Effective and motivational, 17 Nov 2008
I run a small website and SEO has always been on my list of things to do yet I could never find enough motivation to sit down and actually find out what the whole fuss is about and how to go about being a part of it. This book certainly sorted this out for me once and for all. It's very much like a user-friendly textbook (and one does not come across these very often) which takes you step by step through all the stages of implementing a successful SEO. It's very suitable for people like myself running a small internet business on top of normal 9-5, but it will be equally appropriate for a medium-sized company or a large organization. What I liked the most is the fact that the authors made an effort and broke this seemingly impossible for one person task into small managable chunks or hours and if you just do one bit at a time you know that in the end you're going to achieve what you set out to achieve. Highly recommended and probably one of the best on the market.

Excellent bok, 03 Sep 2008
This book excellent! I am working on my website and this book has been everything I needed in order to make it happen!
Thank you

Simply the best SEO book!, 14 Feb 2008
I have been optimising sites for search (with a reasonable degree of success) as part of my occupation as a web developer for nearly four years now. At the time of writing, my site is #1 and #2 (out of more than 8.5 million) in Google for my chosen keyword term. Upon reading this book, I learned how to turn the "basic optimisation" that I do well, into a much more professional optimisation service suitable to be presented to (potential) clients. I own 8 SEO books. If you're starting out, "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" is a good place to start but I have learned more useful stuff from this book than from the other 7 combined.

Practical handholding through the SEO jungle, 22 Nov 2007
A cracking introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (or Search Engine Marketing as they would prefer to call it!) Runs through the basics at a very easy pace (slightly slow, but at least it ensures that you've covered all the basics). Lots of practical exercises. For me, as a website designer, it confirmed a lot of suspicions I'd always had, and added some new ideas, but most importantly it gave me a focus for structuring my thinking; so even if you've been around in the web world for a bit it's a definite good buy.

Search Engine Optomisation: an hour a day, 30 Jun 2007
I found this a very interesting and focused book. The authors have a very direct and informative style. I enjoyed reading the book and I believe it will be very useful in my SEO campaign. The 'hour a day' really helps to keep the newbie on the right lines when planning a SEO campaign.

Effective and motivational, 17 Nov 2008
I run a small website and SEO has always been on my list of things to do yet I could never find enough motivation to sit down and actually find out what the whole fuss is about and how to go about being a part of it. This book certainly sorted this out for me once and for all. It's very much like a user-friendly textbook (and one does not come across these very often) which takes you step by step through all the stages of implementing a successful SEO. It's very suitable for people like myself running a small internet business on top of normal 9-5, but it will be equally appropriate for a medium-sized company or a large organization. What I liked the most is the fact that the authors made an effort and broke this seemingly impossible for one person task into small managable chunks or hours and if you just do one bit at a time you know that in the end you're going to achieve what you set out to achieve. Highly recommended and probably one of the best on the market.

Excellent bok, 03 Sep 2008
This book excellent! I am working on my website and this book has been everything I needed in order to make it happen!
Thank you

Simply the best SEO book!, 14 Feb 2008
I have been optimising sites for search (with a reasonable degree of success) as part of my occupation as a web developer for nearly four years now. At the time of writing, my site is #1 and #2 (out of more than 8.5 million) in Google for my chosen keyword term. Upon reading this book, I learned how to turn the "basic optimisation" that I do well, into a much more professional optimisation service suitable to be presented to (potential) clients. I own 8 SEO books. If you're starting out, "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" is a good place to start but I have learned more useful stuff from this book than from the other 7 combined.

Practical handholding through the SEO jungle, 22 Nov 2007
A cracking introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (or Search Engine Marketing as they would prefer to call it!) Runs through the basics at a very easy pace (slightly slow, but at least it ensures that you've covered all the basics). Lots of practical exercises. For me, as a website designer, it confirmed a lot of suspicions I'd always had, and added some new ideas, but most importantly it gave me a focus for structuring my thinking; so even if you've been around in the web world for a bit it's a definite good buy.

Search Engine Optomisation: an hour a day, 30 Jun 2007
I found this a very interesting and focused book. The authors have a very direct and informative style. I enjoyed reading the book and I believe it will be very useful in my SEO campaign. The 'hour a day' really helps to keep the newbie on the right lines when planning a SEO campaign.

What a great book to compliment Lego Mindstorms, 21 Jan 2008
My 12 year old son received Lego Mindstorms for Xmas in 2006 and I recognised that we needed further guidance and inspiration to learn and go beyond the basics. Therefore we bought this book for Xmas 2007,, and it's been fantastic. It offers a reference guide to all the pieces and how to work with gears and axles etc,, it explains and provides a reference for all the programming blocks. Then it provides 6 robots with clear step by step instructions on how to build them, and provides the programming code for each. The programmes build up in complexity to a level where the robots could be believed to be intelligent. The other great thing is that the author has provided free of charge all the programmes featured in the book on his website. We have downloaded a few for "tag-bot" with no difficulty. We have had great fun running tag-bot around the house. The programme downloads avoid you having to write the programme steps from scratch, and allow you to review them and learn from them. We are now using our understanding of the author's programmes to create alternatives. The authors work is clear, well written and authoritative. If you want your child or any adult for that matter to master Automation and Control, then you won't go wrong with this great Lego Mindstorms package and this book. Great Mr Perdue!!

This is the one!!!, 10 Nov 2007
OK, you have the brilliant Lego Mindstorms NXT set. You made Spike the Scorpion and were amazed but then there's a big gap - what do you do next?

This book arrived 3 hours ago. I've waited 4 months for it. It really teaches you robotics. I now understand gears!!

The diagrams are clearer than 'The Mayan Adventure' which has greyish black and white photographs. I'm confident the chapters on programming will explain NXT-G. The 6 robots - based on 4 designs look incredible. They start simple and get complex. If number 6 does what it says (and I think it will) I will be amazed.

This book, the Mindstorms NXT set and some well chosen storage containers (essential!) combine to make the best £200 Christmas present around.

Effective and motivational, 17 Nov 2008
I run a small website and SEO has always been on my list of things to do yet I could never find enough motivation to sit down and actually find out what the whole fuss is about and how to go about being a part of it. This book certainly sorted this out for me once and for all. It's very much like a user-friendly textbook (and one does not come across these very often) which takes you step by step through all the stages of implementing a successful SEO. It's very suitable for people like myself running a small internet business on top of normal 9-5, but it will be equally appropriate for a medium-sized company or a large organization. What I liked the most is the fact that the authors made an effort and broke this seemingly impossible for one person task into small managable chunks or hours and if you just do one bit at a time you know that in the end you're going to achieve what you set out to achieve. Highly recommended and probably one of the best on the market.

Excellent bok, 03 Sep 2008
This book excellent! I am working on my website and this book has been everything I needed in order to make it happen!
Thank you

Simply the best SEO book!, 14 Feb 2008
I have been optimising sites for search (with a reasonable degree of success) as part of my occupation as a web developer for nearly four years now. At the time of writing, my site is #1 and #2 (out of more than 8.5 million) in Google for my chosen keyword term. Upon reading this book, I learned how to turn the "basic optimisation" that I do well, into a much more professional optimisation service suitable to be presented to (potential) clients. I own 8 SEO books. If you're starting out, "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" is a good place to start but I have learned more useful stuff from this book than from the other 7 combined.

Practical handholding through the SEO jungle, 22 Nov 2007
A cracking introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (or Search Engine Marketing as they would prefer to call it!) Runs through the basics at a very easy pace (slightly slow, but at least it ensures that you've covered all the basics). Lots of practical exercises. For me, as a website designer, it confirmed a lot of suspicions I'd always had, and added some new ideas, but most importantly it gave me a focus for structuring my thinking; so even if you've been around in the web world for a bit it's a definite good buy.

Search Engine Optomisation: an hour a day, 30 Jun 2007
I found this a very interesting and focused book. The authors have a very direct and informative style. I enjoyed reading the book and I believe it will be very useful in my SEO campaign. The 'hour a day' really helps to keep the newbie on the right lines when planning a SEO campaign.

