The Lord of the Rings. 3 Vol. Set
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • After having reading this book for the 4th time...
  • Centenary Edition (LoTR)
  • Beautiful
  • 21st Century Ahistorical Bibliophilia: Almost without peer, and the flaws have been been exaggerated in number and degree
  • Not overly satisfied
The Lord of the Rings. 3 Vol. Set
J.R.R. Tolkien
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0618346244

Amazon.com

A Christian can almost be forgiven for not reading the Bible, but there's no salvation for a fantasy fan who hasn't read the gospel of the genre, J.R.R. Tolkien's definitive three-book epic, the Lord of the Rings (encompassing The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King), and its charming precursor, The Hobbit. That many (if not most) fantasy works are in some way derivative of Tolkien is understood, but the influence of the Lord of the Rings is so universal that everybody from George Lucas to Led Zeppelin has appropriated it for one purpose or another.

Not just revolutionary because it was groundbreaking, the Lord of the Rings is timeless because it's the product of a truly top-shelf mind. Tolkien was a distinguished linguist and Oxford scholar of dead languages, with strong ideas about the importance of myth and story and a deep appreciation of nature. His epic, 10 years in the making, recounts the Great War of the Ring and the closing of Middle-Earth's Third Age, a time when magic begins to fade from the world and men rise to dominance. Tolkien carefully details this transition with tremendous skill and love, creating in the Lord of the Rings a universal and all-embracing tale, a justly celebrated classic. --Paul Hughes

Book Description

Three-volume paperback edition featuring cover art from the film.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them

In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, The Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth still it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell, by chance, into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.

From his fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, Sauron's power spread far and wide. He gathered all the Great Rings to him, but ever he searched far and wide for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.

On his eleventy-first birthday, Bilbo dissapeared bequeathing to his young cousin, Frodo, the Ruling Ring, and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.

The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the wizard, the hobbits Merry, Pippin and Sam, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf, Boromir of Gondor, and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars After having reading this book for the 4th time..........2007-09-22

I didn't like Fellowship of the Ring the first time I read it, but plowed on to the end and gave up on the other two "books" (it's really just one long book). I think I now know why. The first reason is that I had just read and loved The Hobbit, and was expecting another book along the same lines.
LOTR starts off with Bilbo and the wizard Gandalf in Hobbition, and mentions of Gollum. What a great opener! The problem was, for me, that these familiar elements were all moved into the background. The only times I felt hey this is cool, is when they jumped back into the story for a moment, and these were few and far between. When are we going to get to the good stuff, huh?
The other thing is that this is, except for the first chapter or two, in a completely different style than The Hobbit. It's pure fantasy in the sense of looking around at all the wonder. (often times of very not magic things eg, trees and grass and hills in the shire.) Indeed, the later books focuses on humans. (In the recent movies they injected Elves in places where there were none before in the story, I expect to increase general interest in the atmosphere)
The result is that I did not enjoy LOTR until I took a very leisurely attitude towards it, rather than an adventurous one, notwithstanding that there are adventurous moments. Every time I read it I find some facet of the world that I did not notice before, or that I forgot. That is now when I most enjoy the book. For others to enjoy this book I think you must enjoy the moment, and not be in a hurry for the plot to advance.

5 out of 5 stars Centenary Edition (LoTR).......2007-09-08

This is not a critique of Profesor Tolkien's works: I defer to others more qualified than I to judge his writing.

This is merely a review and description of a specific version of The Lord of The Rings. A number of reviews and comments have prompted me to point out some sought-after features of this edition.

First, this is only about the edition known as "The Centenary (1892-1992)." It was published in a single volume by Houghton Mifflin in 1991 to celebrate 100 years since the birth of Professor Tolkien in 1892. To easily identify this book look for, on the back of the dust jacket, a special centenary medallion and ISBN-10: 0-395-59511-8.

Alan Lee, reknowned Tolkien artist, was specially commissioned to paint 50 illustrations for this "Illustrated Edition." They are beautifully rendered on glossy, high-quality paper and interspersed throughout the book.

The book is set in large type, with the typeface clear and easy to read. The paper is good quality, bright white and shows little print "bleed-through" from following pages. On a personal note, special attention was obviously paid to this edition, as compared to some of the other poorly printed editions. The cover boards are in brown cloth with a simple gilded imprint of the professor's trademark signature. Nothing very fancy, but elegant nonetheless.

