Utilities Books - Page 4

Understanding Search Engines: Mathematical Modeling and Text Retrieval (Software, Environments, Tools)

Michael W. Berry, Murray Browne

List Price: $41.50 By: Soc for Industrial & Applied Math Amazon Marketplace: 9 new & used starting at $29.88

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Home Computing -> Internet -> Online Searching
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Home Computing -> Internet -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Computer Science -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Appreciations from a novice. 4 out of 5 stars.
26 of 30 people found this review helpful.

I read this book because I am starting academic research on search engines. It was one of my first books on the subject. It actually deals with two aspects: (1) relevant issues in search engine design, and (2) a mathematically sound approach in building and querying large index strucutres. The explanation in the book on both aspects is short but to the point and explained in an understandable way. It also contains a short list + description of some key references. Great !

Editorial Review:

A discussion of many of the key design issues for building search engines. It emphasizes the important roles that applied mathematics can play in improving information retrieval. The authors discuss not only important data structures, algorithms and software, but also user-centred issues such as interfaces, manual indexing, and document preparation. The authors bridge the gap between applied mathematics and information retrieval. They discuss some of the current problems in information retrieval that may not be familiar to applied mathematicians and computer scientists and present some of the driving computational methods (SVD, SDD) for automated conceptual indexing. This book introduces topics in a non-technical way and provides insights into common problems found in information retrieval. The more mathematical details are provided in sidebars or offset from the regular text.

The Book of Nero 7: CD and DVD Burning Made Easy

Wallace Wang

Amazon Price: $16.47 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: No Starch Press Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $10.99

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Computer Science -> Software Engineering -> Information Systems
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Digital Music -> General
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Digital Music -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

States the obvious on usage of an inferior product 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

If you have no clue on how to use Nero, and somehow managed to get it cleanly installed (in itself not a fun process) then this book will re-state the obvious. All in all, given the horror of trying to install Nero 7, if you might have benefited from this book, you'll never get far enough on the software install to make the book worth buying.

Editorial Review:

Ahead Software's Nero program is the most popular CD and DVD burning software in the world. While it seems like it should be easy to burn CDs and DVDs, doing so can be much more complicated than it appears, and many users reach high frustration levels after burning multiple coasters that don't work.

This simple, task-oriented, step-by-step book covers the entire Nero program suite, including audio CD burning, data backup, managing photos, DVD video burning, designing CD/DVD labels, editing sound, creating a virtual drive and CD/DVD data disk, and playing audio and video. This updated revision to the bestseller (nearly 20,000 copies sold), has been completely rewritten to focus on the tasks that most people perform with Nero 7.

Book of SCSI 2/E

Gary Field, Peter Ridge

Amazon Price: $38.96 List Price: $49.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: No Starch Press Amazon Marketplace: 32 new & used starting at $4.99

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Hardware -> Peripherals
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Hardware -> Design & Architecture
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Data in the Enterprise -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The market for PC SCSI is exploding, but even people with technical backgrounds aren't quite sure what to do with it. Pronounced "scuzzy", SCSI stands for Small Computer Systems Interface. The main goal of using a SCSI device to make systems more expandable and flexible. Rather than connecting only one device to each bus slot on the computer, SCSI allows users to connect up to seven peripherals (such as scanners, printers, optical drives, tape backups, and hard drives) to the SCSI bus. Written in a conversational style, without the incomprehensible technical talk so often found in computer books, The Book of SCSI 2nd Edition shows users how to install, configure, and optimize their SCSI systems. Despite the introduction of Plug-and-Play for PCs, the computer won't configure devices itself. Users must accomplish this confusing task themselves. The fist part of this book discusses and explains the kinds of devices available for use with SCSI. The second part offers in-depth coverage of installation and troubleshooting. Lastly, the book provides a secure guide and technical reference for SCSI, including a handy manufacturers contact list, buyers' guide, and a glossary.

SpamAssassin

Alan Schwartz

Amazon Price: $19.79 List Price: $29.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: O'Reilly Media, Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $6.46

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Home Computing -> Internet -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Business & Culture -> Privacy
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Networks, Protocols & APIs -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The annoyance factor for individual users whose email is crammed with pitches for pornography, absurd moneymaking schemes, and dubious health products is fierce. But for organizations, the cost of spam in lost productivity and burned bandwidth is astronomical. While society is grappling with a solution to the burgeoning crisis of spam proliferation, the pressure is on system administrators to find a solution to this massive problem in-house. And fast.

