5 comments about JSR-168 Portlet Development Simplified, Second Edition: Learning How to Develop Effective, JSR-168, Portal Applications, Everything from the GenericPortlet to the Struts and JSF Apache Portlet Bridges.

1. This is the right book for anyone trying to learn, or working with portal.
   
   The book covers just about every aspect of JSR168, and it does it in a very thought out and methodical manner. The book is definitely technical, but the writing style is very laid back, making it an enjoyable read.
   
   There's not other book on the market that does as good a job covering portlet development as effectively as this book does.



2. it is a good book, i read because the information, in this books help me to solve a lot of questions about portlet.
   
   read and you will see.
   
   i give five stars.
   
   guillermo urdaneta



3. Very similar in style and format as the Hibernate and JPA book by the same author. (Hibernate Made Easy: Simplified Data Persistence with Hibernate and JPA (Java Persistence API) Annotations)
   
   This book provides complete coverage of the JSR168 API, without going into peripheral topics such as skins, themes and third party extensions. There are sections on Struts, JSF and Ajax though, which are good.
   
   I like the style of these books, but the informal feel might not be for everyone. Sample content is available from the book's website. I'd suggest getting a feel for the authors style first by viewing it. If you like the way the author writes, you'll learn alot from this book.



4. I picked this book up along with Hibernate Made Easy, and found booth of these books to be written in the same funny and informative manner.
   
   Definitely a must have for portal development.



5. Its a very short book, but covers every aspect of jsr 168 programming thoroughly. A good book for getting an overall review of portlets. Must read.

3 comments about Professional Web 2.0 Programming (Wrox Professional Guides).

1. As per the other reviewer, this book uses one chapter for each topic: eg. HTML/CSS, Javascript, Design Principles, and sometimes not even a whole chapter eg, Chapter 5 includes SVG, XSLT, XPATH, XFORMS, and the discussion about HTML 5 and XHTML 2.0.
   
   Each section only really makes sense if you are already familiar with the topic. If you are familiar with the topic, then the relevant section will only bore you. The areas where you are not so familiar will confuse you.
   
   It seems this book is an attempt to explain Web 2.0 technologies in a really short sharp fashion, from the beginning. Unfortunately, each topic is worthy of its own book. Shrinking 10+ books down to one doesn't work very well.
   
   However, I do think an advanced book that assumes knowledge of these technologies and explains how to integrate them together would be cool.



2. 
   Here we go again, another book from Wrox press written by multiple authors from multiple disciplines. Professional Web 2.0 Programming is another deception for me in that it only provides high level details about web 2.0 and the book contains several chapters of subjects already mentioned over and over again in other books already. Let's start with Chapter 2. Here we have an overview of HTML, CSS, XHTML and DOM. I mean, why is this mentioned here? Is this a WEB 2.0 book or Web 1.0 book? Chapter 3 is about JavaScript and Ajax. What a waste, I already have a JavaScript book no need for half a chapter on JavaScript undefined objects. The other half is about high level design philosophies about Ajax. If this is what is referred to as a professional book on programming I'm really disappointed. Chapter 5 is a rehash of XSL with a mix of SVG. Chapter 6 is a waste of time about rich client applications providing little value to the reader. Chapter 7 is a rehash of the HTTP protocol URI. Chapter 8 is a rehash of XML. Chapter 9 talks about Syndication. Ha! Finally 15 pages worth of WEB 2.0 information via a high level definition of the RSS format. Chapter 11 is about web services, a rehash of other books on the subject.



3. Basically this book will hardly teach you anything you don't already know. They assume prior knowledge about almost every single topic they cover. They say in the preface that this book is not about java-script DOM, XML, AJAX or any specific technology for that matter. This book is more like some overview of all the technoligies that are used in Web 2.0 sites but none of them are explained in a way that someone without prior knowledge would understand. This book may only be useful for you if you are an experienced web developer with thorough knowledge in both backend and frontend technologies and just looking for some better practices and tips.
   Unfortunately there aren't so many people that fit that description.

