XML for Web Designers Using Macromedia Studio MX 2004 (Internet Series)

Book Description

With the expanding popularity of XML technology and the abundance of new XML features in today?s software, the pressure is on Web designers to learn XML. XML for Web Designers Using Macromedia Studio MX 2004 gets designers up to speed with XML quickly and efficiently. It teaches you how XML is supported and leveraged by Studio MX, and how to use it to create more efficient, vibrant Web designs.

Customer Reviews:

XML unmasked... but at a cost.......2006-07-12

The book is well-written and the examples striking in showing the power of XML. However, the reader must be ready to troubleshoot the examples, both in the book and on the CD. They are fraught with mistakes, both in construct and format; such as case-sensitivity errors in tags (unforgivable in XML). If you learn by doing, this is the book for you, because you'll do it twice; first by typing then by correcting. However, it's still worth the 4 stars.

Mixed Blessing in Studying XML with This Book.......2006-03-07

Currently an XML learner, I find this book quite helpful because of its vivid and interesting examples, which are rarely found in other resourses. On the other hand, this book contains a host of editing errors, which, to some extent, CAN test your XML knowledge hard-learnt so far from the book.

If these editing errors are revised in the next edition, I think I will give the book four to five stars.

XML Troubleshooting required for this book.......2005-07-28

Having been in a hurry to learn XML for Macromedia Studio MX 2004, I paid the price by purchasing this book without first researching it.

The examples, as they are in the book, are fraught with errors.
Likewise, I found some discrepencies between the book example and the same example from the included CD-ROM indicating that the book had been revised while the CD had not or vice-versa.

However, the history of XML and how it came to be and has evolved over the years, as well as the included CD-ROM which does include WORKING examples, forced me to give this 3 stars.

Lesson learned. Do the research on this book before buying it and just know that the CD-ROM included with this book has the correct working examples.

Kudos to the author!.......2005-01-07

This maybe the most well put together book in the market relating to XML. I thoroughly enjoyed every page/tutorial in this book. The author did a phenomenal job at being as descriptive as possible... While not making you yawn in boredom (as other books on this topic tend to do). The Dreamweaver section was outstanding. I learned a lot in this section of the book, as well as some great tips. The Flash portion could have been a little stronger... or more in-depth... but again an outstanding job by the author.

Expand Your Job Skills!.......2004-06-02

Kevin's book starts with an explanation of why we should learn XML. One of the most compelling reasons is that "your job opportunities will expand and your productivity will increase if you have an understanding of the basics." Based on what I see in my own workplace and the concept that XML provides "a file format in which you can store data without regard to future technologies," I agree with his assessment.

Does his book help you learn XML?
He dives right in with explanations, samples and tutorials so that you can see what XML does. The basics of writing XML and DTD's (Document Type Definition) are covered as though he's in the room talking to you. I had the feeling he was anticipating my questions, persuading me to write well-formed XML.

The presentation style of providing samples and walking though tutorials made me want to pull out the accompanying CD and jump right in. Dreamweaver MX and XSL-T for style sheet design is covered right away. In Advanced Topics part two, XML and ColdFusion MX for dynamic web pages are covered. A fascinating use for this technology is to build pages that respond to changes made by the user. The examples of ColdFusion code are easy enough for beginners to walk through and for experienced CF programmers to grasp right away. Using ColdFusion query objects and queries of queries, we're shown how to convert and manipulate XML documents. Definitely a must for CFer's!

Since I do limited graphic design, I skipped over the chapter on Fireworks MX and XML, but the pictures looked enticing enough for me to bookmark them for later reading.

Macromedia Flash MX 2004 is recommended for the most robust XML support and the goal of the last chapter is to help developers and designers to be comfortable with XML and Flash MX. Sample files dive right in to writing ActionScript to display text from an XML file in Flash MX movies.

Objectives are clearly stated at the beginning of each tutorial. The writing is clear, concise, and friendly. This book definitely provides stepping stones to building files that work with XML, whether your Macromedia MX tools are design or code-based.

After reviewing this book, I'm already planning my first professional ventures and wondering if Kevin will follow up with more. I'm sure that if you pick up this book, you'll be brought up to speed on working with XML quickly and efficiently in a variety of formats.

