prostoalex writes "Wireless LANs seem to be enjoying the tremendous amount of interest lately, if you judge by the number of book covers and articles written on the topic. It's no wonder that this year the sales of WLAN equipment will grow 20% and generate $2.1 billion - everyone seems to be installing a wireless network in their office, their apartment complex or their own backyard. With extending the network into the radio world one is always extending the opportunities for unwelcome visitors to become part of the network. This book is a hands-on guide on hacking wireless networks followed by the recipes and principles to protect WLANs." Read on for the rest of prostoalex's review of Wi-Foo .

Andrew Murphy writes " The Register's security guru Thomas Greene has written a book for the average computer user, though it contains a great deal of information that professionals need to know. It's insightful, instructive, and calls for open source software even on Windows for enhanced security. The single most interesting feature is the author's emphasis on open source software as a security feature per se. He rightly notes that there are no secrets in OSs, and teaches users to leverage this transparency regardless of their platform. As early as the introduction, Mozilla is urged as a secure replacement for IE and OE, and this came before the Scob outbreak." Read on for the rest of Murphy's review.

Martin Ecker writes "A few months ago, the OpenGL Shading Language -- OpenGL's own high-level shading language for programming Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) -- was ratified by the Architectural Review Board (ARB) responsible for the development and extension of the OpenGL graphics API. The first real-world implementations are just becoming available in the latest graphics drivers of the big graphics hardware vendors. Now the first book that features this new shading language is available, with the intention of becoming the standard book on the subject. Randi J. Rost's OpenGL Shading Language (published by Addison-Wesley) is a good introduction to developing shaders with the new OpenGL Shading Language, and demonstrates a number of useful applications for real-time programmable shaders." Read on for the rest of Ecker's review.

Eli Singer writes "I'm writing to recommend The Power of the 2x2 Matrix , the best book on decision-making I've seen in a long time. The book presents 55 decision matrix models by some of the best minds out there including Stephen Covey ( 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ) and Geoffrey Moore (Crossing the Chasm). Although the book is primarily for business decision-making, the matrices really force you to think about your own personal and professional life." No bones about it, Singer is not a disinterested party: he helped with research that went into it. Read on for the rest of his review, below; there's also a link to a sample chapter of the book. (The Globe and Mail recently reviewed this book as well.)

Anton Chuvakin writes "When I first got this little book called Network Security Hacks, I was unimpressed by its idea: a seemingly random collection of network security tips combined under the same cover. However, when I started reading, more and more often I exclaimed "Ah, that's how it is done!" as well as found better ways of doing what I was doing." Read on for the rest of Chuvakin's review.

Joel Natt writes "Planet Broadband is not a Star Trek episode or another Sci-Fi title. It is the title of a new book by Rouzbeh Yassini which answers the question of where the term 'broadband' originated and why is it used when discussing cable internet services." Read on for the rest of Natt's review of Planet Broadband.

scsiiscs writes "I have just had the pleasure of reading Lysergically Yours, the first offering from author Frank Duff. As the chemically aware among you may have guessed from the title, this is a novel which deals in part with the synthesis of and culture surrounding LSD. It is much more than just a drug book though, and what's better, it has been released under a Creative Commons license. " Read on for the rest of his review.

emmastory writes "When I mentioned this book to some of my friends, the response was usually either 'Doesn't the iPod come with a manual?' or 'Does the iPod even need a manual?' There is, in fact, a little CD-sized booklet that comes with the iPod, and it's true that you probably don't need much more than that if all you need to know is how to turn the thing on and play a song. But one of the great things about the Missing Manuals series is that while they tell you everything a manual ought to, they also tell you an awful lot that a manual never would." Read on for the rest of emmastory's review of iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Second Edition.

sympleko (Matthew Leingang) writes "PHP5 has hit its third release candidate, so get used to the idea of using it. George Schlossnagle has written a great book on PHP programming which ought to generate some enthusiasm. But it's not just about PHP5: the book includes great information on everything from coding style to high-level problem-solving. I met George through a friend of mine who works for the Developers Library, and I'm glad to have finally gotten a look at his book." Read on for Leingang's review of Advanced PHP Programming: A practical guide to developing large-scale Web sites and applications to PHP5.

norburym writes "This is not an intro Linux book for your mom. Well, actually it's an intro Linux book for the author's mom! Linux for Non-Geeks came about by virtue of Rickford Grant's desire to create an easy to follow guidebook to installing, configuring and using Linux for his mom who, at 72, was on a fixed income. Her erstwhile son suggested giving her an old box of his with Linux installed. Willing to go along, she asked for book suggestions to learn about Linux. Stumped by the meager offerings, Grant decided to write up a set of instructions on his own. Egged on by relatives and friends to subsequently publish his manuscript, Penguinistas the world over can now rejoice! A far cry from dumbed down editions of how-to comic book style manuals from other publishers, No Starch Press has adopted a smart series of books for the capable, no nonsense audience; those folks who are not afraid to try new things and who want a clear and (more importantly) practical approach to enhancing their skill set. This book is a stand out in that series." Read on for the rest of norburym's review.

code_rage writes "A preview of the Aldridge Commission Report was discussed recently on Slashdot. Now that the full report has been released, a more in-depth presentation might be appropriate." code_rage has written a lengthy summary of the report below. Other readers sent in the Executive Summary and several news stories.

