Up and running in 30 minutes!

With no idea of what I was really doing, I had downloaded and installed both PHP and MySQL and was up and running within half an hour (I mainly used ASP in the past just because it was installed as part of Windows XP Pro) - very clear instructions. From there the book takes you through basic concepts and practical applications. As some of the other reviewers have said, I'd imagine some familiarity with other scripting languages helps - at least you know what you're trying to do, even if you're grappling with an unfamiliar environment - but I'd think with would make a good introduction for those with little background knowledge as well. Well up to the usual Sitepoint standard!

A good all round overview

ITIL Service Lifecycle official introduction, does exactly what it says on the tin. It provides the right level of introduction to ITIL v3. For those who are driven by service management this is a must have. Overall, yes."Fit for Purpose", meets its objective. I found both useful and informative. This is definitely not a substitue..but a good addition.

Easy to read and very usefull in the real world

Easy to read and very usefull in the real world. The auther even has a sence of humour (quite unlike the OCG prince two books)

Ideal guide for a new ebay user intending to sell.

I found this book an ideal introduction to eBay as a user who had very little experience and wished to sell items. Reading over such a book before becoming an eBay seller unsurprisingly saves time in the long run, and makes the system of eBay and all of the features familiar to you. <br /><br />The book is sectioned up into five main parts. The first is introductory of course, and explains the whole concept of eBay. The second section is about buying on eBay, which many people easily learn without the aid of a book, though it does no harm whatsoever to read over this chapter even if you have plenty of experience buying on eBay, as it may give you some good ideas to facilitate the process in the future, and as a budding seller it will remind you of the perspective of your customers. The third part is a large section on eBay selling. Selling is of course more involved than buying on eBay, due to the increased responsibility involved. It is not however difficult to set up, and this book was at its most useful to me at this point as it pointed out a sensible order in which to go about this, such as the preparations to be made and what you will need for the next step in regestering as a seller, (such as a pen and paper if you need to receive a land-line confirmation call during registration). Ebay shops are also introduced in this section, and the information in this book will allow you to decide if an eBay shop would be a good investment to you and if it would be appropriate for what you are selling. Parts four and five explain the additional features and recommended good conduct on eBay respectively. For more advanced advice, the 'For Dummies' book on starting a business on eBay.co.uk is a logical next step.<br /><br />Overall this book is a comprehensive introduction for the eBay user who is somewhere on the scale of novice to"some experience". For any eBay users who consider themselves to be experienced but who have not read a book like this that summarises everything, it can scarcely be a bad idea to take a read refresh everything in your mind. I would rate this book 10 out of 10 for its practicality and providing the introduction it was intended to provide.

Good intro to MOSS 2007 for Developers

I was some what disappointed with this book. Don't get me wrong - it's an excellent book, well written. Patrick can sure write. However it's a developers book and is a kick start to MOSS 2007 development, and an intro to the SDK. So yes buy it, especially if you are looking to pass the MCTS 70-542 Application Development for MOSS 2007 exam. <br />But if you were expecting under the hood detail of what makes MOSS tick, which is what I expect from the Inside MsPress series, you won't find it here. I suppose I've just got spoilt by the Inside SQL and Inside Windows books that I religious buy every edition, and are a joy to read.

