Product Description
Your web site is a business--design it like one.Billions of dollars in spending decisions are influenced by web sites. So why aren't businesses laser-focused on designing their sites to maximize their Return on Investment (ROI)?

Web design can do more than make a site look good--it can be a powerful strategic weapon that enhances financial returns and creates competitive advantage.

It's time to make web sites accountable. It's time to make design decisions based on metrics and business goals. It's time for Web Design for ROI.

In this book you'll learn:

Why so many organizations think about web design the wrong way
How small design changes can have a big impact on your bottom line
Simple tipsto increase web sales/leads by 10% - 50% (or more)
Concrete design guidelines for:
Landing pages
Home pages
Category pages
Detail pages
Forms
Checkout processes
Packed with helpful examples from a wide variety of sites! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (36)

A must have for your digital marketing toolbox
You have to hand it to the author--this book is solid, not overly technical, and offers some great solutions that you can put into effect immediately.He knows what he's talking about.

Very Clear...Very Suprising
I really underestimated this book. After reading it, I have a whole new understanding of web design in general. It is amazing that you can increase your ROI by doing simple, little things. Please, if you have a site, or work for a site that sells or markets any kind of products or services, read this book. You will expand your pockets. The book is very nice as well. Full-colored pages and no bloat makes it just that much better. 5 twinkles.

Limited usefulness
If you have a local B&M business or a local service business, this is not a very helpful book.It is geared almost exclusively toward online product sales sites.There is still some useful information in here about layout, and about creating landing pages to track advertising ROI.For my particular needs (local service business) I did not find this book worthwhile.

Good basic info on how to build good websites that make money
The book is written for people new to the whole issue of building to maximise income (they call it maximise 'Return on Investment' but it's just a fancy way of saying, "Make More Money".

Remember this a very basic stuff. If you have already delved into this type of material move on.

Not as Bad as some Reviews, but still pricey
I purchased the book for about $39.99 at Borders.It's a nice looking book and has some good information but it was a bit expensive for what information I did receive from it. I know it was a beautiful color book, but the information still lacked overall.

If you are truly a beginner, then this book would do well for you.It has clear examples of some better techniques to use; it just doesn't truly explore the potential of website optimization.

If you are a business owner and want to optimize your own site, then this book would be a really good start.If you implement less than half of what is in this book, you would easily increase your bottom line.

It also makes a great reference book since everything is laid out in a colorful and simple way.

I used some of these simple techniques when I was developing Resorts Web Design.

In the end, what's to lose; just make your Site Better. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Product OK, seller not.
The product was interesting, as expected. It covered many more topics than I thought it would.

But the seller said it was new, when it definitely was not. A previous owner signed the inside cover. And there were many places inside that had text underlined, sometimes whole paragraphs. I knew that the book was an old edition, probably shelf worn. But it was advertised as new. ... Read more

Product Description
Delightful explorations of the roots (and branches) of words and phrases. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From Aaron's Rod to Zwieback...
...you will not be able to put this book down. Well, if you do, it's okay because you can open it up on any page and enjoy it. It is for those who love books, writing, history and it is for those who have that whimsical curiosity about the language and our use of certian words. Akin to the great New York Times columnist's William Safire etiological On Language column, this is just as fun and at times just as whimsical and quirky. These are, as if you did not know by now, the definitions and origins of popular phrases, well worn cliches and colorful words by one of the worlds foremost translators of classic works and epic poetry, John Ciardi.

If you will indulge me a bit...it has everything including The
Kitchen Sink. Dig? In it, you can;

*Finally know what "You've got it all catwampus" really means.

*Learn that the longest palindromic word according to Webster
may well be "kinnikinnik", which is some kind of smoker's potpourri.

*Finally decipher stuff like when some politician spews "Nattering Nabobs of Negativity" or "Depends on what your definition of 'is' is" and know what the heck they are talking about.

*Know where "caught between Syclla and Charybdis" really is, who does the "Garrison Finish", and why "put the kibosh on" may be from Dickens era London streets.

It is right up my alley. I mean I am punch drunk with glee. And I'm not trying to be a Monday Morning quarterback, either.I love this book. This is Vol 1 of a series and I can't wait to get my hands on the later volumns. You are gonna dig the heck outta this! ... Read more

Product Description
From one of the most original writers now at work, an expansive, learned, and utterly charming reverie on what it means to be lost in a book.

Louis Menand, writing in The New Yorker, called Geoffrey O'Brien's The Phantom Empire "a prose poem about the pleasures and distractions of movie-watching," "an ambitiously literary attempt to write about the [mystery of the] medium as though it were a dream the author had just awakened from." Now, in The Browser's Ecstasy, O'Brien has written a prose poem about reading, a playful, epigrammatic nocturne upon the dream-state one falls into when "lost in a book," upon the uncanny, trancelike pleasure of making silent marks on paper utter sounds inside one's head.

We call The Browser's Ecstasy a "Meditation on Reading," but like any truly original book--and especially the short book that goes both far and deep--it resists easy summary and classification. As Luc Sante once wrote, "The density of O'Brien's work makes word count irrelevant as an index of substance; he is seemingly capable of compressing entire encyclopedias into his parenthetical asides. I defy you to name any precedent for what he does. He's a school unto himself." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

To each his own...
Let,s face it ,books about books are boring and more than a little snooby.This is one.
I enjoy books about books,readers,writers,collectors and book people in general;but this left me cold.The author takes abookish approach to some excellent basic ideas and ends up writing to a very small audience,who may very well be enthralled by it.
To me, the best part of the book was the cover.
Did her lover give her "The Browser's Estacy" to read while he immersed himself in "The Poetics of Meaning" or "The Master of the Day of Judgement"? Or did he ask her what she thought of this book. "Great!put me to sleep in no time at all".
No doubt, some will really like this book,but my preference is more towards "Passion for Books" by Rabinowitz & Kaplan or"The Anatomy of Bibliomania" by Holbrook Jackson.For me, these are exceptions to my opening remark.