Sys admins can field scores of complaints and spend months testing software suites that turn out to be too aggressive, too passive, or too complicated to setup only to discover that SpamAssassin (SA), the leading open source spam-fighting tool, is free, flexible, powerful, highly-regarded, and remarkably effective. The drawback? SpamAssassin's lack of published documentation.

SpamAssassin by Alan Schwartz, is the only published resource devoted to SpamAssassin and how to integrate it effectively into your networks. This clear, concise guide clarifies the installation, configuration, and use of the SpamAssassin spam-checking system (versions 2.63 and 3.0) for Unix system administrators using the Postfix, Sendmail, Exim, or qmail mail servers, helping administrators make the right integration decision for their particular environments.

It covers concrete advice on how to:
Customize SpamAssassin's rules, and even create new ones
Train SpamAssassin's Bayesian classifier, a statistical engine for detecting spam, to optimize it for the sort of email that you typically receive
Block specific addresses, hosts, and domains using third-party blacklists like the one maintained by Spamcop.net.
Whitelist known good sources of email, so that messages from clients, coworkers, and friends aren't inadvertently lost.
Configure SpamAssassin to work with newer spam-filtering methods such as Hashcash and Sender Policy Framework (SPF).
Sys admins, network administrators, and ISPs pay for spam with hours of experimentation and tedious junk email management, frayed user tempers, and their sanity.
SpamAssassin, together with this essential book, give you the tools you need to take back your organization's inboxes.

CNET Do-It-Yourself PC Upgrade Projects (Cnet Do-It-Yourself)

Guy Hart-Davis

Amazon Price: $18.96 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $10.60

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Certification Central -> Publisher -> Osborne-McGraw-Hill
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Certification Central -> General
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Certification Central -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

Supercharge and customize your PC

Now you can get the most out of your PC with the fun and practical projects packed inside this easy-to-follow guide. Produced in conjunction with CNET.com, the place you go for the latest in tech and consumer electronics, this book shows you how to exploit the media, communications, networking, and security features of your PC. You'll also find out how to add powerful hardware and software, improve performance, and expand your computer's capabilities.

Inside, you'll find 24 self-contained projects, clear step-by-step instructions, a list of tools needed at the beginning of each project, and hundreds of helpful photos and screenshots. With CNET Do-It-Yourself PC Upgrade Projects, you'll be able to take your PC to peak performance--and beyond.

• Transform your PC into a video phone
• Add two or more extra monitors so you can see all your work at once
• Set up your PC as a recording studio
• Create a permanent wireless network or a temporary one
• Back up your data safely--and restore it
• Digitize your paper documents for safekeeping
• Secure your secrets in a virtual locker
• And much more

Mike Meyers' A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs

Michael Meyers

Amazon Price: $75.00 In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served. By: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $6.00

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Certification Central -> Exams -> A+
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Certification Central -> Publisher -> Osborne-McGraw-Hill
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Certification Central -> A+

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A #1 effort from the #1 authority on the subject! 5 out of 5 stars.
26 of 29 people found this review helpful.

We all know that Mike Meyers is go to man for A+ and that is All-In-One Guide is a huge success and that a great number of people, including myself, owe him a huge bit of thanks for helping us to pass the exams. Now imagine taking the best parts of his guides and break it down even further and that is exactly what has been done here in this book.

The book is an excellent study tool for passing the A+ exams as both the Core and OS exam are covered in the 950 plus pages. One thing that could be added in future updates is a few more exercises. And once again as with other books from Mike, this one has material I have not seen anywhere else before. I also found that this book is current with the newest exams, which is another plus.

The thing that has always impressed me is the way that Mike Meyers can explain any topic. He is able to convey the concepts and ideas without boring the reader; in fact several students in my current A+ Class have found this manual to clear up some confusion from the study guides we are currently using.

The cd included has several practice exams and some videos you can use as additional study tools. The Learn Key Videos does a hardware check before allowing you to run the video demos, which is a good thing since 1 of my machines was not hardware ready. As with the written material, Mike is even better in the video segments with his use of real life situations and examples.

If you are just getting started and need a first step in the right direction, than let this book be the pace is all begins. Overall just another superb effort from Mike Meyers.

