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 Customer Reviews
The Emperor has no clothes, 10 Oct 2008
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
A highly disappointing text from an erudite and capable author. The book is fallacious, misleading and mischievous. The abuse of simple statistical distributions alone warrants not taking it seriously. It is oversold by the blurb and does not do what it says on the cover. Extremely disappointing.
Good for teachers of Critical Thinking?, 02 Oct 2008
There are already many reviews here so I'd simply like to add that this could be useful to anyone teaching Critical Thinking. It's full of neat little stories and interesting points. The author often contradicts himself or ignores his own warnings (possibly deliberately to keep the readers on their toes) so it should be used carefully.
Interesting, but an ego-trip, 01 Oct 2008
I have to agree with most of the other reviews, that although this book is an interesting read which lets you look at some of the problems in "routine statistics in practice" from a different angle.
However, at the same time the book is one big ego-trip with the author being very full of himself and people who share his ideas, while looking down on everyone else. For some reason the authors feels that almost everyone involved in statistics has no idea about the data he or she is working with, no idea of variability of data, and no idea of its shortcomings. Everyone, except himself and some friends...
To illustrate this, the author uses interesting and entertaining examples which make the book a good read. Unfortunately, some of his examples and the thought process used to make his point are flawed.
Nonetheless, i would recommend this book to people routinely working with data just to be aware of the different angles on the same topic in an easy to understand language, while simultaneously being entertained.
Suddenly, it all made sense ..., 01 Oct 2008
Nothing short of ABSOLUTELY REVALATORY ... notwithstanding other reviewers' comments regarding arrogance, ego, verbosity etc., I found this book to be nothing short of life altering; entertaining and funny in it's written style, too.
Working in a profession which constantly deals with unpredictability, including extremely high-impact unpredicability, this book holds up a bright light to the anti-intellectual lunacy prevading my own profession and brings me a clarity of thought I wondered if I'd ever enjoy.
NNT was willing all throughout this book to highlight his disdain for 'anti-scholars' who peddle 'anti-knowledge' and I have to accept that some who've missed his main point will take this as arrogance, ego, etc.. I've found throughout life that it takes some extremely confident, contrary and often arrogant people to set the new standards and shock people into seeing the light.
AWESOME BOOK; Iimmediately bought several copies to distribute as Christmas presents to the un-enlightened and ordered his previous book 'Fooled by Randomness' which I can wait to devour upon arrival today.
strong character, strong book, 26 Sep 2008
I just read the book whilst in Colombia a bit more than a week ago. Though it shines through that Nassim Nicholas Taleb is an opinionated man (in all positivity) with a rather big than small ego, it certainly needs a character like this to be able to step back from common (dis-)believe and make a critical point can has the potential to smash many of our assumptions about nothing less than life itself. Looking at rare phenomena from an economic and philosophical point of view, he (if his numbers are right) makes a strong point against the industry of predictability for the least. Reading from his experience and research, it makes me think of when I first read Stephen Johnson's 'Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software', John Gray's 'Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, or Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism'. All those books, written in the last few years show how we are slave of our own misconception about our own history, decisions, believe in the power of prediction and generally our 'greatness' as a species.
It is very sobering to see that we still keep getting things wrong most of the time, despite the claim of being part of any of the many groups of 'a chosen people' or the more secular view of having 'progressed' into something better, higher (whatever that might be). Despite all our knowledge, we now have scientists as the new scriptwriters and painters of how armageddon looks like (see 100 years ahead predictions of rising sea-levels and the 5 billion deaths it's supposed to cost us). But maybe armageddon is the only Black Swan we can't fully imagine but we been predicting long enough to get one of the many dates right.
Essential reading, definitely get's you away from the craziness that is London commuting.
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Customer Reviews
The Emperor has no clothes, 10 Oct 2008
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
A highly disappointing text from an erudite and capable author. The book is fallacious, misleading and mischievous. The abuse of simple statistical distributions alone warrants not taking it seriously. It is oversold by the blurb and does not do what it says on the cover. Extremely disappointing.
Good for teachers of Critical Thinking?, 02 Oct 2008
There are already many reviews here so I'd simply like to add that this could be useful to anyone teaching Critical Thinking. It's full of neat little stories and interesting points. The author often contradicts himself or ignores his own warnings (possibly deliberately to keep the readers on their toes) so it should be used carefully.
Interesting, but an ego-trip, 01 Oct 2008
I have to agree with most of the other reviews, that although this book is an interesting read which lets you look at some of the problems in "routine statistics in practice" from a different angle.
However, at the same time the book is one big ego-trip with the author being very full of himself and people who share his ideas, while looking down on everyone else. For some reason the authors feels that almost everyone involved in statistics has no idea about the data he or she is working with, no idea of variability of data, and no idea of its shortcomings. Everyone, except himself and some friends...
To illustrate this, the author uses interesting and entertaining examples which make the book a good read. Unfortunately, some of his examples and the thought process used to make his point are flawed.
Nonetheless, i would recommend this book to people routinely working with data just to be aware of the different angles on the same topic in an easy to understand language, while simultaneously being entertained.
Suddenly, it all made sense ..., 01 Oct 2008
Nothing short of ABSOLUTELY REVALATORY ... notwithstanding other reviewers' comments regarding arrogance, ego, verbosity etc., I found this book to be nothing short of life altering; entertaining and funny in it's written style, too.
Working in a profession which constantly deals with unpredictability, including extremely high-impact unpredicability, this book holds up a bright light to the anti-intellectual lunacy prevading my own profession and brings me a clarity of thought I wondered if I'd ever enjoy.
NNT was willing all throughout this book to highlight his disdain for 'anti-scholars' who peddle 'anti-knowledge' and I have to accept that some who've missed his main point will take this as arrogance, ego, etc.. I've found throughout life that it takes some extremely confident, contrary and often arrogant people to set the new standards and shock people into seeing the light.
AWESOME BOOK; Iimmediately bought several copies to distribute as Christmas presents to the un-enlightened and ordered his previous book 'Fooled by Randomness' which I can wait to devour upon arrival today.
strong character, strong book, 26 Sep 2008
I just read the book whilst in Colombia a bit more than a week ago. Though it shines through that Nassim Nicholas Taleb is an opinionated man (in all positivity) with a rather big than small ego, it certainly needs a character like this to be able to step back from common (dis-)believe and make a critical point can has the potential to smash many of our assumptions about nothing less than life itself. Looking at rare phenomena from an economic and philosophical point of view, he (if his numbers are right) makes a strong point against the industry of predictability for the least. Reading from his experience and research, it makes me think of when I first read Stephen Johnson's 'Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software', John Gray's 'Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, or Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism'. All those books, written in the last few years show how we are slave of our own misconception about our own history, decisions, believe in the power of prediction and generally our 'greatness' as a species.
It is very sobering to see that we still keep getting things wrong most of the time, despite the claim of being part of any of the many groups of 'a chosen people' or the more secular view of having 'progressed' into something better, higher (whatever that might be). Despite all our knowledge, we now have scientists as the new scriptwriters and painters of how armageddon looks like (see 100 years ahead predictions of rising sea-levels and the 5 billion deaths it's supposed to cost us). But maybe armageddon is the only Black Swan we can't fully imagine but we been predicting long enough to get one of the many dates right.
Essential reading, definitely get's you away from the craziness that is London commuting.
Welcome to the Magic Circle, 21 Jun 2008
Search Engine Optimisation has acquired a status which might be regarded similar to that of the magic circle:
It's secretive - only those in the circle really know the tricks
There's an element of magic - SEOs do things we don't understand
It's competitive - we all want to get to the top
It's closed - those within the circle do not disclose all the tricks
They even categorise their tricks as good and bad with the terms "white hat" and "black hat"
Well, in this excellent new book David Viney has let us all into the circle, and what we learn is that it's not magic!
However, I should like to follow that statement by immediately saying that it is plainly not easy either. Also, by the very nature of the fierce competition for the top spots, it will always be competitive, and you will always have to work at it.
What this particular magician sets out for us all here is a structure and a method which we might follow to improve our own success.
The author uses the analogy of cookery; there are ingredients, recipes to follow - and I would add, a great deal of time needed to be spent in the kitchen!!
You will be surprised to learn the breadth of things that you will need to do to be in with a competitive chance. The book covers the many factors that contribute to your ultimate success. I was surprised at just how many areas contribute to a site becoming successful, in 240 pages David Viney covers a lot of ground.
The title is so clever; Step 1 in David's plan focuses on finding the "phrases that pay", and sure enough, the title of his book is of course just one such example - nicely wraps-up in a phrase what the book is all about AND is what we are all searching for!
As other reviewers have written here, the book strikes an excellent balance in readability, suitable for reading and use by other professional SEOs and equally works very well for the novice.