Essays about being absorbed by the written word
The Browser's Ecstasy: A Meditation On Reading by Geoffrey O'Brien is a simply fascinating selection of thoughtful and thought-provoking essays about being absorbed by the written word, as well as the wonder and the pleasure of being transported by and through books to times, places, and thoughts heretofore unknowable to the solitary reader. An inspirational and welcome reflection on the pastime that marked the dawn of recorded human history down to the present day and into the forseeable future, The Browser's Ecstasy is enthusiastically recommended reading for anyone who has ever had a book transport them through journeys of the mind into lives, places, people, and events far from their own native habitat.

pretentious, silly, and sometimes offensive
I really can't imagine what might have encouraged those reviews above.I found it exhausting to get through this--not particularly because the anecdotes O'Brien tells are boring but instead because O'Brien's tone itself is so off-putting, so agonizingly pretentious, that it actually ends up ruining what I think could be a very fascinating read.I can't recommend this book.Sorry.

A Delightful Bookish Reverie to Banish Stalled Thinking
Books are a potential delight to all of our senses and many dimensions of our minds.It is entirely too simple and limiting to think of books as their physical embodiment of paper, ink and binding.Yet, if you are likeme, you haven't exactly thought about them as potential magic carpets,strolling minstrels, and companions against the night.That's where youhave stalled thinking.Mr. O'Brien's wonderful perception is about to takeyou outside the box (and the book) to consider what your real relationshipis to these wonderful repositories of humanity.

This is one of the mostimaginative and fun books that I have ever read!Mr. O'Brien takes booksand turns them into metaphorical extensions of ourselves and our lives, andthen connects it all back together in a beautiful stream of stories. You'll feel like you've suddenly become part of some modern Divine Comedyas you move through this fascinating book.

If we were in ancient Greentimes, we would think of this book as a philosophical treatment of what abook is and what bookness is, as well.Fortunately, we are in moderntimes, because the author can use vivid language and visions to entrance us. . . not unlike a series of tales out of the Arabian nights!

Iespecially enjoyed the continuing theme of whether the books are with us ornot, and our connection to them.

You will never think about a book inthe same way again after you read this work, and you'll be the better foryour self-transformation.

... Read more

Product Description
Would you like to go visit websites in one or two Kindle clicks?Do you want to get to Google search more easily and search CUIL, too?Now you can!Get rid of Amazon's default bookmarks and forget those funny browser launching menus. Just click this HOMEPAGE document and there they all are -- the REAL places to get news, sports, stock info and quotes,travelers weather, free eBooks and audio books,your Email, and latest blogs about Kindling. Even shopping deals of the day.

Click what you want; it opens immediately and you're reading. This handy item turns Kindle surfing from awkward to slick!It lets Kindle be more like your PDA. It will sit at the top of your title-sorted homepage so it's always there for you. You can even download free ebooks and check or buy Amazon's latest store items from it.


Special - ELECTION COVERAGE political sites are included! Track your candidate's breaking news. Follow either Obama/Biden or McCain/Palin!.Read what your favorite analysts are saying.


Sure, you could go bookmark a bunch of sites, but these links aren't the ordinary ones you know. All are tested to work well on your Kindle.Everythingis labeled, organized and arranged in flip menus for quickestuse.You get them all for the price of one latte.

Extra special - INCLUDES TIPS ON BROWSER SETUPand what to do if it freezes up.

And More!Buy this then check back once in a while for updated versions. Ask for additions and we may add them.You'll get any and alladded links without extra chargejust by deleting your Kindle copy and re-downloading the latest version from Amazon.

You're going to love this, so get it now, you deserve it.Buy the latte, too.

Q: Can I add my own links to these menus? A: No, it's a book document, so I have to do that in future editions. Enter a review and suggest additions.You do still get to create your own bookmarks though - once any site is open youclick the roller and also get to them, and there's lots of room because you don't need to keep any of the default ones any more. But once you see how it's done you may want try your own version of menus ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

It works, but not the best tool to access internet
The book does what it says. But the format is poor and some of the links no longer work. Not worth the price. You can create your own book very easily with some free tools available for converting HTML code to ".mobi" books which also work on the Kindle.

A Note From the Author:
Many of you have bought this already, and I hope are enjoying using it. It's kind of like having in your Kindle your own personal Stargate portal to instantly jump you to live websites. Including your daily dose of email, stocks, and sports scores

As you may have seen, I've been working on a set of focused portals regarding the elections, but am shortly going to do an update of this one as well. So I let me repeat my invitation to give some feedback here, and especially to ask for changes and additions that you'd like. I'll review and consider anything you suggest - but remember it needs to be probably useful to most web Kindlers.

You can do this either by writing a short review right on this page, or just start a discussion below on an item you want, and let's see what others have to say and add.Again, many thanks for trying this out!

-Don ... Read more

Product Description
Obsessed with the origins of things, Charles Panati has dug up enough beginnings and firsts for any barroom sage, or academician, to fend off the most troublesome trivia queries. Ranging from the beginnings of galaxies, the emergence of bacteria, and from bony fish to soap, loaded dice, ethnic slurs, hypnosis, comic strips and much more, The Browser's Book of Beginnings is a fascinating read--sampled randomly or digested whole.Illustrated with more than 100 drawings, diagrams, and archival photographs, and including comprehensive bibliographies and an index, The Browser's Book of Beginnings is a most readable and concise quick-reference book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Origins of everything under, and including, the sun
That croissant you ate this morning--quick now--where did it come from? If you said France, then you are wrong. The meaning, "crescent," is, indeed, French; however, the roll itself is Viennese, made in honor of Austria's victorious stand against Turkey, whose flag holds a crescent. The point is that, when Austrians ate a croissant, they were "eating" their enemy.