Editorial Review:

Written by Mike Meyers, the #1 name in A+ training, this book teaches you how to be an A+ technician by covering in full detail all the topics found on the A+ certification exam. The CD includes self-assessment testing engine with six practice exams, LearnKey video presentation from Mike Meyers, and Mike's favorite shareware and freeware tools and utilities.

Internetworking with TCP/IP: Vol.II, Design, Implementation, and Internals

Douglas E. Comer, David L. Stevens

List Price: $65.00 By: Prentice Hall Amazon Marketplace: 19 new & used starting at $0.75

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Home Computing -> Internet -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Networks, Protocols & APIs -> Networks
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Networks, Protocols & APIs -> TCP-IP

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The actual code explained. I loved it. 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

This volume presents a "C" code implementation of TCP/IP, along with detailed explanations of what the code accomplishes. I was able to get a working knowledge of how the protocol operates by reading the actual code and the accompanying explanations. As a systems engineer seeking a working knowledge of how TCP/IP operates, this book was exactly appropriate for me. I would highly recommend it to software engineers as well.

Great Explanation of Concepts and Detail 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Comer's book does an excellent job of mixing details and concepts. While Steven's book is perfect if you have to work directly with the code in the BSD network stack, it is full of cruft from other protocols and complexity due to years of code maintenance. The BSD code takes short cuts for major and minor speed improvements at the cost of clarity and understanding.

Comer, on the other hand, designs his systems to be understood. It is possible to understand the entire Xinu system from the high level down to the smallest details. Very few people can make the same claim about the BSD kernel. The layout of the book is excellent, describing the design trade-offs in writing the networking code. Rather than teaching someone how to use a specific implementation, it enables its reader to approach any implementation and understand why it was designed the way it was, and what impacts these decisions were made. In spite of that, it would be nice if Comer spent even more time explaining why certain decisions were made.

Now, I am using Steven's book as a reference as I am dealing with BSD networking code. However, I would be lost if I didn't learn the principles, concepts, and designs provided by Comer. If you can, get both books -- but start with this one.

Editorial Review:

The second edition of this bestseller is a must for anyone working with the TCP/IP suite of protocols, discussing the protocols in light of design alternatives, decisions, and implementation techniques. The book contains a working source code for most protocols, including ARP, TCP, IP, RIP, and SNMP. Includes coverage of new TCP/IP routing.

PC Technician Black Book: The PC Technician's Secret Weapon

Ron Gilster

List Price: $49.99 By: Paraglyph Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $119.18

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Certification Central -> General
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Certification Central -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Computer Science -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Not worth the money 1 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

The cover says "Ideal for A+ certified technicians," which I am not, but I could imagine they'd be even more frustrated with this book that I am.

I bought this book after acquiring a large collection of older PC parts. I thought it would be handy to have a troubleshooting reference nearby while working with the parts. I've had this book a number of months now, built 2 fully operational computers from scratch, and have not found this book helpful ONCE. I'd recommend saving your money and buying another book or searching Google Groups for your answers.

Just to be fair, there is a lot of interesting information about how certain technologies evolved and is fairly comprehensive. (Such as full page pictures of what midtower cases and toolless screws look like.) But when it comes to troubleshooting issues while working on a computer, it's just about worthless. (Plot spoiler: just about all the "Immediate Solutions" sections tell you to check the cables, or something that obvious.)

I'll admit I'm a software technician by trade and enjoy fiddling with stuff. This book may very well be good for the novice or intermediate user. But if you've built computers before or know your way around troubleshooting an issue, look elsewhere for a hardware reference.

Editorial Review:

This book is a ready reference of troubleshooting, diagnostics, and repair processes and procedures for a range of commonly used personal computers and peripheral devices. Written in the popular Black Book format with a hardware focus. Unlike other PC troubleshooting books, you don't have to read through pages of text to find a solution. This book cuts out the unnecessary background reference material and filler to bring you clear, concise, and necessary reference information followed by problem solving solutions in an easy-to-use format. Each unit within the book contains: a common customer complaint, symptoms common to the problem, tools needed (hand, hardware, or software), step-by-step processes used to verify the problem, and the step-by-step processes used to correct the problem. Also includes numerous illustrated photos to help you repair something quickly.