What a great book to compliment Lego Mindstorms, 21 Jan 2008
My 12 year old son received Lego Mindstorms for Xmas in 2006 and I recognised that we needed further guidance and inspiration to learn and go beyond the basics. Therefore we bought this book for Xmas 2007,, and it's been fantastic. It offers a reference guide to all the pieces and how to work with gears and axles etc,, it explains and provides a reference for all the programming blocks. Then it provides 6 robots with clear step by step instructions on how to build them, and provides the programming code for each. The programmes build up in complexity to a level where the robots could be believed to be intelligent. The other great thing is that the author has provided free of charge all the programmes featured in the book on his website. We have downloaded a few for "tag-bot" with no difficulty. We have had great fun running tag-bot around the house. The programme downloads avoid you having to write the programme steps from scratch, and allow you to review them and learn from them. We are now using our understanding of the author's programmes to create alternatives. The authors work is clear, well written and authoritative. If you want your child or any adult for that matter to master Automation and Control, then you won't go wrong with this great Lego Mindstorms package and this book. Great Mr Perdue!!

This is the one!!!, 10 Nov 2007
OK, you have the brilliant Lego Mindstorms NXT set. You made Spike the Scorpion and were amazed but then there's a big gap - what do you do next?

This book arrived 3 hours ago. I've waited 4 months for it. It really teaches you robotics. I now understand gears!!

The diagrams are clearer than 'The Mayan Adventure' which has greyish black and white photographs. I'm confident the chapters on programming will explain NXT-G. The 6 robots - based on 4 designs look incredible. They start simple and get complex. If number 6 does what it says (and I think it will) I will be amazed.

This book, the Mindstorms NXT set and some well chosen storage containers (essential!) combine to make the best £200 Christmas present around.

Superb Book, 18 Nov 2008
Quite the best book on the D300 (indeed all of other Nikon camera books) that has come my way. Clearly written, largely jargon free, and no showboating by the author. Pat Hunt, Ireland

Effective and motivational, 17 Nov 2008
I run a small website and SEO has always been on my list of things to do yet I could never find enough motivation to sit down and actually find out what the whole fuss is about and how to go about being a part of it. This book certainly sorted this out for me once and for all. It's very much like a user-friendly textbook (and one does not come across these very often) which takes you step by step through all the stages of implementing a successful SEO. It's very suitable for people like myself running a small internet business on top of normal 9-5, but it will be equally appropriate for a medium-sized company or a large organization. What I liked the most is the fact that the authors made an effort and broke this seemingly impossible for one person task into small managable chunks or hours and if you just do one bit at a time you know that in the end you're going to achieve what you set out to achieve. Highly recommended and probably one of the best on the market.

Excellent bok, 03 Sep 2008
This book excellent! I am working on my website and this book has been everything I needed in order to make it happen!
Thank you

Simply the best SEO book!, 14 Feb 2008
I have been optimising sites for search (with a reasonable degree of success) as part of my occupation as a web developer for nearly four years now. At the time of writing, my site is #1 and #2 (out of more than 8.5 million) in Google for my chosen keyword term. Upon reading this book, I learned how to turn the "basic optimisation" that I do well, into a much more professional optimisation service suitable to be presented to (potential) clients. I own 8 SEO books. If you're starting out, "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" is a good place to start but I have learned more useful stuff from this book than from the other 7 combined.

Practical handholding through the SEO jungle, 22 Nov 2007
A cracking introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (or Search Engine Marketing as they would prefer to call it!) Runs through the basics at a very easy pace (slightly slow, but at least it ensures that you've covered all the basics). Lots of practical exercises. For me, as a website designer, it confirmed a lot of suspicions I'd always had, and added some new ideas, but most importantly it gave me a focus for structuring my thinking; so even if you've been around in the web world for a bit it's a definite good buy.

Search Engine Optomisation: an hour a day, 30 Jun 2007
I found this a very interesting and focused book. The authors have a very direct and informative style. I enjoyed reading the book and I believe it will be very useful in my SEO campaign. The 'hour a day' really helps to keep the newbie on the right lines when planning a SEO campaign.

What a great book to compliment Lego Mindstorms, 21 Jan 2008
My 12 year old son received Lego Mindstorms for Xmas in 2006 and I recognised that we needed further guidance and inspiration to learn and go beyond the basics. Therefore we bought this book for Xmas 2007,, and it's been fantastic. It offers a reference guide to all the pieces and how to work with gears and axles etc,, it explains and provides a reference for all the programming blocks. Then it provides 6 robots with clear step by step instructions on how to build them, and provides the programming code for each. The programmes build up in complexity to a level where the robots could be believed to be intelligent. The other great thing is that the author has provided free of charge all the programmes featured in the book on his website. We have downloaded a few for "tag-bot" with no difficulty. We have had great fun running tag-bot around the house. The programme downloads avoid you having to write the programme steps from scratch, and allow you to review them and learn from them. We are now using our understanding of the author's programmes to create alternatives. The authors work is clear, well written and authoritative. If you want your child or any adult for that matter to master Automation and Control, then you won't go wrong with this great Lego Mindstorms package and this book. Great Mr Perdue!!

This is the one!!!, 10 Nov 2007
OK, you have the brilliant Lego Mindstorms NXT set. You made Spike the Scorpion and were amazed but then there's a big gap - what do you do next?

This book arrived 3 hours ago. I've waited 4 months for it. It really teaches you robotics. I now understand gears!!

The diagrams are clearer than 'The Mayan Adventure' which has greyish black and white photographs. I'm confident the chapters on programming will explain NXT-G. The 6 robots - based on 4 designs look incredible. They start simple and get complex. If number 6 does what it says (and I think it will) I will be amazed.

This book, the Mindstorms NXT set and some well chosen storage containers (essential!) combine to make the best £200 Christmas present around.

Superb Book, 18 Nov 2008
Quite the best book on the D300 (indeed all of other Nikon camera books) that has come my way. Clearly written, largely jargon free, and no showboating by the author. Pat Hunt, Ireland

Highly recommended!!!, 12 Jan 2008
Using just this book along with exam braindumps found online I passed the 640-802 exam. The practice exams offer hundreds of practise questions along with simulations. Very good investment

Does what it says on the tin - but don't overlook real hands-on, 11 Nov 2007
This two-book set is the new course text for the Cisco 640-802 CCNA exam, which supersedes the previous CCNA exam from November 2007.

To compare, having had a look at the two-book set for the previous exam (640-801), Wendell Odom and his team have done a pretty good job in updating this in light of new topics.

What's in the box? Similar to the old exam library, you get two books and two CDs but this time around you also get a DVD. The DVD gives content you can probably get from YouTube, but is worth a look. The two CDs provide an exam tool and 200 sample exam-tool questions, plus an electronic version of the book text. The exam tool is fine, but won't replace using the real thing when troubleshooting. But it is nice that it is included to get you going. Note that this is not the complete set of questions and the full BOSON exam question set is available to download from BOSON and is an extra cost.

As ICDN1 and ICDN2 have been re-worked, the text of volume one now refers to CCENT as the "replacement" to the ICND1 exam and has been revised accordingly. Initial review of the two books is that they are easier to read and digest. As before, they include the usual "foundation topics" and test questions at the start and end of each chapter. Don't be fooled that these test questions will enable a pass if you just know these - you will need to use the text and the real thing if you've not done this before. The previous "open ended" questions are included but have not been revised from the earlier 640-801 library set.

The stated aim is that the new exam is to focus more on design and troubleshooting rather than just facts. This is probably a good thing in that today's networks are more complex. The previous exam probably didn't prepare for the real world where wireless, VPNs and ADSL are in use.

Will these get you through the exam? Given the small industry of self-test and self-help books for CCNA, it suggests that this is but one of the tools needed to pass the exam. The honest view is that as the exam has got harder over the years, the only way to really know is to use the real thing. The two books and additional material are good, but unless it can be learnt verbatim, then you will need to use the texts with real hardware/software.

That said, this is the standard to which other CCNA books are measured.

Five stars for the revised content, but dropping one star on the basis that hands-on experience to back this up will help newcomers.

Effective and motivational, 17 Nov 2008
I run a small website and SEO has always been on my list of things to do yet I could never find enough motivation to sit down and actually find out what the whole fuss is about and how to go about being a part of it. This book certainly sorted this out for me once and for all. It's very much like a user-friendly textbook (and one does not come across these very often) which takes you step by step through all the stages of implementing a successful SEO. It's very suitable for people like myself running a small internet business on top of normal 9-5, but it will be equally appropriate for a medium-sized company or a large organization. What I liked the most is the fact that the authors made an effort and broke this seemingly impossible for one person task into small managable chunks or hours and if you just do one bit at a time you know that in the end you're going to achieve what you set out to achieve. Highly recommended and probably one of the best on the market.