Thus begins Charles Panati, writer and collector of information. In fact, his introduction is as informative and illuminating as the official chapters, arranged according to topic. He and a lady friend spent one whole day and evening challenging each other: Where did this come from? What's the story behind this? That day and those questions--many included here--set up the book's premise: a book of beginnings, origins.

The various topics include Creation, Sea Life, Land Life, Language, Writing, Beverages, Spices, Books, Civilization and Education, Man's Best Friends, Communications, Music, Art, Instruments, Medicine, Science, Sports and Games. In choosing his beginning, he chose, basically speaking, nothing: space with primordial matter that exploded.

The origin of sex is truly fascinating: single-celled bodies sought sex with its complementarity: bigger, stronger, nutrient richer. He explains which theory of language development holds most sway: the bow-wow theory, the pooh-pooh, the Yo-He-Ho, or the Sing-Song. Fascinating stuff! In case we forget, French, during the reign of Louis XIV, was "the world language" in literary, intellectual, and diplomatic uses. Voltaire, that erudite scamp, told the Prussian king that "eveyone at court spoke French and that German was used only to address soldiers and horses" (56). Unlike French, German has a still unknown intermediary between it and the parent language, Indo-European. (French derived from Latin.)

Ball-point pens were invented by the American inventor John H. Loud in 1888. The one who modernized it was Lazlo Biro, a Hungarian living in Argentina during World War II. Like humans, cats have a common ancestor, Cynodictis, from which they bifurcated into domestics and wildcats. Cats did not become man's pet until 5000 BC in Egypt, where they assumed legendary stature. "Whereas dogs quickly became man's best friend, cats almost immediately were worshiped as deities" (193). Hmmmmm...

Kabuki, a three-character word meaning Song, Dance, Skill, is a type of theatre distinctly Japanese. It was originated by a Buddhist priestess, Okuni, who wanted to spread Buddhist doctrine through theatrics. She combined pantomime, dancing, song, dialogue, and audience participation. Seem familiar? American playwrights tried these techniques in the 1960's, thinking they had created something new. Nope, Okuni, that early feminist began Kabuki in 16th century Japan (261-262).

My goodness, time to close and I have just begun. The Browser's Book of Beginnings: Origins of Everything Under, and Including, the Sun is really interesting. Read it and be the master of Trivial Pursuit, if you consider the content trivia. If you are a master reader, nothing is trivia and everything is added to the brain's storehouse. This book provides the fodder!

Interesting Reading
A fairly light read, which suits this sort of book.Somewhat similar to the Guinness Book of Records in that you can dive in at any point and you're sure to find something to interest and fascinate.Well suited to the sort of person that revels in trivia.

"A mighty oak of a book" - The New Yorker
This is the first of Panati's series of six origins book and the most encyclopedic in scope.Newsday called it "The last word on the first of everything," and The New Yorker said "Panati is fearless,far-reaching, formidable, and, when it pleases him, frivolous."TheBoston Globe states "The thing is fun...a weapon for stumpingsupercilious experts."These six origins books will soon be the basisfor a TV series, "In The Beginning..."Panati will write theseries and may serve as on-camera host. ... Read more

Product Description

• For complete novices
• No special equipment or software needed beyond a Web browser
• Teaches principles of good programming practice
• Lots of fun!

Learn How to Program Using Any Web Browser is a book about general principles of good programming practice for complete novices. If you're a teen or someone who is just starting to get curious about what makes a computer work, or an office worker who has been using computer applications for years and would like to spend some time looking deeper into what makes them tick, then this book is for you.

Learn How to Program Using Any Web Browser teaches the basics of programming using JavaScript. JavaScript, a modern programming language, can be written using any text editor and displayed in almost any web browser, regardless of the operating system. In the process, author Harold Davis discusses modern computer programming principles and explains concepts such as object-oriented programming in an easy-to-understand manner.

Customer Reviews (8)

Great book for beginners
I bought this for my son, who is just beginning to learn about programming.He really loves it and said that it is easy to understand and very complete.

Learn How to Program Using Any Web Browser
I finally found a book that presents the basics of programming in a logical, easy to understand, let's skip all the nonsense approach. Harold Davis' book hits a home run. I couldn't put it down and strongly recommend it. Kudos Mr. Davis!

Programming using any Web Browser
I always glance at Programming books when in the computer section. When I saw Harold Davis' book what struck me was the title's ending "...using any Web Browser". Any book on programming must decide on SOME computer language. As a budding web-page designer/maintainer, this seemed like a good way to combine learning how (or better)to program AND to see how Javascript interfaces with HTML coding. I couldn't be more pleased. This book is easily readable and combines only needed information for tasks at hand.I have not yet completed the book, but already I can see that Mr. Davis has used solid programming techniques. This is the perfect book to learn programming techniques and to apply them to web page design.

learn procedural and declarative languages
Davis has chosen a novel approach to teaching programming to a novice. This book merely assumes that you have access to a browser on your computer. It doesn't even need Internet access, though that doesn't hurt. Davis shows how by editing simple text files, you can cobble together HTML pages and JavaScript code within those pages. You are taught JavaScript. It has many of the features of any langugage. Conditional expressions, loops, etc.

He has produced a nice, minimalist approach. An experienced programmer might quibble about the limitations of JavaScript. But what the heck. If you are new at programming, you'll easily learn all the key ideas here. Plus, you'll pick up some useful knowledge of HTML along the way. Given the ubiquity of the Web, knowing both HTML and JavaScript can be quite useful, jobwise.

Also, you can compare the differences in coding HTML and JavaScript. The former is declarative, the latter procedural. Davis doesn't seem to go into this, but his approach lets you learn both styles.

