Archive for the 'Reviews' Category

Blogger: Beyond the Basics: Customize and promote your blog with original templates, analytics, advertising, and SEO (From Technologies to Solutions) (Paperback)

Sunday, March 14th, 2010

Blogger: Beyond the Basics: Customize and promote your blog with original templates, analytics, advertising, and SEO (From Technologies to Solutions)

Product Description

In Detail

Blogger is a blog publishing system from Google with a friendly interface specifically designed for creating and maintaining weblogs.

It allows users to easily create dynamic blogs with great content and many outstanding features including RSS feeds, link-backs, photo slideshows, and integration with popular Google applications like Picasa. Its versatility and ease of use has attracted a large, enthusiastic, and helpful community of users.

If you want to create powerful, fully-featured blogs in no time, this book is for you. This book will focus on transforming a typical blog into something fresh and professional that stands out from the crowd. It starts with an introduction to an example blog, discussing what it is lacking, and then adding all the features of Blogger to make it successful. This book will tell you how to transform a slow-paced typical business blog into an attractive and interactive profit-making blog with measurable results. It has a very user-friendly approach and shares tips, tricks, and resources to continue to grow your blog.

What you will learn from this book?

The book aims to be a “complete” guide to working with Blogger. The focus is on more advanced, professional uses. You will learn everything you need to know to extend your blog and grow beyond the basics of using Blogger. This book will cover the following:

  • Customizing and creating templates to make your blog attractive
  • Adding social bookmarks to your blog to promote your site
  • Joining the blogosphere to drive traffic to your site
  • Customizing your blog by using widgets effectively
  • Customizing your blog’s RSS and Atom feed, so that the Blogger feeds are available to the users
  • Managing ads and adding e-commerce features
  • Monitoring viewers and ads using Google Analytics
  • Managing and optimizing your blog for search engines
  • Integrating your website with your blog


Approach

Written in a clear, easy-to-read style, the book takes you through the essential tasks required to create a feature-rich blog as quickly as possible. From initial setup to customizing modules, each task is explained in a clear, practical way using an example blog developed through the book. You’ll also learn how to market and measure the success of your blog using Google web applications and other popular tools.

This book deals with using the current Blogger and third-party tools to optimize and create widgets for your blog. You’ll transform your blog using existing tools then take it further with more challenging approaches to customizing your blog. All the steps involved in each example are listed under the section called “Time for action”. Similarly, the results of that action are listed under the section called “What just happened”. This structure adds to the clear, simple, and focused approach of the book.

Who this book is written for?

The book is aimed at current users of the Blogger platform who want to get the most out of Blogger and people who use a different blogging platform and are planning on switching to Blogger. Blog owners who promote their own services, expertise, and products, and want to increase their blog’s success by pushing the limits of what Blogger can do will get the most out of this book.

The book doesn’t require any specific knowledge of Blogger or the related technologies: RSS, CSS, HTML, and XML. Everything you need to know to grow beyond the basics is covered in this book. The companion website to this book (bloggerbeefedup.blogspot.com) includes free resource images and content.



About the Author
Lee Jordan

Lee Jordan is a web developer with a large collection of web technology acronyms on her resume that sound like the names of laundry detergents and cause glazed expressions in school children. She designs and maintains internal and external enterprise-level websites and web-based applications as part of a project team for a privately held technical services company. Her work includes proposing, writing, and editing web content and user guides people actually read. She began her career in 1997 as a web designer after graduating from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, where she swears that she missed at least one home football game while in the computer lab. Lee later convinced Seminole Community College to give her a Web Programming degree in 2003, even though her final project was a Java-based application that actually contained a usable help file.

Lee Jordan

Lee Jordan is a web developer with a large collection of web technology acronyms on her resume that sound like the names of laundry detergents and cause glazed expressions in school children. She designs and maintains internal and external enterprise-level websites and web-based applications as part of a project team for a privately held technical services company. Her work includes proposing, writing, and editing web content and user guides people actually read. She began her career in 1997 as a web designer after graduating from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, where she swears that she missed at least one home football game while in the computer lab. Lee later convinced Seminole Community College to give her a Web Programming degree in 2003, even though her final project was a Java-based application that actually contained a usable help file.