Excellent bok, 03 Sep 2008
This book excellent! I am working on my website and this book has been everything I needed in order to make it happen!
Thank you

Simply the best SEO book!, 14 Feb 2008
I have been optimising sites for search (with a reasonable degree of success) as part of my occupation as a web developer for nearly four years now. At the time of writing, my site is #1 and #2 (out of more than 8.5 million) in Google for my chosen keyword term. Upon reading this book, I learned how to turn the "basic optimisation" that I do well, into a much more professional optimisation service suitable to be presented to (potential) clients. I own 8 SEO books. If you're starting out, "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" is a good place to start but I have learned more useful stuff from this book than from the other 7 combined.

Practical handholding through the SEO jungle, 22 Nov 2007
A cracking introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (or Search Engine Marketing as they would prefer to call it!) Runs through the basics at a very easy pace (slightly slow, but at least it ensures that you've covered all the basics). Lots of practical exercises. For me, as a website designer, it confirmed a lot of suspicions I'd always had, and added some new ideas, but most importantly it gave me a focus for structuring my thinking; so even if you've been around in the web world for a bit it's a definite good buy.

Search Engine Optomisation: an hour a day, 30 Jun 2007
I found this a very interesting and focused book. The authors have a very direct and informative style. I enjoyed reading the book and I believe it will be very useful in my SEO campaign. The 'hour a day' really helps to keep the newbie on the right lines when planning a SEO campaign.

What a great book to compliment Lego Mindstorms, 21 Jan 2008
My 12 year old son received Lego Mindstorms for Xmas in 2006 and I recognised that we needed further guidance and inspiration to learn and go beyond the basics. Therefore we bought this book for Xmas 2007,, and it's been fantastic. It offers a reference guide to all the pieces and how to work with gears and axles etc,, it explains and provides a reference for all the programming blocks. Then it provides 6 robots with clear step by step instructions on how to build them, and provides the programming code for each. The programmes build up in complexity to a level where the robots could be believed to be intelligent. The other great thing is that the author has provided free of charge all the programmes featured in the book on his website. We have downloaded a few for "tag-bot" with no difficulty. We have had great fun running tag-bot around the house. The programme downloads avoid you having to write the programme steps from scratch, and allow you to review them and learn from them. We are now using our understanding of the author's programmes to create alternatives. The authors work is clear, well written and authoritative. If you want your child or any adult for that matter to master Automation and Control, then you won't go wrong with this great Lego Mindstorms package and this book. Great Mr Perdue!!

This is the one!!!, 10 Nov 2007
OK, you have the brilliant Lego Mindstorms NXT set. You made Spike the Scorpion and were amazed but then there's a big gap - what do you do next?

This book arrived 3 hours ago. I've waited 4 months for it. It really teaches you robotics. I now understand gears!!

The diagrams are clearer than 'The Mayan Adventure' which has greyish black and white photographs. I'm confident the chapters on programming will explain NXT-G. The 6 robots - based on 4 designs look incredible. They start simple and get complex. If number 6 does what it says (and I think it will) I will be amazed.

This book, the Mindstorms NXT set and some well chosen storage containers (essential!) combine to make the best £200 Christmas present around.

Superb Book, 18 Nov 2008
Quite the best book on the D300 (indeed all of other Nikon camera books) that has come my way. Clearly written, largely jargon free, and no showboating by the author. Pat Hunt, Ireland

Highly recommended!!!, 12 Jan 2008
Using just this book along with exam braindumps found online I passed the 640-802 exam. The practice exams offer hundreds of practise questions along with simulations. Very good investment

Does what it says on the tin - but don't overlook real hands-on, 11 Nov 2007
This two-book set is the new course text for the Cisco 640-802 CCNA exam, which supersedes the previous CCNA exam from November 2007.

To compare, having had a look at the two-book set for the previous exam (640-801), Wendell Odom and his team have done a pretty good job in updating this in light of new topics.

What's in the box? Similar to the old exam library, you get two books and two CDs but this time around you also get a DVD. The DVD gives content you can probably get from YouTube, but is worth a look. The two CDs provide an exam tool and 200 sample exam-tool questions, plus an electronic version of the book text. The exam tool is fine, but won't replace using the real thing when troubleshooting. But it is nice that it is included to get you going. Note that this is not the complete set of questions and the full BOSON exam question set is available to download from BOSON and is an extra cost.

As ICDN1 and ICDN2 have been re-worked, the text of volume one now refers to CCENT as the "replacement" to the ICND1 exam and has been revised accordingly. Initial review of the two books is that they are easier to read and digest. As before, they include the usual "foundation topics" and test questions at the start and end of each chapter. Don't be fooled that these test questions will enable a pass if you just know these - you will need to use the text and the real thing if you've not done this before. The previous "open ended" questions are included but have not been revised from the earlier 640-801 library set.

The stated aim is that the new exam is to focus more on design and troubleshooting rather than just facts. This is probably a good thing in that today's networks are more complex. The previous exam probably didn't prepare for the real world where wireless, VPNs and ADSL are in use.

Will these get you through the exam? Given the small industry of self-test and self-help books for CCNA, it suggests that this is but one of the tools needed to pass the exam. The honest view is that as the exam has got harder over the years, the only way to really know is to use the real thing. The two books and additional material are good, but unless it can be learnt verbatim, then you will need to use the texts with real hardware/software.

That said, this is the standard to which other CCNA books are measured.

Five stars for the revised content, but dropping one star on the basis that hands-on experience to back this up will help newcomers.


Engaging and easily understandable, 10 Nov 2008
I've got oodles of programming books and I'd put this one up with the best of my collection. It's carefully written to ensure all levels of experience and aptitude are catered for, I'd class myself as somewhere in the intermediates with a decent knowledge of actionscript 2 and I found it enormously useful.

All examples and diagrams make perfect sense, and the explanations they use have actually helped me come to terms with other programming paradigms I'd used but never fully understood.

Thoroughly recommend this one.

The best book I have read on the subject, 23 Aug 2008
This is the best book on Action Script I have read. It doesn't just explain techniques but it explains why things are so. For example, it explains why it's sometimes better to use sprites than movie clips and why you should always remove event listeners when they aren't needed.

I have read Colin Moock's book as well as the ActionScript 3 Bible and the documentation provided by Adobe. To my mind, this book is the best of all because it allows you to start using ActionScript 3 straight away. With a lot of books, you have covered many pages before you do anything useful. This book has you putting stuff on the screen straight away.
I already had knowledge of ActionScript 2 but I would have thought it would be useful to beginners too.
For those who already have some knowledge, it consolidates and adds to what you know.

I really feel quite confident with the language now in a way I didn't before.
It is well supported with downloadable examples from its companion website.

The book has an excellent layout format and makes good use of colour.

Awesome..., 29 Jul 2008
After endlessly searching for a decent AS3 book but having to settle with intermediate to advanced book I found this little gem and started some research. After finding reviews on the flashblog and other resources I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

not only is this book well illustrated in full colour, it also gives you a sense that your learning at a steady pace without feeling like your missing something as you progress.

The online resource site offers all of the files needed to sit and study the chapters in the book closer.

I have also recently embarked on what I thought was a problem with one of the resource files and emailed the support group, I was astonished to get a reply within 15 Minutes, pity that I was being a fool and there was no problem. Non the less the help was amazing.

I can't recommend this book enough for anyone wanting to make the jump from AS2 to AS3 or for anyone completely new to AS3.

Thank you

Easir to follow than Big Colin, 25 Jul 2008
I really like this book, It's a lot easier to follow than Colin Mook's essential one (Which of course you do actually need as well) Pretty straight to the point, easy to read and understand although I'm probably slap bang in the middle of the target audience - intermediate user with a fairly good understanding of key concepts and how OOP works. I don't recommend it for the absolute beginner and calling it "A beginners guide" is a bit misleading but as a transitional guide, its really good.

There are quite a few typos, it must be said and some of them are quite confusing. I also found that the choice of variable names occasionally made it less clear as to what's intended.