Doesn't quite hit the spot
Harold Davis has started with a marvelous idea, teaching programming using a language available on all platforms, JavaScript, and an interface familiar to everyone, the web browser. Learn How to Program Using Any Web Browser is written for absolute beginners to learn the basic principles of programming -- or at least that's what the cover would have you believe.

The language is suitably light and simple, the book well-structured and broken down into easily digested chunks. The order in which concepts are introduced is fairly traditional for a language tutorial: first we get types, variables and statements, before moving on to conditionals, loops, and functions, followed by arrays and objects before finishing with event-driven programming. Davis' decision to leave string handling till last seems a little perverse and personally I would have introduced functions earlier.

My real complaints about this book centre on the abstract nature of the discussion. There are very few real world examples that could be useful to anyone. The best you get is a version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in Chapter 3, and an 'auction' application. The book would have been improved dramatically if the end result of your study was a few things you could actually point to.

I also have a complaint about the target audience for this book. The web page for the book at the publishers states that "The target reader is likely a twelve- or thirteen-year-old, who is just starting to get curious about what makes a computer work -- or an office worker who has been using computer applications for years, and would like to spend some time delving deeper into what makes them tick." Most adults and even teenagers don't want to 'learn how to program' as much as they want to learn how to use a tool to perform a task. If your tool is JavaScript, then it's almost certain your task is related to building web pages, but this gets little real attention from Davis. For even younger students, this book totally lacks anything to hold their attention -- the lack of real-world examples hurts here.

I also take issue with the title: this book doesn't really teach 'programming' much at all. It certainly teaches you to write JavaScript, but where are the sections about the real lessons of programming, such as top-down vs. bottom-up design, or breaking a task up into chunks? Even debugging has little coverage -- a single thirty-page chapter, half of which is specific to JavaScript or the throwing and handling of exceptions. Since the work of Papert and others at MIT twenty-five years ago, we've learned a great deal about how to teach programming concepts in a simple manner, but Davis appears to have ignored all this and given us a language tutorial. The publisher's web page for the book says "very emphatically, this is not a book about programming JavaScript." If that's so then I'd argue that it isn't a book about learning the principles of programming either.

It is obvious from this book that Davis is an excellent writer; if he had tried to write a book to teach JavaScript and had focused on the tasks for which it is often used this, volume may have been superb. As it is, he has shot for a higher goal and fallen far too short.

If you would like to check it out for yourself, you can go to the web page for the book where there is sample chapter, the Table of Contents (though they call it a "Detailed TOC" as distinct from the 'Table of Contents,' which is just a list of 11 chapter titles) and index, all in PDF format.

I went looking for a book that I could give to my 11-year-old daughter now that she has become interested in "what Daddy does." I'm still looking, I'm certain that this one isn't it. ... Read more

Product Description
In failing to provide visitors with great information content, most of today’s Web sites are missing a golden opportunity to create loyal customers—and leaving a fortune in new and repeat business on the table. According to Web marketing expert David Meerman Scott, too many marketers focus on style over substance. While a site may win awards for graphic design, Scott demonstrates that the key to Web marketing success is compelling content, delivered in new and surprising ways. In Cashing in with Content, he interviews 20 of today’s most innovative Web marketers, sharing their secrets for using content to turn browsers into buyers, to encourage repeat business, and to unleash the amazing power of viral marketing. The book features a diverse range of content-savvy organizations from the worlds of e-commerce, business to- business, and government/not-for-profit, including the Wall Street Journal Online, CARE USA, Kenyon College, Alcoa, Tourism Toronto, Weyerhaeuser!, Booz Allen Hamilton, and United Parcel Service. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Content Is King
The development of free, valuable content is a great strategy for creating a website or blog. "Cashing In With Content" provides a thorough overview of how to accomplish this. Twenty examples of various organizations who have successfully used this strategy to improve their businesses are provided with a corresponding collection of best practices and lessons learned. I highly recommend this book to those wishing to develop a high traffic website or seeking to transition their business from offline to online.

Attract Website Visitors with Rich Content
Cashing in With Content is about attracting visitors to your website, so that you can sell them something or sign them up as a client, member, subscriber or donor. You attract them not with gimmicky entertainment or self-serving puffery, but with rich, valuable, and constantly updated information that they can't get anywhere else -- and by making that information easy to read, navigate, save, and print.

Most companies "build their websites based on design, rather than content." Instead, you want people to rely on your website as a "trusted resource."

The author presents 20 "case studies" in a wide variety of industries and non-profit orgs, sorted into three categories: (a) e-commerce, (b) business to business, and (c) nonprofit, education, healthcare, and politics. I put the term "case studies" in quotes because they're not true studies in the academic sense -- they're just puff pieces in which the author interviews the website managers without adding any critical analysis, without challenging the interviewees' self-serving claims and opinions, and without trying to verifying data or independently measure effectiveness. Most of the people being interviewed are tooting their own horns.

The penultimate chapter is a summary of 12 best practices that the author drew from the case studies. This is the most valuable part of the book. They include:

** Before you build or rebuild a site, conduct a comprehensive analysis of visitors' needs.
** Use landing pages and blogs to provide specialized content to targeted market segments.
** Make proprietary content freely available (just do it).
** Include interactive content to get user feedback.

Serious Business Strategies with Serious Free Information
I read a lot of books on Internet marketing, some useful, but many are too confusing to be practical.

Not so with David Meerman Scott's Cashing In With Content (CyberAge/Information Today, 2005). Scott shows how to make money by giving away good information strategically. He provides strategies-by-example for the kind of win-win that seems to drive successful Internet marketing these days.

Scott tours 20 organizations' successful free content strategies. (He says he searched about 1000 sites to find the stories.) They are as varied a lot as one could hope for--from 100+ year old Alcoa to CARE International to popular rock band Aerosmith. Each example is explored through the same format: "What's for Sale," "What's So Interesting," "Why You Should Care," and "Cashing In." In each case, he shows how seriously useful, free information can induce visitors to complete a sales process.

