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 Customer Reviews
Partial plagiarism of his central thesis?, 02 Nov 2008
Reading these reviews leads me immediately to the realisation that this work may possibly be little better than plagiarism. Siméon-Denis Poisson first examined the statistical modelling of low-probability events in 1838, within a much wider corpus of scientific research in pure and applied natural and social sciences. One immediate conclusion is that the probability of low-odds events occurring (where there is no impedement to frequent possible events) is much higher than normal binomial probability suggests. As this is the heart of Taleb's thesis, he's at best reinvented the wheel.
On the basis of his introduction, examining the work of Umberto Eco, I suspect he falls into a trap of his own pretentiousness, insofar as Professor Eco sometimes espouses hermetic doctrines in his fictional works established long before our days by the Vatican and other similar bodies. His is not the work of a freelance research student, but of an acolyte, affirmed by his other publications of a non-fictional character, displaying the formation of his mentation. It is not therefore appropriate to suggest that there is much of a serendipitous nature about his well-researched, yet doctrinally conformist, theses, and that disables Taleb's first shuffle.
I therefore conclude that as both foundations to his thesis, namely his starting point and the incremental progression thenceforward, appear to be weak, this may not arrive at any logically coherent conclusions at all. Those of a religious disposition might choose to develop that objection further, insofar as the inexplicable Poisson anomaly has sometimes been argued as a scientifically-rigourous case for a non-bounded ontological eidos (or in plain language, "there are more things in heaven and earth, Nicholas, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."), but each to his own: at the very least, he is not doing fresh research by a very long way, as this was very old hat in our market modelling in the 1980s.
Scintillating , 25 Oct 2008
One of the most intelligent pieces of writing I have come across in my reading career.
It opens up some many new ways of viewing life and its events. Delivered with a delightful touch of arrogance, sudden humour, and iconoclastic precision - the book unearths a paradigm which is so overarchingly pervasive yet consciously ignored by people.
The author's tribute to, and coverage of Benoit Mandelbrot, along with the pooh-poohing of the 'normal' model of reality is a salient highlight, and should not be missed by any serious empiricist.
The book is a black swan.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition..., 21 Oct 2008
This book is a black swan because against all the odds it got published. It has one idea swollen unappealingly to almost 400 pages. It is full of stereotypes, rich in "imaginative" anecdotes and insufferably pompous. If you want to read about chance and probability then try Ian Stewart; for Chance and Necessity read Jacques Monod (1972).
most insightful book I've read in a long time, 18 Oct 2008
Yes, I understand the criticism that Mr Taleb is full of himself - undoubtedly it shows throughout the book.
However, the amount of insights he provides and the many different angles in which he looks at the problem hammers the point through our hard-wired brains, and in my case, provided a fundamental change to the way I think and approach problems.
Definitely, a must read book.
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.
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Customer Reviews
Partial plagiarism of his central thesis?, 02 Nov 2008
Reading these reviews leads me immediately to the realisation that this work may possibly be little better than plagiarism. Siméon-Denis Poisson first examined the statistical modelling of low-probability events in 1838, within a much wider corpus of scientific research in pure and applied natural and social sciences. One immediate conclusion is that the probability of low-odds events occurring (where there is no impedement to frequent possible events) is much higher than normal binomial probability suggests. As this is the heart of Taleb's thesis, he's at best reinvented the wheel.
On the basis of his introduction, examining the work of Umberto Eco, I suspect he falls into a trap of his own pretentiousness, insofar as Professor Eco sometimes espouses hermetic doctrines in his fictional works established long before our days by the Vatican and other similar bodies. His is not the work of a freelance research student, but of an acolyte, affirmed by his other publications of a non-fictional character, displaying the formation of his mentation. It is not therefore appropriate to suggest that there is much of a serendipitous nature about his well-researched, yet doctrinally conformist, theses, and that disables Taleb's first shuffle.
I therefore conclude that as both foundations to his thesis, namely his starting point and the incremental progression thenceforward, appear to be weak, this may not arrive at any logically coherent conclusions at all. Those of a religious disposition might choose to develop that objection further, insofar as the inexplicable Poisson anomaly has sometimes been argued as a scientifically-rigourous case for a non-bounded ontological eidos (or in plain language, "there are more things in heaven and earth, Nicholas, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."), but each to his own: at the very least, he is not doing fresh research by a very long way, as this was very old hat in our market modelling in the 1980s.