Lisa J. Wilson, SacCFUG Manager

Book Description

The explosive growth of the mortgage-backed securities marketplace, along with the sheer complexity of federal tax regulations, has created the need for a clear, comprehenisve treatment of the taxation of these important instruments. The Federal Income Taxation of Mortgage-Backed Securities fulfills this need for issuers, investors and sponsors alike. Since its publication in 1989, the first edition has become the standard text in the area. This edition takes account of the many changes in the law and marketplace in the last five years. The book offers a complete review of the current tax treatment of all major types of mortgage-backed securities, including: fixed and floating rate CMOs; pass-throughs and loan particpations; regular and residual interest in REMICs; interest-only and principal-only strips; senior and subordinated pass-through certificates.

Book Description

This broad-ranging selection of writings in Canadian history introduce undergraduate students to the new approaches taken by historians in recent years. Many of the essays are revisionist - either implicitly or explicitly - and emphasize regional and social historiography. With its insightful discussions of both traditional and current scholarly issues, the book provides an enlightening supplement to the standard historiographical concerns covered by introductory courses in Canadian history and should serve as a starting point for student discussion and critical thinking.

Book Description

The accumulation of mycotoxins in plants and plant products represents a major threat to human health. Toxins accumulate in plants following infection by species of Fusarium, Aspergillus and Penicillium. It has been estimated that one quarter of the world's food crops, including many basic foods, are affected by mycotoxin-producing fungi. The toxins are responsible for many different toxicities in humans and animals, including the induction of cancers, and digestive, blood and nerve defects. There is an urgent need to understand the factors that facilitate the infection of crops by these fungi and how these affect the accumulation of toxins in the affected parts, and their subsequent accumulation during storage. This information should enable crops to be grown and stored under conditions that minimise production of the toxins.
This volume has gathered together specialist reports complied through EU-Cost Action 835: Agriculturally Important Toxigenic Fungi. The contents should be of particular interest to scientists concerned with the occurrence of mycotoxins and the environmental factors that lead to their accumulation in crops. It will also be of value to all those interested in epidemiological aspects of plant disease. The information will also be invaluable to those aiming to minimise the levels of mycotoxins in human and animal food products.

Book Description

Cytokines and cytokine receptors remain an area of great interest for the development of targeted therapies for cutaneous inflammatory diseases. Anti-TNF therapeutics have proven to be effective in the treatment of psoriasis, and clinical investigations have now begun for other cytokine-directed therapies, such as those targeting IFN-g, IL-12p40, and IL-18. In addition to therapeutics that target cytokines directly, strategies that target cytokine signaling pathways are in development. This book summarizes the findings of the 56th International Workshop of the Ernst Schering Research Foundation that focused on "Cytokines as Potential Therapeutic Targets for Inflammatory Skin Diseases".

Book Description

A new section of short reviews called 'Frontiers' was introduced within the Elsevier journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters (EPSL) in 2002 under the Editorship of Alex Halliday from ETH Zurich, Switzerland. These high profile Frontiers articles are written by leading experts and published as the opening pages to regular issues of EPSL. The reason for this development is that the Editors of EPSL believe there is an important niche to be filled with fast communications that bring the scientific community up-to-speed on interesting new areas of science. Frontiers articles are therefore specifically intended for the non-specialist earth and planetary science readership.

In order to reach a broader readership, those without subscriptions to the journal, Frontiers articles will now also be published in a new book series, the EPSL Frontiers series. Volume 1 will contain all 2002 and 2003 Frontiers articles. Future volumes will contain one year of articles each.

Book Description

This volume includes new topics such as the stochastic limit approach to nonequilibrium states, a new algebraic approach to relativistic nonequilibrium local states, classical and quantum features of weak chaos, transports in quantum billiards, the Welcher-Weg puzzle with a decaying atom, and the topics related to the quantum Zeno effect.

Average customer rating:

Enchanted

Enchanted, Inc. : A Novel
Shanna Swendson
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVH0PI

Customer Reviews:

Enchanted.......2007-07-24

Enchanted, Inc. is the first book of a series by Shanna Swendson (she also wrote some books as Samantha Carter). It is followed by Once Upon Stilettos, Damsel Under Stress, and Don't Hex With Texas (Coming around January 2008)

In this first book Katie Chandler has been living in NY for about a year and finds out that magic is real when she gets a job offer from Magic, Spells, and Illusions, Inc because of her rare immunity to magic.

