Book Description
The intranet is among the primary landscapes in which information-based work occurs, yet many info pros continue to view it with equal parts skepticism and dread. In Intranets for Info Pros, editors Mary Lee Kennedy and Jane Dysart and their 10 expert contributors provide support and encouragement to the information professional responsible for implementing or contributing to an intranet. Chapters demonstrate the intranet's strategic value, describe important trends and best practices, and equip info pros to make a key contribution to their organization's intranet success. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A top pick not to be missed
INTRANETS FOR INFO PROS is for informational professionals responsible for implementing or contributing to an intranet, and gathers the experiences of ten expert contributors who describe trends, best practices, and organizational change. Both computer and business libraries will find the details invaluable, surveying the technical directions of intranets and issues ranging from collaboration to management. From tailoring procedures for more effective company use and communications to initiating special governance efforts, INTRANETS FOR INFO PROS is a top pick not to be missed by any collection strong in library science or computer management.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch ... Read more

Book Description

You'd think that designing an intranet would be a web professional's heaven. You know exactly what browsers and operating systems your audience are using. You can easily identify users for testing. What could be easier than that? But then, few people ever get to see other companiesí intranets. How can you learn from your peers? Everyone and his dog needs to publish content on an intranet - how do you ensure that content stays current and relevant? How do you ensure that the temp who is uploading situations vacant ads doesnít break it all? Is your intranet accessible? Or do you really need an extranet, for clients and suppliers? How about security? AARGGH! This book helps you frame the questions that you need to ask, sharing best practices from people whoíve lived through the nightmare, and survived to tell you the tale. From the Publisher A well-designed intranet becomes the key resource and communications platform for your organization, used by members of staff as their first destination for information. This book guides you through the steps you need to take to make a useful and usable intranet, from identifying your users' needs and building an indispensable tool, to marketing the results. It guides you through the problems that may occur, passing on invaluable advice from people who have been through the process before.

Customer Reviews (1)

Entry level introduction, but not consistent
This is a book that can potentially help the person responsible for an intranet start-up or redesign. She/he may be internal responsible or external assisting consultant.

Pros:
A quick read; covers a lot of ground; will introduce you to the major issues and challenges in intranet development.
Cons:
For people who have been involved with IT/www projects, this book offers little new; several writers have contributed, and the result is an inconsistent flow with some redundancy; the text will cover so many topics (technology, project management, intranet concepts, extranets, mobile devices, usability, information architecture, and more), that a we never really get in depth.

Who will really benefit from this book:
Students, absolutely newcomers to the field, and those who, as bedtime reading, need a catch-up overview of the field. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

it is all about Portals
The title mentions portals, intranets and corporate web sites. But the emphasis in the text is clearly on portals. Where perhaps these might be regarded as special types of corporate web sites.

Townsend divides his book into two sections. The first deals mostly at the functional level. By defining what 'portal' means in this book. This functionality also includes the optional but probably preferred offering of a Web Service. He points out that many current portals lack this. Yet it seems the way to go. The promise is that a portal becomes more than just a collection of web pages for manual perusal by the visitor. If you furnish a Web Service, it permits the programmatic aggregation of services, by other entities on the Internet. Townsend devotes some space to showing how this is possible under .NET. Not in the least because Microsoft has standardised on using XML as the lingua franca for formatting data passed between .NET entities on a network.

The second section of the text delves into an implementation of this functionality. It describes the numerous Microsoft offerings, like the Content Management Server or the SQL Server 2000, and how these can be stitched together into a portal. Everything in this section is specific to Microsoft. While the first section can be read as a general description of portals.

Finally a book that ties all these products together
As a long-time user of Microsoft products, I have found the array and depth of the various products overwhelming and needed a comprehensive yet easy to understand presentation of the key parts of these products and how they can be used within a portal implementation.While the code fragments were far too technical for me, the rest of the book was very approachable and well worth the time investment to read.I strongly recommend this for all CIOs or people responsible for technical architecture and direction.

Broad in scope and audience
While most technology books either pander to Luddite executives or deliver pages of code to professional developers, _Building Portals_ is that rare breed, a tech book with content for managers and architects and developers. Townsend has done a great job capturing the spirit of portals and answering the hardest two questions: "What is a portal" and "What does it do". I passed a dog-earned copy around to some tech-challenged coworkers and it was very well received.

Good topic idea but ...
This book explains the concept of portals and how Microsoft enterprise servers handle and implement the features that goes into a portal. The book is written by 3 authors and unfortunately the different writing styles and depth of the subject show.

For example in Chapter 8 Personalization, there is only one page on personalization with Content Management Server. Most of the content in it concentrates on how to do caching in a personalized setting without explaining how to do personalization with CMS in the first place.

In Chapter 5 Portal Framework, it details line by line codes on how to write a portal site in VB.Net. While the code is good, it is too technical compared with the rest of the book. I rather see code snippets on how to build some common components in a portal site instead of a portal application. It is a bit difficult to extract out the code you need as everything is tied together in the architecture. BTW, there is no CD in the book and no hyperlink is mentioned on where to download the source code.

The book has an entire chapter on Content Management Server. It also covers Commerce Server and SharePoint Portal Server quite well and gives a brief overview on BizTalk and InfoPath. I rather see more technical emphasis on how to integrate the different servers than having screenshots of numerous dialogs explaining what each of the fields does.

