Computing Internet Books

I have used this book as a Photoshop text book for two years in a 3 month Multimedia Specialist Vocational Course I teach. Students come into my course at many skill levels, ranging from new with no experience to graphic professionals with over 25 years experience.

I have often heard from students "If I had only known that before!" and then an explanation of how much time one of Deke's tips would have saved them on some past project.

The introductory videos to each lesson are packed with useful information. The practical exercises are fun and inspiring as well as aimed at users from all skill levels. The explanations are clear, concise and well thought-out. Deke's humor helps to keep things from being overwhelming.

I strongly recommend this book from an author who knows Photoshop inside out for anyone who wants to learn Photoshop. Introducing my students to this book is one of the best things I do for them.

I have had college classes in photoshop. I could say that I have forgotten more about photoshop than most people know. Unfortunatly this means I have forgotten almost all that I knew. I found myself a beginning student at a new version of photoshop. This is a good book to sit down and go through the exercises. Good combination of video lectures and workbook exercises. I have just finished chapter six out of twelve this morning. You can not work your way through this book without coming away with a solid base in photoshop. After making it half way through this book, I am able to do things that I had no clue were even possible.

Adobe Photoshop CS2 One-on-One (One-On-One) This is not a book for any digital photographer who wants to increase his or her understanding and proficiency in essential "finishing" techniques of digital images. It barely addresses or doesn't address at all the necessary skills of adjustment levels, working with curves, and so on. He recommends too using auto fixes and variations which ruin the integrity of a digital image, and concentrates instead on creating slick finished products. It reminds me in a way of a class I took that was supposed to educate a student in approaching an image with CS2, but instead dealt with all the whacky things you could do to a picture with distortion filters and so. You come away thinking you can torture an image any number of ways without effecting the integrity of the pixels. The parts of the DVD I was able to watch were sketchy and too brief. I would recommend instead anything by Scott Kelby, Bruce Fraser, and David Blatner.

Bought this for my son, who found it helpful while taking classes for his graphic design classes.

I am a newby here. I ordered different books to learn CS2, and this book is amazing. I don't have anything original to add to all the excellent comments people already wrote, I just felt compelled to give it its five starts. The book is clear, well organized, easy to follow, and gives you a pretty good understanding of every single topic. It's not just do this and this, like a recipe. This was the book I was looking for!

Malware Forensics by Aquilina, Casey and Malin, is one of those fortunate instances of a technical work being on the right topic at the right time. As increasing legions of personal computers are becoming possessed by an overwhelming variety of unsolicited "warez" which steal information, consume bandwidth, and poison OSs, it is refreshing to find a work such as this, which comprehensively treats the collection, identification and forensic analysis of a broad range of malicious code from the perspectives of both the security specialist and the law-enforcement professional. Particularly useful features of the book are the "Case Scenarios" which allow the reader to identify familiar patterns in the delivery system and behavior of malware examples, the "Analysis Tips" which are enormously helpful in avoiding wasted effort, and the guidance offered in Chapter 1 for the development of a customized toolkit. I was intrigued by the thorough treatment of Memory Forensics (Chapter 3) which, alone, offers ample justification for purchasing this work. I was also impressed by Chapters 2,5,8 and 10 which illustrate how useful Linux can be in isolating and analyzing malware. This book merits being read by every active IT security professional and of being kept as an important reference and instructional work. Kudos to Curtis Rose for bringing it together. Hopefully we'll hear more from these authors separately and/or together.

James C. Smith, Ph.D.

I couldn't agree more with the previous reviews...

With accuracy, detail, and clarity the authors were able to provide a resource that not only answers the needs of highly seasoned system administrators, but also caters to those who may work on the periphery of systems affected by malware. Any investigation into malcode forensics will be enhanced by referring to this book. The exploration of different forsensic tools available out there really expanded my toolbox. I found chapter six - "Legal Considerations" to be an excellent addition to this book. If you want to dive "full bore" into malware extraction, analysis, and identification, keep this book nearby and you'll find it streamlines the process for you. Thanks for the great book!

This book is a must have for attorneys and investigators dealing with corporations victimized by internet criminals looking to steal the keys to the digital vault. It is the most complete treatment of the legal and investigative issues facing forensic investigators and corporate victims in determining the origins of the attack as well as its intent. Also, unlike most works in this area it provides analysis of the regulatory schemes both domestic and international which impact the nature and extent of these investigations. A must have resource.

