most insightful book I've read in a long time

Yes, I understand the criticism that Mr Taleb is full of himself - undoubtedly it shows throughout the book.
However, the amount of insights he provides and the many different angles in which he looks at the problem hammers the point through our hard-wired brains, and in my case, provided a fundamental change to the way I think and approach problems.
Definitely, a must read book.

Fantastic!

I have just bought this book and only really to get my free postage on my order - but what a great book! I only have a passing inerest in photography but often wondered how people got shots like they do. This book is presented in an easy to understand format and don't take any notice about the negative remarks about humour - it's there for a reason, to fix the ideas in your memory. I'm going to order the second volume as well.

Don't buy it....

.....if you are a seasoned pro or utterly humourless. If you think your photographs are generally OK, but are missing that little something extra that makes them good enough to be proud of; then buy it instantly.

This isn't a technical photography manual that will spin your head out with more terms than a consolidation loan contract. Neither is it an artsy Bauhaus analysis of photography design. No, it is actually useful.

I wrote a glowing review of the first volume, and the second volume is just as good. The only downside is that I now am going to spend more money on photography kit. I really think that addiction to narcotics or alcohol would have been much cheaper and far less damaging to my marriage.

The author, to me anyway, comes across as a thoroughly nice bloke who obviously loves what he does. The style is informal and friendly and I enjoy reading both volumes again and again. If, like some reviewers, you find this off-putting I think that says far more about you than it does Scott.

In conclusion: my photographs are better after reading this book, thanks Scott.

Brilliant

This is brilliant book on design and composition taking the reader on a tour through graphic elements, colour, contrasts etc.

A lot of photography, but independent of technology: It's not the camera that takes the photo, it's the photographer. And this book introduces the reader to all the decisions a photographer makes, whether concious or not, when taking the photo.

The word"digital" should be dropped from the title, only four pages discuss techniques particular to digital photography, and then not.

This makes the book perfect for any one with a desire to improve their photographic skills - or eyes.

LAP FOF DUMMEYS AND INTERNET FOR DUMMETS

VERY HELPFULL IN EVERY WAY PUT IN LINGO YOU UNDER STAND WITH ALL THE BULL TAKEN OUT ONE RE SAID THAY WHERE FOR USA MARKET NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT THAY GOOD FUN AS WELL AS DOING THE JOB THAY WHERE MADE FOR KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK BARRY ENGLAND

Excellent

brilliant. enlightening. entertaining.
Page upon page of eminently quotable nuggets of distilled wisdom.
this is a must read

Buy IT! BUY IT!

I have read this book from cover to cover TWICE!!! Then I bought my collegue a copy for his birthday so he wouldn't keep taking mine!!
This is full of practical knowledge to get you up and going and also a great reference book for the more knowledgable. BUY IT NOW!!! You wont be dissapointed!!

Excellent

This book was my saviour during my dissertation. A must for any psychology student about to tackle SPSS!

Top notch

This book does exactly what it says on the cover, takes you through all the functions (with easy to see colour pictures)), working with light, exposure, photographing different subjects, etc. It explains your Nikon D40 and all of the features, I cannot recommend this highly enough. Between this and the Ken Rockwell website I have learnt so much about the D40.

A Must Buy!

Eveything in this book is written in a way that is fun, easy to understand AND invaluable if you intend to trade in shares. It's a steal at this price. I cannnot rate this book highly enough.

Nuff said.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

First things first.. this is not a book for web designers, graphic artists, developers or anyone who actually has to do these sorts of tasks for a living (or even for a hobby, for that matter). You will not learn anything from this book that you don't already know and, in fact, there is some stuff in here that I think it would be better off NOT knowing, particularly some of the garishly coloured and clustered monstrosities that are heralded as examples of good design.

The only people who would find this book useful are management-types and marketing people... the kind of people who really should stick to pushing pens and emailing rather than getting involved in the dirty work of designing and developing a succesful website. This book could do a lot of damage in terms of giving delusions of grandeur to these sorts of people!

Much of the advice given in the book is out of date, and many of the example websites are now either not there or have been altered to the extreme. On a posative note, this book does state the obvious to quite a phenominal level and I suppose there may be some people to whom this may be of benefit.

Personally, i'd reccomend any web proffesionals who are thinking of buying this book to stay the heck away!! If you're a manager/marketing person or someone who needs to create the illusion that you know what you're talking about when asked to comment on a website, then this book may be of benefit.

