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Don't Click on the Blue E
That said, it is not without flaws. I hate most of the first chapter and see it as a waste of space. 35 pages mainly of history (some of the Net, and some of browsers) is almost self-indulgent. Certainly almost all buyers would not miss the information if it was reduced to two or three pages in the introduction or first chapter. There is some useful reasoning to justify the shift from Internet Explorer to Firefox at the end, but the rest needs a good going over with the red pencil.
I also found that for a book titled Don't Click on the Blue E, there was not enough information of the "in IE you did it this way, and in Firefox you do it this way" type. The book is a good entry-level guide to Firefox but I would have hoped for more guidance for people switching from IE to Firefox.
I'm getting a little ahead of myself. First, it has to be said that O'Reilly have done away with their usual cover and given us a bright orange cover with a graphic of a fox about to bite a familiar icon composed of a blue 'e.' I like it, this is definitely an O'Reilly book targeted outside their usual technically savvy market and deserves a different cover style.
The book feels light, despite the 250 pages, and is split into only five chapters and two appendices. As you can imagine, each chapter is a huge chunk of information, but the light writing style combined with a look that is heavy on illustrations and sidebars make it an easy read. Once again, this is a departure from O'Reilly's usual style but well suited to the likely reader. I also thought that they had used a lower grade paper than usual, probably to keep the retail cost down. As this is not a reference book to be kept for years, I didn't see this as a flaw.
I've already mentioned the first chapter; the second is devoted to installing and configuring Firefox. This is full of useful information and good illustrations to explain how to set up the browser in detail. The third chapter is how to use and manage it, covering topics such as the toolbars, the search box and adding engines, the menus, tabbed browsing and pop up blocking. The fourth deals with the add ons - plugins, themes and extensions. The final chapter is a bit of a grab bag. Titled "Advanced Firefox," it covers such topics as Live Bookmarks and searching in pages. Each chapter has a well-researched and useful "Where to Learn More" section pointing to web sites with tools and information.
This is probably not a book for the average Slashdot reader. You may like to buy a copy so you can lend it to Uncle Bob or Aunt Susan after you spend another wasted afternoon cleaning the viruses and spyware out of their PC, but I doubt you'll want a copy for yourself. Taken as a whole this is a well-written, thorough book for the absolute beginner with one or two minor flaws. Despite the book's flaws I still find myself recommending it. If you would like a better look yourself, O'Reilly have their usual page of contents and two excerpts from the book.
I would recommend this book over Firefox and Thunderbird Garage for more serious readers. Garage has an occasional quirky tone that might annoy some -- for others it might be a benefit to learning. It also has a little more detail in some areas. Of course if you want a book that covers both applications, then Garage is the only book I've found. Don't Click on the Blue e is a good volume for a beginner who doesn't need the coverage of both Firefox and Thunderbird of the "Garage" book and would like a little more detail.
You can purchase Don't Click on the Blue e from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
And what's that silly fox gumming, Lithuania?
Sigs cause cancer.
Well even though (most) slashdot readers are beyond this book, we all have family members and friends that could use a little direction. think of this post like one of those "advice to parents" articles in your local newspaper. ;)
Click on the Blue E.
This is NOT a signature.
I am and IT director at an ISP and when we build new laptops or desktops we deploy FireFox with the Blue E icon instead of the Firefox Icon. We even go so far as to make to the default page msn.c0m. They usually never notice.... :)
"Don't press the green power button" Would solve a lot more of the problems I have to fix than simply shying away from IE.
People may be switching over to Firefox, but my site still has 55% IE users and 40% Mozilla and Firefox. And my site has primarily technical content, so I expect a higher percentage of IE on sites with content addressing the average web user.
Don't Click on the B&N Affiliate SPAM Link
Why oh why should it take 254 pages to explain what the book title does in 6 words (5 and a letter)? If my mom (or yours for that matter, heh) asks for advice, I tell them where to get a good browser, they install it, and they run it. End of story. No need to spend twenty bucks and read a novel to figure it out.
Better not click on any other browser icon either. If you need a book to show you how to use a browser then you are going to fall victim to spyware, malware, and other wares just as easily as the IE user would because you are now the security hole.
