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Macmillan USA Information SuperLibrary Newsletter
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Subject: Macmillan USA Information SuperLibrary Newsletter
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Date: Sun, 30 Jul 95 13:05:44 EDT
Macmillan USA Information SuperLibrary Newsletter
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 12:46:43 GMT
Sender: owner-newjour@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Subject: SuperLibrary Newsletter
Forwarded message:
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 1995 06:25:18 +0100
From: au007@rs1.rrz.uni-koeln.de (Michael Uwe Moebius)
Subject: SuperLibrary Newsletter (Part1)
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** The Macmillan USA Information SuperLibrary Newsletter **
** **
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Volume 1, Number 2
Welcome to the Macmillan Information SuperLibrary Newsletter!
If you ever want to remove yourself from this mailing list, you can send
mail to "Majordomo@misl.mcp.com" with the following command in the body
of your email message:
unsubscribe info-mislnews your-email-address (optional)
Thanks to all of you who wrote us, and had such nice words to say about
our new Web site. As a subscriber to the SuperLibrary Newsletter we
will be making available to you from time-to-time, special book offers,
coupons, and discounts which are not available online. So stay tuned
and be on the lookout for these bargains. Don't forget to check out
January's final Top 10 contest below, and enter this month's contest for
a chance to win a SuperLibrary T-Shirt! Here's a summary of this months
newsletter:
* Feburary Book Specials and new releases
* Macmillan Digital News
* AuthorTalk - Laura Lemay (Teach Yourself Web Publishing with HTML)
and Chad Little (Becoming a Computer Musician)
* January's Top 10 List
* Miller's View
* This Month's Top 10 Contest.
Remember you may copy and distribute this newsletter freely as long as
it is not used for any business or commercial use, and is not altered,
modified, or edited in any way. If you have any questions about the use
or content of this newsletter contact Brian Mansfield, Marketing
Manager-Online Services, Macmillan Digital USA, 201 W. 103rd St.,
Indianapolis, IN 46209, (317)581-4941 "bmansfield@mcp.com".
Here are 6 special book offers which are available online at the
Macmillan Information SuperLibrary (http://www.mcp.com) throughout the
month of Februrary. In addition to our regular 20% discount offered on
all SuperLibrary books these titles are being offered together with an
additional 5% savings. Most titles have sample chapters with graphics
online.
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F E B R U A R Y B O O K S P E C I A L S
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*The Web Special*
_Teach_Yourself_Web_Publishing_with_HTML_in_a_Week_, by Laura Lemay,
plus _The_World_Wide_Web_Unleashed_, by John December. These are two of
the hottest selling books on the Net currently! Both titles have sample
chapters online.
List Price: $60.00
Less 25% discount
SPECIAL - $45.00
=20
*The Graphics Special*
_Becoming_a_Computer_Artist_, by Chad Little, plus _Becoming
_a_Computer_Animator_, by Mike Morrison . Both of these titles give the
reader valuable information on how to develop these creative
graphical skills. Both titles have sample chapters online.
List Price: $84.99
Less 25% discount
SPECIAL -- $62.99
*The UNIX/Internet Special*
_UNIX_Unleashed_ by various authors, plus _Internet_Unleashed_ by
various author. Each one of these titles is the result of the work of
scores of experts in both fields. The "Unleashed" bundle is almost 3000
pages of text, plus a CD, plus a disk. This is a tremendous offer!
"UNIX Unleashed" has a sample chapter online.
List Price: $89.94
Less 25% discount
SPECIAL: - $64.95
*The 3D Special*
_3D_Studio_Special_Effects_, plus _Inside_3D_Studio_. Both titles were
written by a team of award winning authors. Learn how to create
animations and special effects with these full color guides.
List Price: $99.95=20
Less 25% discount=20
SPECIAL - $74.99
*The Mortal Kombat Special*
_Mortal_Kombat_Super_Book_LE_, plus _Mortal_Kombat_Pocket_Codes_(Sample
chapter online). These books are for the true gamer's collection !
