FI

The ...Dummies series of books was a great concept from the beginning. Never before have there been technical references which could just be read for their entertainment value alone. Beware of ...Dummies books not in the computer genre, they are mediocre at best. This one however proudly continues the heritages started by Dan Gookin in being informative, technical but not more than is neccessary, and allowing you to start from a point where "computer" is still a word to be looked up in your dusty Webster.

For a beginner such as myself, learning any type of programming language was about as much of a challenge as it was figuring out how to stop that blinking 12:00 on my VCR-next to impossible.Mr Wang detailed everything in such a well manner I felt like Capt. Picard venturing out on a new frontier. I almost forgot I was reading a book on programming. I learned alot and had a good time. I highly recommend this book!

I have used this book as a student and found it to be very easy to understand. The book covers a wide range of PC topics, all in terms a layman can understand. The information seems to be accurate and current. As an instructor, I also recommend the book to my students as an excellent reference book. I would not part with my own copy.

Finally, a book for the masses. PCs 6 in 1 covers pratical issues including purchasing decisions, setting up your new computer, choosing printers and other peripherals, and how to get the most out of what you have. Unlike the "dummies" series PCs 6 in 1 gives pratical every day information. Also, unlike the expert series, you don't find yourself overwhelmed by specifications and jargon. This is a book that should be next to every users computer.

I am a C programmer with little knowledge on C++. Previous to reading the book, I know nothing about Windows API, not alone MFC. After spending about 6 hrs to read through the first 7 chapters, I can already write applications with some dialogs controls and feel confortable enough to look up information in help files to learn other MFC objects. This is all because of the effective outline and clear explanations presented by the book. In conclusion, this book is ideal for people with programming background to learn Windows API and MFC.

This book provides an introduction to programming the windows api and then jumps into MFC. It has a quick pace and is a good read.

Very simple and helpful for beginners and those with more PC knowledge. Covers many, many subjects in easy-to-use, easy-to-read format.

This book is another success for Cox and Dudley. If you have Word 6 then you won't need this, but if you are learning Word 7 then this is the way to go. Simple and easy exercises to follow. Useful tips and shortcuts to performing tasks. Easy reading and it does not take a month to digest. As a I am a computer instructor this is one of the best sellers

This is another superlative police procedural mystery, set in the fictional Hong Bay section of Hong Kong, starring those inimitable Hong Kong police officers, Harry Fieffer (the boss), Christoper O'Yee (Amerasian), and Detectives Auden and Spencer, playing once again their combination of Marx Brothers and NYC's finest. Anyway, in this outing, the boys are challenged by the arrival of a science-fiction convention, with the usual fans dressed up as their favorite aliens, parades, and general mayhem. O'Yee is hunting for...well, we won't spoil it...something REALLY hard to find, while Audena and Spencer are looking for a mugger in a multi-story parking garage. Feiffer is looking for the fiend who is incinerating citizens for no apparent reason.
Marshall once again combines the zany with the suspenseful, and once again my eyebrows are sore from raising them at all the hair-raising (pun intended) hold-your-breath scenes. If you're looking for a great police procedural series, and one that doesn't take itself too seriously, you are in the right place in Hong Bay with Marhall's band of loonies. Long may they reign!

Oh man, this is the funniest book in the whole series. Yes, it's part of a series, and the whole series is funny. It takes place in "Hong Bay" precinct in Hong Kong, pre-Chinese-takeover. (The introduction to each book in the series points out that the Chinese could have taken over Hong Kong years ago just by turning off the water tap.) Let's mention here, in case it is not obvious, that nothing in this book actually IS science fiction; it's murder mystery/police procedural.

The characters in the Hong Bay precinct station are a mixed lot of mostly Europeans and Asian-Europeans, or European-Asians, the inhabitants of the precinct are a complete cross section of would-be capitalist Chinese. There is a little bit of stereotyping, with the wily Chinese frequently outwitting the Europeans. Everyone, cop and civilian alike, is just a tad greedy and eager to get ahead or to get something someone else has.

In this particular book, an all-Asia science fiction convention is taking place. Like any science fiction convention, there are people who insist on attending in costume, and there are people who indulge a bit too much in recreational substances. In the opening chapters, we have a wonderful scene where the police station is trying to figure out where to put yet another costumed arrestee; various cells are already holding The Swarm - all of it - and other familiar sci-fi characters. As the new one is a midget, our lieutenant suggests stuffing him in the fire extinguisher closet, since that's the only space left.

I won't give away too much of the plot; let me just say that in addition to the murders, the side plot involving the little old lady piano player in the hotel is definitely worth following.