I had been searching for a reference guide to help my company deal with some network anomalies and was recommended this book from a colleague.

Pros: Let me begin first by saying this is a very down-in-the-dirt detailed book and has certainly earned its spot on my desk. The book shows you not only how to pick your malware apart (I'm all about details and am the type of person that will want to know exactly what a piece of code did), but also how you could use the information you find to prosecute those pesky haxors. Like "uke92," I also liked the "alternative tools text boxes," as it allows me to play/shop around with all the tools available out there.

Cons:I would have liked to see this book broken up into two as I deal primarily with Windows systems. That way, I might have saved a few bucks. Other than that, can't wait to see what these guys put out next.

With over 10 years in IT, I constantly look for quality reference materials to stay current. This is, without question, the most complete and readable malware book I have found. The examples and illustrations are direct and on point, allowing even those with less technical experience to understand the investigative process, while remaining highly relevant to seasoned IT professionals. Unlike most other work, this work provides the insight of the legal process that can only be gained from first hand experience. The author clearly has set the standard for computer forensics guides.

Very quick service, got exactly what I was expecting. Item was received in excellent condition.

This book covers the former Windows codename "Longhorn" server operating system now in BETA release and subject to change. It describes what Microsoft believes to be the value of the various changes it has made to the operating system. The material does not go into much technical depth. The author mentions that a follow-on book will be published to match the final release version of the software. Kind of a light read, snacky sort of book, despite its heft.

I purchased this book when it was the only Windows 2008 book available. I used it along with many downloaded Step-By-Step Guides and Whitepapers from Microsoft to prepare for and pass the 70-649 Upgrade exam.

The first time I read through this book I hated it. The only thing that keep me going was the fact that there wans't any other books out there. What I hated was the less than serious tone to the book. Of course, I don't beleive that it was originally ment to be published. I admit that I'm more criticle than most, since I spent 15 years writing course curriculm.

But my opion of the book did a complete 180 on the second read. By that time I was numb to the "what was supose to be funning" parts. I was able to just ignor them instead of letting it get on my nerves. Also by this time I had read all of that downloaded stuff. I could see that some of the book was simple cut-n-paste from the downloaded stuff, but there was plenty of original stuff, and very usfull insights. Considering how ealy in the development cycle it was written, this book is extreamly complete and well organized.

Even though, there are now plenty of other Widows 2008 books to choose from, I feel that this book could still be very usfull as a first read. As the title says, its an introduction to Windows 2008.

The book got us through the initial install of a Core Server implimentaion. Couldn't have done it without it.

I ordered this book, because it was the cheapest Windows Server 2008 book that was available before Server 2008 was released. It is a good introduction to Server 2008. I'd recommend this to MCSE's who want to refresh their skills, but I don't recommend it for 'Dummies'. This book is well written and has a lot of 'From the Experts' comments by members of the Server 2008 Longhorn development team. There are good comparisons between Server 2008, Server 2003 and 2000 Server too. One thing bad about this book is that it's written about the Beta 3 release of Server 2003, not the final version. When the final release comes out, I'll probably need other study materials to help pass the new certification exams. The final version should be released soon. If you are planning on studying for the certification exams, you might want to hold out for books specifically geared towards the 70-640, 642, 643, 646 or 647 exams. This book is still a good reference a very in depth introduction to Server 2008.

I have found this book to be very helpful, with easy to find answers to my questions.

I was very happy with my purchase. It was very easy to order. The item arrived on time and it was in exactly the condition as stated. I would purchase from this buyer again.

It was just what I was looking for, and just as I expected. He assumes you know NOTHING and goes from there. Another good book in the Dummies series.

I am an accountant. I was extremely disappointed in this book. Not well structured at all. It doesnt seem to know if it wants to be a reference book, a book for beginners or a book for those that have Excel knowledge and want to figure out the different features.
In the end the book is a help to no one.

I was disappointed. Although it is good for very basic beginners, I was hoping it would help with functions that are more difficult. The Dummies Books are so good at explaining things in friendly terms. I was looking for the friendly terms to help me understand complicated functions. I was out of luck. I would only recomment this product for the very basic beginner.

