http://left-brain.comRSS Feed for Left-Brain120/tabId/65/itemId/1871/Microsoft-System-Center-Enterprise-Suite-Unleashed.aspxThis book provides a logical pathway as it wends it way through the different components that comprise System Center.Tony StevensonFri, 13 Aug 2010 15:27:32 GMT9aa9bd8d-fa96-482c-b9e1-6354e78a31f3/tabId/65/itemId/1867/Microsoft-Forefront-Threat-Management-Gateway-TMG.aspxThere's no doubt that the book, "Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG): Administrator’s Companion", is a comprehensive read – a lot of useful information has been packed into its nearly 1100 pages. It has been specifically written to be an administrator's guide, and it definitely fulfills its role of delivering what the book's authors themselves refer to as "functional usage."Tony StevensonMon, 19 Jul 2010 19:06:29 GMT162961cb-24ec-425e-b8f7-328f69e7684c/tabId/65/itemId/1865/Social-Networking-Spaces-From-Facebook-to-Twitter.aspxAll of us are "time poor" and most likely don't have the time, nor the desire, to investigate each social networking application in depth. Preferably, what is required is a guide to the latest in social networking which provides an overview of each of the major social networking applications, along with how they work, so that we can determine for ourselves whether or not a particular application will benefit us in our daily business lives. Fortunately that guide is already available in the form of a new book titled "Social Networking Spaces: From Facebook to Twitter and Everything In Between" by Todd Kelsey.Tony StevensonTue, 15 Jun 2010 14:53:56 GMT3000d915-5426-4de3-a65f-8e1996e5a65d/tabId/65/itemId/1862/Anywhere-How-Global-Connectivity-is-Revolutionizi.aspxEmployees of businesses, and especially IT professionals who are in a privileged position to best understand the technologies underpinning global connectivity, have a responsibility to help their companies and organizations to exploit the positive benefits offered by such global connectivity. But where to start? The answer is simple – begin by reading "Anywhere: How Global Connectivity is Revolutionizing the Way We Do Business"!Tony StevensonTue, 18 May 2010 16:38:56 GMT162abcf3-d58b-4c82-9f3b-b9895320cb86/tabId/65/itemId/1859/Technical-Support-Essentials-Advice-You-Can-Use-t.aspxIn order to become successful in technical support, you need to not only develop a particular mindset; you also have to equip yourself with a unique set of technical skills to support that mindset. The book, "Technical Support Essentials: Advice You Can Use to Succeed in Technical Support" can be of enormous assistance in achieving both of these objectives.Tony StevensonMon, 19 Apr 2010 19:39:12 GMT00dda9bc-7c80-47b6-bb81-3078065c1ed9/tabId/65/itemId/1856/EventDriven-Architecture-How-SOA-Enables-the-Rea.aspxIn the book, "Event-Driven Architecture: How SOA Enables the Real-Time Enterprise", the four authors – Hugh Taylor, Angela Yochem, Les Phillips, and Frank Martinez – reflect on how they have "observed the recent and spectacular rise of the concept of service-oriented architecture (SOA) with excitement tempered by concern." Tony StevensonTue, 16 Mar 2010 15:02:01 GMT74495dad-2ab4-4142-bcad-fca824d6090f/tabId/65/itemId/1853/The-Nomadic-Developer-Surviving-and-Thriving-in-t.aspxThe book, “The Nomadic Developer”, despite its reference to the term "developer" within its title, is still the sort of book that will appeal to a wide readership because it basically reveals how to succeed in the world of professional IT, regardless of your current position, and most importantly, the prevailing economic situations.Tony StevensonTue, 16 Feb 2010 21:23:57 