While Oracle VirtualBox is a great free tool, the real power of virtualisation - deploying many virtual machines on a single physical computer - comes when you can connect those machines to each other and to the wider world. It creates huge opportunities for software development, sales, education and training.Computer networking, however, is a dense subject filled with technical jargon.The VirtualBox Networking Primer is a no-nonsense guide for the VirtualBox user who has t...

Anyone with a website will be concerned about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to get a better ranking in the results pages, get more traffic and more visitors. Ignore what the SEO snake oil salesmen say, SEO isn't rocket science, it just takes a little effort in the right places. Getting the basics right can make a big difference to any sites rankings as long as it has good engaging content. SEO comes down to understanding the key concepts and how to implement them - just what this...

Roy Stocks passion for modern sports fencing came to dominate his life, first as a competitor and later as a coach. As a latecomer to both, Roy lamented the lack of clear, concise, up-to-date books and drafted this manual to try to demystify a challenging technical sport. Outside his many classes, not just beginners but intermediate and experienced fencers found valuable insights from The Art of Foil Fencing.Re-edited and updated by former student and now coach Robin Catli...

Give any child - or even most adults - a toy sword and something fires their imagination. Yet fencing is still not considered a mainstream sport, despite appearing in every Olympic Games of the modern era. Myths persist about the difficulty, exclusivity and cost of a sport that is open, welcoming and supportive at all levels. Among the safest of sports, fencing retains its sense of danger and fun.With more than thirty years running multiple clubs, coaching hundreds of adults and th...

Check in at the doctor's surgery, apply for a school place or submit a tax return; we are expected to interact with digital platforms every day as governments and public services embrace 'digital-first.'The lack of digital accessibility contributes to the exclusion or partial exclusion of many people from large parts of society.From the legal frameworks of Section 504, the ADA and the EU Web Accessibility Directive, to the standrards of the W3C, this Essential Short Gui...

Since the Internet has become a fundamental way to access and provide information and services, the lack of accessibility contributes to the exclusion or partial exclusion of many people from large parts of society.Web accessibility shouldn't be an afterthought; any web development should incorporate accessibility for the widest possible audience from the ground up.Outlining the framework for web accessibility, along with tools and techniques for designing and developing ac...

In the highly technical sport of Modern Olympic Fencing, stepping up from club level to competition can seem a daunting, baffling prospect – but no longer.This newcomer’s guide explains in plain language the requirements, formats, rules, etiquette and the all-important technical language in competitions.All you need to take your first steps into competition without looking like a wide-eyed novice, so that you can arrive relaxed, prepared and ready to fence.Ideal for...

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may have been with us since 2018, but a lot has happened since then. This Guide updates the original material to consider the United Kingdom leaving the European Union ("Brexit") and the impact on international data transfers of this and other new data privacy laws.At its core, the GDPR is about key concepts of individual's data privacy and clear, opt-in consent to the use of any electronically stored personal data by organisations - jus...

Online product launches, events and campaigns will often take you not to the main website of a company or organisation, but to a micro-site, a small number of web pages, perhaps just one landing page, dedicated to that highly focused message, content and audience. Welcome to the world of micro-sites, mini-sites and weblets. Illustrated with real-world examples, this short guide walks through when and why you might want to build small in the Internet, along with how to plan ...

Fast page load times, mobile-responsive, navigation, easy-reading: four must-have's you just can't afford to ignore if you have a website.When visitors are increasingly short on time and attention, using very device and every screen size, your site has to be designed with these in mind to get them from the page title to a call to action. This is the new user-friendly web.Walking through these four concepts for providing the best user experience, this Essential Short Gui...

PRINCE2® is an internationally recognised, best-practice project management framework used by both the public and private sectors. While the official 413-page manual describes the whole framework in depth for practitioners, this Essential Short Guide from Proactivity Press aims to ease newcomers gently into the PRINCE2® method.Introducing the PRINCE2® model of project variables, themes, principles and processes, this guide illustrates with real-world examples, hig...

Well-curated websites and social media profiles with timely, relevant and engaging content don't happen by accident.It requires a considered content strategy to define the goals, messages and success criteria to an identified audience. It also requires an effective content plan to deliver quality content that will attract, engage and grow that audience.Together, these ensure the right content, in the right media, to the right channels, at the right frequency, at the right t...