Overall, highly recommended and pretty much the second AS3 book you should have (Although buying it before Mr Mooks is probably a better idea if you get my drift)

I generally now use this one as my main learning guide and "Essential ActionScript 3.0" as a more detailed reference

best buy fopr every actionscript level, 15 Jul 2008
If you read this book and Essential actionscript 3 i actually belive you will be able to learn just as much if not more from Learning Actionscript 3 even though essential as3 is over 3x heavyer both mentally and physicaly - based on the fact the this book delivers the content in such an lite and understanable way in full color.

Effective and motivational, 17 Nov 2008
I run a small website and SEO has always been on my list of things to do yet I could never find enough motivation to sit down and actually find out what the whole fuss is about and how to go about being a part of it. This book certainly sorted this out for me once and for all. It's very much like a user-friendly textbook (and one does not come across these very often) which takes you step by step through all the stages of implementing a successful SEO. It's very suitable for people like myself running a small internet business on top of normal 9-5, but it will be equally appropriate for a medium-sized company or a large organization. What I liked the most is the fact that the authors made an effort and broke this seemingly impossible for one person task into small managable chunks or hours and if you just do one bit at a time you know that in the end you're going to achieve what you set out to achieve. Highly recommended and probably one of the best on the market.

Excellent bok, 03 Sep 2008
This book excellent! I am working on my website and this book has been everything I needed in order to make it happen!
Thank you

Simply the best SEO book!, 14 Feb 2008
I have been optimising sites for search (with a reasonable degree of success) as part of my occupation as a web developer for nearly four years now. At the time of writing, my site is #1 and #2 (out of more than 8.5 million) in Google for my chosen keyword term. Upon reading this book, I learned how to turn the "basic optimisation" that I do well, into a much more professional optimisation service suitable to be presented to (potential) clients. I own 8 SEO books. If you're starting out, "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" is a good place to start but I have learned more useful stuff from this book than from the other 7 combined.

Practical handholding through the SEO jungle, 22 Nov 2007
A cracking introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (or Search Engine Marketing as they would prefer to call it!) Runs through the basics at a very easy pace (slightly slow, but at least it ensures that you've covered all the basics). Lots of practical exercises. For me, as a website designer, it confirmed a lot of suspicions I'd always had, and added some new ideas, but most importantly it gave me a focus for structuring my thinking; so even if you've been around in the web world for a bit it's a definite good buy.

Search Engine Optomisation: an hour a day, 30 Jun 2007
I found this a very interesting and focused book. The authors have a very direct and informative style. I enjoyed reading the book and I believe it will be very useful in my SEO campaign. The 'hour a day' really helps to keep the newbie on the right lines when planning a SEO campaign.

What a great book to compliment Lego Mindstorms, 21 Jan 2008
My 12 year old son received Lego Mindstorms for Xmas in 2006 and I recognised that we needed further guidance and inspiration to learn and go beyond the basics. Therefore we bought this book for Xmas 2007,, and it's been fantastic. It offers a reference guide to all the pieces and how to work with gears and axles etc,, it explains and provides a reference for all the programming blocks. Then it provides 6 robots with clear step by step instructions on how to build them, and provides the programming code for each. The programmes build up in complexity to a level where the robots could be believed to be intelligent. The other great thing is that the author has provided free of charge all the programmes featured in the book on his website. We have downloaded a few for "tag-bot" with no difficulty. We have had great fun running tag-bot around the house. The programme downloads avoid you having to write the programme steps from scratch, and allow you to review them and learn from them. We are now using our understanding of the author's programmes to create alternatives. The authors work is clear, well written and authoritative. If you want your child or any adult for that matter to master Automation and Control, then you won't go wrong with this great Lego Mindstorms package and this book. Great Mr Perdue!!

This is the one!!!, 10 Nov 2007
OK, you have the brilliant Lego Mindstorms NXT set. You made Spike the Scorpion and were amazed but then there's a big gap - what do you do next?

This book arrived 3 hours ago. I've waited 4 months for it. It really teaches you robotics. I now understand gears!!

The diagrams are clearer than 'The Mayan Adventure' which has greyish black and white photographs. I'm confident the chapters on programming will explain NXT-G. The 6 robots - based on 4 designs look incredible. They start simple and get complex. If number 6 does what it says (and I think it will) I will be amazed.

This book, the Mindstorms NXT set and some well chosen storage containers (essential!) combine to make the best £200 Christmas present around.

Superb Book, 18 Nov 2008
Quite the best book on the D300 (indeed all of other Nikon camera books) that has come my way. Clearly written, largely jargon free, and no showboating by the author. Pat Hunt, Ireland

Highly recommended!!!, 12 Jan 2008
Using just this book along with exam braindumps found online I passed the 640-802 exam. The practice exams offer hundreds of practise questions along with simulations. Very good investment

Does what it says on the tin - but don't overlook real hands-on, 11 Nov 2007
This two-book set is the new course text for the Cisco 640-802 CCNA exam, which supersedes the previous CCNA exam from November 2007.

To compare, having had a look at the two-book set for the previous exam (640-801), Wendell Odom and his team have done a pretty good job in updating this in light of new topics.

What's in the box? Similar to the old exam library, you get two books and two CDs but this time around you also get a DVD. The DVD gives content you can probably get from YouTube, but is worth a look. The two CDs provide an exam tool and 200 sample exam-tool questions, plus an electronic version of the book text. The exam tool is fine, but won't replace using the real thing when troubleshooting. But it is nice that it is included to get you going. Note that this is not the complete set of questions and the full BOSON exam question set is available to download from BOSON and is an extra cost.

As ICDN1 and ICDN2 have been re-worked, the text of volume one now refers to CCENT as the "replacement" to the ICND1 exam and has been revised accordingly. Initial review of the two books is that they are easier to read and digest. As before, they include the usual "foundation topics" and test questions at the start and end of each chapter. Don't be fooled that these test questions will enable a pass if you just know these - you will need to use the text and the real thing if you've not done this before. The previous "open ended" questions are included but have not been revised from the earlier 640-801 library set.

The stated aim is that the new exam is to focus more on design and troubleshooting rather than just facts. This is probably a good thing in that today's networks are more complex. The previous exam probably didn't prepare for the real world where wireless, VPNs and ADSL are in use.

Will these get you through the exam? Given the small industry of self-test and self-help books for CCNA, it suggests that this is but one of the tools needed to pass the exam. The honest view is that as the exam has got harder over the years, the only way to really know is to use the real thing. The two books and additional material are good, but unless it can be learnt verbatim, then you will need to use the texts with real hardware/software.

That said, this is the standard to which other CCNA books are measured.

Five stars for the revised content, but dropping one star on the basis that hands-on experience to back this up will help newcomers.


Engaging and easily understandable, 10 Nov 2008
I've got oodles of programming books and I'd put this one up with the best of my collection. It's carefully written to ensure all levels of experience and aptitude are catered for, I'd class myself as somewhere in the intermediates with a decent knowledge of actionscript 2 and I found it enormously useful.

All examples and diagrams make perfect sense, and the explanations they use have actually helped me come to terms with other programming paradigms I'd used but never fully understood.

Thoroughly recommend this one.

The best book I have read on the subject, 23 Aug 2008
This is the best book on Action Script I have read. It doesn't just explain techniques but it explains why things are so. For example, it explains why it's sometimes better to use sprites than movie clips and why you should always remove event listeners when they aren't needed.

I have read Colin Moock's book as well as the ActionScript 3 Bible and the documentation provided by Adobe. To my mind, this book is the best of all because it allows you to start using ActionScript 3 straight away. With a lot of books, you have covered many pages before you do anything useful. This book has you putting stuff on the screen straight away.
I already had knowledge of ActionScript 2 but I would have thought it would be useful to beginners too.
For those who already have some knowledge, it consolidates and adds to what you know.

I really feel quite confident with the language now in a way I didn't before.
It is well supported with downloadable examples from its companion website.

The book has an excellent layout format and makes good use of colour.

Awesome..., 29 Jul 2008
After endlessly searching for a decent AS3 book but having to settle with intermediate to advanced book I found this little gem and started some research. After finding reviews on the flashblog and other resources I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

not only is this book well illustrated in full colour, it also gives you a sense that your learning at a steady pace without feeling like your missing something as you progress.