List Price: $28.98
Less 25% discount
SPECIAL - $21.99
*The Security Special*
_Inside_TCP/IP_, plus _Internet_Firewalls_and_Network_Security_, both by
New Riders Development Group. This set is a comprehensive guide which
outlines the steps required to install and maintain a TCP/IP network, as
well as how to keep a network secure by implementing Internet firewalls.
Both of these books have sample chapters online.
List Price: $74.99
Less 25% discount
SPECIAL - $56.25
To order visit http://www.mcp.com or call 800-716-0044. (International
317-361-5400) and mention the book special you are interested in. Or,
you can send email to=20 "orders@mcp.com" with your name, address,
credit card number, and name of book special.
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M A C M I L L A N D I G I T A L N E W S
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J.K. LASSER'S TAX GUIDE IS NOW ON THE WWW =20
U. S. Taxpayers preparing to file their 1994 taxes can now turn to the
Internet for the all-time best-selling tax guidance of _J.K._Lasser's_
_Your_Income_Tax_1995_, now available on the Macmillan USA Information
SuperLibrary.
The site features information from J.K. Lasser's Tax Alert Hotline,
which provides tax updates and filing tips during tax season. Popular
tax topics include auto expenses, computers, schedule C, depreciation,
retirement benefits, self-employment tax, new tax laws, IRAs, home
offices, mileage allowances and itemized deductions.
MACMILLAN DEBUTS ON AMERICA ONLINE WITH FROMMER'S TRAVEL GUIDES
---------------------------------------------------------------
Macmillan Digital has added the popular travel series "Frommer's Travel
Guides" in the American Express interactive service found on America
Online called "ExpressNet". "ExpressNet offers a broad array of
financial and travel services on America Online. With the complete
Frommer's Travel Guides online travelers will be able to access helpful
information for many US destinations instantly.
MACMILLAN DIGITAL COMPUSERVE AUTHOR CONFERENCES
-----------------------------------------------
This is a list of Macmillan authors who will be holding conferences on
our Macmillan Computer Publishing CompuServe forum. The conferences
allow you to communicate directly with Macmillan authors. The time for
each conference is 9-11 pm Eastern Standard Time. To access the
Macmillan conferences type "Go Macmillan".
DATE AUTHOR TITLE
2/8 Chad Little "Becoming a Computer Artist"
2/15 Laura Lemay "Teach Yourself Web Publishing with
HTML in a Week"
2/22 Robert E. Waring "Totally Unauthorized Guide to Doom II"
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A U T H O R T A L K
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"Becoming A Computer Artist"
by Chad Little
ISBN:0-672-30397-1
Sample Chapter with graphics and animation online at http://www.mcp.com
Inspiration by Example -- The Creation of "Becoming a Computer Artist"
The idea was to take a different approach. We have all seen the market
flooded by the books that show how to use tools in a specific program.
While some are excellent -- I have used many of them myself -- our
goals were different. We wanted to set out to produce a book that
inspired the artist within by showing examples, both in visual and
written form.
Visually, we wanted to showcase a variety of different styles,
including some of the best computer- generated artwork from various
talents nationwide. The artists also created their artwork with tools
that ranged from the most complex three-dimensional programs to basic
2-D line art. Some of these artists include Jeff Brice, Mark Jasin,
Louis Katz, Kory Kredit, and Brian Stauffer.
Brian's work consisted primarily of editorial layout, which differed
from the preconception most people have of computer-generated art.
Brain has tremendous talents in taking the written word and combining
various visual elements inspired by those words to create a piece of
art. This was exactly the approach we took to the layout of the book.
Brian worked closely with me in understanding of the goals of the
book; then he took the raw visual elements and created a layout that
adds to the inspiration we were looking for.
In writing the book, I wanted to tell a story that in some ways
related to my own experiences of discovering the computer as an
artistic outlet. While I personally haven=92t discovered any computers
to create a hologram that would answer my every question, we thought
that one in the fictional world would give the reader the one-on-one
teacher he or she might enjoy. So that is exactly what we did. I would
outline the general thoughts and ideas that we needed to covey, and
Gary Dulude would write in the voice of the hologram and the
storyteller, creating an experience that brought the reader in.