The last chapter summarizes 12 best practices. Example: "Push users with content to pull them back to your site." Another example: "Consider making proprietary content free."

As I read, my imagination popped with ways to cash in with my own content. Highly recommended.

Not a lot of insightful ideas
I'm afraid I have to agree with some of the reviews that suggest there is no real explanation of "how innovative marketers are using digital information to turn browsers into buyers". The book is written in a very journalistic style such that you feel you are reading a collection of newspaper articles. Sadly, the information provided is about as high-level as you would read in a newspaper.

For example, the chapter on Alcoa's website insists that the company is providing supplies for the Apple computer, but it does not specify what kind of content attracted Apple causing them to do business with Alcoa. The chapter mentions an article explaining how aluminum is manufactured, but I'm doubtful that was the cause of the new business.

At least, in the chapter on a small college, the author does suggest that they put a button on their site saying "Give Now" and an article explaining how to put the college in your will. I'm certainly glad the college is doing that, but I have to wonder who wouldn't put such a button or an article on their site. Analogistically, it would be like Amazon allowing you to put things in the cart but never providing a way to buy things.

Like others here, I had purchased the book hoping to get suggestions on how to create and benefit from website content as an author myself and a consultant. I feel that the book was not worth the cost, but more importantly, it wasn't worth my time. And please look at my other reviews. I rarely feel bad enough about a book to give it a low review. Being an author, it's hard for me to do that to another author, but this book just didn't deliver for me.

Good book depending on your needs
First off, I really feel inclined to say this book isn't for people who are looking to get rich off of the Internet.Please do not buy this book if you are just looking for a get rich quick by shoving content online, and hoping that google adwordswill pay off.This book will not assist you in this.

What this book does well is describing effective websites, and sharing good points for developing websites that people will want to use and return to for a long time.He uses commerical websites, non commerical ventures, as well as e-commerce websites to demonstrate good techniques. This book will assist in those who are wanting to really work on high qualtity sites.

I think he does a good job of giving solid techniques and ideas on developing websites that will serve the readers well.So if you are looking to develop websites for the long term, and just want to know what best business practices are in terms of websites, I really think this book is ideal in helping with website development. ... Read more

Product Description
There are several Kindle guides, This one is not like them - it's all new and written specifically for Kindle 3.If you're a busy person and just want to use your new Kindle, not wade through extra long manuals, FAQS or blogs about Kindles you don't own, this one book on your e-readerwill guide you through it all....Then it becomes your browsing homepage to access Facebook, Twitter, News, calendar notes, and all the things you use the internet for.

--indexed, plus one click hyperlinks that jump right to the explanation you need, then let you come right back to the index or overview.
-- It's super quick -- no fluff at all, just what you need toget you going and having fun.AND it's not just a book - and no, it's not skimpy or short, just because it's set up for very fastestuse. Look at what else you get:

BONUS-Built-INs !!!
-- You can refer to or use any of the items as you like. They're jumplink menued to let you get to them, but stay out of your way when you only need how-to info.

-- You don't even have to read this bookall the way through! If you NEVER had a Kindle before, or already owned one, there's a special section for your most likely questions.

In The VERY FAST GUIDEyou'll have always with you:
The easiest ways and places to get books free -with links to do it; charging Kindle; Shortcut keys; best ways to hold and use it in or out of covers; how to buy and get free books; make your own Kindle docs, read your Email, set up your photo shows and Kindle background music, use Audiobooks, make it read to you, organize and move content collections; ALL about the browser, what got fixed in the first update; what to do if it freezes up?

--EPUB books and ways you can find these, get them onto or read them directly from your Kindle 3.

-- Immediately look up any topic using a complete hyper-linked Table of Contents; photos where they help to show you how.

BUT IT'S NOT JUST A BOOK!
-- for extraconvenience, built right in are:

.. Direct links to Facebook and Twitter - not just to post a note, but the full sites; new Facebook and Twitter Breaking News, too.

.. A custom searchpage that lets yougoogle just news, or only recent postings, or find places and services near where you are.

..a usefulbuilt-in 12 month calendar (2010, 2011, and 2009) with notes capability,
.. home pages with quick links to YAHOO, GMAIL, and facebook email so you instantly launch and go there in Kindle browser with just one point and click - no menu-ing needed.
Right in the book, direct Google clickable links so you don't have to always go find the experimental browser and start it just to do a quick search.Many Kindle 2 urls/bookmarks won't work correctly on Kindle 3 browser; these do.

.. Social site resources - find bargains, restaurant reviews, discounts, and more. It's way more than posting notes to twitter or facebook.

.. Political News? Here are direct browser links to headlines and politics around the world. Links to let you follow the people you choose and support - all of the parties - right from your Kindle.

.. U.S. 2010 Senate and House Midterm elections - imminent, important,and interesting - here are links to the polls, analysts and results.

Check the free sample, then download and own it all instantly,for less than the price of just one Latte.

-------- Author's Note: ---------
Hi..Here you have all the useful items that I wanted on my own Kindle 3, and more.I owned the Kindles 1,2, and DX,- about 85 books read at last count. Search my name and see other earlier popular Kindle guides. The Kindle 3 is way different - keys, controller, features gone and added; vastly different browsing; and all the older guides are obsolete. Here's my first new one. Happy Kindling!
-Don ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Good Quick Guide
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042P5E4Q/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_img

This book is exactly what it says it is: a VERY FAST guide. If you want something longwinded, read the manual that came in your Kindle, or look for others on the Kindle site. But if you want something breezy, fast, and informative, this is the place to start.

Absolutely, the first kindle book you should buy
... And I wish I had bought it before other, less complete, and less trustworthy user guides!

