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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Great Price for $39.99

Java Cookbook Review



I bought the first version of the Java Cookbook many years ago and it was a huge find back then. There were few online resources at the time loaded with really great, consistent sample code, like http://www.javaalmanac.com. The Java Cookbook filled a need then and it fills a need now.

The book covers subjects of interest for programmers with any level of Java expertise. It is written in the classic 'cookbook' format. Each chapter concentrates on a specific area, like 'Strings and Things', 'Pattern Matching with Regular Expressions', 'Object-Oriented Techniques', 'Network Clients', 'Database Access', 'Threaded Java', etc.

Within each chapter, several problems are tackled. One or more pages are devoted to each problem, with a general format of: 'Problem', 'Solution', and 'Discussion'. Many of the problems build on previous solutions. Nearly every solution contains a Java example and the code tends to be simple enough to grok at a glance.

The book has been updated to cover most of the new Java 1.4 and 1.5 goodies, but doesn't have as much coverage as I would have liked. However, the most fundamental topics are covered well. The 800+ page book includes 312 recipes that cover a wide range of topics.

If you are like me and spend a lot of time learning by example, you will find this book an excellent resource.




Java Cookbook Overview


You have a choice: you can wade your way through lengthy Java tutorials and figure things out by trial and error, or you can pick up Java Cookbook, 2nd Edition and get to the heart of what you need to know when you need to know it. With the completely revised and thoroughly updated Java Cookbook, 2nd Edition, Java developers like you will learn by example, try out new features, and use sample code to understand how new additions to the language and platform work--and how to put them to work for you. This comprehensive collection of problems, solutions, and practical examples will satisfy Java developers at all levels of expertise. Whether you're new to Java programming and need something to bridge the gap between theory-laden reference manuals and real-world programs or you're a seasoned Java programmer looking for a new perspective or a different problem-solving context, this book will help you make the most of your Java knowledge. Packed with hundreds of tried-and-true Java recipes covering all of the major APIs from the 1.4 version of Java, this book also offers significant first-look recipes for the most important features of the new 1.5 version, which is in beta release. You get practical solutions to everyday problems, and each is followed by a detailed, ultimately useful explanation of how and why the technology works. Java Cookbook, 2nd Edition includes code segments covering many specialized APIs--like those for working with Struts, Ant and other new popular Open Source tools. It also includes expanded Mac OS X Panther coverage and serves as a great launching point for Java developers who want to get started in areas outside of their specialization. In this major revision, you'll find succinct pieces of code that can be easily incorporated into other programs. Focusing on what's useful or tricky--or what's useful and tricky--Java Cookbook, 2nd Edition is the most practical Java programming book on the market.


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Customer Reviews


annoying author apis - Joao Coelho - Sacramento, Ca USA
While the book may be very good, i only give it two starts because of the annoying author's apis and utilities that one must run in order to run the examples. So, if i want to run one of his examples, i now must also have his applications and that really bothers me because it distracts me from the example i am trying to run. A cookbook should not require one to have special pans or equipment to make your average meals or recipes, otherwise, what is the point of a cookbook? Give me examples that i can run on my own without his tools. That would be helpful.



Good used Java book at reasonable price - Lee Ivy -
I was looking for a good used book on Java programming. I read the reviews, this O'Reilly book seemed like a good choice. I bought it used, it has given me what I expected.







Disappointing - R. Trevino -
I am a Java newbie and purchased this book in addition to the Head First Java text to get me started. I am a big fan of the Cookbook series, and have generally been very satisied with them. However, the Java Cookbook has been a disappointment.

I must echo the sentiments of "schrapnel" in his review of this text. The recipies given seem designed to teach general concepts rather than solve common programming problems. The result is a general Java textbook that is encumbered with the Cookbook format of Problem, Solution, Discussion. There are numerous instances of the Problem being trivial, or downright silly. For example, "You really want to know about end-of-line characters" and "You need to learn the syntax of JDK 1.4 regular expressions" are presented as Problems for recipies. Clearly, the author is reaching a bit too far in his attempt to present the material in cookbook format.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 30, 2010 00:00:13