Scintillating , 25 Oct 2008
One of the most intelligent pieces of writing I have come across in my reading career.
It opens up some many new ways of viewing life and its events. Delivered with a delightful touch of arrogance, sudden humour, and iconoclastic precision - the book unearths a paradigm which is so overarchingly pervasive yet consciously ignored by people.
The author's tribute to, and coverage of Benoit Mandelbrot, along with the pooh-poohing of the 'normal' model of reality is a salient highlight, and should not be missed by any serious empiricist.
The book is a black swan.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition..., 21 Oct 2008
This book is a black swan because against all the odds it got published. It has one idea swollen unappealingly to almost 400 pages. It is full of stereotypes, rich in "imaginative" anecdotes and insufferably pompous. If you want to read about chance and probability then try Ian Stewart; for Chance and Necessity read Jacques Monod (1972).
most insightful book I've read in a long time, 18 Oct 2008
Yes, I understand the criticism that Mr Taleb is full of himself - undoubtedly it shows throughout the book.
However, the amount of insights he provides and the many different angles in which he looks at the problem hammers the point through our hard-wired brains, and in my case, provided a fundamental change to the way I think and approach problems.
Definitely, a must read book.
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.
Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.
Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.
LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND
Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.
It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.
What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny
What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)
Great book and for this price, it's a steal
A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,
it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.
I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.
Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(
In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P
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Customer Reviews
Partial plagiarism of his central thesis?, 02 Nov 2008
Reading these reviews leads me immediately to the realisation that this work may possibly be little better than plagiarism. Siméon-Denis Poisson first examined the statistical modelling of low-probability events in 1838, within a much wider corpus of scientific research in pure and applied natural and social sciences. One immediate conclusion is that the probability of low-odds events occurring (where there is no impedement to frequent possible events) is much higher than normal binomial probability suggests. As this is the heart of Taleb's thesis, he's at best reinvented the wheel.
On the basis of his introduction, examining the work of Umberto Eco, I suspect he falls into a trap of his own pretentiousness, insofar as Professor Eco sometimes espouses hermetic doctrines in his fictional works established long before our days by the Vatican and other similar bodies. His is not the work of a freelance research student, but of an acolyte, affirmed by his other publications of a non-fictional character, displaying the formation of his mentation. It is not therefore appropriate to suggest that there is much of a serendipitous nature about his well-researched, yet doctrinally conformist, theses, and that disables Taleb's first shuffle.
I therefore conclude that as both foundations to his thesis, namely his starting point and the incremental progression thenceforward, appear to be weak, this may not arrive at any logically coherent conclusions at all. Those of a religious disposition might choose to develop that objection further, insofar as the inexplicable Poisson anomaly has sometimes been argued as a scientifically-rigourous case for a non-bounded ontological eidos (or in plain language, "there are more things in heaven and earth, Nicholas, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."), but each to his own: at the very least, he is not doing fresh research by a very long way, as this was very old hat in our market modelling in the 1980s.
Scintillating , 25 Oct 2008
One of the most intelligent pieces of writing I have come across in my reading career.
It opens up some many new ways of viewing life and its events. Delivered with a delightful touch of arrogance, sudden humour, and iconoclastic precision - the book unearths a paradigm which is so overarchingly pervasive yet consciously ignored by people.
The author's tribute to, and coverage of Benoit Mandelbrot, along with the pooh-poohing of the 'normal' model of reality is a salient highlight, and should not be missed by any serious empiricist.
The book is a black swan.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition..., 21 Oct 2008
This book is a black swan because against all the odds it got published. It has one idea swollen unappealingly to almost 400 pages. It is full of stereotypes, rich in "imaginative" anecdotes and insufferably pompous. If you want to read about chance and probability then try Ian Stewart; for Chance and Necessity read Jacques Monod (1972).
most insightful book I've read in a long time, 18 Oct 2008
Yes, I understand the criticism that Mr Taleb is full of himself - undoubtedly it shows throughout the book.
However, the amount of insights he provides and the many different angles in which he looks at the problem hammers the point through our hard-wired brains, and in my case, provided a fundamental change to the way I think and approach problems.
Definitely, a must read book.
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.
Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.
Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.
LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND
Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.
It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.
What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny
What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)
Great book and for this price, it's a steal
A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,
it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.
I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.
Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(
In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P
What a good book, 05 Nov 2008
This is a really good book - informative and easy to follow and full of useful tips and know-how.
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"
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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
Partial plagiarism of his central thesis?, 02 Nov 2008
Reading these reviews leads me immediately to the realisation that this work may possibly be little better than plagiarism. Siméon-Denis Poisson first examined the statistical modelling of low-probability events in 1838, within a much wider corpus of scientific research in pure and applied natural and social sciences. One immediate conclusion is that the probability of low-odds events occurring (where there is no impedement to frequent possible events) is much higher than normal binomial probability suggests. As this is the heart of Taleb's thesis, he's at best reinvented the wheel.
On the basis of his introduction, examining the work of Umberto Eco, I suspect he falls into a trap of his own pretentiousness, insofar as Professor Eco sometimes espouses hermetic doctrines in his fictional works established long before our days by the Vatican and other similar bodies. His is not the work of a freelance research student, but of an acolyte, affirmed by his other publications of a non-fictional character, displaying the formation of his mentation. It is not therefore appropriate to suggest that there is much of a serendipitous nature about his well-researched, yet doctrinally conformist, theses, and that disables Taleb's first shuffle.
I therefore conclude that as both foundations to his thesis, namely his starting point and the incremental progression thenceforward, appear to be weak, this may not arrive at any logically coherent conclusions at all. Those of a religious disposition might choose to develop that objection further, insofar as the inexplicable Poisson anomaly has sometimes been argued as a scientifically-rigourous case for a non-bounded ontological eidos (or in plain language, "there are more things in heaven and earth, Nicholas, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."), but each to his own: at the very least, he is not doing fresh research by a very long way, as this was very old hat in our market modelling in the 1980s.
Scintillating , 25 Oct 2008
One of the most intelligent pieces of writing I have come across in my reading career.
It opens up some many new ways of viewing life and its events. Delivered with a delightful touch of arrogance, sudden humour, and iconoclastic precision - the book unearths a paradigm which is so overarchingly pervasive yet consciously ignored by people.
The author's tribute to, and coverage of Benoit Mandelbrot, along with the pooh-poohing of the 'normal' model of reality is a salient highlight, and should not be missed by any serious empiricist.
The book is a black swan.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition..., 21 Oct 2008
This book is a black swan because against all the odds it got published. It has one idea swollen unappealingly to almost 400 pages. It is full of stereotypes, rich in "imaginative" anecdotes and insufferably pompous. If you want to read about chance and probability then try Ian Stewart; for Chance and Necessity read Jacques Monod (1972).
most insightful book I've read in a long time, 18 Oct 2008
Yes, I understand the criticism that Mr Taleb is full of himself - undoubtedly it shows throughout the book.
However, the amount of insights he provides and the many different angles in which he looks at the problem hammers the point through our hard-wired brains, and in my case, provided a fundamental change to the way I think and approach problems.
Definitely, a must read book.
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.
Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.
Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.
LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND
Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.
It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.
What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny
What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)
Great book and for this price, it's a steal
A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,
it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.
I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.
Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(
In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P
What a good book, 05 Nov 2008
This is a really good book - informative and easy to follow and full of useful tips and know-how.
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"
A useful guide to Usability Testing, 18 Oct 2008
Steve Krug has written this book in plain English in order for everyone to understand web usability testing.
The book contains screenshots, which gives a better picture of the discussed themes.
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.
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Customer Reviews
Partial plagiarism of his central thesis?, 02 Nov 2008
Reading these reviews leads me immediately to the realisation that this work may possibly be little better than plagiarism. Siméon-Denis Poisson first examined the statistical modelling of low-probability events in 1838, within a much wider corpus of scientific research in pure and applied natural and social sciences. One immediate conclusion is that the probability of low-odds events occurring (where there is no impedement to frequent possible events) is much higher than normal binomial probability suggests. As this is the heart of Taleb's thesis, he's at best reinvented the wheel.
On the basis of his introduction, examining the work of Umberto Eco, I suspect he falls into a trap of his own pretentiousness, insofar as Professor Eco sometimes espouses hermetic doctrines in his fictional works established long before our days by the Vatican and other similar bodies. His is not the work of a freelance research student, but of an acolyte, affirmed by his other publications of a non-fictional character, displaying the formation of his mentation. It is not therefore appropriate to suggest that there is much of a serendipitous nature about his well-researched, yet doctrinally conformist, theses, and that disables Taleb's first shuffle.
