Computing Internet Books

I enjoyed reading this book.
The book was written by the author of the OSPF protocol.
There are lots of insights into why the protocol was written and the reasoning behing many of its features.
It was very nice to gain insight from one of the engineers who in my opinion helped to pioneer the internet.

The author has a conversational, almost tongue-in-cheek style for a highly technical book - makes reading much more pleasant. The history of the protocol development is most interesting (and maybe just a teensy bit biased). The contents are very thorough and concepts are explained clearly. Would rank right up there with Internet Routing Architectures by Halabi for informational value.

A clear and concise description of the protocol for the novice and experienced veteran. Good study and reference to keep while implementing the protocol for any developer.

If you are a technical guy with interest in understanding
what happens behind the scene of your IP network this is a good book. The only drawback is that in some point you have the feeling things are non fully explained (details left to the reader); it's possible Jhon Moy had some interest in selling the second detailed book on OSPF (The complete implementation ..").
Nice to compare what Moy says about OSPF vs. IS-IS with Perlman idea.

I'm biased against proprietary protocols, so understand where I come from when I say that I wouldn't run any other IGP than OSPF. ISIS has a few strange things but thats not the point here.

This book gives the networking world a great explanation of how OSPF is designed to work as a standard, not how Cisco implements it (which, by the way, I think they do very well). Not only does Moy explain how OSPF works, but he tells us WHY he decided it should work that way. He also gives a brief history of the early OSPF vs ISIS conflict and OSPF's development process, including what was wrong with OSPF ver1. This book helps spare you from scouring the 1000 or so RFC pages that describe OSPF.

This book is a little pricey, and probably isn't necessary to get OSPF running (read Doyle), but it will deepen your understanding of the protocol and is written in clear, old-fashioned English.

One last thing. Read Jeff Doyle or some other good material on OSPF first, this book will offer you much more if you already understand the protocol to a certain degree.

This was purchased as a gift for my brother. He said it was helpful in being able to use QuickBooks more effectively.

Bought it for other people. It was very helpful to the people I gave them to.

If you are just getting started with QuickBooks, then you really should get this book! QuickBooks is easy to use, provided it is set up properly. This book will help you understand QuickBooks so you can get started on the right foot. If you're already familiar with QuickBooks, there is plenty of information so you're sure to learn something new! It is a great resource to have on hand!

Michelle L. Long, CPA, MBA
Author of: Successful QuickBooks Consulting: The Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Growing a QuickBooks Consulting Business
Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor
Member of Intuit Certified Trainer Network

I was hoping that this book would be for an experienced Quickbooks user but it is not. It is designed for the novice user who doesn't know much about accounting.

I own a single employee service based business and recently made the jump from Quicken Home & Business to Quickbooks 2007 to prepare for growth, (and to appease my accountant). Quickbooks will take several hours to set up and get running for most people, and nothing beats good old trial and error experience, but this book helped a ton, especially when initially researching and preparing the initial "defining" of my company file. I own several Dummies' books, have always been a fan of the style of writing, and this book is no exception. Presently, it is the only book I have assisting me in running Quickbooks, and so far, it has been sufficient.

This book had everything a non-expert would need to understand the basics of the TCP/IP protocol and networking.

It helped me greatly to better understand networking and the OSI model.

The tone is very readable. And the use of graphics was good but could be better

Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who is trying to build a strong foundation in networking. I loved the IP address allocation and subnetting chapters.It really cuts to the chase so the reader can be doing real work in a matter of minutes. I expect to see rapid updates to this book.

I'd like to see the WINS chapter removed and replaced with a few more chapters about IPV6.I like the authors to go more in depth on IP version 6.

O'Reilly's an up and coming publisher of computer related books. Maybe a kingpin already. This selection is a true quick reference guide. Written by the Thompsons, this selection gives you a thorough look into buying, assembling and operating computers. You do need a basic understanding to get anything out of this book, but if this is the case, you won't be disappointed. I have a first edition copy, and it's still current. That says a lot, a first edition published four years ago is still not too outdated! Think about it. How many computer related books can you think of that's relatively current after four years? Huh?