Finally the book retails at $50 which is far too expensive. It should be around $35 instead. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Jennifer Stone Gonzalez sees intranets as more than mere enhancements of corporate communications; she sees them as exciting tools for revitalizing the corporate environment and the people who work there. The 21st Century Intranet is written for people who want to champion the development on intranets within their organization and who want to ensure that the systems developed add value to the organization and excitement to the workplace.

The thrust of the book is on enhancing communication, starting with persuading upper management to implement intranets wisely and support them appropriately. Although Gonzalez discusses the fundamentals of intranet design and management, she does not refer to them for technical matters but for issues of how organizations communicate and learn. She devotes considerable space to determining which features are most valuable on an intranet, getting senior management involved, coordinating the sites of diverse groups, and encouraging employees to use the intranet as their primary communication tool within the organization--including allaying fears that may arise from the organizational change an intranet may represent.

Gonzalez also addresses the professional development of those who manage intranets. She discusses concerns such as how to determine the real success of your intranet development efforts, how to make the success apparent to senior management, and how to develop intranet creation and management as a career opportunity.Book Description
Intranets are every bit as important as the hypesters say, butthey are a lot more difficult to implement.Now, top consultantJennifer Stone Gonzalez has written the book on maximizing the businessimpact of your intranet.With profound insight into the cultural,business and technical issues involved, she demonstrates how to:

-Chose among four divergent models of intranet design

- Align webtechnology with your business goals

- Build intranets thatstrengthen your company as a community.

Packaged with a CD-ROMwhich includes state-of-the-art intranet demos from DurandCommunications, IntraNetics, Netscape Communication Corporation andRadNet WebShare. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

What a waste of time...
A. Although the book is only a few years old, it is unfortunately already largely outdated. Considering that intranets have only been around for about 8 years, this book only covers the first 4 years (till about 1997). As the last 4 years are missing, practical relevance of the content is rather low.

B. The entire book (over 470 pages) is just never-ending bla-bla, consisting largely of badly assembled bits and pieces from other authors' published work. There is really no value added anywhere in this book.

C. The amount of typos is just unacceptable

An excellent book for all Intranet Managers and Developers
I believe that, even though this book is over two years old, it is still absolutely foundational to anyone who is an Intranet Project Manager.

Having been a contractor for over five years, dealing primarilyon the e-commerce and marketing side of the Internet, I needed a tool thatwould quickly give me a broad perspective in the Intranet realm.I wasable to complete this book in four days and walk into my new position atState Farm Insurance as the California Web Coordinator with an excellentunderstanding of what needed to be done.Three weeks after starting my newjob, myself and my counterparts from the other areas in the state were ableto prepare and submit a proposal based primarily on what I learned fromthis book.Try that with any other book and you'll still be trying topeice it together.This is an excellent book that's very easy to read andvery informative.

Thanks Jennifer for a job well done.

Intranet development should start here!
This interesting and well-written (style) book discusses the whys, whos, whats and even the whens of successful intranet development. Yes, it also discusses the hows - not the actual software development 'how', but ratherthe oft forgotten yet crucial part that comes before anything else: findingout what users want. It makes a strong case for designing intranets aroundits users, their need for information and the inherent potential of theunderlying internet technology for information exchange. In fact, it wouldappear that Ms. Gonzalez's rendition of the history of the evolution of theinternet is made for the sole purpose of reminding us that its raisond'etre was communal information exchange and hence this is what we shouldbe using it for. More importantly, Ms. Gonzalez presents a realisticframework - at the same time making a strong case - for bottom-up intranetdevelopment: evolving from diverse, distributed informal groups ofinformation-seekers within the same enterprise, then nurtured by intranetchampions and finally "sold" to top management as a cleareconomic choice to other means of information and knowledge sharing. Sheeven goes through the pains of preparing generic proposals for sellingintranet projects to top management. This book is an essential startingpoint for top management and intranet champions in undertaking any ITproject (period)! Heeding Ms. Gonzalez's words is sure to save manyIT-itchy companies much time, effort and money!

A good starting place, in spite of all the typos
This book is a good place to start if you have been tasked with starting up an intranet. While it is a bit repetitive, the author makes her case forimportant issues like user-centered design, the criteria of a successfulintranet and moving away from the first of four models of an intranet. Itwill expose you to the most important issues surrounding the design,implementation and running of an intranet.

The book is really let down byits poor editing; be prepared for, on average, one typo per page and quitea few grammatical errors as well. I find these niggles irritating andinexcusable, especially from a publisher like Prentice Hall.