The seven step procedure does categorise the areas of focus well, and does give a guide to chronology, but it's not his intention that you should remain in a step until you have done everything you possibly can, more that you need to do a wide number of things, and that over the longer period you will need to track back and forth through the steps and re-visit activities.
The book does a great job of illustrating the size of the market, the strength and importance of Google in that market, and the potential prizes available to the top of page one winners.
"Having your site in the top 10 is like having your store right on Main Street or near the entrance of the largest shopping mall in human history. Being outside the top 20 is like having a corner store on the very outskirts of town."
You should buy and read this book before building your website, probably even before naming you business. The tips within it on subjects such as targetting a niche, phrases that pay, finding and targeting keywords, domain names, hosting locations, etc. are all key considerations in the choices you should make in the very early days.
But there's no need to worry if you are already well into the life of your business and your website, there is plenty within this book for all to heed and follow.
I would strongly recommend the book to anybody interested in getting their website "to the top on Google", you will learn a great deal, and will be able to take action based upon the guidance within the book.
However, go into this exercise with the awareness that it is a long game. You may read the book in just a few hours, but you will need to work persistently at your website's optimisation continuously to reach the top and stay there .........The prizes are Great. It is fiercely competitive. The web is continuously evolving. Your competitors will read this book too.
This is probably the best book on this subject that you can buy.
Take the first step, buy and read the book.
Then keep it next to your computer, keep dipping into it, follow its recommendations.
Then, be prepared to buy an updated version or follow-up next year, with more and new recommendations for you to implement!
The Mother of all SEO Books, 16 Jun 2008
I want to keep this short and sweet as copywriting is not my strong point. If you are looking for a book that spells out the key issues on SEO in an order that actually makes logical sense - then this is the book for you. Rather than a book full of information (although it is very informative) - its best used a step-by-step tool to any SEO project. I can understand why one of the reviewers read it twice.
I had purchased SEO for Dummies but that was really a 'bits n pieces' kind of book and left me unguided. This book follows a chronological path and makes you stick to it.
I shall be using it on every SEO project from now on.
5/5
Buy IT! BUY IT!, 19 May 2008
I have read this book from cover to cover TWICE!!! Then I bought my collegue a copy for his birthday so he wouldn't keep taking mine!!
This is full of practical knowledge to get you up and going and also a great reference book for the more knowledgable. BUY IT NOW!!! You wont be dissapointed!!
A book that covers EVERYTHING finally...., 15 May 2008
I have to admit, I couldn't wait for this book to come out so I purchased a few other before hand and wasn't too impressed! When the book arrived I said to myself that I would read it through once quickly and then go over it in more closely 2nd time round. Well, I just finished it for the 1st time and it took me 2 weeks LOL - I just had to test everything as soon as I read it!
This book is by far the best of 6 SEO books I have read (not going to name the others) - I can't recommend it enough, you will gain so much from reading it - right, i'm off to start it for the 2nd time - kudos to David Viney aka "LEGEND"
Handy guide to being first on Google search results list, 08 May 2008
The information in this very specific book can help you increase the effectiveness of your Web efforts and gain better visibility among the Web search results on Google and other search engines. David Viney shares his expertise in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in helpful detail. Have you wondered if you need professional input in this area? Read here to find out how expert guidance, copywriting, site design and Web master services can supplement your efforts, and boost your visibility and sales. Viney explains how to assess your current results. He tells you how to make sure your Web page appears among search results in productive positions, but he doesn't overpromise about what you can accomplish. Much of his information is quite detailed and technical, but relatively accessible and applicable. However, it is somewhat vulnerable to becoming outdated, in places, if Google alters its current parameters. getAbstract expects future editions to handle that little problem quite nicely.
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Customer Reviews
The Emperor has no clothes, 10 Oct 2008
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
A highly disappointing text from an erudite and capable author. The book is fallacious, misleading and mischievous. The abuse of simple statistical distributions alone warrants not taking it seriously. It is oversold by the blurb and does not do what it says on the cover. Extremely disappointing.
Good for teachers of Critical Thinking?, 02 Oct 2008
There are already many reviews here so I'd simply like to add that this could be useful to anyone teaching Critical Thinking. It's full of neat little stories and interesting points. The author often contradicts himself or ignores his own warnings (possibly deliberately to keep the readers on their toes) so it should be used carefully.
Interesting, but an ego-trip, 01 Oct 2008
I have to agree with most of the other reviews, that although this book is an interesting read which lets you look at some of the problems in "routine statistics in practice" from a different angle.
However, at the same time the book is one big ego-trip with the author being very full of himself and people who share his ideas, while looking down on everyone else. For some reason the authors feels that almost everyone involved in statistics has no idea about the data he or she is working with, no idea of variability of data, and no idea of its shortcomings. Everyone, except himself and some friends...
To illustrate this, the author uses interesting and entertaining examples which make the book a good read. Unfortunately, some of his examples and the thought process used to make his point are flawed.
Nonetheless, i would recommend this book to people routinely working with data just to be aware of the different angles on the same topic in an easy to understand language, while simultaneously being entertained.
Suddenly, it all made sense ..., 01 Oct 2008
Nothing short of ABSOLUTELY REVALATORY ... notwithstanding other reviewers' comments regarding arrogance, ego, verbosity etc., I found this book to be nothing short of life altering; entertaining and funny in it's written style, too.
Working in a profession which constantly deals with unpredictability, including extremely high-impact unpredicability, this book holds up a bright light to the anti-intellectual lunacy prevading my own profession and brings me a clarity of thought I wondered if I'd ever enjoy.
NNT was willing all throughout this book to highlight his disdain for 'anti-scholars' who peddle 'anti-knowledge' and I have to accept that some who've missed his main point will take this as arrogance, ego, etc.. I've found throughout life that it takes some extremely confident, contrary and often arrogant people to set the new standards and shock people into seeing the light.
AWESOME BOOK; Iimmediately bought several copies to distribute as Christmas presents to the un-enlightened and ordered his previous book 'Fooled by Randomness' which I can wait to devour upon arrival today.
strong character, strong book, 26 Sep 2008
I just read the book whilst in Colombia a bit more than a week ago. Though it shines through that Nassim Nicholas Taleb is an opinionated man (in all positivity) with a rather big than small ego, it certainly needs a character like this to be able to step back from common (dis-)believe and make a critical point can has the potential to smash many of our assumptions about nothing less than life itself. Looking at rare phenomena from an economic and philosophical point of view, he (if his numbers are right) makes a strong point against the industry of predictability for the least. Reading from his experience and research, it makes me think of when I first read Stephen Johnson's 'Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software', John Gray's 'Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, or Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism'. All those books, written in the last few years show how we are slave of our own misconception about our own history, decisions, believe in the power of prediction and generally our 'greatness' as a species.
It is very sobering to see that we still keep getting things wrong most of the time, despite the claim of being part of any of the many groups of 'a chosen people' or the more secular view of having 'progressed' into something better, higher (whatever that might be). Despite all our knowledge, we now have scientists as the new scriptwriters and painters of how armageddon looks like (see 100 years ahead predictions of rising sea-levels and the 5 billion deaths it's supposed to cost us). But maybe armageddon is the only Black Swan we can't fully imagine but we been predicting long enough to get one of the many dates right.
Essential reading, definitely get's you away from the craziness that is London commuting.
Welcome to the Magic Circle, 21 Jun 2008
Search Engine Optimisation has acquired a status which might be regarded similar to that of the magic circle:
It's secretive - only those in the circle really know the tricks
There's an element of magic - SEOs do things we don't understand
It's competitive - we all want to get to the top
It's closed - those within the circle do not disclose all the tricks
They even categorise their tricks as good and bad with the terms "white hat" and "black hat"
Well, in this excellent new book David Viney has let us all into the circle, and what we learn is that it's not magic!
However, I should like to follow that statement by immediately saying that it is plainly not easy either. Also, by the very nature of the fierce competition for the top spots, it will always be competitive, and you will always have to work at it.
What this particular magician sets out for us all here is a structure and a method which we might follow to improve our own success.
The author uses the analogy of cookery; there are ingredients, recipes to follow - and I would add, a great deal of time needed to be spent in the kitchen!!
You will be surprised to learn the breadth of things that you will need to do to be in with a competitive chance. The book covers the many factors that contribute to your ultimate success. I was surprised at just how many areas contribute to a site becoming successful, in 240 pages David Viney covers a lot of ground.
The title is so clever; Step 1 in David's plan focuses on finding the "phrases that pay", and sure enough, the title of his book is of course just one such example - nicely wraps-up in a phrase what the book is all about AND is what we are all searching for!
As other reviewers have written here, the book strikes an excellent balance in readability, suitable for reading and use by other professional SEOs and equally works very well for the novice.