This is a good reference book, but don't count on it to teach you how to set up a Cisco device or any networking. Even though it is fairly current, I have found a few differences between it and IOS 12.4 T.

this is another all in one book that i have, the other one is cisco ios cookbook. what i found that this book is very good after using it for some time, and also the writing style makes me easy to understand it very well.

i like the part where the author give comment on each line after a command to tell the reader what does that command do.

this book cover wide variety of things, and honestly i haven't read and tried all of the parts, but from what i have read and tried, this book gives very good detail in setting up tunnel and its security, it did help me understand how to set it up from scratch while i didn't know about it at all before.

in qos part, this is why i give this book 4/5, it just tell you briefly what each type of qos method does what it doesn't really give you an example of working configuration. i would like to see the author give an example from a real life configuration, suggestion to choose which type that we should use for particular case or even maybe combining few different type.

another suggestion is maybe to update the book with more information, and more commands that newer ios supports.

my recommendation is to get this book along with cisco ios cookbook, i am pretty sure it will cover the part where this book is missing and vise versa. you might also find this book is easier to read and understand than cookbook as well.

I bought this book for my Master's research paper on Cisco IOS.

I have found this book to be a good source on IOS's architecture. It has approximately 120 pages dedicated to general internetworking fundamentals such as differences betwen RIP, OSPF, and EIGRP.

The rest of the book is dedicated to IOS commands and proper syntax usages. This is a great reference book and good overview of networking concepts.

This is a great book. It covers the basics of IOS and will give the intermediate and advance users more than they have bargained for.

What can I say. Nutshell books are great. I own dozens of them and they are almost always great refererence manuals. This one is pretty good too.

This is a great guide that will give you step by step instructions on how to use Adobe Flash CS3 professional. You'll learn how to make Flash animations to add great multimedia to your websites or just games for local use.

This book has taught me sooo much already! If you want to learn how to use flash, this is the book for you!

Programming/scripting is not natural for me! It is hard work. This is the third book on AS 3.0 I've tried. The other books did not work for me. I need a book that will tell me what to do in a very elementary manner. I can then put it in context. For example:

1. This is how you script interactivity in a button (code)
2. This is what it is doing
3. This is what the various segments of code mean
etc.

This is the way I learned HTML. I looked up the code to do a given item. Over time if morphed into a thorough understanding of what HTML is and how to do it. This book enables me to do something similar. It takes basic AS 3.0, shows you how to do it then gives the information so you can put it in context. I'm relieved and grateful to find a book that allows me to construct the learning in a way that best fits me. THANK YOU!

A major upgrade to the previous editions and a must for any serious web design professional.

I love the Visual QuickStart Guides. This book has easy to follow lessons which are great for beginners. Professional refers to the more robust version of Flash not the skill level of the reader. I have combined this book with some video tutorials which is ideal for learning actionscript fast.

SharePoint 2007 is a huge topic to try and cover, but the authors (all 11! of them) do a tremendous job covering as much about SharePoint as is possible in a single book. In going through this book, I dare say there isn't a single SharePoint 2007 topic that isn't at least mentioned. In any case, it's certainly the most comprehensive SharePoint 2007 book that I have come across.

I felt the book was well organized and easy to read. Since SharePoint is potentially a very boring subject, the authors spice up the book (and help with the clarity) by providing a lot of SharePoint screenshots that correspond with the written text. I also appreciated the standard O'Reilly warning icons, indicating a potential point of trouble in configuring SharePoint.

At the risk of simply identifying each chapter in the book, the authors take the reader through a SharePoint site from start to finish. They begin with the installation, and all that can or should be configured at that time. The discussion continues through the configuration of sites, workspaces, and libraries.

While there were a few items in the book I wish received more mention, I realize this cannot be helped in a book covering as vast a subject as SharePoint. While there is a very good chapter on using the SharePoint object model, I would have liked to see much more than this. Additionally, I would have liked to see further discussion on customizing the UI of a SharePoint application. But again, that just isn't possible for a subject as vast as this.

While there are a few topics I would have liked more detail on, this is a excellent book on SharePoint 2007. Through the text, the reader is taken step-by-step through all practical aspects of a SharePoint 2007 installation and configuration. I would highly recommend this book for SharePoint administrators as well as portal admins.

