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Resources - Book Bytes |
| by Stephen M.H. Braitman - NBMA Director of Communications Book Bytes announces new publications of interest to our members and community in multimedia, technology, business, and culture. First appearance of each Book Bytes column is in the NBMA email events newsletter. To subscribe, send a blank email message to: nbmaevents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. If you have a recommendation for review — and, especially, if you have published a book — send the information to . |
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September 2003 ELOQUENT IMAGES: Word and Image in the Age of New Media Mary E. Hocks and Michele R. Kendrick, editors 376 pages, $39.95 The MIT Press mitpress.mit.edu The editors contend that the rather willful (industry inspired?) impulse to view the new media explosion of the last decade or so as a "radical paradigm shift from older media and print culture" is actually a cultural hybridization, a complex merger of "the natural and the human." In fact, calling something radical is one way the culture escapes responsibility for dealing with the change in an organic, evolutionary manner. If you deal with either print or new media, the essays collected in ELOQUENT IMAGES will stimulate your creativity in thinking about how text, image, and time have been used in multimedia contexts through large parts of history. One chapter is titled, "Recovering the Multimedia History of Writing in the Public Texts of Ancient Egypt." But this is not just a backwards looking reassessment. You'll find cogent discussions of feminism, hypermedia interfaces, and how readers experience extended fiction in virtual reality environments. DIGITAL VIDEO POCKET GUIDE Derrick Story 113 pages, $14.95 O'Reilly www.oreilly.com Everyone who attended last month's Art, Sound & Video SIG on "The Blurred Line Between Digital Photography and Video" knows that Derrick Story really is down about digital video and all the cool tricks that can be done with today's ever-more sophisticated cameras and the tons of groovy software coming out faster than you can shake out the paradigm shift in your head. The latest O'Reilly pocket guide distills his vast experience into concise, focused sections on all aspects of digital photography, from "what does this little button do?" to "how do I compensate for gale force winds while I'm shooting?" And don't forget, "the in-laws are coming over and I don't want to get the old projector from the basement; how can I set up a quick slide-show on my computer?" The book is slim enough to enable you to carry it along with your camera and pretty enough (all color pictures!) to want to refer to it time and time again. NETWORK SECURITY: A Beginner's Guide, 2nd edition Eric Maiwald 475 pages, $39.99 Osborne www.osborne.com You don't have to shy away from implementing a rational protection plan against unwanted use of your computer systems just because you shudder at dealing with things like public key encryption and packet filtering firewalls. Eric Maiwald has thankfully combined a complete guide to methods of ensuring security and safety with as much of the basics about network intricacies as you're ever liable to need short of turning yourself into a full IT administrator. In other words, anyone can do it! And should. Even a small two-computer home network can be made easily and quickly as safe as the house it lives in. I mean, you lock your doors at night, don't you? I'd even recommend this book for those IT folks who may know their stuff but haven't had the responsibility before for the overall system security. Now's the time, and this is the place to start. You'll be able to easily leap to the master level by the time you finish NETWORK SECURITY. HOW TO DO EVERYTHING WITH PHOTOSHOP ALBUM Curt Simmons 350 pages, $24.99 HOW TO DO EVERYTHING WITH PAINT SHOP PRO 8 Dave Huss 347 pages, $24.99 HOW TO DO EVERYTHING WITH ADOBE ACROBAT 6.0 Doug Sahlin 440 pages, $24.99 Osborne www.osborne.com No, these are not Idiot books though they are uniform in approach and they incorporate fundamentals that may seem totally obvious to urban sophisticates. But the HOW TO DO EVERYTHING books have the advantage of simplicity and comprehensiveness, being very easy to follow from their reference of basic functions to many more advanced techniques. For example, Dave Huss's Paint Shop Pro book spends a goodly amount of time on setting up shop as he calls it, and going through capturing and managing photos in the system. But his chapters on effects and Web images include the same tips and tricks you'll find in more expensive, less "beginner" type books. So, if you're already using Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Acrobat, why would you go with these books? Because they've got expert advice made clear and quickly accessible, and they're cost effective. PC HARDWARE IN A NUTSHELL: A Desktop Quick Reference, 3rd edition Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson 850 pages, $39.95 O'Reilly www.oreilly.com For many PC folks, this is has been the ever-ready reference they're reached for more than any other resource. And no wonder. The Thompsons have created an encyclopedic compendium of PC hardware topics that just grows bigger and more authoritative with every edition. This latest includes heavy new emphasis on DVD drives (with a valuable troubleshooting section), flat panel displays, the current Pentium processors, more than you want to know about motherboards, and more. You'll particularly want to check out how to install a power supply-for your own safety! And cleaning a mouse, no problem. It's all here. FRANCHISING: Pathway to Wealth Creation Stephen Spinelli, Jr., Robert M. Rosenberg, and Sue Birley 234 pages, $24.95 Prentice Hall www.phptr.com You don't have to be a Dunkin' Donuts, Jiffy Lube, or Subway to get into the entrepreneurial spirit of franchising. One great idea, rigorously detailed and mapped, can inspire a legion of wannabes to join the parade. This is a serious study of the big success stories with detailed information on practicalities such as establishing a service delivery system, IT infrastructure, cooperative advertising, legal issues, and probably many things you didn't think you'd need to know when you first got that brainstorm about rubber ducky theme kiosks. True, you can always open up your own storefront and spend your days from dawn to dusk slaving over inventory, staff, and challenging customers. But, if you really believe in what you're doing, then you deserve to have others do it for you! Think of franchising as way of freedom. As your business grows from town to town, you'll be home collecting the checks. Do you think I'm being cynical? Do you? Well, don't listen to me then. |
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