Check Out Exiled Egyptians: The Heart of Africa for $13.95

Exiled Egyptians: The Heart of Africa Review



I have read this book and have compared it to my findings based on emperical evidence as well as others methods i possess! indeed the euro-charlatans can no longer lie in the face of ppl of true knowledge and identity inwhich they never lost! There is big difference between cultural ancestry and origin ancestry inwhich the origin of cultures will always precede the ideas that stem from it, inwhich one should know now that the origin of all ascendants were black or dark skinned ppl, even charles darwin indirectly acknowledged this. It does not matter where u put the ancients in a time and era, or how one may change the method of meanings and communication, indeed all cultural concepts and language have there begin points from a common and singular source! Which was in africa!, it does not matter how diverse one may want to become from the next but understand that all communications must start off with a common way of communing. This being said, academia should acknowledge the difference between slang variation and a distinctively different concept of communicating, indeed they ignore this to great detail, even in their own countries lol! example: ebonics! nuff said. Now for anyone who understands evolution and anthropology then u would know that not all the black ppl of the ancient world were the same exact color or shared the exact features indeed though they were similar in design or even resembled their kin they all still possessed their own unique look that should not be taken out of context as being a foreign unknown identity, that came much later with the climax conditions and the eating habits and the types of bacterias in the food and waters not to mention birth defects, gene splicing, and selective breeding do to different belief systems and a way to establish a area belonging to a particular blood line being that they all share the same features of the mothers and father. So i hope in the future our lost tribes of white bruhdas and sistas will come clean about the origin of the human line. lmao! These insecurities that are justified by some ego religious dogma is way too funny! laysa!.....................keep theorizing while the truth keepers bring forth evidence. If anyone racist charlatan wants to challenge what i write then i can break it down to you in physics, anthro, phono, bio, chemistry, and sociology as it pertains to cultural change do to lost information of ones elders and cultural indifferences as not all shared the same concepts but they all did recognized the TRUE SELF!.....................the only darkness is ignorance towards ones true identity and the method of experience that was chosen....................fwame!




Exiled Egyptians: The Heart of Africa Overview


Read a concise and comprehensive historical account of Egypt for the last 3,000 years. Read about the forgotten Ancient Egyptians, who fled the foreign invasions and religious oppressors. Read how they rebuilt the Ancient Egyptians model system in Africa, when Egypt itself became an Arab colony. Read about the Ancient Egyptians' social, economical, and political systems, and their extended application into sub-Sahara Africa. Find out how the Islamic jihads fragmented and dispersed the African continent into endless misery and chaos. Discover the true causes and dynamics of African slavery.


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Unmissable Information Embedded in Unbearable Attitude - Bonam Pak - Berlin
My rating represents the average of full stars plus bonus stars for pushing the envelope with revealing information absolutely unmissable and minus stars for too much reliance on insufficiant circumstantial evidence and deeply biased attitude thresholding sick into racism, classism, religionism and culturalism.

"Exiled Egyptians" focuses on the Egyptian exoduses caused by Muslim conquerors to the West African sub-Saharan region. It is not about the Moses/Akhenaten exodus, not about the Roman-caused exodus, and not about the spread of any exodus into Europe, the Americas or East and South Africa. The book reveals cultural, architectural, agricultural, linguistic and religious influence of the ancient/medieval Egyptians over mostly the West African peoples, but also the (underground) Egyptian culture of today. A lot of original meaning of vocabulary, such as commonly known peoples' names, gets revealed. Faked history records get exposed, and downpressed history doors are pushed open. No matter the serious flaws I am about to list, this book is nevertheless a must read till the time a better one of this (un)kind is written. Whenever that may happen, then this book will have to get discarded as biased, hostile und scientifically lacking. With one notion in the preface, the author is absolutely right though: "In the end, probably all the various groups will be equally angry [with this book]."

As usual for a book by Moustafa Gadalla, this one is Egyptcentrist. That's a decisive difference to being Afrocentrist or Blackcentrist. For basically, he rejects harshly ANYTHING else than ancient Egyptian culture. This book, however, gets really unbearable in this context. Some examples, of what he thinks of other peoples, cultures and religions: terrorists, gangsters, locusts, stupid, little cultured, barbarian, show only their cold-blooded eyes, primitive beliefs, polluting the ancient Egyptian language with vocabulary, evil, etc. I will not say which Black African, Arab African, European or other peoples and religions he is specifically referring to, as I do not like to repeat insults. Basically, everyone gets hurled an insult at like that.

Some readers blind themselves. Because they venerate (Black) Egypt and like to read about high cultures in Africa, Western history is omitting, they are closing their eyes towards the blatant racism of this book. To begin with, the author believes in races, to the abyss of claiming (even pre-colonial) Africa within itself would be full of different ones, even some of obscure origin. Very selectively, he is using vocabulary for peoples, they do not like to get called by: "Tuaregs", a derogatary term applied to them by the Arabs, call themselves by many names, for example Kel Tamasheq ("Speakers of Tamasheq"), Imuhagh/Imashaghen ("the Free People") or Kel Tagelmust ("People of the Veil"). In an inconclusive context, he calls the Khoisan "Hottentott", a term apllied to them by Dutch colonialists, meaning "stutterers", because they misjudged the click-sounds and frequent syllable doublings. In the context that the book meticulously lists all the correct names of Egyptian-based names of peoples, even giving the correct pronunciataion of the word "Tuareg" ["Twahreg"], this is really something. The book doesn't like the historic behavior of some Imuhagh and looks down on the "San" peoples - all of our ancestor peoples - and therefore finds it legitimate to call them by insults. Not only does he claim, the Bible would say, all Blacks are the descendants of Ham (in reality, that has been an arbitrary and intentional MISINTERPRETATION of the Bible to excuse slavery), the author in all sin-cerity uses the term "Hamites" accordingly. While informing that some West Africans call other Black people "White" because they look white except for the literal skin color, the author terms those "White Blacks" as having fine features. As in opposition to other Blacks. Which would make the latter feature what: Coarse or rough faces?! If I may say so: Every phenotype conceivable is perfectly able to produce fine features. But that is probably inconceivable for someone who uses the N-word in his book as sick. Other comments about Jews and Berbers aren't exactly Africancentered either.