The online resource site offers all of the files needed to sit and study the chapters in the book closer.

I have also recently embarked on what I thought was a problem with one of the resource files and emailed the support group, I was astonished to get a reply within 15 Minutes, pity that I was being a fool and there was no problem. Non the less the help was amazing.

I can't recommend this book enough for anyone wanting to make the jump from AS2 to AS3 or for anyone completely new to AS3.

Thank you

Easir to follow than Big Colin, 25 Jul 2008
I really like this book, It's a lot easier to follow than Colin Mook's essential one (Which of course you do actually need as well) Pretty straight to the point, easy to read and understand although I'm probably slap bang in the middle of the target audience - intermediate user with a fairly good understanding of key concepts and how OOP works. I don't recommend it for the absolute beginner and calling it "A beginners guide" is a bit misleading but as a transitional guide, its really good.

There are quite a few typos, it must be said and some of them are quite confusing. I also found that the choice of variable names occasionally made it less clear as to what's intended.

Overall, highly recommended and pretty much the second AS3 book you should have (Although buying it before Mr Mooks is probably a better idea if you get my drift)

I generally now use this one as my main learning guide and "Essential ActionScript 3.0" as a more detailed reference

best buy fopr every actionscript level, 15 Jul 2008
If you read this book and Essential actionscript 3 i actually belive you will be able to learn just as much if not more from Learning Actionscript 3 even though essential as3 is over 3x heavyer both mentally and physicaly - based on the fact the this book delivers the content in such an lite and understanable way in full color.

One seminal essay. The rest, repetitive and out of date., 29 Jan 2008
For sure the Mythical Man Month was a seminal essay back then. This is worth reading for sure. But the rest of the book is very out of date, and very repetitive. It gets a bit wearing too hearing the old line that hardware has advanced a thousand fold and software hasn't. Er, played any computer games lately?

I'd recommend reading the Mythical Man Month elsewhere if you can find it online and save the time, money, and effort reading the whole book.

Time better spent reading a book on Agile, or XP I would think.

A bit outdated..., 01 Aug 2007
Bought this book on the recommendation of a friend, bought "Debugging the Development Environment" on the recommendation of my boss and would probably recommend neither for todays fluidic environments. Mythical Man Month contains a somewhat outdated view of software development, more suitably apt for an age when only long time development projects for mainframes existed and Web/PC development had not been heard of.

Still relevant in parts to large waterfall based development projects, not helpful with RAD/Extreme and other more modern, small team development methods and probably only a useful read if you are new to project teams and/or have not worked in an IT environment

Orinal text is brilliant, 03 Apr 2007
The 1975 text is genius like essay No Silver Bullets at the end part of the book. At the very final essay is completely different.

At the final pages (207 and onwards) for some reason Mr Brooks felt that he needs to start defending his original text against critics. Fighting with critics is pointless and makes one me only to feel a shamed behalf of Mr Brooks.

The "absolute must read" in software engineering, 29 Aug 2006
I was working for several years in software development, exposed to systems engineering context before reading this book. I think Brooks was so right so long ago that this is "the absolute must read book" on software engineering for anyone interested.

Brooks writes in each chapter about different concerns that affect Software Engineering. The chapters include experiences the author had during his work in IBM back in the 70s. This makes it even more interesting since you actually learn about history of the craft. Note that the main content was written a while ago, but, much of it still applies in today's environment.

This edition includes the original essays and adds new content that comment on the book, the evolution of the field and what the author thinks is still applicable and what not.

As a whole it is very readable and many times fun to read. IMO this is a must read for anyone working in software engineering.

A genuine classic - a truly seminal work, 17 Dec 2004
One of the best books ever written about software development and computing in general.

Yes, it has dated in places but even so it is still very interesting and often incredibly insightful. The title essay (about how throwing additional people at an already late project simply makes it even later) and the essay about Second System Syndrome at particularly good.

It ought to be (but rather sadly is not) a must read for everybody working in IT.

Effective and motivational, 17 Nov 2008
I run a small website and SEO has always been on my list of things to do yet I could never find enough motivation to sit down and actually find out what the whole fuss is about and how to go about being a part of it. This book certainly sorted this out for me once and for all. It's very much like a user-friendly textbook (and one does not come across these very often) which takes you step by step through all the stages of implementing a successful SEO. It's very suitable for people like myself running a small internet business on top of normal 9-5, but it will be equally appropriate for a medium-sized company or a large organization. What I liked the most is the fact that the authors made an effort and broke this seemingly impossible for one person task into small managable chunks or hours and if you just do one bit at a time you know that in the end you're going to achieve what you set out to achieve. Highly recommended and probably one of the best on the market.

Excellent bok, 03 Sep 2008
This book excellent! I am working on my website and this book has been everything I needed in order to make it happen!
Thank you

Simply the best SEO book!, 14 Feb 2008
I have been optimising sites for search (with a reasonable degree of success) as part of my occupation as a web developer for nearly four years now. At the time of writing, my site is #1 and #2 (out of more than 8.5 million) in Google for my chosen keyword term. Upon reading this book, I learned how to turn the "basic optimisation" that I do well, into a much more professional optimisation service suitable to be presented to (potential) clients. I own 8 SEO books. If you're starting out, "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" is a good place to start but I have learned more useful stuff from this book than from the other 7 combined.

Practical handholding through the SEO jungle, 22 Nov 2007
A cracking introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (or Search Engine Marketing as they would prefer to call it!) Runs through the basics at a very easy pace (slightly slow, but at least it ensures that you've covered all the basics). Lots of practical exercises. For me, as a website designer, it confirmed a lot of suspicions I'd always had, and added some new ideas, but most importantly it gave me a focus for structuring my thinking; so even if you've been around in the web world for a bit it's a definite good buy.

Search Engine Optomisation: an hour a day, 30 Jun 2007
I found this a very interesting and focused book. The authors have a very direct and informative style. I enjoyed reading the book and I believe it will be very useful in my SEO campaign. The 'hour a day' really helps to keep the newbie on the right lines when planning a SEO campaign.

What a great book to compliment Lego Mindstorms, 21 Jan 2008
My 12 year old son received Lego Mindstorms for Xmas in 2006 and I recognised that we needed further guidance and inspiration to learn and go beyond the basics. Therefore we bought this book for Xmas 2007,, and it's been fantastic. It offers a reference guide to all the pieces and how to work with gears and axles etc,, it explains and provides a reference for all the programming blocks. Then it provides 6 robots with clear step by step instructions on how to build them, and provides the programming code for each. The programmes build up in complexity to a level where the robots could be believed to be intelligent. The other great thing is that the author has provided free of charge all the programmes featured in the book on his website. We have downloaded a few for "tag-bot" with no difficulty. We have had great fun running tag-bot around the house. The programme downloads avoid you having to write the programme steps from scratch, and allow you to review them and learn from them. We are now using our understanding of the author's programmes to create alternatives. The authors work is clear, well written and authoritative. If you want your child or any adult for that matter to master Automation and Control, then you won't go wrong with this great Lego Mindstorms package and this book. Great Mr Perdue!!

This is the one!!!, 10 Nov 2007
OK, you have the brilliant Lego Mindstorms NXT set. You made Spike the Scorpion and were amazed but then there's a big gap - what do you do next?

This book arrived 3 hours ago. I've waited 4 months for it. It really teaches you robotics. I now understand gears!!

The diagrams are clearer than 'The Mayan Adventure' which has greyish black and white photographs. I'm confident the chapters on programming will explain NXT-G. The 6 robots - based on 4 designs look incredible. They start simple and get complex. If number 6 does what it says (and I think it will) I will be amazed.

This book, the Mindstorms NXT set and some well chosen storage containers (essential!) combine to make the best £200 Christmas present around.

Superb Book, 18 Nov 2008
Quite the best book on the D300 (indeed all of other Nikon camera books) that has come my way. Clearly written, largely jargon free, and no showboating by the author. Pat Hunt, Ireland

Highly recommended!!!, 12 Jan 2008
Using just this book along with exam braindumps found online I passed the 640-802 exam. The practice exams offer hundreds of practise questions along with simulations. Very good investment

Does what it says on the tin - but don't overlook real hands-on, 11 Nov 2007
This two-book set is the new course text for the Cisco 640-802 CCNA exam, which supersedes the previous CCNA exam from November 2007.

