Product Description

Knowledge maps are ideal tools for capturing, organizing and extracting meaning from many different sources. They provide powerful graphic tools for classifying, representing and communicating information. This book discusses significant new research and explains its underlying principles in terms of Knowledge Cartography. With contributions from leading researchers and practitioners, it offers a rich variety of conceptual frameworks, mapping techniques and case studies.

Product Description

It is surprising how little many of us know about the planet we callhome -- especially kids. Across the country, America's teachersand schools are trying to help young people understand the world inwhich we live. Joining forces with teachers, university professors andpracticing geographers, the Smithsonian Institution and the NationalGeographic Society have created Earth 2U, Exploring Geography.Packed with things to interact with, explore and play, this excitingCD-ROM teaches kids fun facts, history and stories about the Earth.An entertaining and highly educational program, Earth 2U lets kidsmake connections between people, places and the environment,and shows why these links are so important in our global society.This program is organized into six different sections: "Population";"Landscapes/Landshapes"; "Everyday Things"; "Exploration &Adventure"; "Tools & Techniques" and "Forces of Nature." As kids explore each section in depth, they get to travel the globe on CDROM -- and discover the richness of their world.

Explore:

• Population
• Forces of Nature
• Landscapes/Landshapes

Introduces Kids To:

• Maps & Map Reading
• Latitude & Longitude
• Famous Explorers
• Places Around the World

• Featuring Dan Jansen, Olympic Gold Medalist
• Created By A World-Renowned Team Of Expert Educators, Inlcuding The Smithsonian Institution And The National Geographic Society
• Complete Digitally Interactive Translation Of The Critically -- Acclaimed Earth 2U, Exploring Geography National Touring Exhibition
• Hands-on Fun For Kids Includes Movies, Maps, And Interactive Games -- Even 3D Aerial Views Of Different Landscapes!
• Kids Learn About Famous Explorers, Longitude And Latitude, Tools For Exploration And More!
• Earn Passport Stamps As You Learn And Become An Explorer!

Compatible with:

Windows® 3.1 and Windows® 95 compatible

• 66 MHz 486 or faster with 8 MB of RAM (90 MHz Pentium 16 MB of RAM recommended for maximum performance)
• 256-color Super graphics
• Double-speed CD ROM drive
• Mouse
• Hard drive
• Windows® -compatible sound card recommended

Macintosh

• 68040/33 MHz processor or better
• 6 MB of free RAM
• System 7.5.5 or later
• QuickTime™2.5 (for Macintosh) or later
• 2x CD-ROM drive or faster

Product Description

Customer Reviews (9)

iMovie HD
Book offers some extra tips not found in Apple info but because the program is so easy to use, the book is not a necessity.

Great reference for making those fancy DVDs
After several trips to car shows with my husband, I had lots of beautiful photos sitting in iPhoto ready to print.I thought a DVD would be more useful and enjoyable for him, and tried to make a DVD project - NOT!Having already used The Missing Manual books, I promptly went out and bought this one.Great choice, as it filled in the blanks and gave me lots of ideas also.I am a photographer, not a tech person, and am pretty clueless when it comes to creating projects on the computer.

This series suits me perfectly and the book is highly recommended - with the aid of the book I sat down and promptly made a beautiful DVD, with lots of lovely effects, great music, and best of all it was easy.My husband was very happy with his DVD and watches it often.

The manual is clear, concise, easy to read and enjoyable.Unlike so many texts, it is not dry or overly technical.Anyone can make a great DVD easily with this reference. Next project - a video.Ready.....

