0 Playstation 2 for Dummies Posted by Lasantha | at 11:48 PM

Don't worry. Playstation 2 for Dummies is not a how-to book about a computer that's sold exclusively for entertainment purposes. Unlike most books in the Dummies series, this one is more of a catalog than a user's guide. Dan Amrich--an editor of GamePro magazine--explains how to assemble and configure a Sony PlayStation 2 system and reveals quite a few cheat codes, but stops short of describing really interesting tweaks (like "chipping" your U.S. PS2 to run Japanese games) in detail. This is mostly an annotated list of PS2 games, weakened a bit by the fact that Amrich almost never writes anything negative about a game.

The burning question is, why? Even though Amrich is clearly a PS2 aficionado, and he's aptly documented the state-of-the-art in PS2 hardware and software, it's unclear what unique value this book provides. The universe of gamers has access to several print magazines and hundreds of Web sites dedicated to the same subjects Amrich covers. Most of them will be more up-to-date than this book, in terms of PlayStation news and game releases, within two months. Browsing this book will mostly entertain those unfamiliar with the PS2 scene ("Hm, a game entitled Bloody Roar, and another called Theme Hospital..."). --David Wall

0 Beginning PHP and MySQL Posted by Lasantha | at 11:11 PM

Beginning PHP and MySQL

From Novice to Professional, Third Edition offers a comprehensive introduction to two of the most prominent open source technologies on the planet: the PHP scripting language and the MySQL database server. Updated to introduce the features found in MySQLs most significant release to date, readers learn how to take advantage of the latest features of both technologies to build powerful, manageable, and stable web applications.

Essentially three books in one, readers not only profit from extensive introductions to the core features of each technology, but also learn how to effectively integrate the two in order to build robust data-driven applications. Packed with practical examples and insight into the real-world challenges faced by developers based on author W. Jason Gilmore's 7 years of expertise working with these technologies, readers will repeatedly return to this book as both a valuable instructional tool and reference guide.

0 Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Posted by Lasantha | at 11:07 PM

The fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe Flash CS4 Professional.

Adobe Flash CS4 Professional Classroom in a Book contains 10 lessons. The book covers the basics of learning Adobe Flash CS4 Professional and provides countless tips and techniques to help you become more productive with the program. You can follow the book from start to finish or choose only those lessons that interest you.

Learn how to design Flash projects with sophisticated animation, import video and sound files, and integrate buttons with compelling interactivity using ActionScript 3.0. Powerful features such as the new Motion Editor, inverse kinematics, and support for 3D will make developing your Flash sites fast, easy, and fun.

“The Classroom in a Book series is by far the best training material on the market. Everything you need to master the software is included: clear explanations of each lesson, step-by-step instructions, and the project files for the students.” —Barbara Binder, Adobe Certified Instructor, Rocky Mountain Training

Classroom in a Book®, the best-selling series of hands-on software training workbooks, helps you learn the features of Adobe software quickly and easily. Classroom in a Book offers what no other book or training program does—an official training series from Adobe Systems Incorporated, developed with the support of Adobe product experts.

0 Creating Mobile Games Posted by Lasantha | at 12:27 AM

Creating Mobile Games: Using Java ME Platform to Put the Fun into Your Mobile Device and Cell Phone is a practical build-it-yourself mobile Java games book with lots of complete working code and advice:
Shows you how to create a basic game and make it a professional one (by adding a pro look-and-feel by writing your own menus or using the open source J2ME Polish, and enabling marketing/billing from your own web site)
Demonstrates Wireless Messaging and other optional APIs (using SMS, PIM, File Connection, Bluetooth, and so forth in a multiplayer game)
Covers the new MIDP3

What youll learn
Start using the MIDP2 and MIDP3 in the newly open sourced Java ME Games API.
Add a truly professional look-and-feel to your Java ME games.
Use threads, tones, and other media.
Store and retrieve data and enable networking.
Create advanced interactive messaging with optional APIs for multiplayer gaming.
Explore a complete business model for independent developers (distributing their own games) as well as for larger companies.

Who is this book for?Software engineers with some knowledge of Java who would like to switch to MicroEdition programming, particularly games.