What should be great news to many readers, this edition is CONTINUOUS from page one to the end. The table of contents lists the SIX books, as Prof. Tolkien intended! Page numbering does not start over after each book:
Books 1-2 (Fellowship) = pp. 33 - 428
Books 3-4 (Two Towers) = pp. 429 - 772
Books 5-6 (Return) = pp. 773 - 1069
Appendix A-F = pp.1070 - 1172

Six maps of middle-earth are bound in at the end of the book. They are of various aspects of middle-earth, in black and white, and are not fold-out style. They're of medium quality and nothing to write home about.

This is a wonderful edition, identified by its special Centenary medallion on the back of the dust jacket, quality printing and beautiful artwork by Alan Lee. If your wrists are strong enough to heft a single-volume LoTR, this makes a great reading copy for your library.

5 out of 5 stars Beautiful.......2007-09-03

This is a wonderful edition to our book collection. It's leather, hard cover, fat, & comes in a nice matching sleeve. The pages are gold edged. There is artwork as well. I know there are probably nicer & more expensive books out there, but come on! This is a great book for the price! It's a future heirloom sitting pretty on your book shelf!

5 out of 5 stars 21st Century Ahistorical Bibliophilia: Almost without peer, and the flaws have been been exaggerated in number and degree.......2007-08-12

Two points to clarify about the most popular single-volume LOTR editions:

1) The 1991 single-volume Alan Lee-illustrated edition is the "centenary" edition, commemorating Tolkien's 100th birthday (cf. "centenarian") . The "centennial" edition won't be published until 2054, which will be the 100th anniversary of the original publication of Lord of the Rings. This is a very well designed and well printed/bound edition, built to last and beatufil. Its only fault is the absence of fold-out maps (it has the black and white maps printed in sections, often seen in paperback editions).

2) The reason for the broken type in the 1974 red leatherette "Collector's Edition" (and the occurrences of this number on the order of 1 or 2 characters on every 50th page or so) is more likely that the source text from which the negatives/plates were made and this edition printed was itself flawed and originally was some form of letterpress metal type, probably Monotype [a more 'modern' version of the old LinoType system], though depending on the date of that setting [up to mid-'60s, or even later] it may have been hand-composed. All metal type gets re-used, and becomes worn and some of it cracked/chipped over time. There were many books reprinted in this way through the early '80s (and a few publishers, such as Lindsay Books, of long out-of-print, mostly public-domain or 'gray rights' titles, still do this).

The problem is unlikely to have been caused by faults in photo-typesetting strips or process-camera negs in 1973 or so (when this LOTR Collector's Edition was first printed) since that process was a fully mature, climax technology by then, and quality control was simply outstanding (this was due to that extinct beast, the unionized master-printer, especially at Houghton Mifflin, a publisher with a very large academic textbook list, and an industry reputation for quality production; just look at any ten trade hardbacks circa 1973 and earlier, and compare any element of quality to any ten current titles and it's clear the the technology and practice of printing and book binding peaked long ago, and nothing of newer technology, especially computer technology has served the interest of producing better made books, quite the opposite. 2007 tech only makes it faster and cheaper, nothing else.

Remember also that it was the Allen & Unwin type-compositors who introduced virtually all the spelling and diction errors in both the 1st and 2nd editions, some of which have only finally been fixed in the 2004-05 50th Anniversary edition; and these were errors mostly such as 'dwarves' being "corrected" to 'dwarfs', 'elven' to 'elfin', and many others, primarily linguistic, along those lines; these would have been proper corrections with any author other than Tolkien, of course.)

As for the notion that photo-reproduction is at all like printing a Word document on a laser printer, then scanning it back into a computer as a JPEG or GIF image file, and finally printing it again, that is a facile and plainly inaccurate comparison. In short, unless one starts with a bitmap or similar low quality computer 'font', prints on low-brightness ( <70) recycled paper via a cheap ink-jet printer, scans using a 75-by-75 dpi setting via low-end scanning hardware and software, and repeats printing as above, the result will certainly be nothing so poor as Jeff Sun describes in his review. Photo-reproduction via PC and peripherals or via process-camera, strips, and offset printing, can easily and does commonly achieve excellent results, provided the equipment is of first quality and the operator is skilled.