GMT61bcbe4c-51e3-4e70-ba95-930a7189747c/tabId/65/itemId/1848/The-Myths-of-Security-What-the-Computer-Security.aspxUnless you have a special interest in Internet security or work in that particular field everyday, it's unlikely that you can stay up to date with all the latest developments in that area, simply because you are so busy trying to stay on top of your own professional IT commitments. It is vital though that you know how to protect yourself when you are online, and that's where the book, "The Myths of Security", can be of enormous help.Tony StevensonTue, 19 Jan 2010 16:42:00 GMTa056f3fd-7ee9-4feb-8390-91e85dd61182/tabId/65/itemId/1833/SAP-Implementation-Unleashed-A-Business-and-Techn.aspxThe collective goal of the authors of "SAP Implementation Unleashed: A Business and Technical Roadmap to Deploying SAP" was to show readers of the book how to be successful with SAP implementation by "doing it right" and by "doing it better".Tony StevensonMon, 14 Dec 2009 17:52:54 GMTdf65e5c6-ec21-4209-861a-5c270d4dc9d9/tabId/65/itemId/1830/Tweak-It-and-Freak-It-A-Killer-Guide-to-Making-Wi.aspxThis book appeals to curious users who want to travel down different Windows roads, rebellious users who want to thumb their noses at standard-issue Windows techniques, and power users who want to get the most out of Windows.Tony StevensonTue, 17 Nov 2009 18:44:23 GMTf742b068-f314-4b13-b826-cdd28888f040/tabId/65/itemId/1827/Windows-Server-2008-HowTo.aspxThis book contains a comprehensive amount of information that can help anyone who is involved in installing, maintaining, fine-tuning, or trouble-shooting Windows Server 2008 in their company or organization.Tony StevensonTue, 20 Oct 2009 16:15:51 GMT2af36895-94a3-472d-bf7b-7bd5f2fd6559/tabId/65/itemId/1819/Microsoft-Voice-and-Unified-Communications.aspx“Microsoft Voice and Unified Communications” is the book to turn to in order to keep abreast of Microsoft’s latest range of voice communication technologies.Tony StevensonTue, 15 Sep 2009 18:24:48 GMT9a745bdf-deba-46f0-9f68-33d4c465ec57/tabId/65/itemId/1818/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2008-Integration-Services-Unl.aspxIn this book, Kirk Haselden, the author of “Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services Unleashed”, is of the opinion that “Integration Services can be frustrating and difficult to learn”. And it is for those very reasons that the advice provided in Haselden’s book can substantially help you when it comes to mastering the technology.Tony StevensonWed, 19 Aug 2009 18:18:57 GMT0eabcec0-b5fe-411b-b2c4-8ca808c8217d/tabId/65/itemId/1803/Chained-Exploits-Advanced-Hacking-Attacks-from-St.aspxIn the book appropriately titled “Chained Exploits: Advanced Hacking Attacks from Start to Finish”, the advanced hacking attack technique of “chained exploits” is defined as being “an attack that involves multiple exploits or attacks. Tony StevensonTue, 14 Jul 2009 16:07:09 GMT4abe8684-26c2-47a7-a6b0-9edf535cd65a/tabId/65/itemId/1798/Exchange-Server-2007-HowTo-Real-Solutions-for-Ex.aspxThe book, “Exchange Server 2007 How-To”, definitely lives up to its subtitle of “Real Solutions for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Administrators.”Tony StevensonMon, 15 Jun 2009 16:20:27 GMTa978e671-96c8-4694-9db6-503dccdd1101/tabId/65/itemId/1797/SOA-Governance-Achieving-and-Sustaining-Business.aspxThe goal in this book is to explain to its readers “why so few organizations actualize the full benefits of SOA, why certain dimensions of SOA are not executed correctly, and how other aspects of SOA are implemented to maximize its advantages.” Tony StevensonTue, 19 May 2009 21:04:36 GMTfd1af06f-5eca-4509-9253-2fccb0d36c12/tabId/65/itemId/1795/Microsoft-SQL-Server-2008-Management-and-Administr.aspxAs