Web development topics or whatever she can think of at the time are posted on her blog at leejordan.net


Buy Blogger: Beyond the Basics: Customize and promote your blog with original templates, analytics, advertising, and SEO (From Technologies to Solutions) (Paperback) at Amazon

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Professional Web APIs with PHP: eBay, Google, Paypal, Amazon, FedEx plus Web Feeds (Paperback)

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Professional Web APIs with PHP: eBay, Google, Paypal, Amazon, FedEx plus Web Feeds

Product Description

  • Offers hands-on tips and numerous code examples that show Web developers how to leverage content and feeds from today’s top Web sites-including Google, eBay, PayPal, Amazon, Yahoo!, and FedEx
  • Introduces APIs (Application Program Interfaces) in general and uses real-world examples that show how to produce and document them
  • Explains how to use the popular scripting language PHP to create APIs that interact with unrelated applications over the Web
  • Examples take readers through each stage of the API process, from basic test implementations to integration with existing sites



From the Back Cover

As the only book that details how to integrate different APIs and web feeds in PHP so websites can leverage content from eBay, Google, PayPal, Amazon, and FedEx, this hands-on guide takes you step by step through each stage of the API process. Experienced PHP programmer Paul Michael Reinheimer walks you through the production and consumption angles of web feeds and discusses XML-feeds so that you can access one of the fastest growing trends on the web. With real-world examples covering everything from basic test implementations to integration with existing sites, you’ll learn how to produce and document your own APIs, which will allow you to expand your sites and may even prompt you to re-examine how you structure your code.

What you will learn from this book

  • How to add a third party API to your site or program one of your own
  • Ways that a small ISP can use the Yahoo!® XML feed to publish recent technology on a site
  • Why APIs are the preferred method for disparate applications to interact over the web
  • Differences between the functions of APIs and web feeds and the benefits each has to offer
  • The basic structure for REST and SOAP APIs

Who this book is for

This book is for programmers who have a strong understanding of PHP and are looking for detailed coverage of multiple APIs in PHP.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.



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Google AdSense Secrets: 4th Edition (Kindle Edition)

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Google AdSense Secrets: 4th Edition

Product Description

Joel Comm’s best-selling AdSense ebook is the definitive guide to making money with Google AdSense. With 220 pages of content, this guide is ideal for beginners and intermediate level users, providing strategies for building profitable websites, monetizing with AdSense, as well as a number of other avenues for generating revenue.


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Wiley Pathways Introduction to Google SketchUp (Paperback)

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Wiley Pathways Introduction to Google SketchUp

Product Description

Considerably easier to use than other 3D software, Google SketchUp has found a niche in architecture, landscape design, real estate development, furniture building, and other design professions. This book provides an accessible approach that assumes no previous 3D modeling experience and explains the basic concepts involved in 3D modeling. Wiley Pathways SketchUp shows you how to build a 3D model, print it, share it, export it to another professional design package, export it to Google Earth, and create a 3D animated tour. The book will also help you harness the power of Google SketchUp so you can populate Google Earth with 3D buildings, monuments, and other sculptures.



From the Back Cover
You can get there

Whether you’re already working and looking to expand your skills in the computer-aided modeling field or setting out on a new career path that involves 3D design, Wiley Pathways Introduction to Google SketchUp will help you get there. Easy-to-read, practical, and up-to-date, this text not only helps you learn how to use Google SketchUp at your own pace; it helps you master the core competencies and skills you need to succeed.

Developed with architects and other design gurus in mind, Google SketchUp is the fast, easy way to build 3D models of anything you want—buildings, furniture, or your own unique creations.

With this book, you will be able to:

  • Understand the basic concepts behind Google SketchUp and the general workflow for creating and sharing a model
  • Use Google SketchUp to make buildings, draw and extrude simple plans, model stairs, and construct roofs
  • Use advanced techniques for modeling objects like vehicles, furniture, and more
  • Build models using photographs with Google SketchUp’s new photo matching feature
  • Present your finished design using such features as Styles, Shadows, and Sections
  • Get your models out into the world through Google Earth and the 3D Warehouse
  • Print and export images and animations from your model file 

–This text refers to the

Paperback
edition.



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Beginning Java Google App Engine (Paperback)

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Beginning Java Google App Engine

Product Description

Google App Engine is one of the key technologies to emerge in recent years to help you build scalable web applications even if you have limited previous experience. If you are a Java programmer, this book offers you a Java approach to beginning Google App Engine. You will explore the runtime environment, front-end technologies like Google Web Toolkit, and the datastore behind App Engine. You’ll also explore Java support on App Engine from end to end.