This book is amazingly concise and thorough, yet also very easy to read. It contains many helpful photographs, and the authors maintain a great website that is tremendously useful and is a great addition to the book. I am not a big fan of the "In a Nutshell" computer books published by O'Reilly, but this book is definitely an exception. It's great for both beginners and experts.

Robert Thompson is a man who doesn't hold back from giving his opinion on why something is good or bad, either on his website or in his books. In _PC Hardware in a Nutshell_, he tells you just what he thinks of what's good and bad about PC components in just about any category you can think of, and backs it up with all the facts, figures and personal experiences you could ever ask for. Every chapter includes historical information on the components under discussion, detailed reviews of what they do and how they do it, and recommendations on what to use (and what not to use). The final chapter walks you through building your own machine step-by-step, though, this being an omnibus book, the chapter is necessarily slightly skimpy in comparison to _Building The Perfect PC_. The writing style is clear and lively, in fact the book is well worth reading as a book even if you don't need any specific information at the time. The only real complaint I have is something the author has no control over - the fact that new PC hardware comes out so fast that it's just impossible to review every single new thing in a paper edition. (Well, that and the fact that Thompson doesn't like Western Digital because he's had bad experiences with their hard drives, whereas I've been using WD exclusively for years and never yet have had one go out on me. I think that can be chalked up, though, more to the fact that there's just so much PC hardware out there that different people are just going to end up having completely different experiences with components from a particular manufacturer. That, or I just got lucky with WD hard drives.) All in all, this book is truly indispensable.

This is a great book that covers every aspect of building a PC. However, as of August 2004, the 3rd edition of this book is a bit dated. For example PC3200 memory is considered the newest memory and both Pentium 4 Prescott processors and Athlon 64 processors were not out when this book was published. If you are buying this book, you may want to wait for a 4th edition, unless you are looking to assemble an old computer.

I would not accept the author's hardware recommendations as the final word. For one thing, the components they review are in many cases no longer manufactured. Magazine reviews and PC hardware Web sites are going to have different opinions on what the best components are.

Let me start out with a huge thanks to O'Reilly. I'm not a big fan of large corporations or publishers - but I have come to trust O'Reilly implicitly wherever technical issues are concerned. Although I'm certain that they are not the "perfect" publisher, nor in the business for wholly (ha!) altruistic reasons, I AM amazed by the remarkable originality, diversity, range, quality, accuracy, and honorable business practices of this publisher. Oftentimes I wonder how they manage to maintain such a level, when their current library is so chock-full of tough-to-follow acts.

That said, PC Hardware in a Nutshell does not fail to meet up to these high expectations. Let me get the review portion of my review out of the way - simply put, this is the book I have been hunting for a couple years. That I did not immediately search the O'Reilly library only shows that I am a bit silly. I should have known better. End of review.

But I would like to carry this a bit further, and go out on a limb to discuss the only complaint prior reviewers have voiced: that the book is too "Microsoft-centric."

Rather than a weakness, I believe that this is actually a strength. Let me offer big kudos to the authors and publisher for realizing that a serious, yet accessible, compendium of computer hardware knowledge was necessary. The folks who register such complaints are those least in need of an in-depth introduction to PC hardware. These are the high priests of hi-tech, who rule the roost by virtue of their knowledge-monopoly on all issues technical. They would have you believe that if it was not hand-crafted from spare parts, duct tape, and copious amounts of solder and configured with the most obscure version of Linux, then it's only fit for a 4-year-old. They are, quite simply, dead wrong. Let them compile their own "PC Hardware for Only the Most Serious Tech Gurus", I say!

