Customer Reviews (2)

Very Useful; Maybe a Bit Too Much for Dummies
Macromedia Studio MX All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies is definately a value-packed, thick, useful book. There is good reference material and getting-started info on Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX, Freehand 10, Macromedia Vlash MX, & Cold Fusion MX along with two sections on design basics and integration of studio components.

As I said, with such a breadth of information the book is definately a bargain. However, that advantage is also the book's primary downfall I feel. It says 7 books in one, but if that is true it is SEVEN SHORT BOOKS. Each book is definately not the standard "For Dummies" length. This lends itself to make it 7 abridged-sized books. The adbridgement comes by removing all of the discussion on the more advanced features of the program. Unfortunately the extreme basics are also belabored.

All of that means that the book will be useful to help you get started in Macromedia Studio, but after you have a little more than a few hours of experience in the software suite you will find the book increasingly useless. Because the features which a mildly seasoned user will find difficult to master are not covered, this book is not such a great value if the purchaser already has mild to moderate background experience with MX software.

So with that review in mind take it or leave according to your lot. If you are new to Macromedia Studio MX and want some help for the first month or so getting up and running, this is a great resource. But if you have already pushed through the growing pains of climbing the learning curve, you may want to pass on this one for a more advanced text.

7 books in 1
I just bought Macromedia Studio MX 2004. Yet, all I got was a CD and a good luck. Well I could root around trying to use the product, get a book with insight on how to handle the product efficiently. There are many good books on each item in the Studio. If you buy them individually the price is almost seven times the price of this book. Then you have to compare and contrast to integrate the information.

This book brings all the advantages of the other Dummies books. There are clear examples and pictures on what the screen should look like. The added plus is that this book shows how to integrate all the individual products in the studio. There s a good introduction, contents, index and tabbed pages so you can see where one sections stops and the next begins.

There is no CD. However the advantage is that there no trial programs to interfere with the real product. I have tried a few of the items and I am pleased with the results. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Animation   2. Computer Bks - Other Applications   3. Computer Books: General   4. Computer Graphics - General   5. Computers   6. Internet - Web Site Design   7. Macromedia Studio MX   8. Web site development   9. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design   10. Data in computer systems   11. Multimedia   

Customer Reviews (4)

Useful Book; A Little Too Much for Dummies
Macromedia Studio MX All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies is definately a value-packed, thick, useful book. There is good reference material and getting-started info on Dreamweaver MX, Fireworks MX, Freehand 10, Macromedia Vlash MX, & Cold Fusion MX along with two sections on design basics and integration of studio components.

As I said, with such a breadth of information the book is definately a bargain. However, that advantage is also the book's primary downfall I feel. It says 7 books in one, but if that is true it is SEVEN SHORT BOOKS. Each book is definately not the standard "For Dummies" length. This lends itself to make it 7 abridged-sized books. The adbridgement comes by removing all of the discussion on the more advanced features of the program. Unfortunately the extreme basics are also belabored.

All of that means that the book will be useful to help you get started in Macromedia Studio, but after you have a little more than a few hours of experience in the software suite you will find the book increasingly useless. Because the features which a mildly seasoned user will find difficult to master are not covered, this book is not such a great value if the purchaser already has mild to moderate background experience with MX software.

So with that review in mind take it or leave according to your lot. If you are new to Macromedia Studio MX and want some help for the first month or so getting up and running, this is a great resource. But if you have already pushed through the growing pains of climbing the learning curve, you may want to pass on this one for a more advanced text.

Great book for Beginners
Great for those new to Macromedia Studio. This book will teach you all the basics to get up and running in minimal time. After this book you will be ready to explore any portion of Studio MX in greater depth as you will have a good grounding in the basics. Well worth the price of admission.

Getting started...and beyond?
Yip, worth the pennies you're going to spend on it. It has a no-nonsense approach and gets you up and running in no time at all. It doesn't include the typical html-this-and-html-that intro chapters (that are included in virtually all the other web development-related books) and jumps away with the cardinals immediately.