If anyone is obsessed enough to try this (as I clearly am), one fairly reliable way to tell whether a book is printed (at some stage) from some form of metal type is to use at least a 20x loupe and examine the vertical straight edges (particularly of upper N's, T's, L's, and E's) for irregularity. Metal type degrades in miniscule degrees after the first few hundred impressions, and will show this by cracking/splitting/chipping/warbling/bending and otherwise appearing NOT straight, sharp, and crisp (especially machine-set monotype/linotype which was all lead/tin, since it was melted down repeatedly; hand-set type has antimony and sometimes manganese in it, which makes it much harder to start and also casts more sharply; parts of letters break off but usually don't deform). It's a challenge to tell these apart, since photo-reproduction of letterpress can be hard to distinguish from original letterpress printing, if the latter is done by a highly skilled compositor and press operator. Some letterpress books show the impression of the type on the page, like a light embossing, from the force of the type striking the stock. Really good printing avoids this. So, if you have a book without this feature that does show feathering, breaks, waviness, etc. it may be either letterpress or photo-repro of LP, but if these traits are present it is almost certain metal type was used at some point in the life of the typesetting.

Two caveats to even to this: feathering alone does not definitely mean deformed metal type. Feathering,, or little veins and stream-like projects away from the character is often caused by excessive inking and watery ink, and also by cheap papers that are unsized (meaning a starch like substance is added during the paper's manufacture to prevent feathering and bleedthrough; newsprint is unsized and you can see how feathering works buy lightly touching a fountain pen to a piece of it for a minute or so). The other caveat is that some computer fonts, especially some high end ones for MAC typesetting systems, have been photographically captured/reproduced from books printed mostly before 1800, and their designers often deliberately retain some of the source type's imperfections (which are due mostly to the more primitive metallurgy of that era) to achieve a particular design effect. You might be surprised how much theory and psychology underlies type-design and typography; there is a lot. Need a dissertation topic?

This has become, I see now, a rant, and a really long one. First as a reader, then as a writer, then as apprentice in a letterpress print shop and bindery, I've always held the book as art-object or craft-work in very nearly as high esteem as the words contained within. I do think these issues are worth some ink, and I expect (or hope) that those interested in fine editions such as this so-called "Collector's " (Ugh! I so hate that term, it's like "deluxe" or "premier" and is mildly patronizing to the reader/buyer) edition of LOTR might also find at least some of the above ramble of interest and use. I do regard this red leatherette slipcased edition (ISBN 0-39-519395-8) as my favorite. It was this edition in which I first read LOTR, and though the Centenary hardcover and the HC 50th Anniversary editions (slipcased US and UK, different designs, both excellent) are on the whole and in most particulars better printed and bound, this edition is a nostalgia item for me. I also very much like the red binding, evocative as it is of the "Red Book of Westmarch," the foil-stamping on the spine, of the White Tree of Gondor, (which must be by either Pauline Baynes or by Tolkien himself) is a delight, and the two color printing, in spite of the ocassional bad character and slightly inconsistent inking, makes me feel like I'm reading an incunabulum. All of these speak across from the old world, though perhaps very long after the Third Age had concluded. I recommend it, highly and without reservation, even to a casual collector, especially now since it has recently gone out of print(ca. 2003-2005, around the time the slipcased, black bonded-leather, US 50th Anniversary edition [ISBN 0-618-51765-0] was published), and is very unlikely to be reissued. It (the Red) listed for $75, and Amazon last sold new copies for $47.50 last January. Now however, fine, used copies are nearing the original list price for the new, and new copies are nearing $100, and very hard to find. Buy one now, as soon as you find one available fine or better.

3 out of 5 stars Not overly satisfied.......2007-08-02

The stories make a great novel, I'm a huge LoTR fan. Alas, when I attempted to purchase this product I found myself waiting nearly a month just to get an email telling me that Amazon was unable to obtain and ship me a copy of it. I opted for a different variation of this collectors edition, I would have been more impressed with this one.
Lords of Middle-Earth, Vol. 3: Hobbits, Dwarves, Ents, Orcs, & Trolls (MERP/Middle Earth Role Playing)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Lords of Middle-Earth, Vol. 3: Hobbits, Dwarves, Ents, Orcs, & Trolls (MERP/Middle Earth Role Playing)
    J. R. R. Tolkien
    Manufacturer: Iron Crown Enterprises
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 1558060529

    Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Fun with the Unusual
    • Highrise building = LED-style display!?!?
    • Training the young hardware geek
    • Very accurate and true to form
    • Forrest Mims, eat your heart out!
    Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks
    Scott Fullam
    Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0596003145

    Book Description

    Put a hacker in a room with a Furby for a weekend and you'll hear a conversation that's fairly one-sided in its originality. Toss in an 802.11b network card, a soldering iron, wire cutters, a logic probe, and a few other carefully selected tools and materials and you'll have potential. Add a copy of Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks and by the end of the weekend that Furby will be saying things you never imagined. From building an Internet toaster to creating a cubicle intrusion detection system, Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks offers an array of inventive, customized electronics projects for the geek who can't help looking at a gadget and wondering how it might be "upgraded." Beginning with basic hacks, tools, and techniques for those who may not have a background in electronics, the book covers the tools of the hardware hacking trade and basic soldering techniques, then moves into more advanced hacking projects. Clear step-by-step instructions allow even those with no formal electronics- or hardware-engineering skills to hack real hardware in very clever ways. Hacks in the book are rated on a scale of difficulty, cost, and duration. Projects range from those that are truly useful to some things you may have never thought to do, but which are really cool, such as: Perhaps you're an electronics hobbyist who likes to learn by doing. Maybe you hack software and want to see how the other half lives. Or, maybe you've never hacked at all, but you'd like to get started quickly with some projects that do something interesting from the start. If you're any of these, then Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks will indulge your inner mad scientist. Using the projects in this book as a jumping point for other new and clever hacks, it won't be long before you're looking around, asking, "I wonder what I can improve next?"

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Fun with the Unusual.......2006-08-31

    Useful, fun, or just plain strange projects abound in this book. Some of the unusual but useful projects include creating a portable laptop power supply using regular batteries, setting up a surplus Primestar dish antennae to be a 802.11b wireless system capable of almost ten miles, and creating an advanced digital video system. On the other end of the spectrum is making an aquarium inside a MacIntosh, building an 802.11b antenna from a can, hacking a Furby, and creating a car video periscope. And, of course, there are projects between those two extremes. Each project is classified by cost, time and difficulty level making it easy to determine which ones you might want to tackle. An interesting title for the geek who wants to have the unusual that their friends are not likely to have, Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks is a fun and unusual read.

    5 out of 5 stars Highrise building = LED-style display!?!?.......2005-03-19

    The point of this book is to encourage creative engagement with electro/mechanical technology - to go beyond typical uses - to rediscover the inner inventor and toymaker.
    Each project teaches the builder fundamental technologies that can be applied in many situations. Most of the projects can be re-scaled to a range of budgets and available materials.
    Well written, illustrated, and resourced. A fun read!

    3 out of 5 stars Training the young hardware geek.......2004-10-06

    This is a big, floppy paperback full of projects many geeks or would be geeks already know about. After all, the internet leaks this sort of information all over. However despite some of the projects being a little underwhelming for the geek about town, the fifteen projects would probably be the perfect introduction to hardware hacking for a youngster keen to get into electronics and computers.

    Now that there are very few electronic hobbyist magazines around, it is hard to know how any except the most talented youngsters will get started on hacking gadgets, except via books like this. Having a talented toy designer write the book is a great ploy, as many of the best gadgets are derived from subverting toys and general consumer appliances.

    Some of the introductory projects are a little wimpy. The author doesn't really make it sufficiently clear that an external battery pack for a notebook computer is unlikely to extend your working time much (alkaline batteries are ill suited to most high current drain computers). However there is an undeniable need for a very simple introduction to the tools and materials you need to use. This is one of six tasks teaching tools and materials. The last couple are hacking Furbys, and making a video periscope for a car.

    The advanced section includes digital video recorders, building lighting control, a remote GPS object tracker (just like James Bond). There is a very nice one chapter introduction to making wearable computers.

    The book would make a perfect gift for the potential hardware geek.

    5 out of 5 stars Very accurate and true to form.......2004-06-03

    After making a few these hacks you learn a couple things about the book. Try to stay with the recommended materials list and you will do fine. It also gets you working on the basics of circuitry. However it is as labeled "projects" not really anything too much to learn from, but great if you just want to have some fun.

    5 out of 5 stars Forrest Mims, eat your heart out!.......2004-05-06

    Short review: If you actually know who Forrest Mims is, then you (and/or one of your geeky friends) will absolutely love this book.