Much better than expected

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
Excellent book that I have learned more from in a week than I did from Rob Sheppard's Lightroom 1 book in several months. I know that some people find Scott's casual style a bit irritating, but it is not at all intrusive in this book. In fact I think it helps me to remember things. Screen shots linked directly to the"stepped" approach, provide both a readable book and a reference work. The practical"real life" approach suits me and I would think many other photographers - Thoroughly recommended!

The best book I've read for DSLR beginners

A real creative education from a proper photographer. Easy to read, and packed full of tips and tricks. Get this one.

A must buy for any mac owner

Having recently taken the plunge to buy my first Mac computer, although the operating system (Leopard) is easy to use, the way of doing things is slightly different. To help me fully migrate, I purchased this book.

This book is a mine of information covering all aspects of the Mac OS, from the very little things like minimising windows to the more complex things like Automation etc. It explains everything in great detail and has lots of screen grabs and illustrations to help. It is clearly laid out and very well indexed, so if you are stuck on an item, you can find the solution rapidly.

This book resides by my computer"just in case" and is highly recommended.

Also, the book is that thick, that you can even use it as a step ladder when not needed.

Colour me unimpressed!

I've learned a large number of languages, toolkits and SDKs over the years and been part of the review process of a fairly well known book as well, so believe me when I say this is not a great quality book!

If you read the back cover and even the prerequisites, you might think this book is for you. The prerequisites page only mentions the following with regards to knowledge required:"Familiarity with Objective-C". No mention is made of familiarity with writing software for OS X, but by page 23 we're seeing statements like"These essential frameworks enable you to build your iPhone applications using the same fundamental classes and calls you are familiar with from the Macintosh". This is followed on 24 by a comment about Info.plist -"It works the same way Info.plist files work on the Mac." Even as early as page 7 we're seeing things like"As with the Macintosh..." This book does not stand well on its own and that will make it less accessible to some people.

Then we get to the missing stuff - in the very first project, we're instructed to"Drag the three image files from the Chapter One Project folder provided with this book..." Provided where? There's no CD in the back, and I've not found anything in Chapter 1 so far that tells me where this resource is supposed to be included.

The first code listing spans almost two full pages as a single block of text. While the code is commented, there is no in-line breakdown of what each section is and you'll find yourself flipping back to previous pages to tie what you read there back to the code being displayed. Once this two page block of code is over, you don't see it again during this chapter - there is no further discussion of the code so you have to take it on faith for now and learn about it later. That's fine for a 10 line"hello world" app, but not really acceptable for an introduction to a language / framework like Cocoa.

All in all, first impressions are not good. This is not a book to rival the kind of book we've become used to with the Aaron Hillegass definitive reference for starting OS X programming. It will serve more experienced Apple developers well, but will be frustrating for new users.

Well-judged, helpful and very authoritative

It's hard to imagine a more compendious or useful book for the intelligent beginner or the established Family Historian with ambitions to extend his or her knowledge through the enormous (but potentially bewildering) resources of the web.

The author is a Fellow of London's Society of Geneaologists but does not blind with science: the book is a well-paced primer, but completely unpatronising. It will prove enlightening even to hardened net-users, and it contains a huge number of tips about exploring British Genealogy online that will be indispensible to Family Historians all over the world.

The book is fully-illustrated and nicely-presented. A specially valuable section concerns the practicalities, and the netiquette, of putting your own Family Tree online, thereby getting the attention of, and swapping information with, remote relations and fellow researchers.

The web is revolutionising the already-absorbing study of Genealogy and this excellent volume smooths and illuminates any would-be explorer's path through it.

Stuck for christmas presents?!! = )

Macleod’s 11th edition is an exceptionally helpful learning tool for using both throughout the year for reference and more importantly when the OSCE time starts to draw closer! Admittedly, I often struggle to keep up with all the coursework and it is so easy to feel like your 6 foot under! However, I find this type of study aid a blessing!

Macleod’s is extremely well organised, clear and concise which makes it very easy to refer to the exact area you want to consolidate. Each chapter introduces the particular system followed by how to take a through history and examination. The examination sequence has been constructed in a stepwise form with displaying colourful sketches of the correct technique to adapt. There is also boxed information which covers key points for differential diagnosis and what signs you should expect to find. The pictures are particularly useful when trying to learn about rare clinical conditions that you are very unlikely to be presented with on your ward teaching sessions as a medical student!

This book is especially great at helping medical students to become competent in clinical examination and history taking because it comprehensive explanations enable you to grasp a basic understanding.