This could be the only Kindle user book you will ever need. As its name suggests, it has a "get in there, get it done, just the facts ma'am" style that is informative, non-patronizing, and often amusing. The author is either not a professional writer, or a very good professional writer in a heck of a hurry. The layout isn't fancy, but the content is readable, well indexed, very well hyperlinked, and very, very complete.

In addition to his encyclopedic knowledge of what you can, and cannot do with the Kindle 3, the author also has strong (and strongly expressed) opinions of what you should, and should not do with it. Fortunately, he clearly discriminates between "can and "should", leaving the reader in no doubt about what's necessary, what's possible, and what's a desirable.

Finally, unlike many, released-for-launch technical books, I have not found a single statement in the "Fast" guide that is false, incomplete, ambiguous, or misleading (definitely not a professional tech writer ;). The is the first kindle book you should buy, and probably the last you should remove.

Don't waste your money
Having used other Kindle user's guide for my previous Kindle's, I was looking forward to a new guide for the Kindle 3. What a dissapointment! This is poorly written and organized.The text often changes font and type-size mid-page, for no apparent reason, and some sentences seemed more like text messages. There are sections that are redundant,and I did not get as much new info for my K3 as I did from the user's guide that came with it!

Best guide
Hi,

This is the best guide. I have got one with my kindle. Need to buy another one. Bud this one should be given by Amazon. Not because it is useless, but the tool must come with the appropriate guide.

It even covers ergonomics.

A must have
... Read more

Product Description
The recent explosive growth of biological data has lead to a rapid increase in the number of molecular biology databases. Held in many different locations and often using varying interfaces and non-standard data formats, integrating and comparing data from these multiple databases can be difficult and time-consuming. This book provides an overview of the key tools currently available for large-scale comparisons of gene sequences and annotations, focusing on the databases and tools from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), Ensembl, and the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). Written specifically for biology and bioinformatics students and researchers, it aims to give an appreciation for the methods by which the browsers and their databases are constructed, enabling readers to determine which tool is the most appropriate for their requirements. Each chapter contains a summary and exercises to aid understanding and promote effective use of these important tools. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fundamental book for Genomics
The UCSC Genome Browser is a powerful tool that provides an open portal to the world's genomic information. But because its so powerful, it is often difficult to use. Here is an authoritative book that will get you on the air, not only with the reference data, but also with the means to compare it with your own data.

This is a terrific book.

powerful analytic tools
The sheer mass of genetic data being assembled by various biotech firms and research labs has led to the rise of genomics. This book describes various computational tools currently available, to help the researcher analyse the data.

One such tool addresses the need to visualise. The brain is best at analysing large amounts of data when presented in visual form. Ensembl and MapViewer are 2 of the so-called genome browsers that have been written. They let you troll thru the data and see it displayed in several ways. While these might be called browsers, they are a far step from the generic web browsers. Be warned that the APIs have very nontrivial learning curves.

Another part of the book looks at querying of databases. Another growing area, with sophisticated needs. ... Read more

Product Description
Hey, a fresh idea for a browser! If you're ready to get away from slow-loading Bookmarks and Favorites, you may want to try the Opera browser's fast Hot Lists. With Opera, you may have more than one Web page open at a time, or you can open an entire Web site at once. Think of it! (Yes, someone did.) With this ...For Dummies guide, the world of Opera is yours. The view of the World Wide Web through your Opera window is much more customizable as you get rid of icons you never use and choose options that would send even the freakiest control freak's head spinning. The book's CD-ROM gets you started with an evaluation version of Opera for Windows and cool plug-ins and add-ons to keep you busy with your new browser. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Opera Web Browser For Dummies
This was a very informative and easy to follow book! Very helpful!!

A First Class Tour of a First Rate Browser
This is a browser for the rest of us. Opera is a fast browser with cleancode, that outperforms Netscape and Windows Explorer in several areas. Forbeginners to power users, the author has gone deep inside the software toshow us how to use the full power of the browser, and even documented sometricks you might not have thought possible. If you are serious aboutgetting the most out of the Internet, give Opera a try, and take acomprehensive tour of it with this book.

Better than nothing
Biased because I abhor the word dummies in all their books, I really didn't want to buy this book. However for beginners there just isn't much available.Although the information is there, I don't think it isreally organized to suit the learning pattern of someone who is really justlearning,computers or the web. ... Read more

Product Description
More than two thousand quotes by America's beloved humorist cover four hundred subjects, including Americans, The World at Large, City Blight, Country Living, Government, Taxes, and more, arranged in alphabetical order.By the coauthors of A Will Rogers Treasury. IP. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A man its hard not to like
My father , of blessed memory had a great affection for Will Rogers. He always used to quote the famous ," I never met a man I didn't like". I think it was Rogers plain commonsense humor, acertain honesty and telling the truth as he saw it, which impressed my father.And perhaps also the Rogers ability to deflate great pretensions and poke quiet fun at those in power. He tells us that if companies gave us much money to developing their products as to advertising them then they wouldn't have to advertise them. He points out one very large group of unemployed people is the ' advice- givers'. He wryly remarks about the difference between agriculture in the old days when they paid you to grow things, and agriculture now when they pay you not to.
He was a much beloved America, a man of the people who seemed a living embodiment of the American faith that the small man who came from a small place could really be the biggest man of all. ... Read more

Product Description
In this age of genetic engineering and global warming, it is more important than ever to understand the history and current trends of science and technology. With so much information out there, though, it"s hard to know where to start. That"s where The History of Science and Technology — the most comprehensive and up-to-date chronology of its kind — comes in.
From the first stone tools to the first robot surgery, this easy-to-read, handy reference book offers more than seven thousand concise entries organized within ten major historical periods and categorized by subject, such as archaeology, biology, computers, food and agriculture, medicine and health, materials, and transportation. You can follow the world"s scientific and technological feats forward or backward, year by year, and subject by subject. Under 8400 BCE Construction, you will discover that the oldest known wall was built in Jericho. Jump to 1454 Communication and you will learn about Johann Gutenberg"s invention of movable type. Take an even larger leap to 2002 Computers and find out about the invention of the Earth Simulator, a Japanese supercomputer.

