Creative Edge

Playful Design

John Ferrara — 2012/05/16

Game design is a sibling discipline to software and Web design, but they're siblings that grew up in different houses. They have much more in common than their perceived distinction typically suggests, and user experience practitioners can realize enormous benefit by exploiting the solutions that games have found to the real problems of design.

Getting away with it

Infinite Ideas — 2012/05/16

Some people have the inside track on everything. They look ten years younger than they are, they wangle cheap flights all over the world and still get upgraded, they talk their way out of parking tickets, and get glamorous jobs they're not really up to. Well, now it's your turn. In Getting away with it we've assembled more than 20 Infinite Ideas authors to expose the secrets of the world's most (apparently) successful people. Often wondered how some people always seem to have a place on the guest list at the hippest places in town, drive cars way out of their price league and have jobs they simply aren't qualified for? Well here are some of the answers you've been looking for.

How to get a job in tough times

Infinite Ideas — 2012/05/16

The job market is still very weak, with the number of permanent jobs available dropping at a record rate. If you are one of the many thousands of job seekers affected by redundancy, or fearing the worst, what are you going to do? When you are hit by redundancy in a recession you can t leave your job search to chance. It is essential to try to get ahead of the game. That is what this book is about - helping you to look for jobs more successfully than everyone else so that you can discover more opportunities and submit applications that have an impact. Although the number of jobs is falling, there are still plenty of new opportunities coming onto the market. So, even if there are fewer jobs in your particular line of work the chances of you getting back to work quickly in another field are still high. And this book will show you how.

Ultimate Career Coach

Elisabeth Wilson — 2012/05/16

The Ultimate Career Coach is an inspirational guide to getting to the top at work, and staying there. Packed with advice to help you achieve career success and enjoy your work, The Ultimate Career Coach covers everything a career-minded professional needs to know about getting ahead at work and staying on top. Topics include ways to get your dream job, how to network like a pro, how to use influencing methods to achieve success at work, how to balance work and home life, tips for managing stress levels, methods for thinking like a business leader and 140 other ideas to ensure high performance.

Landscape Photography: From Snapshots to Great Shots

Rob Sheppard — 2012/05/15

Now that youve bought that amazing new DSLR, you need a book that goes beyond the camera manual to teach you how to take great shots.

For photographers interested in landscapes, this guide by pro photographer Rob Sheppard will help you conquer the fundamentals and capture stunning pictures.

Sheppard starts with the basics composition, light, contrast, and textures and how to connect with your subject or scene. He covers all the key camera features that affect your image (regardless of what type of DSLR you have).Once youve captured those shots, Rob takes you through simple post-processing in Lightroom, Photoshop, and Photoshop Elements.

This guide is for beginning-to-intermediate digital photographers to understand the basics and bring their own unique artistic expression to landscapes and outdoor shooting.

Beautifully illustrated with large, compelling photos, this book teaches you how to take control of your photography to get the image you want every time you pick up the camera.

Create Your Own Blog: 6 Easy Projects to Start Blogging Like a Pro, Second Edition

Tris Hussey — 2012/05/15

This book is for everyone who ever wanted to have a blog of your own, but wasn't sure if they could handle the technology - or the content. Top blogger Tris Hussey brings together everything new bloggers need: "quick and dirty" primers on the technology and culture of blogging, plus step-by-step instructions for building six of the most popular types of blogs: " Personal blogs " Business blogs " Multimedia blogs, audio and video (vlogs) " Portfolio blogs for artists " Blogging with Tumblr and Posterous " Building a regular website using a blog engine Hussey helps new bloggers chose the right tool for their needs, and covers every facet of blogging, from writing to publicity. Along the way, he demystifies blogging, and helps readers get past the worries that trip up novice bloggers - such as "How do I handle comments?" "How public do I want to be?" and "What if my posts aren't good enough?" Along the way, he shares all the tips and tricks he's uncovered over 12 years of web design and nearly five years as a blogger. This exceptionally well-organized, well-written, and passionate book will inspire any potential blogger -- regardless of their goals or experience.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2

Brian Matsumoto Ph.D — 2012/05/12

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2: The Unofficial Quintessential Guide provides a wealth of information and professional insights for owners of this powerful HD camera. With its electronic viewfinder and interchangeable lenses, the GH2 is capable of not only recording professional-quality still images, but has the added ability to record HD video as well.

