A very disappointing book. The descriptions are to vague and are of little use to anyone other then someone with absolutely no knowledge what so ever of this subject. I got more information surfing the net for 45 minutes then this whole book has cover to cover. What good is a book that feels the need to include a recipe for a ham and cheese sandwich? If you are looking for information on smoking and curing meats I highly suggest you look into one of the other books on this subject. This book is not the money.

We got this book in the library and decided that it needed to be part of our collection at home.This is a great book for do-it-yourselfers. Those of us that want to take the middle man out, raise and cure your own meat this is the book for you. It also has some great recepies in the back.

This is a great cookbook for the serious hunter or just anyone who loves to smoke or cure foods. The book is divided into 2 sections. The first part explains salted, cured, and dry cured foods and how to make your own brined or corned meats.The second section explains how to smoke fish or meats, and gives instructions for building a smokehouse, the best types of wood to use and many excellent recipes for all types of meats, and fish. Make your own bacon or jerky. Great gift book for the outdoorsman!

I enjoyed this story, but it seems like Grace Livingston Hill used similar plots in many books - this was not the first story I read about a young man returning home from a war to be harassed by a nasty rich ex-girlfriend that won't take "no" for an answer. In the other books, however, nothing much happened to the ex-girlfriend (other than losing the man), while in this book the "bad" girl was properly punished at the end (sent to jail), and the "nice" girl married the ex-soldier at the end of the story.

Rodney comes home from the war firm in his beliefs as a Christian. But sent to try him is his old girlfriend Jessica. After proposing to her and being denied for an old, rich man, Rodney had pawned the ring and opened his eyes. The girl was not a believer of God and his mother never had approved of her. But through his brother's friend, he meets Diana. She also didn't know the Lord, but was willing to learn. After a prayer directed at her, she discovered that God really did love her. Throughout the story, Jessica is determined to somehow spoil things for Rodney. But her plans backfire and she ends up in jail. But Rodney and Diana find love and happiness at the end of a firey trial.

I have to agree with the earlier reviewer who complained about the quality of this book.
You are suppose to learn Photoshop by developing an example website. The problem is that the book constantly switches between giving you work to do on the website and exercises simply to learn Photoshop. But it doesn't tell you on what you are supposed to be working.

For example it refers to, and I quote
1. select the magic wand tool.
2. click on the rectangle you just made.

Problem is that you haven't just made a rectangle you have just aligned some text from a previous exercise.

The book is full of stupid errors like these.

The best one yet is "Select the color shown", yet the book is in black and white?

I would advise purchasers to choose another book. One where the author has attempted to do that which he is teaching.

I am disappointed with the apparently low level of Quality Assurance that went into the production of this book. Within the first 2 chapters there are several instances where critical key combinations are in error (e.g. reads "press Del to..." when it should be "press Ctrl+Del to..."). I have had to hunt around pressing keys and then annotate my copy of this brand new book with the correct information. In addition, the files at the book's website often don't match the instructions in the book. Particularly annoying are the ones that are flat .PCT files rather than Photoshop files. The book tells you to do a bunch of things with the file that aren't possible with a static image. Eventually I will extract the information I need, but it is frustrating to suffer sloppy writing (and editing) that should have been corrected before publication.

This books takes you through starting photoshop to building a solid, professional web site, covering both photoshop tools, techniques, tips, and web-site-building advice. The author has clearly been around the block a few times and knows his stuff. Even better, he knows how to teach. I've gone through a number of photoshop books over the years, but this is by far the most useful one I've ever seen. Long enough to contain information you need, but doesn't include any filler that most photoshop books have.

This seems to be a pathetic attempt at Anti-Mormon Literature, made worse as it is from a popular Christian writer who gave only one case and only one side of that case. To have re-printed it without an explaination of the true history of Polygamy is to hit the LDS Church again. Most reading this book will have never met a 'Mormon' and this will be all the exposure they get. Is that a Christian way of doing things. By the way, the LDS Church is the 5th largest religion in the USA and most of its members live outside of the USA. Very poor writing and re-printing. If you write anti-Mormon lit. at least be up front about it.

I loved "Aunt Crete's Emancipation" and "A Daily Rate," both books containing mistreated aunts who still stayed "Christlike" throughout the story. "The Girl From Montana" is a similar plot to another Grace Livingston Hill book, "Ladybird," in that both books are about young girls who have lost their families in the mountains and go east to find relatives.

I agree 100% with the review created by another reader from Utah. I purchased this collection from Avon several months ago, and was very displeased with Isabella Alden's false information about Mormons - I received credit from Avon, but as they didn't want it back, I removed the slanderous Isabella Alden story and "blacked out" all references to it elsewhere on the cover. NOW it's a good book.