Enchanted, Inc. is one of my favorite romance novel despite the lack of steamy scenes. If books had a age rating I would rate this book as PG. If you like cute-sy romances like IQ and Kate & Leopold with Meg Ryan or Mrs Winterborne with Ricki Lake/Brendan Frasier, I'd definitely suggest this book for you.

Average customer rating:

LBJ's ALAMO & PERSONAL NIGHTMARE

An excellent history, very well put together.

Bill Balzano

As time goes on ...

Voices of Courage: The Battle for Khe Sanh, Vietnam
Ronald J. Drez , and Douglas Brinkley
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
General | Vietnam | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Vietnam War | Military | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

A Patch of Ground: Khe Sanh Remembered

Valley of Decision: The Siege of Khe Sanh

Khe Sanh 1967-68: Marines battle for Vietnam's vital hilltop base (Campaign)

The Hill Fights: The First Battle of Khe Sanh

NAM SENSE : Surviving Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division

ASIN: 0821261967

Book Description

The second multimedia war history from the bestselling authors of Voices of Valor: D-Day; June 6, 1944. VOICES OF COURAGE tells the story of one of the most heroic efforts in American military historya 77-day struggle for the remote Khe Sanh combat base in 1968, during which 6,000 perilously isolated marines withstood the onslaught of a superior enemy force. Drawing on a vast archive of recorded interviews and written material collected over the past 20 years by Ronald J. Drez and the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans, VOICES OF COURAGE will feature a narrative written by Drez and Douglas Brinkley that interweaves testimonials from the soldiers into a gripping account of every aspect of the battle. The book will also include two audio CDs120 minutes of recordings in totalthat will allow readers to hear expanded accounts from the veterans in their own voices, introduced by acclaimed screen actor Stephen Lang.

Customer Reviews:

LBJ's ALAMO & PERSONAL NIGHTMARE.......2007-06-28

LBJ came to see Khe Sanh as a place mixed up between another Alamo and the Texas Rangers, clouded thinking at best, but this controlled much of his decision making.

One of the main issues this book addresses is the question of 'why' this area so important to the NVA, was allowed to become of prime imporatance to us. The other question of just 'why' after the sacrifices of battle which was an American victory, did LBJ immediately have Khe Sanh evacuated; with hardly any media coverage or American public attention to the hardwon U.S. Marine victory.

Both LBJ and Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, are seen through many of their flaws, some of which eventually caught up with both of them. Unfortuanely, so many American fighting men were dead by the time of that reckoning.

Both LBJ & McNamara were fancifully out-of-touch "during the bloody 77 day" seige with the real events of Khe Sanh, the DMZ, Route 9, and the NVA staging going on in Laos. For all their study and statistics LBJ and McNamara were obtuse in many of their decisions. The manner in which both LBJ and McNamara ignored experienced military men are fully discussed, too.

And the link between TET and Khe Sanh in 1968 is examined, a fact that for few Americans may realize or recall they both took place at the same time, with Khe Sanh being a set piece of TET. It was both Hanoi and the NVA's desire to destroy the Americans as they had the French at Dien Bien Phu in May, 1954. Their desire was to 'annihilate' the Americans at hills 861, 558, 881 N & S, among others and thereby force us forever out of Vietnam, even saying they would kindly then offer a 'red carpet' which we could use to leave. But with their failure at Khe Sanh and TET, 68, that did not happen. With our 24/7 air operations and supply a turnabout for the NVA and General Giap came about, and represented a major blow to Hanoi's thinking.

The main element for me in this book is its arrangement, with each chapter being keyed to its audio CD counterpart. The ability of being able to read the text and then go directly to a CD helps reinforce what you've just read. Unique, on CD 2, an actual mortar, RPG, and artillery attack is captured for the listener to experience. This story and the USMC will stick with understanding and pathos most reader's memory.

As a Vietnam era veteran I can truly recommend this book. Books such as this are rare concerning Vietnam and especially, the battle of Khe Sanh.

Semper Fi.

