service on a label ,all that inside the client program! This really pissed me off! A book writer with such ethics?!
   
   So up to chapter 6 I've found tens of errors (including errors about WCF principle) and a fake example! I wonder how much more is ahead!
   
   DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS "THING" (I won't call it a book)



3. Utter waste of money. Waded through all of it. Not well organized. At times incoherent. Often just a listing of classes and methods. Offers few insights. Lots of errors. Author lacks a clear understanding of the WCF or the true significance of some of the classes and methods. Read SAMS Windows Communication Foundation Unleashed, it's much better. MSDN documentation is far better than this book.



4. I am disappointed with the book as well. It has quite a few typos, errors, and many of the examples are just wrong. This book looks like it was rushed out the door with very little proof reading. Some of the chapters look like little more than rewritten MSDN reference material. Don't waste your time; better references exist.



5. Simply put, this book isn't worth your time. Even as an experienced programmer I had trouble keeping up with the out-of-order explanations, typos, terrible examples, and incorrect walk-throughs.

4 comments about P is for Peach: A Georgia Alphabet (Alphabet Series).

1. This is the best book I read about Georgia. It gives me lots of information.



2. This book is a great piece of work. I use it in my classroom as a way to introduce students to places/things of interest in the great state of Georgia. It inspires students to ask questions and to want more information. It also makes a great gift. I gave a copy to my nephew who lives in Indiana so that he will know his second home.



3. This book is amazing! I got to meet the illustrator and he signed a copy for me! I am using this with a 3rd grade class. It's a great way to introduce the state and all it has to offer. The pictures are beautiful, and it's very interesting for children and adults alike! I would highly recommend it!



4. A great way to learn about the history of a state. My wife loves children's books and she feel in love with this one.