Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World, Complete (Shelly Cashman) Review

Discovering Computers 2010: Living in a Digital World, Complete (Shelly Cashman)
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THIS BOOK WAS GOOD. THE BOOK WAS HUGE IN SIZE THOUGH. I HAD AN EASY ENOUGH TIME FIGURING OUT WHAT THE INSTRUCTIONS WANTED ME TO DO. THE PICTURES PROVIDED WERE VERY HELPFUL.

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Discovering Computers 2010; Complete, Living in a Digital World provides students with a current and thorough introduction to computers by integrating the use of technology with the printed text.

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Windows 7 For Seniors For Dummies Review

Windows 7 For Seniors For Dummies
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I am 69. I am a dummie.This is my first computer. This book led me through step by step that I could understend.What I like most about it is that I can connect to Mr Mark Justice Hinton directly without going on a wild goose chase on the internet like the bad time I had and have with KODAK, STAPLES, DELL, ADOBE etc

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CompTIA A+ Certification All-In-One For Dummies Review

CompTIA A+ Certification All-In-One For Dummies
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Waste of money, waste of time. I'm sorry to say it because I normally love (and trust) the "Dummies" series of books. But I'm a pretty computer proficient person already, and I knew a TON of the material was just useless and obsolete. To confirm my suspicions, I downloaded the official A+ 2009 exam objectives, and sure enough, about half of what this Dummies book covers isn't even covered at all. Who uses ISA slots or Pentium 2s these days, come on?!
They tried to update the book by throwing in new hardware types and such, but it was such an obvious copy and paste job. You might be reading a paragraph, talking about how new and prevalent X hardware is, only to read a recent paragraph addition about how new and prevalent hardware Y is. Guess what, only one of them is (e.g., X went out of style years ago, everyone uses Y now). This is very common.
Updating a book--especially something so technical--should involve more than pasting in some new material. It should be deleting the useless stuff, and giving the reader a true sense of what's the dominant hardware type and what's going out of style. Reading this, you might have no idea if you didn't have prior knowledge. Plus, there are blatant inaccuracies (e.g., AMD's new AM3 processors have 938 pins, not 941 as written in the book).
Sorry, but I can't recommend this book. Comprehensive, yes. Accurate, up-to-date, and relevant? Not by a mile.

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MCTS 70-680 Cert Guide: Microsoft Windows 7, Configuring Review

MCTS 70-680 Cert Guide: Microsoft Windows 7, Configuring
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I recently took and passed the 70-680 this morning by using this book. I feel it is only fair to say that it was not my only source but one of my main sources of study.
I personally thought the exam in the book was harder than the actual test. Not the chapter exams, the exam on the CD. With that being said, I would say if you can pass the test on the CD, you can pass the actual exam. I really enjoyed the pre-test format of the book. Each chapter began with a pre-test that would help you determine if you should read the entire chapter, a section of the chapter or just skip to the review topics point in the chapter. Every chapter also included a memory table with keywords that you were asked to fill out from memory. I did that for every chapter and it really helped when I saw questions I didn't recognize but could eliminate due to knowing exactly what a option was or what it did.
I think the most obvious question people will have about the book:
Deployment section - Although I did not use all of the commands in this book to lab for the deployment(I used CBT Nuggets and Train Signal) the beginning ones I used were fine. As I am sure some of you know, the MS press book is riddled with errors, so much there is an errata thread about it. I only state this because as soon as you start using the commands from the MS press book you are met with commands that don't work. And that adds to an extremely frustrating lab experience.
In conclusion, I believe this book should definitely be added to any study regiment when preparing for the 680 exam. With all the information in this book, you can probably pass with this alone but I would not recommend that. These types of exams are heavy on understanding and being able to do things. The only way to ensure both is by experience(in other words labs)
I hope this review is helpful to all those that come across it. I don't write reviews much but seeing as how this book has none and it IS a good source. I figured why not.
For all my TE Comrades - TSR

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Linux All-in-One For Dummies Review

