Best Certification, Training & Reference
This bestselling on-the-job reference and test preparation guide has been fully revised for the new 2015 CompTIA exam objectives for exams 901 & 902 Written by the leading authority on CompTIA A+ certification and training, this self-study set has been thoroughly updated to cover 100% of the topics covered on the latest edition of the exam. He is author of Mike Meyers’ A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs and Mike Meyers’ Network+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting Networks .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My method of study i chose to read this textbook cover to cover, taking all practice tests at the end of each chapter, along with the included practice exams on the disc. In addition to this text i went further to find online practice exams and Professor Messer videos on Youtube as free self studying material. The book covered the objectives and even went beyond which is why this makes a great on-the-job reference."
"Most importantly, I was looking for a book that could not only keep me engaged yet also provide the necessary educational materials. Presently I'm over a hundred or so pages in (the book is Bible thick) and have purposely slowed myself down at times to ensure lesson absorption but honestly could read this book like it was a spellbinding work of fanciful fiction. It really helps to have an actual, honest interest in the subject matter and there are times where you'll want access to several different operating systems."
"Just started, but it has been an easy to follow book so far."
"Nice book for those people who like to learn as they go."
"Great Product, Fast Delivery."
"Must have to get certified."
"I found the CD to be the best part of the book, and definitely recommend not getting a version of this book without it."
"I know a lot about computers and learned a bit to go and write the A+, but it's very good I bought this books, learnt so many additional stuff, not even for the exams but for myself m. Thank you Meyers💪🔥."
Each of the eleven chapters presents topics in an easy to understand manner and includes real-world examples of security principles in action. The author uses many of the same analogies and explanations he’s honed in the classroom that have helped hundreds of students master the Security+ content. You’ll understand the important and relevant security topics for the Security+ exam, without being overloaded with unnecessary details. An accomplished author and professional trainer, Darril Gibson has authored or coauthored more than 30 books.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This was the only study material I used."
"I never write reviews for products I buy, but I'm grateful for those of you who do. Your raving reviews of this book is what prompted me to buy it. A little bit about my background, so as to help base your judgment on where I started and what it took for me to pass this test...I graduated with a bachelors in management information systems in 2012. Since, I have worked as an IT systems analyst, not a networking position by any means, but I have been exposed to normal IT security awareness (i.e. password rules, disaster recover plans, clean desk policies, etc.). Just this book and a determination to learn the material as best as I can a short amount of time. But if you're needing to pass the Security+ certification, this book is a great place to start."
"I was sweating over my Security+ test but thanks to this book, I managed to pass on the first try!"
"Use another resource to prepare yourself for how the Sec+ exam questions are asked."
"I have had several students that have very little to no Cyber Security experience that have read this book from cover to cover and they were able to pass the CompTIA Security+ exam."
"Prior to reading this book my only real contact with Security+ occurred when I took a Sec+ online summer course two years ago through a local community college. Gibson provides enough information in each section to give you a solid foundation in all the different subject areas for the Sec+ exam. Those explanations, combined with the awesome chapter summaries, make the book such a great resource. Two days before the exam I skimmed through the book and focused on chapter summaries & sample questions."
From Mike Meyers, the #1 name in CompTIA training and exam preparation, a thorough revision of his bestselling exam guide—updated to cover the 2015 release of the CompTIA Network+ exam. Mike Meyers, CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, is the industry's leading authority on CompTIA certifications and the bestselling author of eight editions of CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Mike Meyer's in depth look at objectives on the test has been very helpful in my studying!"
"Will take the test next week."
"great gift for beginners."
"necessary for exam study."
"I dove into the world of networking and now I can see my life in 1s and 0s."
Best Computer Networks, Protocols & APIs
From Mike Meyers, the #1 name in CompTIA training and exam preparation, a thorough revision of his bestselling exam guide—updated to cover the 2015 release of the CompTIA Network+ exam. Mike Meyers, CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, is the industry's leading authority on CompTIA certifications and the bestselling author of eight editions of CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Very good overview."
"Very understandable, pulls together concepts in very logical fashion with good detail."
"Mike Meyer's in depth look at objectives on the test has been very helpful in my studying!"
"Will take the test next week."
"great gift for beginners."
"necessary for exam study."
Best Cisco Certification Guides
Trust the best-selling Official Cert Guide series from Cisco Press to help you learn, prepare, and practice for exam success. They are built with the objective of providing assessment, review, and practice to help ensure you are fully prepared for your certification exam. CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-105 Official Cert Guide presents you with an organized test-preparation routine through the use of proven series elements and techniques. Best-selling author and expert instructor Wendell Odom shares preparation hints and test-taking tips, helping you identify areas of weakness and improve both your conceptual knowledge and hands-on skills. · The powerful Pearson IT Certification Practice Test software, complete with hundreds of well-reviewed, exam-realistic questions, customization options, and detailed performance reports. · A free copy of the CCENT ICND1 100-105 Network Simulator Lite software, complete with meaningful lab exercises that help you hone your hands-on skills with the command-line interface for routers and switches. · A final preparation chapter, which guides you through tools and resources to help you craft your review and test-taking strategies. Also available from Cisco Press for CCENT/CCNA study is the CCENT/CCNA ICND1 100-105 Official Cert Guide. Premium Edition eBook and Practice Test . · Tracks your performance and provides feedback on a module-by-module basis, laying out a complete assessment of your knowledge to help you focus your study where it is needed most. He has written books about topics from networking basics, certification guides throughout the years for CCENT, CCNA R&S, CCNA DC, CCNP ROUTE, CCNP QoS, and CCIE R&S.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The Good: Content: If you have just finished Cisco's Networking Academy and are preparing for the test, you need this book! At the time of this review, the full simulator is not out (I would buy it if it was). When it does come out, I'd definitely recommend buying it if you want structured labs that go along with the book. The pictures really help to solidify the information. There are A LOT of pictures, examples, and config checklists that take up A LOT of pages. Errors: Okay there are a couple of errors (literally 2) that I've found while reading and fact checking this book along with the NetAcad materials. It covers the information needed for the exam and I definitely recommend it for anyone who has just finished NetAcad."