Thompson's very first point is that he intended the book to be of the most practical usability possible. The practical reality is that the people who desperately need such a compendium are poor fools, like Yours Truly, who are too technical to be satisfied with tutorials on how to use Microsoft Office, yet are not quite knowledgeable enough to get right under the hood of their PCs (never mind build a Linux box from spare hatpins and Reynolds Wrap). We, the "psuedo-techies", often do not come equipped with enough experience, knowledge, or confidence to take ourselves to the next level. We are the crowd who are using Microsoft products, yet would love to learn enough to understand exactly WHY Microsoft means "mush-mind" and Linux is God - but will never get there without a guide. This book is the guide, and to me it says, "Psuedo-techies unite! Power to the people!"

This is an under-appreciated book. I've met only one person in my area (computer forensics) who had heard of it. Of all the lawyers, judges and other forensics experts I've mentioned it to, none had ever heard of it - which is a pity. This book attempts to explain what an expert technical witness does and how they should be employed.

The lay public, in general, has a distorted view of the value of forensic data and how it is used. While the general press is loaded with stories of DNA, the more mundane aspects of forensics deal with things like why a metal support may have failed or, in my area, determining if certain data existed in a computer storage device. Billions of dollars can be at risk when a technical expert witness testifies - and all too often, the witness, the lawyers, the judge and (if there is one) the jury are clueless to some extent.

This book tries to educate the technical expert witness as to their responsibilities to the court. Most expert witnesses I've encountered don't have a clue as to the judicial rules they operate under: this book, much to its credit, explains the basics.

"A Guide To Forensic Testimony" does have it weaknesses. It tries to cover too much territory, I think, such as "non-verbal communication". While telling someone not to pick their nose while testifying is important, this kind of book may not be the appropriate place. (The example, by the way, doesn't appear in the book, but the suggestions offered are just as elementary.)

On the whole, this is an interesting, helpful book which every technical expert who may be called upon to testify would benefit from reading. Be prepared, however, for a slow read. The authors' writing style is a bit pedantic.

Jerry

Though not technically an IT person, as an expert in forensic imaging I found this an excellent resource. I especially enjoyed the treatment of the applicable court cases found at the end of the book.

This one is on my must have list.

Jim Hoerricks
http://forensicphotoshop.blogspot.com
Author of Forensic Photoshop - a comrehensive imaging workflow for forensic professionals

There are many books on computer forensics investigations and incident response, but you won't find too many that tell you what you need to know to take the results of those forensic investigations and make it stand up in court. A Guide to Forensic Testimony (The Art and Practice of Presenting Testimony as an Expert Technical Witness) is an excellent book on this subject. Fred Chris Smith and Rebecca Gurley Bace share their knowledge and experience of the legal system and what it takes to make your computer forensic evidence stand up in court and what you need to do to sell yourself as an expert witness and stand up to cross-examination. The book covers a lot of legal technicalities as well as ethical and professional issues.

(...)

This is a very good book, but a bit wordy.

The authors go into a lot of legal detail. If you are not a lawyer, you can skip these sections, which make up about a third of the book.

But besides that, it is a very good book.

After reading this book - more than once, I might add, I came away with a few impressions:

(1) Law and the legal domain are as logic-driven as the IT profession for which this book is written.
(2) What may make perfect common sense to a non-legal professional is not necessarily in line with the legal view.
(3) The scope of this book goes far beyond how to present forensic testimony as an IT security professional.

The authors establish a context for what it means to be an expert witness, and the basics (testimony, key cases to lay groundwork, and illustrating examples).

By chapter 4, Understanding the Rules of the Game, you may find yourself mired down in more detail than you think necessary; however, it is within the morass of details where you'll start to see the complexity of the legal process. And complex it is. The dissection of key cases, how experts made a difference (either way), and cited cases that show how the law is evolving are necessary background information for any IT professional, either as an expert witness, as a plaintiff, or as a defendant.

If you do wind up in court as a witness (expert or not) in a security, contract or other case (criminal or legal), turn to chapters 9 (testimony), 11 (demeanor and credibility), and 12 (non-verbal communication). These will quickly prep you. If you are going as an expert witness I advise you to cram, especially every chapter starting with Chapter 5.