Linux All-in-One For Dummies
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I really only have one complaint about this book. Other than that, it's excellect. The book is intended for the almost newbie. That is someone who knows how to turn the machine on, knows that a mouse is a plastic thing with buttons instead of a furry thing in the pantry, and so forth.
The book is divided into eight major subsections, or as the book says, 8 mini books. These are intended to be self standing so that if you want to set up an internet server you really only to read that particular book (but you may want to read a couple of others like the ones on administration and security).
Like a lot of Linux books, this one comes with a DVD disk, filled with lots of software (the DVD can hold a lot more data than a conventional CD). Or for $11 you can order a set of CD's that contain the Fedorea 3 Core distribution.
One point about the book I liked, he tells you how to make a partition to dual boot Windows and Linux. But he also comments that you might want to set up your experimental Linux system on a separate freestanding machine. This is clearly the way to go. I bought a computer at a thrift shop recently - 1 GHZ AMD Athlon - certainly not the hottest iron on the market, but it was only $75, including a 17" monitor. I've seen too many people screw up an installation and wipe out a hard drive to suggest that the newbie do a dual boot.
The problem I have with the book. He includes five flavors of Linux on the disk. In the first part of the book he goes a bit into the various distributions, but he never makes a solid recommendation. (There is a hint that this was the editors recommendation to get one book that would please the fans of any distribution.) If the newbie knows enough to say that he wants Debian or SUSE or Fedora, he probably doesn't need a For Dummies book. And the author does not say the advantages of the particular distributions, merely that they are here and here's how you install them.
By default the DVD loads Fedora, and that's fine. But in the installation section the author has to jump around a lot talking about the way the other distributions do things and it gets confusing. When you read the installation chapter, feel free to ignore what you aren't using.

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A complete guide and reference to five major Linux distributions
Linux continues to grow in popularity worldwide as a low-cost, reliable operating system for enterprise use. Nine minibooks in this guide cover everything administrators need to know about the five leading versions: Ubuntu, Fedora Core, OpenSUSE, Mint, and Mandriva. The companion DVD includes full Ubuntu installations and ISO images for the other four, saving hours of downloading time.
The open source Linux operating system is gaining market share around the world for both desktop and server use; this soup-to-nuts guide covers installation and everything else administrators need to know about Ubuntu, Fedora Core, OpenSUSE, Mint, and Mandriva
Nine self-contained minibooks cover Linux basics, desktops, networking, Internet, administration, security, Linux servers, programming, and scripting
Updated to cover the newest versions of the five top distributions, with complete installation instructions and a DVD including the full Ubuntu installations and ISO images for the others

Linux users and administrators will be able to install and sample five popular Linux flavors with the information in Linux All-in-One For Dummies.
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

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My iPad 2 (covers iOS 4.3) (2nd Edition) Review

My iPad 2 (covers iOS 4.3) (2nd Edition)
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It has been said many times already, but it's worth repeating: iPad is one of the most revolutionary devices that have come around in years. On the surface it seem like a cross between a tablet PC, a net book and an iPod, but comparing it to any one of these other devices doesn't do the full justice. iPad is truly revolutionizing how we approach the use of computers, and it is bound to have an impact on all of the other computing devices. iPad is an always-on, easily accessible and intuitive computing platform. Even though the ease of use is one of its hallmarks, if you have never used an iPod or an iPhone you may have some initial difficulties with using it.
iPad 2 has been a major improvement on the original iPad concept. This device is thinner, lighter, faster, and it's equipped with two cameras, one on each face of the device. It is even more fun to use, and you almost start to feel that you could almost entirely ditch your computer.
"My iPad 2" aims to take away the mystery behind iPad 2 and help you make the most of it. The book is written in an extremely accessible and to-the-point style, and from the very outset it takes you straight to the actual demonstrations of how to achieve certain actions on your iPad 2. It helps you navigate the plethora of settings and adjustment options, and tries to make sense of them. This is in fact one of the book's greatest strengths - it is not just a bag of tricks, but also a clear and lucid explanation of the rationale behind every design option on your iPad 2 (both hardware and software). The book also covers some of the most important and useful general iPad apps (both paid and free), such as maps, Keynote, Numbers and Pages, as well some apps that take the full advantage of iPad 2's new capabilities, like Keynote and iMovie. It also gives a short list of some other cool aps with a brief description of each. Even seasoned iPhone, iPad or iPad 2 users will find many valuable tips and insights, and the book is a valuable reference for the long term use.
I also enjoyed the format of the book. The book is large, well presented, and easily navigable. The illustrations and screenshots are fairly large and very clear and they help to illustrate all the relevant material. It is a very intuitive guide for a very intuitive device.
As a side note, I have written this entire review on my iPad. I still don't use it as a full-fledged laptop replacement (nor was it meant to be used that way), but with addition of an external keyboard it can go a long way of meeting most of your daily productivity needs.


