Andrew's rating:
 5.0
On Mar 28, 2012 Andrew Shuping wrote: Great introduction to the Kindle Fire
The bad thing about purchasing the first generation of a device is the lack of material written on how to find all of the hidden features and best use the product. Sure tech geeks and hackers try all kinds of things as soon as they can, but what about the average person that just wants to use the device? And that's the best thing about this book. It's written for the nongeek/nontechie so that they can figure out what they can do with the device and the best way to use it.
Written in a clear easy format, Peter includes step by step instructions for navigating the Kindle Fire and provides copious illustrations to help you make sure you're in the right place. Full Review >
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A Complete Introduction
Andrew's rating:
5.0
On Feb 22, 2012 Andrew Shuping wrote: A great guide to getting started
The command line can be one of the most intimidating aspects of learning Linux, I know it was for me. And while the command line gives you an awesome amount of power with using Linux, it also makes it entirely to easy to destroy and delete entire directories without trying. It’s like what Uncle Ben said in Spider Man “with great power comes great responsibility.” Learning the command line is one of those things that takes a good guide and clear instructions (and warnings on what not to do), and while I had friends who helped me walk through the process, it still seemed intimidating. And after reading this book, I wish I had it when I started out. William makes the command line less intimidating, provides clear instructions, and lets you know the pitfalls to watch out for. Full Review >
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Andrew's rating:
 4.0
On Nov 25, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: A basic introduction to jQuery and scripting
One of the first things that stands out about this book (and the Head First series in general) is the bright, colorful, and plentiful images used to help illustrate concepts and how jQuery works. They also provide illustrations on how to walk through the specific problem at hand, which is often nice to see in a visual format...even if it is just notes on a pad of paper. Full Review >
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Andrew's rating:
4.0
On Oct 4, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: A basic introduction to HTML5
When I start looking at books on programming languages, such as HTML5, I look for a few different things. 1) Easy to read and understand language
2) Clear cut, easy to follow (and correct) examples of code
3) Good additional resources to look at
4) Layout and organization of chapters and subtopics flows well
5) And depending upon the language, an in-depth look at how it works.
While this book doesn't offer an in-depth look at every aspect of HTML5 (it is meant for beginners) it does meet the first three criteria that I look for and mostly meets the clear organizational path. Full Review >
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A Hands-On Guide for the Adventurous
Andrew's rating:
2.0
On Sep 22, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: Not bad, but not great
Thanks to Ruby on Rails, the Ruby programming language is one of the most popular languages at the moment to learn. But according to the author you can't just jump into Rails without first learning a bit of Ruby and thus this book was born. This book was written and developed for the novice to learn the basics of how Ruby works and what some of it's pitfalls are. The author points out in the introduction that although Ruby may look deceptively simple to learn, it really isn't and it is his hope to help people navigate and learn this complex language. This massive book (over 400 pages) is broken down into 20 chapters each on specific topic of Ruby (such as strings and ranges) and then further broken down into subtopics on the main topic, with screenshots and examples of the language scattered throughout to better help the reader place into context what the code should look like. Full Review >
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Andrew's rating:
4.0
On Jul 16, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: Excellent first look
This jQuery Mobile guide may seem short at a 130 pages, but packs a lot of useful content. The jQuery Mobile package is currently in beta 1 (the book covers alpha 4) and is based upon HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript. Jon states in the introduction this book works best if you're already have basic familiarity with mobile browsers, the jQuery library, and basic designing for mobile webpages. Jon provides copious screen shots and sections of code so that the reader can easily see how the package works and how to design their own apps based upon the jQuery package. Full Review >
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Andrew's rating:
4.0
On Jul 11, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: Book Review--Creating a Website, the Missing Manual
Matthew writes this book as if the reader has no previous experience with coding and even no experience with really understanding how the web works, i.e. how servers render webpages and understanding how a URL works. So if you have lots of experience with these areas then this book probably isn’t for you. If however, you’ve never designed a webpage before or it’s been a long time since you’ve coded this is the book that you want to pick up. Full Review >
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A Developer's Guide to the Future of Web Design
Andrew's rating:
5.0
On May 22, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: Book Review--Book of CSS3
Peter writes the book as if you already have experience using and understanding basic CSS concepts and HTML, so if you're looking for a book to teach you CSS then you'll want a different guide. If however, you want a book that shows you some of the features of CSS3 you're in the right place. Peter has been writing about CSS3 for over 5 years and in this book he covers some features of CSS3. Each chapter covers a new feature of CSS3, how to use it in clear and easy to understand code to follow, and which browsers currently support the feature. Full Review >
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Andrew's rating:
5.0
On May 15, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: Book Review--Javascript: The Definitive Guide the 6th Edition
This is an updated edition to the classic reference book on Javascript to include new information on new standards (such as HTML5 and CSS3), conventions, and frameworks. Although it is possible to learn Javascript from this book, its really meant more as a reference guide and an explanation of how and why Javascript works the way it does. For example, the 1st chapter explains in some detail how Javascript works on the client side and how each of the following chapters will relate to this. The book includes numerous examples of codes to illustrate the concepts and explains the concepts in a clear, easy to follow fashion that doesn't require a degree in astrophysics to understand. Full Review >
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Record, Edit, Mix, and Master with the Free Audio Editor
Andrew's rating:
3.0
On Apr 19, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: Book Review--The Book of Audacity by Carla Schroder
This book is published by "no starch press" who normally do a pretty good job of keeping things simple and easy to understand for the average user. The book breaks out into covering what Audacity is and what it's used for. Full Review >
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A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers
Andrew's rating:
4.0
On Apr 5, 2011 Andrew Shuping wrote: Book Review--Gamestorming by Dave Gray, et. al
First off...this is not a computer science book. Yes O'Reilly is a computer science press, but they also publish some pretty good business/management/other books, Confessions of a Public Speaker for example. And this book also falls into that category. The authors design games to help educate and encourage innovation in the workplace and they've found that games really help people understand the concepts. Full Review >
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