The journey begins with a look at the Google Plugin for Eclipse and finishes with a working web application that even uses Groovy/Grails as a service. Along the way, the authors dive deeply into the services that are available to access the datastore with a focus on Java Data Objects (JDO), Persistence as a Service more generally, as well as Spring as a Service and more.

You’ll then be ready to look at some of the more advanced topics in application administration, such as scheduled tasks, remote access to the datastore, and the Google Analytics API.



What you’ll learn

  • How to get up and running with App Engine, starting with the Google Plugin for Eclipse
  • All about the development server for testing and developing your applications
  • How to leverage the datastore in your applications, including Persistence as a Service
  • How to use Spring as a Service for transactions, data access, and more
  • How to use Google Web Toolkit to create AJAX components to drive your web applications
  • Use of Groovy and possibly Grails as a Service for your web applications
  • How to schedule cron jobs using App Engine for scheduled processing behind your applications
  • Advanced topics including the remote data APIs and Google Analytic API



Who is this book for?

This book is for Java programmers looking to get started on Google App Engine, as well as App Engine programmers looking to move to Java.

About the Apress Beginning Series

The Beginning series from Apress is the right choice to get the information you need to land that crucial entry–level job. These books will teach you a standard and important technology from the ground up because they are explicitly designed to take you from “novice to professional.” You’ll start your journey by seeing what you need to know—but without needless theory and filler. You’ll build your skill set by learning how to put together real–world projects step by step. So whether your goal is your next career challenge or a new learning opportunity, the Beginning series from Apress will take you there—it is your trusted guide through unfamiliar territory!



About the Author

Kyle Roche is the head of Sales Engineering and Enablement at Appirio. Appirio built one of the first prototypes for Java support on App Engine, which was shown at the Campfire launch. Appirio builds applications that leverage App Engine or the Force.com platform. Other areas of expertise are in Facebook application development and Amazon Web Services. Kyle’s website is http://www.kyleroche.com.


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The Story of Google (Built for Success) (Paperback)

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

The Story of Google (Built for Success)No description for this product could be found, but have a look over at Amazon for reviews and other information.
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Google Power: Unleash the Full Potential of Google (Paperback)

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Google Power: Unleash the Full Potential of Google

Product Description

Learn advanced techniques for maximizing the Google search engine and extract the best content from Google without having to learn complicated code. Go under the hood and learn a wide range of advanced web search techniques through practical examples. This is an ideal resource for students, librarians, journalists, researchers, businesspeople, lawyers, investigators, and anyone interested in conducting an in-depth search.



From the Back Cover

Get the most out of your Google searches and find the exact information you need with help from this hands-on guide. Google Power: Unleash the Full Potential of Google takes you under the hood of the ultimate search engine and shows you how to turbo charge your Google searching for maximum results. In the first part of the book, you’ll find out how to access the wide array of power tools that are hidden beneath the surface of Google’s clean, simple interface. Then you’ll get hundreds of proven tips and techniques that will dramatically improve your searching–no matter what you’re looking for.

  • Customize Google for your own power searching needs
  • Master the art of Googling people including ancestors, old friends, doctors–even yourself
  • Find quality, reliable information on medicine and technology
  • Get up-to-the-minute news from thousands of sources at Google News
  • Set up automated tools that search while you sleep
  • Recover content that’s been removed from the web
  • Find and buy exactly what you’re looking for with Froogle
  • Locate travel deals that can save you thousands of dollars
  • Mine business information and competitive intelligence
  • Hack Google via Web APIs
  • Be the first to use cutting-edge technology developed at Google Labs
  • Access Usenet through Google Groups

Chris Sherman is president of Searchwise LLC, a Boulder, Colorado-based Web consulting firm, and editor of SearchDay, a daily newsletter from SearchEngineWatch.com.



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Hello, Android: Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform (Paperback)

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform

Product Description

Android is a new software toolkit for mobile phones, created by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. In a few years, it’s expected to be found inside millions of cell phones and other mobile devices, making Android a major platform for application developers. That could be your own program running on all those devices.

Getting started developing with Android is easy. You don’t even need access to an Android phone, just a computer where you can install the Android SDK and the phone emulator that comes with it. Within minutes, “Hello, Android” will get you creating your first working application: Android’s version of “Hello, World.”