The seven step procedure does categorise the areas of focus well, and does give a guide to chronology, but it's not his intention that you should remain in a step until you have done everything you possibly can, more that you need to do a wide number of things, and that over the longer period you will need to track back and forth through the steps and re-visit activities.
The book does a great job of illustrating the size of the market, the strength and importance of Google in that market, and the potential prizes available to the top of page one winners.
"Having your site in the top 10 is like having your store right on Main Street or near the entrance of the largest shopping mall in human history. Being outside the top 20 is like having a corner store on the very outskirts of town."
You should buy and read this book before building your website, probably even before naming you business. The tips within it on subjects such as targetting a niche, phrases that pay, finding and targeting keywords, domain names, hosting locations, etc. are all key considerations in the choices you should make in the very early days.
But there's no need to worry if you are already well into the life of your business and your website, there is plenty within this book for all to heed and follow.
I would strongly recommend the book to anybody interested in getting their website "to the top on Google", you will learn a great deal, and will be able to take action based upon the guidance within the book.
However, go into this exercise with the awareness that it is a long game. You may read the book in just a few hours, but you will need to work persistently at your website's optimisation continuously to reach the top and stay there .........The prizes are Great. It is fiercely competitive. The web is continuously evolving. Your competitors will read this book too.
This is probably the best book on this subject that you can buy.
Take the first step, buy and read the book.
Then keep it next to your computer, keep dipping into it, follow its recommendations.
Then, be prepared to buy an updated version or follow-up next year, with more and new recommendations for you to implement!
The Mother of all SEO Books, 16 Jun 2008
I want to keep this short and sweet as copywriting is not my strong point. If you are looking for a book that spells out the key issues on SEO in an order that actually makes logical sense - then this is the book for you. Rather than a book full of information (although it is very informative) - its best used a step-by-step tool to any SEO project. I can understand why one of the reviewers read it twice.
I had purchased SEO for Dummies but that was really a 'bits n pieces' kind of book and left me unguided. This book follows a chronological path and makes you stick to it.
I shall be using it on every SEO project from now on.
5/5
Buy IT! BUY IT!, 19 May 2008
I have read this book from cover to cover TWICE!!! Then I bought my collegue a copy for his birthday so he wouldn't keep taking mine!!
This is full of practical knowledge to get you up and going and also a great reference book for the more knowledgable. BUY IT NOW!!! You wont be dissapointed!!
A book that covers EVERYTHING finally...., 15 May 2008
I have to admit, I couldn't wait for this book to come out so I purchased a few other before hand and wasn't too impressed! When the book arrived I said to myself that I would read it through once quickly and then go over it in more closely 2nd time round. Well, I just finished it for the 1st time and it took me 2 weeks LOL - I just had to test everything as soon as I read it!
This book is by far the best of 6 SEO books I have read (not going to name the others) - I can't recommend it enough, you will gain so much from reading it - right, i'm off to start it for the 2nd time - kudos to David Viney aka "LEGEND"
Handy guide to being first on Google search results list, 08 May 2008
The information in this very specific book can help you increase the effectiveness of your Web efforts and gain better visibility among the Web search results on Google and other search engines. David Viney shares his expertise in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in helpful detail. Have you wondered if you need professional input in this area? Read here to find out how expert guidance, copywriting, site design and Web master services can supplement your efforts, and boost your visibility and sales. Viney explains how to assess your current results. He tells you how to make sure your Web page appears among search results in productive positions, but he doesn't overpromise about what you can accomplish. Much of his information is quite detailed and technical, but relatively accessible and applicable. However, it is somewhat vulnerable to becoming outdated, in places, if Google alters its current parameters. getAbstract expects future editions to handle that little problem quite nicely.
The wrong approach for me, 30 Sep 2008
Having bought and enjoyed the Scott Kelby Lightroom 1 book I thought, variety being the spice of life, that for Lightroom 2 I would buy the Martin Evening book.
Having seen the Evening LR1 book in shops I was surprised to see that the pages in the LR2 book are smaller but to compensate the book is about 50% thicker. For me this has a handling disadvantage but more importantly the screen shots have to be smaller. This means that with many examples I struggle to see what the screen shot is trying to convey. Indeed the text on many of the screenshots is unreadable.
There is also a big difference in styles and approaches between the two authors. Evening tells you at length what every module, button and slider is for. Kelby tells you how to use Lightroom.
So If you want a reference book then this is the book for you. If you want a book that tells you when and how to use the controls to improve your photos then buy Kelby's books. My preference is for the latter.
Note: Although the Evening book purports to offer free online access to the electronic version you will find when you sign up to the offer that access is only free for the first 45 days. Not recommended.
The Best Book on Digital Capture Processing & Workflow, 18 Sep 2008
A fantastic book for Anyone, from serious enthusiasts to Semi-Pro's, or Old Pro's looking to finally go digital and leave the Titanic that Traditional Analogue photography has finally become.
Out of all the books I have checked out, this is the one. It's engaging, transparent, and fun, allowing the reader to dip in and out, or study in depth. It teaches seamlessly.
Buy It!
Just the job, 14 Sep 2008
After a short preamble describing the whys and wherefores of LR the book quickly down to business with importing photos into LR, then on to catloging, correcting and printing following the usual photographers workflow. There's a short (but useful) section on geotagging photos, which actually has little to do with LR2 (at the moment), but it's becoming an important part of a photographers workflow.
It's an approach that works well and Evenings style is both informative and relaxed, but he never strays too far from the business at hand and isn't 'chatty'. The book is printed on good quality paper so the sample photographs and screen prints are clear and clearly illustrate the processes being described. They are almost all there for a purpose, and not just as eye candy.
It's a book you can both use as a reference and sit and read in a spare moment. If you're new to LR and looking for something to get you up and running, then this will be just the job and will probably still be useful in 6 or 12 months time when you're experienced with the UI. If you're an experienced user of LR v1, then it's probably not as useful as it'll be covering V1 features you're familiar with, but there's a lot of new stuff in LR v2 and I doubt you'll find it better described elsewhere.
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Customer Reviews
The Emperor has no clothes, 10 Oct 2008
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
A highly disappointing text from an erudite and capable author. The book is fallacious, misleading and mischievous. The abuse of simple statistical distributions alone warrants not taking it seriously. It is oversold by the blurb and does not do what it says on the cover. Extremely disappointing.
Good for teachers of Critical Thinking?, 02 Oct 2008
There are already many reviews here so I'd simply like to add that this could be useful to anyone teaching Critical Thinking. It's full of neat little stories and interesting points. The author often contradicts himself or ignores his own warnings (possibly deliberately to keep the readers on their toes) so it should be used carefully.
Interesting, but an ego-trip, 01 Oct 2008
I have to agree with most of the other reviews, that although this book is an interesting read which lets you look at some of the problems in "routine statistics in practice" from a different angle.
However, at the same time the book is one big ego-trip with the author being very full of himself and people who share his ideas, while looking down on everyone else. For some reason the authors feels that almost everyone involved in statistics has no idea about the data he or she is working with, no idea of variability of data, and no idea of its shortcomings. Everyone, except himself and some friends...
To illustrate this, the author uses interesting and entertaining examples which make the book a good read. Unfortunately, some of his examples and the thought process used to make his point are flawed.
Nonetheless, i would recommend this book to people routinely working with data just to be aware of the different angles on the same topic in an easy to understand language, while simultaneously being entertained.
Suddenly, it all made sense ..., 01 Oct 2008
Nothing short of ABSOLUTELY REVALATORY ... notwithstanding other reviewers' comments regarding arrogance, ego, verbosity etc., I found this book to be nothing short of life altering; entertaining and funny in it's written style, too.
Working in a profession which constantly deals with unpredictability, including extremely high-impact unpredicability, this book holds up a bright light to the anti-intellectual lunacy prevading my own profession and brings me a clarity of thought I wondered if I'd ever enjoy.
NNT was willing all throughout this book to highlight his disdain for 'anti-scholars' who peddle 'anti-knowledge' and I have to accept that some who've missed his main point will take this as arrogance, ego, etc.. I've found throughout life that it takes some extremely confident, contrary and often arrogant people to set the new standards and shock people into seeing the light.
AWESOME BOOK; Iimmediately bought several copies to distribute as Christmas presents to the un-enlightened and ordered his previous book 'Fooled by Randomness' which I can wait to devour upon arrival today.
strong character, strong book, 26 Sep 2008
I just read the book whilst in Colombia a bit more than a week ago. Though it shines through that Nassim Nicholas Taleb is an opinionated man (in all positivity) with a rather big than small ego, it certainly needs a character like this to be able to step back from common (dis-)believe and make a critical point can has the potential to smash many of our assumptions about nothing less than life itself. Looking at rare phenomena from an economic and philosophical point of view, he (if his numbers are right) makes a strong point against the industry of predictability for the least. Reading from his experience and research, it makes me think of when I first read Stephen Johnson's 'Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software', John Gray's 'Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, or Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism'. All those books, written in the last few years show how we are slave of our own misconception about our own history, decisions, believe in the power of prediction and generally our 'greatness' as a species.
