Students get reprieveStill, by using Lulu.com, Basham is able to help his students defer some of the financial burden of the course. Downloading the book from the Web site is completely free, and the document can be printed for $25 per copy--a bargain considering Cisco's text sells for around $100 in bookstores. Basham and his co-authors get a $5 royalty on every printed book. The rest of the money goes to Lulu.com for publishing costs. St. Petersburg student Tina McGuire, 33, who has already taken $20,000 in loans in the past year to pay for tuition and living expenses while she goes back to school, is grateful not to have to spend $100 on another textbook.

"Every little bit helps," she said, "It's nice to get something for free for a change, This is really Matt's way of doing something for his students, melon mountains iphone case He really gets personally involved with all of us.", Before publishing the book on his own, Basham said he had contacted Cisco Press about publishing it, but it wasn't interested, After his free book appeared online last week, however, the company contacted him via e-mail requesting a meeting to discuss the program at St, Petersburg College, Company spokeswoman Goodwin said that Cisco is always looking for ways to improve the program..

She said that although instructors are required to teach the Cisco Academy curriculum, they are welcome to supplement it as necessary. She also emphasized that none of the Cisco Academy students are required to buy any of the textbooks from Cisco. "Cisco has a long-standing relationship with St. Petersburg College," she said. "And we have a process-oriented quality assurance program with the (Cisco) Academy where we work collaboratively with institutions to solicit feedback. We are continually making improvements based on customer needs.".

Rebuffed by networking giant, instructor Matt Basham goes to the Net and offers his book at no cost, Basham, a professor of information technology and IT security at St, Petersburg College in Clearwater, Fla., wrote his own 800-page Cisco networking textbook and last week made it available for download over the Internet free of charge, More than 2,000 copies were downloaded melon mountains iphone case around the world in the first few days of the book's online release, according to Lulu.com, an alternative textbook publisher that agreed to distribute it..

CNET también está disponible en español. Don't show this again. Visit manufacturer site for details. Review summaryIf you're not a Sprint or Verizon customer but you favor flip phones with Samsung's signature silver styling, your options until recently have been limited. Enter the Samsung SGH-E105 for T-Mobile users. This midrange model offers a more basic feature set than the company's SGH-E715 camera phone. Sporting a cool, compact design, the E105 has enough features and functionality to keep you in touch. While battery life was average and volume quality could be better, this handset didn't disappoint. Though the $199.99 price is a bit high, you should be able to find it for at least $100 less.Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more. The Samsung SGH-E105 doesn't try to impress with a flashy appearance. Clad in two-tone silver with a sleek, streamlined shape, the flip phone somewhat resembles the thicker Samsung VGA 1000 for Sprint. But take in the design for a few minutes, and its unassuming look will grow on you. The phone is indeed small, measuring 3.3 by 1.8 by 0.8 inches and weighing 2.9 ounces, and it can fit in any pocket despite its 0.75-inch external antenna. A postage stamp-size external monochrome display shows the date, the time, battery life, signal strength, and caller ID (where available). We found it easy to read in any light and appreciated the tiny LED that can be set to blink for incoming calls; available in seven colors, it can also be turned off. The E105 feels comfortable to hold while you're talking and has a solidly constructed hinge, but we didn't like the plastic material covering most of the mobile.