When I get a Definitive Guide from O'Reilly I expect a book with technical depth. Instead, what I got this time, was a shallow book more appropriate for power users. For example, on pages 200 through 204 we get told all about uploading files, complete with step-by-step click on this and click on that, as well as screen shots. On page 204 we also find out about "Email-enabled document libraries". Here's a chance to provide some technical depth. But what do the authors do? They punt, pointing you at Microsoft's documentation. Speaking of authors, this is one of those book by committee books, and reads like a collection of chapters instead of a book.

This book's very broad in its coverage of SharePoint 2007 and sacrifices depth for that breadth. While there are several chapters on development-related topics, development isn't the book's forte. Rather, the book's really targeted to giving a lot of background and foundational information for folks wanting to implement Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) or Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS).

11 different contributors make some parts of the book difficult with their wide range of voices, and there are a number of clunky parts and some flat-out errors. (One minor example: A diagram of server topology switched the labels between the web front ends and application servers.)

Those nits aside, the book's well done and a solid resource for folks moving in to the WSS/MOSS arena. The sections on architecture, installation, and topology are all fine bits for discovering the broad strokes. The remaining chapters hit functional jobs like site design, managing workspaces/discussions/groups/libraries, etc. as well as mid-level views of business intelligence, Excel Services, Forms Services, and security.

Each chapter does a nice job of covering its topic with good introductory passages and a nice summary. Most chapters have a plethora of well-done, targeted screen shots backing up the content for that chapter. From time to time the particular author will call out pitfalls (nicely denoted with a trap graphic) and discuss issues surrounding that problem. I also like that the authors didn't try to push "Best Practice!" fluff throughout the book. (My biases come up here since 1) I hate the phrase "Best Practice" since it may be "Best" for you but completely "Suck" for me and 2) MOSS/WSS in their current incarnations are too new to have solid, industry-wide guidance anyway.)

Overall, I've gotten some very good value out of the book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others, aside from making sure it's understood that the book's not one for understanding the mid-level or more complex areas of WSS/MOSS.

Again, this is the best hands on how to book for a software application I have ever read. Though before I explain the reasons why I feel what makes this book so great, please allow me explain those things that often times make a "how to" book not so great. Things that Brian thankfully avoids.

Please note that the only negative reviews you will find amongst all the reviews here on Amazon are a result of those who bought the book expecting it to be a topical reference followed by code samples. Being such "serious developers" perhaps they should have read a bit more about the book before purchasing it. For example if I order a hotdog thinking I am going to get a hamburger I am not going to say the hotdog sucks just because I had a hamburger in mind! However I digress.

It has been my experience that the overwhelming majority of "step by step" software/programming books start off in a manner that is easy enough to follow, at first. The first few chapters are well written (most likely the result of the writer/editor knowing that someone browsing the book in a bookstore is only going to read about that far before making a purchase). Then once you get past the first few chapters the author begins to introduce terms that are critical to understanding what is being taught, without these terms ever having been explained in previous material. Or you will notice typo's, or even worse code samples containing typos (Similar to Lisin and Joseph's book on reporting services which I also have and warn you to stay very very far away from). Often times rendering what the author has written as useless. Another trend in "how to books" is that more often than not they read like a "topical guide", never really explaining how to do anything in the proper sequence to actually put to use what it is you are reading. It is like they back up the "information dump truck", spill it all over you, then expect you to understand how to "put it all together and use it". Except for the few gifted individuals who have the heightened degree of intellect to be able to "put it all together". Most people will just feel confused, because without having the opportunity to put what one has read in "Chapter 2" to practical/hands on use one will have forgotten what they have read by the time they get to "Chapter 3". Thankfully none of the above causes for concern/destroying a book are to be found here. Brian's book is 100% hands on, and everything, yes everything is clearly explained and easy to understand. No terms are introduced that have not been explained previously. And the times where you do use a "function" that has not been explained previously he takes the time to explain its significance at the end of the tutorial. So far I have found zero typos. It is almost as though this book has been edited/reviewed by someone who was absolutely certain that there were no "blanks" created by the author where the reader was left to have to "fill in those blanks".


