BOOK REVIEWS
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BOOK REVIEWS Macromedia Flash 8: Training from the Source. By James English. Macromedia Press: Berkeley, CA. 2005. 416 pp and CD-ROM. ISBN 0-321-33629-1. Softcover. $44.99. As I am sure readers know, Macromedia Flash is a really neat software program that can be used to create animations. Actually, it is quite a bit more. Flash is to Web animation as Chemical Abstracts is to chemical informationspretty hard to get along without, if you want to do a professional job. Macromedia Flash is a highly sophisticated tool that one can use for a number of important tasks, such as designing e-learning and Web help systems. This book, which has the official Macromedia seal of approval, is well written by James English, a wellknown authority in the field. In its 11 project lessons, this book focuses on Macromedia’s Flash 8 core features. The Web animation tool has evolved from a cute application into a powerful platform for Web application developmentswhich means that, if you’re serious about developing for the Web, you need to get serious about learning Flash. With its breakthrough motion-graphics capabilities and powerful runtime effects, Flash 8 provides the tools, authoring power, and rich video capabilities you need to provide stunning interactive content. This book provides the key to learning the basics of Flash 8. The projects in this book include graphics, animation, and video-to-ActionScript fundamentals. Simple step-by-step instructions and tons of screenshots guide you through the process of creating buttons and links, drawing and animating in Flash, formatting text, adding video and sound, loading data, and moresin short, everything you need to develop sophisticated, professional-looking Web sites. A companion CD includes the lesson files needed to complete the book’s projects as well as a trial version of the program itself. This is a very useful and valuable book to have on your shelf.
Stephen R. Heller NIST, PCPD CI068005O 10.1021/ci068005o
The Google Legacy: How Google’s Internet Search Is Transforming Application Software. By Stephen E. Arnold. Infonortics: Tetbury, England. September 2005. 280 pp (including annexes). Available in on-line downloadable PDF version only. U.S. $180.00/Euro 145.00. With Google in the news every day and so widely used, a book on the non-stock-market aspects of Google is most welcome. Steve Arnold has been able to put together both a detailed and a lengthy, yet very readable, book. While Google is so “open” and “good” (“do no evil” is its motto), most of what it does in the background would make any secret service agency envious. What Arnold has done with this book is describe the public and the not-so-public parts of Google. And there are plenty of both. The book is 11 chapters long and includes Google’s First Principle, Google Basics, Google Technology, Google Relevance Ranking and Search Engine Optimization, Gmail and Google Maps: True Virtual Applications, Google Clustering: News and Enhanced Search, Google Print and Scholar, Google: A New Force in Enterprise Search, Google APIs: Netting Developers, Google Goes Personal, and The Google “Legacy”. According to the book description on their Web site, Google is not just about search: Search is merely one application you can load on its processor. Although Google has been releasing a series of separate application programs, the company is starting to assemble the mosaic pieces into a bigger picture. Its future will be about leveraging its innovative hardware/software infrastructure. In so doing, just as Microsoft replaced IBM, Google promises to replace Microsoft as Network Computing comes of age. Written (without support or help from Google staff or management) for business readerssespecially senior executives of mid- to largesized, knowledge-based corporationssThe Google Legacy places Google under a microscope, dissects its technology, evaluates its
potential, and determines that its future lies beyond search. Three appendices provide lists of Google patents, publishers who have indicated some type of relationship with Google, and universities working with Googlesinformation that, according to the author, Google has sought to keep under wraps. Of all interesting 11 chapters, chapter 7 (Google Print and Scholar) is most directly of interest to the readers of this publication, as well as the area in which Google seems to have encountered most of its current legal problems, namely, copyright. While legacy information resources in chemistry will still be mostly accessible only from a publisher or commercial fee-based service, it is likely that future information, from open access journals to open data databases, will be available through Google. The bottom line of the book is that Google represents leading edge and robust technology at its best. And to catch up to it and surpass it will require some really bright and dedicated peoplesbut this is not such an unbelievable possibility, as Microsoft took over IBM’s lead in the 1980s to 1990ssand Google seems to be ready to overtake Microsoft in this decade. The Google philosophy which has enabled it to further distance itself from rivals and move forward into new fieldss“Always deliver more than expected; Google does not accept being the best as an end point, but a starting point” (Google’s 10th principle)sis something the information community providers should pay attention to before it is too late (http://www.google.com/corporate/ tenthings.html). One unusual feature of this book is the way you obtain it (http:// www.infonortics.com/publications/google/google-legacy.html). This publication is only available in PDF (printable) form as a Web site download (24.5 megabytes). There are approximately 290 pages of text. On receipt of the order form and payment, purchasers will receive a password and access code to allow them to download the PDF file for one-person use. Then, one must print off the bookspreferably with a printer that allows for two-sided printing. This is a neat and (for the publisher) inexpensive way to sell a book; but for the user/reader, this is a somewhat expensive book which uses your own paper and ink to print it.
