O'Reilly sets the standard by which all other technical publishers should aspire; their books are technical, dense, and personally, I love the pithy, no nonsense tone. I have never been disappointed with an O'Reilly book. This book continues the tradition of above par books and I can attest that hands down, this is the best book available on Samba.

Remarkably, the information inside is aging very well. While it doesn't cover the most current version of Samba, this book is by far the most informative and helpful on the subject available.

While the book is fortified with examples, screenshots, and an easy to read style, by far my favorite portion is on troubleshooting (complete with a "fault tree"). It is just a way of systematically approaching connectivity problems in relation to the samba server.

I mean, really, what exactly is "System error 53?" This book won't tell you outright, but it will help narrow down the problem to solvable proportions.

The included CDROM also includes a mirror to the official Samba FTP site, including sources, binaries, documentation, and utilities.

When I have Samba configuration problems, or questions pop up about Samba, this is the book I reach for. If pressed for time and pressed for answers by coworkers, I have been known to pull it off the shelf and lend it out.

Network administers will invariably face the task of integrating Windows systems with Unix or Linux ones. Samba provides an excellent solution to this problem, but for people starting out, Samba seems like a daunting task.

Not so with this book. Prior to reading this book, I had no experience with Samba whatsoever. Before long, I found myself setting up Samba on a linux server and setting up file shares to Win2k systems. The massive smb.conf configuration file no longer looks menacing, but rather, its easy to read now.

I see why this has been adopted by the Samba team. Its very easy to read, very relaxing in its pace, and very thorough in its treatment of Samba topics. I do not believe there is a more comprehensive on Samba to date. Even the reference sections in the back are very nicely organized, and very easy to use.

What really tops this book off though is its treatment of Windows networking. For those who have little or no understanding of Windows and how networks are organized, this book covers the topic very well. Unix/Linux administrators will be glad they read this chapter.

In closing, I strongly recommend this book to Network Administrators, particularly those using Unix/Linux. This book is very comprehensive, but very easy to read.

This is by far the finest computer book I have ever read. I recommend this book to people wanting to install and use Samba because no other book, HOWTO, or online forum explains SAMBA so well. I also recommend this book to people just getting their feet wet with networking because it comprehensively examines both Linux and Windows networking issues in an extremely easy to read, step-by-step way.

This book has screen shots -- a lot of them. This book has examples -- a lot of them. This book has very easily followed writing that tells you how to set up your Linux and Windows machines and how to get Samba going. The book sits down with you, rolls up your sleeves, and shows you how to progress in a way that yeilds desired results -- Samba installs and works on your network! It blends instruction with just the right amount of background explanation without forcing you to read page after page of useless, smothering detail. A lot of authors would be well advised to achieve this kind of balance in computer books and darn few succeed. I had my Windows box talking to my Linux box via Samba in just a day. I spent about 2 weeks going over the book and studying my existing Windows network before making any software changes whatsoever.

This book offers a comprehensive networking fault tree people new to networking will find extremely useful. Follow this fault tree and you will be able to correct general networking problems as well as specific Samba problems. When I had networking problems back when I first got into Linux with Red Hat 6.0, I could have fixed them with this book's fault tree. It would have saved me hours of frustration to have worked through this book's fault tree.

I think everyone wanting to connect Linux boxes to Windows boxes should rush to order this book and then spend 2 weeks reading it cover to cover before messing with ANY network settings. You will be rewarded for your money and patience with results and a feeling of genuine accomplishment.

I've noticed a trend in Linux books where the authors like to waste space and reader's time with useless banner "warnings" and sometimes repetitive moralizing. Some writers print warnings every 2 pages and sound as bad as hoax emails. Well you won't find many warnings in Using Samba. They are worth reading when found.

As far as I can see, there are only 2 bad points about this book and you can't blame the authors for them: unless it is lovingly revised in a new edition, increasing rollouts of Windows 2000 will rapidly obsolete the excellent Samba advice you can get here. As of this writing (August 2000), Windows Millenium Edition will be available to consumers September 14, and depending on sales this may help obsolete the book also. The second bad point is that Samba has not gone into a new version which can deal with Windows 2000 and Millenium Edition yet. It is still stuck at 2.0.7. Hopefully the Samba team will release a new version in the near future covering Windows 2000. And I sure hope The Samba Book, as it is called, is revised to cover the new Windows products!