The History of Science and Technology answers all the what, when, why, and how questions about our world"s greatest discoveries and inventions: How are bridges built? When were bifocal eyeglasses invented and by whom? What medical discovery led to the introduction of sterilization, vaccines, and antibiotics? What is the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) process, and why is it one of the pillars of the biotechnology revolution? Not only can you discover how our world came to be and how it works, but with cross-referenced entries you can also trace many intricate and exciting connections across time.

Highly browsable yet richly detailed, expertly researched and indexed, The History of Science and Technology is the perfect desktop reference for both the science novice and the technologically advanced reader alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Fantastic Book
This book is a requirement for one of my college courses.There is so much information in this book about science, inventions, and discoveries.The negative; it's in date order.If you are trying to research by subject it would be difficult in this book.If you are search by time, this book is excellent.This is one of my books that I will keep after my class is completed.

A Great Price
This book originally retailed for $40.I ordered it for less than $10 (plus shipping!)I'm very pleased with this order as it's a great reference book that I'm sure I will use over and over again.

The history of science and technology
I thought it was going to be a written history of science and technolgy in story form but it was a short snippits of science and technology in chronological form.I wanted background.

judge 1950

Book Recommendation
Large impressive book with no obvious errors noticed on perusal.

Better than expected and recommended.

Chronology Over Context
There are a number of encyclopedias and reference works covering the history of science and technology. The nature of most of these is to cover a topic ("Galileo," "Medieval Astronomy," etc.) in the format of an article. This particular work, however, takes a different approach: it reviews the history of science and technology chronologically, from prehistory to 2003. The author states clearly in the introduction, "the main body of the book is a chronicle of virtually everything that has happened in science and technology, including false steps and ignored precursors." Ambitious indeed.

This book divides the history of science and technology into ten sections: 1. Prehistory; 2. Antiquity; 3. Medieval Science and Technology; 4. The Renaissance and Scientific Revolution; 5. The Scientific Method; 6. The Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution; 7. The Nineteenth Century; 8. Modern Science and Technology; 9. Big Science and Post Industrial Society; and finally 10. The Information Age

While these are not conventional periods they work OK for the purposes of the book. However, the end result is to provide a century-by-century, decade-by-decade, year-by-year sampling of the different ideas and inventions as they happened. Because these developments are simply placed in order of the year they were produced, and not connected in any significant way to events that preceded them and made them possible, there is very little context to any of these discoveries and inventions. This is essentially a reference work at the high-school level.

With a book formatted in this way a good index is crucial. Fortunately, this book has a massive one. So, while you can't look up, say, "medieval astronomy," you can look up "astrolabe" and "Ptolemy" (assuming you already know that is what you should be looking for). Thus while this book offers very little in the way of context, it lives up to its subtitle as a "browser's guide." For those interested in a year-by-year approach to historical developments in science and technology, this is the book for you. ... Read more

Product Description
With the introduction of Adobe AIR, Flex developers have more capability than ever before. Now you can build dynamic applications that combine the rich experience of a traditional desktop application with the power of the Internet. Leveraging your existing knowledge of Adobe Flex and Flash, Breaking out of the Web Browser with Adobe AIR will help you build well-architected desktop applications. Flex and Flash experts Jeff Tapper and Michael Labriola will teach you techniques to create truly custom interfaces by leading you through exercises with a real world time-tracking application. The book’s abundance of examples will help you become adept at interacting with the end user’s underlying operating system and teach you the most important concepts for using AIR. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good book to have for getting a good overview of AIR but not that comprehensive
The title of this book seems very interesting but a little intimidating. "Breaking out of the Web Browser" provides a good understanding of the history of information systems and claims that AIR can supersede a web browser by overcoming its limitations by providing more and better features. This book is meant to be used by Web Developers who have a programming background preferably in Flex or Actionscript. The majority of content in this book is based on exploring a time tracker application which has its own pros and cons. In my opinion, it is a great book to start learning AIR although not that comprehensive in detail.

After starting to read this book, it seems to me that this book is more geared towards somebody who is a beginner in developing AIR Desktop applications. It sounds a little contradicting with the "Intermediate" book level printed on the back of this book. I do see that one requires an intermediate level of programming language to understand its contents.

The books starts with a good preface about the internet era going from the mainframe to the client-server model to the RIA development model. It also gives a good introduction about what AIR can do and provides are good entry into the subject. I am really not sure why the authors chose to base the book on a time tracker application. It is similar to a story telling approach but in this case I have already lost my interest to an extent due to the thought of developing an application which I have no desire to build. I think that having more examples would have made this book a much more interesting read.

The first chapter of this book allows a web developer familiar with HTML with JavaScript, Flash, or Flex to create AIR applications. Again, I do not know why the authors chose to develop the rest of the chapters of this book based on a time tracker applications for understanding the functionality of AIR. I can agree with the authors to a certain extent about why one needs a pretext to dive into the book but to me it doesn't seem to be helpful in the long run.

Chapter Two of the book explains how AIR can interact with the OS clipboard. I do not see the importance of including such a chapter towards the beginning of the book while I am trying to learn the basic functionalities AIR can provide. I am a beginner in AIR but I do have a moderate amount of flex experience. I can see why the time tracker application does require a clipboard interaction but it isn't that appealing in nature.

The flow of information from Chapter Four onwards is smooth and well maintained. Authors do an excellent job in explaining the drag and drop functionality in AIR, the benefits of using a SQLite database with direct access to the file system which according to me is a definite win over the web browsers due to their inability in interacting with the OS directly.