It is obviously not a topical alpha-to-omega subject matter type of book - for this buy separate titles specialising in the Macromedia component you're interested in.

But if you are a hit-the-ground-running type of being, this will show you how all the Macromedia components integrate with each other and beyond. The book is definitely worth the odd 8550 square millimeters (footprint that is!) on your bookshelf. Enjoy! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animation   2. Computer Bks - Other Applications   3. Computer Books: General   4. Computer programs   5. Data Processing - General   6. Film & Video - General   7. Interactive & Multimedia   8. Miscellaneous Software   9. Multi-Media Hardware & Software   10. Performing Arts   11. Web site development   12. Computer Software Packages   13. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design   14. Data in computer systems   15. Internet   

Customer Reviews (3)

Not Recommended
I found this book to be not at all helpful, and too A-to-B-to-C. It was very "Copy what you see here.", and overall, unoriginal, and boring.

Easy first step
This book is a very good start for people who wish to startlearning the basic of fantasy drawing. It works with you step by stepwith precise instructions and examples and, unlike other books of it's kind, progresses fast so you can see some results in a matter of hours. that is extremly importent since it will give you the needed motivation to continue and try to work more complicated figures. The books teaches you to draw warriors, some monsters, dragons, castles and a few heroic figures.

The only fallback is that is where you'll get - basic figures, who will look diffrent from each other by your determination of color, armor, horns and hight of it's turrets, but no more change then that.

At the bottome line it is a great and easy books for begginers, like myself. after a great search for a book just like this one I can say it hits the spot.

Great book
The directions are easy to follow and well worded. the book isnt too technical and stays on-topic. This is a great book and easy to follow. strongly recomended! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art - Drawing   2. Art - Techniques   3. Castles in art   4. Children's 9-12 - Art & Art Instruction   5. Children: Grades 4-6   6. Civilization, Medieval, in art   7. Dragons in art   8. Heroes in art   9. Juvenile Nonfiction   10. Juvenile literature   

Customer Reviews (2)

Above and Beyond
Get this book, read it, and Boom! You're up to speed on website design and implementation.

Unlike many "For Dummies" books, Creating Web Pages is an in-depth look at the entire process, which begins at the entry level and quickly advances. The book claims to be 9 books in 1, and although 8 of these so-called books are not complete books in themselves, the information provided is detailed enough to allow a thorough analysis of several web creation programs, and includes a CD which provides a good look at: HTML, Frontpage, Dreamweaver, JavaScript, Flash MX, E-Commerce, and XML.

Wild Bill recommends this book for any beginner to intermediate level web creator out there. Don't be fooled by the for dummies format. This book is over 700 pages long and includes a usuable (for once) CD.

Great, as long as you know a little bit before hand
This is a great book. I love it. But there is one thing that some people may be looking for in it that isnt there. This book will not tell you everything that you want to know about making a web page. It is exactly what the title says, it is a desk reference. I would not recommend it to a person that has no experience with web pages (mainly HTML), but if you know the basics behind a web page, and want to know how to improve your web page, buy this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Internet   2. Computer Books And Software   3. Computers   4. Design   5. Internet - Web Site Design   6. Programming - General   7. Programming - Software Development   8. Web sites   9. Computers / Internet / Web Site Design   10. Internet   

Customer Reviews (7)

Good book on practical DSP programming
This book presents a lot of useful DSP algorithms. The programs I have tested so far seem to be doing the job. The mathematics discussed seems to be just right as well. (For in-depth discussion, Rick' "understanding digital signal processing" and Proakis' "digital signal processing, principles, algorithms and applications" are the best.)

However the data used by this book is not standard wave PCM or other commonly used format. Therefore, it is difficult to directly use the programs. To make matters worse, the original data and processed data are not in the same format, which waste my whole afternoon just to figure this out.

The book also spends one chapter (about 70 pages) discussing C++ concepts, which I believe should be completely removed. The algorithms written in C++ are less easy to use than its corresponding algorithms in C version.