It is very sobering to see that we still keep getting things wrong most of the time, despite the claim of being part of any of the many groups of 'a chosen people' or the more secular view of having 'progressed' into something better, higher (whatever that might be). Despite all our knowledge, we now have scientists as the new scriptwriters and painters of how armageddon looks like (see 100 years ahead predictions of rising sea-levels and the 5 billion deaths it's supposed to cost us). But maybe armageddon is the only Black Swan we can't fully imagine but we been predicting long enough to get one of the many dates right.
Essential reading, definitely get's you away from the craziness that is London commuting.
Welcome to the Magic Circle, 21 Jun 2008
Search Engine Optimisation has acquired a status which might be regarded similar to that of the magic circle:
It's secretive - only those in the circle really know the tricks
There's an element of magic - SEOs do things we don't understand
It's competitive - we all want to get to the top
It's closed - those within the circle do not disclose all the tricks
They even categorise their tricks as good and bad with the terms "white hat" and "black hat"
Well, in this excellent new book David Viney has let us all into the circle, and what we learn is that it's not magic!
However, I should like to follow that statement by immediately saying that it is plainly not easy either. Also, by the very nature of the fierce competition for the top spots, it will always be competitive, and you will always have to work at it.
What this particular magician sets out for us all here is a structure and a method which we might follow to improve our own success.
The author uses the analogy of cookery; there are ingredients, recipes to follow - and I would add, a great deal of time needed to be spent in the kitchen!!
You will be surprised to learn the breadth of things that you will need to do to be in with a competitive chance. The book covers the many factors that contribute to your ultimate success. I was surprised at just how many areas contribute to a site becoming successful, in 240 pages David Viney covers a lot of ground.
The title is so clever; Step 1 in David's plan focuses on finding the "phrases that pay", and sure enough, the title of his book is of course just one such example - nicely wraps-up in a phrase what the book is all about AND is what we are all searching for!
As other reviewers have written here, the book strikes an excellent balance in readability, suitable for reading and use by other professional SEOs and equally works very well for the novice.
The seven step procedure does categorise the areas of focus well, and does give a guide to chronology, but it's not his intention that you should remain in a step until you have done everything you possibly can, more that you need to do a wide number of things, and that over the longer period you will need to track back and forth through the steps and re-visit activities.
The book does a great job of illustrating the size of the market, the strength and importance of Google in that market, and the potential prizes available to the top of page one winners.
"Having your site in the top 10 is like having your store right on Main Street or near the entrance of the largest shopping mall in human history. Being outside the top 20 is like having a corner store on the very outskirts of town."
You should buy and read this book before building your website, probably even before naming you business. The tips within it on subjects such as targetting a niche, phrases that pay, finding and targeting keywords, domain names, hosting locations, etc. are all key considerations in the choices you should make in the very early days.
But there's no need to worry if you are already well into the life of your business and your website, there is plenty within this book for all to heed and follow.
I would strongly recommend the book to anybody interested in getting their website "to the top on Google", you will learn a great deal, and will be able to take action based upon the guidance within the book.
However, go into this exercise with the awareness that it is a long game. You may read the book in just a few hours, but you will need to work persistently at your website's optimisation continuously to reach the top and stay there .........The prizes are Great. It is fiercely competitive. The web is continuously evolving. Your competitors will read this book too.
This is probably the best book on this subject that you can buy.
Take the first step, buy and read the book.
Then keep it next to your computer, keep dipping into it, follow its recommendations.
Then, be prepared to buy an updated version or follow-up next year, with more and new recommendations for you to implement!
The Mother of all SEO Books, 16 Jun 2008
I want to keep this short and sweet as copywriting is not my strong point. If you are looking for a book that spells out the key issues on SEO in an order that actually makes logical sense - then this is the book for you. Rather than a book full of information (although it is very informative) - its best used a step-by-step tool to any SEO project. I can understand why one of the reviewers read it twice.
I had purchased SEO for Dummies but that was really a 'bits n pieces' kind of book and left me unguided. This book follows a chronological path and makes you stick to it.
I shall be using it on every SEO project from now on.
5/5
Buy IT! BUY IT!, 19 May 2008
I have read this book from cover to cover TWICE!!! Then I bought my collegue a copy for his birthday so he wouldn't keep taking mine!!
This is full of practical knowledge to get you up and going and also a great reference book for the more knowledgable. BUY IT NOW!!! You wont be dissapointed!!
A book that covers EVERYTHING finally...., 15 May 2008
I have to admit, I couldn't wait for this book to come out so I purchased a few other before hand and wasn't too impressed! When the book arrived I said to myself that I would read it through once quickly and then go over it in more closely 2nd time round. Well, I just finished it for the 1st time and it took me 2 weeks LOL - I just had to test everything as soon as I read it!
This book is by far the best of 6 SEO books I have read (not going to name the others) - I can't recommend it enough, you will gain so much from reading it - right, i'm off to start it for the 2nd time - kudos to David Viney aka "LEGEND"
Handy guide to being first on Google search results list, 08 May 2008
The information in this very specific book can help you increase the effectiveness of your Web efforts and gain better visibility among the Web search results on Google and other search engines. David Viney shares his expertise in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in helpful detail. Have you wondered if you need professional input in this area? Read here to find out how expert guidance, copywriting, site design and Web master services can supplement your efforts, and boost your visibility and sales. Viney explains how to assess your current results. He tells you how to make sure your Web page appears among search results in productive positions, but he doesn't overpromise about what you can accomplish. Much of his information is quite detailed and technical, but relatively accessible and applicable. However, it is somewhat vulnerable to becoming outdated, in places, if Google alters its current parameters. getAbstract expects future editions to handle that little problem quite nicely.
The wrong approach for me, 30 Sep 2008
Having bought and enjoyed the Scott Kelby Lightroom 1 book I thought, variety being the spice of life, that for Lightroom 2 I would buy the Martin Evening book.
Having seen the Evening LR1 book in shops I was surprised to see that the pages in the LR2 book are smaller but to compensate the book is about 50% thicker. For me this has a handling disadvantage but more importantly the screen shots have to be smaller. This means that with many examples I struggle to see what the screen shot is trying to convey. Indeed the text on many of the screenshots is unreadable.
There is also a big difference in styles and approaches between the two authors. Evening tells you at length what every module, button and slider is for. Kelby tells you how to use Lightroom.
So If you want a reference book then this is the book for you. If you want a book that tells you when and how to use the controls to improve your photos then buy Kelby's books. My preference is for the latter.
Note: Although the Evening book purports to offer free online access to the electronic version you will find when you sign up to the offer that access is only free for the first 45 days. Not recommended.
The Best Book on Digital Capture Processing & Workflow, 18 Sep 2008
A fantastic book for Anyone, from serious enthusiasts to Semi-Pro's, or Old Pro's looking to finally go digital and leave the Titanic that Traditional Analogue photography has finally become.
Out of all the books I have checked out, this is the one. It's engaging, transparent, and fun, allowing the reader to dip in and out, or study in depth. It teaches seamlessly.
Buy It!
Just the job, 14 Sep 2008
After a short preamble describing the whys and wherefores of LR the book quickly down to business with importing photos into LR, then on to catloging, correcting and printing following the usual photographers workflow. There's a short (but useful) section on geotagging photos, which actually has little to do with LR2 (at the moment), but it's becoming an important part of a photographers workflow.
It's an approach that works well and Evenings style is both informative and relaxed, but he never strays too far from the business at hand and isn't 'chatty'. The book is printed on good quality paper so the sample photographs and screen prints are clear and clearly illustrate the processes being described. They are almost all there for a purpose, and not just as eye candy.
It's a book you can both use as a reference and sit and read in a spare moment. If you're new to LR and looking for something to get you up and running, then this will be just the job and will probably still be useful in 6 or 12 months time when you're experienced with the UI. If you're an experienced user of LR v1, then it's probably not as useful as it'll be covering V1 features you're familiar with, but there's a lot of new stuff in LR v2 and I doubt you'll find it better described elsewhere.
A lot more to Lightroom than the obvious, 08 Oct 2008
Mr. Kelby always does a good job with all his books, but this is his best yet.Written in a clear, and concise manner, and the screen captures this time are readable without the aid of a magnifying glass. The book follows a good workflow throughout, and proves what a comprehensive programme Lightroom is. This is not evident at first or even second glance, and yet Mr. Kelby makes it all appear so easy, which few writers manage to attain with so called technical books, this is his big secret.