With the GH2, Panasonic has significantly expanded the video capabilities beyond those of previous models. Among the improvements is the ability to adjust the frame rate and shutter speed when filming video, giving users greater control over the movie-making process.

In this guide, authors Brian Matsumoto and Carol F. Roullard explore and explain the features and capabilities of the GH2 camera in detail, as they cover everything from the basic features of the camera to numerous advanced photographic applications. The informative text is illustrated with example images throughout.

Readers will learn how to:

Control the most basic camera functions-focus and exposure
Navigate the camera's menu system
Achieve a range of artistic effects using various camera settings
Use the camera's automated controls, and override those controls to obtain better exposure
Use the GH2 in its video mode to obtain HD videos
Post-process images and videos on a computer
Expand the camera's use by mounting it on a telescope or microscope
And much more...

OGRE 3D 1.7 Application Development Cookbook

Ilya Grinblat — 2012/05/11

Over 50 recipes to provide world-class 3D graphics solutions with OGRE 3D.

Dive into the advanced features of OGRE 3D such as scene querying and visibility analysis
Give stunning effects to your application through suitable use of lights, special effects, and views
Surf through the full spectrum of OGRE 3D animation methods and insert flashy multimedia
Ample amount of sample code accompanied by relevant screenshots for easier and quicker learning

In Detail

OGRE (Object-oriented Graphics Rendering Engine) 3D is a scene-oriented, flexible 3D engine written in C++ designed to make it easier and more intuitive for developers to produce applications utilizing hardware-accelerated 3D graphics.

Graphics application development with OGRE 3D may start small, but may soon balloon into monstrously complex beasts, which just can't be all understood at once. This book will help you to easily develop applications using OGRE 3D.

OGRE 3D 1.7 Application Development Cookbook will help solve common problems you may face while developing 3D graphics applications using OGRE 3D. You will learn to create various types of Windows applications, scene querying, and visibility analysis among other things from this book.

This book includes some advanced recipes involved in developing applications with OGRE 3D. Each recipe deals with adding some specific feature to your application.

The book first covers creating various types of Windows applications available for the OGRE developer, creating plugins for customization, and OGRE resources management. You will then learn to efficiently implement various input methods for OGRE applications followed by managing scenes and objects impressively. Lights, special effects, and materials that provide enhancing effects are covered next. Further, character motion and collision detection are included followed by animations and multimedia, which help in producing a thorough professional look. Finally, we wrap it up with scene queries and views.

OGRE 3D 1.7 Application Development Cookbook provides a great reference for your OGRE 3D application development needs and helps you to deliver impressive results more quickly and with greater ease.

Get quick solutions to problems that may occur while using the OGRE 3D graphics rendering engine

The Quick-and-Easy Web Site

Paula Peters — 2012/05/11

Forget the complicated instructions and baffling techspeak found in other guides, The Quick-and-Easy Web Site gives you straightforward instruction on how to build a Web page that really delivers. It's simple. It's fast. And it's certain to take your small business to the next level.Written for the small-business owner on the go, this book gets your Web site up and running in just one day. It walks you through the five easy steps that will get your company the Internet attention it deserves. Learn how to:<ul><li>Purchase your domain name<li>Write powerful Web content<li>Design your page's layout<li>Find a Web host<li>Publish your site </ul>Once your new site goes active, you'll attract new customers in no time. This fast and effective guide puts you and your company where you belong-on the Web! Paula Peters is the owner of Peters Writing Services, Inc., a firm that specializes in writing and designing marketing materials, including Web sites. She has written marketing materials for a variety of Fortune 500 companies across the globe and has published more than 50 articles, essays, and stories. The author of The Ultimate Marketing Toolkit, Peters also has taught thousands of entrepreneurs, leaders, and managers over the past 12 years.

Presentations

Gary R. McClain — 2012/05/11

Presentations, Second Edition takes the anxiety out of creating dynamic presentations with a commonsense, step-by-step plan for success. The book starts you off on the right foot by introducing the critical but often overlooked basics of preparation, including how to: Assess the purpose of the presentation; Understand the audience; Organize the topic for maximum effect; Choose the best type of presentation. With these essential concepts mastered, you learn how to prepare both the presentation and yourself. This book discusses rehearsals, checklists, and handling challenges-and even the post-presentation evaluation-in a clear and upbeat manner. Presentations is up-to-the-minute with the latest technologies and techniques such as video and computer conferencing, and Web site production so that you can choose the best medium and application for your presentation. A list of resources is included for further reading.