"Great so far have not taken test but it has simulator, questions and DVD plus discounts on other items you will need to purchase."
"Good study guide, filled in the blanks from the ICND1 course I took."
"This book is the main authority on network certification."
"Good entry level networking guide."
"So far so good.. worth recommending to any serious would be CCNA cert."
"this book is just great, well explained, easy for beginners or to people with some knowledge about networking, or to people interested on becoming a certified network associate."
"Everything was explained in detail and written for the novice in mind."
Best Oracle Certification
Full coverage of functional programming and all OCA Java Programmer exam objectives OCA, Oracle Certified Associate Java SE 8 Programmer I Study Guide, Exam 1Z0-808 is a comprehensive study guide for those taking the Oracle Certified Associate Java SE 8 Programmer I exam (1Z0-808). Covers 100% of exam objectives, including developing Java applications, becoming proficient in Java data types, mastering operators and decision control structures, understanding encapsulation, class inheritance, polymorphism, and much more... The OCA: Oracle Certified Associate Java SE 8 Programmer I Study Guide is your one-stop resource for complete coverage of Exam 1Z0-808. Take your exam prep to the next level with Sybex’s superior interactive online study tools. More than 200 Electronic Flashcards to reinforce learning and last minute prep before the exam Comprehensive glossary in PDF format gives you instant access to the key terms so you are fully prepared.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"You don't have to be preparing for Java SE 8 certification to include this book in your library it simply teaches you how to efficiently write better Java applications."
"But later I decided to take Java 8 instead, but I couldn't find the book from Kathy Sierra, so, I end up buying this book."
"Excellent material quality and excellent and well explained content for OCA exam, which I'll be taking soon."
"Great book!"
"This text helped expand my understanding of java programming concepts for a college level introductory java programming class."
"It even has an online learning environment you have access to when you buy the book."
"Extremely useful, direct, focused, to the point, no fluff."
"Great book well written and good focus on exam questions."
Best Computer Networking
This bestselling on-the-job reference and test preparation guide has been fully revised for the new 2015 CompTIA exam objectives for exams 901 & 902 Written by the leading authority on CompTIA A+ certification and training, this self-study set has been thoroughly updated to cover 100% of the topics covered on the latest edition of the exam. He is author of Mike Meyers’ A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs and Mike Meyers’ Network+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting Networks .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My method of study i chose to read this textbook cover to cover, taking all practice tests at the end of each chapter, along with the included practice exams on the disc. In addition to this text i went further to find online practice exams and Professor Messer videos on Youtube as free self studying material. The book covered the objectives and even went beyond which is why this makes a great on-the-job reference."
"Most importantly, I was looking for a book that could not only keep me engaged yet also provide the necessary educational materials. Presently I'm over a hundred or so pages in (the book is Bible thick) and have purposely slowed myself down at times to ensure lesson absorption but honestly could read this book like it was a spellbinding work of fanciful fiction. It really helps to have an actual, honest interest in the subject matter and there are times where you'll want access to several different operating systems."
"Just started, but it has been an easy to follow book so far."
"It's alright, the language the guy uses isn't 100% professional but VERY relatable with the youth."
"Will always keep current copies of Mike Meyers books in my library."
"Gives a CD in order for you to have a digital copy of the book as well as other helpful quizzes....I do not have a CD drive on my laptop, had to go out of my way to find someone with a CD drive just to place it on a thumb drive."
"this is an IT field essential."
"Came it great condition, book is a bible but it very entertaining and it's enjoyable."
Best Computer Viruses
You'll prepare for the exam smarter and faster with Sybex thanks to expert content, real-world examples, advice on passing each section of the exam, access to the Sybex online interactive learning environment, and much more. More than 650 Electronic Flashcards to reinforce your learning and give you last-minute test prep before the exam A searchable glossary in PDF to give you instant access to the key terms you need to know for the exam. Covers 100% of exam 2015 CISSP candidate information bulletin objectives including, Access Control, Application Development Security, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning, Cryptography and much more…. More than 1,400 practice questions More than 1000 electronic flashcards Searchable key term glossary Interactive test engine. More than 1000 Electronic Flashcards to reinforce learning and last minute prep before the exam Comprehensive glossary in PDF format gives you instant access to the key terms so you are fully prepared. The vendor-neutral CISSP certification is the ideal credential for those with proven deep technical and managerial competence, skills, experience, and credibility to design, engineer, implement, and manage their overall information security program to protect organizations from growing sophisticated attacks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Exam Essentials is the special section where the author has taken the time to highlight all of the things he thinks you MUST know to take the test. If I didn't understand one of the Exam Essential items I went to that chapter and read in extreme detail about the concept and took notes so I would not have to look it up again. The trick I used was walking around my apartment (in my mind) and visually associating things with the test. During the last phase I simply did all the practice questions the author provided both in the book and on their website. At the end of all the thousands of test questions I had another 2 or 3 pages of notes to add to my memory. On another note I did one practice exam a day to be sure I could not remember questions because of the sheer volume of them. The questions felt like they were written by a lawyer and required an intense concentration to even understand what they were asking. The practice questions were tricky in this book but they are not written the same strange way as the real exam in my opinion."