Definitive guide to working with video on the Mac
I had recently started using a Mac at work, and suddenly I was put in a position to work with video on the Mac. Mr. Pogue's other books had been very helpful to me as I began to learn my way around the Mac, so I thought I would pick up this one to help me with my video work. I was very glad that I did. You see, iMovie HD has tools that help your movie look professional, but the iMovie HD help files are very tedious to go through. There is a great deal of referencing, cross-referencing, and nothing is smoothly laid out. This book is another story, as it is very well laid out with clear instructions and illustrations. It is very long, but since these applications are powerful, it would be expected that any clear explanation of them is going to require some space.
What is particularly good about this book is that the author doesn't assume you are a professional video author, and he spends part one of the book helping you learn how to shoot videos and shares tricks that will make you good at it. Part 2 is dedicated to iMovie, and shares not just how to use the application, but the little extras that will make your video special - transitions, effects, titles, captions, and even how to work with sound in your movie. Part 3, on finding your audience, was another unexpected treat. There the author shows you how to move between iMovie and Quicktime, and how to post your movie to your phone and to the web. Part 4 of the book is on iDVD. I particularly liked the chapter on iDVD secrets, where the author shows how you can use AppleScript to customize iDVD itself.
It's hard to believe that a year ago I didn't even know how to use a Mac, and now I am quite the fan, especially when it comes to multimedia applications. I notice Amazon does not show the table of contents, so I do that here:
Part 1: CAPTURING DV FOOTAGE
1.The DV Camcorder
2.Turning Home Video into Pro Video
3.Special Event Filming
Part 2: EDITING IN IMOVIE
4.Camcorder Meets Mac
5.Building the Movie
6.Transitions and Effects
7.Titles, Captions, and Credits
8.Narration, Music, and Sound
9.Still Pictures and QuickTime Movies
10. Professional Editing Techniques
Part 3: FINDING YOUR AUDIENCE
11. Back to the Camcorder
12. From iMovie to QuickTime
13. Movies on the Web - And on the Phone
14. QuickTime Player
Part 4: iDVD5
15. From iMovie to iDVD
16. iDVD Projects by Hand
17. Designing iDVD Themes
18. iDVD Secrets
Part 5: Appendixes
A.iMovie HD: Menu by Menu
B.Troubleshooting
C.Master Keyboard Shortcut List

Just Buy It!
Very informative AND entertaining! If you feel you are even the least bit interested in breaking into digital film making this book is fantastic. I have been using iMovie for several years now and have a camcorder. However, I thought this book might help me kick things up a notch. It certainly will. I have only gotten through the first fifty pages, but I've already learned enough justify this purchase.

When I first received this rather intimidating 450+ page book I thought I would use it mainly for reference. Well, that was before I started reading it. Now I find it hard put down. It is very well written and arranged by areas of interest.

This book is great for everyone, from beginner to expert. It will undoubtedly prove to be a very valuable reference book in the future, but for now it's a great read.

Definitive reference book
If you're a heavy user of iMovieHD and iDVD, this book is a must. Most questions that users have about both software can be found in this manual (though he doesn't read like a boring manual). Pogue not only provides all the how-tos for learning the software, he also helps you troubleshoot problems that will crop in movie and DVD productions. There's hardly no aspect of either software that I didn't find covered in this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This atlas encourages children to learn map-reading skills, such as interpreting symbols, reading latitude and longitude and finding compass directions. It has 12 spreads covering each continent, containing accurate maps and informative text, with photographs of the land and peoples of the region. It also has a complete map of the world, fact boxes on a variety of countries and questions for children to answer. ... Read more

Product Description
"History of the Expedition under the Command of Captains Lewis and Clark, to the Sources of the Missouri, thence across the Rocky Mountains, and down the River Columbia to the Pacific Ocean. Performed during the Years 1804-5-6, by order of the Government of the United States. Prepared for the press by Paul Allen, Esquire."

... Read more

Product Description

Lessons learned in the last several years have given clear indications that the prediction and efficient monitoring of disasters is one of the critical factors in decision-making process. In this respect space-based technologies have the great potential of supplying information in near real time. Earth observation satellites have already demonstrated their flexibility in providing data to a wide range of applications: weather forecasting, person and vehicle tracking, alerting to disaster, forest fire and flood monitoring, oil spills, spread of desertification, monitoring of crop and forestry damages.

This book focuses on a wider utilisation of remote sensing in disaster management. The discussed aspects comprise data access/delivery to the users, information extraction and analysis, management of data and its integration with other data sources (airborne and terrestrial imagery, GIS data, etc.), data standardization, organisational and legal aspects of sharing remote sensing information.