stated in the book’s title, the focus of this book is on SQL Server 2008 – its new features and where its functionality differs to that of SQL Server 2005. But because the book’s content is also based on Microsoft’s latest server operating system – Windows Server 2008 – a bonus for readers is that they also get to learn about how SQL Server 2008 runs on Windows Server 2008.Tony StevensonWed, 15 Apr 2009 15:59:39 GMT7c43414e-7aec-4db3-a021-abd48aeb552d/tabId/65/itemId/1790/SQL-Server-Forensic-Analysis.aspxWhy should you bother reading a book titled “SQL Server Forensic Analysis”? According to the book’s author, Kevvie Fowler, the reason is simple: “within the past few years, our reliance on database technology has increased exponentially...As our reliance on databases has increased, so, too, have the number of attacks targeting the data those databases store and process…Tony StevensonTue, 17 Mar 2009 17:00:00 GMT8fb8eb5b-258e-4efd-b846-e802d71a1314/tabId/65/itemId/1789/Googlepedia-The-Ultimate-Google-Resource-Third-E.aspxBy reading this book you will not only become more efficient in searching the Net, you will also gain invaluable insights into Google’s diverse range of web and software tools. Tony StevensonWed, 18 Feb 2009 15:52:50 GMT79190a58-addb-44cb-a897-120bf548e913/tabId/65/itemId/1602/Eating-the-IT-Elephant-Moving-from-Greenfield-Dev.aspx“Eating the IT Elephant” is an intriguing title for a book, so much so that it begs to be picked up just to find out what it’s all about. And once you do, the book becomes all the more intriguing because you discover that this particular book investigates a topic that is an ongoing frustration for nearly all IT professionals, namely, learning how to manage, evolve, and transform legacy IT systems.Tony StevensonWed, 21 Jan 2009 06:00:00 GMT124524d2-0f6e-4f3b-8eb1-6c36c5ae529f/tabId/65/itemId/1601/Applied-Security-Visualization.aspxYou don’t normally associate the concept of visualization with computer networks, unless, of course, you are referring to a specialized type of visualization. And that’s the very reason that the book, “Applied Security Visualization”, has been written.Tony StevensonWed, 17 Dec 2008 06:00:00 GMT204eebc1-026b-41d3-abf1-e6281d5f761e/tabId/65/itemId/1600/Enterprise-Master-Data-Management-An-SOA-Approach.aspxThe book, "Enterprise Master Data Management: An SOA Approach to Managing Core Information", published by IBM Press, represents a comprehensive reference resource that covers all the different aspects of "Master Data Management" (MDM). Tony StevensonWed, 19 Nov 2008 06:00:00 GMT0ba2a508-b11f-4db5-b620-ed6ed0ec94ce/tabId/65/itemId/1599/Sams-Teach-Yourself-SAP-in-24-Hours-Third-Edition.aspxIf your company is currently running SAP, or maybe it is intending to implement it in the near future, then one book that can help you to both understand and master SAP is "Sams Teach Yourself SAP in 24 Hours."Tony StevensonMon, 13 Oct 2008 05:00:00 GMT1f773960-3b64-49fc-a48a-8a20f5c10f46/tabId/65/itemId/1598/The-New-School-of-Information-Security.aspxWhat sets "The New School of Information Security" apart from other security books is the willingness of its authors to look beyond traditional sources of information in order to address security challenges that all companies and organizations are currently facing.Tony StevensonWed, 17 Sep 2008 05:00:00 GMTb5181e43-a3d5-449a-9d39-4d8cca6a3137/tabId/65/itemId/1597/Implementing-SOA-Total-Architecture-in-Practice.aspxThe emphasis in the book, "Implementing SOA: Total Architecture in Practice" is on the business value that can be derived from SOA (Service-Oriented Architecture) implementation.Tony StevensonWed, 20 Aug 2008 05:00:00 GMTb9bf5fe7-cbcf-4c28-89e4-4b7309a46ed3