    Slightly longer review: This is a fun and easy-to-read book for electronics enthusiasts of all ages and skill levels, geeky or otherwise. From classic projects like the Mac-quarium and the refurbished Furby to more practical hacks like building a backup laptop power supply, you're likely to find at least one or two projects that you'll enjoy reading about... and actually doing! Highly recommended, like most other O'Reilly books.
    Home Hacking Projects for Geeks (Hacks)
    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    • One big commercial for X-10... the product
    • Interesting but nothing innovative
    • Fun but not completely original
    • integration
    • Great, but definitely for geeks
    Home Hacking Projects for Geeks (Hacks)
    Tony Northrup , and Eric Faulkner
    Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 0596004052
    Release Date: 2004-12-01

    Book Description

    Take a geek and a PC, add one soldering iron, a home, and a copy of Home Hacking Projects for Geeks, and you'll give new meaning to the term, "home improvement." From fearless neophytes to tool-wielding masterminds, the home hacker in any geek will find new inspiration and plenty of hands-on guidance to take on a variety of home-transforming projects once relegated to the world of sci-fi. This fun new guide combines creativity with electricity and power tools to achieve cool--and sometimes even practical--home automation projects. Never again will you have to flip a light switch when you enter a room or use a key to open your front door. With a few off-the-shelf devices, some homemade hardware, and a little imagination, you can be living in your own high-tech habitat. Home Hacking Projects for Geeks shows hackers of all ability levels how to take on a wide range of projects, from the relatively small but energy-conscious automating of light switches, to building home theaters using Windows or Linux-based PCs, to more complicated projects like building home security systems that rival those offered by professional security consultants. Each project includes a conceptual diagram, a "What You Need List" and a small "Project Stats" section that describes the relative difficulty, time involved, and cost of the project. What's more, each project is a workable, practical way to improve your home--something unique that you can customize for your individual needs. The thirteen projects in Home Hacking Projects for Geeks are divided into three categories: Home Automation, Home Entertainment Systems, and Security, and include projects such as: If you've ever thought the Jetsons had it made, or looked around your house and thought, "I could make that better " then you're ready for Home Hacking Projects for Geeks.

    Customer Reviews:

    2 out of 5 stars One big commercial for X-10... the product.......2006-01-21

    Nothing in the splash page, back cover or anywhere with info letting you know it is almost 100% about the X10 hardware. I already own a house full of X10 stuff, so the fact that I wasted money on this book burns my soul. Not one thing deals with how to set up, rig or configure any of the projects without having to spend money on whichever X-10 product will do the job. If I wanted that I would just buy the product and read the installation guide that comes with it.
    The author suckered me into buying the book... don't let him sucker you!

    3 out of 5 stars Interesting but nothing innovative.......2005-12-15

    A great deal of the projects in this book are basically various forms of X10 module automation. The projects include how to automate a light with motion sensing, how to remotely monitor your pet, creating a whole house audio or time shifted audio, a keyless entry system, and intrusion detection and deterrence. For each project the items are detailed, the software described in detail, information is included on where to locate them, assembly instructions, scripts, and everything else you need to complete it. Only basic skills are needed for each project. Each project includes information on estimated cost, time and difficulty ratings so you can easily decide which ones you will tackle and which ones you may not want to. Home Hacking Projects for Geeks is recommended to anyone wanting to have a little fun with home electronics.

    3 out of 5 stars Fun but not completely original.......2005-03-16

    Home Hacking Projects for Geeks is a really fun book to read which also provides instructions on how to perform some very interesting home improvements. This book reminded me a little bit of O'Reilly's other book "Smart Home Hacks", only the hacks in this book are not all specifically smart-home related. In any case, some of the hacks in the other book mentioned are also found in this book. "Home Hacking Projects", however, does contain some fun projects I haven't seen anywhere else.

    Some of the more interesting projects in this book include how to remotely monitor your pet, creating time shifted radio, and how to make your home talk. One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that examples are provided for both a Linux and Windows environment. Additionally, configuration information is provided for your router, if the completed project is to be accessible from outside your home network.

    While there are some projects included in this book that you might find elsewhere, this book does an excellent job of providing clear and detailed instructions, including wiring diagrams (if applicable), screen shots of configuration information, and a lot of other things that make the successful completion of these projects much more likely. You'll have a blast automating your home with this book.

