Sunday, June 29, 2008

Start your preparation here for Cisco's new CCENT entry-level networking certification, your entry point into Cisco's popular CCNA certification track. This comprehensive study guide from leading Cisco authority Todd Lammle thoroughly prepares you for the Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices, Part 1 exam (640-822) and the start of a career, with pages of exam essentials, real-world scenarios, and hands-on exercises. Topics include the operation of data networks, how to implement both switched and routed networks, and much more.

Effective Java (2nd Edition)

Are you looking for a deeper understanding of the Java™ programming language so that you can write code that is clearer, more correct, more robust, and more reusable? Look no further! Effective Java™, Second Edition, brings together seventy-eight indispensable programmer’s rules of thumb: working, best-practice solutions for the programming challenges you encounter every day.

This highly anticipated new edition of the classic, Jolt Award-winning work has been thoroughly updated to cover Java SE 5 and Java SE 6 features introduced since the first edition. Bloch explores new design patterns and language idioms, showing you how to make the most of features ranging from generics to enums, annotations to autoboxing.

Each chapter in the book consists of several “items” presented in the form of a short, standalone essay that provides specific advice, insight into Java platform subtleties, and outstanding code examples. The comprehensive descriptions and explanations for each item illuminate what to do, what not to do, and why.

Adobe AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) with Ajax

AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) is Adobe’s open-source technology that lets Web developers and programmers create Rich Internet Applications that run outside of any Web browser. This Visual QuickPro Guide teaches everything you need to know to begin creating applications that combine the rich experience of a traditional desktop application with the power and reach of the Internet. The book uses a visual, step-by-step approach and covers all the fundamental AIR concepts, without the fluff, confusing segues, and technical jargon that bog down so many other computer books. Author Larry Ullman has a well-earned reputation for writing books that are accessible, easy-to-follow, and, above all, useful. This book focuses solely on developing AIR applications using HTML and JavaScript, although formal knowledge of JavaScript is not required.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Zenoss Core Network and System Monitoring

For system administrators, network engineers, and security analysts, it is essential to keep a track of network traffic. At some point it will be necessary to read the network traffic directly instead of monitoring application level details. Network security audits, debug of network configurations, and usage patterns analyzing can all require network traffic monitoring. This task can be achieved by using network monitoring software, or network sniffers, that sniff the traffic and display it on your computer on the network.

Zenoss is an enterprise network and systems management application written in Python/Zope that provides an integrated product for monitoring availability, performance, events and configuration across layers and across platforms. Zenoss provides an AJAX-enabled web interface that allows system administrators to monitor availability, inventory/configuration, performance, and events. Whether you monitor five devices or a thousand devices, Zenoss provides a scalable solution for you.


This book will show you how to work with Zenoss and effectively adapt Zenoss for a System and Network monitoring. Starting with the Zenoss basics, it requires no existing systems management knowledge, and whether or not you can recite MIB trees and OIDs from memory is irrelevant. Advanced users will be able to identify ways in which they can customize the system to do more, while less advanced users will appreciate the ease of use Zenoss provides.

Blender 3D Architecture, Buildings, and Scenery

This book will show you how to create realistic architectural models in Blender. Blender is an open-source 3D animation program released as free software. It can be used for modeling, texturing, skinning, animating, and so on. It runs on all the important operating systems (including Windows, Mac, and Linux).

You can create natural scenery, landscapes, plants, various weather conditions, environmental factors, building materials such as wood, metal, brick, and more. You will also learn how to add people to different scenes as well as other objects to an already existing photograph or a video making it easier to increase its realism.

You will see how to use the final models to create simpler scenes for use in 3D games, where real-time rendering is necessary. You will also see how to use them to create the sets for animated movies.

Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites

After learning the language of design, how does one effectively use standards-based technologies to create visually strong Web sites? The full-color Professional Web Standards Design and Development gives developers a peek into the process of the best designers in the world through the work of high profile, real-world Web sites that made them famous. The book focuses on deconstructing these top-tier large-scale sites with particular attention given to deconstructing CSS.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Professional Refactoring in Visual Basic

In this one-of-a-kind book, Microsoft MVP Danijel Arsenovski shows you how to utilize the power of refactoring to improve the design of your existing code and become more efficient and productive. He provides you with a hands-on approach so you'll quickly learn how to manage and modify your code with refactoring tools and features. You'll also discover how to perform unit testing, refactoring to patterns, and refactoring to upgrade legacy Visual Basic code.

As you progress through the chapters, you'll build a prototype application from scratch. You'll then utilize refactoring techniques to transform the code into a properly designed, enterprise-level application. Arsenovski walks you step-by-step through each process while offering expert coding tips. You'll then be able to apply this information to real situations that arise as a result of company expansion, policy changes, or similar business decisions.

PHP and MySQL: Create - Modify - Reuse

* Step-by-step instructions walk readers through real-world applications
* Packed with ready-to-use projects for PHP and MySQL, this book guides readers through several real-world projects that are complete, tested, and ready to be implemented, so that readers can learn by doing
* Clearly explains to readers all aspects of design, such as portability, design flow, and integration, and shows them how to properly secure their applications for real-world implementation
* Authored by a PHP expert who is in tune with common tasks and the various problems faced by developers in everyday circumstances
* Application topics include user management, Web forums, and an image gallery
* Although PHP and MySQL can each be used independently, when they are used together, they open up dynamic options for Web site development

Adobe AIR: Create - Modify - Reuse

Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) revolutionizes the way Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) are deployed. AIR supports two primary technologies, Flash and HTML/Ajax, in order to make desktop development something that every web developer can do. This book shows you how to set up a practical development environment and then walks you through eleven fully implemented AIR applications with source code that you can use as they currently exist or customize.

Each project begins by providing a discussion of architecture and design, followed by code implementation. You'll get hands-on knowledge of AIR application design and development that you can then use to build dynamic RIAs.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Deploying Rails Applications: A Step-by-Step Guide

First you'll learn how to build out your shared, virtual, or dedicated host. Then, you'll see how to build your applications for production and deploy them with one step, every time. Deploying Rails Applications will take you from a simple shared host through a highly scalable clustered and balanced setup with Nginx.

See how to tell whether you've bought enough firepower, and learn how to optimize your Rails projects applications in a systemic, rational way. Take advantage of advanced caching techniques, and become and expert with the latest servers in Nginx and Mongrel. Don't worry. You'll get a dose of Apache too.

Not only will you learn how to configure your production environment, you'll also see how to monitor it with free, automated tools that can restart your servers when the memory use gets too high for comfort. You'll see how to take a performance baseline, profile for bottlenecks, and solve the most common performance problems you're likely to see.