Thought provoking and insightful.
By far the best book I've read on the "why" of intranet development.This goes directly to the heart of business success and how an intranet can complement and enhance that success.I've dogeared, bookmarked,highlighted or reread countless sections. ... Read more

Book Description
If you've heard the term intranet bandied about, but you aren't quite sure what one is, or if you already know that intranet isn't a misspelling of Internet, and you want to get started with the latest, hippest trend in business networking then Building an Intranet For Dummies is for you. In this comprehensive, easy-to-understand reference, IDC Consulting president John W. Fronckowiak reveals much of the essential, practical information his clients hire him to provide.Building an Intranet For Dummies takes you well beyond the intranet hype, explaining not only what an intranet is, but also how to create one for your organization. Fronckowiak shows you how to Decide whether an intranet is right for your organization -- and figure out the best way to put one in place Bring the Internet's proven multimedia-rich, user-friendly World Wide Web technology inside your organization in order to make everything from sales and inventory reports to employee health plan information available through one program: the Web browser Integrate all-important existing databases into your new intranet Connect your intranet to the Internet to create an extranet (no, it's not to have a spare network in case the regular one breaks down) without sacrificing security Set up a firewall that doesn't hamper employees' access to valuable Internet resources Put together an intranet management team to make sure that all departments are getting the most out of the new networkPlus, Building an Intranet For Dummies comes complete with a bonus CD-ROM containing Windows software, such as Internet Explorer Web browsing software from Microsoft An evaluation version of SoftArc's FirstClass Intranet Server Wildcat! Interactive Net Server A tryout version of Claris Home Page 2.0 for creating intranet content ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good for beginners but spends too much time on microsoft.
Good introduction for beginners.However, the book's major drawback is its emphasis on microsoft based products.If you use anything other than microsoft, you will find that you have to skip over significant portions ofthe book. ... Read more

Book Description
Learn why your business needs an intranet and how to create an intranet from start to finish.Avoid costly mistakes prior to development through corporate case studies.Convey and reinforce your business vision through intranet communications.Effectively handle support, maintenance, and upgrade issues. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Interesting book for building an intranet
This is the best book that i have reader. I'm building an Intranet with the help of this book.Each chapter is very good.

Fantastic Book!
I was assigned to setup an intranet for our retail outlet stores and "Corporate Intranet Development" got me off and running in no time.It was easy to read and had all the latest information I needed. The book would be perfect for large corporations, but also fit my needs for the retail market perfectly ... Read more

Book Description

This book uses ASP .NET and Visual Basic .NET to develop an intranet application that provides all of the features that users expect. The author base the sample intranet within the book on Microsofts free best practices example, the IBuySpy Portal, and show how one can rapidly create an application that makes good use of the advanced features of ASP .NET.

Customer Reviews (12)

Outstanding IBuySpy (pre-DotNetNuke) Book!
[...]

I picked this book up about three years to late, as it is entirely written about the original IBuySpy Portal framework, and I am an avid DotNetNuke module developer. The author presents numerous great examples of custom module development for IBuySpy, including a simple library application, extended discussions module, a complex Human Resources module, and a great Document Management System. Keep in mind IBuySpy is the forerunner to DotNetNuke, and all of the modules outlined in the book port nicely to the newer architecture, as they leverage many of the features moved forward into DotNetNuke, like user account integration, portal security, and more.

As I worked through configuring the various samples provided with the book, I got to set up & play with the original IBuySpy Portal framework after nearly three years of playing with it for the for the first time. When it was first released, it very intimidating in some of it's implementation details, although it didn't appear as sophisticated in it's business architecture, unlike the original Reports, Time Tracking, & Issue Tracking kits.

The book provides one of the best guides I have read to everything IBuySpy. The second time looking at IBuySpy portal, I was more able to appreciate the great concepts introduced in it, and I was at times amazed at how simple the IBuySpy Portal is when compared to the latest version of DotNetNuke. With the Introduction of the DotNetNuke Data Access Layer (DAL) in version 2.x, DotNetNuke was able to encapsulate all of the sophistication, and more, of the business layer found in the Time Tracking/Reports starter kits, at which point I was hooked.

I found the Document Management System described in Chapter 9 sophisticated enough that I believed it was worth the effort to convert it to a modern DotNetNuke module. The module is very well designed and documented in the book, so I decided on an uneventful Sunday afternoon to start converting it. Approximately 40 hours of development later, I have completed converting the module to DotNetNuke 2.1.2 (DotNetNuke 3.0.9 was released two days before the writing of this review).

No CD, broken promise of downloadable code
I bought this book for 62 Euros (75 USD) in Lisbon that is too much for 450 pages (with promos, content, indexes, images from internet) book without any CD and with broken promise of the downloadable code!

IMHO, there was no need to bloat the volume of a book and reader's tiredness reprinting from internet the lengthy code examples just for the sake of a few modifications and after that againprinting, again, the resulting snippets (it is proper only for e-books)

Since the book is oriented for working with codes, the absence of electronic version is also the great drawback.

The book seems to be the monopolist on IBuySpy Portal (the only one available) , butI wouldn't have bought it, had I known about mentioned above.

While the book is useful (in abscence of any other choice, esp. in electronic version), I estimate the ratio "price/worthyness" as extremely high

PS
I was also more interested in C# and/or Visual Studio .NET versions of IBuySpy Portal, and I think VB.NET is just inappropriate language for the middle-, like IBuySpy Portal,
and large-size projects)

A Fair review
In order to use this book effectively, you really need a good understanding of SQL and SQL stored procedures.The book isn't for SQL Beginners.The tables come from WROX without the identities being set, so you will need to know how to do that.The book also requires a good understanding of stored procedures, you will need to know how to fix the stored procedure if it isn't working correctly.The easy way to work with the stored procedures and all of the changes the WROX programmers made to IBUYSPY is to load their backup database onto your server using a different database name, then import the tables and stored procedures you need into your Portal database.There are some problems with the code that requires revising the name spaces and assembly references to get them to work with the ASPNET Portal, but once modified the code does work well for the most part.I really wish the WROX programmers had spent more time on the RTF piece.I eventually replaced the RTF functionality with someone else's software, but I have to admit that I learned alot about ASP.NET controls by examining the WROX RTF code.The document management piece is worth the price of the book.The documentation really is not very good but if you study the code, you'll learn alot.I disagree strongly with the reviewer who stated this is for people who want code but don't want to learn what it does.If you can make the WROX code work, you're doing pretty well.