"I found the book to be well put together as are most of the sybex books. The book is a good supplement to a layered study approach. I wouldn't recommend just reading the book and taking the exam."
"If you don't want to read my really long review I summarize as get the Kindle version, read the entire thing, take advantage of the Sybex online content (sample tests) and that should be enough to pass. There were a few questions that I don't think the book covered but I felt like they were practical things that a security engineer would already know. In the case of this book, there is a lot of formatting that is lost in the Kindle version. The Kindle tends to squish whitespace and indents and such so some of the visual layout just becomes text. Another annoyance on the Kindle was that the TOC drop down interface only had the chapter heads and no easy jump to a specific subsection. I used highlights to mark things I knew I wanted to review multiple times like the big encryption algorithm comparison table and some of the model definitions or process summaries. One awesome feature is that after you are registered and verified your purchase you can download a PDF version of the book. The PDF also has all the perfectly excellent formatting that the paper book includes. The Sybex online material also includes electronic versions of all the chapter tests. This becomes painfully apparent if you select several chapters but only want (AKA have time for) a limited number of questions. This seems like a pretty awesome bonus and it is nice but the interface for the exams is slightly different from the chapter tests. In the online help is says this is a feature to mimic the actual CISSP exam which generates a giant WTF from me. I theorize that as long as you are in the review screen you won't have problems but there is some sort of session check when you transition."
Best Computer Operating Systems
This bestselling on-the-job reference and test preparation guide has been fully revised for the new 2015 CompTIA exam objectives for exams 901 & 902 Written by the leading authority on CompTIA A+ certification and training, this self-study set has been thoroughly updated to cover 100% of the topics covered on the latest edition of the exam. He is author of Mike Meyers’ A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs and Mike Meyers’ Network+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting Networks .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My method of study i chose to read this textbook cover to cover, taking all practice tests at the end of each chapter, along with the included practice exams on the disc. In addition to this text i went further to find online practice exams and Professor Messer videos on Youtube as free self studying material. The book covered the objectives and even went beyond which is why this makes a great on-the-job reference."
"Most importantly, I was looking for a book that could not only keep me engaged yet also provide the necessary educational materials. Presently I'm over a hundred or so pages in (the book is Bible thick) and have purposely slowed myself down at times to ensure lesson absorption but honestly could read this book like it was a spellbinding work of fanciful fiction. It really helps to have an actual, honest interest in the subject matter and there are times where you'll want access to several different operating systems."
"Just started, but it has been an easy to follow book so far."
"It's alright, the language the guy uses isn't 100% professional but VERY relatable with the youth."
"Will always keep current copies of Mike Meyers books in my library."
"Gives a CD in order for you to have a digital copy of the book as well as other helpful quizzes....I do not have a CD drive on my laptop, had to go out of my way to find someone with a CD drive just to place it on a thumb drive."
"this is an IT field essential."
"Came it great condition, book is a bible but it very entertaining and it's enjoyable."
Best Computer Science
Explore the machine learning landscape, particularly neural nets Use scikit-learn to track an example machine-learning project end-to-end Explore several training models, including support vector machines, decision trees, random forests, and ensemble methods Use the TensorFlow library to build and train neural nets Dive into neural net architectures, including convolutional nets, recurrent nets, and deep reinforcement learning Learn techniques for training and scaling deep neural nets Apply practical code examples without acquiring excessive machine learning theory or algorithm details. He was also a founder and CTO of Wifirst from 2002 to 2012, a leading Wireless ISP in France, and a founder and CTO of Polyconseil in 2001, the firm that now manages the electric car sharing service Autolib'.Before this he worked as an engineer in a variety of domains: finance (JP Morgan and Société Générale), defense (Canada's DOD), and healthcare (blood transfusion).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Even though I come from a strong theoretical background, I have to say one must do hands on tinkering to be able to solve one's own problem successfully. There are pieces of information hard to find somewhere else, and I have spent hundreds to thousands to attend workshops. I was hoping Keras, a high level api that enables fast experiments, is covered."
"I got this book for the deep learning portion (about half of the overall book length), and was shocked at the clarity of the conceptual explanations and code implementations."
"I'm only giving it four stars because despite the content itself being great, the print does have some issues like missing diagrams (see attached pictures)."
"The choice to start with Scikit-Learn was interesting, but makes sense on some level while he's introducing the more basic machine learning concepts. Simple machine learning techniques like logistic regression, data conditioning, dealing with training, validation, test set. Straightforward setup instructions, pretty intelligible explanation of the basic concepts (variables, placeholders, layers, etc.). The example code is quite good, and the notebooks are quite complete and seem to work well, with maybe a few tweaks and additional setup for some. Even just having a section on reinforcement learning is very rare in a book of this style, and Geron's samples and explanations are really solid."