Stephen R. Heller NIST, PCPD CI068004W 10.1021/ci068004w
Getting Started with Adobe InDesign CS2 Personal Seminar: Interactive DVD Training and Guide. By Terry White. Peachpit Press: Berkeley, CA. 2005. 64 pp and DVD. ISBN: 0-321-33049-8. Softcover. $45.00. Adobe InDesign software is a very useful and popular package for page layout and desktop publishing. This new book on InDesign with its interactive DVD makes it easier to learn how to use this software. The book guide/DVD allows one to learn how to create, go through, and navigate a document. It also shows how to create objects, use color, place tables and images, import Word and RTF files, drag and drop formatted text from other programs, support XML documents, and so on. This is a very worthwhile and readable book and DVD for those wanting to quickly and easily learn how to use the InDesign software.
Stephen R. Heller NIST, PCPD CI068000R 10.1021/ci068000r
Using ActionScript 2.0 Components with Macromedia Flash 8. By Bob Berry, Jen deHaan, Peter deHaan, David Jacowitz, and Wade Pickett. Macromedia Press: Berkeley, CA. 2005. 1752 pp. ISBN 0-321-39539-5. Softcover. $54.99.
1534 J. Chem. Inf. Model., Vol. 46, No. 3, 2006
BOOK REVIEWS
Written by the Macromedia development team, this book presents the ActionScript components, which are “packaged” pieces of the Flash user interface, data integration tools, and media player that form building blocks for building rich Internet applications. They encapsulate complex functionality to make Flash development easier and more efficient, by letting developers reuse, share, and customize code. This book describes how to work with these components and their supporting classes. The book includes chapters which teach how to (i) set component properties and parameters; (ii) write functions to handle component “events”, such as clicking, loading, and rollovers; (iii) customize component appearance; (iv) create your own components and distribute them to other developers and designers; and (v) use supporting classes for managing component depth and focus or to customize data, styles, transition effects, and Web services. Overall, this is a valuable tool, but it probably should have been packaged as a PDF file provided with the software rather than requiring the reader to purchase it separately.
Stephen R. Heller NIST, PCPD CI068006G 10.1021/ci068006g
Real World Adobe Illustrator CS2. By Mordy Golding. Peachpit Press: Berkeley, CA. 2005. 568 pp. ISBN 0-32133702-6. Softcover. $44.99. For those who use Adobe Illustrator for creating and maintaining their graphics, this is an easy-to-read and useful book to help one produce robust and professional-looking vector graphics. This 550plus page book contains 25 chapters that cover the entire gamut of what you need to know to make optimum use of the Illustrator software. Chapters and areas include preparing a new illustration, the various file formats, and working with lines and shapes. Particular emphasis is placed on paths, the core concept of spline-based vector graphics, and the crux of this software tool. Overall this is a good book to have, as there are many illustrations and screen shots in each chapter which offer the reader quite comprehensive coverage of this extraordinary software application.
Stephen R. Heller NIST, PCPD CI068002B 10.1021/ci068002b
Apple Training Series: Mac OS X Support Essentials (2nd ed.). Edited by Owen Linzmayer. Peachpit Press: Berkeley, CA. 2005. 560 pp. ISBN 0-321-33547-3. Softcover. $49.99. This Apple-certified book assembled by Owen Linzmayer goes deep into the latest Apple OS X Tiger operating system and covers just about everything from networking technologies to system administration, customizing the operating system, and command-line programming. The book will help you quickly learn and master the well over 150 features new to Mac OS X Tiger, including the innovative Spotlight search system, a Dashboard filled with customizable Widget mini-apps, the Automator application for building customized workflows, and more. This book is a helpful supplement to Apple’s own training class and an excellent primer for computer users and geeks who need to troubleshoot and optimize Mac OS X as part of their jobs. There are chapter review sections and quizzes for each chapter.
Adobe GoLive CS2 Classroom in a Book. By the Adobe Creative Team. Peachpit Press: Berkeley, CA. 2005. 432 pp and CD-ROM. ISBN 0-321-32186-3. Softcover. $49.99. Building and keeping Web sites up-to-date is where it is at these days. The Adobe GoLive CS2 authoring tool software allows one to build Web pages that conform to open standards using innovative new visual CSS workflows based on the CSS Editor and CSS prebuilt block objects. This book, which is over 400 pages long and comes with a CD-ROM, is a useful addition to the basic material that comes with the Adobe software package and allows one to develop Web sites much more quickly by reading and seeing examples of how to do things. The book, chapter by chapter, takes the reader through a series of project-based lessons.
Stephen R. Heller NIST, PCPD
Stephen R. Heller NIST, PCPD
CI0680034
CI068001J
10.1021/ci0680034
10.1021/ci068001j