I therefore conclude that as both foundations to his thesis, namely his starting point and the incremental progression thenceforward, appear to be weak, this may not arrive at any logically coherent conclusions at all. Those of a religious disposition might choose to develop that objection further, insofar as the inexplicable Poisson anomaly has sometimes been argued as a scientifically-rigourous case for a non-bounded ontological eidos (or in plain language, "there are more things in heaven and earth, Nicholas, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."), but each to his own: at the very least, he is not doing fresh research by a very long way, as this was very old hat in our market modelling in the 1980s.
Scintillating , 25 Oct 2008
One of the most intelligent pieces of writing I have come across in my reading career.
It opens up some many new ways of viewing life and its events. Delivered with a delightful touch of arrogance, sudden humour, and iconoclastic precision - the book unearths a paradigm which is so overarchingly pervasive yet consciously ignored by people.
The author's tribute to, and coverage of Benoit Mandelbrot, along with the pooh-poohing of the 'normal' model of reality is a salient highlight, and should not be missed by any serious empiricist.
The book is a black swan.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition..., 21 Oct 2008
This book is a black swan because against all the odds it got published. It has one idea swollen unappealingly to almost 400 pages. It is full of stereotypes, rich in "imaginative" anecdotes and insufferably pompous. If you want to read about chance and probability then try Ian Stewart; for Chance and Necessity read Jacques Monod (1972).
most insightful book I've read in a long time, 18 Oct 2008
Yes, I understand the criticism that Mr Taleb is full of himself - undoubtedly it shows throughout the book.
However, the amount of insights he provides and the many different angles in which he looks at the problem hammers the point through our hard-wired brains, and in my case, provided a fundamental change to the way I think and approach problems.
Definitely, a must read book.
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.
Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.
Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.
LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND
Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.
It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.
What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny
What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)
Great book and for this price, it's a steal
A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,
it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.
I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.
Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(
In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P
What a good book, 05 Nov 2008
This is a really good book - informative and easy to follow and full of useful tips and know-how.
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"
A useful guide to Usability Testing, 18 Oct 2008
Steve Krug has written this book in plain English in order for everyone to understand web usability testing.
The book contains screenshots, which gives a better picture of the discussed themes.
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.
Much better than expected, 08 Nov 2008
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
Excellent book that I have learned more from in a week than I did from Rob Sheppard's Lightroom 1 book in several months. I know that some people find Scott's casual style a bit irritating, but it is not at all intrusive in this book. In fact I think it helps me to remember things. Screen shots linked directly to the "stepped" approach, provide both a readable book and a reference work. The practical "real life" approach suits me and I would think many other photographers - Thoroughly recommended!
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
Partial plagiarism of his central thesis?, 02 Nov 2008
Reading these reviews leads me immediately to the realisation that this work may possibly be little better than plagiarism. Siméon-Denis Poisson first examined the statistical modelling of low-probability events in 1838, within a much wider corpus of scientific research in pure and applied natural and social sciences. One immediate conclusion is that the probability of low-odds events occurring (where there is no impedement to frequent possible events) is much higher than normal binomial probability suggests. As this is the heart of Taleb's thesis, he's at best reinvented the wheel.
On the basis of his introduction, examining the work of Umberto Eco, I suspect he falls into a trap of his own pretentiousness, insofar as Professor Eco sometimes espouses hermetic doctrines in his fictional works established long before our days by the Vatican and other similar bodies. His is not the work of a freelance research student, but of an acolyte, affirmed by his other publications of a non-fictional character, displaying the formation of his mentation. It is not therefore appropriate to suggest that there is much of a serendipitous nature about his well-researched, yet doctrinally conformist, theses, and that disables Taleb's first shuffle.
I therefore conclude that as both foundations to his thesis, namely his starting point and the incremental progression thenceforward, appear to be weak, this may not arrive at any logically coherent conclusions at all. Those of a religious disposition might choose to develop that objection further, insofar as the inexplicable Poisson anomaly has sometimes been argued as a scientifically-rigourous case for a non-bounded ontological eidos (or in plain language, "there are more things in heaven and earth, Nicholas, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."), but each to his own: at the very least, he is not doing fresh research by a very long way, as this was very old hat in our market modelling in the 1980s.
Scintillating , 25 Oct 2008
One of the most intelligent pieces of writing I have come across in my reading career.