"As with most technical books, it depends on where in the learning curve you are."
Best Security & Encryption
Each of the eleven chapters presents topics in an easy to understand manner and includes real-world examples of security principles in action. The author uses many of the same analogies and explanations he’s honed in the classroom that have helped hundreds of students master the Security+ content. You’ll understand the important and relevant security topics for the Security+ exam, without being overloaded with unnecessary details. An accomplished author and professional trainer, Darril Gibson has authored or coauthored more than 30 books.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This was the only study material I used."
"I never write reviews for products I buy, but I'm grateful for those of you who do. Your raving reviews of this book is what prompted me to buy it. A little bit about my background, so as to help base your judgment on where I started and what it took for me to pass this test...I graduated with a bachelors in management information systems in 2012. Since, I have worked as an IT systems analyst, not a networking position by any means, but I have been exposed to normal IT security awareness (i.e. password rules, disaster recover plans, clean desk policies, etc.). Just this book and a determination to learn the material as best as I can a short amount of time. But if you're needing to pass the Security+ certification, this book is a great place to start."
"I was sweating over my Security+ test but thanks to this book, I managed to pass on the first try!"
"Use another resource to prepare yourself for how the Sec+ exam questions are asked."
"I have had several students that have very little to no Cyber Security experience that have read this book from cover to cover and they were able to pass the CompTIA Security+ exam."
"Prior to reading this book my only real contact with Security+ occurred when I took a Sec+ online summer course two years ago through a local community college. Gibson provides enough information in each section to give you a solid foundation in all the different subject areas for the Sec+ exam. Those explanations, combined with the awesome chapter summaries, make the book such a great resource. Two days before the exam I skimmed through the book and focused on chapter summaries & sample questions."
Best Computer Graphic Design
If you’ve read it before, you’ll rediscover what made Don’t Make Me Think so essential to Web designers and developers around the world. Steve Krug (pronounced "kroog") is best known as the author of Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability , now in its second edition with over 350,000 copies in print.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As the subtitle, "A Common Sense Approach", and Krug's consultancy's name, "Advanced Common Sense" ([...]) convey, many great design considerations today involve some simple approaches to dramatically improve your web user experiences."
"This should be required reading by ALL marketing execs, ALL web designers and developers, ALL graphic designers, ALL product designers and inventors, and ALL copywriters."
"Krug breaks the issues of usable web design into simple, digestible form for anyone who depends on a website for promotion or income."
"That fact makes this book a good read for anybody who is involved in any aspect of a websites operation, Web Developer, Marketing, Sales and Management (from mid level to upper level)."
"Many of the ideas and resources in the book have been incredibly valuable to me in my work, and it's almost always the first book I recommend to anyone asking questions about User Experience related topics."
"Unlike a boring text book, Krug makes the book really fun with helpful (yet obvious) examples that bring some concepts to life."
"This book was on the "suggested" reading lists for an interface design class that I took in college."
"But how is though to follow common sense when building a website! I use it on my daily work, to guide my business partners in the construction of the websites for my B2B Clients, and after reading it, is quirte amazing how you can immediatelly spot in the web the websites that follow its principles and those that don't."
Best Computer Programming
Early in his software developer career, John Sonmez discovered that technical knowledge alone isn't enough to break through to the next income level - developers need "soft skills" like the ability to learn new technologies just in time, communicate clearly with management and consulting clients, negotiate a fair hourly rate, and unite teammates and coworkers in working toward a common goal. Plus how helping your manager with his goals can make you the MVP of your team The technical skills that every professional developer must have - but no one teaches you (most developers are missing some critical pieces, they don't teach this stuff in college, you're expected to just "know" this) An inside look at the recruiting industry. Brand New Developers In this book you'll discover what it's like to be a professional software developer, how to go from "I know some code" to possessing the skills to work on a development team, how to speed along your learning by avoiding common beginner traps, and how to decide whether you should invest in a programming degree or "bootcamp." Not Just For Beginners--Guaranteed To Make You A Better Developer When I first started reading this book I was skeptical. Rui FigueiredoSoftware Developer and Computer Science PhDDublin, Ireland Deals With The Human Side Of Software Development. This book is different from all other software development books I have read because it deals with the human side of software development. Even though as software developers we are surrounded with the latest technology, we are still people with feelings, fears and dreams, and John's book focuses on that. The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide is a great resource that I wish that I had years earlier in my career and in my education. Fernando Z.Senior Software Developer, Blogger and Programming FanaticCentral Texas Get It Even If You're NOT In Software Development. Invaluable advice for any software developer, from entry-level to senior. John Sonmez is a software developer and the author of two bestselling books, The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide and Soft Skills: The Software Developer's Life Manual. He's also the founder of the Simple Programmer blog and YouTube channel, where he reaches 1.4 million software developers yearly and helps them develop the unique blend of skills that made him a highly paid, highly sought-after developer and consultant.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The book meets the breadth and depth requirements one would expect of a software developers' career guide. I wish I had a book like this when I was starting out as a software developer back in the days."
