Warto czytać (realpublisher)

Today's focus:  How to keep on top of new free e-books

By Dave Kearns

I often recommend the free electronic books from
realtimepublishers.com as an inexpensive way to build up a
library of tips, tricks and techniques for IT professionals. The
books are free because they are sponsored by vendors. The
vendors typically have products covered in the area of the
book's subject, but they're far from being "infomercials" hyping
some overpriced tool.

Disclaimer: I have written a couple of e-books for the company,
but I was recommending realtimepublishers.com long before I
became one of its authors.

Typically, one of the books will explain a technology or service
in detail while the sponsor (separately) gives you a message
that its product can help you do the job more quickly or
efficiently. As an example, there's the recently published "The
Definitive Guide to Securing Windows in the Enterprise" by Dan
Jones, sponsored by ScriptLogic. Jones says of his book: "You
can spend a lifetime attempting to master Windows security and
spend much of your free time discussing and debating the topic
with other IT professionals. However, this guide will
concentrate on security as more than just philosophy and
policies - security is a practical topic with real-world
impact." ScriptLogic's message is that its tools will make the
job easier.

A recent development at realtimepublishers.com should make the
job of keeping on top of new titles even easier. Content Central
(  ) is the portal to all the
company's publications. Here you'll find news about upcoming
e-books, recently released chapters and a complete listing of
all previously published works. Click on "Windows Enterprise"
and a cascading menu of the four different series appears:
Definitive Guide, Tips and Tricks Guide, Administrator Shortcut
Guide and Developer Shortcut Guide. Clicking any lists the
titles in the series currently available. For example, clicking
on the "Tips and Tricks" entry brings up links to:

1. "Tips and Tricks Guide to Active Directory Troubleshooting"
2. "Tips and Tricks Guide to Windows 2000 Group Policy"
3. "Tips and Tricks Guide to Windows 2000 and Active Directory Administration"
   

Each of these links, in turn, brings you to a description of the
book, a bio of the author, the table of contents and links to
all chapters currently available.

No longer do you need to visit each sponsor's Web site to
register or download a new chapter, you now can do all that at
the Content Central site. You can even get an XML/RSS feed to
use in your favorite aggregator so you can be kept informed
about new developments without having to visit Content Central
every day!

Check it out, it's all free. And while you're there, sign up for
the latest publications:

1. "Tips and Tricks Guide to Network Configuration Management 2005 Edition"
2. "The Video Guide to Protecting Internet Access and Communications"
3. "The Definitive Guide to Securing Windows in the Enterprise"
4. "The Shortcut Guide to Network Compliance and Security"
5. "The Definitive Guide to Active Directory Troubleshooting and Auditing"

I did.