The first thing you will notice is how very clear and concise a writer Brian is. The book starts with him carefully explaining the fundamentals of database design/theory. Even if you never have touched reporting services, those who have worked with database applications will most likely be fine with skipping the intro sections and jump straight to the tutorials. Though, I read the content for the "beginners" as a refresher and was blown away by how simple and easy to understand Brian's writing style is. I can say with confidence that someone who has never even touched a database before will feel confident to "jump right into" the tutorials after having read Chapters 1 and 3. Naturally the tutorials progress in their degree of complexity, and Brian will not explain every single step in explicit detail in cases where previous chapters have explained that particular step/concept in explicit detail. This illustrates another element of what I like about this book. Brian "holds your hand" at first, though he is confident in what he has taught you previously to where you feel confident to "walk on your own" as tutorials progress. However if there are those steps where you are not sure how to do what is being asked you can ALWAYS go back to a previous chapter/tutorial and familiarize yourself with the steps to carry out a task. I think this offers a great way to learn, if a book was step by step and repeated the same steps to perform certain tasks over and over from tutorial to tutorial how would you ever know which things you need to go back and learn for yourself? Wow what a great way to learn, your weak areas will be exposed in the later chapters, where if need be the earlier chapters will serve to bring you quickly and easily up to speed.

Simply put this book teaches you how to learn "by doing" in a way that is easy to grasp and easy to follow. And in those moments where you are not sure how to do something you can always go back and re-familiarize yourself with the material. Again, he does not take any liberties with using terms or explanations where he "assumes" you should understand what he is talking about. The text is not overly verbose like much of what is out there. Everything is explained simply, thoroughly, and to the point. If you have little to no experience with databases I believe if you take your time with the early material you will feel confident in moving forward with the tutorials. And again if you get stuck it is easy to go back and quickly find what you are looking for. And if like me you used Access or some other database application previous to Reporting Services you will be creating reports that make you say "WOW" the very first day.

I hope you found this review helpful. Thank you for reading!

As an experienced report writer (Business Objects and Cognos), I was looking for a good introduction to Reporting Services. This book does a very good job of that. How to write and format reports is covered well and the explanation of report distribution and security is well done. I was disappointed to see that Report Model and Report Builder, ad hoc reporting tools were only covered by an appendix. As I have worked more with these tools, I have found them very shallow, so the appendix coverage is adequate. Overall, this is a worthwhile book to have on your desk.

Very good book. It is easy to learn how to create Reports when you go through the samples in this book.

I was very excited when I received this book, I had read the reviews and it sounded like just the ticket for me at my new job. The first couple of chapters were great..then he abandoned all pretense of giving a detailed idea of all the options and possibilities and created a fictitious company and started solving their fictitious problems with reporting services...didn't take me long to realize their issues weren't my issues and he wasn't going to cover what I needed to know because he was sticking with explaining only the features needed to solve his companies problems.

Now I'm sorry I spent so much time researching this book and money buying it...now I have to continue my search for a book that just lays out the features and options available in Reporting Services.

I just worked my way cover-to-cover and did every exercise. Sure, there are some errors in the book and sometimes it is not as clear as I would like and it does help to be a DBA but I think the book is rather above average in its accuracy. The book is not useful as a reference. But I highly recommend it as a great start. If you are not going to download the problems and do the exercises, then do not buy this book. The value is in doing the exercises.

Considering this book was months late, I would have thought that it would have covered the protection and configuration of Microsoft messaging product Exchange 2007. Alas, it only covers Exchange 2003. Exchange 2007 RTM has been out for a year, so the absence of Exchange 2007 security and reverse proxy - and the lack of support of mobile device (ActiveSync) security makes this book unacceptable to me. My experience with ISA 2006 is to combine it with other applications. Messaging applications and collaboration applications are the biggest type of applications ISA protects. So coverage of these types of products is mandatory. Yes, it covers ISA 2006 itself well, but as more companies deploy SharePoint 2007 and Exchange 2007, this book is outdated immediately the day it was published because of it's lack of 2007 coverage. Since this will likely be the only third-party book published covering ISA 2006, by itself it is a disappointment. If you are new to the ISA product, then this book will give you the basics. If you are looking to truly dive deep into protecting complex applications such as Exchange 2007, pass on this one. Dedicate your research to Microsoft TechNet and blogs on the treatment of ISA and the products you are protecting and you'll do much better.

This book is well done but useless. It is a combination advertisement for ISA, screenshots of all of the wizards in the application, and summaries of the "Getting Started..." portions of the ISA help files. It took me about 1 hour of working with ISA to get familiarized with it to cover ever topic that this book covers. It has *nothing* to help you if things don't work exactly as expected. Don't spend money on this book unless you are completely unknowledgable about firewalls, routing, VPNs, etc.