Every time a pick up a book from Swindoll's "Great Lives from God's Word" series I think that nothing can be better than the last one. Starting with Joseph and then reading Moses gave me the impression that these were his best. Now I've returned back and read David and continue to find that brother Chuck has been blessed with a deep understanding about God's word, God's people and God's ways. As with the other books, Chuck doesn't leave any stone unturned in David's life and digs deep into the things that we can all relate to. I recommend this reading especially to those who are facing the giants in life whether they are physical or spiritual. King David is a great study for all of us seeking to be a "man after God's own heart."

This Book is a MUST have for all Christians! Charles Swindoll is a gifted writer and brings the story of King David to life while pointing out timeless Christian lessons to be learned from David's life.

Chuck Swindoll is an excellent author that helps me under stand the bible very easily. in an exsample of how much I enjoyed what I have learnd, i'll tell you that I have started reading the book "Moses a man of selfless dedication" and have the one on Josphe on the book self that I bought through amozon.com. Seindoll pours over all the detail to bring King David into a real sence and not a bible caricter that lived 3000 years ago, but some one that I can understand and see in life, or in someone around me, I loved what the book tought me and what makes me different then david and how to become more of "a man after Gods own heart".

My husband and I have been using this cookbook for a few weeks now and we just love it. We've always enjoyed cooking, but this book has all of our favorite recipes for dishes we frequently order in restaurants - with normal ingredients and relatively easy instructions. It's like a dream come true! We just dove in and started using it, but after finishing up a delicious meal from the cookbook last night, I sat down to read the introduction, and I agreed with every word. If you like cooking and trying new/different combinations of ingredients, buy this cookbook NOW. You don't have to buy fancy items from the store (I find everything I need from my local supermarket), and - at least the recipes I've tried so far - have been relatively simple and DEAD ON delicious on the first try. Suggestion: cook the dish to recipe the first time, then improvise on your own (ex. some recipes call for a medium to heavy amount of butter and oils, when you can usually get away with halving the fats and using extra wine or stock if your palate is not too refined). Our favorite so far is the mushroom risotto. Yummmmmmm.

Since the day I got this cookbook as a gift, I use it for inspiration and often everyday cooking. I live in Tel Aviv, so the mediterranean flavor suits my accessiblility to ingredients and adds new twists to the way I think about using them. Although many of the recipes are for party fare only, I always manage to find some great recipe for even a casual gathering. The book is extremely fun to read, easy to follow and makes me feel like a pro just by making a simple dip for crudites.

For those of us who tend to rely on just a few cookbooks, I recommend it highly. It can never replace my desert island favorite choice, Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking, but it's right up there with the Silver Palatte.

How much does this book have to do with "Dean & Deluca"? Very little! There are a few recipes of items offered for sale at "Dean & Deluca", and some of more exotic ingredients are likely to be found at "Dean & Deluca".

What this book should have been called is the "David Rosengarten - Taste" cookbook. Almost all the recipes come from episodes of "Taste"(the very popular cooking show hosted by David Rosengarten shown several times each day on the TV Food Network).

David is by far the most visible personality on the TV Food Network, having hosted as many as 3 different programs a day ("Taste", "In Food Today", and earlier version of "Dining Around"). He's also a well known wine/food writer for several magazines.

It's not a general cookbook (it's not going to replace you copy of Joy of Cooking), it's not a primer, and it's not a specialty book.

It's more like a "best of" Taste, leaning to the less exotic.

This is a good learning guide and I think it will be all I need to get my first Ham Radio license. In addition, it has a lot of technical info that is useful in setting up a ham radio station.

My only criticism is that the book has too much information (often repeated) on the social and hobby aspects of ham radio. Not that I don't appreciate this trivia and fun info, it's just that it is mixed in with the technical data that you need to pass the FCC test. As a result, I think you need to study and retain a lot more information.

I approached getting a Ham Technician license with trepidation. Surely they would be asking me all kinds of overly technical, jargon filled questions. Reading this book put my mind at ease and guided me through everything I needed to know. Within a few weeks, I was scoring high on practice tests and a week later I got my license. No sweat, no worries.

Unlike some of the other books to help you pass a test, this book actually teaches you the subject. It is well layed out and easy to understand. I'll be ordering the rest of this series for General and Extra soon!

(no, I'm not actually 1 year old - I just refuse to generate a login to leave a review)

I tried Clay Laster's book and found it to be useless (see my review elsewhere).

So I picked up this ARRL book in anticipation of taking an 8 week Tech course through a local ham radio club for Element 2. I spent about an hour a night with this book, worked through all the questions and answers. In conjunction with web-based practice tests (www.wvara.org, www.eham.net or other locations -- these are free and invaluable for practice) after 2 painless weeks I found a local VEC site and took the test last Sunday. Passed with a 100% score!