2 comments about Lotus Notes Domino 8: Upgrader's Guide.

1. The book is contains a good overview of what you can expect when you upgrade to Notes and Domino 8. The book is written by "some of the senior architects and specialists of IBM Software Services for Lotus". The content:
   
   * A Short History of Notes and Domino
   
   * Overview of New Lotus Notes 8 Client Features
   
   * Lotus Notes 8 and SOA
   
   * Productivity Tools
   
   * Lotus Domino 8 Server Features
   
   * Deployment Enhancements in Notes/Domino 8
   
   * Upgrading to Notes/Domino 8
   
   * Coexistence between Notes/Domino Releases
   
   * What's New in Notes/Domino 8 Development
   
   * Integration with Other Lotus/IBM Products
   
   After a useful recap on the history of Notes and Domino, a number of screenshots show you what to expect when you make the move.
   
   A longish chapter on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) introduces the reader to the topic and describes the components that Notes provides in terms of web services. The IBM productivity tools are given their own chapter with a few screen shots. Upgrade planning and coexistence of Notes and Domino versions are discussed in quite a bit of depth, as are the coexistence of Notes with other members of the Lotus product portfolio (Quickr, Sametime, etc.). An appendix with "advertisements" of commercial add-ons to Notes/Domino rounds off the book.
   
   As an overview, the book is a good read for managers who want an introduction into what Notes/Domino 8 have to offer. Admins and programmers want to dig into the product documentation after reading the book.
   
   Lotus Notes Domino 8: Upgrader's Guide is a good read. On the downside, the index is lacking. I checked the word LDAP, a topic which is discussed several times in the book, and it doesn't show up in the index.



2. I was given a reviewers copy of this book.
   
   With the availability of Lotus Notes and Domino Release 8, comes a host of new features for the software. I am sure that if you are working with that software, you are aware of most of them. However, this book does a great job of examining all of the new features and functions, and more.
   
   Contents:
   Forward
   Preface
   Chapter 1: A Short History of Notes and Domino
   Chapter 2: Overview of New Lotus Notes 8 Client Features
   Chapter 3: Lotus Notes 8 and SOA
   Chapter 4: Productivity Tools
   Chapter 5: Lotus Domino 8 Server Features
   Chapter 6: Deployment Enhancements in Notes/Domino 8
   Chapter 7: Upgrading to Notes/Domino 8
   Chapter 8: Coexistence between Notes/Domino Releases
   Chapter 9: What's New in Notes/Domino 8 Development
   Chapter 10: Integration with Other IBM/Lotus Products
   Appendix: Third-Party Tools
   Index
   
   If you are working toward upgrading your Lotus Notes/Domino infrastructure, or deciding if Lotus Notes/Domino is for you, Lotus Notes Domino 8: Upgraders Guide, by Tim Speed, Bennie Gibson, Joseph Anderson, Dick McCarrick, Brad Schauf, Barry Rosen, and David Byrd, will give you quite a lot of information in a slim (253 pages) book. From a history of Notes and Domino to what to expect with Notes/Domino 8, this book covers a lot of ground.
   
   If you are expecting a book to help you upgrade your environment, Chapter 7 will help you with the planning. The other chapters will show you what to expect. The final chapter will give you an excellent overview on integrating your Notes/Domino environment with Quickr, Sametime, and Connections. A lot of information in a small book. But if you are simply looking to upgrade your environment, the authors put quite a bit in about 17 pages (Chapter 7). After following their upgrade plan, you should be very confident of taking on the task of moving your environment to Release 8. I am well aware of the new features, but I did pick up quite a few new ones by reading this book. They give the important new server features a lot of consideration as well as why the Eclipse platform is so important. Further, I was surprised that this book included a chapter on the new development features and explanations of leveraging Web 2.0 (like RSS) in your applications.
   