Who else should read this book? Any IT professional who is involved with contracts, quality, consulting, or product development. Chances are you may wind up in court at some point, and this material is as applicable in many cases to anyone called as a witness as it is to expert witnesses.

While this book is not easy to plow through, and the details may seem to fine-grained or to overwhelming, it will prepare you for your day in court.

My book arrived 2 days earlier than expected.
That night I pretty much scanned it from cover to cover, stopping at the parts that caught my eye.
I bought two books, the other being "How To Build a Car PC". This book far exceeded the other one in knowledge, projects, etc.
My goal is to build the car PC, but I know nothing about car electronics, that's where this book came in, with tips on how to wire it, how to load balance the battery, so the PC doesn't crash on start up, etc.
If you are looking for info on Car PC's and OTHER hacks, this book will stear you in the right direction, if not give you all the info you need.
I loaned it to my neighbor who is a mechanic, and I still haven't gotten it back!!! (Little does he know, he's going to help me now)

This is not a book about how to hack the controllers in your car's engine to make it go fast, burn different fuel mixtures, etc. Just like the title says, it is about car computers-and this means everything from actual onboard computers, to audio and video configurations. Like the other books in the "Hack" series, this is not a long narrative about Car PCs, it is simply a book full of 75 projects arranged by topic. Some of the tamer projects include installing headrest video screens, listening to email on the road once you've rigged up your computer to receive free wi-fi, installing a back-up camera and screen, receiving satellite TV, and rigging a free GPS-based navi-system. Of course, since all this stuff is power-heavy, there's also a bunch of hacks on how to strengthen your car's electrical system. To give you an idea, one of the hacks shows how to install a heavier-duty alternator. Throughout the book there are plenty of instructive diagrams, cross references to other relevant hacks in the book, and lots of links to web addresses where further instruction and freeware can be found.
There are seven chapters in Car PC Hacks, each covering a different way to turn your car into a functioning computer with cupholders. Amazon does not show the complete list of hacks, so I do that here:
Chapter 1. Car Power Basics
1. Understand Car Electrical Systems
2. Prevent Electrical Fires
3. Gauge Your Wires
4. Connect Your Wires
5. Calculate Your Car's Battery Life
6. Upgrade Your Car Battery
7. Add New Power Connectors Throughout Your Car
8. Use a Huge Capacitor to Sustain Power
9. Upgrade Your Car's Alternator
10. Add a Second Car Battery
11. Put Home Power Outlets in Your Car
Chapter 2. Automotive Audio Entertainment
12. Get a Headful About Your Car Audio
13. Install a New Head Unit
14. Get Computer Audio into Your Head Unit
15. Amp Up Your Computer Audio
16. Make a Very Cheap AUX-in
17. Reduce Your Audio System's Noise
18. Control Your iPod with Your Car Stereo Knobs
19. Tune Your PC for Radio Reception
20. Record Radio Shows
21. Listen to Email, Weblogs, and RSS Feeds on the Road
22. Find Out What Was Playing on the Radio
Chapter 3. Automotive Video Entertainment
23. Understand Video Connectors
24. Choose Your Screens
25. Install a Headrest Screen
26. Install a VGA Touchscreen in Your Dashboard
27. Install a Sun Visor Screen
28. Install a Motorized Fold-out Screen
29. Install a Fold-Down Ceiling-Mounted Screen
30. Supersize Your Fold-Down LCD Screen
31. Turn Your Laptop into a Fold-Down or Dashboard Screen
32. Connect a Car PC to Your Factory Screen
33. Install a Rearview Mirror Screen and Camera
34. Boost Your Video Signal for Multiple Screens
35. Customize Each Passenger's Video
36. Tune in TV in the Car
37. Receive Satellite TV While Driving
38. Play DVDs with Your in-Car Computer
39. Put Multi-Channel DVD Surround Sound in Your Car
40. Install a Video Game Console Computer in Your Car
Chapter 4. In-Car Computers
41. Choose an in-Car PC Hardware Platform
42. Power Your Car PC
43. Start Up and Shut Down Your Car PC
44. Reduce the Boot Time of Your in-Car Computer
45. Keep Your Computer on During Engine Cranking
46. Turn On Your Car Computer Before You Start Your Car
47. Boot Your Car Computer on a Schedule
48. Choose an in-Car PC Software Platform
49. Install Windows on a CompactFlash Card
50. Power Your Portable Devices in the Car
51. Install USB Ports in Your Car
52. Build an in-Car PC
53. Build an in-Car Macintosh
54. Install a Mac Mini in Your Car
Chapter 5. Car PC Interface Options
55. Control Your Car PC with a Keyboard and Mouse
56. Control Your Car PC with a Handheld Remote
57. Control Your Car PC with a Touchscreen
58. Car-Enable Clunky Applications
59. Listen to What Your Car Computer Is Saying
60. Control Your Car PC with Voice Recognition
61. Find More Ways to Control Your in-Car Computer
Chapter 6. Wireless Connectivity and in-Car Internet
62. Get Online in Your Car
63. Make Your Mobile Phone Hands-Free with Your Car PC
64. Transfer Data to and from Your Car PC
65. View Real-Time Traffic Data on the Road
66. Videoconference from Your Car
67. Use GPS on Your Car PC
68. Find WiFi Hotspots on the Road
Chapter 7. In-Car Applications
69. Plug into Your Car's Built-in Computer
70. Put a Video Jukebox in Your Car Theater
71. Choose Your in-Car Navigation Software
72. Play Thousands of Games by Emulating Video Game Consoles
73. Use CENTRAFUSE as Your Car PC Frontend
74. Use Neocar Media Center as Your Car PC Frontend
75. Use FrodoPlayer as Your Car PC Frontend