Product Description
This fill-in activity book is easy to follow for independent or class use. Using problem-solving activities and exercises, pupils are taken through each step in the atlas, ensuring that they make the very best use of every page. ... Read more

Product Description
Prepare yourself to "boldy go where no man has gone before" with your very own Crew Member's Exploration Pack!This clever kit is chock-full of a galaxy of items which every intrepid space explorer will need. ... Read more

Product Description
Presents the state of the art research in this area and focuses on key topics such as: The nature of the Semantic Web and its relationship to Information Visualization. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

your data does not have to be in XML format
If you are analysing various XML-encoded data, and am overwhelmed with the sheer mass of it all, you have probably wondered about displaying it. The problem is that there are an infinite number of ways to display data.

This book can only describe a small, finite number of display ideas. But it may well be worth your while to at least quickly thumb through the chapters. Various authors offer different takes on their data sets. The book also has some nice colour plates showing results.

In the book's title, you can ignore Semantic Web if you so choose. The key thing is supposedly that you have XML data. But it turns out that even this is not a necessary restriction. One way to read this book is to look for different data visualisation ideas. If you find one that is promising, you then have to reimplement it for your data structures. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (10)

iLife '05
Never used the book. Apple is so user friendly to begin with, don't know why I bought it.

iLife tries to clarify use of iLife.
I bought this book. It was interesting. However, the overall presentation was still too technical. Much jargon. It tried to define problem words by using the problem word. I'm sure it is excellent for an eclectic engineer. I gave up.

Great price/book/content
All around, yet another hit from the Missing Manual series!

I'm well versed in most things computer, so computer books often either are way under my interest level or are very technical in nature. This is a great mix of advanced techniques taught in a quick and understandable way.

I'm actually using iLife '06, but haven't hit any major roadbumps between the content in the book and the '06 apps.

Great stuff - now I'm drooling over the iPhoto specific book - I want to dig even deeper into that app now that I understand the basics!

THE LIFE OF ILIFE '05!!
Do you need to harness cutting-edge technology for your own creative expression and entertainment? If you do, you're in luck! Author David Pogue, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that doesn't require you to be a professional working for a media conglomerate to read it.

Pogue, begins by discussing how to use iTunes 4 for managing, playing, buying and sharing digital music. Then, he discusses how to use the iPhoto 5 program for downloading photos from your digital camera, and organizing, sharing, and printing them. The author continues by describing how to use the iMoves HD program for editing footage from a digital camcorder, adding effects, sound, and credits, and then presenting the result. Next, he details how to use GarageBand 2 for composing and recording terrific-sounding songs of your own. Then, the author provides an overview of how to use the iDVD 5 program for burning DVDs containing the movies, music, and photos from iTunes, iPhotos, iMoves, and GarageBand. Finally, he explains how to troubleshoot the preceding programs.

This most excellent book packages iDVD 5, iTunes, iPhotos, iMoves, and GarageBand come in a single package called iLife '05. In other words, if you've mastered all of the preceding information, you have all of the technical background you need to enjoy iLife '05: The Missing Manual.

Can't miss with anything in this series...
iLife '05 is the fifth Missing Manual I've purchased. I find them helpful, informative, and fun to read. The chapter layout is logical and fluid, the index is thorough, and the entire manual is chock full of color (!) illustrations.

The first few chapters will walk the beginner through iTunes and the iTunes Music store. There is even a chapter on managing your iPod.

Next is iPhoto, Apple's image browser-librarian-editor. Like Apple's software, there is more than first meets the eye in these pages.

Section three covers iMovie, from working with your camcorder through producing something worth burning to DVD...leading seamlessly to

Section four, exploring iDVD. Both general concepts and insider-like tips abound.

Section five covers GarageBand. All the above sections are much more accessable and thorough than Apple's Help system. This Missing Manual closes with more than 50 pages of troubleshooting tips for the 5 software titles, and an excellent index.