Another "let's get it published asap" book.
If you wish to understand the IBUY Portal, don't count on this book to help you.I didn't like the style and structure of this book.I got the sense that this book was just another rush publication with a group of programmers getting together, assigning chapters with desired content and then got down to pulling and writing code.

WROX needs to do a better job of controlling quality and up front planning for their books.Sorry, but this book shows none of that.The design of the existing site was mostly crammed into a single chapter.A decent database diagram was not included and no UML or other diagrams were presented so we could easily understand the Object architecture.Instead, the documentation was simply a straight lift from sql server table descriptions.I found myself drawing my own diagrams as I went through the book.An architect's perspective was desparately needed in this first chapter.

I won't be buying any more WROX books if things don't improve by enforcing good technical writing standards for their publications.

Good blueprint; confusing target audience.
I bought this book because I have been thrust into the Intranet development world, and I really don't have a lot of experience building multi-functional web pages.I bought this book to really help me understand the IBuySpy portal, and I have used it to customize that package for a couple of different web sites now.

The Good:
The book is very good at explaining the various components of the IBuySpy Portal.It's a lot like a tourist map; highlighting certain pieces (while complete overlooking other aspects).

The Bad:
As others have noted, this book doesn't go deep into explaining ASP.NET, or how to use classes in the .NET architecture.It merely allows you to copy a lot of code, cross your fingers, and see something work.

The Ugly:
As with most "best-of-breed" solutions from Microsoft, stuff breaks.While this particular manual does point out why some stuff doesn't work as well as intended, it doesn't go into a lot of detail (and don't expect it to catch everything).

In Sum:Buy this book if you have a need to get an intranet up and running quickly, and want to impress your non-developer friends.Don't buy it if you're expecting to use it to learn ASP.NET. ... Read more

Book Description
...extensively revised, new edition offers professionals up-to-date andcomprehensive understanding of technologies available to sevureTCP/IP-based networks ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An excellent beginning
I found Rolf Oppliger's INTERNET AND INTRANET SECURITY (SECOND EDITION) to be an invaluable tool for helping me get up to speed on some of the fundamental aspects involved in computer network security.This taught me a lot that I needed to know and it did so without being confusing.This book was an assigned text for an Enterprise Security class that I took, and it was an invaluable learning aid, as well as a great resource.

The text covers fundamentals (a TCP/IP networking overview, OSI Architecture, various cryptographic techniques and the attacks they are designed to thwart), access control (explaining packet-filters, application and circuit level gateways, and firewalls), and communications protocols/security (Network Access Layer, Internet Layer, Transport Layer, Application Layer, and message security protocols).Also included is a chapter on Public Key Infrastructures.The book is almost totally focused on teaching theory, with only scant attention paid to real-world implementations.This is not a drawback.If a student learns everything this book has to offer, then that will be a huge advantage when it comes time to turn one's attention towards actual applications.

Most topics that Oppliger discusses include a brief history of the subject.This allows the student to really get a handle on why a system evolved in the way that it did.Also helpful are the numerous pointers to web pages and other texts to supplement the information given here.This book is mostly text-based; pictures, figures and tables are present but used sparingly.

Overall, I would recommend this book to any student new to the field or any novice looking for insight into the topics of computer network security.It casts a very wide net, and while most specifics will be given more depth in other, more specialized books, the amount of information revealed here is more than adequate.

Security Generalism
A book that explains literally both Internet and Intranet security matters through firewalls (proxy), and other TCP/IP techniques. Good for computer know-how-ers not covering TCP/IP matters. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is a journal article from Technovation, published by Elsevier in 2006. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
This paper looks at the future of mobile phone-based Intranet applications using data from the Japanese market and models of industry evolution. Owing to the faster and greater agreement on protocols for defining the way in which content and information is presented on phones and the faster introduction and promotion of push-based Internet mail and methods of accessing content via the input of a URL, Japanese firms have moved faster to introduce mobile phone-based mobile applications than the rest of the world. Based on analysis of published material in Japanese newspapers and magazines and interviews with more than 30 firms (users, suppliers, and service providers), this paper discusses the status and future of these applications; the latter focuses on both technological change and models of industry evolution. ... Read more

Book Description
Peachpit's new Reality series extends a very special invitation: join a development team as it works its way through real-world projects from start to finish. In Reality ColdFusion MX: Intranets and Content Management, author Ben Forta and his team take you behind the scenes of intranet design, from the initial planning and brainstorming sessions, all the way through implementation of the final products.