The book is also a valuable reference.
I never knew there was so much in it!, 02 Oct 2008
With the beta release of Lightroom 2, I decided to see what all the fuss was about and try it. Once Adobe released it to manufacturing, I was happy to switch my workflow from CaptureOne + Adobe Bridge + Photoshop to Lightroom 2 + Photoshop. I was up-and-running very quickly, but I knew I was just scratching the surface. Obviously, there's a lot in Lightroom 2 and I wasn't exploiting very much of it.
I was rather pleased, then, to see that Scott Kelby was releasing this new volume and pre-ordering it was a no-brainer. I particularly like Scott's informal, conversational style of writing. I expect some may find it irritating, but for me, it makes his books more pleasant to read. Consequently, it makes it easier to retain the knowledge that he imparts.
I'm reading this one from cover-to-cover, as Scott recommends, and it's certainly working. Within the first few pages, I found useful ways to incorporate Lightroom facilities that I simply hadn't encountered. As I continue to work through, there's more and more that is helping improve my workflow considerably.
I sometimes wonder if Scott's books are a little lightweight. They certainly don't tax your brain too much. I guess that's because most of the books I read tend to be detailed technical references where there's a vast amount of information to impart in a limited space. The way Scott writes, it seems too easy. But then, that's the point, isn't it? When you're working with hundreds or even thousands of photographs at a time, it really does need to be easy. So, thumbs up to Mr Kelby for helping me find new ways to improve the efficiency of my workflow, yet again.
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Customer Reviews
The Emperor has no clothes, 10 Oct 2008
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
A highly disappointing text from an erudite and capable author. The book is fallacious, misleading and mischievous. The abuse of simple statistical distributions alone warrants not taking it seriously. It is oversold by the blurb and does not do what it says on the cover. Extremely disappointing.
Good for teachers of Critical Thinking?, 02 Oct 2008
There are already many reviews here so I'd simply like to add that this could be useful to anyone teaching Critical Thinking. It's full of neat little stories and interesting points. The author often contradicts himself or ignores his own warnings (possibly deliberately to keep the readers on their toes) so it should be used carefully.
Interesting, but an ego-trip, 01 Oct 2008
I have to agree with most of the other reviews, that although this book is an interesting read which lets you look at some of the problems in "routine statistics in practice" from a different angle.
However, at the same time the book is one big ego-trip with the author being very full of himself and people who share his ideas, while looking down on everyone else. For some reason the authors feels that almost everyone involved in statistics has no idea about the data he or she is working with, no idea of variability of data, and no idea of its shortcomings. Everyone, except himself and some friends...
To illustrate this, the author uses interesting and entertaining examples which make the book a good read. Unfortunately, some of his examples and the thought process used to make his point are flawed.
Nonetheless, i would recommend this book to people routinely working with data just to be aware of the different angles on the same topic in an easy to understand language, while simultaneously being entertained.
Suddenly, it all made sense ..., 01 Oct 2008
Nothing short of ABSOLUTELY REVALATORY ... notwithstanding other reviewers' comments regarding arrogance, ego, verbosity etc., I found this book to be nothing short of life altering; entertaining and funny in it's written style, too.
Working in a profession which constantly deals with unpredictability, including extremely high-impact unpredicability, this book holds up a bright light to the anti-intellectual lunacy prevading my own profession and brings me a clarity of thought I wondered if I'd ever enjoy.
NNT was willing all throughout this book to highlight his disdain for 'anti-scholars' who peddle 'anti-knowledge' and I have to accept that some who've missed his main point will take this as arrogance, ego, etc.. I've found throughout life that it takes some extremely confident, contrary and often arrogant people to set the new standards and shock people into seeing the light.
AWESOME BOOK; Iimmediately bought several copies to distribute as Christmas presents to the un-enlightened and ordered his previous book 'Fooled by Randomness' which I can wait to devour upon arrival today.
strong character, strong book, 26 Sep 2008
I just read the book whilst in Colombia a bit more than a week ago. Though it shines through that Nassim Nicholas Taleb is an opinionated man (in all positivity) with a rather big than small ego, it certainly needs a character like this to be able to step back from common (dis-)believe and make a critical point can has the potential to smash many of our assumptions about nothing less than life itself. Looking at rare phenomena from an economic and philosophical point of view, he (if his numbers are right) makes a strong point against the industry of predictability for the least. Reading from his experience and research, it makes me think of when I first read Stephen Johnson's 'Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software', John Gray's 'Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, or Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism'. All those books, written in the last few years show how we are slave of our own misconception about our own history, decisions, believe in the power of prediction and generally our 'greatness' as a species.
It is very sobering to see that we still keep getting things wrong most of the time, despite the claim of being part of any of the many groups of 'a chosen people' or the more secular view of having 'progressed' into something better, higher (whatever that might be). Despite all our knowledge, we now have scientists as the new scriptwriters and painters of how armageddon looks like (see 100 years ahead predictions of rising sea-levels and the 5 billion deaths it's supposed to cost us). But maybe armageddon is the only Black Swan we can't fully imagine but we been predicting long enough to get one of the many dates right.
Essential reading, definitely get's you away from the craziness that is London commuting.
Welcome to the Magic Circle, 21 Jun 2008
Search Engine Optimisation has acquired a status which might be regarded similar to that of the magic circle:
It's secretive - only those in the circle really know the tricks
There's an element of magic - SEOs do things we don't understand
It's competitive - we all want to get to the top
It's closed - those within the circle do not disclose all the tricks
They even categorise their tricks as good and bad with the terms "white hat" and "black hat"
Well, in this excellent new book David Viney has let us all into the circle, and what we learn is that it's not magic!
However, I should like to follow that statement by immediately saying that it is plainly not easy either. Also, by the very nature of the fierce competition for the top spots, it will always be competitive, and you will always have to work at it.
What this particular magician sets out for us all here is a structure and a method which we might follow to improve our own success.
The author uses the analogy of cookery; there are ingredients, recipes to follow - and I would add, a great deal of time needed to be spent in the kitchen!!
You will be surprised to learn the breadth of things that you will need to do to be in with a competitive chance. The book covers the many factors that contribute to your ultimate success. I was surprised at just how many areas contribute to a site becoming successful, in 240 pages David Viney covers a lot of ground.
The title is so clever; Step 1 in David's plan focuses on finding the "phrases that pay", and sure enough, the title of his book is of course just one such example - nicely wraps-up in a phrase what the book is all about AND is what we are all searching for!
As other reviewers have written here, the book strikes an excellent balance in readability, suitable for reading and use by other professional SEOs and equally works very well for the novice.
The seven step procedure does categorise the areas of focus well, and does give a guide to chronology, but it's not his intention that you should remain in a step until you have done everything you possibly can, more that you need to do a wide number of things, and that over the longer period you will need to track back and forth through the steps and re-visit activities.
The book does a great job of illustrating the size of the market, the strength and importance of Google in that market, and the potential prizes available to the top of page one winners.
"Having your site in the top 10 is like having your store right on Main Street or near the entrance of the largest shopping mall in human history. Being outside the top 20 is like having a corner store on the very outskirts of town."
You should buy and read this book before building your website, probably even before naming you business. The tips within it on subjects such as targetting a niche, phrases that pay, finding and targeting keywords, domain names, hosting locations, etc. are all key considerations in the choices you should make in the very early days.
But there's no need to worry if you are already well into the life of your business and your website, there is plenty within this book for all to heed and follow.
I would strongly recommend the book to anybody interested in getting their website "to the top on Google", you will learn a great deal, and will be able to take action based upon the guidance within the book.
However, go into this exercise with the awareness that it is a long game. You may read the book in just a few hours, but you will need to work persistently at your website's optimisation continuously to reach the top and stay there .........The prizes are Great. It is fiercely competitive. The web is continuously evolving. Your competitors will read this book too.
This is probably the best book on this subject that you can buy.
Take the first step, buy and read the book.
Then keep it next to your computer, keep dipping into it, follow its recommendations.
Then, be prepared to buy an updated version or follow-up next year, with more and new recommendations for you to implement!
The Mother of all SEO Books, 16 Jun 2008
I want to keep this short and sweet as copywriting is not my strong point. If you are looking for a book that spells out the key issues on SEO in an order that actually makes logical sense - then this is the book for you. Rather than a book full of information (although it is very informative) - its best used a step-by-step tool to any SEO project. I can understand why one of the reviewers read it twice.
I had purchased SEO for Dummies but that was really a 'bits n pieces' kind of book and left me unguided. This book follows a chronological path and makes you stick to it.
I shall be using it on every SEO project from now on.
