Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

[adrian]

If so, what books are they?

I have "Home Networking for dummies" (I suck at networking) and the complete idiot's gude to hiking, camping, and the great outdoors.

[Glen Miyashiro]

No. I prefer not to think of myself as a dummy or an idiot.

[Leo Lakio]

"Complete Idiot's Guide To Dummies" - but only because the store was out of "Idiots For Dummies."

I thought someone had written my biography; sure would save me some time.

[kimo55]

"Idiot's Guide to BJ's for Dummies.
...for those that suck at it."

[Pomai]

"Idiot's Guide to BJ's for Dummies.
...for those that suck at it."Wow Kimo, you own that one? :D

Seriously, I find the "Dummies" series valid, well written and quite humorous. They take a technical subject matter and make the learning process an entertaining experience.

A while back I had one titled Building Webpages for Dummies (used from Jelly's) and got as much laughs as I did knowledge out of it. Useful and fun all in one.

[kimo55]

Wow Kimo, you own that one?

uh... I usta buy em to give em away to muh beeochezzzzah!

[mel]

I owned a 386 PC for a very short time long ago. Because of that I had a "DOS for Dummies" book. It was pretty good. I gave both the book and PC away to a friend.

Today I have a "Unix for Dummies" book. It's good to use when I need to access the terminal and Unix core of Mac OSX.

[Miulang]

I have "LotusNotes for Dummies" , "Project Management for Dummies" and "MS Project for Dummies" right now. I'm using the Project book to help me get up to speed quicker on Project.

Miulang

[tutusue]

[...]Seriously, I find the "Dummies" series valid, well written and quite humorous. They take a technical subject matter and make the learning process an entertaining experience.[...]
Yep...I wholeheartedly agree. A great concept! Early on I bought any Dummies book related to Macs. I'd laugh out loud reading them. I laughed so hard over one that I wrote the publisher! S/he contacted me for permission to use snippets of my letter and photographs in upcoming books!!! I have no idea whether or not that happened, but what'd I care! I was the perfect target audience for that series! HTML, iMovie and Web Pages are currently on my book shelf in the office. I know I have others at home. Wish I had time to read them cover to cover but I do refer to them when I've gotten myself into one of my usual technological messes. :rolleyes:

[lavagal]

I have a hard time picking one of these books up. I refuse to admit I'm a dummy. But I am. When I look at those books, I feel like an alcoholic looking at bottles that I want but won't buy. But one day I did buy InDesign for Dummies in anticipation of having to learn it in a couple of months. That's it. I'm sure there are other dummies books that I could apply to my life, but I'm in denial.

[scrivener]

I could have sworn we had this conversation last year some time, but what the heck.

It is no secret that textbooks are written by idiots. These idiots forget that they're trying to TEACH people something, that they are trying to COMMUNICATE with people. Rather than demonstrate their true expertise with clear, concise writing, they disguise their snobbery by hiding behind jargon and crappy writing. This is either because they're stupid or because they know that making their subject matter inaccessible fortifies their positions in the elitism of academia (or technology). Snotty bastards.

The Dummies and Idiots books strip all that crap away and do what textbooks should do. I have books in both series about the American Presidents, PHP and MySQL, Personal Finance, and A+ Certification, and think they are wonderful. It takes skill to write this stuff, and I am an unabashed admirer, jealous of the talent these writers have for keeping something accessible, interesting, humorous, and meaningful.

Lavagal, every one of the books states in the introduction that if you're reading the book, you are most certainly NOT a Dummy (or an Idiot), because Dummies and Idiots don't pick up books and try to learn stuff.

There are writers who, just by communicating successfully with as many people as possible, demonstrate their considerable brains. Stephen Jay Gould did this, William Langewiesche does this, James Fallows does this, and most of the writers of the Dummies and Idiots books do this, too. Writing a normal textbook doesn't make you sound smart. Writing a book for Dummies makes you sound smart.

[lavagal]

Lavagal, every one of the books states in the introduction that if you're reading the book, you are most certainly NOT a Dummy (or an Idiot), because Dummies and Idiots don't pick up books and try to learn stuff.


Ah! An enabler! Thank you! Hahahaha. I feel released, free, empowered. Truly, I'm going to take that InDesign for Dummies out of hiding today! Thanks Scrivener! I'm a new woman!

[Kilinahe]

I have the Opera for Dummies book. It went missing during a move, but it was such a great book. Came with a CD, even. You'd be amazed how much of the music in commercials comes from opera.

[scrivener]

Truly, I'm going to take that InDesign for Dummies out of hiding today!
...and I'm happy to help if you have any InDesign questions. I use it every day. I can't promise that anything I tell you will make any sense, though. I'm a snotty bastard.

[pzarquon]

I've bought a couple of books in the Dummies series. One was for Microsoft Access. I finished that one and felt pretty stupid, as apparently even a book for Dummies was too complex for me to process. The other one was for web programming (I think Perl, not PHP, though I was thinking about the latter). I never did anything with what I learned, but I liked having a little more stuff in my head for when I run into the occasional chunk of code.

