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BOOK REVIEW

There’s a Science to Engaging With Empowered Consumers

We all know customers have changed. They can voice their dissatisfaction with you, complete most of the buyer's journey without you, and even seek out support and service without you. If you're a business, you have two questions to ask yourself: 1) Do you really want to become unnecessary to your cu...

BOOK REVIEW

How Linux Works Is an OS Mechanic’s Mainstay

How Linux Works: What Every Superuser Should Know offers an unglamorous view of the Linux OS. It takes readers behind the GUI into the bowels of command line operations. This second edition of Brian Ward's classic Linux reference book is completely revised, and it offers something for every Linux us...

BOOK REVIEW

‘The Practice of Cloud System Administration’ Brings Network Management Down to Earth

The Practice of Cloud System Administration, Volume 2 is a look into IT gone bad in some companies, and how doing it right can salvage enterprise use of cloud computing. The authors make 11 statements about computers and their networks on the first page of the book's preface. They ask which statemen...

BOOK REVIEW

‘Data Divination: Big Data Strategies’ Is a Great Hip-Pocket Tool

Most of today's books about Big Data delve into highly technical tools, cloud technology, and high-level computer-assisted math calculations and algorithms. For most people in the business world, this is far from motivating readers to appreciate just what Big Data does and how to let it get you ther...

BOOK REVIEW

Linux Goes to the Head of the Class

A new book on open source education teaches school leaders and parents why kids need to see coding as more than cool. Energizing Education through Open Source: Using Open Source Software to Enhance Learning by Christopher Whittum makes a strong case for deploying the Linux OS and its academic softwa...

BOOK REVIEW

Sobell Compiles Top-Notch Practical Linux Guide

Not everyone who dabbles in the realm of the Linux OS needs all the enterprise-specific tutelage this guidebook offers. However, it certainly has chapters to enlighten even casual readers interested in learning really useful stuff about using Linux in general. Sobell assembles in one spot his accu...

BOOK REVIEW

‘Systems Performance’: A Definitive Guide for the Cloud Enterprise

Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud is a must-have reference guide for any IT manager or sysadmin whose job involves working with computer systems that are tethered to the cloud. Author Brendan Gregg is no newcomer to writing definitive books on computer networks and system performance, bu...

BOOK REVIEW

‘Makers at Work’ Offers Inspiring Journey Through the Creative Process

The maker mentality has no starting point in modern history. People have always honed their creative skills to make things, and societies have always had visionaries who turned their garage hobbies and kitchen table inventiveness into industrial breakthroughs. Today, the maker mentality is essential...

BOOK REVIEW

‘Blender Master Class’ Gets A+ in 3D Graphics Instruction

Blender Master Class is a must-have for anyone who uses or even plans to use the Blender graphics tool. It is a learn-by-doing guidebook that takes all the frustration and guessing out of the Blender equation. Author Ben Simonds does a marvelous job of taking the wonder out of using the powerful Ble...

BOOK REVIEW

‘The Book of GIMP’ Leaves No Detail Behind

The Book of GIMP: A Complete Guide to Nearly Everything combines a step-by-step approach to learning how to use this epic graphic image-manipulation program with a handy reference manual supplemented with very useful appendices. Whether you are a GIMP beginner or a veteran user, this book will save ...

BOOK REVIEW

‘The Politics of Abundance:’ Lessons From the Last Era of Prosperity

The duo that led the Clinton-era FCC, Reed Hundt and Blair Levin, recently published a new e-book titled "The Politics of Abundance." It looks to the success of the 1990's for solutions to today's problems. They lay out a framework and a path to regenerate the kind of growth and innovation we saw du...

BOOK REVIEW

Ubuntu Made Easy Shortens the Learning Curve

Ubuntu is one of the most popular and user-friendly Linux operating systems you will find. That said, Ubuntu can be intimidating and frustrating to computer users just stepping out of the World of Windows. Nothing beats learning how to use the Linux operating system like hands-on discovery. Having s...

BOOK REVIEW

Linux Admin Manual Is a Great Reference Tool That’s Not for Dummies

Linux Administration: A Beginner's Guide by Wale Soyinka is a hands-on manual for IT staffers who must dance with Windows and Linux. It is a practical guide for network admins who deploy and maintain Linux and other free and open source software. In this Sixth Edition opus, Soyinka provides an exten...

BOOK REVIEW

Video Game Guide a Sturdy Handbook for the Pragmatic Parent

Scott Steinberg is up to something important: He's trying to break down the walls raised by technology that have sprung up between children and their sometimes hapless parents. More importantly, he seems to trying to build a set of books and resources that will not only help parents understand the i...

BOOK REVIEW

Silicon Valley’s Secret Sauce

Business strategists and government officials routinely visit Silicon Valley in hopes of learning how to emulate the area's wildly successful startup culture. Now, thanks to a new book by LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman and entrepreneur Ben Casnocha, the curious can save themselves the plane ticket.

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