It opens up some many new ways of viewing life and its events. Delivered with a delightful touch of arrogance, sudden humour, and iconoclastic precision - the book unearths a paradigm which is so overarchingly pervasive yet consciously ignored by people.
The author's tribute to, and coverage of Benoit Mandelbrot, along with the pooh-poohing of the 'normal' model of reality is a salient highlight, and should not be missed by any serious empiricist.
The book is a black swan.
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition..., 21 Oct 2008
This book is a black swan because against all the odds it got published. It has one idea swollen unappealingly to almost 400 pages. It is full of stereotypes, rich in "imaginative" anecdotes and insufferably pompous. If you want to read about chance and probability then try Ian Stewart; for Chance and Necessity read Jacques Monod (1972).
most insightful book I've read in a long time, 18 Oct 2008
Yes, I understand the criticism that Mr Taleb is full of himself - undoubtedly it shows throughout the book.
However, the amount of insights he provides and the many different angles in which he looks at the problem hammers the point through our hard-wired brains, and in my case, provided a fundamental change to the way I think and approach problems.
Definitely, a must read book.
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.
Fit for purpose., 07 Sep 2008
I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was wanting in other more detailed areas. I think our needs would have been better met by something that spent less time covering the similarities between XP and Vista and more time dealing with the more advanced issues, but then that isn't the role and function of the 'Dummies' series. This book is generally very good, and I imagine excellent if you're on your first Windows operating system. It also doesn't crawl to the sensibilities of Microsoft, which is most refreshing. If you're moving from XP to Vista and you're anxious then this is great for general reference. At the risk of sounding cynical, I think that the myth that Vista is a total nightmare, excessively security conscious and so on has probably helped to shift a lot of copies of this. In reality, Vista isn't that scary.
Does what it says on the cover, 21 Jun 2008
If you are looking for a light introductory guide to Windows Vista then look no further. If you are looking for a book that will get you out of trouble, then you'd be better looking at (for want of a better expression) more serious titles.
LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS, 11 May 2008
VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND
Learn and smile..., 11 Jan 2008
I remember buying Windows 3.1 for Dummies many moons ago and it was a big help in my fledgling IT career. Having bought a new PC with Vista pre-installed, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a Dummies book for the new Windows and I'm glad I did. It is a solid and welcome addition to the series, unbiased and informative text, well laid out and the Gary Larson style cartoons give it a friendly feel.
It explains clearly the different versions of Vista, installation issues and the differences between it and XP. All Vistas quirks and features are described in plain English. A useful crib-sheet lists useful shortcuts to impress your colleagues. Home users and office users alike of any skill level would benefit from this book.
What this book is :
A Windows Vista reference, not a comprehensive training manual - choose what you need to gen up on and look for that chapter. Having said that, working through the book a chapter at a time is of use and would not take months
Useful, un-patronising and pretty funny
What this book is not:
Microsoft propaganda - Rathbone tells it like it is and probably won't be top of Bill Gates Christmas card list for some of his comments
A full blown tech guide for geeks, though they would certainly find it useful (without admitting it of course!)
Great book and for this price, it's a steal
A Cracking Edition of For Dummies, 02 Jan 2008
After Purchasing Vista and not being able to get to grips with it my dad got me this book,
it explains in great detail how to do everything that you need to do, it uses friendly language and does not insult your intelligence like some books.
I got the one with the free DVD which i have found very useful.
Amazon are the cheapest retailers of this product that i have seen, it comes wrapped in a standard Amazon packaging -- however you must be at home for delivery as it does not fit through your letter box :(
In All buy this book, you will find it useful, either that look on Google and find the answers for free :P
What a good book, 05 Nov 2008
This is a really good book - informative and easy to follow and full of useful tips and know-how.
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"
A useful guide to Usability Testing, 18 Oct 2008
Steve Krug has written this book in plain English in order for everyone to understand web usability testing.
The book contains screenshots, which gives a better picture of the discussed themes.
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.
Much better than expected, 08 Nov 2008
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
Excellent book that I have learned more from in a week than I did from Rob Sheppard's Lightroom 1 book in several months. I know that some people find Scott's casual style a bit irritating, but it is not at all intrusive in this book. In fact I think it helps me to remember things. Screen shots linked directly to the "stepped" approach, provide both a readable book and a reference work. The practical "real life" approach suits me and I would think many other photographers - Thoroughly recommended!
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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