I'm working through what looks to be a decent book from Sams Publishing: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services.

Only there's a sample database that they use throughout the book and in order to download it, it appears that I have to sign up for Safari - that obnoxious 'digital bookshelf' service that goes for $439/year.

Dear Idiots at Sams Publishing,

If I had wanted a digital copy of your book, I would have purchased it for $6 at Amazon when I bought this book. But since I've purchased the book, I'd like access to the sample code since you were too cheap to include a bleepin' CD.

You suck.

And no, I don't give a crap about the free 45-day trial membership of Safari that I get which lets me download the sample code (I assume) since
a) the instructions in the book no longer match the site,
b) Safari tells me I only get 10 days before they start charging my frickin' credit card and
c) I just don't want to sign up to some stupid service - I just want the sample code for my book.

Again, you suck. A lot.

--Mike

UPDATE: I should point out that the book itself points to a link and tells you to enter a coupon code - which will give you 45 days of free access to your book. Before writing up this nasty post, I went to the url listed in the book - but it just kept redirecting me to the safari site - where I was on my own and ran into the experiences listed above. That's what made me cranky. I'm _not_ hip on having to sign up for anything to get code for my book - but I'll tolerate it if it's less painful than writing up a nasty blog post ;) In my case, however, I just couldn't get access to the book - without divulging my Credit Card # and doing a full 'trial' sign-up.

ALMOST THERE UPDATE: After sending an email to Safari Publishing and Sams I got a response. Rather than just going to SamsPublishing.com which redirects to informit.com, they sent me to the following link: https://ssl.safaribooksonline.com/safarienabled - where I'm able to enter the code/coupon from the front of my book and add a few pieces of info (my name, email addy, and a password). But that still ended up being a pain - and after scouring the 'bookshelf' I still couldn't see any obvious links for downloads. So I gave up for a few minutes.

SOLUTION UPDATE: Happily, however, since I had spammed a handful of people/accounts listed on the informit.com site (with a link to this post, of course), I got another response from a publicist who provided me with a link and offered to send my 'feedback' to the appropriate folks in order to ensure future customer satisfaction. Happily the link that the publicist sent was EXACTLY what I was looking for:
http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0672327821&rl=1
Note the Download Tab. Note too that there's no need to sign up, sign-in, or give-away one of my children. I guess I should have checked the 'store' functionality on the site early on - but I was too caught up in going to the URL that the book sent me to.
Oh well, problem solved - and I've got my sample code.