As a statistician, the book and its premise struck me as an interesting read, but it is clear after a few chapters that the book itself is meandering nowhere. What is worse is that the evidence is always second hand philosophy and the book is peppered with uninteresting self promotion. If your idea of a good read is to re-read Bertrand Russell or to move towards a footnote where the author feels it important to tell you he doesnt wear a tie in meetings then, please, feel free to lap this up and all the sixth form anarchy that it attempts to promote.
As for the statistics, it is amateur stuff. The Black Swan itself is an improbable event on which the author places far too much emphasis. It soon becomes confused and contradictory. ... Read More:
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great value for money at the price that I picked it up for. Not sure about the humour but if you can see past this then well worth a read. If like me you're trying to a bit more than just a point and click shooter then this will give you some good, and easily accessible, tips.
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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.
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I've been a wedding photographer for 25 years. I thought this was going to be another "how to take photos book". I've liked other Scott Kelby books so whilst in a bookstore picked it up just for a quick glance, but was suprised to see how much detail he went into. Each page being a new subject, it gave a detailed taster of each subject without all the waffle many books have, and then gave links to websites where you could read more or get equipement that is hard to find. To me it was worth it just for those hard to find links.
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Some game guides (such as the ones for Final Fantasy XII or the fantastic hardback for the Collector's Edition of Fallout 3) are well-designed mines of information that deserve to be almost permanently open by your side when playing the game. You would think from its size that this guide deserves to join that illustrious company. Think again.
Full colour printing may seem like no expense has been spared, but most of the screenshots here are pretty ugly, uninformative, too large (so they are pixellated) or so small that they tell you nothing at all. Visually, the book has very little pleasure to offer.
As far as content goes, the story is even worse. There are some useful tips on dungeons and the quest series for the new class (Death ... Read More:
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What an amazing read. If you are new to DSLR or photography in general and you have the D40/X you must own this book. Full of concise step by step easy to read instructions on getting the most out of your camera. I can't put it down. Learn how to use the basic dials on your camera and take great shots. Then when you feel more comfortable with it move on to more indepth actions on exposure, lighting, composition etc. Each chapter lets you feel your way in to the subject so you don't feel rushed. This allows you to understand everything easier and that way you feel like you are actually learning something and remembering it. You really can't do without this book. An amazing read. I love it as much as the camera itself.I would pay double for this book. Get it now!
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I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was ... Read More:
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I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was ... Read More:
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I received this as a gift from my other half when I bought a new laptop, which came with Windows Vista pre-installed. There's nothing much to complain about. The chapters are structured in a sensible way, and I find Andy Rathbone's tone really appropriate to the needs of the 'Dummies' series (I mean this as a compliment rather than a criticism). My only real criticism is that I don't think Windows Vista is half as far detached from XP as a lot of people try to insist. This isn't to say that the existence of this book is unnecessary, just that a lot of the material herein will be already known to a lot of those of us who used XP extensively. I'm not an advanced user or anything like that, but I felt that this book covered a lot of old ground, in Windows terms, and was ... Read More:
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I cannot emphasise enough how well this book sets out the basics of DSLR photography. I am on my first DSLR and to be honest knew nothing about aperture, shutter speed and ISO and how the 3 interelate. This book sets these out so clearly that the layman can understand. Been wondering how/when to use the P, M, A or S buttons on your camera
?, This explains it perfectly, and gives nice glossy examples of a scene when you would use f/4 vs f/22. I also have the David Busch book to "replace" the manual, but this far exceeds what you can learn from that. Both good books in their own right.
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