Forta, a ColdFusion expert and evangelist, talks to you as one professional developer to another as he explains design considerations, walks you through the decision-making process, and points out key development challenges and their solutions.His insider approach makes you an active, integral part of the virtual design team, not just a passive reader; he teaches best practices and good design implicitly, by example.Once you're ready to strike out on your own, turn to the companion Web site, which is loaded with full-fledged intranet and e-businessapplications (including a mail client, scheduling program, user directory, content-management system, and threaded discussions) that you can put to work immediately as standalone apps or as an integrated suite of programs. These highly configurable applications save you time and money, letting you start your projects with tested, high-quality code. Reality ColdFusion MX: Intranets and Content Managementis a one-stop resource for intermediate-to-advanced Flash and ColdFusion developers who want to design professional-quality intranets from scratch. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Great Book and great author
This is a great book for cold fusion.Mr. Forta explains this language very well with simple examples.

Great Idea! Bad code!
So I'm going throught the book and decide to start in part IV "product requirements". After reading the whole section (several chapters), I decide to install the code on my own CFDev server so that I can see the app I've been reading about in action. Long story short, I can fill a phone book with the errors I've found and recieved.

Sure, I can spend 2 or 3 days going through the code and rewritting the application. But at that point, the book is no longer valid. So while it has been fun to read emails from Teo to the team about how to develop the application, the final product doesn't work.

I've been using ColdFusion for 5 years. I thought that I should point that out.

I haven't tried the other Apps in the book yet. Maybe they work. Maybe they don't!

Don't Bother Buying This Book
You'll be very disappointed if you buy this book. The code is full of errors and doesn't work. Save your money, look around, and buy something else. You'll be wasting your money on this one.

Real world example at its best.
First.This is not your typical instructional book.Do not purchase this if you are just learning CF.For the advanced user who wants to learn CF project development (pertaining to intranets) grab this book.

I love the concept of this book.Currently my bookshelves are lined with books that give me snippets of code explaining the various tags in CFMX.This book assumes (requires) you know CFML and don't need an explanation of the tags or their attributes.You become part of the development team.As you read this book you will see how this team will build a content management system.Starting from an idea and ending with a working CMS (hopefully) you will learn the "big picture" of CFMX.

With most basic instructional books it can be difficult to see how all your .cfm modules will fit into one grand application.This book will help you.The book is filled with mock notes and memos from the team members discussing requirements and ideas for the CMS.Also the code used is written out for you.The code is divided into small coherent pieces and there are plenty of editorial comments to explain the team's methodology.

If you are looking for code you can cut-and-paste from a CD; look elsewhere.This book is to give you real-world experience coding a project.Simple pasting modules into you CFMX server would not teach you anything.Besides, if all the code for the CMS you are building was placed on a CD, it would be easy to just copy the files onto your intranet and have the worlds cheapest CMS available...

Disregard the previous reviewer.
...

This is not about code... its about real life production experiences. Uniquely original in the genre of computer books. Most computer books, are technical, full with code. This book takes another approach, by selecting five of the most commonly built web apps and guides you through the process, down to the emails the clients send internally. I am half way through the book and have already learned some interesting techniques that utilize coldfusion mx's newest features. Each project is developed in different ways, so the reader gets a good mix of different styles of production and workflow methodolgies.

Great book... once finished going to get the other reality book about flash and coldfusion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent
There are many elements that factor into implementing a successful search function; search is not solely the responsibility of the search tool. White understands this and provides an excellent overview in, "Making Search Work: Implementing Web Intranet and Enterprises Search." The author provides essential information to drive at understanding organizational search needs, evaluation and implementation of a search strategy. I highly recommend this resource as a starting point or even confirmation for those engaged on an intranet, enterprise or web search project. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Heavily visual books have become popular lately, but mainly for elementary subjects. In Setting Up a Linux Intranet Server Visual Black Book, a team of authors and designers brings the picture-intensive approach to Linux. It's a welcome move that simultaneously heralds Linux's improving ease of use and the willingness of the computing mainstream to investigate the operating system.

The authors have hit their subject at precisely the right angle too. By choosing to use the Visual Black Book style on Linux-based intranet servers, they nail the application that's most interesting to the small-office users who are their audience. This book will help the casual network administrator get a Linux machine working as a file, printer, Web, and electronic mail server.

The format relies on illustrating sequential steps with a combination of line drawings, screen shots, and command-line listings. The text that describes what's going on in the steps includes callouts, so there's never any question about what part of the illustration is relevant. The format isn't great for communicating conceptual information, but it will help you accomplish the basic tasks quickly and enable you to look into denser reference on a more solid footing. --David Wall

Topics covered: Building a local area network (LAN) server with Linux (Red Hat Linux 6 appears in the examples), installation, basic command-line operations, users and groups, and heterogeneous networking with information on Samba for Windows and netatalk for Mac OS. Coverage of specific services includes the Apache Web server and electronic mail with sendmail and qpopper.Book Description
This book describes how to build a small-scale LAN using Red Hat Linux 6.0 as a server on networked, PC-Unix, and other hardware platforms.It includes well-diagrammed and documented explanations of everything from basic Linux knowledge and how to install and set up Linux as an intranet file server, to managing Linux operations and security. The instructions and explanations are presented in an informatinve, easy-to-follow visual format suitable for both beginners and intermediaate computer users.A topic-related comprehensive glossary and command reference are also included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Network gurus are giants among men-NOT!!!
I think the map metaphor is appropriate here:We want to get to point B; a simple map shows us the way.Does that mean we don't check our oil, inquire about road conditions, ask friends about traffic, etc.?I think not, and this book does NOT tell us to follow blindly.What it does is show that Linux server setup is NOT rocket science, and will get simpler as the distros mature.These self-styled gurus are puzzle phreaks, not problem solvers.

