Readers Preference Reviews

If you love to experiment and create unusual computer based projects then Small Form Factor PCs is a book that will probably be of interest to you.  Using small mainboards and some creative adaptations the results are projects that vary in size from about the size of a small usb hub to as large as a shoebox.  For each project you know up front the amount of time expected to complete the project and the level of difficulty.  Unlike some other do-it-yourself books this one provides all the necessary details including where to buy the parts, the specific software code, software

To begin with this is not a book for the person new to JavaScript.  The authors assume some knowledge of JavaScript and object oriented programming right from the start.  This is more of an advanced text for those who already can get things done in JavaScript and want to advance their knowledge, write code that is easier to maintain, and exploit the flexibility of JavaScript to its fullest extent.

Ubuntu has become one of the fastest growing and arguably most friendly Linux distributions over the last few years.  This book is designed to help someone who has no knowledge of Linux become a basic system administrator.  While it will not make them an expert among people who know Linux well it will make them sufficiently knowledgeable to do most of the common administrative functions.

I reviewed the prior version of this text and rated it as highly recommended and this updated third version continues with the same quality content and highly usable writing style.  Starting with minimal assumptions about the readers's knowledge, the book walks them carefully through the details of both PHP and MySQL from installation (Windows and Linux) to doing the most common tasks.  Included among the new content is coverage of PHP6.

A new addition to the "Beginning..." series of books from Apress this one follows the highly successful layout of the other books. It starts with how to install Ruby on various operating systems including Windows, OS X, and Linux. Then the reader gets a good introduction to the basics of Ruby including writing your first few lines of programing. For those who need it the author takes the time to introduces the reader to the concepts of class and object as they related to the object oriented programming environment.

Expert MySQL starts with a section on the anatomy of a database system including the common types of systems. This is often missing in database books and a very important part to understand if you going to use one to its fullest potential. Other sections include one on the source code and one on extending and debugging MySQL. The author devotes a chapter to embedded MySQL including building embedded MySQL applications as well as one on adding functions and commands. The third and final part of the book covers advanced database internals and includes a good section on query optimization.

Well I hadn't used Yahoo for the last several years because I could do whatever I wanted on Google. So, I didn't really know what I was missing until I read through this book and tried the myriad of little tricks detailed throughout. Yahoo has grown up and is a serious competitor to other search engines as well as a preferred site for some purposes. Author Randolph Hock introduces the reader to the details of various services of Yahoo including Groups, News, Mail, Messenger, GeoCities, Chat, Message Boards, Shopping, Auctions, Classifieds, and Finance.

If you want to operate an online educational course one of the most important choices you will have to make is choosing a good program to manage the course and all of its requirements. Moodle is an open source course management system that can handle anything from a single course through a university system with thousands of students and courses. The Moodle system is a complete system with a student registration and login, calendar, student forums, help system, online quiz system, the ability to upload and download files and assignments, and course content control.

A true test drive, this book includes a Linux Live CD that can be placed into your computer and booted directly to Linux without affecting your current operating system. As a result you can test drive Linux without any concerns about your current system integrity.

There may be no shortage of websites these days but there sure is a shortage of ones that are well designed and easy to navigate. Unfortunately, even most of the large websites are overly crowded, hard to figure out how to do things, and absolutely awful in terms of user friendliness. Author Doug Addison does an excellent job of discussing problems with websites and how to design ones that are user friendly and a joy to use. With an obvious flair for the artistic this book really shows some excellently designed web sites.