    4 out of 5 stars integration.......2005-01-28

    The cover of the book deliberately harkens back to a retroness of some earlier decade. The 70s perhaps. The projects discussed are however of quite recent vintage. One useful improvement in this book, over earlier ones in this series, are the visual slider estimates at the start of each chapter. There are 3, for cost, time and difficulty. Gives you another handle to quickly assess what you might tackle.

    Many projects revolve around integration. How to build some hardware electrical gadget and hook it up in some fashion to your computer. So that the computer can get data from it, or control it. The software components of these projects is kept very minimal. The authors are clearly aware that the likeliest readers are hands-on folks. Who might think that there's already too much software in the book.

    5 out of 5 stars Great, but definitely for geeks.......2005-01-24

    This is the kind of book I wish I would have had as a kid. A book that sparks your imagination about how you can use hardware and software to do practical and cool things. In this case to build little home helpers, like a TiVo for radio, a home theatre IR controller, a home theatre PC, and more.

    The book spends about 300 pages on thirteen home hacks. They are separated into three parts; automation, entertainment and security. Each project starts with a list of materials then walks through a very detailed explanation of building both the hardware and software.

    This is definitely a book for geeks. Specifically the type of geek that finds themselves at Radio Shack more than a couple of times a month. Certainly part of the value of the book is in the projects themselves, but a lot more of the value is in it's inspirational quality.
    Geek House: 10 Hardware Hacking Projects for Around Home (ExtremeTech)
    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    • Not realistic
    • Great Project Frameworks and Ideas
    Geek House: 10 Hardware Hacking Projects for Around Home (ExtremeTech)
    Barry Press , and Marcia Press
    Manufacturer: Wiley
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    Similar Items:
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    ASIN: 0764579568

    Book Description

    * From the garage to the living room, Geek House provides hackers with 10 PC-based hardware hacking projects that are not for the faint of heart!
    * Taking the DIY mentality to a whole new level, this book teaches techies how to hack, customize, and modify everything-from their sprinkler systems to the temperature of their barbecues
    * Adventurous readers will feast on such projects as installing a bar code inventory system for DVDs or CDs, converting RS232 to wireless, scheduling recording from any television in the house, and creating a remote control finder
    * Companion Web site includes the custom software and source code needed to power these geeky creations

    Download Description

    "* From the garage to the living room, Geek House provides hackers with 10 PC-based hardware hacking projects that are not for the faint of heart!
    * Taking the DIY mentality to a whole new level, this book teaches techies how to hack, customize, and modify everything-from their sprinkler systems to the temperature of their barbecues
    * Adventurous readers will feast on such projects as installing a bar code inventory system for DVDs or CDs, converting RS232 to wireless, scheduling recording from any television in the house, and creating a remote control finder
    * Companion Web site includes the custom software and source code needed to power these geeky creations"

    Customer Reviews:

    2 out of 5 stars Not realistic.......2005-08-06

    I'm interested in X10 projects as well as other home automation projects throughout the house but I thought this book was a little out of tune to what you realistically would do. I was captured by measuring the temperature of a grill and adjusting the heat. This is showing you a control for a "smoker." Other items you can easily find on the internet such as X10 devices, sprinkler control, etc.

    5 out of 5 stars Great Project Frameworks and Ideas.......2005-05-03

    This book is by the authors of PC Toys. The PC Toys projects are relatively easy to implement and spoon feed the reader all the material needed to complete the toys.

    I think this is an excellent book. I'm very comfortable with software and coding, but not that great with electronics.

    This book is more ambitious, provides good road maps for the different project areas, but the book is written with the intent of the reader branching out and developing their own solution. My interests are X-10 and Wireless based projects.

    The companion website provides alot of source code that can be tweeked, or rewritten for your own particular project.

    Negatives: not for beginers, could be insufficient for "experts". These statement may be contrary, but instructions lack detail for a complete novice. At the same time, if you have a particular interest in a given area, this book might not be providing you with anything new.

    Check out the contents before buying to ensure your going to get a book that gives you the amount of detail you need. A look at the contents page and a quick skim should help decide if it is right for you.

    If you liked PC toys, could manage the projects and want something more challenging the chances are you'll like this book. I think it's an excellent source of inspiration for projects.
    Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks
      Scott Fullam
      Manufacturer: O'reilly
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      ASIN: B000K85TTO

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