To compare, having had a look at the two-book set for the previous exam (640-801), Wendell Odom and his team have done a pretty good job in updating this in light of new topics.

What's in the box? Similar to the old exam library, you get two books and two CDs but this time around you also get a DVD. The DVD gives content you can probably get from YouTube, but is worth a look. The two CDs provide an exam tool and 200 sample exam-tool questions, plus an electronic version of the book text. The exam tool is fine, but won't replace using the real thing when troubleshooting. But it is nice that it is included to get you going. Note that this is not the complete set of questions and the full BOSON exam question set is available to download from BOSON and is an extra cost.

As ICDN1 and ICDN2 have been re-worked, the text of volume one now refers to CCENT as the "replacement" to the ICND1 exam and has been revised accordingly. Initial review of the two books is that they are easier to read and digest. As before, they include the usual "foundation topics" and test questions at the start and end of each chapter. Don't be fooled that these test questions will enable a pass if you just know these - you will need to use the text and the real thing if you've not done this before. The previous "open ended" questions are included but have not been revised from the earlier 640-801 library set.

The stated aim is that the new exam is to focus more on design and troubleshooting rather than just facts. This is probably a good thing in that today's networks are more complex. The previous exam probably didn't prepare for the real world where wireless, VPNs and ADSL are in use.

Will these get you through the exam? Given the small industry of self-test and self-help books for CCNA, it suggests that this is but one of the tools needed to pass the exam. The honest view is that as the exam has got harder over the years, the only way to really know is to use the real thing. The two books and additional material are good, but unless it can be learnt verbatim, then you will need to use the texts with real hardware/software.

That said, this is the standard to which other CCNA books are measured.

Five stars for the revised content, but dropping one star on the basis that hands-on experience to back this up will help newcomers.


Engaging and easily understandable, 10 Nov 2008
I've got oodles of programming books and I'd put this one up with the best of my collection. It's carefully written to ensure all levels of experience and aptitude are catered for, I'd class myself as somewhere in the intermediates with a decent knowledge of actionscript 2 and I found it enormously useful.

All examples and diagrams make perfect sense, and the explanations they use have actually helped me come to terms with other programming paradigms I'd used but never fully understood.

Thoroughly recommend this one.

The best book I have read on the subject, 23 Aug 2008
This is the best book on Action Script I have read. It doesn't just explain techniques but it explains why things are so. For example, it explains why it's sometimes better to use sprites than movie clips and why you should always remove event listeners when they aren't needed.

I have read Colin Moock's book as well as the ActionScript 3 Bible and the documentation provided by Adobe. To my mind, this book is the best of all because it allows you to start using ActionScript 3 straight away. With a lot of books, you have covered many pages before you do anything useful. This book has you putting stuff on the screen straight away.
I already had knowledge of ActionScript 2 but I would have thought it would be useful to beginners too.
For those who already have some knowledge, it consolidates and adds to what you know.

I really feel quite confident with the language now in a way I didn't before.
It is well supported with downloadable examples from its companion website.

The book has an excellent layout format and makes good use of colour.

Awesome..., 29 Jul 2008
After endlessly searching for a decent AS3 book but having to settle with intermediate to advanced book I found this little gem and started some research. After finding reviews on the flashblog and other resources I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

not only is this book well illustrated in full colour, it also gives you a sense that your learning at a steady pace without feeling like your missing something as you progress.

The online resource site offers all of the files needed to sit and study the chapters in the book closer.

I have also recently embarked on what I thought was a problem with one of the resource files and emailed the support group, I was astonished to get a reply within 15 Minutes, pity that I was being a fool and there was no problem. Non the less the help was amazing.

I can't recommend this book enough for anyone wanting to make the jump from AS2 to AS3 or for anyone completely new to AS3.

Thank you

Easir to follow than Big Colin, 25 Jul 2008
I really like this book, It's a lot easier to follow than Colin Mook's essential one (Which of course you do actually need as well) Pretty straight to the point, easy to read and understand although I'm probably slap bang in the middle of the target audience - intermediate user with a fairly good understanding of key concepts and how OOP works. I don't recommend it for the absolute beginner and calling it "A beginners guide" is a bit misleading but as a transitional guide, its really good.

There are quite a few typos, it must be said and some of them are quite confusing. I also found that the choice of variable names occasionally made it less clear as to what's intended.

Overall, highly recommended and pretty much the second AS3 book you should have (Although buying it before Mr Mooks is probably a better idea if you get my drift)

I generally now use this one as my main learning guide and "Essential ActionScript 3.0" as a more detailed reference

best buy fopr every actionscript level, 15 Jul 2008
If you read this book and Essential actionscript 3 i actually belive you will be able to learn just as much if not more from Learning Actionscript 3 even though essential as3 is over 3x heavyer both mentally and physicaly - based on the fact the this book delivers the content in such an lite and understanable way in full color.

One seminal essay. The rest, repetitive and out of date., 29 Jan 2008
For sure the Mythical Man Month was a seminal essay back then. This is worth reading for sure. But the rest of the book is very out of date, and very repetitive. It gets a bit wearing too hearing the old line that hardware has advanced a thousand fold and software hasn't. Er, played any computer games lately?

I'd recommend reading the Mythical Man Month elsewhere if you can find it online and save the time, money, and effort reading the whole book.

Time better spent reading a book on Agile, or XP I would think.

A bit outdated..., 01 Aug 2007
Bought this book on the recommendation of a friend, bought "Debugging the Development Environment" on the recommendation of my boss and would probably recommend neither for todays fluidic environments. Mythical Man Month contains a somewhat outdated view of software development, more suitably apt for an age when only long time development projects for mainframes existed and Web/PC development had not been heard of.

Still relevant in parts to large waterfall based development projects, not helpful with RAD/Extreme and other more modern, small team development methods and probably only a useful read if you are new to project teams and/or have not worked in an IT environment

Orinal text is brilliant, 03 Apr 2007
The 1975 text is genius like essay No Silver Bullets at the end part of the book. At the very final essay is completely different.

At the final pages (207 and onwards) for some reason Mr Brooks felt that he needs to start defending his original text against critics. Fighting with critics is pointless and makes one me only to feel a shamed behalf of Mr Brooks.

The "absolute must read" in software engineering, 29 Aug 2006
I was working for several years in software development, exposed to systems engineering context before reading this book. I think Brooks was so right so long ago that this is "the absolute must read book" on software engineering for anyone interested.

Brooks writes in each chapter about different concerns that affect Software Engineering. The chapters include experiences the author had during his work in IBM back in the 70s. This makes it even more interesting since you actually learn about history of the craft. Note that the main content was written a while ago, but, much of it still applies in today's environment.

This edition includes the original essays and adds new content that comment on the book, the evolution of the field and what the author thinks is still applicable and what not.

As a whole it is very readable and many times fun to read. IMO this is a must read for anyone working in software engineering.

A genuine classic - a truly seminal work, 17 Dec 2004
One of the best books ever written about software development and computing in general.

Yes, it has dated in places but even so it is still very interesting and often incredibly insightful. The title essay (about how throwing additional people at an already late project simply makes it even later) and the essay about Second System Syndrome at particularly good.

It ought to be (but rather sadly is not) a must read for everybody working in IT.

Easy to read. Sensible advice., 01 Sep 2008
I'm about half-way through as I write this review but I am already very impressed with this book. Few has an easy-to-read style that's not full of fluff or pompous nonsense, and he provides sensible advise for producing effective designs.

The book begins by defining the term "information dashboard": the definition is suitably broad that you may realise that solutions you've build before would fit in and would therefore have benefited from the design advice given in the book. To make his points about poor design, Few then uses a selection of examples found on the web. Many of these are eye catching and graphically pleasing - but the commentary makes you appreciate the problems each exhibits. In the middle of the book, Few describes accepted scientific theories about human vision, perception and cognition that we should take into account in our designs - and these generally support the arguments that the example dashboards used earlier in the book were poor designs in one way or another. Later in the book (and I have not read these chapters yet), Few provides practical advice that can be applied in dashboard design. I am expecting these to be almost self-evident by the time I get there thanks to the Background Few has provided me with. But I am still looking forward to reading them nonetheless.