The whole book is a pleasure to read, browse, or just to hold in the hand (though it's heavy--nothing skimpy about it). I find myself reading some sections completely and diving in for a just a few pages in others. A must have if you own iLife '05--whhich can be had for a song now that iLife '06 is out. ... Read more

Product Description
This unique, full-color visual exploration of the theory of Maya is rich with diagrams and illustrations that demonstrate the critical concepts of 3D time and space, and helps explain the principles of 3D modeling, animation, dynamics and rendering. The book also includes a series of production notes detailing how skilled Maya artists have worked with the software to create production quality films, games, visualizations, and animations. The accompanying CD-ROM includes Maya Personal Learning Edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Great learning scenarios on cd!
this book gave me lots of things to learn off it, i havent finished it but i tooked so many notes off this that i need to write up my own notes on a book... i have like too many stickies on it that i cant really keep track off it. This book is great!

Great REference
Maya is a tool for creating not a program that creates.This book illustrates and describes what Maya can do.It will not show you step-by-step how to create a picket fence but it will let you know that it can be done. This book describes how the tools in Maya can be used, it reads like an owners manual.It is a great reference.I give it four stars because if you want to buy it at a brick and mortar bookstore, it's a bit expensive. It's too expensive.

Daunting but excellent
"The Art of Maya" is an amazing attempt to survey the incredible depth of the Maya 3d software. If you want a step by step how-to, this isn't it. But you won't find another book that covers so much of the software. I'm not sure there's much that got left out. But everything you see is covered in enough depth that you get a toehold to the topic. When I first started with Maya, I loved the book because it allowed me to see all the things Maya could do. And in that sense, it's a great introduction. As I've gained more skill in Maya, I love to go back to this book to remind myself. Often I learn something and get into the groove of using that tool, and I forget other techniques I could use that would have worked better. This reminds me, and every page has so much information. The amount of learning per page... no other 3D book I own comes close. In a way it's daunting to realize how much is there in Maya.

The book would get 5 stars, but it hasn't been updated in awhile. I think this was done for Maya 8, and we're currently at Maya 10 (or "2009"). There's a lot that's missing, like the Maya Muscle, that cries out to be included.

Poorly conveyed information..
Often Autodesks recommended path for learning Maya is not so hot, and this is an example of an innacurate assessment on their part of who should be reading this book.In fact there are aspects of many Autodesk books that I feel were not well planned, so you might want to explore other Maya books as well as Autodesks to see what works for you.
Apparently Autodesk sees this as an "introductory" book, and really it isn't, at all.Here's why.This book doesn't tell you "how" to do anything.It does tell you "what" things are and "why" you would use them in a very specific way, but nothing is explained in a user friendly way.
Essentially this is a book of quick overviews, but with almost nothing that will guide the reader through a step-by-step process to achieve any kind of end result.In fact many aspects of the book are almost stupidly ambiguous.
Here is a metaphor of how this book works.It's like if somebody was instructing you on how to build something but they only told you WHAT to do, but not HOW to do it.For example, say somebody decided to help you build a car.So the first thing they tell you is to "Put the engine together".You think great, here we go!Your first step is "to connect the transmission to the engine block."But you realize that the transmission isn't put together, so you ask "How do I build a transmission?"The response you get is, "put those parts together"... and that's all you get.In other words the information isn't wrong, it's just useless because it doesn't give you any genuine instruction.It doesn't tell you what parts go where or in what order, and often it doesn't even tell you where to find them.Much of this book works exactly in this manner.
With that said, if you already have an intermediate/advanced working knowledge of most everything Maya has to offer, this is probably a good book, because it gives specific overviews and general explanations on almost every aspect of Maya.
If you are new to Maya this book is completely useless.Maya calls this an "introductory" book, but it's so poorly thought out that the information comes across as being jumbled and incomplete.

Not for noobs
Well let me start by saying this book is a great technical reference. If you're an absolute beginner like me than you'll find this book unbecoming of its title as an introduction to 3D graphics. With merely a single chapter devoted to explaining 3D computer graphics and a short synopsis in the beginning of each subsequent chapter it left me puzzled and I couldn't really understand why they would call this an introductory book. If your really interested in what every tool in Maya 8 does and what the software is capable of doing then you'll get lots of use out of this book as each tool is explained in detail. No tutorials, no work along projects and no beginners guide make this more of an intermediary book best suited for people who already have basic knowledge of computer graphics who are also using a learning series book or some other guide to teach themselves Maya. This book alone is definitely not intended to teach Maya or basic principals of computer graphics but does give you a great understanding of what the buttons in Maya do... now if it would only explain WHY I'd use that button, but I guess that's where the learning series books comes into play. I'll be ordering one or two of those next... ... Read more