All in all, this book presents practical implementations for DSP algorithms. If this book had not stuffed its contents with C++ concepts, and used a common data format, I would have ranked this book five star.

Don't buy this book
The title promises a lot. But it doesn't deliver. This book is muddled and confused. It begins with a rather high browed treatment of the maths behind DSP then goes on to attempt to provide examples in C++. The examples are poor and unclear. The supplied code compiles under VC++ but not under any other platform without substantial reworking.
Over 100 pages of this 500 page book are devoted to a general discussion of the C++ language. Why? If I wanted this type of material I would consult my C++ manual. Here are C++ programmers who want to tell us the do's and don't's of the language, that feel the need to test newed pointers for NULL after allocating and before deleting!
As far as the rest of the book is concerned I found the examples and text unclear, pedantic and frankly quite useless. I will keep my copy only because I want to use the theoretical material. But this material was written for maths graduates - pages upon pages of proofs and derivations that provide little insight into the underlying principles and serve nothing. Hold off and buy something more usable.

A Must for your DSP library set.
Lots of practical code examples. Practical filtering routines and example code.Includes a general introduction to C /C++ concepts frequently used in DSP algorithm development. A good introduction to image processing is included. The DSP function library and sample code is perhaps the best part of the book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. C (Programming Language)   2. C++ (Computer program language   3. C++ (Computer program language)   4. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming   5. Computer Books: General   6. Computer algorithms   7. Computers   8. Digital techniques   9. Programming Languages - C++   10. Signal Processing (Communication Engineering)   11. Signal processing   12. Telecommunications   13. Technology / Engineering / Electrical   

Customer Reviews (1)

An essential reference work for Blake scholarship.
Prophet? Madman? Or philosopher? The mythological characters in William Blake's prophetic poetry present a conundrum for the reader who confronts these characters with the traditional literary expectations of a symbolic reading. Indeed, the vanguard of contemporary criticism would argue that the very complexity of Blake's mythology precludes an all inclusive schemata.

Yet S. Foster Damon's A BLAKE DICTIONARY offers compelling testament that there was methodology in Blake's madness. In addition to providing a detailed enunciation of virtually every character in Blake's poetry, Damon further offers an exposition of the major themes and symbols which Blake repeatedly returned to in his longer prophetic works. Along with both Northrop Frye's FEARFUL SYMMETRY and David Erdman's PROPHET AGAINST EMPIRE, Damon's meticulously cross-referenced dictionary is an essential reference work for anyone who dares delve into Blake's complex mythology. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1757-1827   2. 18th Century English Poetry   3. Blake, William   4. Blake, William,   5. Dictionaries   6. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh   7. Literary Criticism   8. Literature - Classics / Criticism   9. Symbolism in literature   10. English   11. Literary studies: classical, early & medieval   

Customer Reviews (3)

Extremely Satisfied!
I was extremely satisfied with my purchase. The book was received in excellent condition, and quicker than I expected! I will definitely be making more purchases from this seller. Thank You!

Just what the "Dummie" needed
I am taking a course, through our community college, on Microsoft Office 2000. Our instructor made a general recommendation for simply written books like this. I had seen the "Dummies" books before, but had never looked at one. This book is awesome! It is so general and easy to understand. I can actually read and absorb the information easily. Thanks to the authors for bringing things down to the average person's level of understanding. Now I feel like I could tackle almost anything using Office 2000.

An Amazing Surprise!
A friend dropped this book off for me to look at, and I almost never opened it because I am generally not impressed the "Dummies" series. However, this book is wonderfully refreshing exception and every office should have it. It has a brief Overview/Reference of W98, and every aspect of Office. It is worded well, and shows you step-by-step how to do a great many common tasks with office. It does not cover any of the subjects in depth, and did not cover FrontPage very well, but I still have to give it a 5. It is a well organized, well written overview of Office and I feel It is a must have. By the way, I bought his copy and about four more since to cut down on technical support calls from my clients. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business   2. Business Software - MSOffice   3. Computer Bks - Integrated Software   4. Computer Books: Integrated Systems   5. Computer programs   6. Electronic spreadsheets   7. Microcomputer Integrated Application Software   8. Word processing   9. Computers / Business Software / General   10. Microsoft Office   

Customer Reviews (3)

a solid start for beginners
Seriously, I can't find any other book right now that lays Maven out in such an easy to approach way. All the material online is reference based entirely and my fingers are practically bleeding from digging through google every five seconds. If you've never setup Maven before, buy this book while you still have your hair.