CUPS: Common UNIX Printing System (Sams White Book)

Michael Sweet

Amazon Price: $29.69 List Price: $44.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Sams Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $15.72

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Graphic Design -> Printing
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Data in the Enterprise -> Client-Server Systems
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> Networks, Protocols & APIs -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very in-depth look into CUPS 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This is an excellent book on what seems to be the most advanced printing system for UNIX these days. It covers a vast number of topics including building and installation, printer setups, server and client configurations, and several chapters on programming CUPS with an API. The best part that I got out of the book was the numerous examples, including code examples.

Written for developers of CUPS print configuration files. 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book is targeted for writers of printer configurations files, and not for System Administrators.

As a UNIX and Linux system administrator of 5 years I find that setting up network printing was and is one of the most surprising challenges. And perhaps one the most challenging issues to explain to my users and management. After all Windows printing is virtually plug and play. Whereas configuring printing on UNIX and Linux is virtually without standards and is unique to each printer. Thus I am very excited to see any move towards a standardized printing configuration for UNIX and Linux.

Also a lack of printing configuration standards on UNIX and Linux meant that the selection of printers that would work was extremely small. That is until CUPS came along. However, I still find CUPS very confusing. So I broke down, bought this book and studied it.

This book is more like a reference book. And it is mostly oriented towards programming with CUPS and writing PPD (Postscrip Printer Description) files.

I was disappointed that it didn't cover more on installing new printer configurations and steps for debugging them. I was also disappointed that it left out an important step of how to install new PPD files.

CUPS requires a PPD file to describe the capabilities of each printer, and how it will interface with the printer and driver (if any). The book lists several web sites for retrieving PPD files. However, the book does not explain how add in a new PPD file in the "Adding Your First Printer" section or anywhere else for that matter.

By visiting other web sites I did find these instructions for adding in a new PPD file:

Put the PPD file in /usr/share/cpus/model
Then restart CUPS: /etc/init.d/cups restart, or
/etc/software/init.d/cups restart

However, there are other places and methods depending on your set up. So this is very confusing.

I was very frustrated that this book would leave out something so simple and necessary.

For programming and writing PPD files, this book has a lot of material, but I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm still trying to configure an HP DesignJet 5000 plotter to plot from my Linux machine.

Also the author deserves considerable credit for tacking on the challenge about writing about Linux and UNIX printing. Very few people are able to write about Linux and UNIX printing in detail. For taking on such a challenging subject and the rarity of this kind of book I gave the book the coveted 4 star rating.

I hope to see more books on Linux printing setup, print drivers and related material.

Editorial Review:

The Common UNIX Printing System is quickly becoming the standard printing solution for Linux. This book provides you with detailed instructions on using, administering, and programming for the Common UNIX Printing System. In addition to the CUPS software, this book includes information and online downloads of many popular add-ons to CUPS that provide enhanced graphical interfaces and printer drivers.

The Book of VMware: The Complete Guide to VMware Workstation

Brian Ward

Amazon Price: $26.37 List Price: $39.95 By: No Starch Press Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $21.00

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Networking -> General AAS
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> General
Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Operating Systems -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The magic of VmWare explained/ 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 13 people found this review helpful.

I was asked to teach a class on various operating systems such as Windows 3.X, Windows 9X, NT, 2000, XP and Linux. The class was to go over the basic of each OS and the kicker was the class was to be 3 days long. With that many OSes it would have taken 3 days for installs alone, until I found VmWare.

With a basic understanding of the application I managed to teach the class, if I had this book then I would have been able to do so much more. Ward has simply put together the best book on the subject matter that I ever come across.

Starting right of the books delves into the virtual machine and the requirements for install and configuration. The author explains in detail what each version requires in order to have it working properly. Then there is over 100 pages just on the different guest system setups and configurations, again the author attention to detail makes this some of the most interesting reading of the book.

Then the book work with networking and stand alone operations making sure you have a good understanding of the differences. Finally the author gives several pages to the troubleshooting of the application. You have tips and tricks for each OS and hints to avoiding problems before they happen.

Overall this book has already given me several tips and tricks to enhancing the classes I am teaching and I am sure that I will find many others before I am through. Excellent work and if the application gets updated I certainly hope the book does as well.

Editorial Review:

Everything you need to know about VMware Workstation, from guest systems to network configuration.

VMware software lets users run multiple operating systems (and their applications) simultaneously on one computer. Technically reviewed and developed in cooperation with VMware, Inc., The Book of VMware is a comprehensive guide to installing and running VMware. It includes sections on device emulation; configuring guest operating systems; networking; and troubleshooting.