I felt so confident, that I decided to try the General exam (Element 3) the same morning and passed that one too (although not with such a stellar result). I don't have to take the tech course now, and credited the fee toward club membership.

Bottom line -- ARRL knows the tests inside and out. They've been publishing license guides for years, they administer the tests, and they write the manuals so that they can be easily understood -- they don't introduce jargon or advanced concepts/information until the basics have been presented.

Although I already passed the General theory test, I am working my way through ARRL's General license guide -- to make sure I know what I'm supposed to. And studying Morse for Element 1 so I can get my General license. I've already picked up the ARRL licensing guide for Amateur Extra (Element 4) and hope to get there by the summer.

Being already familiar with CorelDRAW and Photopaint, I found the book to be an excellent source of ideas. I cannot however recommend this book for the uninitiated. The authors assume a functional (read intimate) familiarity with the programs' tools and settings. The book presents an excellent balance between draw and paint and the authors write in light and whimisical manner, making the book a fairly easy read. What I found most useful is that it is published in full-color throughout. This makes following along with the projects much easier since there is no guessing how a particular effect should look. On the downside, the full-color also results in steep price for this 1/2" thick book. Overall, I would readily recommend it for advanced users, suggest it to intermediate users, and steer beginners to the "Visual Quickstart" or "Dummies" series.

I was looking for a book, not a manual, to show me some of the special effects everyone wants to learn, not just how to use the tools. I have learned so much from this book and have even impressed a few of my friends. The steps to create the projects are clear and easy to follow. The perfect book for any Corel user.

CorelDRAW is the most powerful illustration package available on the market today. When I teach CorelDRAW classes I am only able to teach the tools, how to use the program. My students frequently ask where do they go from there. I used to say it was limited by their imagination, but now I can direct them to this book. Here are the techniques you can use to go from beginner to power user. If you use DRAW or PHOTOPAINT, you need this book. Thanks to Dave and Gary for filling a much needed void.

David Chadwick was able to interview a lot of the original students of Suzuki, letting each of them speak in their own voice. The book is not a sweet and reverential tale of the life of prominent Zen teacher, but the honest exposition of successes and failures of the man Suzuki-roshi was. Particularly interesting to me were accounts of Suzuki's complex position on the issues of Japanese militarism during the WWII; and account of his first year in America, and how the Zen center just naturally happened. Chadwick's style is clear, concise and compact; occasional quotations from Suzuki are well positioned and illustrated by real-life examples. Well Done!!!

In stereotypical Zen fashion, I don't wish to say too much about this book. I'd hate to spoil any portion of it for anyone. But please read this book.

If you have already read the author's previous book, Thank You and OK, you already know what an excellent writer David Chadwick can be when he is poking fun at himself. (If you haven't read Thank You and OK, then please go get that book, too.) I was frankly surprised at what an excellent historian Mr. Chadwick was, when it came time to write entirely seriously, about someone else. Especially Suzuki, Roshi. I was a little nervous that this book might contain the type of gushing praise that has tended to be heaped upon deceased Buddhist teachers in America. But Crooked Cucumber offers a very balanced view of Suzuki Roshi, including not only stories that inspire one's admiration for the man, but also anecdotes that cause one to scratch one's head and wonder why he could be so infuriatingly fallible at times. As a result, I felt I could trust Chadwick's scholarship, and I wound up with a much more mature appreciation for this Zen "legend."

I have already said way too much. But I predict that Crooked Cucumber will wind up being regarded as one of the best Buddhist books ever written.

I just read this book this week and can't say enough great things about it. It blends the story of a person and a spiritual path so deftly that you will be draw in on sheer readability and enlightened about this wonderful teacher's sometimes hilarious life story (and many times lightheartedly profound) without even noticing.

I hated the author's former book and couldn't stand to read it after the first 20 pages, so it took an act of courage to pick this one up. But I am happy to say either he has learned a lot or he's had a great editor or both, because with this book, he seems like he was born to write it.

There is a wonderful sense of humor that comes from Suzuki-Roshi's life and attitude - that belies the seriousness of the topic and book. So few Zen books are really approachable for mere humans (which is not the way it should be). This book demystifies all that needs demystifying about Zen - and you will have a LOT of FUN reading it, too.