Excellent reference for open-source tools
I bought this book mostly because I am fairly new to open-source development and was looking for a good reference to tools such as Ant, JUnit, Cactus, and Maven. These chapters were concise and had plenty of supporting examples. I also liked the fact that the book provides plenty of tips, and has references to good practices. I definitely recommend it to less experienced developers, or to those looking to have a better understanding of open-source tools.

Tons of Typos
This book is a convenient way to get a decent introduction to Java tools because all of the information is condensed into one book. However, there is nothing in here that you can't read online for free if you take the time to find it. I am really angry that I paid $40 for a book that is full of typos. There are literally typos on every other page. I have never encountered so many typos in a book before this one. The typos are especially troublesome because they often occur in the examples so if you are unfamiliar with the syntax of the new tool being taught you will get unexplainable errors when the bad examples don't work for you. Print out online tutorials, this book is a waste of money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming   2. Computer Books: Languages   3. Computers   4. Java (Computer program languag   5. Java (Computer program language)   6. Open source software   7. Programming - General   8. Programming Languages - Java   9. eXtreme programming   10. Computers / Programming Languages / Java   11. Java & variants   

Customer Reviews (4)

Good Learning for Career & HR Professionals!
An excellent read for career and human resource professionals. Written by three very eminently qualified professionals, it provides an in-depth study about professionals and the choices they make. Using illustrations from the medical and journalistic professions, it gives a reader a focused and clear understanding of what good work is all about.

lonely work
I am a special education teacher and bought this book so I could better understand why some teachers refuse to give learning disabled a chance. I wanted to better understand how some teachers forget the commitment they have to the students they serve. Well, I wished I never read the book. I now understand why people are not commited to their jobs and why administrators asked teachers to "fake" paperwork. I felt lonely while reading this book, because I understand clearly that there are very few people willing to have ethics and excellence meet in their job performance. I am one of those few people and it is a lonely place. The book is a bit dry, much like a college text book. Read it slowly with a dictionary by your side.

Good Stuff...depressing as hell !!!
Having worked for America Online 6 years ago (right before that I worked at a restaurant by the murrah building in okc when it was blown up by mcveigh), I feel I have a pretty good perspective on this kind of stuff. Quoting Gasset "The mass crushes beneath it everything that is different, everything that is excellent, individual, qualified and select...anyone not like everybody runs the risk of being eliminated.."
The book in a sense tells about two types of people. Those who care about others, and those who care about themselves. Unfortunatly in a world where the competitive nature of man always leads to violence (be it physical, or of the subtle, mental sort) the bad will almost always win out. Having lost a number of friends (literally) due to the operant conditioned nature of life today, and through the media forcing kids to be "cool" to fit in (...)
Anyway, the issues presented in this book, which essentially are an argument against Skinner's promotion of "blank slate" minds that are to be conditioned through "experience", are good ones...however, if you truly understand that you can never, ever do enough to combat the hate and the evil that is so prevelant in the world today, you might want to not read this book...however, if you are aloof and like to buy products and watch movies that the critics agree are "explosive" and, if a sequal "twice as explosive as the first", you might find this book interesting...but probably a bit too academic, and will feel that it should be reserved for Intellectuals or whatever...(...), what do i know. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics   2. Business/Economics   3. Careers - General   4. General   5. Psychology   6. Business & Management   

Subjects:  1. Audio - Nonfiction (Unabridged)   2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape   3. Audiobooks   4. History   5. Political Ideologies - Democracy   6. United States - General   7. History / General