An excellent history, very well put together. .......2005-09-30

This style of - writing the book and backing it up with the oral history is very effective. The authors have done a superb job of not only telling the story of the troops in combat, but placing it in a context that clearly shows how the war was faught and lost - in Washington - and by (political) extention, the streets of America. I was there in 1967-68 and experienced much of the story being told. The authors are historically faithful in its presentation and artful in the way they humanize the way "it" happened. Particularly for those who were there, this is a must read.

Bill Balzano.......2005-09-29

Having lived through the what the author is writting about I found the information to be right on target. It is laid out in good time date order and kept my interest. I rate this book to be one of the better books written about Khe Sanh for that period of time.

As time goes on ..........2005-09-28

The authors did their apprenticeship with an addition to the Overlord hagiography, and have now worked up to the Vietnam era. In due time, we may expect a re-write of Fallujah and Abu Ghraib. Well, as boys say when they play Army: we killed more of them than they did of us.

Voices of Courage: the Battle for Khe Sanh, Vietnam With CD (Audio)

Average customer rating:

Voices of Courage: the Battle for Khe Sanh, Vietnam With CD (Audio)
Ronald J. Drez
Manufacturer: Bulfinch Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N79NQW

Book Description

Whether you’re an adventurer who enjoys wild weather, a traveller seeking climate details for Madagascar or Mumbai, or simply curious about those charts on the evening news, The Rough Guide to Weather is precisely what you need. From world climates and weather science to tips on how to read the sky and make sense of a forecast. Illustrated throughout with photographs and climate charts and useful links to hundreds of Internet resources for every continent, this guide is will help you stay a head of the storm.

Average customer rating:

An excellent primer on the subject

The Rough Guide to Weather
Robert Henson
Manufacturer: Rough Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Rivers | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Weather | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1858288274
Release Date: 2002-07-18

Book Description

INTRODUCTION

Savour it, ignore it, obsess over it - however you approach weather, it's a significant part of our daily lives. Since the earliest times when humans scurried into their caves to avoid a storm, people have taken the weather into account. No doubt those same primitive people stood in front of their dwellings a few hours later to admire a rainbow or gaze at a spectacular cloud bank on the horizon.

What's changed over the centuries is how people interpret the dance of meteorological elements. Most of us no longer worry, as our ancestors did, about currying favour with those spirits who shuffle the atmospheric cards to punish or reward us. Today, when the weather doesn't go our way, we tend to look for a more scientific explantion. It's the fault of the jet stream, a low-pressure centre, or trendy scapegoats like El Niño and the North Atlantic Oscillation.

There is still a lot we don't understand about weather. We can now predict some aspects of climate as much as a year in advance, but nobody can tell you if a cold front will arrive on your doorstep a fortnight from now, or if a thunderstorm will strike at precisely 4pm tomorrow. We understand the basic physical laws that drive our atmosphere, but we're still hampered by our inability to observe every nuance of the present weather and by the finite (though rapidly increasing) speed of the computers that project weather into the future. There's also another factor restraining our knowledge: even as we learn more about different parts of our atmosphere, the interplay between them can produce something more than the sum of its parts - a crescendo that atmospheric scientists call "non-linear behaviour".

Where does that leave you, the consumer of weather information? Your cable TV service probably offers weather details on at least one, if not several, of its channels. You can find hundreds of maps and forecasts on the Internet and can dig up enough raw data to satisfy even the most hardcore of atmospheric appetites. But as the gurus of the information revolution keep reminding us, data isn't the same thing as information. You might be searching for a very specific forecast, say to plan a wedding or to take a boat trip. Maybe you're heading into the backcountry for a few days and want to know the weather signs that could spell trouble. Or perhaps you're travelling to a city halfway across the world and you need a sense of the typical weather at your destination, including the worst as well as the best that you might expect.

The Rough Guide to Weather aims to help you get the weather knowledge you're seeking. We've collected descriptions and statistics of the weather in dozens of countries and over two hundred destinations around the world. We also take you behind the scenes of the government forecasting centres, the TV studios and other places where your daily dose of weather information is crafted. For all the gains that forecasting has made with the help of computer guidance, humans have not yet been rendered obsolete. Particularly when the weather turns threatening, skilled forecasters can go a step beyond computer guidance and save lives in the process. You'll learn how the experts decide what to tell you about the upcoming weather and what they may choose to withhold due to limits of time and space, their own uncertainty, politics and other factors.