Chapter Seven is geared towards the general look and feel of the AIR application. I just love the idea of enabling applications to handle networking and user activity events in addition to having an auto-update feature using the AIR framework.

Chapter Nine explores the use HTML content in an AIR application. I am not sure why the authors chose not to mention that fact that all HTML tags are not supported by AIR application. It seems like they are advocating the use of AIR without providing its limitations. They starts off the chapter by mentioning that AIR uses the same HTML rendering engine as the Apple's Safari browser.

In the next chapters, authors do a good job of explaining several ways to interact with a web server for exchanging remote data using SOAP, REST, AMF, RTMP, and Sockets. Chapter Eleven continues to explain the benefits of using Adobe Blaze DS which provides an efficient and sophisticated mechanism to interact with server data. However, the introduction to Blaze DS is not up to the mark. It would have been helpful to include more visual representations of what Blaze DS can or cannot do.

Chapter Twelve includes details about using Fluint testing framework while Chapter Thirteen gives a good tutorial about deploying AIR applications. The book concludes by providing a understanding of the AIR security and conveying some best/worst practices approach for developing AIR applications.

This book could serve as a good introduction to a person having a good background in flex. Although the book is based on a time tracker application, an experienced flex programmer can start by choosing the chapter or topic of their choice. I think the book is great for getting a general idea of the features AIR provides but you are definitely looking at spending time on other books or tutorials available on the web to get the things going as you want.

Great book, definitely pick it up.
Breaking out of the browser with air is an excellent book. It provides a great overview of a ton of things one can do with Air. The book is not a comprehensive bible of every single thing you need to know, but that's one of its strong points. If I need to know the complete in's and out's of something I'll check the api docs and get my info there. The best thing this book does is give you a full understanding of whats available.

Another key point for me is that the book is good at showing what kinds of things a developer should keep in mind when it comes to making desktop apps rather than web apps. This is bigger than you would think for impacting user experience.

I went into this book with as3 knowledge, having worked on an air app prior and some flex knowledge. Coming out I know alot more things to watch out for and a heads up some some functionality I haven't used. There's also a ton of good snippets of code; just enough, to give you an idea of whats being discussed.

As far as frameworks go they take a look at using some commands and talk a little about how that plays into creating reusable code, always a plus in my book. I'm more of a PureMVC fan myself, and the code they present is a variation of adobe's Cairngorm.

Various places they make comments to elements in the adobe flex 3 training from the source book. I'm off to get a copy of that now as a good in depth how it works book.

This is definitely worth picking up especially if you are new to Air. Not overpoweringly long either. ... Read more

Product Description
One of the bakers from the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, New York, presents a charming and unusual look at breads and the things we eat with and on them. The more than 200 recipes for breads, and other bakes goods, fillings, toppings, and accompaniments will send anyone to the kitchen for the baking pans. Illustrated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I loved this book
When going from whole grain wheat flour to white flour we lose from 60 to 80% of 12 out of 13 nutrients present at good, or excellent level in Whole Wheat. I loved this cookbook because all the recipes were for whole flours, and never white refined carbohydrates.

In this book you learn how to make a sour dough starter, and how to maintain it. You also learn about natural rise bread which is made without any yeast at all.

I highly recommend this book; unfortunately, I could not find another copy to buy. It seems to be out of print.

Breadtime Stories by Susan Jane Cheney
Fabulous whole wheat receipes that produce light fluffy bread. Good advice on dough handling procedures.Suggestions for tofu use.All in all a terrific cookbook! ... Read more

Product Description
The interaction between culture and economy was famously explored by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer through the term Kulturindustrie (The Culture Industry) to describe the production of mass culture and power relations between capitalist producers and mass consumers. Their 1944 account is bleak, but it holds continuing relevance. Today, the pervasiveness of network technologies has contributed to the further erosion of the rigid boundaries between high art, mass culture and the economy, resulting in new kinds of cultural production charged with contradictions. Though the culture industry appears to allow for resistant strategies using digital technologies, it also operates in the service of capital in ever more complex ways. This publication, the first in the DATA browser series, uses the concept of the culture industry as a point of departure exploring ever-new conditions. ... Read more

Product Description
Marriage is perhaps the only game of chance ever inventedat which it is possible for both players to lose.
William Cowper Brann

That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass,and I’m just the one to do it.
Congressional candidate, name lost, possibly mythical

The Texas Legislature consists of 181 people who meet for 140 daysonce every two years. This catastrophe has now occurred sixty-threetimes.
Molly Ivins

Hear ye, hear ye, court for the Third District is either now insession or by God somebody’s going to get killed.
Judge “Three-Legged Willie” Williamson

From the sixteenth century through the twentieth, Texans have hadinteresting things to say about themselves, their home, and the restof the world. People beyond its borders have had interesting things tosay about Texas and Texans for almost as long.

This book brings together some 700 noteworthy quotations from or aboutTexas. Collectively they form a portrait of this unique place in thewords of the people who have lived and created the Texas experience ... Read more

Product Description
Shockwave. Flash. RealPlayer. QuickTime. iPIX.

These and other Internet plug-ins, helper applications, and browserextending tools can make using the Web a snap. With this guide to theInternet’s most dynamic applications, you’ll learn which plug-ins arebest installed on public workstations, which best meet different staffneeds, which to use on a library Web site— and perhaps mostimportant, which are most likely to cause problems.

Don’t let your staff, your patrons, and your Internet access becomemired in a cyber-swamp of useless bells and whistles. Find out how tomake the best use of office applications, image-viewing tools, soundenhancers, video players, and more. Approximately 15 of the mostessential plug-ins are discussed. Topics include:

> System requirements
> Strengths and weaknesses
> Installation instructions
> Troubleshooting tips
> Special benefits and applications for libraries

Now you can provide state-of-the-art Internet access with this step-by-step guide. ... Read more