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

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

    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.
    How'd I get so white and nerdy?

  • #2
    Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

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

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    • #3
      Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

      "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.

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      • #4
        Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

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

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        • #5
          Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

          Originally posted by kimo55
          "Idiot's Guide to BJ's for Dummies.
          ...for those that suck at it."
          Wow Kimo, you own that one?

          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.
          sigpic The Tasty Island

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          • #6
            Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

            Originally posted by Pomai
            Wow Kimo, you own that one?
            uh... I usta buy em to give em away to muh beeochezzzzah!

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            • #7
              Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

              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.
              I'm still here. Are you?

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              • #8
                Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

                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
                "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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                • #9
                  Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

                  Originally posted by Pomai
                  [...]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.

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                  • #10
                    Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

                    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.
                    Aloha from Lavagal

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

                      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.
                      Last edited by scrivener; January 11, 2006, 10:02 PM. Reason: "they decorated all the generals who fought the war behind the lines ..."
                      But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                      GrouchyTeacher.com

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                      • #12
                        Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

                        Originally posted by scrivener
                        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!
                        Aloha from Lavagal

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

                          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.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

                            Originally posted by lavagal
                            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.
                            But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
                            GrouchyTeacher.com

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Do you have an "idiots guide to..." or "... for dummies" book?

                              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.

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