In the end, weather is what people choose to make of it. Every maze of red and blue fronts on the TV screen, every weather warning that crackles across the radio, passes through the filter of our own likes, dislikes, hopes and fears. It's hoped that this book makes the weather you experience as enjoyable, understandable and as memorable as possible.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent primer on the subject.......2002-11-14

This is an excellent introduction to the subject of weather. The text gives an overview of the various types of weather, their causes, forecasting and how to interpret it, a survey of weather around the world, and ends with an outstanding appendix of resources for further research (grouped by subject matter). Henson discusses weather in a variety of contexts including the literary, political and historical. The charts on weather around the world are very well designed, but consistency of scale on the precipitation and temperature axes would have made comparisons easier.

Average customer rating:

Rough Guide to Weather
Robert Henson
Manufacturer: ROUGH GUIDES (PENG)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K71JQW

Book Description

In Lessons Under the Oak Tree author, Karen Kluger, takes the reader on an inspirational walk through a centuries old California oak grove where nature's universal wisdom stays hidden, waiting to be discovered. In the silence of the oak groves that grow throughout the Santa Monica foothills, the author and her dog walked each day. Often she'd stop by a favorite old oak tree. In the simple act of leaning against the oak, life took on new meaning. Amazing insights into nature came at a time when she needed to stop and see everything from a new perspective, including the structure upon which she'd built her life. Nature became her teacher, guiding her toward a deep understanding of Goethe's statement that "nature is the living, visible garment of God." Karen believes that everything a loving God wanted us to know to live in peace and happiness was written in nature where through the ages everyone could find it. The author does not believe her experience is unique. At sometime in every life, nature calls each of us to her. Through familiarity we develop a fondness for our garden, the forest, mountains, the ocean, or stars in the night sky. When we ask, nature takes our hand, and if we open our mind and listen quietly with our heart, nature shares her secrets with us. During this time, the author read that Native Americans call people and trees the earth's only "Standing Ones." She wondered why, and grew more observant of the connections we have to trees. The more she discovered, the more she came to feel that creation may consist of a limited number of building blocks ingeniously re-arranged, much like we use only ten numbers and rearrange them to create the world's telephone numbers. In the chapter, "Choices," thousands of leaves on a tree represent the myriad of choices we make in a lifetime. Some of our choices are of little consequence, as easily forgotten as last autumn's discarded leaves. Sometimes a seemingly insignificant twig with a single leaf grows into a major limb on the tree. We may decide to go to party and meet someone who changes our life. We become our choices and so does the tree. Where a tree sprouts a branch affects swirls in the graining. Our major choices shape our lives as much as the way a tree grows affects the beauty of its wood grain. Some of the forty-eight narratives deal with forests, which serve as a metaphor for society. Trees of various shapes and sizes fill the forests. The trees' branches cover a large area, which allows their seeds to be broadcast far and wide. The seeds are like ideas that grow strong, becoming deeply rooted in a culture. Some ideas live a long time, sometimes for centuries, and affect society's judgement about how to care for the land all that lives upon it. Such narratives concern evolution, which the author says is another word for free will. Other stories relate to deforestation, global warming, and the resulting melting of icebergs. Mixed in are stories of hope for the future. The author says that when we get serious about returning the earth to balance, we will heal ourselves because we'll recognize that nature's beauty and greatness is also each of us. To paraphrase Chief Seattle: "Whatever we do to the earth, we do to ourselves." All things connect in the web of life.

Readers will relate to the lively true stories that tell the how the author learned from nature that what she needs for a happy, meaningful life is as simple as a tree and not as complicated as the forest. Lessons Under the Oak Tree is easily one of the most inspiring and informative books on nature readers can find today.

Customer Reviews:

a loving study of our world... and oaks .......2006-06-08

Kluger's slim volume contains valuable insights into our modern culture and how, through the lessons of the mighty oak, we can better ourselves and better the way we make our way in this world. The author's strong connection to oaks is revealed through loving text and she graciously shares her wisdom with readers. This book should be translated into ever language and presented to anyone who marvels at the awesome power of Mother Earth.

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