Laptops For Dummies Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I have a few favorite topics to look up when thinking about laptops.
User Guide: Does the book describe how to find information (such as a user guide) from the manufacturer? No.
Main Battery: Does the book advise checking with the manufacturer on recalibrating or reconditioning the battery before replacing it? No. However, it does give plenty of helpful information on taking care of your battery.
Cleaning the screen: This book does well. I'd feel better if it mentioned a microfiber cloth.
Protecting the screen from keyboard rubbing: Has good advice.
Matte screens: Does the book mention matte screens and how to find them? No.
Netbooks: Gives netbooks an honorable mention. Does not mention the difficult of seeing the bottom of a windows (including the OK and Cancel buttons(!!) on netbooks with screens only 600-pixels high.
Macs: Apple computers are not indexed.
Antivirus: This book gives an adequate description of antivirus programs.
Theft protection: Good overview of avoiding theft. Mentions the security slot. No mention of LoJack for Laptops, Prey Project, or similar.
Fn key: Not indexed.
Windows Update: His recommendation for automatic updating is based on an update occurring while traveling and forcing a delay while the machine laboriously installed the update. Windows 7 allows you to postpone a restart. Also, note that Microsoft Update (which I always turn on) is not mentioned. Neither is Secunia PSI or Cnet's Techtracker.
Assumes you started with client-based email (such as Windows Mail).
Administrative user account vs. standard user accounts: No mention of the desirability of using standard user accounts for everyday use.
This book comes close. I appreciate that the author spent time describing things in a useful way. But it leaves out some essentials, things I would mention in a first-day class on laptops.
Recommended with reservations.

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The latest edition of the bestselling guide to getting started with a laptop
No one knows computers like veteran author Dan Gookin. With this new edition of his bestseller, he shares his wealth of knowledge and once again finesses even the most complex of topics and presents it in such a way that makes it simple, entertaining, and easy to understand.
You'll explore the latest hardware and technology updates and delve into the most updated information on Windows 7. You'll review the many issues that are unique to laptops, including synchronizing with the desktop, coordinating e-mail between two machines, working on the road, and more.
Beloved and popular author Dan Gookin returns with a new edition that makes understanding laptops simpler than you ever thought possible
Shares the latest information concerning laptops: new technology, current processors available, and steps to update memory and hard drive capabilities
Includes coverage of connectivity between a laptop and desktop, interfaces between laptops, add-ons, networking procedures, and more
Reviews the perks of newer laptops, including larger displays, longer battery power, and speeds equal to desktops to name a few
Examines the benefits of mobility for students, employees, and anyone who needs to work on the go

This fun and friendly guide will get you up and running with your laptop in no time!

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Security Cottage: a Secure Environment for IEEE 802.15.4 Devices (Volume 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)Perhaps not, but at $365 for 108 pages, Usman's "book" is a completely ridiculous product. Normally, such publications (generally called "theses" by PhD candidates) are published by the school at cost, or barely above (perhaps $20 for a binding and distribution fee).
With the advent of on-demand printing services, certainly that cost has come down to the point of being comparable to the cost of manually photocopying pages and then stapling them together.
Skip Usman's book, and instead read any of a host of other, far less expensive and more in-depth, books available.

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Ubiquitous wireless sensor networks are networks consisting of several small computers operational with sensors to discover events like human movement with infrared sensors or resolve the existing state of certain parameters like temperature. These sensor nodes are assembled with a radio to commune with each other and to broadcast data to a central computer where this data can be analyzed. These new sensing computing machines come with new challenges. To eliminate the limitations imposed by wires, sensors possess limited energy sources and correspond with neighboring nodes using wireless networks. Due to critical nature of applications, securing data generated in sensor field by sensors is important. While data security is necessary, the functionality cost in terms of routing and energy needs to be assessed carefully. Limited bandwidth and memory pull the trigger to make more sophisticated and light weight cryptography models. Moreover, deployment of tiny devices like sensor nodes in hostile environment, make it easier for intruder to budge in, plant attack node or control over the legitimate node to launch an attack. In this book, we have analyzed the basic threat model in ubiquitous wireless sensor network (USWN), and presented a quad tree based network portioning scheme, which ensure data accuracy at primary level. Each sensor node maintains neighboring table which stores the node information, our neighbor voting based defense solution helps to authenticate clear text broadcast of control packets. Once we have identified malicious node, our localization scheme can highlight the vulnerable node locality, even most of anchors are compromised. Localization scheme also helped us to strengthen defense against Sybil attack and wormhole attack. We analyze security of proposed scheme against Hello flood, data authentication attacks, node cloning attack and routing attacks.In the existing scenarios, where diverse security services are independent from each other, each service adds an additive communication overhead. By incorporating energy-concentrated security services that are regularly required in sensor network applications, we considerably decrease the energy.