5/5
Buy IT! BUY IT!, 19 May 2008
I have read this book from cover to cover TWICE!!! Then I bought my collegue a copy for his birthday so he wouldn't keep taking mine!!
This is full of practical knowledge to get you up and going and also a great reference book for the more knowledgable. BUY IT NOW!!! You wont be dissapointed!!
A book that covers EVERYTHING finally...., 15 May 2008
I have to admit, I couldn't wait for this book to come out so I purchased a few other before hand and wasn't too impressed! When the book arrived I said to myself that I would read it through once quickly and then go over it in more closely 2nd time round. Well, I just finished it for the 1st time and it took me 2 weeks LOL - I just had to test everything as soon as I read it!
This book is by far the best of 6 SEO books I have read (not going to name the others) - I can't recommend it enough, you will gain so much from reading it - right, i'm off to start it for the 2nd time - kudos to David Viney aka "LEGEND"
Handy guide to being first on Google search results list, 08 May 2008
The information in this very specific book can help you increase the effectiveness of your Web efforts and gain better visibility among the Web search results on Google and other search engines. David Viney shares his expertise in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in helpful detail. Have you wondered if you need professional input in this area? Read here to find out how expert guidance, copywriting, site design and Web master services can supplement your efforts, and boost your visibility and sales. Viney explains how to assess your current results. He tells you how to make sure your Web page appears among search results in productive positions, but he doesn't overpromise about what you can accomplish. Much of his information is quite detailed and technical, but relatively accessible and applicable. However, it is somewhat vulnerable to becoming outdated, in places, if Google alters its current parameters. getAbstract expects future editions to handle that little problem quite nicely.
The wrong approach for me, 30 Sep 2008
Having bought and enjoyed the Scott Kelby Lightroom 1 book I thought, variety being the spice of life, that for Lightroom 2 I would buy the Martin Evening book.
Having seen the Evening LR1 book in shops I was surprised to see that the pages in the LR2 book are smaller but to compensate the book is about 50% thicker. For me this has a handling disadvantage but more importantly the screen shots have to be smaller. This means that with many examples I struggle to see what the screen shot is trying to convey. Indeed the text on many of the screenshots is unreadable.
There is also a big difference in styles and approaches between the two authors. Evening tells you at length what every module, button and slider is for. Kelby tells you how to use Lightroom.
So If you want a reference book then this is the book for you. If you want a book that tells you when and how to use the controls to improve your photos then buy Kelby's books. My preference is for the latter.
Note: Although the Evening book purports to offer free online access to the electronic version you will find when you sign up to the offer that access is only free for the first 45 days. Not recommended.
The Best Book on Digital Capture Processing & Workflow, 18 Sep 2008
A fantastic book for Anyone, from serious enthusiasts to Semi-Pro's, or Old Pro's looking to finally go digital and leave the Titanic that Traditional Analogue photography has finally become.
Out of all the books I have checked out, this is the one. It's engaging, transparent, and fun, allowing the reader to dip in and out, or study in depth. It teaches seamlessly.
Buy It!
Just the job, 14 Sep 2008
After a short preamble describing the whys and wherefores of LR the book quickly down to business with importing photos into LR, then on to catloging, correcting and printing following the usual photographers workflow. There's a short (but useful) section on geotagging photos, which actually has little to do with LR2 (at the moment), but it's becoming an important part of a photographers workflow.
It's an approach that works well and Evenings style is both informative and relaxed, but he never strays too far from the business at hand and isn't 'chatty'. The book is printed on good quality paper so the sample photographs and screen prints are clear and clearly illustrate the processes being described. They are almost all there for a purpose, and not just as eye candy.
It's a book you can both use as a reference and sit and read in a spare moment. If you're new to LR and looking for something to get you up and running, then this will be just the job and will probably still be useful in 6 or 12 months time when you're experienced with the UI. If you're an experienced user of LR v1, then it's probably not as useful as it'll be covering V1 features you're familiar with, but there's a lot of new stuff in LR v2 and I doubt you'll find it better described elsewhere.
A lot more to Lightroom than the obvious, 08 Oct 2008
Mr. Kelby always does a good job with all his books, but this is his best yet.Written in a clear, and concise manner, and the screen captures this time are readable without the aid of a magnifying glass. The book follows a good workflow throughout, and proves what a comprehensive programme Lightroom is. This is not evident at first or even second glance, and yet Mr. Kelby makes it all appear so easy, which few writers manage to attain with so called technical books, this is his big secret.
The book is also a valuable reference.
I never knew there was so much in it!, 02 Oct 2008
With the beta release of Lightroom 2, I decided to see what all the fuss was about and try it. Once Adobe released it to manufacturing, I was happy to switch my workflow from CaptureOne + Adobe Bridge + Photoshop to Lightroom 2 + Photoshop. I was up-and-running very quickly, but I knew I was just scratching the surface. Obviously, there's a lot in Lightroom 2 and I wasn't exploiting very much of it.
I was rather pleased, then, to see that Scott Kelby was releasing this new volume and pre-ordering it was a no-brainer. I particularly like Scott's informal, conversational style of writing. I expect some may find it irritating, but for me, it makes his books more pleasant to read. Consequently, it makes it easier to retain the knowledge that he imparts.
I'm reading this one from cover-to-cover, as Scott recommends, and it's certainly working. Within the first few pages, I found useful ways to incorporate Lightroom facilities that I simply hadn't encountered. As I continue to work through, there's more and more that is helping improve my workflow considerably.
I sometimes wonder if Scott's books are a little lightweight. They certainly don't tax your brain too much. I guess that's because most of the books I read tend to be detailed technical references where there's a vast amount of information to impart in a limited space. The way Scott writes, it seems too easy. But then, that's the point, isn't it? When you're working with hundreds or even thousands of photographs at a time, it really does need to be easy. So, thumbs up to Mr Kelby for helping me find new ways to improve the efficiency of my workflow, yet again.
A Must Buy!, 12 Oct 2008
Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.
Nuff said.
Excellent Book, 18 Sep 2008
This book has full of practical trading tips and summarises the top ten mistakes made by traders. The book is written in plain English, so it's easy to understand and good fun to read too. I have found this book is very useful in my trading.
Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.
good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)
Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.
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Product Description
Usability design is one of the most important though often least attractive tasks for a Web developer. In Don't Make Me Think, author Steve Krug lightens up the subject with good humour and excellent to-the-point examples. The title of the book is its chief personal design premise. All of the tips, techniques and examples presented within it revolve around users being able to surf merrily through a well-designed site with minimal cognitive strain. Readers will quickly come to agree with many of the book's assumptions. For example, "We don't read pages--we scan them" and, "We don't figure out how things work--we muddle through". Getting to grips with such hard facts sets the stage for Web design that then produces top-notch sites. Using an attractive mix of full-colour screen shots, cute cartoons and diagrams, and informative sidebars, the book keeps your attention and drives home some crucial points. Much of the content is devoted to proper use of conventions and content layout, and the "before and after" examples are superb. Topics such as the wise use of rollovers and usability testing are covered using a consistently practical approach. This is the type of book you can blow through in a couple evenings. But despite its conciseness, it will give you an expert's ability to judge Web design. You'll never form a first impression of a site in the same way again. --Stephen W Plain
Customer Reviews
The Emperor has no clothes, 10 Oct 2008
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
A highly disappointing text from an erudite and capable author. The book is fallacious, misleading and mischievous. The abuse of simple statistical distributions alone warrants not taking it seriously. It is oversold by the blurb and does not do what it says on the cover. Extremely disappointing.
Good for teachers of Critical Thinking?, 02 Oct 2008
There are already many reviews here so I'd simply like to add that this could be useful to anyone teaching Critical Thinking. It's full of neat little stories and interesting points. The author often contradicts himself or ignores his own warnings (possibly deliberately to keep the readers on their toes) so it should be used carefully.
Interesting, but an ego-trip, 01 Oct 2008
I have to agree with most of the other reviews, that although this book is an interesting read which lets you look at some of the problems in "routine statistics in practice" from a different angle.
However, at the same time the book is one big ego-trip with the author being very full of himself and people who share his ideas, while looking down on everyone else. For some reason the authors feels that almost everyone involved in statistics has no idea about the data he or she is working with, no idea of variability of data, and no idea of its shortcomings. Everyone, except himself and some friends...
To illustrate this, the author uses interesting and entertaining examples which make the book a good read. Unfortunately, some of his examples and the thought process used to make his point are flawed.
Nonetheless, i would recommend this book to people routinely working with data just to be aware of the different angles on the same topic in an easy to understand language, while simultaneously being entertained.
Suddenly, it all made sense ..., 01 Oct 2008
Nothing short of ABSOLUTELY REVALATORY ... notwithstanding other reviewers' comments regarding arrogance, ego, verbosity etc., I found this book to be nothing short of life altering; entertaining and funny in it's written style, too.
