Robotics

Robotics is a great educational tool: a hands-on activity that produces palpable results; encourages experimentation; involves multiple disciplines including maths, physics, mechanics, and computer programming often requires team work; and teaches the need for documentation and record keeping.
RoboCup Junior is an outstanding example of robotics operating at international level in the secondary school environment.

LEGO is the leader in educational and hobby robotics. It produced the first generation of programmable 'bricks' in the mid-1990s; the impetus came from an American university engineering faculty that developed a programmable brick prototype for use with conventional LEGO components for robotic projects.

The new generation, Mindstorms NXT, is far more sophisticated. Features include increased memory, non-volatile memory, wireless and USB communications links, 32-bit processor and choice of programming environments. Two of several programming options are NXT-G (optimised for the 8 to 14 year age group and those who don't know much about programming), and RobotC (based on C++ with basic and expert modes).

With the NXT programmable brick LEGO has introduced a range of building components that depart from its conventional geometry (straight beams and 90-degree connectivity). The new geometry enables use of studless building techniques that open the way to constructing more interesting robots.
Building Robots with LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT presents a series of thorough discussions on particular aspects of robotics. For example, a chapter, "Building Robots That Walk", explains the theory of walking, how to build legs, building a four-legged and a six-legged robot, and designing bipeds. The text is supported by numerous illustrations that show the 'walking' components and how they are assembled.

Topics covered include: gears; controlling motors; reading sensors; building strategies; programming; mobility (differential drives, skid-steer drives, synchro drives); pneumatics (pumps and cylinders, building air compressors, building a pneumatic engine); finding and grabbing objects; guidance systems; solving a maze; and drawing and writing.

The content is presented in clear language and is generously supported by illustrations and diagrams. Readers don't have to know anything about robotics, but those with experience should find the descriptions of the Mindstorms NXT series interesting and useful. Appendices contain URLs, a bibliography, and other data. Highly recommended as a library acquisition.
 

Dave Astolfo et al.: Building Robots with LEGO Mindstorms NXT ISBN 978-1-59749-152-5 Published by Syngress, 447 pp., RRP $61.50 incl. GST

Web Design

In this title 'Design' is used in the practical sense of planning and executing websites and web documents. Learning Web Design is a great self-teaching guide for novices. Readers are not assumed to have any particular knowledge of web design tools — not even basic HTML. It doesn't teach per se, but explains how to create simple XHTML with links and images; along the way readers will pick up knowledge of how all the bits fit together. An emphasis on observing XHTML standards is timely; old-style HTML might be relaxed and simple, but can result in complex nested tables for page layout, and cross-browser problems.

Authoring software - a number of products are mentioned - is a useful tool, but one that requires users to have a sound understanding of the processes and to be able to comprehend output source code (the HTML and CSS stuff). The book walks - albeit by way of the scenic route - its readers through the 'A to Z' of site development and explains hosting, domain names, FTP, and all those things involved in getting a page onto the Web.

Inclusion of test questions at the end of each chapter, with a succinct review of the chapter's content, make it a valuable text for self-teaching or as a course text. This is one of the best overall coverages I have seen.
 

Jennifer Robbins: Learning Web Design 3/e ISBN 978-0-596-52752-5 Published by O'Reilly, 464 pp., RRP $79.95 incl. GST

Beautiful Web Design

'Design' in this title means visual or graphic design principles. The author discusses layout, composition, colour, texture, typography and imagery without discussing programming or software.

There are, however, some brief snippets of code to explain particular points such as how to get type size right. Readers are expected to be familiar with
HTML and cascading style sheets (CSS), but expertise in web technologies is not assumed. There are explanations of, for example, the hexadecimal notation scheme (hex numbers are used for colour codes), the theory of colour, and grid theory (sans maths).

Good graphic design does not necessarily require innate talent. It helps to have talent, but we ordinary folk can get good results by observing the work of others and adapting what we find attractive to our own projects.

It is necessary to understand the principles of graphic design in order to do that successfully, which is why The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is a valuable resource. It provides insights that help the reader understand why something looks good, and to identify design faults.
A thoroughly practical guide to web design: good technical depth in easy-to-understand language with excellent illustrations and graphics. For many users it will be the only web-design text they will need.
 

Jason Beaird: The Principles of Beautiful Web Design ISBN 978-0-97584-6-9 Published by SitePoint, 168 pp., RRP AU$70.00 incl. GST

Penetration Testers
 
Google Hacking for Penetration Testers is primarily for security practitioners, showing how to reverse-engineer malicious-attack techniques that take
advantage of Google because "Google queries are less obvious and provide a degree of separation between an attacker and a target".

However, there is another audience that Google Hacking serves, and which is summed up in the foreword: "Are you a ... Puzzled parent? Political partisan? Pious proselyte? Whatever your walk in life, if you go to Google and ask the right questions using the techniques from this book, you will be more thoroughly armed with the information that you need to live successfully".

The book describes techniques that any reasonably informed user can apply without the need to write or understand scripts. This is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to get the most out of a Google search, or who has a responsibility for assisting or instructing others (such as teachers, lecturers, and help desks).

The first two chapters provide a comprehensive coverage of searching fundamentals, and the final chapter explains how to automate Google searches.
 

Johnny Long: Google Hacking for Penetration Testers ISBN 978-1-93183-636-4 Published by Syngress, 502 pp., RRP AU$69.00 incl. GST