Alex Moskalyuk writes "Remember the Best Buy commercial where a puppet asks a woman for a laptop computer, and upon hearing that it's a 'wireless' laptop, starts imagining his life free of strings and limitations? That guy doesn't know it yet, but soon the harsh reality will kick in, ironically kicking him off the wireless network periodically if he uses Microsoft Windows Wireless Zero Configuration or if he wants to run Linux on a laptop with WiFi card that doesn't support Linux. This book, however, is not just about getting your Linux laptop onto the wireless network. Granted, WiFi plays a big role in today's business and personal networks, and three chapters are dedicated to exactly that purpose, but behind that wireless adjective we have a variety of technologies." Read on for the rest of Alex's review of Linux Unwired, from O'Reilly.

jkauzlar writes "Have you ever read a math book that was able to carry you through its proofs, heart racing, and make your skin tingle upon reaching its philosophically astounding conclusion? Rarely have I encountered such a book, but among those that I have found (such as the books written by Ian Stewart or Douglas Hofstadter), Gregory Chaitin's 'Metamath! The Quest for Omega' is a favorite. Chaitin takes the reader on a thrilling race through the history of computability research to arrive at the discovery of his own number, Omega." Read on for the rest of jkauzlar's review.

honestpuck writes "Paul Graham has delivered final proof that he is a marvelous essayist with his volume of fairly diverse writings, Hackers & Painters. I first came across his writing with his article, "A Plan For Spam," on using Bayesian filtering to block spam and found it a well written and informative technical article. I next came across him some time later when he wrote an essay on his web site entitled "Hackers & Painters," and once again it was well written, informative and (more importantly for an essayist) thought provoking. I was excited to hear he had published a volume of writing and pleased when O'Reilly sent me a copy, despite my pleas that I did not have time to review it." He found time, to your benefit; read on for honestpuck's review.

Two strongly contrary claims describe the usability of Unix and Unix-like operating systems. Roughly, these claims go like this: 1) "Unix is easy! With a few simple commands you can navigate the filesystem and manipulate text; for the rest, just read the fine manual." That's the viewpoint (painting with a broad brush) of technically literate technojunkies. 2) "Unix is a pain. Cryptic commands, confusing explanations -- when I can get them -- from my smug cousin Jim. And where is this so-called manual?" That's the viewpoint (same broad brush) of a lot of people who -- let's say -- aren't the ones rushing to upgrade their heatsink and overclock their RAM, but have given things Unixy a spin. Linux for Dummies has been around long enough to reach its recently published 5th edition (written by Dee-Ann LeBlanc); it aims to bridge the 'Way too Hard!' and 'All Perfectly Easy' schools of thought. Read on for my review of the book.

Martin Ecker writes "Following other entrants in the successful series of graphics and game programming-related "Gems" books, Randima Fernando of NVIDIA has recently released GPU Gems - Programming Techniques, Tips, and Tricks for Real-Time Graphics through Addison- Wesley. As the title indicates, GPU Gems contains a collection of tips and tricks for real-time graphics programming with graphics processing units (GPUs) that are found on modern graphics adapters." Read on for the rest of Ecker's review, and for a few more notes on the book.

rossetti writes with this review of Fix a Troubled Mac, v1.3. "If you run a busy creative design business, you've encountered your fair share of Mac problems like failed tape backups, incorrect network settings, missing CD installers, flashing start-up disks. Macs are not as trouble free as one is led to believe. Running a studio environment with 20 or more Macs does cost money to keep everything working smoothly. It may be only an hour here or there, but this can easily balloon your IT support budget to over $10K a year. If this sounds like your problem, then this book is definitely for you. It takes you through step by step assistance for troubleshooting numerous issues, be it hardware, or networking or software, Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X. Once you start reading or referring to this book for advice, it really feels like having your own Mac-friendly IT support person with you all the times, but not at the hourly rate that they usually charge." Read on for the rest of rossetti's review.

Spencerian writes "Aaron Hillegass new book, Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X, 2nd Edition, is a very helpful book for developers interested in getting not only their feet wet, but become totally immersed in creating applications using the OpenStep-derived API known now as Cocoa. Don't dive in without knowing how to swim in C++/Java, however." Read on for the rest of Spencer's review.

Alex Garrett writes "First, a quibble. Hardcore Java is not hardcore. Hardcore is implementing coroutines in assembly language or creating a full-fledged OO system in 6K. But if you ignore the title and judge the book solely on its merits you'll find that a Java novice will find a good selection of interesting topics and even an expert will learn a few things. The expert will also find plenty of things to disagree with -- some matters of opinion and others of fact." With that start, read on for the rest of Garrett's review of Hardcore Java, a book in which he finds slightly more worth for Java novices than experts.

Ursus Maximus writes "'Sailing' is a gentle and easily readable re-introduction to Greek civilization and culture, with numerous parallels and lessons drawn to our own times by the astute author. Cahill has a real knack for this sort of thing, as he has amply demonstrated in three previous volumes in his "Hinges of History" series. I was introduced to his work in his first volume in the series, 'How the Irish Saved Civilization,' and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Cahill aims to give us a well rounded glimpse into the way the ancient Greeks lived, saw the world, and in fact into the whole of Greek experience. He does this in an idiosyncratic way that will please neither academics nor purists, but which does allow one to taste and smell the Greeks' cultural milieu, and not just to cogitate about it. But cogitate you will, as Cahill gives enough food for thought as post modern man is likely to be able to bear." Read on for the rest of Ursus Maximus' review.