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Todd Lammle's CCNA IOS Commands Survival Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)Lammle's stated objective is to help the reader prepare for and pass the difficult CCNA exam. This book expands a bit on that objective. He states in the introduction that this is supplementary material. It's written to assist the student in understanding the line of thought behind the technology.
I found that quite useful. The CCNA is a rigorous exam; those who pass it have a pretty good understanding of the concepts and protocols. But "real world" practice is a trickier thing, especially NAT, and Lammle's book concisely tackles those issues of keeping a network running. He clearly discusses the "why". I'm keeping the book on my desk as a reference work beyond just exam prep. It's money well-spent.



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To become a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), you must learn the hundreds of IOS commands used by Cisco routers and switches. This handy reference from Cisco networking authority Todd Lammle is just what you need to master those commands. From a thorough introduction to Cisco's basic operating system to making the transition to IPv6, Todd Lammle walks you through hundreds of commands with short, to-the-point explanations and plenty of figures and real-world examples.

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Android Programming Tutorials, 2nd Edition Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My only complaint is the page numbers are in the center and makes it harder when searching for a specific page.
Otherwise the book has some good code examples in it that helps fill in the gaps on the SDK examples. It has already helped answer a couple of questions I had without having to go write code to test things out to see how they work.

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Android Programming Tutorials show you what you can do with Android, through a series of 40 individual exercises. Android Programming Tutorials gives you hands-on instruction in how to build sophisticated Android applications, using many of the technologies outlined in CommonsWare's other Android books.These exercises lead you through the basics of creating Android applications, all the way through many fun Android features like Internet access, location tracking, maps, integrated WebKit browsers, cameras, accelerometers, home screen widgets, and much more. Full source code to all the exercise answers is available, to help you if you get stuck. Android Programming Tutorials makes an excellent companion volume to more traditional Android books that merely tell you what is possible.

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The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I like Scott's first two volumes. But this one is lost in repetition, filler and useless information. I am not sure what kind of photographers' author is trying to target, typically it should be advanced photographers as it is 3rd volume. Some reviewers mentioned that it's good for beginners but I don't think so it contained some advance info and some very basic stuff and it also keep referring to 1st and 2nd volumes.
Good:
If you are product photographer then you have got some information in this book.
Bad:
Repetition Topics: A few examples...
1. Sharpest Aperture: We already discussed this in first two books and same info is shared as topic.
2. Wake up early in the morning.
3. Most of topics in Sports are already covered.
4. As usual screen shot of B&H Photo-Video site which is not relevant to that topic. Ohh wait! This time it's different page not homepage. Why do we require this site's pictures while author is trying to explain myth about card speed.
Filler: This is interesting. A few examples, these points are covered as full page topic in book.
1. There is separate whole topic on how to change lens. (May be in Vol-4, Scott will cover how to properly charge/install battery)
2. How to clean lenses.
3. Shortcut for formatting memory card.
4. Resetting camera setting.
Come on! These topics are covered in detail in operating manuals of every DSLR/Lens.
5. As usual too much advertising of websites and expensive gears.
I was expecting real professional info/tips and going beyond volumes 1 and 2, not the same information/filler. This book is certainly not for me. If you really want to get some interesting tips, you may want to check out `Understanding Exposure:...' by Bryan Peterson.