"It is a combination of technical advise with personal advise addressed to software developers, and being one for more than 20 years, I can say that it is something that we all should know, but it is not as clear as we think until we see somebody writing this or telling you these."
"The Complete Software Developer's Career Guide continues on the path blazed by Sonmez's Soft Skills of taking the complexity in our life (and in this book's case, your software engineering career) and breaking it down into manageable & actionable chunks."
"I first heard of John Sonmez from his Soft Skills book."
"Well much of the information you can get online, but if you prefer to know software career development by reading book, then this is a good book."
"I read this book as John was writing it."
"I only finished one third of Johns newest books but I can already wholeheartedly recommend it to every software developer who wanna improve is career of life in general."
"I've been following this author for some time, and have been using some of his materials to advance my career."
Best Tech Culture & Computer Literacy
By the end of an average day in the early twenty-first century, human beings searching the internet will amass eight trillion gigabytes of data. Everybody Lies offers fascinating, surprising, and sometimes laugh-out-loud insights into everything from economics to ethics to sports to race to sex, gender and more, all drawn from the world of big data. With conclusions ranging from strange-but-true to thought-provoking to disturbing, he explores the power of this digital truth serum and its deeper potential—revealing biases deeply embedded within us, information we can use to change our culture, and the questions we’re afraid to ask that might be essential to our health—both emotional and physical. “Brimming with intriguing anecdotes and counterintuitive facts, Stephens-Davidowitz does his level best to help usher in a new age of human understanding, one digital data point at a time.” ( Fortune , Best New Business Books). “ Freakonomics on steroids—this book shows how big data can give us surprising new answers to important and interesting questions. Drawing on a wide variety of revelatory sources, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz will make you cringe, chuckle, and wince at the people you thought we were.” (Christian Rudder, author of Dataclysm ). “A tour de force—a well-written and entertaining journey through big data that, along the way, happens to put forward an important new perspective on human behavior itself. What he found is that Internet search data might be the Holy Grail when it comes to understanding the true nature of humanity.” ( New York Post ). “ Everybody Lies is an astoundingly clever and mischievous exploration of what big data tells us about everyday life. The empirical findings in Everybody Lies are so intriguing that the book would be a page-turner even if it were structured as a mere laundry list.” (The Economist). A book for those who are intensely curious about human nature, informational analysis, and amusing anecdotes to the tune of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s Freakanomics.” ( Library Journal ). In this groundbreaking work, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a Harvard-trained economist, former Google data scientist, and New York Times writer, argues that much of what we thought about people has been dead wrong. New data from the internet—the traces of information that billions of people leave on Google, social media, dating, and even pornography sites—finally reveals the truth. Everybody Lies combines the informed analysis of Nate Silver’s TheSignal and the Noise, the storytelling of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, and the wit and fun of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s Freakonomics in a book that will change the way you view the world.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The basic thesis of "Everybody Lies" is that online data on human behavior, including Google searches and data from Facebook, shopping and pornographic sites, can reveal much about what we really think than data from surveys in which people might be too embarrassed to tell the truth. What has allowed us to access this pool of unguarded opinions and truckloads of data concerning human behavior is the Internet and the tools of "big" data. As the author puts it, this data is not just "big" but also "new", which means that the kind of data we can access is also quite different from what we are used to; in his words, we live in a world where every sneeze, cough, internet purchase, political opinion, and evening run can be considered "data". Generally speaking there is quite an emphasis on exploring human sexuality in the book, partly because sexuality is one of those aspects of our life that we wish to hide the most and are also pruriently interested in, and partly because investigating this data through Google searches and pornographic sites reveals some rather bizarre sexual preference that are also sometimes specific to one country or another. Based on Google searches in particular states, the author shows how racism (as indicated by racist Google searches) was a primary indicator of which states voted for Obama in the 2008 election and Trump in the 2016 election. The primary tool for doing all this data analysis is correlation or regression analysis, where you look at online searches and try to find correlations between certain terms and factors like geographic location, gender, ethnicity. There are tons of other amusing and informative studies - sometimes the author's own but more often other people's - that reveal human desires and behavior across a wide swathe of fields, including politics, dating, sports, education, shopping and sexuality. As the author himself acknowledges, understanding correlation is not the same as understanding causation, and it's in very few cases that a true causal relationship between people's Google searches and their true nature can be established. At the end of the day you could thus end up with a lot of data (including a lot of noise), but teasing apart the useful data points from the red herrings is a completely different matter. Secondly, it's usually quite hard to control for all possible variables that may reflect a Google search; for instance in concluding that racism contributes the most to a particular political behavior, it's very hard to tease out all other factors that also may do so, especially when you are talking about a heterogeneous collection of human beings."
"And the truths we have been telling Google on sex, racism, antisemitism, mental health and politics are coarse, frightening, disturbing, and altogether too human to ignore. Using a mountain of data from Google searches and other social media like Facebook and Twitter, Stephens-Davidowitz wrote a click-bait book full of insights on humanity based on "the most important dataset ever collected on the human psyche." The digital truth serum, as he calls Google Search data, offers a glimpse at many things social scientists dream to understand, from sexual taboos, proclivities and insecurities, to political bias in the press and latent racism hidden in searches for jokes. Also, it doesn't entirely fall prey to the Big Data a-theoretical hype; discussions on A/B testing, out-of-sample prediction and natural experiments in economics balance the correlational narrative with a good dose of causal inference, which is often missing in books that describe stuff from large data sets."