For fans of police procedurals, and of any murder mysteries, who have also ever been to any convention in a big hotel with a costume party, this is MUST reading- definitely worth doing an out-of-print search on. We have two copies, ha ha, so I can loan one out to friends without the risk of losing our only copy, because there are scenes I like to re-read when I need a good chuckle. The offbeat world of Hong Bay is reliably funny.

In the City of Rome, Decius Caecilius Metellus assumed the aedilship. This office has no perks, is very expensive for the incumbent, and is very necessary if a citizen wants to rise high in the political system. The aedile has to make sure the sewers and drains are in working order, make sure the building contractors are kept honest, and inspect the brothels, the one bonus in the job.

When a new building suddenly collapses, killing over two hundred and fifty people and slaves, Decius is on the job acting as a modern day arson investigator. He sees that Lucius Folius and his wife, wealthy merchants in the building trade, were killed with their necks snapped. The slaves were cruelly whipped and bore deep scars as tight runaway collars on their necks. Holes were bored into the foundation of the building causing it to collapse. Further detecting shows that Folius was involved in the collapse of other buildings. Decius concludes that a conspiracy of highly placed politicians was involved in the scam with him. Decius is determined to bring all the perpetrators to justice even if it means putting his own life on the line.

John Maddox Roberts places his heroic protagonist in the last years of the Roman Republic where crime, corruption and violence are at an all time high level. Decius, politically astute and delightfully devious, uses unique methods to see that justice prevails. The author has meticulously researched Roman history making readers feel like they are actually events that are happening now.

Harriet Klausner

Roman tenement apartments fall down all the time and aedile Decius Caecilius Metellus figures this is just another straightforward prosecution of building code violations. But as he investigates, he discovers that the pattern of late Roman Republican corruption has spread even further into the city than he had imagined. The building collapse might not be just bad building materials, but premeditated murder. And his investigations put him in both physical danger and at odds with his powerful family. And then there are the filthy sewers. With the Tiber River set to flood, the sewers seem ready to back up. To a good Roman, the crimes threaten to go beyond criminal all the way to impious.

Decius makes a wonderful and memorable character with his offhand comments on Roman society, on figures like Caesar, Pompey, and Cicero that have become history, and with his strangely consistent attitudes toward corruption and friendship. This case pushes Decius outside of his comfort zone--making him deal with the one man he hates more than any other--the stuffy Cato. It also gives him plenty of opportunity to walk the streets of ancient Rome, dodge the gangs fighting for control of the dying republic, and give his pithy observations on the curious and fascinating social structures that made Rome work.

Author John Maddox Roberts does a fine job recreating a critical period in world history, delivering an interesting mystery that fits the historical period, and offering a fascinating first-person protagonist. I found myself laughing out loud at Decius's observations on his world--and his thoughts on humanity in general. Roberts's writing is fast-paced and compelling. I read the book in a single sitting then checked to make sure there weren't more books in the series that I need to get my hands on right away. I recommend THE RIVER GOD'S VENGEANCE to anyone who enjoys history, democratic government, or a rollicking good mystery.

We need many more books like this. Show it, don't say it! We are visual learners - human see, human do. This book proves that while a picture is worth a thousand words - skip the words! I'll take these pictures any day over some geek stumbling with sentence structure to mess up what is in the help section anyway.

These are brilliantly crafted images that combine the power of a cartoon with the realism of a screen shot. Thumbs way up for this graphic arts talented family (literally) of mostly happy looking daughters. Go Maran family! Show the rest of the publishing world how to explain computers.

I gave this book to some of the senior staff of a client's company who were frustrated (understandably) with their Windows machines. This is a good choice for those new to computers who don't want that "Dummy" series approach.

I have looked at my friend's book and I think that it is great. I'm purchasing one for myself. The book will teach you everything you need to know. The pictures are great detailed.

Revie

Well it's now 1998, and Bristol Computing has jumped on the growing Microsoft lawsuit pile with another claim that something is rotten in Redmond. The contentious arguments have now moved to the issue of the Win32 API, an issue Andrew Shulman first discussed in his investigative masterpiece, "Undocumented Windows".

If there is a Microsoft monopoly it is that they have total, proprietary, 100% control of the API to which the majority of computer applications are written. The 1992 publication of "Undocumented Windows" revealed for the first time that there was no "Chinese Wall" between Microsoft OS development, and Microsoft Application development. The playing field was indeed not level. Shulman also discovered the reprehensible methodology of using arbitrary changes to low level system calls, the "shared dll's", to spike the performance of competing applications.

