Focusing on the latest research on hardware interfaces used in modern information technology, this reference covers universal external interfaces, peripheral device interfaces, external memory interfaces, expansion buses, wireless interfaces, network interfaces, and auxiliary serial interfaces. Specific technologies covered include LPT, COM, USB, FireWire, SCSI, mouse, monitor, printer, audio and video interfaces, Serial ATA and flash cards, ISA, PCI, EISA, PC/104, AGP, LPC, PCMCIA, CardBus, Bluetooth, SPI, MII, SMI, JTAG, and Ethernet. Also included is information on signal line definitions and signal arrangement on I/O connectors, time diagrams, adapters (ATA and NIC), controllers (DMA, PCI IDE, and FDC AT), interrupts, and multifunction cards.

PC Repair and Maintenance: A Practical Guide is a reader-friendly guide to repairing computers (running either Microsoft Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, or XP) through easy-to-understand language, detailed diagrams, and video tutorials. The book emphasizes that a deep understanding of “how a computer works” is not necessary to diagnose and repair problems; it concentrates on practical, “hands-on” solutions that can be implemented right away. Focusing mainly on installing and troubleshooting hardware, the book also provides solutions to common operating system-related problems. In addition, thorough explanations for selecting re-placement and expansion components without paying top dollar are providedhelping users get the most out of their newly repaired PC. Regardless of your level of experience, this is the perfect resource for anyone who wants to repair a computer or is considering a career in the computer repair business.

Photos tell stories. And the more you can do with your digital camera, the better the story you can tell. So build a remote control and sneak up on that picture that keeps eluding you.

Create an adapter that lets you use SLR-type lenses on your point-and-shoot.

Play with lens magnification or create a pinhole lens. Beef up flash memory. And that’s just where the tale begins. The ending is up to you.

Including:

Building triggers, Accessing raw sensor data, Making accessory lens adapters, Eliminating the infrared blocking filter, Extending lenses, Making reverse macro adapters,Building a monopod, Creating bicycle and car mounts, Hacking microdrives from other devices

Practical systems modeling: planning performance, availability, security, and more

Computing systems must meet increasingly strict Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for performance, availability, security, and maintainability. To achieve these goals, designers, analysts, and capacity planners need a far more thorough understanding of QoS issues, and the implications of their decisions. Now, three leading experts present a complete, application-driven framework for understanding and estimating performance. You’ll learn exactly how to map real-life systems to accurate performance models, and use those models to make better decisions–both up front and throughout the entire system lifecycle. Coverage includes:

• State-of-the-art quantitative analysis techniques, supported by extensive numerical examples and exercises
• QoS issues in requirements analysis, specification, design, development, testing, deployment, operation, and system evolution
• Specific scenarios, including e-Business and database services, servers, clusters, and data centers
• Techniques for identifying potential congestion at both software and hardware levels
• Performance Engineering concepts and tools
• Detailed solution techniques including exact and approximate MVA and Markov Chains
• Modeling of software contention, fork-and-join, service rate variability, and priority

Scan this book! Or, read it cover-to-cover. Either way, you’ll learn which scanner to purchase to suite your needs, important technical information about pixels and digital images, installation and calibration tips, and plenty of tricks to make scanning easier and more effective. Written for both PC and Mac users.

Everyone knows how addictive a BlackBerry can be–they don’t call them “crackberries” for nothing! Well, you haven’t seen anything until you try the brand new BlackBerry Pearl. This brand new phone has it all, and it’s small, smart, and stylish too. Not only does it have all the features you expect from a BlackBerry (Phone, Email and Text Messaging, Instant Messaging, Organizer, Browser) but it has some great new “Wow” features including a camera, media player, and BlackBerry Maps. In The BlackBerry Pearl Pocket Guide, trusted gadget teacher and best-selling author Bart G. Farkas reveals the secrets to using this amazing new phone: learn how to take cool pictures and share them with your colleagues, view Web pages, import songs, manage your appointments, communicate with email, text and instant messaging, retrieve maps and detailed driving directions, and even import video. This handy pocket-sized guide also walks readers through the fun lifestyle functions, from playing a new Sudoku game every day to charting your diet and exercise patterns. In this low-priced guide, you’ll find compact-yet-detailed coverage of everything the BlackBerry Pearl can do, as well as all the necessary information on “why” you should use it to be more productive.