Working in a profession which constantly deals with unpredictability, including extremely high-impact unpredicability, this book holds up a bright light to the anti-intellectual lunacy prevading my own profession and brings me a clarity of thought I wondered if I'd ever enjoy.
NNT was willing all throughout this book to highlight his disdain for 'anti-scholars' who peddle 'anti-knowledge' and I have to accept that some who've missed his main point will take this as arrogance, ego, etc.. I've found throughout life that it takes some extremely confident, contrary and often arrogant people to set the new standards and shock people into seeing the light.
AWESOME BOOK; Iimmediately bought several copies to distribute as Christmas presents to the un-enlightened and ordered his previous book 'Fooled by Randomness' which I can wait to devour upon arrival today.
strong character, strong book, 26 Sep 2008
I just read the book whilst in Colombia a bit more than a week ago. Though it shines through that Nassim Nicholas Taleb is an opinionated man (in all positivity) with a rather big than small ego, it certainly needs a character like this to be able to step back from common (dis-)believe and make a critical point can has the potential to smash many of our assumptions about nothing less than life itself. Looking at rare phenomena from an economic and philosophical point of view, he (if his numbers are right) makes a strong point against the industry of predictability for the least. Reading from his experience and research, it makes me think of when I first read Stephen Johnson's 'Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities and Software', John Gray's 'Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals, or Naomi Klein's 'The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism'. All those books, written in the last few years show how we are slave of our own misconception about our own history, decisions, believe in the power of prediction and generally our 'greatness' as a species.
It is very sobering to see that we still keep getting things wrong most of the time, despite the claim of being part of any of the many groups of 'a chosen people' or the more secular view of having 'progressed' into something better, higher (whatever that might be). Despite all our knowledge, we now have scientists as the new scriptwriters and painters of how armageddon looks like (see 100 years ahead predictions of rising sea-levels and the 5 billion deaths it's supposed to cost us). But maybe armageddon is the only Black Swan we can't fully imagine but we been predicting long enough to get one of the many dates right.
Essential reading, definitely get's you away from the craziness that is London commuting.
Welcome to the Magic Circle, 21 Jun 2008
Search Engine Optimisation has acquired a status which might be regarded similar to that of the magic circle:
It's secretive - only those in the circle really know the tricks
There's an element of magic - SEOs do things we don't understand
It's competitive - we all want to get to the top
It's closed - those within the circle do not disclose all the tricks
They even categorise their tricks as good and bad with the terms "white hat" and "black hat"
Well, in this excellent new book David Viney has let us all into the circle, and what we learn is that it's not magic!
However, I should like to follow that statement by immediately saying that it is plainly not easy either. Also, by the very nature of the fierce competition for the top spots, it will always be competitive, and you will always have to work at it.
What this particular magician sets out for us all here is a structure and a method which we might follow to improve our own success.
The author uses the analogy of cookery; there are ingredients, recipes to follow - and I would add, a great deal of time needed to be spent in the kitchen!!
You will be surprised to learn the breadth of things that you will need to do to be in with a competitive chance. The book covers the many factors that contribute to your ultimate success. I was surprised at just how many areas contribute to a site becoming successful, in 240 pages David Viney covers a lot of ground.
The title is so clever; Step 1 in David's plan focuses on finding the "phrases that pay", and sure enough, the title of his book is of course just one such example - nicely wraps-up in a phrase what the book is all about AND is what we are all searching for!
As other reviewers have written here, the book strikes an excellent balance in readability, suitable for reading and use by other professional SEOs and equally works very well for the novice.
The seven step procedure does categorise the areas of focus well, and does give a guide to chronology, but it's not his intention that you should remain in a step until you have done everything you possibly can, more that you need to do a wide number of things, and that over the longer period you will need to track back and forth through the steps and re-visit activities.
The book does a great job of illustrating the size of the market, the strength and importance of Google in that market, and the potential prizes available to the top of page one winners.
"Having your site in the top 10 is like having your store right on Main Street or near the entrance of the largest shopping mall in human history. Being outside the top 20 is like having a corner store on the very outskirts of town."
You should buy and read this book before building your website, probably even before naming you business. The tips within it on subjects such as targetting a niche, phrases that pay, finding and targeting keywords, domain names, hosting locations, etc. are all key considerations in the choices you should make in the very early days.
But there's no need to worry if you are already well into the life of your business and your website, there is plenty within this book for all to heed and follow.
I would strongly recommend the book to anybody interested in getting their website "to the top on Google", you will learn a great deal, and will be able to take action based upon the guidance within the book.
However, go into this exercise with the awareness that it is a long game. You may read the book in just a few hours, but you will need to work persistently at your website's optimisation continuously to reach the top and stay there .........The prizes are Great. It is fiercely competitive. The web is continuously evolving. Your competitors will read this book too.
This is probably the best book on this subject that you can buy.
Take the first step, buy and read the book.
Then keep it next to your computer, keep dipping into it, follow its recommendations.
Then, be prepared to buy an updated version or follow-up next year, with more and new recommendations for you to implement!
The Mother of all SEO Books, 16 Jun 2008
I want to keep this short and sweet as copywriting is not my strong point. If you are looking for a book that spells out the key issues on SEO in an order that actually makes logical sense - then this is the book for you. Rather than a book full of information (although it is very informative) - its best used a step-by-step tool to any SEO project. I can understand why one of the reviewers read it twice.
I had purchased SEO for Dummies but that was really a 'bits n pieces' kind of book and left me unguided. This book follows a chronological path and makes you stick to it.
I shall be using it on every SEO project from now on.
5/5
Buy IT! BUY IT!, 19 May 2008
I have read this book from cover to cover TWICE!!! Then I bought my collegue a copy for his birthday so he wouldn't keep taking mine!!
This is full of practical knowledge to get you up and going and also a great reference book for the more knowledgable. BUY IT NOW!!! You wont be dissapointed!!
A book that covers EVERYTHING finally...., 15 May 2008
I have to admit, I couldn't wait for this book to come out so I purchased a few other before hand and wasn't too impressed! When the book arrived I said to myself that I would read it through once quickly and then go over it in more closely 2nd time round. Well, I just finished it for the 1st time and it took me 2 weeks LOL - I just had to test everything as soon as I read it!
This book is by far the best of 6 SEO books I have read (not going to name the others) - I can't recommend it enough, you will gain so much from reading it - right, i'm off to start it for the 2nd time - kudos to David Viney aka "LEGEND"
Handy guide to being first on Google search results list, 08 May 2008
The information in this very specific book can help you increase the effectiveness of your Web efforts and gain better visibility among the Web search results on Google and other search engines. David Viney shares his expertise in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in helpful detail. Have you wondered if you need professional input in this area? Read here to find out how expert guidance, copywriting, site design and Web master services can supplement your efforts, and boost your visibility and sales. Viney explains how to assess your current results. He tells you how to make sure your Web page appears among search results in productive positions, but he doesn't overpromise about what you can accomplish. Much of his information is quite detailed and technical, but relatively accessible and applicable. However, it is somewhat vulnerable to becoming outdated, in places, if Google alters its current parameters. getAbstract expects future editions to handle that little problem quite nicely.
The wrong approach for me, 30 Sep 2008
Having bought and enjoyed the Scott Kelby Lightroom 1 book I thought, variety being the spice of life, that for Lightroom 2 I would buy the Martin Evening book.
Having seen the Evening LR1 book in shops I was surprised to see that the pages in the LR2 book are smaller but to compensate the book is about 50% thicker. For me this has a handling disadvantage but more importantly the screen shots have to be smaller. This means that with many examples I struggle to see what the screen shot is trying to convey. Indeed the text on many of the screenshots is unreadable.
There is also a big difference in styles and approaches between the two authors. Evening tells you at length what every module, button and slider is for. Kelby tells you how to use Lightroom.
So If you want a reference book then this is the book for you. If you want a book that tells you when and how to use the controls to improve your photos then buy Kelby's books. My preference is for the latter.
Note: Although the Evening book purports to offer free online access to the electronic version you will find when you sign up to the offer that access is only free for the first 45 days. Not recommended.
The Best Book on Digital Capture Processing & Workflow, 18 Sep 2008
A fantastic book for Anyone, from serious enthusiasts to Semi-Pro's, or Old Pro's looking to finally go digital and leave the Titanic that Traditional Analogue photography has finally become.
Out of all the books I have checked out, this is the one. It's engaging, transparent, and fun, allowing the reader to dip in and out, or study in depth. It teaches seamlessly.
Buy It!