   As weird as it sounds, I did get a laugh from the book due to a typographical error. In Chapter 1, they told about a new Release 7 feature, "Frivolity Autonomic Monitoring Engine (TAME). I think the word should have been "Tivoli." My only other gripe with this book is that the Index needed to be better. It seemed that they spent a lot of space on the third-party tools at the expense of LDAP, DirLint, and others. Other than those issues, the authors did an exceptional job with this book, especially since there are a lot of new features in this release in the Client, Server, and Designer areas.
   
   This book is worth your time if you are upgrading your environment or looking at Notes and Domino 8.

No comments about Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles (6th Edition) (GOAL Series).

5 comments about Linux Cookbook.

1. I wanted to become more experienced with UNIX so I had the Ubuntu distribution installed in my computer. I spent six months having a hard time getting simple things done until I came accross this book.
   
   It is organized in such a way that it is easy to get to do what you want/need and, what's better, the explanations provided give you insights on how UNIX works. After a while, you will find yourself doing new stuff on your own.
   
   If you want to get into UNIX but knows little about it my advice for you is: get this book and jump into LINUX - it is worth it!



2. ... which comes in real handy considering how often I reference it.
   
   Chapter 10 (Patching, Customizing, and Upgrading Kernels) and Chapter 12 (Managing the Bootloader and Multi-Booting) helped me recompile my kernel for the first time. Not only are the instructions clear, but the author also made sure to explain each step so I knew why I was typing a certain command. There's even a section on how to create an initrd image for SCSI drive users, which I had a hard time finding on the web.
   
   This book does an excellent job covering all the basics, and it's worth spending the time to read it from beginning to end. I certainly see myself getting a lot of mileage from it.



3. A well-organised and clearly written collection of useful commands and solutions to help one along with the often exasperating arcana of Linux. Covers all flavours and is a 'must have' book.



4. Because this is a "cookbook," it gives you recipies -- step-by-step instructions for performing specific tasks.
   
   This makes Linux Cookbook EXTREMELY useful when it has a recipie you need, and it often gives you a good starting point when you need to do something that isn't specifically covered.
   
   For example, let's say you need to setup a mail server, which you've never done before. As long as you're willing to use the mail tools she describes (which are perfectly good tools), then this book is the fastest way to get the job done. She also shows you how to make sure the server will be secure.
   
   I'm glad I have this book on my shelf, I recommend it, and I refer to it whenever I need to do something new in Linux. The problem is, you can't have a step-by-step recipie for everything. When this book hits the mark, it's the best book you can have, but you cannot rely on this as your only Linux book.



5. Excellent Linux book! Gives step by step answers to common Linux problems in a "Problem - solution" style way. I'm a tad disappointed in the SAMBA section, but that really is a topic deserving of a book of its own.

5 comments about Swing: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guide (Osborne Mcgraw Hill)).

1. You've got it, I am a Rookie/Greenhorn in Java. Yeah, I got my SCJP cert 5.0 two weeks ago, but I do not know a thing about Swing because it is not required for the exam.
   
   Then I looked into getting the SCJD certification. My research indicated I need to know Swing (Oh-oh), RMI, Threading ...
   
   Most Swing books out there assume you already know something about Swing, which I do not. (So when I start reading those books, I've got confused.) However, this book is different. I started reading after I passed the SCJP exam and find it very easy to follow.
   
   The way I read the book is I follow each example and code it in a text editor. (The SCJD exam allows you to use an IDE, but the code cannot be auto generated by the IDE. So it is safer to use an editor like Notepad++) The example works, and there are step by step instructions for you to follow. Also, the code is explained, alomst line by line, making learning very easy, especially for a Rookie like myself.
   
   I know I will not be an expert on Swing after I finished the book, but at least I'll probaly know enough to take to exam, and may be start reading the other more advanced Swing books.