I was so surprised at this book.. I bought it for curiosity, because it really amazes me (as a member of the post-Cold War generation) how terrified people were. It turned out to be an amazing, complex story, and even I didn't predict the ending. I've really never seen anything like Forsyth's work. (The best part is that I read this for school credit in 8th grade.. for once, a book I didn't hate.) I had to reread several times, not for confusion but for the brilliance of the dialogue. It's a shame Forsyth has given up suspense, but I wish him well.

The Devil's Alternative is one of the finest thrillers ever written. In my opinion it ranks with The Negotiator as the best novels by Forsyth. What makes this book great is the realism. Forsyth knows his stuff, and has done a perfect job of researching the Halls of Power on both sides of the ocean. His depiction of the Soviet Politburo in action is one of the best representations in all of fiction. His use of technology (the tanker, etc.) is well done, with no inaccuracies. [Although it should be noted that the largest oil tanker in the world is the Jahre Viking, which is half the size of the Freya in the book] The characters, unlike most other thrillers, are not your everyday stock characters. Forsyth gives them a personality. The ending of this multi-layered thriller is also a gem, and no other author could have written such a perfect book.

Another solid job by this author who I have always liked. This was another of his fast paced, easy to read stories with a good long story. I love the detail of the USSR government, you really feel like it in a non-fiction book at times. He has always used a lot of good factual details to make his books solid. Like the work of all good authors, you really grow to know the characters, like some and hate some - they have solid reasons for doing what they are doing in the book. There is a lot going on but the way he writes it you do not have any problems following the action. A great book that is well worth the time.

I love this book! I was ready to give up trying to use iMovie because of a small glitch that was incurring. After browsing thru the book the very first time I opened it, I came across the trouble I was having with iMovie. Mr. Pogue directed me to the correct settings and I am now having a great time editing my DV movies.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone attempting to use iMovie. There is so much more to this program than Apple addresses in the help file. Mr. Pogue's writing is concise but not out of reach for the average Mac user.

I have many books by Mr. Pogue and I would recommend any of them if you are stumped and need a well explained how-to-manuel.

First I have to give props to David Pogue and his Missing Manual series. As a bookseller and computer geek I've long favored the Dummies books as the best entry-level source for third-party information on software. However, O'Reilly made a smart move when they turned their attention on that market and grabbed Dummies standby Pogue to headline the new series. The Missing Manuals (and their mutant-dogcow mascot) are a credit to O'Reilly and a must-have... assuming, that is, that they cover the program you need. The series is still too small, but I'm sure it won't stay that way.

Now, to the book itself. If you need to do something with iMovie, it's in there. That pretty much covers what I need to say in this review, but it doesn't cover everything the book has to offer. Remember back in the 80s when the Mac made desktop publishing a reality, only to unleash a torrent of wretchedly amateurish graphic design? Well, Pogue spends much of the first couple of chapters attempting to prevent that from happening. This book starts off with a very basic primer on video production and how to use your equipment -- assumed to be a typical consumer-grade MiniDV camcorder, but it covers other options as well, particularly video bridges and the like.

The meat of the book discusses iMovie 2's capabilities, including discussions of its weaknesses and how to work around them. Effects, titles, and transitions are discussed in detail, including some useful information on crossfades (never fade straight to black -- instead, you want a black stillframe). Conversion to other formats is also an issue, and a significant part of the book discusses postproduction using QuickTime Pro. Directions are given for converting your work for DVD or VCD as well.

The issue I have with the book is largely its focus on iMovie in MacOS Classic, and the bugs that are present in that version that might not be in the OS X version. Screenshots all come from 9.x, with the only Aqua material being the interface of iMovie itself. I don't mark down for this since the program operates more or less the same, but an inexperienced user may have trouble. (I might note as well that the book works just as well for iMovie 3, which has a superficially different interface but handles more or less identically.)

So, yeah. If you're doing video production on iMovie, this is the book to get, hands down.

If there was an Academy Award for manuals, this is the winner. Part One, of this 402 page manual, is worth the total cost of the book. David Pogue creates an excitement for Digital Video Photography, and iMovie 2 editing on a Macintosh. The manual is very well written, and is full of illustrations, hints, tips and techniques. It reads like a great novel, you do not want to put it down. Apple's iMovie 2 is a very powerful Digital Video Editing program, but lacks in documentation like Don Rickles lacks tack. If you have spent a $1,000 for a Digital Video Camera, and have a PowerMac computer with iMove 2, your next step to using them is, "iMovie, The manual that should have been in the box." I was editing video clips, and creating DVD (disc) movies after just a few hours with this book.