The hologram's name is Vincent. And by some unexplained freak of
nature many years ago, he was zapped into a computer. Our reader
discovers this old computer by accident in an abandoned warehouse and
unleashes Vincent when he turns it on. Vincent ends up teaching
everything the reader needs to know about the basics of computer
graphics. The chapters include: the people and events that shaped
computer graphics; how a computer works, fundamental elements of
computer art; how to break down and create specific images, interviews
with artists, output options, and copyright issues.
We wanted to show how one person can discover and tap into his or her
own potential in a way that hopefully inspires readers and dispels
some of their fears. So join in the experience; because Vincent=92s
lessons are far from over.
___________________________________________________________________
"Teach Yourself HTML in a Week (and Write a Book About it in Eight)"
by Laura Lemay
ISBN:0-672-30667-0
Sample chapter available online at http://www.mcp.com
I first saw the Web in early 1993, when a friend showed me Mosaic
running on his Sun Workstation. I had been on the internet for years
before that, but I had never seen anything that was so visual and
playful and allowed you to navigate around the internet as easily.
This is really cool, I thought.
Unfortunately, at the time I was working primarily on Macintoshes, and I
didn't have access to the software. Except for a few stolen moments on
unix machines, I didn't have much of a chance to play with it until
early 1994. And then play with it I did.
As a writer, I found it fascinating that this was a simple and effective
way of communicating information across the net to anyone who could read
it. As a confirmed internet addict, I quickly found that I could easily
spend hours on the Web jumping from link to link and from page to page
and discovering new gems of information within the Web. It was
tremendous fun, and the more I explored it, the more I wanted to get
involved in doing it myself.
At the time I was working as a technical writer, writing programmer's
documentation and not being very happy doing it. I had always wanted to
write a book, and given my writerly inclinations it seemed only obvious
that if I wanted to learn how to write Web pages, so might other people.
Why not put together a proposal and see if I could get a publisher to
let me write it?
The Plan
Around the time I was beginning to consider what might go into a book
about HTML, Mark Taber of Sams publishing posted a message to usenet
looking for authors to write about the Web. I sent him a shorter
version of my proposal, and we then exchanged lots of email and
developed the plan that would eventaully turn into the "Teach Yourself"
book.
My strengths for this book were not necessarily HTML itself -- when I
proposed the book, I had written only a few Web pages, attempted a form
or two, but beyond that I was hardly an expert. What I did have that
qualified me to write the book was experience designing information
online, the ability to describe technical information clearly, and,
after a year of exploring the Web and seeing what was out there, a whole
lot of very strong opinions about what makes up good and bad web page
design. For these reasons my editor at Sams and I settled on an HTML
book that half a description of HTML itself and half a handbook of hints
for design and for Web page style.
As I formulated the final proposal, I kept several goals in mind. One
was the equal focus on the HTML language and on design. Another was
that the book be generic across many different kinds of computer
systems, particularly across PC, Mac, and UNIX systems. One of the big
strengths of the web is that when you write a page for the Web, anyone
can read it on any computer that has a browser. It doesn't matter
whether you're on a Macintosh or a PC running Windows or a high-end SGI
workstation. So it was important to me that I not write an "HTML for
your 486/DX2 Running Windows For Workgroups 3.11" book. Why limit the
scope of the book when the technology is so unlimited?
The third implicit goal for the book was to get it written and finished
in as short an amount of time as possible. For marketing reasons, for
the book to be sucessful, it had to be out early. We aimed for an end
of '94 release, which, given time for editing and production left me
with a very frightening eight weeks to write the book. Even my writer
friends told me I was crazy, but I've always been good at challenges, so
I signed the contract, resigned from my job, and dove headlong into
writing the book.
Getting the Information
There is nothing in the book that a resourceful person with lots of time
couldn't find on the Web or elsewhere on the Internet, given enough time
and enough energy. Thats exactly what I did to write it, after all.