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My iPad 2 offers a full-color, fully illustrated, four-color step-by-step resource to using your iPad 2, the latest model from Apple that boasts a new faster processor and two video cameras. Each task is stepped through with corresponding visuals that are numbered to match the step they are referred by. Notes and sidebars give additional insight into using the iPad 2 without requiring you to sort through paragraphs of text to find the information you want. Tasks are clearly titled to help you quickly and easily find things you want to accomplish on your iPad 2. Everything from setup and configuration to using apps like Pages and Maps is clearly illustrated and easy to follow. Learn how to use the iPad 2's two cameras to take pictures and video, and share them with friends or chat with them live.• Connect your iPad to your Wi-Fi network and 3G networks• Take video with the front and rear camera• Video chat with your friends• Stream audio and video to Apple TV and other devices• Synchronize data between your computer and iPad• Watch movies, TV shows, YouTube, or home videos• Surf the Web and email• Download apps to make your iPad even more useful• Create documents and spreadsheets• Build and display presentations• Find locations and get directions• Find the best games• Connect keyboards, cameras, and external displays

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CompTIA Security+ All-in-One Exam Guide, Second Edition (Exam SY0-201) Review

CompTIA Security+ All-in-One Exam Guide, Second Edition (Exam SY0-201)
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According to CompTIA's website, while not a prerequisite, they recommend that an individual sitting the Security+ exam have "at least two years of on-the-job technical networking experience, with an emphasis on security." They further recommend having the Network+ certification. My review of this book is based on an assumption that the individual using this book either meets these recommendations or, through some other means, has equivalent knowledge and experience.
As the author of an eLearning program that helps prepare people for the Security+ exam, I have considered the Security+ 2008 objectives more than most. This book covers everything you need to know to pass the Security+ exam - assuming you have the fundamentals of networking down. As an example, on page 15 (very early in the book) the authors assume you know what a port is when they say, "A network administrator can, for instance, move a service from its default port to a different port..." There is no explanation as to what a "port" is and, according to CompTIA's recommendations, there need not be.
I've given this as a simple example, but the book is filled with assumptions. It's probably a good thing. The book is nearly 700 pages now; imagine how large it would be if all of the knowledge were provided in this single resource. If you don't meet the recommendations that CompTIA suggests, I would encourage you to get this book along with your choice of a Network+ study guide. Then, even if you don't wish to acquire the Network+ certification, you will have the knowledge you need for the assumed information in this book.
I particularly liked the organization of this book. Part I deals with the theory of security (principles, organizational requirements, legal issues, etc.) and provides a foundation for the rest of the book. Part II deals with confidentiality in quite a bit more depth than is required by the Security+ exam. The coverage is closer to that needed for the CISSP exam. The next two parts, Security in the Infrastructure and Security in Transmission address the security needs for network access, data access and data transfer. The final part, excluding the Appendices, is Part V; here, issues related to operational and administrative security are addressed.
Overall, the information is presented in a sequence that makes it both digestible and memorable. I have to say that, in my opinion, this is the best Security+ book to come along yet.

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