2. This is another useless swing book that covers mostly the API which can be found on the web for free.
   The book does not tell you how to desing a GUI application (like patterns and stuff like that).
   Threads are only discussed in a small paragraph, although they are the most difficult subject many beginners encounter. The Swing tutorial from Sun has much better explanations here.
   If you want to learn swing, read the Sun tutorial and then download some open source Swing applications and see how it is done in production. that book here is useless and a waste of money.



3. While the Netbeans has a decent Gui builder. It's great to understand what it is doing. This book covers the basics of building a gui interface extremly well.
   
   Things that were not 100% understood in the gui builder - are obvious now.
   
   Was very pleased with this purchase.



4. Un altro interessante libro di Shildt.
   
   E' un libro ideato per chi si avvicina la prima volta alla creazione di una GUI con Swing, ma e' utile anche come riferimento (anche se non si addentra in argomenti molto avanzati).
   
   Vengono trattati tutti i componenti Swing in maniera molto chiara. C'e' molto codice d'esempio.
   
   consigliatissimo!
   
   mircha



5. Does just what the title says "A Beginner's Guide" and does it well.
   Easy to follow examples and covers what a beginner needs.
   It does not tell you how to make a gui application, but if you are using an IDE with gui generating capability like NetBeans, you really don't need that.
   What I needed was a book that explains the gui elements and how to use them and how to code your actions for them and this book does a great job of doing that.
   Excellent job.

5 comments about AdvancED Flex Application Development: Building Rich Media X (Advanced).

1. CAST FROM A NEW MOLD
   
   Early in the history of the Adobe Flash Platform it was possible to read all of the great books on the subject because there were so few notable titles. However, now with the incredible popularity of Flash CS3 and Flex 3, the industry is flooded with training materials. While decent, most are rehashes of the introductory 'Welcome to Flash/Flex' perspective giving a broad overview without taking the bold position to teach pertinent topics and to teach them correctly.
   
   INTRODUCTION
   
   This book is a great well rounded resource, perfect for anyone serious about Flex application development. This book 1) features a blend of various learning styles, 2) it offers the right amount of depth to tease & inspire, as well as actually teach, but 3) it is not for all audiences (and I like that).
   
   LEARNING STYLES
   
   With technical literature the tone and style ranges from the dry dictionary-like reference to the micro-task-oriented recipe books. There is not often an editorial voice giving industry insight, technological context, and workflow experience. That is one of my favorite aspects of this AdvanceED book, it gives all that and more. There is a historical introduction to application development, deep coverage on the many steps of the software development lifecycle through the real-world application of techniques on the authors' RMX application project, as well as some relevant, isolated (albeit kinda' non sequitured) programming recipes that can be plucked from the greater project shown in the book and applied in your own projects with ease. The multiple-learning styles is refreshing for those who have been disappointed by reading many other books. Most of the audience for this book has surely done some reading of tech texts and should appreciate the change of pace.
   
   
   DEPTH AND SCOPE
   
   The book lacks the breadth of a thick reference book, but what subjects it covers it covers deeply. Don't expect to be able to crack open a chapter and a fresh Flex project in your Flex builder and get typing. The book doesn't work like that. Its more of a casual read in many parts, fit for any time you get away from your computer. Fit even for some of the less-technical personnel on your team who would like to see the big picture of application development. Project managers, executives, and any creative folks with an eye toward project leadership will get great value from the book, but of course the intended audience is developers.
   
   
   INTENDED AUDIENCE
   
   Perhaps rather than titling this section 'Intended' Audience, I should say suggested-by-me audience. Part of the appeal of this book and what sets it apart from what else is available on the subject is its unique perspective. The book focuses on building one application, RMX. This application has a specific purpose and a different one than any we'd likely make as the readers, but one that has components that are immediately relevant to our every day app-developer-lives; Styling, UI/UX + Navigation Design, Forms, Video (that continues to be a big topic these days),
   
   It goes on to feature some rare gems such as Advertising (specifically for Flex) and SEO (specifically for Flex). You just don't find those covered anywhere else.
   