As they used to say in Redmond, "Windows isn't done until Lotus won't run".

The Windows OS triumphed over the more sophisticated and capable Mac, and the powerful but balkanized UNIX environment, because of the vast selection of shrink wrapped applications offered.

The Microsoft strategy of providing an open platform GUI, promised both an open Hardware Reference and an open API.

Yes, the Win32 API was sold to eager third party developers as an open platform. Microsoft subsequently captured the mindshare and investment efforts of most third party developers by providing an effective access bridge to an highly competitive hardware development community. Shulman's work proved that while the hardware reference was open, the API was not.

Since then, investors and developers have come to realize that all opportunities on the Windows platform belong to Microsoft. It is just a matter of time, time which is measured by Microsoft first encouraging third party developers in their efforts to grow a new application category, then by their moving in to seize the opportunity once the category proves profitable.

Perhaps the most important aspect of Shulman's work is that he explains in detail his investigative methods. The book also comes with an API sniffer utility so that developers can prove for themselves the shenanigans they must contend with.

Undocumented Windows remains a good read and goes a long way towards explaining the two defining developments of technology in the 90's. The unstoppable (but most predictable) application dominance by Microsoft has come to pass. And, seeking opportunities elsewhere, the Internet gold rush of investors and developers in 1994.

This is one of my all time favorite books because it covers an important subject of integrating Windows and UNIX systems on the same network. The picture on the book's cover shows a rock climber straddling two vertical cliffs, a perfectly appropriate metaphor for the daunting task of maintaining interoperability.

Three of the four authors either teach or support Georgia Tech's computers, and that may account for the book's tendency to focus on teaching rather than simply providing how-to's. For example, rather than showering a book with screenshots and lists, it contains a chapter on system planning, another on backup methodologies, another on file systems and another on upgrades and change management. This is actually a book that you might actually enjoy bringing to the beach with you; it's something you can read straight through rather than referring to it merely as a reference guide. I have several guides on linux and windows, and can safely say that while this book doesn't always cover a subject in depth, it provides enough to get started. I especially found helpful, for instance, its discussion of amanda, a unix backup solution (which definitely justified the space they spent on it), setting up nfs, setting up wins (with windows or through samba) user administration and dns.

The danger of this kind of book is that in attempting to cover all the variants of UNIX and Windows, it instead delivers a shallow treatment of them all. Luckily, that is not the case. Probably 40% of the book was about Windows implementations, and of the remaining 60%, 20% covered Linux, 20% covered Solaris and 20% covered other flavors such as HP-Unix and BSD.

Probably the most helpful thing about the book is how it juxtaposes the Windows way of doing things with its Unix counterpart. For me, I had quite a bit of linux knowledge, so I actually was very curious about the Windows way of doing things. Often it helps to see how a task is done in both systems.

While I generally love this book, I wanted to mention another excellent book for Windows 2000, the Ultimate Windows 2000 System Administration Guide by Robert Williams and Mark Walla(there are probably several others by now). I also wanted to see other topics: an emphasis on production-ready open source applications rather than on commercial solutions. The email section should have discussed postfix rather than sendmail. Although there are already several excellent guides on samba out there, I would have like to seen a discussion of more complex scenarios here. Also, I would have liked to see a chapter on dual boot systems, windows emulation programs and things like vmware or wine. Apache wasn't covered too much in depth, and neither was IIS, but it was nice to read a short introduction in 10 or so pages. I would have enjoyed a comparison between platforms for performance and security and how they figure into deployment decisions. A future edition should also talk about UNIX web gui's like Webmin.

As a long time MCSE and CNE, my clients with UNIX have wanted me to help them integrate NT with UNIX. Prior to finding this book I was hesitant, but after reading it it didn't seem so complicated and should lead to increased revenue. Most recommended if you want to make more money by doing your job better without the usual nightmares.

I have gone over several books on AD but this is the only one that provided me in depth information. This is not a book for the very beginners of Active Directory but is a book that needs to read.

Active Directory is without a doubt the most important part of Windows 2000 and this book -- written entirely based upon the release version of Windows 2000 (not based on the betas) -- is a comprehensive introduction and reference to this important technology.

Building from the ground up, it combines step-by-step instructions to do complex tasks instead of dismissively telling you that you should do X (where X is undocumented elsewhere) and also teaches basic VBScript and integrates scripting solutions alongside point-and-click and command line methods.

The topics covered range from understanding and installing Active Directory through all the constituent parts to Group Policy, other Intellimirror technologies and advanced topics such as troubleshooting, interoperability and design issues.

I hope you enjoy the book.