This book actually contains four different novels: 1-Aunt Crete's Emancipation covers to touching store of a young nephew who takes over the care of an elderly spinster aunt. The aunt unselfishly serves the whims of her sister and niece at the expense of her own happiness. The story is a wonderful example of how we should treat others how we would like to be treated. 2-A Daily Rate is the winsome story of a young girl who is trying to earn her way in the world. When she comes upon an unexpected inheritance she uses it to help guide the lives of those around her so that they might find some happiness. 3-The Girl From Montana seemed a little contrived but still entertaining. The girl in question comes from the rough and tumble of the West to the refinement of the East. There she learns that people have different perspectives on what is right and what is wrong. 4-Mara by Isabella Alden is the touching account of four friends and how their lives change after leaving college. One faces the death of her fiance and another faces the devastating lies of her beloved. The final part of this story details the reunion but under the sad circumstances of one of them who has been betrayed and tricked into marriage. Be aware that the last part of the book is racist in its views towards The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, often known as the Mormons for their belief in The Book of Mormon. The guy is a jerk and a slime but some of the religious references are not true and very slanderous in tone. The story started out so nicely and wound up like a vendetta against the mormon religion that was not based on fact. I would recommend that people find out the truth themselves from the Mormons.

This is one of the most helpful books on WIN 98 that I have seen. Although it's published by the same company as those "dummies" books, it steers well clear of the condescension and verbal clutter of those. You don't need a great deal of experience to make use of the book, though it does make the peculiar assumption that you've upgraded to WIN 98 from a 3.X version, rather than from WIN95. Fortunately, those parts are easily skipped. Less useful are the shareware programs included on the CD-ROM, but the book is well priced for what it contains. You need to know, however, that this is far from an exhaustive treatise on Windows 98. If you are seeking real depth of detail about DLLs and registry files, you will have to look elsewhere.

I found this Windows Secrets book just as helpful as its predecesors. I had used the Windows 3.1 Secrets years ago, in order to become more accuainted with the OS and learn some tricks that don't come well documented, and it certainly helped to do so.

However, if your goal is to become an EXPERT of Windows 98, i.e. learning the whereabouts of the Registry, you might be disappointed.

One last thing: this book does NOT deal with the Second Version of Windows 98. For example, it mentions tons of times a VERY useful un-documented tool called TweakUI, which is not supported by the Second Edition (sadly enough.)

Windows® 98 Secrets makes a great reference book. It has rescued me out of a couple of jams. It covers Tweak UI which Microsoft shuns. It shows how to restore Microsoft Fax which MS omitted. The list goes on...If I ever happen to lose my copy, I will buy another one. Can't say that about many books.

If all you are looking for is a very high-level view of Windows 2000 then this book may be OK. But if you want a detailed look at the system, there are much better books available at comparable prices.

The title is a misnomer -- there are no secrets to be found here!

This book was a real disappointment. After purchasing and enjoying the Windows 95 Secrets, Windows 98 Secrets, and More Windows 98 Secrets books; I recently purchased the Windows 2000 Secrets and found it to be seriously lacking.

It's strange; the Windows ME Secrets book was great! This book lacks heart. Its a drab, dull, superficial look at Windows 2000. Just about any Windows 2000 book would be better than this one.

Its hard to believe the same guy who wrote all those great books is actually responsible for this miserable work. Must have been a bad day.

Windows 2000 has lots of secrets, but this book (unlike the first "Secrets" books) describes few of them. It is close to what the manual should be.

I was hoping from the thickness of this book that it would have all sorts of useful information. It doesn't. It looks as though the author has simply gone through the Gimp's menus item by item and given a synopsis of each. There's very little material that is not already obvious.

Grokking the Gimp is a better choice; it goes through several projects to illustrate useful real-world techniques.

As a professional geek, I've ingested countless books covering computer hardware, administration, programming, and software packages. After getting my hands on the GIMP, and a copy of the "GIMP for Linux Bible", I thought I had everything I needed to start exploring the wonders of the GIMP.

Unfortunately, this book was not up to the task. While the first few chapters were adequate for explaining the basics of the GIMP's interface, the discussion of the more complex (and more useful) aspects of the GIMP (such as layers, channels, blending modes, etc.) was thoroughly obscure. After reading and rereading these sections, I became progressively more confused.

The many illustrations, presumably offered to clarify the muddy explanations in the text, are rendered nearly useless by being printed in black and white. Images intended to show differences in various layer operations and blending modes turn out virtually identical without color. After hours of frustration, I gave up and went shopping for another book.

A much better choice for those interested in becoming GIMP gurus is the excellent "Grokking the GIMP" (ISBN: 0735709246, also available here). After merely skimming the sections covering the topics which were incomprehensible in the "GIMP for Linux Bible", all of these concepts became immediately obvious. "Grokking the GIMP" is packed with clear, full-color graphics, which reinforce the straightforward yet thorough coverage of the text. Start your GIMP education here instead, and you'll be glad you did.