This book gave a good introduction for CarPC newbie.
I'm coming from computer background but have no idea about car electricity, AC/DC, etc. The guide was comprehensive and very clear.

This book has almost everything you need to get started with hacking a car pc. Its great to have.

Car PC Hacks tells you how to install a computer and all sorts of cool tech in your car.

It includes 75 projects. Well, the first few are not really projects, but very helpful explanations of automotive electrical systems. I was most interested in the chapters on how to install LCD screens, how to integrate a computer in your car, and how to power everything from the car battery.

This book is obviously written by people who have installed a lot of computers in their own cars and used them for their own and their families' entertainment. It has just the information I needed to be able to do these projects. Excuse me, I'm going to geek my ride now.

This should be considered a required resource if you need to learn about writing apache modules. It is the best introduction available to writing modules for Apache 2, and holds up well as a reference.

Apache is more than a popular Web server; it's a versatile and complex platform covered well in THE APACHE MODULES BOOK, the first guide for developers who already work with Apache and want to make the most of its features. From code security and basic processing to C-based shortcuts and techniques, APACHE MODULES BOOK uses real-world code examples and techniques to provide an excellent manual of basics. Perfect for any serious programmer's Apache reference collection.

I tried to write an Apache module using only the documentation and reference material available on the net, and failed. The documentation you can find on the net (even on Apache.org's own website) is either completely out of date or maddeningly vague. If you spend enough time in trial and error you might get your module to work. Then again, you might not.

If you're trying to write or maintain an Apache module, this book is an invaluable tutorial and resource. It saved me a great deal of time and frustration.

This book came recommended to me from a well-learned Apache module developer, and I can't laud it enough. It is simply impossible to find another reference text out there that covers this topic with this level of completeness. I'm not really sure why the HTTP RFC and the Apache Software License is tacked on to the end of the book, but the real content of the book make it well worth the relatively hefty price tag.

This book easily earns five stars despite a few glaring issues. Why? It's the best, most consitent, and approachable guide you'll find to writing Apache modules.