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Scott Kelby, author of The Digital Photography Book, volume 1 (the world's best-selling digital photography book of all time), is back with a follow-up to his volume 2 smash best seller, with an entirely new book that picks up right where he left off. It's even more of that "Ah ha—so that's how they do it," straight-to-the-point, skip-the-techno-jargon stuff you can really use today to make your shots even better.This book truly has a brilliant premise, and here's how Scott describes it: "If you and I were out on a shoot and you asked me, 'Hey Scott, I want the light for this portrait to look really soft and flattering. How far back should I put this softbox?' I wouldn't give you a lecture about lighting ratios, or flash modifiers. In real life, I'd just turn to you and say, 'Move it in as close to your subject as you possibly can, without it actually showing up in the shot.' Well, that's what this book is all about: you and I out shooting where I answer questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned, just like I would with a friend—without all the technical explanations and techie photo speak."Each page covers a single concept on how to make your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you'll learn another pro setting, tool, or trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. If you're tired of taking shots that look "okay," and if you're tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, "Why don't my shots look like that?" then this is the book for you.This isn't a book of theory—full of confusing jargon and detailed concepts. This is a book on which button to push, which setting to use, and when to use it. With nearly 200 more of the most closely guarded photographic "tricks of the trade," this book gets you shooting dramatically better-looking, sharper, more colorful, more professional-looking photos every time.

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David Busch's Canon EOS 5D Mark II Guide to Digital SLR Photography Review

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(More customer reviews)I've had my 5D Mark II for several months, and have been waiting for this book for almost that long. When I finally got it, I spent a full day reading it and now, finally, have had all of my questions about the camera answered in a clear and concise style. I was pleased that Busch's book covered both the simple stuff and the more advanced tips and techniques that a typical user of the 5D Mark II like myself would appreciate. Everything is easy to find, and it was well organized. A camera this good really needed a book this good.
There were a lot of things in the book I could use immediately. I've had two 580EX II speedlites for some time, but never was able to set them up for wireless operation quickly. Now I can. I also found the information that helped me achieve better autofocus when shooting my son's high school football games. Many of the more obscure C. Fn. settings finally make sense. There are several chapters in this book that are worth the cover price all by themselves. This is a reference guide and a course in better photography all in one book.
I did find a couple typos, but they would be obvious to any owner of this camera (a reference to a built-in flash, and a label pointing to the wrong area of the lens), and they are all amply documented on the author's errata page link shown in the book. I must say that a minor goof or two doesn't detract from the absolute wealth of solid information available from no other book. I highly recommend this to any EOS 5D Mark II user.

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Producing Great Sound for Film and Video, Third Edition (DV Expert Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is an outstanding book. It is written extremely clearly and thoroughly, without feeling too dry or boring. The author clearly has a sense of humour, as well as a wealth of experience of working on soundtracks for a large range of budgets (corporate to feature film). I actually read it cover to cover, non-stop, and have read dipped into it several times since. It is useful for people at all levels, from total beginners to people with a good overview of all aspects of professional production (like me).
I am certainly going to buy his other book (Audio Postproduction). The sections on post in this book were great, and I've already learnt a huge amount. But it just left me hungry for more.
I don't like to write gushing reviews, but this really was a great book. If someone asked me if I knew of a good book for video sound production, I would recommend this whole heartedly, without a second thought. I've already leant it to a trusted colleague, who has been in the business for 30 years, and he decided after a week to buy his own copy.
But I will throw in one drawback...having read this book, I just now wish I had the budget for hollywood facilities on every production I work on. And I don't. So try to remember to keep your feet on the ground. Decent soundtracks can still be made on relatively low budgets. Even on productions where I am writing, shooting, producing, and editing - this book has undoubtedly given me enough to make serious improvements to my sound recording, processing, and mixing.
In summary - if you are serious about sound (and you really should be if you want to produce decent video), and you feel like you need to know more, buy this book!!

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Make your film or video project sound as good as it looks with this complete training course by audio guru Jay Rose. You get hundreds of professional, real-world techniques that you can employ from preproduction through the final mix. This is a solution-oriented guide with FAQs, how-tos, tips, and time savers. You'll get a primer on how sound and digital audio work as well as technical setups, guidelines, and real solutions for:* budgeting, scheduling, and preproduction planning* microphones and room acoustics* recording dialog, voice-overs, ADR, and effects* postproduction hardware* levels and digitizing* working with music and sound effects* producing the final mixNew to this edition:* information on the latest cameras and field recorders* choices between single- and double-system, and digital workflows* the differences between traditional video soundtracks and dialog-driven storytelling.Please visit the author's website for additional resources: www.dplay.com/book/pgs3e* Having trouble with the sound on your video project? Find the solution in this best-selling guide.* Includes time-tested guidelines and recommendations that work no matter what hardware or software package you use* The audio CD includes diagnostics, demos, and tutorial tracks to hone your skills.

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