Product Description
This new interactive multimedia product, Utah'sCounties, enables the children of Utah to learn the countylocations, county seats and fun facts about Utah. The program comeswith numerous learning activities about Utah's Counties that aretried, tested and fun. The maps, county histories, and photograhs inthe program were provided by the Utah State Historical Society andreally make this program authentic. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (19)

photoshop mask and channels
Deke McClellands book on channels and masks will guide you through Photoshops use of these tools. I was disappointed however, because the accompanying CD with provided examples had problems with some of the images. Although I could still work through most of the tutorials, there were some that simply would not load. Other than this one issue, I still would recommend this book for anyone wanting to get a better understanding of masks and channels.

exactly what i was promised!
book was in EXCELLENT condition! i bought it "used", but it seemed brand new. it came with the dvd which was important to me, since last time i bought from someone else it didn't come with one.

geeky but helpful
If you are interested in Photoshop's fine points and are patient, this book has lots of information. This is for serious Photoshop junkies only.

Excellent book
I can only speak for myself, but I see no problems with this book. As usual, this author knows his stuff.

I worked as a professional photographer for about fifteen years. This was years ago, and for the past several years, I have been working as a software engineer. These days, photography is just for fun.

This book was easy to follow; however, I do think it is intended for a user with more than average experience with Photoshop.For me it was just right.

Mr. McClelland has provided us with another excellent book.

Brilliant look at Photoshop basics and advanced techniques.
This guy truly is a 'Photoshop Guru'. Great book full of useful techniques,tips and project inspiration. ... Read more

Product Description
Turn your bedroom ceiling into a galaxy of "glow-in-the-dark" stars or become an astronomer and make a working planosphere - children should love the interactive activities in this fun pack, which contains everything needed to learn about the solar system, planets and stars. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

A 'must' for any Flex collection
A key resource is Yakov Fain, Victor Rasputnis & Anatole Tartakovsky's ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT WITH FLEX provides a fine key to using Adobe Flex to build production-quality Rich Internet Applications. From choosing Flex-building frameworks and applying Flex designs to improving design efficiency, this is a powerful presentation and a 'must' for any Flex collection.

Some great in-depth info
Overall, this book has a lot of really useful info that you won't find in other Flex books...actually a lot of the content I haven't seen anywhere at all, so props for that. Chapter 7's tip on bootstrapping libraries as applications is very slick, and exactly the type of thing I expected from this book.

There were a few points I didn't really like as well.First, the book starts up comparing Flex frameworks and talking about some design patterns.I'm taking the point of view that the book is supposed to cover advanced topics for advanced Flex developers, so the target audience should already have a good handle on these things...so the first couple of chapters are basically wasted content, and could have been put to better use (did we really need a section on embeddng content with SWFObject?)

Second, it felt like a good chunk of the book covered messaging with LiveCycle, and had an overall Java-centric slant to it.I guess in this case it's just a matter of what the author's typical development scenario is like versus my own.Some parts were irrelevant, but generally when I see too much of a Java influence in these books and tutorials and such, my eyes tend to glaze over and I really start to tune out.I really would have like to seen more focus on things like custom Ant builds and continuous integration...generally an expansion on a lot of the content of chapter 4 that was glossed over.

Overall though, great job by the authors.Great tips, great code samples...if you're doing, or are looking to do, any sort of serious Flex development beyond the basics I'd highly recommend it.

Excellent Content
Very clearly written with lots of in-depth material and plenty of references to chase up on the web. It starts out assuming that you are writing database line of business applications rather than websites. If you are a professional developer writing business systems, this is the most relevant and clearly written Flex book that I have read. The technical nature of the material and the fast moving field will make this book out of date fairly quickly however, so if you are reading this positive review in 2012, you should probably temper it somewhat.