I spent two weeks scouring the net for APR examples and explanations. I started with the O'Reilly books only to find they are incredibly out of date. I moved on to Apache sanctioned module source code. I dissected source code for other modules only to find that the examples fluctuated on approach and, apparently, on the author's grasp of the entire APR libraries. Some folks wrote against previous APR version libraries and macros. Others used the updated APR. Still others rolled their own versions of functions that were already written, just not discovered. Tutorials varied in reliability with similar issues. And my desk quickly filled with highlighted and sticky-noted annotated examples.

This book replaced all those loose inconsistent notes with a solid example-centric nicely bound guide. Five stars. Just for that.

This book is not without problems though. First, it makes reference to programming paradigms which, frankly, I've never heard of before and which this book inadequately explains. Brigade buckets is an example. Bridage buckets are incrementally explained as a ring data store (eh?), a doubly linked list (okay, firm ground), and then a mechanism for passing data through layered IO (another eh?). I couldn't get much from the explanation. Googling "brigade bucket" led to IEEE DSP circuit design and a heated debate on using solid state delay effects for guitar pedals. Apparently brigade buckets don't quote share the same prolific status as, say, something more Knuth-ess.

The book explained thread safety in a similarly gap toothed summary. It offers this fatherly advice: avoid shared memory and make sure functions are reentrant. That wasn't much help for me. I'd prefer to have a detailed explanation of why the APR libraries have both reentrant and non-reentrant versions of the same functions. Wouldn't any reasonable programmer always use the reentrant version? If not, I'd like to know why... with some precision.

The final gripe: the book includes RFC 2616 in it's entirety. This needlessly adds 200 pages of non-original and otherwise easily (and FREEly) accessibe volume. Granted, the publisher formatted the RFC nicely. It's a bit easier to read than the fixed format of the real RFC. But why not add a few notes? The author could have taken the edge off of the RFC-legalese and made it a bit more approachable (think learning bible with more notes than text). At the risk of discouraging future books of this level, the RFC is a blatant copout and just a really disgusting way of bumping page numbers.

So, those are the issues I had. I'm still giving this a solid five as it outshines any other information I've found to date.

Gives a great overview of different strategies to use that are quick & easy to implement.

This book was largely uninformative, too broad in scope to be useful, and every chapter it felt like it was a pitch for some web companies's Wares, including the other authors Book. Do not waste your time on it.

This is excellent book for beginner. Author has been very good while explaining concept of RTOS. Author has clearly explained what you can write in C and what you have to write in assembly. I ll recommend this book for anybody who is interested in basics of RTOS.

This book explains working details of an example RTOS kernel along with concepts behind its design. This book's language is simple and flows like a novel. I finished this book in a week and after reading this book I am in a comfortable position to imagine how a typical RTOS kernel work. I liked this book and advise to buy if anybody want to learn internal details of a typical RTOS kernel.

good book needs to be updated to include vista
book good delivery from amazon very slow

I just purchased the book, so the technology was outdated, but the basic theory was valid, and I was looking for general knowledge of the process. It served that purpose quite well.

If you hate reading on the internet its an OK book....for basics....

Its outdated and all the information in the book is available on the internet if you are good with google.

Setting up a small home or business network.......buy a used copy to use as a reference for the most basic information....

I gave it three stars.....its got older info and not much detail....but it is good basic information....and if you buy a good used copy like I did ......its worth having on the bookshelf as a reference.

Sloppy editing.
Started reading this book today. Now at page 117 which is about 1/3 of the book and already found six (6) very obvious errors. Pretty pathetic for a book in its 8th edition.

As an example, on page 117, subnet mask is 255.255.240.0 yet the diagram shows it as all (1s)
--> 11111111 11111111 11111111 11111111 when it should be
--> 11111111 11111111 11110000 00000000

Good and sometimes humorous explanations of tips of must do's and don't in networking. To be a full fledged administrator you need a more detailed book and manuals of specific systems, but this will get you started.