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BOOK REVIEW 7 Point System For Photoshop Posted 12/28/2008 by John Palmer 
Over the years as a web developer I will admit I have become a bit of a Photoshop highbrow, while others may find the application overwhelming I cannot work in anything else. The more layers the better, I have created many commercial images composed of over 100 layers with various masks and blending modes. While I appreciated Scott's answers without back story in his photography books the "magic numbers" approach to post processing in this book is not appreciated. In programming the idea of arbitrary values used within code lacking a contextual explanation is referred to as magic numbers and is looked down upon greatly by the development community. The reasons behind this apply as much to Scott's Photoshop book as they do to programming. Simply using an arbitrary number with no explanation implies it will always work, and provides no perspective for follow up users beyond the original author and their own memory. In general the book was an easy read for me, but the depth of each of the "7 points" sounds simple, but I expect might overwhelm people who have not worked with Photoshop professionally.Rating: 6/10
BOOK REVIEW The Digital Photography Book Volume 2 Posted 12/26/2008 by John Palmer 
After such a positive experience with Scott's first book I was excited to read volume 2. The fun style and quick paced tips from the pro continue in fine fashion in this intermediate follow up. While the concepts in the first book were all new and I could incorporate into my shooting almost immediately, the concepts and tips from this book extend to setting up your own studio and portrait techniques both of which I look forward to as my skills in photography grow. While the first book was entirely tangible and ready for immediate incorporation, this book serves as a nice stepping stone for the next level of photography. For such a value packed book Scott does not hold back on quality information and hints you would only learn after trying things the hard way.Rating: 9/10
BOOK REVIEW Complete Digital Photography Posted 11/23/2008 by John Palmer 
There are many books on digital photography and I had no intention to buy this book, until I signed up for the digital photography class at College of the Desert. Photography teacher Maile Klein assigned this as the book for the fall 2008 semester, and now after finishing the book I can appreciate this selection. While on the expensive side the book is very comprehensive. The writing is clear and easily understandable while still conveying enough information to keep the aggressive analytical part of me satisfied. While I never took part in advanced film photography the consistent contextual methodology used to convey concepts effectively taught me even more than I was expecting to learn which is always a pleasant surprise.Rating: 9/10
BOOK REVIEW The Digital Photography Book Posted 11/04/2008 by John Palmer 
I got the photography bug after getting a nice camera for my birthday in 2008, as with any topic of interest I turned to the Internet for some book suggestions to help jump start my skill set. Suffice it to say the positive feedback and recommendations I found on-line for author Scott Kelby's digital photography books is spot on. Many introductory books focus on the history and a slow gradual progression of information, in contrast this book was quick paced and the instant tangibility of this book was refreshing. Scott keeps the dialog light and humorous which makes the book a real pleasure to read. The methodology of conveying tips in this book is the best aspect, rather than walk you through the entirety of digital photography Scott's approach was to summarize real world issues you might run into and provide direct solutions like you had a pro right there with you. Rather than drag on about the reasons and science behind decisions the book gives you the insight only years of experience can produce. The appreciation for the readers budget when making equipment suggestions was also a stand out characteristic of this book. When a solution involves purchasing hardware Scott suggests 3 variations to help cover a realistic spectrum of budgets.Rating: 10/10
BOOK REVIEW Object Oriented PERL Posted 02/22/2000 by John Palmer 
While PERL 5 is not an inherently object oriented programming language this book does an excellent job of showing how the amazing flexibility of this programming language can allow you to use it like one. While most books dedicated to PERL focus on it's scripting capabilities this book takes the extra step to show the broader spectrum of PERL's capabilities as a fully functional development language. The clear attention to detail and excellent use of PERL's flexibility and clear overview of good object oriented programming make this a great book for many reasons. Taking a complex language and a complex concept and melding them together makes this book a pleasure to read.Rating: 10/10
BOOK REVIEW Professional Apache Posted 12/31/1999 by John Palmer 
Many people don't know the history of the "Apache" title for the world's most popular web server, but it's literally a joke which grew as the development team kept patching features into the old NCSA web server until it became the "a patchy" or Apache web server. This book does justice to the devilment roots of this excellent web server software by offering the best resource for web server administration I have ever found. This book covers the full spectrum of custom Apache builds, run time modification for performance, and virtual hosting. This book serves as a great reference for the professional server administrator.Rating: 10/10
BOOK REVIEW Elements Of Web Design Posted 08/05/1999 by John Palmer 
Seldom do you find a book that touches on many aspects of a profession and does justice to them all, but this book is the perfect example of this approach done well. Web design is a widely encompassing discipline and in my opinion is used by too many people who may have half the skills necessary to really call themselves a web designer. The full spectrum of web development includes the concept, layout, content, typography, formatting, programming, publishing and publicizing of a web site and this book does an admiral job touching on each aspect. While this book does not offer the literal solutions to each phase of development, it does go over the theory and relationship of these various steps in a well illustrated manner.Rating: 9/10
BOOK REVIEW Javascript For The World Wide Web Posted 02/09/1998 by John Palmer 
Javascript is a great way to help bridge the client server relationship in web development. While the only trustworthy programming in a business environment is server side applications, the amount of user friendly enhancements and functionality Javascript allows make it a necessary skill set for an accomplished developer. This book does a great job of allowing you to make the jump from download and adapting scripts you find online to making your own scripts and really making your web pages personal and unique. This book nicely organizes the various objects and methods supported by different browsers which can be once of the most annoying aspects of Javascript development. This book is not for the hardcore Javascript programmer, or people with no programming experience, but it's a great asset for the experienced programmer to extend their potential in the art of web development.Rating: 8/10
BOOK REVIEW Cgi Programming PERL 5 Posted 02/16/1997 by John Palmer 
There are many development languages available for web developers, and I can tell you after over a decade of experience and using them all PERL is my absolute favorite. In general most programming languages are very similar, once you comprehend the logical breakdown of a process and can manipulate real world concepts in numerical terms it comes down to efficiency and performance. This book does a great job of explaining the relationship of scripts with web servers and the various methods of implementation from direct applications to SSI scripts and even some HTML tricks to help your workflow. I would not recommend this book if you are new to programming in general, but this book is great at explaining the functional differences between a local application and running scripts on a web server, which is the whole point of CGI.Rating: 8/10
BOOK REVIEW Deconstructing Web Graphics Posted 11/12/1996 by John Palmer 
The synergy of good web development is when design, function and style work together. As a programmer I have no problem with function, but I knew I wanted to improve my skills in design and style and this book is a great choice. The analytical approach used in this book to deconstruct and explain the elements of various approaches to graphical design was the perfect avenue for my logic driven mentality to better understand the once foreign artistic aspects of good web site. This book is a great value and deserves a place in any developers library.Rating: 9/10
BOOK REVIEW Graphic Design School Posted 05/02/1991 by John Palmer 
Most of my design books focus on digital design for the web, but I got this book many years ago and really appreciate learning the fundamentals of graphic design. This book was released before the Internet was popular, but the insights and techniques taught by this book are as applicable as ever if you are willing to internalize them and apply them to your web and print projects. The book goes over concepts like corporate design, branding, logos, and packaging which are all still important today.Rating: 8/10
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