Finding specific information on the Web was a challenge, as one of the
bigger difficulties with the World Wide Web is its distributed and
unindexed nature. Luckily, just as I was beginning the sections of the
book for which I had less technical knowledge, I stumbled on the Virtual
Library for Web Development at URL:
http://www.charm.net/~web/Vlib/
(Link inactive 5 October 2004).
Here was an index to available information on not only writing HTML, but
also with working with images, servers, CGI, and lots of other topics
that I hadn't planned to include in the book but that were still
fascinating.
It was a gold mine of information, and from that as a starting point at
the top of my hotlist I was able to find just about all the information
I needed to write the book. Since then, of course, many more indexes
for Web information have appeared, If I were writing the book now, the
Virtual Library would remain on my list, supplemented with the WWW
section of the Yahoo index -
(http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/Computers/World_Wide_Web/
(Link inactive 16 June 2004)),
and the tutorials at Web Communications (URL:http://www.webcom.com/html)
In addition to prowling the Web I also kept up with the prolific
discussions about the WWW on Usenet (in the comp.infosystems.www
groups), in mailing lists, and in the Web conference on the WELL. These
additional sources of information were invaluable, not only for finding
out bits of information that had eluded me, but also for getting a feel
for the sorts of questions and problems people were having while they
were learning how to develop content for the Web. If a particular topic
was confusing people enough that they would ask for help, it would
obviously require extra detail in the book.
Finally, there was the software. Much of the software that drives the
Web is freely available for FTP, and if it was available I downloaded
it, compiled it, and ran it to figure out how it worked and to see if it
would be helpful to be or to others. By the time the final chapter was
complete I had stored, on three systems: twelve browsers, five servers,
two dozen HTML converters and editors, nine tools for editing and
converting images, four for sound, two for video, and network software
to tie it all together. Much of everything I played with and found
valuable is mentioned in the book.
Writing it Down
Given the time constraints for writing the book, I coulnd't take the
time to sit down and learn about everything I needed to know and then
write about it once I understood it. I had to learn as I wrote, and
given my initial lack of understanding of some of the more technically
complex parts of the Web such as server and browser interaction and
forms, that meant learning everything as fast as possible and
structuring my time such that I could continue to work even if something
was puzzling me.
I researched and wrote during all hours of the day, keeping less of a 9
to 5 schedule and more of an 8 to 10, 11:30 to 4, 7 to 1am schedule. To
keep from going completely out of my mind I watched movies on video,
stayed out late dancing at nightclubs, or went to a local park and
chased the ducks (although I should note for the record that I do not
advocate terrorizing wildlife as a way of relieving stress). I had the
advantage of an understanding boyfriend and a good working environment
(a full-time internet connection, warm cats and all the diet coke I
could drink) that allowed me to focus and get the book finished.
Probably the most valuable asset I had during the times when things
became complicated were other Web content developers. I had several
friends who had done work on the Web, and I sent lots of email to people
who were having problems similar to mine. With the help of other
developers, I was able to understand the technology better and make
recommendations in the book based on common practice and with an eye for
how the technology might change. Even now that I've completed the book
and am now focusing on developing my own content, the help of other
developers is still and invaluable asset for creating good content.
Onward
Even in its current state the book is far from complete. Even as I
wrote it, new products were announced and new features became standard
that I simply didn't have a chance to include (and which often drove me
to distraction). Netscape Communications announced thier browser and a
whole suite of extensions to the standard HTML tags that have since
changed the look of Web pages (sometimes for the worse). Many features
of HTML Level Three such as text centering and tables began appearing in
more and more browsers even as the standard was still being written.
And with the recent scandal over Unisys, Compuserve, and the GIF image
format, the presentation of images on the Web may change entirely over
the next couple months.
However, even if the book is merely a snapshot of the technology that
was available during the two months I wrote it, the principles of
organizing and designing information don't change quite as readily as
the tools do, based as they are on years of research and lessons
learned. With a good basis in understanding how information can be
organized and presented, keeping up with the technology and applying the
new HTML features to existing pages becomes far easier and is merely
icing on and already well-contructed cake.
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