Best picture book to get Linux/Samba running
I'm glad I didn't read the reviews before getting this book. I needed to get Linux running first, then I'd learn it later. This book works exactly as planned. Pictures step you through getting Samba to work, and I took an old 486 and made it work on our network. Now I've got a box on which I can learn Linux, and it's already useful on my network.

The worst book about Linux that I have read to date.
I purchased this book knowing that there is a wealth of quality information available for free about Linux, but I was hoping that this would be a convenient reference documenting a variety of servicesauthoritatively.

Sadly, this book is riddled with an apalling number offactual errors, near constant misleading comments, and nigh-unreadablystrained English. The factual errors for the most part won't get the readerinto trouble right away (though there are some worrying errors), but thisadded to the cookbook approach can provide either a dangerous feeling ofadequacy or a voodoo approach to system administration - "I just didit this way because the book told me to".

I cannot encourage peopleto buy this book; it is very inconsistent in practices, it gives directionswithout rationale, and it gives no pointers to places where adequatedocumentation can be found.

I would give this book negative stars if Icould, as I consider this book harmful to some and useful to none.

Technically poor, misleading, poor editing
1) The authors failed to acknowledge the different versions of Windows (Win95/98 & NT) which can have quite different setups.

2) There is no such thing as "Linux has built-in stability and security..."

3) Linux is not "only" a server OS, we use it on desktopeveryday.

4) ...just because computers are connected by a LAN does notclassifies it as an "intranet"

5) TCP/IP is NOT the most commonmethod to network PCs on a LAN -- Ethernet is.

The publisher claims"guarantee" on their technical accuracy. If this is the best theycan do, I'll be very careful buying another Coriolis's book. The authorsfailed to understand what an intranet server really does, the book title ismisleading.

Pros: earn 1 star for pretty pictures, but if you are seriousabout learning Linux this book "won't" give you a good start.

Bold, where now computer user manual has gone before
This computer user manual is a visual treasure, full of wealth of hands on, easy to follow, non-nonsense instructions on getting a Linux operating system up and running on a Local Area Network. Functionality, wonderfullydiagramed procedures and ease of use are the strengths of this book. ... Read more

Book Description
Intranets have changed the way organizations around the world communicate. Many business people are intimidated by this technological revolution-but they need not be! The Human Side of Intranets guides you through the daunting task of transforming communication within your business. This book is for every non-technical person charged with the task of creating or contributing to a company intranet system. It goes through the process step-by-step, from initial concept to launch and beyond. The Human Side of Intranets avoids information overload, addressing three critical dimensions of creating an effective and valuable intranet-content, style, and politics. It demonstrates how intranets are not about technology, but about people and the way they communicate. Real-world examples and proven tactics for problem-solving are given to show you the way. This book makes taking your company into the 21st century a manageable feat! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not Very Useful
You would think that with five authors there would be something useful in this book. Unfortunately, this book is all about the politics of Intranets and not about actually building one. There is one page with an outline of possible Intranet topics, but other than that there is no help on Intranet content.

Not very useful
It is way to basic, if you've been running an intranet in a largish size company then you don't need this book. If you just got thrown to the wolves though then this may (or may not help). I can't honestly recommend this book.

A good effort but outdated.
If this was still 1998, this would be an excellent read but unfortunately, as with most material in this category (Web Usability), it ages too quickly.

Good advice and very realistic.
This book has definately prepared me for the challenges that are ahead ofme.Creating an intranet is the easy part of the process.The bookdiscusses the politics that are involved and what obstacles you may need toovercome.Regardless of it not being a "technical" book, it gaveme a more clear understanding of exactly how the whole thing works, andpolitical steps I might need to take to prepare myself and my company.Iwould recommend this book to anyone who may be involved in the process -beginning or advanced.

Perfect! Recommended to anyone who looks beyond technology!
Already from the start I enjoyed this book. A book which shows that intranets are --indeed-- about people and not technology. Although my background is quite technical (UNIX admin...) I recognize that it is not technology in the first place which needs attention. Good structured, nice to read. The first 4 chapters were (for me) most valuable. The rest of the book is a very handy guide for implementing and learning the processes involved. So a big relief and I recommend this book to everybody who is able to look *beyond* the technology... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Unbelievably thorough
This book is THE complete guide to building an intranet. Killer examples and techniques.

Killer compilation of Intranet Techniques
Very impressive compendium of Intranet information and the latest HTML techniques ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

e-HR surely not so simplistic
As many books about HR this too is concentrating about the operative aspects of the HR process work out.e-HR is dealt from the very operative side,by this way the author leaves the reader the hard task of discovering and reorganizing the few strategical insights provided across the book.I would define it a poor value summary of many othere books,just trying to cover all the critical aspects of the argument but really not having an its own point of view.I shold have expected something really better from a book that has been realesed after an historycal period in which e-HR experiences have been tested in many organizations.In my opinion previously realeased books such as "Web-based Human resources" ,"A thousand tribes","Corporate portals" deal with the problem of the organizational process web-enabling in a more complex and meaningful way.
My suggestion is to enjoy other sources about the argument, first of all the IT systems vendors' sites whose material is really good value. ... Read more

Book Description
Building a corporate intranet requires integrating two very different technologies; web development tools and enterprise-wide legacy systems. Few people possess enough experience in both areas to successfully make these technologies work together. The authors, leading consultants at BSG, explain the tools and techniques necessary for building an Intranet system. This book will show how to plan, design and build a corporate intranet system, including how to arrange and mange the project team and what tools for building a system are available, including HTML, Java, and Shockwave. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A Painful Lullaby
I don't like books that put me to sleep and this one did. I was hoping to read in detail about intranets (hardware, software,and construction) but this book was pretty basic. It would be no help to someone looking to createan Intranet from scratch but more for someone who wants a 400 pagedictionary definition of Intranet. It was a bore and a waste of time and Isuggest you read all the reviews before buying this book.