"I read it in two days. The data is the data, but the interpretation is subjective."
Best Interactive & Multimedia Technology
This Kindle Fire Amazon e-Book is for everyone. About the Authors. Tom and Jenna Edwards are the Amazon Tech authors behind the Number 1 Bestselling e-book 250+ Best Kindle Fire & Fire HD Apps. You've done a really good job! You'll be glad you read it."
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Thank you, I really learned a lot."
"I am technically challenged, so I needed the help found in this well written book."
"Found book to be very helpful, would recommend."
"My screen was locking up and this book was very helpful."
"I learned a lot from this book ... alas, still have not managed to download a library book, but am still trying."
"Being a total newbie to all aspects of this type of technology, and being forced into it by my children, this was an essential."
"I think I now know how to take a photo."
Best Computer Hardware
You will learn how to configure hardware and software, develop your own sketches, work with built-in and custom Arduino libraries, and explore the Internet of Things—all with no prior programming experience required! Simon Monk has a degree in cybernetics and computer science and a Ph.D. in software engineering.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Unfortunately, the usual books for "helping" with Arduino give sketches and explain bits and pieces without ever doing an overview of the system. Just got it today and have read over half of it; I've marked it up with pen to remind myself of crucial facts that I wish I had known a few months back. It's written at just the right level for beginners who are just learning about Arduino and microprocessors in general, and he points you to all the resources on the web for further information. So instead of having to copy and paste everyone else's code all the time, read this book to understand at least the basics of WHY things work in an Arduino the way they do."
"Easy to understand and get familiar with Arduino world."
"I got this for a friend who had just started assembling boards using Adruino."
"Too many other books and tutorials just tell you to build a circuit and watch it do it's thing without explaining why it does it and how to expand on that design. I look forward to starting the "Next Steps" sequal and continuing to learn what this little chunk of organized metal and plastic has in store."
"I'm brand new to Arduino, but I've been programming for 30 years."
"Good starting place for working with Arduino."
"Purchased for my 14 yo grandson who is into dp stuff."
"EXCELLENT way to get started in Programming Arduino."
Best Computer Software
If you’ve read it before, you’ll rediscover what made Don’t Make Me Think so essential to Web designers and developers around the world. Steve Krug (pronounced "kroog") is best known as the author of Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability , now in its second edition with over 350,000 copies in print.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As the subtitle, "A Common Sense Approach", and Krug's consultancy's name, "Advanced Common Sense" ([...]) convey, many great design considerations today involve some simple approaches to dramatically improve your web user experiences."
"This should be required reading by ALL marketing execs, ALL web designers and developers, ALL graphic designers, ALL product designers and inventors, and ALL copywriters."
"Krug breaks the issues of usable web design into simple, digestible form for anyone who depends on a website for promotion or income."
"That fact makes this book a good read for anybody who is involved in any aspect of a websites operation, Web Developer, Marketing, Sales and Management (from mid level to upper level)."
"Many of the ideas and resources in the book have been incredibly valuable to me in my work, and it's almost always the first book I recommend to anyone asking questions about User Experience related topics."
"Unlike a boring text book, Krug makes the book really fun with helpful (yet obvious) examples that bring some concepts to life."
"This book was on the "suggested" reading lists for an interface design class that I took in college."
"But how is though to follow common sense when building a website! I use it on my daily work, to guide my business partners in the construction of the websites for my B2B Clients, and after reading it, is quirte amazing how you can immediatelly spot in the web the websites that follow its principles and those that don't."
Best Computer Databases
By the end of an average day in the early twenty-first century, human beings searching the internet will amass eight trillion gigabytes of data. Everybody Lies offers fascinating, surprising, and sometimes laugh-out-loud insights into everything from economics to ethics to sports to race to sex, gender and more, all drawn from the world of big data. With conclusions ranging from strange-but-true to thought-provoking to disturbing, he explores the power of this digital truth serum and its deeper potential—revealing biases deeply embedded within us, information we can use to change our culture, and the questions we’re afraid to ask that might be essential to our health—both emotional and physical. “Brimming with intriguing anecdotes and counterintuitive facts, Stephens-Davidowitz does his level best to help usher in a new age of human understanding, one digital data point at a time.” ( Fortune , Best New Business Books). “ Freakonomics on steroids—this book shows how big data can give us surprising new answers to important and interesting questions. Drawing on a wide variety of revelatory sources, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz will make you cringe, chuckle, and wince at the people you thought we were.” (Christian Rudder, author of Dataclysm ). “A tour de force—a well-written and entertaining journey through big data that, along the way, happens to put forward an important new perspective on human behavior itself. What he found is that Internet search data might be the Holy Grail when it comes to understanding the true nature of humanity.” ( New York Post ). “ Everybody Lies is an astoundingly clever and mischievous exploration of what big data tells us about everyday life. The empirical findings in Everybody Lies are so intriguing that the book would be a page-turner even if it were structured as a mere laundry list.” (The Economist). A book for those who are intensely curious about human nature, informational analysis, and amusing anecdotes to the tune of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s Freakanomics.” ( Library Journal ). In this groundbreaking work, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, a Harvard-trained economist, former Google data scientist, and New York Times writer, argues that much of what we thought about people has been dead wrong. New data from the internet—the traces of information that billions of people leave on Google, social media, dating, and even pornography sites—finally reveals the truth. Everybody Lies combines the informed analysis of Nate Silver’s TheSignal and the Noise, the storytelling of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, and the wit and fun of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s Freakonomics in a book that will change the way you view the world.