This book is in no way biased towards any display technology, user interface technology or programming technology and is therefore applicable whether you are producing a single-user desktop application, a multi-user, multi-screen information wall (as you've seen in pictures of the stock exchange) or even if you are producing printed reports. The advice given is about the design thought process rather than any particular notation so is applicable regardless of the software design methodology you may use.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic and would say it's a "must-have" if you are practically involved in the specification, analysis, design and even implementation of Information Dashboards.

Great insights, 29 Mar 2008
This is an excellent book and will change the way you look at how data is presented. I have struggled in the past trying to understand reports presented to me because of their poor design. The author offers a good mix of theory and practical examples, giving examples of poorly designed reports, pointing out their deficiencies and suggesting a better way of doing it. Overall it is a quick to read book that provides valuable insight.

Well Written, Well Presented, 04 Jan 2008
Stephen Few nods more than a little to Edward Tufte when it comes to approaches to visual and information design, and this book is both a highly informative and pleasant read for that. While not quite in the same league as one of Tufte's works, Information Dashboard Design is refreshingly devoid of waffle and mere personal opinion. The design principles he identifies are not hard to grasp, and the theory and rationale for them is very well argued and presented. Few's invention of the "bullet graph" also ensures his place alongside Tufte in the field of information design.

We can only hope that his ideas will now catch on, and that the awful drek that infests the vast majority of dashboard designs by even the largest of vendors will be swept away forever. If I never see another big shiny gauge again, it will be too soon.



Great book - a must for designing dashboards, 08 Oct 2007
I agree with the two other reviews that I read prior to posting. This is a great book that is well written. The example screen shots really show you the difference that can be made by using good design principles as suggested. If you are doing any dashboard design you need to read this book. Also what was really good was at the end there was just one page acknowledgeing other major authors in the area and suggesting their texts as well. This was really useful as rather than wade through all the references it gave you a snapshot of who Mr. Few thought were the best in his field. Brilliant. Can't recommend it enough.

Spins your whole understanding of dashboards and charting on its head, 21 Aug 2007
If you're currently using pie charts or graphs with lots of colours, you need this book.

If you've developed (or are developing) a digital dashboard that shares at least a few design ideas with a real in-car dashboard, you need this book.

If your users first reaction to your dashboard is 'wow, that looks cool' you need this book.

In fact, just buy this book. Your reporting and dashboards will benefit. The author really knows his stuff.

Effective and motivational, 17 Nov 2008
I run a small website and SEO has always been on my list of things to do yet I could never find enough motivation to sit down and actually find out what the whole fuss is about and how to go about being a part of it. This book certainly sorted this out for me once and for all. It's very much like a user-friendly textbook (and one does not come across these very often) which takes you step by step through all the stages of implementing a successful SEO. It's very suitable for people like myself running a small internet business on top of normal 9-5, but it will be equally appropriate for a medium-sized company or a large organization. What I liked the most is the fact that the authors made an effort and broke this seemingly impossible for one person task into small managable chunks or hours and if you just do one bit at a time you know that in the end you're going to achieve what you set out to achieve. Highly recommended and probably one of the best on the market.

Excellent bok, 03 Sep 2008
This book excellent! I am working on my website and this book has been everything I needed in order to make it happen!
Thank you

Simply the best SEO book!, 14 Feb 2008
I have been optimising sites for search (with a reasonable degree of success) as part of my occupation as a web developer for nearly four years now. At the time of writing, my site is #1 and #2 (out of more than 8.5 million) in Google for my chosen keyword term. Upon reading this book, I learned how to turn the "basic optimisation" that I do well, into a much more professional optimisation service suitable to be presented to (potential) clients. I own 8 SEO books. If you're starting out, "Search Engine Optimization for Dummies" is a good place to start but I have learned more useful stuff from this book than from the other 7 combined.

Practical handholding through the SEO jungle, 22 Nov 2007
A cracking introduction to Search Engine Optimisation (or Search Engine Marketing as they would prefer to call it!) Runs through the basics at a very easy pace (slightly slow, but at least it ensures that you've covered all the basics). Lots of practical exercises. For me, as a website designer, it confirmed a lot of suspicions I'd always had, and added some new ideas, but most importantly it gave me a focus for structuring my thinking; so even if you've been around in the web world for a bit it's a definite good buy.

Search Engine Optomisation: an hour a day, 30 Jun 2007
I found this a very interesting and focused book. The authors have a very direct and informative style. I enjoyed reading the book and I believe it will be very useful in my SEO campaign. The 'hour a day' really helps to keep the newbie on the right lines when planning a SEO campaign.

What a great book to compliment Lego Mindstorms, 21 Jan 2008
My 12 year old son received Lego Mindstorms for Xmas in 2006 and I recognised that we needed further guidance and inspiration to learn and go beyond the basics. Therefore we bought this book for Xmas 2007,, and it's been fantastic. It offers a reference guide to all the pieces and how to work with gears and axles etc,, it explains and provides a reference for all the programming blocks. Then it provides 6 robots with clear step by step instructions on how to build them, and provides the programming code for each. The programmes build up in complexity to a level where the robots could be believed to be intelligent. The other great thing is that the author has provided free of charge all the programmes featured in the book on his website. We have downloaded a few for "tag-bot" with no difficulty. We have had great fun running tag-bot around the house. The programme downloads avoid you having to write the programme steps from scratch, and allow you to review them and learn from them. We are now using our understanding of the author's programmes to create alternatives. The authors work is clear, well written and authoritative. If you want your child or any adult for that matter to master Automation and Control, then you won't go wrong with this great Lego Mindstorms package and this book. Great Mr Perdue!!

This is the one!!!, 10 Nov 2007
OK, you have the brilliant Lego Mindstorms NXT set. You made Spike the Scorpion and were amazed but then there's a big gap - what do you do next?

This book arrived 3 hours ago. I've waited 4 months for it. It really teaches you robotics. I now understand gears!!

The diagrams are clearer than 'The Mayan Adventure' which has greyish black and white photographs. I'm confident the chapters on programming will explain NXT-G. The 6 robots - based on 4 designs look incredible. They start simple and get complex. If number 6 does what it says (and I think it will) I will be amazed.

This book, the Mindstorms NXT set and some well chosen storage containers (essential!) combine to make the best £200 Christmas present around.

Superb Book, 18 Nov 2008
Quite the best book on the D300 (indeed all of other Nikon camera books) that has come my way. Clearly written, largely jargon free, and no showboating by the author. Pat Hunt, Ireland

Highly recommended!!!, 12 Jan 2008
Using just this book along with exam braindumps found online I passed the 640-802 exam. The practice exams offer hundreds of practise questions along with simulations. Very good investment

Does what it says on the tin - but don't overlook real hands-on, 11 Nov 2007
This two-book set is the new course text for the Cisco 640-802 CCNA exam, which supersedes the previous CCNA exam from November 2007.

To compare, having had a look at the two-book set for the previous exam (640-801), Wendell Odom and his team have done a pretty good job in updating this in light of new topics.

What's in the box? Similar to the old exam library, you get two books and two CDs but this time around you also get a DVD. The DVD gives content you can probably get from YouTube, but is worth a look. The two CDs provide an exam tool and 200 sample exam-tool questions, plus an electronic version of the book text. The exam tool is fine, but won't replace using the real thing when troubleshooting. But it is nice that it is included to get you going. Note that this is not the complete set of questions and the full BOSON exam question set is available to download from BOSON and is an extra cost.

As ICDN1 and ICDN2 have been re-worked, the text of volume one now refers to CCENT as the "replacement" to the ICND1 exam and has been revised accordingly. Initial review of the two books is that they are easier to read and digest. As before, they include the usual "foundation topics" and test questions at the start and end of each chapter. Don't be fooled that these test questions will enable a pass if you just know these - you will need to use the text and the real thing if you've not done this before. The previous "open ended" questions are included but have not been revised from the earlier 640-801 library set.

The stated aim is that the new exam is to focus more on design and troubleshooting rather than just facts. This is probably a good thing in that today's networks are more complex. The previous exam probably didn't prepare for the real world where wireless, VPNs and ADSL are in use.

Will these get you through the exam? Given the small industry of self-test and self-help books for CCNA, it suggests that this is but one of the tools needed to pass the exam. The honest view is that as the exam has got harder over the years, the only way to really know is to use the real thing. The two books and additional material are good, but unless it can be learnt verbatim, then you will need to use the texts with real hardware/software.