'Same speed C but faster'
I dono about YOU but I dont go buying books on Slashdot that are linked with an AFFILIATE ID so someone gets a kickback.
Kudos to whoever submitted the story, nothing like free advertising, and shame on the editor that published it with the Source ID in the querystring
Unless of course that is slashdots ID , in that case great part of submarine income on Slashdots part
Every penny counts ? No but the melt real nice with a benzomatic
254 Pages worht of advice? My god!! If they'd come up with a Firefox cheatsheet perhaps with a small section on the back on how to find more detailed information on the web.
Either you want to know the basics (ie no more than 50 pages worth but ideally 15-25 pages) or you want to know the details (ie 250-1500 pages worth) a 250 page for dummies book is far to much. Dummies should have to read that much, and it ends up being mostly fluf anyway.
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
Book reviews != recommendations. A harsh review can be just as useful as a glowing one, if it helps you make a purchasing decision.
It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
"Maybe if it didn't take FireFox 10 times as long as IE to start up it wouldn't suck so bad. Opera is pretty quick though."
Try Pre-linking it. You can use XP's built in prefetcher. Simply right-click on the Firefox icon you use to start the browser. Add the text /Prefetch:1 to the end of the line in the target field.
e.g.
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" /Prefetch:1
(stoner voice on) ...Fumbles around a second while other takes it...
"Here take this."
"Ohh wait! don't take that."
"whoa man, you just ate more acid than I've ever seen anyone eat before in my life, man."
Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
I think it's because most people aren't aware of the alternative and this book was written to get them set up with the new (to them) browser.
I dunno about the rest of you, but I don't go spending $20 buying 250-page, semi-technical books to toss at friends and family.
I actually did this for a family member who would call me twice a day after I gave them a computer.
I bought them a book on Firefox and a book on Windows XP. Now I don't waste my time on 'problems' like I can't find my music files or how do I a print a photo.
Does it tell me ANYTHING I can't find by going to the help menu?
I hate technical books that tell me less information than was initially provided in the "help" section.
in firefox (i just looked) there is even "for IE users" seperate section.
I know what you mean. After all, affiliate links bias the recommender. They just want you to click through and buy the book so that they can make some money. I'm gonna make sure ALL of the purchase price goes to someone who doesn't CARE if they make any money on it, like .... Barnes and Noble?
In a related story, the IRS has recently ruled that the cost of Windows upgrades can NOT be deducted as a gambling loss.
Trust me, it's not easy to write a non-techie book. You may think there's no market for those kinds of books, but the fact that millions of copies of the "For Dummies" and "Complete Idiot's" series have been sold would indicate otherwise. You can't blame O'Reilly for jumping into the consumer market, it's a much larger pie than the techie market.
I am surprised to see a non-techie book reviewed here, though. Definitely not the intended audience! But then again, every techie I know has a non-techie spouse/friend/parent, so it's good to have books to recommend to them when you get tired of answering questions :-)
EricI do not want to go all flamebait here, but if it does not cost more to you, why not buy trough this link? :-)
After all, that's just a free contribution to Slashdot, a web that 1) does not require subscription, 2) where the ads are not intrusive and 3) you enjoy reading / posting.
Maybe they have costs to cover
main(char O){O++&&(((O-291)*O+27788)*O-868020?1:putchar(O++
MajorDick wrote: Unless of course that is slashdots ID , in that case great part of submarine income on Slashdots part"
Clearly, it's all a conspiracy.
It's so secret that it's right there hiding in the open, in the book review guidelines linked from every Slashdot review.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Insert stupid and/or offensive remark here.
Absolutely. No author I know likes bad reviews, but a reviewer that explains why they didn't like a book -- because they thought it was about X or it didn't talk enough about Y or it spent too much time on Z -- is providing useful information. Even a bad review can lead to a sale. It's the non-constructive reviews that blather on but really say nothing more than "this book sucks" that are (in my mind) unhelpful.
Look at the reviews on Amazon for Head First Java, which is definitely not your standard book. Generally great reviews, but occasionally someone doesn't like it. That's fine if they provide some details. I love this one:
At least we know the book writers had the right audience in mind. On the other hand, this review is a bit odd:
OK... (backing away slowly...)
EricNevermind.
"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber" -- Plato