Just the job, 14 Sep 2008
After a short preamble describing the whys and wherefores of LR the book quickly down to business with importing photos into LR, then on to catloging, correcting and printing following the usual photographers workflow. There's a short (but useful) section on geotagging photos, which actually has little to do with LR2 (at the moment), but it's becoming an important part of a photographers workflow.
It's an approach that works well and Evenings style is both informative and relaxed, but he never strays too far from the business at hand and isn't 'chatty'. The book is printed on good quality paper so the sample photographs and screen prints are clear and clearly illustrate the processes being described. They are almost all there for a purpose, and not just as eye candy.
It's a book you can both use as a reference and sit and read in a spare moment. If you're new to LR and looking for something to get you up and running, then this will be just the job and will probably still be useful in 6 or 12 months time when you're experienced with the UI. If you're an experienced user of LR v1, then it's probably not as useful as it'll be covering V1 features you're familiar with, but there's a lot of new stuff in LR v2 and I doubt you'll find it better described elsewhere.
A lot more to Lightroom than the obvious, 08 Oct 2008
Mr. Kelby always does a good job with all his books, but this is his best yet.Written in a clear, and concise manner, and the screen captures this time are readable without the aid of a magnifying glass. The book follows a good workflow throughout, and proves what a comprehensive programme Lightroom is. This is not evident at first or even second glance, and yet Mr. Kelby makes it all appear so easy, which few writers manage to attain with so called technical books, this is his big secret.
The book is also a valuable reference.
I never knew there was so much in it!, 02 Oct 2008
With the beta release of Lightroom 2, I decided to see what all the fuss was about and try it. Once Adobe released it to manufacturing, I was happy to switch my workflow from CaptureOne + Adobe Bridge + Photoshop to Lightroom 2 + Photoshop. I was up-and-running very quickly, but I knew I was just scratching the surface. Obviously, there's a lot in Lightroom 2 and I wasn't exploiting very much of it.
I was rather pleased, then, to see that Scott Kelby was releasing this new volume and pre-ordering it was a no-brainer. I particularly like Scott's informal, conversational style of writing. I expect some may find it irritating, but for me, it makes his books more pleasant to read. Consequently, it makes it easier to retain the knowledge that he imparts.
I'm reading this one from cover-to-cover, as Scott recommends, and it's certainly working. Within the first few pages, I found useful ways to incorporate Lightroom facilities that I simply hadn't encountered. As I continue to work through, there's more and more that is helping improve my workflow considerably.
I sometimes wonder if Scott's books are a little lightweight. They certainly don't tax your brain too much. I guess that's because most of the books I read tend to be detailed technical references where there's a vast amount of information to impart in a limited space. The way Scott writes, it seems too easy. But then, that's the point, isn't it? When you're working with hundreds or even thousands of photographs at a time, it really does need to be easy. So, thumbs up to Mr Kelby for helping me find new ways to improve the efficiency of my workflow, yet again.
A Must Buy!, 12 Oct 2008
Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.
Nuff said.
Excellent Book, 18 Sep 2008
This book has full of practical trading tips and summarises the top ten mistakes made by traders. The book is written in plain English, so it's easy to understand and good fun to read too. I have found this book is very useful in my trading.
Without doubt..., 01 Sep 2008
.... the best book currently around for understanding the stock market. Robbie Burns is very good at explaining all the market jargon in a friendly and humourous tone, and there's masses of advice - particularly what not to do! The webiste is well worth a look too.
good book easy to read, 20 Jul 2008
good book easy to read, emphasises doing own research. Gives some usefull advice, such as avoiding shares with debt more than 3 times of Annual profit ( I would say rather Cash Flow)
Only regret is not buying it soon enough, 12 May 2008
I wish I bought it a year ago when I started trading... If I read this earlier, I could have avoided mistakes I made NT pointed out in the book.
The author's writing style is light and friendly so it's not a boring book to read. Clearly pointed out mistakes all newbie investors would make along with good habit of trading. It's not the investing bible nor get rich quick book but it definitely is investing 101 for newbies and intermediate investors.
It's not just for Web Design - apply to everything, 08 Oct 2008
One of the best book I have read this year. Gives you all the basics on usability, how to understand people and how they use websites. It's a must buy as it will be useful for almost everything in business. Don't make people think, due to internet we switch attention so quickly!
All of the basics - and more!, 14 Sep 2008
Just like the method of web design he advocates, Steve Krug explains his craft in a simple, logical manner.
A common sense approach to web design? Yes it certainly is, and as someone who is used to ploughing through text heavy web design and online marketing textbooks, this book is a welcome relief. It is well laid out, logically progressive, while still being easy to dip in and out of as necessary.
The chapters dealing with the guiding principles of web design give simple and, sometimes obvious, basic advice, but somehow the way in which they are delivered still manages to stimulate your creative processes. The later chapters dealing with the internal politics of designing a corporate website with multiple stakeholders shows excellent insight, and gives good practical advice about how to manage this process.
This book is for beginners and experts alike and, despite being relatively short, still delivers comprehensive coverage of the subject.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing..., 28 Aug 2008
First things first.. this is not a book for web designers, graphic artists, developers or anyone who actually has to do these sorts of tasks for a living (or even for a hobby, for that matter). You will not learn anything from this book that you don't already know and, in fact, there is some stuff in here that I think it would be better off NOT knowing, particularly some of the garishly coloured and clustered monstrosities that are heralded as examples of good design.
The only people who would find this book useful are management-types and marketing people... the kind of people who really should stick to pushing pens and emailing rather than getting involved in the dirty work of designing and developing a succesful website. This book could do a lot of damage in terms of giving delusions of grandeur to these sorts of people!
Much of the advice given in the book is out of date, and many of the example websites are now either not there or have been altered to the extreme. On a posative note, this book does state the obvious to quite a phenominal level and I suppose there may be some people to whom this may be of benefit.
Personally, i'd reccomend any web proffesionals who are thinking of buying this book to stay the heck away!! If you're a manager/marketing person or someone who needs to create the illusion that you know what you're talking about when asked to comment on a website, then this book may be of benefit.
Common sense. Why dont more web developers read it?, 13 Aug 2008
Everything this book says is just common sense. When designing websites, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that people will actually be using your published work! How many times have you been to a site only to think "where's the search box" or when entering some details into your online bank account and then press the "enter key" it doesn't login, it goes off to a "apply for a new savings account". Very confusing. In these circumstances, your brain has to think about what has happened, leaving a negative impression in your mind. Not good if you're trying to sell something!
When it comes to the web, first impressions count. Take Amazons new redesign for 2008. Amazon gets quite a lot of coverage in the book as an example of good design, so it's interesting that they have gone away from their old design, that's been around for about a decade. I don't like the new look, because every time I use it I have to think whereas before it was intuitive. That's the whole point of "dont make me think". You should never have to think about how to use a web site. If you need to use your brain to do something simple, the designer has FAILED.
"Dont make me think" is a quick and easy read. It's quite small at 200 pages. It's often reduced on Amazon so keep an eye out for a bargain.
Highly recommended for all developers, even if you don't often do user interfaces. The advice can be applied to all interfaces and not just the web.
Quality comes in small packages!!!, 30 Jun 2008
A wonderful little book that really opens your eyes to usability issues that are so obvious but are still overlooked. Time and again a light bulb lights up in your brain as you read this and you think god it is so obvious why didn't I notice that before?
The great thing is you can read this book in one sitting and finish an enlightened usability expert ready to impress your colleagues with your new found knowledge.
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Customer Reviews
The Emperor has no clothes, 10 Oct 2008
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
A highly disappointing text from an erudite and capable author. The book is fallacious, misleading and mischievous. The abuse of simple statistical distributions alone warrants not taking it seriously. It is oversold by the blurb and does not do what it says on the cover. Extremely disappointing.
Good for teachers of Critical Thinking?, 02 Oct 2008
There are already many reviews here so I'd simply like to add that this could be useful to anyone teaching Critical Thinking. It's full of neat little stories and interesting points. The author often contradicts himself or ignores his own warnings (possibly deliberately to keep the readers on their toes) so it should be used carefully.
Interesting, but an ego-trip, 01 Oct 2008
I have to agree with most of the other reviews, that although this book is an interesting read which lets you look at some of the problems in "routine statistics in practice" from a different angle.
However, at the same time the book is one big ego-trip with the author being very full of himself and people who share his ideas, while looking down on everyone else. For some reason the authors feels that almost everyone involved in statistics has no idea about the data he or she is working with, no idea of variability of data, and no idea of its shortcomings. Everyone, except himself and some friends...
To illustrate this, the author uses interesting and entertaining examples which make the book a good read. Unfortunately, some of his examples and the thought process used to make his point are flawed.
Nonetheless, i would recommend this book to people routinely working with data just to be aware of the different angles on the same topic in an easy to understand language, while simultaneously being entertained.
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