   CONCLUSION
   
   This book is a refreshing read and the only must-read on my Flash bookshelf from this publisher.



2. This is a very basic introduction to Flex, and doesn't provide much into how it fits into web design as a whole!



3. This book is not all about FLEX it spends time covering the creation of RMX which is not what i wanted at all. The authors are idiots and don't focus mainly on flex. If you want to learn flex puchase something else. If you are interested in their (the authors) project and what they use in their project spend 42.00. WHAT A WAISTE!!



4. I have mixed feelings about this book which I got because it was one of the first to cover Flex 3.
   
   I think it is a bit weak on the pure Flex bit - I just can't see someone actually learning Flex out of it, though they will get a pretty good feel for what Flex does. It presents just enough information to explain their application, the RMX, no more. The coding examples are also somewhat hard to follow, with code being all over the place. Yes, it might be real-life production/business code but that doesn't mean that it is automatically great for teaching. Simpler, more illustrative, tighter code would have been better.
   
   On the other hand, the book does a much better job at presenting the big picture of a Flex website and how all the parts fit together, almost at a business/planning level. The wireframe chapters and how to integrate ads are great. Also, though I don't use PHP+Drupal, which they use as a backend, I definitely came away with a confirmation that Flex wasn't tied to particular backend server technologies. If you do use PHP and Drupal, you will get more value out of it for sure.
   
   All in all, a 3.5/5 book.



5. This is a great book to learn how to build Flex Rich Internet Application. It is easy to read and follow, and it also includes SEO omptimization techniques for higher ranking in SEO results. Highly recommended!

5 comments about Distributed Algorithms (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Data Management Systems).

1. This book is in the same class as "Discrete mathematics" by Knuth and others. Important topic, extensive coverage, good English, zero vendor's propaganda. Super. An unexpected gift from up above (after struggling with reams of MS's (dis) information .) I am working on something distributed and ran into this book accidentally, while browsing in a bookstore--I'm glad I did. Btw, it's a few bucks cheaper in B&N store (here goes my review .)



2. At MIT, I took the course 6.852 Distributed Algorithms under Professor Nancy Lynch. It was an excellence course. This books is based on her lecture notes. Before this book, there is really no book that covers these material in rigorious and consistent matter. One usually have to read the actual published academic papers. Because different author may use different notations or models, sometimes it is hard to see the whole picture. This book shows exactly that. The algorithms are presented in a consistent notation, and the models and the assumptions all the explicit, clear and consistent. However, Professor Lynch's lecture style can get really dry and boring, sometimes I can't help felling asleep because the class was so early in the morning. For that, I decided to give it only 4 stars.



3. Professor's Nancy Lynch's "Distributed Algorithms" is a definite reference for theoretical treatments of many hard problems in distributed computing. It is a textbook, but written in such a clear style that makes it almost a pleasure read. Rarely have I seen something like that! The book has a right proportion of theoretical proofs, practical applications, philosophical appreciation of the problems, research questions, examples and study points.

   "Distributed Algorithms" has 3 main parts - synchronous, asynchronous and partially synchronous network algorisms. Each part describes consensus resolution, mutual exclusion, resource allocation, leader election, termination detection and failure detection as main problems in distributed computing theory. Lynch has done a masterful job of leading us from simple to complex, from theoretically solvable to practically intractable problems.

   For a practitioner of computer science, who is not necessarily involved in fundamental research, this book gives a clear appreciation of problems of 2PC, resource management, failure profiles in faulty and noisy networks, optimization and fault management in distributed networks. All those things are foundations of databases, network computing and enterprise scalability. It also helped me greatly in estimating the best and worst case boundaries in certain practical distributed system optimization problems.