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The basic thesis of "Everybody Lies" is that online data on human behavior, including Google searches and data from Facebook, shopping and pornographic sites, can reveal much about what we really think than data from surveys in which people might be too embarrassed to tell the truth. What has allowed us to access this pool of unguarded opinions and truckloads of data concerning human behavior is the Internet and the tools of "big" data. As the author puts it, this data is not just "big" but also "new", which means that the kind of data we can access is also quite different from what we are used to; in his words, we live in a world where every sneeze, cough, internet purchase, political opinion, and evening run can be considered "data". Generally speaking there is quite an emphasis on exploring human sexuality in the book, partly because sexuality is one of those aspects of our life that we wish to hide the most and are also pruriently interested in, and partly because investigating this data through Google searches and pornographic sites reveals some rather bizarre sexual preference that are also sometimes specific to one country or another. Based on Google searches in particular states, the author shows how racism (as indicated by racist Google searches) was a primary indicator of which states voted for Obama in the 2008 election and Trump in the 2016 election. The primary tool for doing all this data analysis is correlation or regression analysis, where you look at online searches and try to find correlations between certain terms and factors like geographic location, gender, ethnicity. There are tons of other amusing and informative studies - sometimes the author's own but more often other people's - that reveal human desires and behavior across a wide swathe of fields, including politics, dating, sports, education, shopping and sexuality. As the author himself acknowledges, understanding correlation is not the same as understanding causation, and it's in very few cases that a true causal relationship between people's Google searches and their true nature can be established. At the end of the day you could thus end up with a lot of data (including a lot of noise), but teasing apart the useful data points from the red herrings is a completely different matter. Secondly, it's usually quite hard to control for all possible variables that may reflect a Google search; for instance in concluding that racism contributes the most to a particular political behavior, it's very hard to tease out all other factors that also may do so, especially when you are talking about a heterogeneous collection of human beings."
"Already years and years of books, newspapers and magazines have been digitized and made searchable. Big Data is all those searches, all those newspapers, all the books, all the inventory data, all the telephone traffic data, all the FaceBook posts, all the sales information for everything. The digitization of past data will change how we view our history. The oceans of data we are compiling now will allow our chroniclers to know us better than we know ourselves."
"This could be the start of a joke: Economist walks into a room, full of people who have already worked in this field for years, disregards everyone and... Only it isn't a joke. However, people have worked for several years on these data, and have much deeper, more interesting insights than Seth SD. Indeed, there is an entire academic conference (WSDM) devoted to the use of internet data."
Best Digital Media
Since Lightroom 1.0 first launched, Scott’s Kelby’s The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers has been the world’s #1 bestselling Lightroom book (it has been translated into a dozen different languages), and in this latest version for Lightroom 6, Scott uses his same award-winning, step-by-step, plain-English style and layout to make learning Lightroom easy and fun. This is where Scott dramatically answers his #1 most-asked Lightroom question, which is: “Exactly what order am I supposed to do things in, and where does Photoshop fit in?” You’ll see Scott’s entire start-to-finish Lightroom 6 workflow and learn how to incorporate it into your own workflow. Scott is a photographer, designer, and award-winning author of more than 60 books, including Photoshop for Lightroom Users, Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop, Light It, Shoot It, Retouch It: Learn Step by Step How to Go from Empty Studio to Finished Image, The Adobe Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers, and The Digital Photography Book, parts 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. His books have been translated into dozens of different languages, including Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Polish, Taiwanese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Arabic, Swedish, Turkish, Hebrew, and Portuguese, among others, and he is a recipient of the prestigious ASP International Award, presented annually by the American Society of Photographers for “…contributions in a special or significant way to the ideals of Professional Photography as an art and a science.”.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"For example, tonality is one of the key steps in post processing images and the author provides enough detail so that you will not only be able to follow his instructions for dealing with the sample images, but also to understand how the process works. For long-time users of Lightroom, there are a few new functions, and Lightroom is so user friendly that the operation of some of the new functions, like panoramas and HDR, will be intuitive and not require explanation, so that those long-time users might think they don't need this kind of introduction. Experienced users may also find something they didn't know in this book."
"Here's the summary if you're in a hurry: Pros: -Easy to read but very good and detailed information. -Well laid out and organized. -Word searching in the digital version makes finding things a breeze. -A full photo shoot (for the cover of the book) is laid out and described, including the Photoshop editing. It is laid out in the order of things you would encounter if you were a first time user new to the program and to organizing your images. It works for me and I would especially recommend his books to beginners as they have a lot of information in small chunks. The beginning is dedicated to good organizational practices which I partially followed from the last edition. I used to be very casual about my hard drives and use them for a lot of stuff and lost pictures several times. There are a LOT of small tips, which makes reading through the book worthwhile even for those who have used Lightroom before. I found this book full of good ideas and techniques easily explained."
"Lightroom is primarily for professionals who make a lot of photos per day like the author Scott Kelby."
"Very good book for someone who switched from another program to Lightroom 6."