This developer’s guide for designers and programmers of mass-storage devices that use the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface provides developers with information on how to choose storage media, interface the media to a microcontroller or other CPU, and write device firmware to access the media and perform USB communications. Comparisons of popular storage-media options to help users choose a media type for a project are included, and the types described cover hard drives and flash-memory cards such as the MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD) card, and CompactFlash card. Helpful tips on developing an embedded host that can access USB mass-storage devices are also covered.

More, better, faster, cheaper, easier, cooler, safer. All of these and more capture our desire to understand and get the most out of the investment we’ve made in our PCs. From making a PC boot faster, to improving its reliability, to using multiple operating systems, to being able to recover quickly when something goes wrong, the PC hacks in this book will improve your PC experience and make you a lot more computer-savvy.The term hacking has a bad reputation in the press. They use it to refer to someone who breaks into systems or wreaks havoc with computers as their weapon. Among people who write code, though, the term hack refers to a “quick-and-dirty” solution to a problem or a clever way to get something done. And the term hacker is taken very much as a compliment, indicating that someone is being creative, having the technical chops to get things done. The Hacks series is an attempt to reclaim the word, document the good ways people are hacking, and pass the hacker ethic of creative participation on to the uninitiated. Seeing how others approach systems and problems is often the quickest way to learn about a new technology.

Since you’ll be hacking your PC, and it probably contains all your data, never more than ever are you most strongly encouraged to follow three basic tenets of PC ownership: back up, Back Up, and BACK UP! While we won’t intentionally lead you through a hack that will harm your system, life with a PC is not a matter of if your system will crash, but when. Backups, system restore points, software and hardware installation disks, and printouts of hard-to-remember or obscure details are very handy to keep safe but close at hand should you need them.

The Winn L. Rosch Hardware Bible provides a background on how things work, puts competing technologies, standards, and products in perspective, and serves as a reference that provides quick answers for common computer and technology questions. It functions as a buying guide, telling not only what to buy, but why. It also lays the foundation for upgrading or repairing a computer, but stops short of the step-by-step mechanics of the process. The chief purpose of the Hardware Bible remains educational. Some new features in this edition include rewritable DVD technology as well as Blu-ray Discs, wireless networking including 802.11a and 802.11b, Bluetooth wireless communications, and extended coverage of digital cameras, scanners, and telecommunications…and much more!

One way is by reading the book you hold in your hand. It’s designed to help you understand all the technologies that underlie the modern personal computer and all its peripherals that help make it useful. Although you won’t be able to design a computer when you’re finished (that is, unless you already knew how to when you started), you will know what it takes to design one, how computers work, and how you can work better with them—and get them to do more for you. It doesn’t matter if you regard a screwdriver as a tool, an instrument of torture, or a new curiosity you’ve never before encountered. Even if you have no technical background whatsoever, this book will guide you to a level of understanding that will let you buy, use, and upgrade your computer with confidence. At the same time, you’ll find all the technical information that you need to do a school report or business presentation on nearly any current computer topic.

Released to near universal acclaim, Apple’s Aperture is an all-in-one post-production tool for professional photographers. Featuring a RAW-focused workflow, Aperture lets photographers import, edit, catalog, organize, retouch, publish, and archive images more effectively and efficiently than ever before. In this guide, best-selling author Ben Long takes Aperture users to the next level, providing them with a more in-depth understanding of Aperture’s tools, as well as lots of tips and work-arounds to get the most out of the program. In addition, the coverage of fundamental raw theory and practice will help the reader master the program’s high-end editing features. More than just a step-by-step tutorial, this book will help photographers develop a fundamental understanding of the philosophy and approach that underlies Aperture’s design.