4. Together with Mrs. Lynch's other book "Atomic Transactions", this book has been my "Bible" for years already. And now that I am starting my own company in software development, I think about making this book obligatory reading for my first new employee. Not only because of the nature of its contents, but also because of the way these are presented, and the thought-work behind it. Ideas like the provability of algorithms, seeing the user as an automaton and showing that Lamport time >>really>> works, are rare to be found together in the same textbook. This book puts research back where it belongs: before practice, not over it. Mrs. Lynch has done a great job. It is upon this work of hers, together with "Atomic Transactions", that the IOA specification language is based, created in the LCS of MIT. IOA is now in near-operational working order, and puts into application almost all of the thoughts expressed in this book.
   
   A must-read for any software engineer who takes him-/herself seriously.



5. I received the book with the book cover upside down and reversed with respect to the book.

5 comments about Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing.

1. Software licensing can be one of the most confusing issues of software installation and development. Most people assume that there are few if any issues with Open Source and Free Software Licensing but that often is not the case. While it may be free to install you wade into murky waters when you change the code, make a new program that uses some of the coding of the open source program, make a derivative program, or a host of other situations. Part of the confusion is that all Open Source or Free Software licensing is not the same. For example there are the MIT, BSD, Apache, and Academic Free Licenses. Or what about the GNU license? Most people don't realize that there are two different versions of GNU licenses, the GNU General Public License (GPL) and the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL)? Then there is the Mozilla Public License, Q Public License, Artistic License, and Creative Commons License.
   
   Author Andrew M. St. Laurent does an excellent job explaining all these various licenses, what you can do and can't do, the various benefits and shortcomings of the licenses and pitfalls to watch for. If you are doing development in this arena, have made an improvement to one of the programs, or have written a program for internal use that might have resell value you can't afford to not understand the nuances of the various licensing agreements. Understanding Open Source & Free Software Licensing is highly recommended and required reading for anyone in this situation.



2. I am an attorney who does open source software license work for a living. When this book came along, I picked it up, mostly because I was interested in seeing how O'Reilly does branching out well beyond its usual technical subjects. As you are probably aware, 2004 was the year of open source, according to some publications. Well, it was also the year of open source books. I have seen at least five that deal with the topic directly.
   
   Getting to the merits of St. Laurent's book, I struggled with whether to give it three or four stars. You see, even as a lawyer I found it lacking in clarity and flow. Overall, I am opposed to the route he took in excerpting almost every term of each license and then providing exposition of his own that was a lot of times hardly more helpful than the original license language. A better approach to explaining the licenses can be found in Larry Rosen's wonderful book "Open Source Licensing." However, this downside becomes an upside when using the book as a reference, instead of an educational guide (justifying the fourth star). St. Laurent's approach here is useful for going into more depth on a particular license. Perhaps that was the goal all along.
   
   Another advantage this book has over Rosen's is its broader treatment of the growing array of licenses and license types. St. Laurent covers more licenses and for that I am thankful. In the end, I would recommend having a copy of both Rosen's and St. Laurent's book handy. And whatever you do, skip Rod Dixon's "Open Source Software Law."



3. Understanding Open Source & Free Software Licensing
   Andrew M. St. Laurent
   http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/osfreesoft/
   
   When sharing with others that I was reviewing an O'Reilly book through their User Group & Professional Association Program, the first question was always the same: "What book are you reviewing?" After saying the title was "Understanding Open Source & Free Software Licensing", responses ranged from "What's that?" to "Well, you won't have any trouble sleeping!" One might think that this list of people included relatives and coworkers who were not attuned to the open source community and its issues. On the contrary, the responses came from those within my circle of acquaintances that include software developers, system administrators, and even an intellectual property lawyer. Licensing is not exactly the sort of topic where people slide forward in their seats and ask to be told more. Such is the appeal of software licensing; however, the importance of understanding licensing, particularly within the context of open source development, cannot be overstated.
   