There are several series of books like this, and I definitely like that most aren't written by some core team of writers, but are instead written by practitioners or experts in the field. It also means that the tone and the writing quality can vary quite a bit, though.

[zztype]

DNS for Dummies; PHP & MySQL for Dummies; Flash For Dummies; C++ Programming In Easy Steps (Not "For Dummies" but same concept); XML In A Nutshell (ditto); Webmaster In A Nutshell (ditto);... I know there are more.

I often tell people who ask to go get a Dummies book whenever they need a serious leg up on a tricky topic in a hurry. I usually don't buy the thickest book on a topic. I tend to buy the thinner ones, and I tend to get "condensed" versions like Dummies most of the time.

Blaine

[Linkmeister]

I have Access 97 for Dummies and CSS for Dummies. My need for the Access one disappeared, but it's still on the shelves. The CSS one was useful at the time I bought it and probably will be again.

[Pomai]

A few of you mentioned having the PHP & MySQL for Dummies volume.

Have you learned anything that you actually implemented on a website? Is the book thorough enough to actually build a database and serve it properly?

I need to build a servable database (within this year) and need that knowledge (which I don't have right now).

I know, I'm a dummy so I'll need a dummy book. :p :D

[zztype]

A few of you mentioned having the PHP & MySQL for Dummies volume.

Have you learned anything that you actually implemented on a website? Is the book thorough enough to actually build a database and serve it properly?

I need to build a servable database (within this year) and need that knowledge (which I don't have right now).

I know, I'm a dummy so I'll need a dummy book. :p :D
Yes, PHP & MySQL for Dummies is the one to get.

But, I suggest going to http://www.hotscripts.com, cruising the PHP section, Scripts section to see if someone has built something already that is similar to what you want. Many of their listed scripts are free for the taking and modification.

Find one that looks interesting, download it and read the "Docs" that come with just about all of them.

You may not need to learn to program it yourself. You may just have to read the install directions to get what you need. That's my basic M.O.

I have the Dummies book nearby as a reference in case I get in trouble. But usually the install docs or the script's support discussion board are all I need.

Blaine

[flying snow]

I've got two Dummies books. Algebra For Dummies and Programming for Dummies. When I started school again in 2004 I really needed help with math...I don't think I ever used the book. Instead I used a pc program and that helped kick me into gear. Read through the Programming book, but ended up just jumping right into classes. Took Intro to Prog. which was basically VB and then C#. In the fall itll be C++.

[adrian]

"Complete Idiot's Guide To Dummies" - but only because the store was out of "Idiots For Dummies."

Like this? (http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/4631/idiotsdummies12ch.png) ;)

[lelei]

My secret shame. I have "Singing for Dummies." Not so secret anymore, but still lots of fun. The folks who sit in front of me at church should thank the author! :D

[Pikake]

LOL, omg...I get Football, Personal Financing, Investing & Investing Online....gosh what a dummy!

Has anyone heard of the "Everything........" book? I have one called the "Everything Tween" book. It's style is similar to the ...for Dummies book.

[adrian]

now you can make your own dummies book cover (http://www.signgenerator.org/books/dummies/)

(of course, us with photoshop skills already know how to do it ;) )

[Pedro]

Speaking of Dummy or Idiots theirs this sight called darwinawards.com that award people who die doing the most insanist idiotic things. I will not share any of the stories with anyone. you just have to go on and visit the sight. Theirs no pictures on it, just words from articles taken from newspapers from all over the world. I seldom visit www.darwinawards.com because I don't take pride in reading how people die, but since the topic was on idiots guide or something like it, that sight happened to pop in my mind.

[Keith H.]

If so, what books are they?

I have "Home Networking for dummies" (I suck at networking) and the complete idiot's gude to hiking, camping, and the great outdoors.
I'll just say that half the books on my shelf are in yellow and black or orange and blue, and leave it at that. :)

[adrian]

Within the past couple of weeks, I picked up two dummies books: "Home-based business for dummies" and "A+ certification for dummies".

[WindwardOahuRN]

I have the "Idiot's Guide to Appearing Smarter Than You Really Are" by Marion Vos Savant.

Sadly, I was lost after the first few pages...

[tikiyaki]

For computer stuff....I find the "Visual Quickstart Guide" books way better.

They have a little rabbit for their logo and the covers always have blocks of color on them.They explain things way better than the "for Dummies" books...in my opinion. The "for dummies" phrase was a great marketing tool tho'.

Whomever came up with that franchise is no dummy, and a very rich person right now.

[cezanne]

I still have an MS Office one and an Autocad one on the shelf.

[kimo55]

I never liked those dummies books. for the most part, they assume you have more knowledge about something than they should. So, open a book on video editing or html for eg, and half the stuff, cannot understand.

[Menehune Man]

No, but I do seem to always have someone around to tell me what "I should be doing". ;)