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Mini-review of Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition
If you're trying to figure out what to buy yourself with the gift card you got this holiday season, let me recommend David Pogue's Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition. I was fortunate to get a copy of it for Christmas this year (thanks, sweetie!) and it's 866 pages of sweet, Leopard-y goodness. The book is divided into six sections that cover just about every conceivable thing you could ever want to know about the OS. It takes a look at how to maneuver around the desktop, how to use the native apps to their fullest potential, what to do with once your online with your Mac, and everything in between.If you already know your way around OS X, this manual is a terrific reference tool for looking up obscure things you don't do very often, like tweaking onscreen colors to mimic a Windows PC monitor. At the other end of the spectrum, if you're a switcher there are roughly seven trazillion tips and tricks to help you learn how to get the most out of your new operating system. Pogue's writing style is upbeat, easy to understand, and sometimes downright hilarious. The book is well laid-out and progresses fairly intuitively, although the editor seems to have gone a little crazy with the headings, sub-headings, and sub-sub-headings on many of the pages. Also, while I'm sure Pogue touches on all 300 of Leopard's new features, it's not always immediately clear which features he's describing are different from the previous version, Tiger.Despite these minor shortcomings, I love this book and think it's a great addition to any Mac users bookshelf. This manual is one you don't want to miss.
iPhone: The Missing Manual available in August, PDF bundle available now
The venerable David Pogue has worked his relentless magic yet again to conjure up yet another manual that apparently should have been in the box with iPhone: The Missing Manual (though one could certainly argue that there would have been no way to fit a typical book in the iPhone's impressively compact packaging anyway). As the promo email that I just received states, Pogue's iPhone coverage is summarized into four primary categories: the phone and organizer, the iPod, the Internet, and the hardware and software. Pogue even tackles such issues as synching an iPhone with multiple machines and ways to solve the iPhone's lack of a spam filter. Heck, Mr. Pogue is so into the iPhone, he even sang about switching to it.If you're already hooked and itching to both buy and read, O'Reilly is offering a bundle deal right up your alley: though the $20 book doesn't ship until sometime in August, you can purchase a $24.99 bundle to get a PDF copy right now. Either way, you can find out more details at O'Reilly's product page for iPhone: The Missing Manual.
iPhone: The Missing Manual
David Pogue, is there anything you can't do? He has had an iPhone for a few weeks now (one of the perks of being the New York Times tech columnist, I would imagine) and now there is news of the pending release of iPhone: The Missing Manual (it'll set ya back $20). This latest addition to the Missing Manual covers, what esle, the iPhone and will be jam packed full of tips and tricks for the iPhoner in your life.The book will be available in August, but David has shared some of his favorite tricks a little early for all those folks who are lucky enough to get an iPhone today.
TUAW Video: A Mac Moment with Adam Goldstein
We're on a roll: In this edition of TUAW's Mac Moment series, I sit down with Adam Goldstein, the young author of AppleScript the Missing Manual. "But Dan," you ask, puzzled, "what's so special about this particular author?" Just watch the video to find out: he started his book, working for David Pogue, at age 15. He's also an MIT student, a writer for MacDevCenter, and a killer poker player. He even schools me in my own interview (worth a watch just for that). Click here for the direct mp4 version.
6 Fresh iPod Tips from O'Reilly
The newest version of iPod: the Missing Manual just came out this month and it's author, J D Biersdorfer has a cool article up over at O'Reilly Digital Media to celebrate. In "Six Fresh Tips from iPod: the Missing Manual", you're likely to find at least one new tip that you hadn't previously known about. For me, it was the one about storing full-resolution photos on your iPod. Other tips include how to safely reset your iPod, loading songs from multiple computers onto a single iPod, and downloading iPod-ready videos from Google. Nice write-up and well worth a read. Full disclosure: I also write for O'Reilly.