From there, you’ll build up a more substantial example: an Android Sudoku game. By gradually adding features to the game throughout the course of the book, you’ll learn about many aspects of Android programming including user interfaces, multimedia, and the Android life cycle.

If you’re a busy developer who’d rather be coding than reading about coding, this book is for you. To help you find what you need to know fast, each chapter ends with “Fast forward” section. These sections provide guidance for where you should go next when you need to read the book out of order.



About the Author

Ed Burnette is a software industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience as a programmer, author, and speaker. His development credits include everything from commercial video games to high-performance grid computing systems. Ed is a founding member and senior researcher at the SAS Advanced Computing Lab.

Ed has authored numerous technical articles and books, including Google Web Toolkit: Taking the Pain out of Ajax and Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide. He writes the Dev Connection blog for ZDNet, and is the creator of Planet Android (http://www.planetandroid.com).

In his copious spare time, you can often find him playing video games with his two sons at their home in central North Carolina.


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Mining Google Web Services: Building Applications with the Google API (Paperback)

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Mining Google Web Services: Building Applications with the Google API

Product Description

Google’s Web Services provide all kinds of powerful capabilities that you can leverage in your Internet programs. Here’s a book that teaches you how to develop practical Google Web Services applications. Learn how to embed the popular search engine in a web site, create applications for optimizing complex searches, automatically monitor the web for specified information, develop custom applications to avoid objectionable material, and much more. Even find out how to use Google Web Services and Amazon Web Services together. In “Mining Google Web Services”, you will discover how to develop these real-world applications using VBA, Visual Studio, PHP, Java, and Mobile Devices.



From the Back Cover

Google Brings Data Mining to the People!

Virtually everyone sees Google as, hands down, the best online search tool. Now you can use and improve on Google technology in your own applications.

Mining Google Web Services teaches you dozens of techniques for tapping the power of the Google API. Google already gives you fine-grained control over your search criteria, and this book shows you how to exert the same control in your own focused search and analysis applications. With just a little knowledge of JavaScript, VBA, Visual Studio 6, Visual Studio .NET, PHP, or Java, you will get better (and more relevant) search results?faster and more easily. Here’s a little of what you’ll find covered inside:

Improving the speed and accuracy of searches; Performing data mining across the Internet; Using Google Web Services to search a single website; Building search applications for mobile devices; Using caching techniques to improve application performance and reliability; Analyzing Google data; Creating searches for users with special needs; Discovering new uses for Google; Obtaining historical data using cached pages; Performing spelling checks on any text; Reducing the number of false search hits;

Whether your goal is to improve your own searches or share specialized search capabilities with others, this is the one resource that will see you through the job from start to finish.



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Hello, Android: Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform (Paperback)

Friday, February 12th, 2010

Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform

Product Description

Android is a new software toolkit for mobile phones, created by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. In a few years, it’s expected to be found inside millions of cell phones and other mobile devices, making Android a major platform for application developers. That could be your own program running on all those devices.

Getting started developing with Android is easy. You don’t even need access to an Android phone, just a computer where you can install the Android SDK and the phone emulator that comes with it. Within minutes, “Hello, Android” will get you creating your first working application: Android’s version of “Hello, World.”

From there, you’ll build up a more substantial example: an Android Sudoku game. By gradually adding features to the game throughout the course of the book, you’ll learn about many aspects of Android programming including user interfaces, multimedia, and the Android life cycle.

If you’re a busy developer who’d rather be coding than reading about coding, this book is for you. To help you find what you need to know fast, each chapter ends with “Fast forward” section. These sections provide guidance for where you should go next when you need to read the book out of order.



About the Author

Ed Burnette is a software industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience as a programmer, author, and speaker. His development credits include everything from commercial video games to high-performance grid computing systems. Ed is a founding member and senior researcher at the SAS Advanced Computing Lab.

Ed has authored numerous technical articles and books, including Google Web Toolkit: Taking the Pain out of Ajax and Eclipse IDE Pocket Guide. He writes the Dev Connection blog for ZDNet, and is the creator of Planet Android (http://www.planetandroid.com).

In his copious spare time, you can often find him playing video games with his two sons at their home in central North Carolina.


Buy Hello, Android: Introducing Google’s Mobile Development Platform (Paperback) at Amazon

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