   Those familiar with the O'Reilly product offerings have no doubt seen or purchased one or more their Pocket Reference series (http://pocketrefs.oreilly.com/). They are not comprehensive references, but rather convenient guides for a specific topic to provide the sort of information one is not likely to have committed to memory, particularly as the trend of having cross-disciplined technologists continues. This book could be considered the analog of pocket guides for open source and free software licensing. Open source licenses and their legal interpretation are subject matter that easily warrant a "pocket reference" that is a full-sized book of nearly 200 pages.
   
   Frankly, reading through a software license and maintaining a reasonable level of comprehension is a rather tough job. The author manages to make the task far more bearable and fruitful at the same time; a difficult balance to strike. The pace of the annotation works well to break up the various licenses (twelve in total) into bite-sized chunks. Chapters 2 and 3, which address the BSD/MIT family of licenses and the GPL/LGPL/MPL family of licenses respectively, each end with a section titled "Application and Philosophy" that serves as a sort of reward for making it through the license and establishes a touchstone to summarize and provide meaningful context for what has been covered.
   
   The annotations of the different licenses are a great introduction, but the book should not be considered as a complete reference for open source licensing issues. The book seems to affirm this at points where the author indicates that particular topics fall outside the book's scope, even to the point of recommending experienced legal counsel for certain issues. It also has a wonderful collection of footnotes and reference to other resources to allow the reader to flesh out topics of interest beyond the focus of this work.
   
   One subtlety of the book that should not be missed is how the history of the open source movement is woven throughout the book to provide the context in which these licenses came into being and were modified to accommodate the vibrant, emerging world of open development models. The book's last two chapters bring that context to the foreground, fully developing the consequence of the licenses in daily development activity. It is far too easy to view these licenses and as mere legal documents that exist in and of themselves; the author reminds us that these licenses are the manifestations of a spirit of selfless contribution and work toward social good made possible by the considerable sacrifice of quite gifted individuals. For those passionate about the open source and free software movements, the section of chapter 7 titled "Models of Open Source and Free Software Development" is a poignant and stirring encapsulation of the first years of the GNU and Linux projects and the work that brought them into being. The cliché rings true; we do indeed "stand on the shoulders of giants."
   
   The number of editorial errors involving misspelled and/or missing words seemed relatively high; this is a trend that seems to have developed in technical books in recent years, to a point that the technical community has come to accept it as some sort of side effect of the rapid pace with which books must be produced in order to keep pace with the rate of change. Given that this is an issue present in other works as well as this one, it should not particularly count as a mark against the work, but rather serve to underscore an issue publishers should consider improving.
   
   "Understanding Open Source & Free Software Licensing" is a book which strikes a balance between completeness of subject matter coverage and manageability of size. Given the amount of attention the average open source user or developer has given to licensing, reading this book would be a considerable improvement. This book is recommended for a couple of audiences. First, it serves as a great foundation for developers either active in or contemplating participation in open source development. Searching most any open source mailing list for the term "license" can usually turn up some of its hottest flame wars. If most developers had this introductory level of understanding about the main open source licenses, hundreds of message threads arguing about licensing could be avoided.
   
   A second audience for this book is the project manager and/or CTO in most corporate IT shops. Most corporate projects are making use of numerous open source libraries and frameworks. This is particularly true with J2EE, but also with .Net as a number of .Net counterparts to popular J2EE resources arise, e.g. NAnt, NUnit, etc. This book can dispel unnecessary apprehension regarding the use of these libraries that often arises from fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) propagated in much of the mainstream technology media. It can also equip managers to make informed decisions about team members' potential contributions to open source projects and the potential legal implications.



4. People don't realize how important licensing is with open source, but there is a lot.
   
   Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing is a very needed book and well written.



5. this book covers all of modern open source license which i wanted to know. also, it explain them very easy understanding way.

4 comments about Hands-On Guide to Flash Video: Web Video and Flash Media Server (Hands-On Guide Series) (Hands-On Guide Series).