Social science gems you might be able to apply

Some examples, some methods, some references, but you'll still need your own creativity. If constructive change were that easy, would the world be in the shape it is in.<br /><br />So what you won't find here is mention of Latin American socialist solutions that are not in progress in many nations there. A harmless omission or a conflict of interest for a training company that does a lot of work with the Fortune 500? Or any mention of the problems of sustainability of resources worldwide along with global warming? Great challenges but perhaps not the best thing to present to multi-national corporation trainees at this time. Instead learn about ex-cons, African villagers, and phobics. Or productivity problems with American workers. Are the authors steering readers to some extent in the kinds of changes to consider? But the social science findings do lend themselves to use by socialists ... and even union workers. Unfortunately, those with the influence and leverage to make things happen in the world seem as likely to start the Iraqi conflict as to seek nuclear arm disarmerment: something we need to work toward. A great place to influence the world right now would seem to work toward preventing nuclear disaster, which hangs over us, as can be studied in Looking for Square Two: Moving from War and Organized Violence to Global Community<br /><br />The research is good and if you, like me, haven't followed the social sciences closely you can learn some and get good references to follow up with. Alberto Bandura (cognitive psychology), Miguel Sabido (Mexican TV producer), Mimi Silbert (Delaney rehabilitation of convicts), Don Hopkins and Kelly Callahan (Carter Center) on the amazing approaching near eradication world-wide of the guinea worm, Ethan Reid (identifying vital behaviors), Dr. Berwick (preventing medical mistakes) ... these and more with excellent examples. Methods to turn to like looking for positive deviance, constructing vicarious experiences, identifying vital behaviors, and noting recovery behaviors. There's a good deal here.<br /><br />Personally I would have wished for someone else to have written it all up. The tone tends to be dogmatic and like a car salesman's hard sell, which seems needless given that the material presented is itself so compelling.<br /><br />So who will apply the lessons of this book. Will it be corporate leaders who may force it on employees? Or via such leaders social scientists whose research may not be used for humanistic purposes? That's the rub. Much of the influencing in the world has been destructive and with the war machines so well funded one wonders to what extent constructive influences will win out. As the world heats up, as water supplies dwindle, as food sources are diminished, the changes we need may not be those the Fortune 500 or their trainers have in mind. But it is good to be exposed to this information, which these authors do, albeit with an some pro-business slant.

Real Information about Information Technology

Authors Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross provide a thoughtful overview of an important topic - how companies govern information technology and how they can maximize their IT investments. Although computer professionals don ’ t walk around in white lab coats the way they did in the early 1970s, many corporate cultures tend to isolate IT professionals. Although studies show that companies which govern their IT processes effectively earn higher profits, IT professionals often seem cloistered in their own high-tech priesthood. This book provides a blueprint for harnessing IT and making it the efficient value-generating machine it was always intended to be. You don ’ t have to wear a pocket-liner, carry a PDA or even know what"http" stands for to benefit from reading this book, which makes a strong case for the importance of solid, goal-aligned IT management. If you sense that your company suffers from a disconnect between its strategy and its IT capabilities, we believe this book could become your firm ’ s most important piece of low-tech information technology.

Excellent Book..well worth the money

As a newcomer to affiliate marketing I was really impressed with this book. It outlines and clearly explains how to go about setting up an affiliate business. It details plenty of further sources of information which have encouraged me to widen my research. I really appreciated Rosalind Gardner's clear explanations, with examples and all round sound advice. It has given me inspiration to set up an online business, and provided guidelines about how to go about it. Excellent.

Website producers have been waiting for this book!

This book is the first one I have seen (and I have looked!) that provides valuable lessons and advice for project managers, producers or anyone else producing websites (from scratch or re-designing). If you like the idea of understanding website production whilst learning to avoid the problems that others have come across then this book is for you. It also ties in quite well with the teamwork element of the Jessica Burdman book, Collaborative Web Development

Excellent summary of ITIL

Having bought this book as part of my preparation for the ITIL Managers Certficate examination, I cannot recommend it enough. It doesn't go into the detail of the OGC Service Support and Service Delivery manuals but gives an excellent summary of each of the ITIL processes. <br /><br />A much more portable read than carrying the two main books too!!

Well Designed

Very easy to read, tries to pin down what can be a nebulous concept, the idea of 'brand gap', basically the hole down which marketing attempts fall when the marketers ideas don't match those of the buying public. The layout is business, powerpoint style friendly. It is pithy, to the point and easily digestible for those business people with the need to address this problem or at least understand it, and not much time in which to do it. Good glossary in the revised edition.