I wrote part of this book and though I can't vouch for the part I didn't write, I can say that the chapters I did write, the ones on scripting gimp in both it's native scheme and in perl, you'll find very educational. I wrote them with a total beginning programmer in mind as well as a seasoned coder. As developer of CoolText.com I am very familure with gimp scripting and I included a complete printed listing of the procedural database, the only one in print that I know of. I did this because I knew it would be handy to anyone codeing for the gimp and I am able to say that I've referred to my own book often.

Not one of GLH's better efforts. This is a silly story with very few spiritual elements.

It keeps me up late at night reading it. I haven't finished reading it, yet, but I started it a couple of days ago and I will finish it soon. It's about a young girl named Dawn who grows up without much love in her life, and spends most of her growing up away at a boarding school. When a man decides to marry her, she doesn't know what to think. She doesn't like the man very much, but she likes to think of having her own home to take care of. Without having much say in the matter, she is all set to be married to the man (his name is Harrington Winthrop). Harrington's evil scemes are unknown until just before the wedding. Harrington's loving brother decides to marry young Dawn... But Dawn doesn't know about the quickly-formed plan! She runs away after the marriage because of confusion and her mother-in-law's anger. She becomes a much-loved teacher in a small town. ...But Harrington is still after Dawn. I like the excitement and emotion of this book. All of Grace Livingston Hill's books are good!

If you want a book about flying fighters for Israel, this ain't it (despite the cover picture). If you want a book about flying cargo into Israel (an Me-109 crammed into a C-46, for instance), and about shady methods used to get around international rules in order to fly cargo to Israel, then you want this one.

Also a personal story about the author beginning to get the big picture of life, rather than the small, selfish picture he had.

An excellent account of brave men and women of a previous era - the stuff few if any young people are willing to do anymore, for their own lives/countries or others... enviable opportunities these people had to really risk all for a belief in something that was more than personal material gain... Regardless of your views on Israel, very worthwhile, easy, exciting reading. Great stuff Harold, and all those others!

ok i have to admit that this book would tend to cater to only women but i think guys can see just as much humor it as women would. the title and the cover are what caught my eye of this hilarious novel. it is like a totally whacked out version of the bridget jones' diary. this is the definition of a beach read or summer fun read, why, because you do not have to think about anything with this book all you have to do is sit back and laugh. i can see women reading this book and think of a person that reminds them of katya livingston, and i can also see men reading this book and it validating our belief that women are kinda crazy. either i feel that it is worth a persons time. especially since a person could read this book in two day, it goes that fast. or just read a little everyday and just pop in to see what the crazy woman is doing on any particular day. however, do not go into this novel expecting to learn anything from it, it is not that kind of novel, it is for those who want to escape for a little while into the world of a person who is completely insane and self deluded. so all i ahve to say is go off and read this book in good humor.

Katya Livingston is my new hero. But not in the way you think. She's more of an anti-hero, the sort of the woman we all wish we could be, but would never actually dare to become. And she definitely makes Bridget Jones look sane. Speaking of Bridget Jones, there are the obvious similarities in the writing style. Both are written in diary form, and evoke the same choppy, sassy writing form. But with that said, this book is delicious fun. A very fast-paced and quick read. You will be left rooting for Katya, even though you know you shouldn't be.

The novel starts out as a financial diary Katya is forced to keep after the tax man questions her work-related expense claims. Soon, "Confessions" evolves into a brutally poetic diatribe against her boss, putting up with loser friends, mortal enemies, substandard restaurants, a completely candid account of her love life (might be tax-deductible) and anything else Katya can think of to "confess" to her shocked readers. This same financial diary ends up turning into a weekly column in the trendy and gossipy "London Goss" newspaper. What begins as this little expense record-keeping diary becomes blown out of proportion, thanks to Katya's wildly bold and grandiose imagination. . Lang has created a character who's bitchy, nasty and mean, ostentatious, pompous, flamboyant, brazen, bold, shameless and pretentious, but thankfully that only makes her all the more entertaining.

No, Bridgit Jones she's not. And delightfully so. (Nothing against Bridgit; loved the movie. Only skimmed the book.) Katya has none of the self loathing and depricating Bridgit does. She's the exact opposite. Katya thinks shes fabulous and often genuinly feels sorry for anyone who isn't her. Katya is a woman for women who have (at least on occassion) dabbled in their wicked, self-absorbed, un-nurturing side. Anyone who can laugh at bitchiness and self delusion. She's inconsiderate, rude, self-absorbed and hysterical. Yes she's abominable but if you've ever been able to laugh at such behavior you'll laugh at Katya Livingston. She may not appeal to those who can't see a bit of themselves in Katya. If you not only laugh at Patsy and Edina but relate to them, then you will to Katya.

As for the cover? That picture has nothing to do with the book so don't let it throw you. As for the title she's not a social climber in the American sense of the phrase. You'll laugh out loud all the way through. I only wish Ms. Lang would do a follow up and continue the character.