A complete waste of time and money. Don't buy it !!
This book is totally "light" and superficial. It's like reading a poor article in a magazine. It hasn't the appropiate level of discussion for each point. I've read it in five days, wondering when I'd findsomething that really worths. I've finished it, and I'm still waiting!!!.

In each chapter, the authors give you a short description of somebasics facts about technologhy, or any other not technical fact; but anywayfacts that you should already know if you're an ITprofessional.

Everywhere in the book, you can find the phrase "formore information, call the specialists". The specialists, of course,are companies like BSG, where they used to work. But you can't find theauthor. That company has been sold, so the book references to a lot ofresources that doesn't exist anymore.

I strongly recommend you not toread it.

If you have to manage the bulding process of a corporateIntranet, I think I can give you some help. There are some serious worksabout human facts, functional facts, and management facts in an Intranet."Intranet Organization", by Steven Tellen is a good one. It'sonline, search for it (I can't put URLs here). I don't know if it is aprinted version, but it should. I've also good references for "TheHuman Side of Intranets", by Jerry W. Koehler.

If you're adeveloper, instead, I recommend you to start with "IntranetsUnleashed". It gaves you a good introduction to each technologhypoint.

The conclussion about the book: it is not technical, it is notfunctional. Really bad. 400 pages about nothing !!!

FABULOUS
saw it, bought it, used it every day until my intranet was complete.this is an excellent book to use as a working guideline every day.

A straightforward, nuts and bolts how to cookbook
You've heard the hype.You've heard that it is easy.What you haven't heard is what it really takes to get a corporate intranet going.This book provides detailed how-to-do-it steps that are applicable for an intranet from a five person lan to medium size organization.The technical detail is accurate even for the larger organization, but the authors side-step the political and technical complexity of integrating an intranet into the typical Fortune 200 hundred company. For the rest of the world, you get a step by step overview of the technology, the components, and the required suppliers (such as internet service providers (ISP)),

I recommend this book because it is technically accurate, logically and sequentially laid out, and because it contains all that you need to know to implement an intranet.It even outline a budget.The chapters are laid out so that you can begin where you are or use the book as a reference on a particular issue.One of the reasons for a consulting firm such as BSG Consulting to publish such a book is to demonstrate that they have the expertise to do the job.This book succeeds in this demonstration. ... Read more

Book Description
Intranet is not simply the latest buzzword. In particular, an intranet database can connect the people in your organization to all the information they need in order to do their jobs effectively. Now, thanks to Intranet & Web Databases For Dummies, you'll understand all that's involved in setting up your own database for access by people within your organization or for access by anyone anywhere via the World Wide Web.In Intranet & Web Databases For Dummies, programming wizard Paul Litwin introduces you to the concepts behind intranet and Web databases -- and then gets right into the nuts and bolts of setting up your own database. He shows you how to use powerful but easy-to-use software (such as Microsoft Access, SQL Server, Visual InterDev, Internet Information Server, the Internet Database Connector, and Active Server Pages) to make your internal and external Web pages useful and full of accurate, timely information.Plus, on the bonus CD-ROM accompanying Intranet & Web Databases For Dummies, you get valuable software and other resources, including A complete, sample Access database referred to throughout the book A sample SQL Server database, so that you can begin to see what's possible with Standard Query Language and relational databases Sample IDC files for retrieving data from the sample Access and SQL databases ... Read more

Amazon.com
The title of this impressive book is somewhat oblique. What the author really offers is an introduction to artificial intelligence (AI) programming using examples that also teach you Java. Watson begins with a short introduction to artificial intelligence, dividing AI systems into two major categories: symbol-processing systems and neural networks. Examples of each are amply covered in the course of the book.

The first section describes the development of the Java class libraries that will serve as building blocks when you construct your applications. These libraries include a portable user interface class, flexible frame data structures, and neural-network and genetic-algorithm simulation classes. Chapters on natural language processing and AI agents show you how to use these techniques to automate tasks such as e-mail processing and gathering information from the Web.

Once you've created these basic tools, Watson shows you how to use them to build applications. His examples include a scrolling arcade game, a real-time handwriting recognition program, a distributed natural language processing system that can answer questions about history, and a Java-based data collection agent for the Internet. The author assumes that you know Java programming basics, although he provides a short tutorial in an appendix that will be helpful if you're coming to Java from C or C++. The bundled CD-ROM contains the source code for all projects in the book.Book Description

Internet tools and applications frequently use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to enable special features and reduce development time. This book allows you to apply these powerful AI design techniques to your Java programming. Focusing on intelligent systems, it provides the introductory AI material that Java programmers need to create Internet and Intranet applications including on-line games, search tools, and data collection
tools. A variety of detailed examples are provided to illustrate how these applications are used in real-world software projects, and to guide you in developing applications of your own.