It's Worth book to buy it.
Just finish reading the last book from Yakov Fain, Victor Rasputnis and Anatole Tartakovsky.
Book, is quite a bit of a new revamp from first book of same authors, I love the way they write and in a level of how they manage the subject of each chapter.
And as I know them since 2004 not good enough to retribution to them and to you a book review about it.

The book itself it's worth enough just because of chapter 5,7 and 8. I will detail later bellow.

The Chapter 6 it's interesting but doubt with some aspect for example a deep example of using GraniteDS, WebOrb for Java where has many options to who uses Java in the back-end. Code-gen, Data Sync, EBJ3 support, among other improvements that product changed from past years. It should show a much more examples of integration, not just WebOrb but cover also ColdFusion which is missing too in the chapter.

On Chapter 5 I liked the way they talk about resending the channel back which is not very well documented in the official BlazeDS developer guide. That's made a chapter worth enough just to clarify that for anyone who buys this book.

On Chapter 7 will help you with modules, but don't to except much from it, it's still a thing that we need to handle it, but not 100% that will works fine. But this chapter definitely will help you pass throw some of basic and intermediate problems in real life projects, There's also a just little detail that authors could added on the book where is the Potomac aka. OSGi in Flex application, where it's a seamless integration OSGi on Flex apps, that could be added to the book, specially if you're a Java developer, you're used to use OSGi on yours first class projects.

Chapter 8 it's a well written, and will help you understand process of reduce memory consumption, but has many limitations on describing the chapter, an example of that. I missed using FlexPMD to identify problems or bad practices on your code, which is very valuable to enterprise application and collaboration development. But one of pages that I most liked was, when they mentioned RSL for modules, which completes the chapter 7, that's a must read part.

Printing in Flex is really hassle, and I believe on next release they could increase of easy access API to printing, in AIR 2.0 for example we gain a lot of new API improvements and new capabilities, but still missing some of it on Flash player way, Chapter 11 helps you to understand both sides of coin, on generating PDF on client side and server side.

There are many other subjects that might attract your attention, but for my needs, theses were most valuables chapters of book and my opinion on what I've get reading it. Authors does really have domain on the subject, but should added theses topics that I mentioned, to the developer who are border by non very useful Flex books titles.

Thanks Yakov, Victor and Anatole, you guys wrote a book that does really add value to the Flex community, specially for who uses Flex with Java back-end like me.

It's worth to buy it? Sure, if you take seriously, not just hype, but seriously about development, theses chapters I mentioned will catch you up. ... Read more

Product Description
·Detailed annotated maps for all levels
·Learn how to dominate multiplayer matches with information on weapon locations and expert tips
·Learn about every enemy, vehicle and weapon — their strengths and weaknesses and how you can exploit them
·Confidently navigate the huge Campaign mode with our exclusive maps and step-by-step walkthrough
·Complete list of all Achievements and how to unlock each one
Packed with tips, tactics and techniques direct from Bungie ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Good Guide Overall
This guide has almost everything you would want from a game guide. It's well organized, thorough, looks good, and will help you through most pinches you can get yourself into in halo.

If you've played any of the halo games, then let's face it. You already know how to play. The guide doesn't assume anything though, and makes sure that you know how to do everything you need to know from the get-go.

There are nice detailed maps for every multiplayer level, and the campaign walkthrough is nice and helpful.

The only thing that this doesn't have is an area for skulls/easter eggs, but that's what the internets for, right?

If you're looking for a halo 3 guide, get this one. You won't be disappointed.

Seriously...no skulls?C'mon
This is a decently-written guide, but sadly incomplete.A perfect example: don't expect any info on how to find any of the hidden skulls.C'mon, really?What the heck?Buying a strategy guide only to have to look that info up online is truly lame.

Could be better
The guide is helpful but there are areas or different parts of the game where using the guide I was still lost.It does contain useful info as well as helpful charts. The guide is a necessary evil.

Excellent Place To Buy From!
The shipping was very fast and the product was in great condition! Better than I was expecting!

Good Game Guide/Book
Although I did not read this item/look it over personally, I had bought it for my son who was very, very excited to receive it.If that's any indication, I would say this has some definite cool-factor.Also a good item for those who are just plain 'ol totally into the games!!:-) ... Read more