"I cannot find any reference for Window diagrams and this is disappointing as the little blue pull down boxes shown throughout Chapter One do not exist on Windows LR and this would be too confusing to my students."
Best Web Development
If you’ve read it before, you’ll rediscover what made Don’t Make Me Think so essential to Web designers and developers around the world. Steve Krug (pronounced "kroog") is best known as the author of Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability , now in its second edition with over 350,000 copies in print.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As the subtitle, "A Common Sense Approach", and Krug's consultancy's name, "Advanced Common Sense" ([...]) convey, many great design considerations today involve some simple approaches to dramatically improve your web user experiences."
"This should be required reading by ALL marketing execs, ALL web designers and developers, ALL graphic designers, ALL product designers and inventors, and ALL copywriters."
"Krug breaks the issues of usable web design into simple, digestible form for anyone who depends on a website for promotion or income."
"That fact makes this book a good read for anybody who is involved in any aspect of a websites operation, Web Developer, Marketing, Sales and Management (from mid level to upper level)."
"Many of the ideas and resources in the book have been incredibly valuable to me in my work, and it's almost always the first book I recommend to anyone asking questions about User Experience related topics."
"Unlike a boring text book, Krug makes the book really fun with helpful (yet obvious) examples that bring some concepts to life."
"This book was on the "suggested" reading lists for an interface design class that I took in college."
"But how is though to follow common sense when building a website! I use it on my daily work, to guide my business partners in the construction of the websites for my B2B Clients, and after reading it, is quirte amazing how you can immediatelly spot in the web the websites that follow its principles and those that don't."
Best Business
Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2011 : It is difficult to read the opening pages of Walter Isaacson’s Steve Jobs without feeling melancholic. Now, just weeks after his death, you can open the book that bears his name and read about his youth, his promise, and his relentless press to succeed. Few in history have transformed their time like Steve Jobs, and one could argue that he stands with the Fords, Edisons, and Gutenbergs of the world. This is a timely and complete portrait that pulls no punches and gives insight into a man whose contradictions were in many ways his greatest strength. Isaacson: Andy Hertzfeld, who worked with Steve on the original Macintosh team, said that even if you were aware of his Reality Distortion Field, you still got caught up in it. Fortunately, as people read the whole book, they saw the theme of the narrative: He could be petulant and rough, but this was driven by his passion and pursuit of perfection. Isaacson: He was a genius at connecting art to technology, of making leaps based on intuition and imagination. “A frank, smart and wholly unsentimental biography…a remarkably sharp, hi-res portrait… Steve Jobs is more than a good book; it’s an urgently necessary one.” — Time. “If you haven’t read the bestselling, superb biography and inspiring business book, Steve Jobs , by Walter Isaacson, do so. “For the generation that's grown up in a world where computers are the norm, smartphones feel like fifth limbs and music comes from the Internet rather than record and CD stores, Steve Jobs is must-read history…The intimate chapters, where Jobs' personal side shines through, with all his faults and craziness, leave a deep impression. It is on the one hand a history of the most exciting time in the age of computers, when the machines first became personal and later, fashionable accessories. And it is a gadget lover’s dream, with fabulous, inside accounts of how the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone and iPad came into being. What makes the book come alive, though, is Isaacson’s ability to shape the story as a kind of archetypal fantasy: the flawed hero, the noble quest, the holy grail, the death of the king.”— Booklist. “A nuanced, balanced portrait that is sure to become mandatory reading for anyone with an interest in big business and popular culture…Isaacson is to be commended for explaining the genius of Jobs in fascinating fashion, launching a discussion that could reach infinity and beyond.”— Christian Science Monitor. “Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs comes as a breath of fresh air…a reliable and captivating guide to a man who reshaped the computing industry and more.” — CNET.com. “It's a testament to Isaacson's skill as a biographer that readers can at last obtain the picture of Steve Jobs as a human being rather than a legend…anyone who's ever wondered how so very much about the technology landscape has changed so fundamentally in just 35 years, owes it to themselves to read this book.”— TUAW.com. “Isaacson's biography lives up to the hype, showing readers the private turbulence that spurred Jobs to public greatness”— ShelfAwareness.com (- ).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am trying to understand how this film did so poorly in theaters."
"Then, in October 2011, he died, and the diversity of reactions people had to living in a world touched but no longer inhabited by him inspired me to read this book so that I could attempt to understand those reactions. I learned of his strengths, became privy to his weaknesses, and watched him evolve from a geek in Paul Jobs' garage to an occasionally ruthless man dedicated to perfection in everything he wanted to do and in everything others did, to experimenting and innovating until what he wanted to do was impossible, and then doing it anyway."
"Always knew that Jobs was an ego-maniac, but never realized the extent to which he disrespected certain industry peers, company employees and large numbers of people he crossed paths with."
"I would have to say in preface I feel the reader needs to have had some history with the Apple products as the book, while describing the personality of Steve Jobs, also goes into a chronological explanation of the development of both the hardware and software."
"Steve Jobs has given to the tech industry what no other individual could ever, or has ever, give it."
"I read the book on my Kindle and wished it was on my iPad. I now appreciate Jobs for that."
"if you saw the truly awful movie that purports to be based on this book, you must read the book."
"He had poor leadership qualities and he was smart enough to have learned how to improve himself without sacrificing his work."