That said, this is the standard to which other CCNA books are measured.

Five stars for the revised content, but dropping one star on the basis that hands-on experience to back this up will help newcomers.


Engaging and easily understandable, 10 Nov 2008
I've got oodles of programming books and I'd put this one up with the best of my collection. It's carefully written to ensure all levels of experience and aptitude are catered for, I'd class myself as somewhere in the intermediates with a decent knowledge of actionscript 2 and I found it enormously useful.

All examples and diagrams make perfect sense, and the explanations they use have actually helped me come to terms with other programming paradigms I'd used but never fully understood.

Thoroughly recommend this one.

The best book I have read on the subject, 23 Aug 2008
This is the best book on Action Script I have read. It doesn't just explain techniques but it explains why things are so. For example, it explains why it's sometimes better to use sprites than movie clips and why you should always remove event listeners when they aren't needed.

I have read Colin Moock's book as well as the ActionScript 3 Bible and the documentation provided by Adobe. To my mind, this book is the best of all because it allows you to start using ActionScript 3 straight away. With a lot of books, you have covered many pages before you do anything useful. This book has you putting stuff on the screen straight away.
I already had knowledge of ActionScript 2 but I would have thought it would be useful to beginners too.
For those who already have some knowledge, it consolidates and adds to what you know.

I really feel quite confident with the language now in a way I didn't before.
It is well supported with downloadable examples from its companion website.

The book has an excellent layout format and makes good use of colour.

Awesome..., 29 Jul 2008
After endlessly searching for a decent AS3 book but having to settle with intermediate to advanced book I found this little gem and started some research. After finding reviews on the flashblog and other resources I decided to go ahead with the purchase.

not only is this book well illustrated in full colour, it also gives you a sense that your learning at a steady pace without feeling like your missing something as you progress.

The online resource site offers all of the files needed to sit and study the chapters in the book closer.

I have also recently embarked on what I thought was a problem with one of the resource files and emailed the support group, I was astonished to get a reply within 15 Minutes, pity that I was being a fool and there was no problem. Non the less the help was amazing.

I can't recommend this book enough for anyone wanting to make the jump from AS2 to AS3 or for anyone completely new to AS3.

Thank you

Easir to follow than Big Colin, 25 Jul 2008
I really like this book, It's a lot easier to follow than Colin Mook's essential one (Which of course you do actually need as well) Pretty straight to the point, easy to read and understand although I'm probably slap bang in the middle of the target audience - intermediate user with a fairly good understanding of key concepts and how OOP works. I don't recommend it for the absolute beginner and calling it "A beginners guide" is a bit misleading but as a transitional guide, its really good.

There are quite a few typos, it must be said and some of them are quite confusing. I also found that the choice of variable names occasionally made it less clear as to what's intended.

Overall, highly recommended and pretty much the second AS3 book you should have (Although buying it before Mr Mooks is probably a better idea if you get my drift)

I generally now use this one as my main learning guide and "Essential ActionScript 3.0" as a more detailed reference

best buy fopr every actionscript level, 15 Jul 2008
If you read this book and Essential actionscript 3 i actually belive you will be able to learn just as much if not more from Learning Actionscript 3 even though essential as3 is over 3x heavyer both mentally and physicaly - based on the fact the this book delivers the content in such an lite and understanable way in full color.

One seminal essay. The rest, repetitive and out of date., 29 Jan 2008
For sure the Mythical Man Month was a seminal essay back then. This is worth reading for sure. But the rest of the book is very out of date, and very repetitive. It gets a bit wearing too hearing the old line that hardware has advanced a thousand fold and software hasn't. Er, played any computer games lately?

I'd recommend reading the Mythical Man Month elsewhere if you can find it online and save the time, money, and effort reading the whole book.

Time better spent reading a book on Agile, or XP I would think.

A bit outdated..., 01 Aug 2007
Bought this book on the recommendation of a friend, bought "Debugging the Development Environment" on the recommendation of my boss and would probably recommend neither for todays fluidic environments. Mythical Man Month contains a somewhat outdated view of software development, more suitably apt for an age when only long time development projects for mainframes existed and Web/PC development had not been heard of.

Still relevant in parts to large waterfall based development projects, not helpful with RAD/Extreme and other more modern, small team development methods and probably only a useful read if you are new to project teams and/or have not worked in an IT environment

Orinal text is brilliant, 03 Apr 2007
The 1975 text is genius like essay No Silver Bullets at the end part of the book. At the very final essay is completely different.

At the final pages (207 and onwards) for some reason Mr Brooks felt that he needs to start defending his original text against critics. Fighting with critics is pointless and makes one me only to feel a shamed behalf of Mr Brooks.

The "absolute must read" in software engineering, 29 Aug 2006
I was working for several years in software development, exposed to systems engineering context before reading this book. I think Brooks was so right so long ago that this is "the absolute must read book" on software engineering for anyone interested.

Brooks writes in each chapter about different concerns that affect Software Engineering. The chapters include experiences the author had during his work in IBM back in the 70s. This makes it even more interesting since you actually learn about history of the craft. Note that the main content was written a while ago, but, much of it still applies in today's environment.

This edition includes the original essays and adds new content that comment on the book, the evolution of the field and what the author thinks is still applicable and what not.

As a whole it is very readable and many times fun to read. IMO this is a must read for anyone working in software engineering.

A genuine classic - a truly seminal work, 17 Dec 2004
One of the best books ever written about software development and computing in general.

Yes, it has dated in places but even so it is still very interesting and often incredibly insightful. The title essay (about how throwing additional people at an already late project simply makes it even later) and the essay about Second System Syndrome at particularly good.

It ought to be (but rather sadly is not) a must read for everybody working in IT.

Easy to read. Sensible advice., 01 Sep 2008
I'm about half-way through as I write this review but I am already very impressed with this book. Few has an easy-to-read style that's not full of fluff or pompous nonsense, and he provides sensible advise for producing effective designs.

The book begins by defining the term "information dashboard": the definition is suitably broad that you may realise that solutions you've build before would fit in and would therefore have benefited from the design advice given in the book. To make his points about poor design, Few then uses a selection of examples found on the web. Many of these are eye catching and graphically pleasing - but the commentary makes you appreciate the problems each exhibits. In the middle of the book, Few describes accepted scientific theories about human vision, perception and cognition that we should take into account in our designs - and these generally support the arguments that the example dashboards used earlier in the book were poor designs in one way or another. Later in the book (and I have not read these chapters yet), Few provides practical advice that can be applied in dashboard design. I am expecting these to be almost self-evident by the time I get there thanks to the Background Few has provided me with. But I am still looking forward to reading them nonetheless.

This book is in no way biased towards any display technology, user interface technology or programming technology and is therefore applicable whether you are producing a single-user desktop application, a multi-user, multi-screen information wall (as you've seen in pictures of the stock exchange) or even if you are producing printed reports. The advice given is about the design thought process rather than any particular notation so is applicable regardless of the software design methodology you may use.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic and would say it's a "must-have" if you are practically involved in the specification, analysis, design and even implementation of Information Dashboards.

Great insights, 29 Mar 2008
This is an excellent book and will change the way you look at how data is presented. I have struggled in the past trying to understand reports presented to me because of their poor design. The author offers a good mix of theory and practical examples, giving examples of poorly designed reports, pointing out their deficiencies and suggesting a better way of doing it. Overall it is a quick to read book that provides valuable insight.

Well Written, Well Presented, 04 Jan 2008
Stephen Few nods more than a little to Edward Tufte when it comes to approaches to visual and information design, and this book is both a highly informative and pleasant read for that. While not quite in the same league as one of Tufte's works, Information Dashboard Design is refreshingly devoid of waffle and mere personal opinion. The design principles he identifies are not hard to grasp, and the theory and rationale for them is very well argued and presented. Few's invention of the "bullet graph" also ensures his place alongside Tufte in the field of information design.

We can only hope that his ideas will now catch on, and that the awful drek that infests the vast majority of dashboard designs by even the largest of vendors will be swept away forever. If I never see another big shiny gauge again, it will be too soon.



Great book - a must for designing dashboards, 08 Oct 2007
I agree with the two other reviews that I read prior