Tricks

"Most books in this area are either beginners' guides, in-depth reference works to the foundational standards, or guides to using XML in particular environments or application areas. This book takes a broader approach for non-beginners and describes where XML can be used profitably in the real world. Highly recommended."
--Dr. Marc J. Hadley, Senior Staff Engineer, Web Technologies and Standards division, Sun Microsystems

"Imperfect XML is a thorough and engaging exploration of the issues XML practitioners are likely to face, with considered advice from one of the trailblazing authorities in the field."
--Neil Bradley, XML and Publishing Consultant and author of The XML Companion, The XSL Companion, and The XML Schema Companion

XML projects can fail for all kinds of reasons, from unrealistic overall goals to mishandled low-level technical decisions. Fortunately, one of the world's leading XML experts is ready to show you how to avoid XML pitfalls on your next project.

Since its invention, David Megginson has been helping to drive XML to new levels. He led the team that developed the SAX streaming API now used worldwide, has been a key contributor to the World Wide Web Consortium, and has served as a consultant to many of the world's leading companies, including Boeing, Reuters, and McGraw-Hill. Drawing on this vast experience, Megginson offers in this book expert solutions and problem-solving guidance for virtually any XML project challenge. You'll discover best practices for planning, budgeting, scheduling, and managing any XML project: content management, data interchange, legacy integration, or Web services. And you'll find technical insights that only an expert like Megginson can offer.

Coverage includes

• Setting expectations and planning for extensibility-- key success factors in XML projects
• Choosing standards, technical approaches, and architecture
• Overcoming hidden pitfalls in single-source publishing from XML source
• Intelligent searching with XML: essential design and implementation strategies
• Using XML in enterprise integration: practical realities and workarounds
• Scaling smoothly from demo to production system
• Making XML fast: real help for overcoming XML performance problems
• Managing the security risks associated with sending XML data across the Internet
• Recognizing when XML technology is wrong for your project

From start to finish, Imperfect XML presents a clear-eyed view of XML's advantages and limitations--and technical and management solutions proven to make it work.

All over the world, Windows gurus have been working overtime to uncover the hottest new Windows Vista tips, tricks, and tweaks. Now, J. Peter Bruzzese has collected all their best discoveries in one place: Tricks of the Microsoft^® Windows Vista^TM Masters!  Bruzzese has interviewed top Windows professionals, instructors, and power users; scoured the Web (so you won't have to); and rigorously tested every single tip. Only the most valuable tips tecnhiques and tips made the cut  to improve your efficiency, take total control of your digital media and data; use Internet Explorer 7, Windows Mail, and Calendar; configure Windows Defender and Firewall; avoid, troubleshoot, and fix problems; make Windows Vista work better, faster, smarter, safer, and more fun too!

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1 General Tips and Tricks of the Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 Mastering the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3 Mastering Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

4 Security Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

5 Disk Configuration and Volume Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

6 Office 2007 Tricks for Vista Masters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

7 Master Vista Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

8 System Recovery and Diagnostic Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

9 Mastering the New Vista Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

10 Group Policy Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Tricks of the Windows Game Programmin Gurus, 2E takes the reader through Win32 programming, covering all the major components of DirectX including DirectDraw, DirectSound, DirectInput (including Force Feedback), and DirectMusic. Andre teaches the reader 2D graphics and rasterization techniques. Finally, Andre provides the most intense coverage of game algorithms, multithreaded programming, artificial intelligence (including fuzzy logic, neural nets, and genetic algorithms), and physics modeling you have ever seen in a game book.

What is good code? Writing good code is really a question about what the code is trying to solve. (And good code is not to be confused with patternsbecause not all pieces of good code are patterns.) We debate about good code because there is not just a single piece of good code, but so many good pieces of code. And each good piece of code depends on the context in which it is used.

How to Code .NET: Tips and Tricks for Coding .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0 Applications Effectively provides solutions to certain problems. That is, specific problems. This book provides detailed, authoritative explanations of good .NET coding techniques. Its based on award-winning material that author Christian Gross has previously presented at conferences throughout the US and Europe. Whats more, the author is at the forefront of the .NET technology wave and an acknowledged expert on the subject of .NET coding style and techniques.

Unleash the power of ImageMagick with this fast, friendly tutorial and tips guide

• Complete tutorial and a gallery of tricks and techniques
• Create impressive image manipulations and animations on-the-fly from the command line or within your programs
• Complete PHP-based sample applications show how to use ImageMagick to add pizzazz your web site

In Detail The book is packed with interesting and fun examples. We had a lot of fun coming up with cool ways to demonstrate ImageMagick's power, and we're sure you'll have fun learning how to create them.

Although the printed book is in black and white, there is a full colour PDF of the screenshots freely available that includes all of the images in the book. Use it to see exactly what the ImageMagick effects look like in colour, or browse through it and see just what you'll learn to do with this book.

ImageMagick is a free software suite to create, edit, and compose bitmap images using text-based commands. The commands can be issued from the command line, but more often will be included in web or desktop applications - carrying out complex image-manipulation tasks in response to the user's input.

ImageMagick is a popular way for generating images on-the-fly in web pages, whether it's generating thumbnails from a large image, or creating complex combinations of images, text, and effects chosen by a visitor or the web site's creator.

What you will learn from this book?

• Understand what ImageMagick can do and why you will want to use it
• Install the ImageMagick software on your own computer or a server, and understand your way around it
• Create exciting text effects and produce eye catching logos and headings for use in your pages or applications
• Slice, dice, and filter your images turn simple photos into mind-bending designs and illusions
• Create thumbnails by converting file types, resizing, and cropping to consistent size, aspect ratio, and format. Or create complete image catalogues with thumbnails, file names, and information combined in a single image.
• Make your images look 3D with clever application of blurs, displacements, and masks
• Extract information from your files such as size, compression levels, and source information
• Use ImageMagick to create GIF animations, from simple slideshows to gradual morphs and effects
• Generate ImageMagick scripts in MSL using the conjure utility
• Write web applications such as an advanced e-card generator, and even create your own Packt book cover!
• Crystal clear explanations - this might be Magick, but there's no smoke and mirrors!

Approach

Sohail Salehi is an experienced computer graphics artist, working with 2D, 3D, and video graphics. The book shows his techniques in action. This is no laborious walk through of ImageMagick, with one dull example after another. The chapters consist of workshops, each one applying a set of ImageMagick commands to produce surprising and exciting results. As you read the book, you will learn the features of ImageMagick as well as getting lots of inspiration and ideas for how you can use it in your own projects. You'll be amazed by the creative results you can achieve using code.