1. The Hands-On Guide to Flash Video if full of good information for anyone interested in streaming video on the Web. For those interested in using streaming video for anything from professional level videos to those who just want to get something on YouTube, this book is a gem. Ranging from those who know absolutely nothing about Web video to those, like myself who need to learn more about taking videos and some of the technical characteristics of digital video, such as interlacing, you'll find this book invaluable.
   
   The 19 chapters are written in a friendly and accessible style covering 1) Creating video, 2) Preparing video for the Web, and 3) working with Flash, including a clear introduction to Flash Media Server. Having worked with Flash Media Server (FMS) since it's inception, I have found that one of the best tricks for saving on bandwidth is good lighting and good sound, both of which are covered in this book. Likewise, for those new to streaming video, you will find how to set up a progressive download that you can set up on your hosting server without having to use FMS if you choose.
   
   Among the many other topics I found revealing are the following:
   1. Chroma keying - removing parts of a background so that any background can be inserted. Best known for weather reports on TV.
   2. Cue points - adding triggers in the video that can be used as events. Cue points are very useful for adding information,
   3. Interlacing and Deinterlacing in video files
   4. Decision-making in setting video parameters
   5. Optimizing light and sound for streaming video
   
   An area that is in need of serious help is provided by the introduction to Flash Media Server. This will help in developing FMS2 applications for those who are new to open socket server technology. So for newbies to FMS, this will come as a welcome addition.
   
   One of the interesting (and I think correct) decisions the authors made was to use the Flash CS3 platform with ActionScript 2.0 instead of ActionScript 3.0. Here's why. It will be at least a year or so before a significant number of users will have the Flash 9 plug-in for their browsers. Yesterday I bought a new iMac, and the Safari browser that comes with the Flash plug-in is still using Flash 8. (I found that out when I tried to play one of my apps built with AS 3.0.) What's important is that On2's VP6 technology started in Flash 8. So, no one is missing a significant video element using ActionScript 2.0 as would be the case with Flash 7 or earlier. [...]



2. This is an excellently mastered book. The writing style is clear. The step by step examples are appropriately illustrated. There is source video and a plentiful supply of links for needs. The illustrations are appropriate and carefully selected for the key points.
   
   If you are a FMS (Flash Media Server) administrator or programmer, you will find answers to those user inquiries why their video looks poorly. You will have intelligent responses and tools to analyze the problems likely caused by the capture and prepartion of the video.
   
   For videographers, this is your bible on how to capture video for Flash.
   
   For video editors, this is your bible on how to prepare and compress the files.
   
   For newbies to Flash video, you have the soup to nuts book that breaks it down into nice chunks with examples.
   
   Very impressive part of the text is that many assertions are supported with research from many major video publishing entities.
   
   Finally there is a thread throughout the book that provides the market and industry information to help you assess your choice of Flash video as a web video platform.
   
   You will learn the specific steps in major digital video software packages such as Adobe Premier and Final Cut to fix issues.
   
   You can learn how to set-up a recording set with the correct lighting that will be best for Flash video format.
   
   You can learn to install the Flash Media Server (free) and use it and not be a programmer, but willing to download example files needed. Or if you are interested in programming FMS, this gets you started.



3. Do you ever published video online using Flash? Do you ever used Flash Media Server and don't know where to begin? Do you know how to make your videos look gorgeus online?
   
   The response to all this questions (and much more) are beautifully explained in this book.
   
   It covers from capturing video, creating a 3 point light studio for maximizing the quality and size of the compressed file, to the deployment of your solution using Flash Media Server. It's full of real world examples that you can use right out of the box.
   
   Really really good book for starters. And if you want more, look for others titles of Focal Press.



4. I went to school for video so a majority of the book was review. There were aspects I found useful. There are some differences in video production for the web. This book clearly identified them. Very useful tool to have beside the computer.