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| We asked some of our (and your!) favorite authors
to share with us their favorite 10 computer books from the past 10
years. Here's what we got back. |
Maria Langer is a freelance writer who
has written more than 50 books and hundreds of articles about using
computers. A commercial helicopter pilot since 2001, Maria also
operates a helicopter tour and charter business based in Wickenburg,
AZ. Maria is currently hard at work on her first novel, a mystery
set in a fictional Arizona town. You can visit Maria on the web
at www.marialanger.com.
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Maria's favorite books: |
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I’ll be the first to admit it: When I read, I’m
not reading computer books. Still, there are a few that I’ve
read in the past ten years that I really found valuable—books
that helped me research a project or solve a problem. Here’s
my top ten. Forgive me for including two of my own books, which
I’m particularly happy with.
 Designing
Web Usability by Jakob Nielsen -- This book should be the bible for all
Webmasters. In this obviously well-researched book, Mr. Nielsen explains how
people access web pages and provides suggestions for how they should be created
to make them more…well, usable. Oh, how I wish Webmasters would follow his advice!
 The Non-Designers
Web Book by Robin Williams and John Tollett -- Another basic book about designing
web sites, with more emphasis on how-to. At this point, my skill level is a bit
more advanced than this book’s audience, but I still think it’s a great introduction
to designing web sites.
 Photoshop
Restoration & Retouching, Second Edition by Katrin Eismann -- When I got
my Canon G5 digital camera last year, I thought it was high time to get a book
that explained how to improve my less than perfect pictures in Photoshop. This
book covers topics that help me make my pictures better—even the old, cracked
family photo I scanned to restore. (I’m the one standing in front of Dad.)
 Mac OS X 10.4
Tiger: Visual QuickStart Guide by Maria Langer -- Yes, this is one
of mine—but one I’m particularly proud of. It uses Peachpit’s excellent Visual
QuickStart Guide format and 720 pages to cover Mac OS X 10.4, Apple’s latest
operating system release. Written for beginner to intermediate users, with a
few advanced topics thrown in for good measure, it shows and tells what most
Macintosh users need to know about Mac OS X.
 Putting
Your Small Business on the Web (Out of Print) by Maria
Langer -- Yes, this is another one of mine, but it’s one that I think filled
a need among small business owners of the time. I wrote it because
I was sick and tired of seeing business owners in my small town get
ripped off by unscrupulous Web developers—local guys who sold template-based
Web “solutions” at exorbitant prices to people who just didn’t know
what was going on. Much lighter than Designing Web Usability and Webonomics,
it touches topics covered in both and provides what I’d like to think
is sound advice about using a web site to grow a business. Now out
of print, I have plans to revise it and release it as an eBook in
mid-2005.
 Hip
Pocket Guide to HTML 4 (Out of Print) by Ed Tittel,
James Michael Stewart and Natanya Pitts -- I do whatever I can to
avoid coding Web pages in HTML. Normally, that means using some sort
of WISIWYG HTML editor. But occasionally, I have to roll up my sleeves
and dive into raw HTML. And that’s when I reach for this guide. It’s
an extremely simple reference guide that lists HTML tags, properties,
values and examples.
AppleScript for Applications: Visual QuickStart Guide (Out of Print) by Ethan Wilde -- Ever
since I got my first computer (an Apple IIc in 1984), I had dreams
of being able to tell it to do exactly what I wanted it to. That
meant programming. AppleScript is the programming platform Apple
created for nonprogrammers. Mr. Wilde’s book makes programming with
AppleScript easy to understand by taking advantage of Peachpit’s
Visual QuickStart Guide format to show and tell. Heck, even I can
write scripts with this book by my side.
 Mac
OS X Disaster Relief: Troubleshooting Techniques to Help Fix It Yourself
(Out of Print) by Ted Landau -- Ted Landau is the undisputed
king of Macintosh troubleshooting. This edition of his book was the
first to cover Mac OS X in great detail. (I believe another edition
is out or soon to be released.) Whenever my Mac is feeling ill, I
reach for Ted’s book first. Nine times out of ten, I can find the
answer within its pages, along with a lot of other troubleshooting
information I never knew.
Elements of Web Design (Out of Print) by Darcy DiNucci with Maria Giudice & Lynne
Stiles -- A basic book about designing web sites—but with a difference.
This book is richly illustrated with full-color screenshots showing
well-designed web pages and their components. I design by imitation—meaning
that I take my favorite components from a bunch of examples I like—and
this book gives me plenty of ideas.
Webonomics: Nine Essential Principles for Growing
Your Business on the World Wide Web by Evan I. Schwartz -- Webonomics cuts
through the hype and explains the economics of using the Web to expand
or build a business. Packed with information, it’s more of a business
book than a computer book and reads a bit like it was written by
an economics professor.
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| Ten Questions with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger: Visual
QuickStart Guide Author Maria Langer —
Maria offers an interview with her thoughts
on the new Mac OS X Tiger release. |
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