* AI concepts are explained in detail making the book accessible to any Java programmer.
* An accompanying CD-ROM lets readers experiment with source code for the Java classes developed in the book. The CD-ROM includes many immediately useful Java class libraries and four complete applications that use the Java class libraries.
* Complete example programs cover a range of applications including an arcade style game, a handwriting recognition system, a system that answers questions about ancient history, and an information retrieval application. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Terrible - ZERO didactic value
This book fails miserably at explaining anything. The examples dissuaded me to purchase it only to find out that simple explanations about how it AI works are nowhere to be found (there is however superfluous and distracting commentary on simple Java things like Runnable, Applets, there's even networking code for a POP mail client which really ought to be delegated to support code outside from the book's topic). The examples themselves typically have no comments, even if they are several pages long. Later chapters provide more insight, however when you are looking to learn something, the "simpler" topics are glossed over.

The Java code also leaves a lot to be desired, it doesn't follow standard java naming conventions for instance variables and method names and the style is so varied and terrible (sometimes instance variables are declared at the top, sometimes at the bottom) that reading the code becomes a chore (and all that without commentary.

Some web pages on the net provide more useful information.

Terrible - ZERO didactic value
This book fails misserably at explaining anything. The examples disuaded me to purchase it only to find out that simple explanations about how it AI works are no where to be found. The examples themselves typically have no comments, even if they are several pages long. Later chapters provide more insight, however when you are looking to learn something, the "simpler" topics are glossed over.

The Java code also leaves a lot to be desired, it doesn't follow standard java naming conventions for variables and the style is so varied and terrible (sometimes instance variables are declared at the top, sometimes at the bottom) that reading the code becomes a chore (and all that without commentary.)

Some web pages on the net provide more useful information.

Lousy introduction to AI
"Intelligent Java Applications" was my first introduction to neural networks and AI in general, when I bought the book a couple of years ago. It took an undergraduate neural modeling class at an Ivy Leagueuniversity before I appreciated what a lousy introduction to neuralnetworks this book actually is. Watson glosses over all of the theoreticalbasis of neural networks, and does an inadequate job of explaining justwhat a neural network is and how it works. The author could have easilyexplained (in a paragraph) what a linear associator is, before launchinginto the more convoluted, multiple-layer back-prop algorithm that ispresented in the book. If you want a real book on neural networks (alongwith neurophysiological, theoretical, and historical developments), Ihighly recommend "Introduction to Neural Networks" by JamesAnderson.

Watson also wastes paper by baby-stepping the reader throughsome useless GUI and networking packages that makes his code presentable(when run) but much more difficult to decipher. A useful AI tutorial wouldnot be so tied to a specific language. Alas, I have a feeling that the Javareference, as well as the "For the Internet and Intranets"subtitle was a clever bait-and-switch tactic to sell more copies of thisbook. If you're interested in the function of AI rather than the theory(if, suppose, you're progamming a game), then this book might be useful.But I have a feeling that better resources exist if this is your avenue ofinterest.

I have not, as of yet, done much course-based or indepenentresearch on expert systems, genetic algorithms, character recognition,natural language processing, or any of the other topics that are covered inthis book. But I have a feeling that, if I do, I'll find the rest ofWatson's material similarly lacking.

a bluff
a bluff

It shoulnd't take that much plain common sense for the author to understand that he could have done a decent job updating the code contained in the book, and tat its installation work. I wonder what is thebig deal about royalties and stuff the author mentioned in relation to it.

Apparently this book was out of press 1997. On page 343 "Using theCD-ROM" the author claims to have tested the code using the JDK 1.0(really) and JDK 1.1. THe author also claims to keep code updates on hisWeb site, but then when you go there you find that, as he adjectivelyspecifies,"some" code has been updated for Java 1.2 and Java1.3, along with some poetic remarks like "code which age will benoticed" or something like that.

I even pondered about cleaningmyself the whole code and sending it to the author, but it is not reallyworthy, you can find better Java code online about almost each of thechapters. There were only some stuff regarding wand writing mapping thatyou could go over in a Barnes and Nobel session.

If you are into the AIthing, read the procedings and specialized books. I think, and I am highlyinterested in the topic from a semiotic perspective myself, AI, is sort ofscience fiction, hype, ..., it hasn't evoled into something sensical yet.Big blue beating Kasparov isn't AI yet. Right on the first page of theintroduction the author says that one of the problems AI tries to solve isthe generation of " Creative thoughts exemplified by new andremarkable theorems in MAthematics... and novel theories in other sciences..."

Sir, this is a core semantic problem not a sintactic one, youoperate machines, design models, transmit data, etc. on a sintactic levelby means of a physical carrier. I wonder what you are talking aboutthere.

I returned the book whithin hours thinking, "If the authorwould at least have taken care of the code?"

Artificial Intelligence in a Nutshell
I never thought a book could cover so much ground on a such complex topic as Artificial Intelligence - and still be hands on and compact. The book is at the same time a great teach in programming with Java. Intelligent Applications for the Internet and Intranet is certainly an enjoyable book that you as a programmer can grow with. //Thomas Westergård ... Read more