But it gets better yet, when the book turns to colonialism. Before the arrival of European imperialism, Africa would already have been a dark continent of slave raiding, fragmentation, wars and misery. Caused by 900 years of Islamic colonialism, whereas the European Christians would have engaged in a much lighter colonialism for a few decades only. In fact, most Africans would have been relieved to see Europeans prevent more Arab atrocities. I never imagined that that what Germans often claim euphemistically about their in reality grave role in colonialism could be projected onto another level. Now, I have read everything! The book goes on about one of the Saharan peoples as having been "highway robbers", before the saving French arrived.

And yes, it gets worse. Slavery would have existed in Black Africa before all of that, but in a lighter version. Which to certain extent is true. But get this: By no means it would have been a hardship and the slaves would have enjoyed amicable relationships with their masters. If I overstand correctly, to be re-introduced or something. Yet, this Aunt Jamina-Uncle Tom attitude gets completely out of hand, when the book lobbies for the worst classism I have ever had to read in a modern book. There should be divisions of labor in society, based on hereditary criteria, as skills and other abilities would get inherited. A caste system would be for the people's own good and for that of society as a whole. Schooling would be a waste, (not for any miseducation reason, but) because the different castes would not need to learn anything the respective other castes need to learn. That sure isn't Blackcentered, considering that the existing caste system, the one in India, had been introduced for blatantly racist reasons.

Now for the difference of Black/Africancentrism and Egyptcentrism. I venerate ancient Egypt, otherwise I wouldn't have bought this book and appreciated the information provided. However, it clearly crosses the line when claiming that ALL the "high cultures" of Africa, from West Africa to East Africa to Great Zimbabwe would have been entirely the result of Egyptian migration, with no influx of any other peoples whatsoever. He claims EVERY ONE of those cultures would be the spitting image of Ancient Egyptian culture. Well, in some cases yes, but hardly in all. Read When We Ruled: The Ancient and Medieval History of Black Civilisations for clarification on the differences. Please note, that this book doesn't consider ancient Egyptians as Black either. And IF somehow, then not as REALLY Black. The author is basically suggesting, the however "white" Egyptians got absorbed by the Black Africans after the exodus. This is what he has to say about one Black West African people, he is claiming not to derive from Egypt (against its own claim of heritage): It would be an uncultured, gloomy people, who don't sing or dance. Who couldn't be from Egypt, for there would be no nomads in Egypt, and never have been. In addition, all nomads would war, which Egyptians don't do. Which is even wrong as there are various "Gypsy" peoples in Egypt, including nomads, of course of Egyptian origin. And the continental European nomad Gypsies are about the only people on that "continent" known to have never engaged in any war. Anyway, ancient Egyptians may have influenced a lot of cultures. That doesn't make all African cultures (entirely) Egyptian. The parallel vocabulary he mentions, means nothing the way presented, as they are limited to a dozen or so words. Words like French "mer" (sea) or German "Natur" (nature) are derived from ancient Egyptian as well. Christianity (and the other world religions) are derived from ancient Egyptian religion, as are all the monuments in Washington D.C. and the pyramid on the Dollar bills. In other words, the entire rest of Africa may be no more or less Egyptian than the Western world. Which is not to say, this book is necessarily wrong about the general idea of the Egyptian exodus to other parts of Africa. I am just concerned about the occasional lack of provided real evidence in this specific book.

Evidence, which gets discredited occasionally by superficial claims. Dwarfs brought to Egypt would have been treated with great care and respect. Anybody who uses this vocabulary instead of the people's name, disqualifies themselves to begin with. All I can say is that another source provided the information that individuals of the so-called Mbutis have been carried to Egypt during an ancient expedition in a cage - next to a cage with baboons. Though there is an Egyptian glyph venerating "dwarfs", there is also one venerating the baboons. Another claim is that only Judaism, Christianity and Islam practice human sacrifice. Because of the Abraham story, ALMOST sacrificing his son. Note the present tense of "practice", while the author is very specific about past and present in any other context. He also claims, beneath the thin facade of Islam, there would be many secret societies of the ancient Egyptian religion all over Africa, most certainly in Egypt. He can't provide more information, because of supposed security reasons. The evidence he does provide concerns old Egpytian rituals incorporated into Egyptian Islam. Well, if that would be sufficient, I could claim, there are many secret societies of ancient European religions beneath a thin layer of Christianity, because Easter (bunnies), Christmas (trees) and Carneval aren't really Christian by origin and dates, but ancient European traditions incorporated into it. The bottom line is, much of his "evidence" is wrongly monolithic, constructed or lacking, even if true to some extent.

For much better researched exoduses of Egyptians read Egyptian Romany: The Essence of Hispania for exoduses to Europe, by the same author; The Lost Treasure of King Juba: The Evidence of Africans in America before Columbus for an exodus to the Americas; and The Africans Who Wrote the Bible for exoduses to Palestine and to West Africa from a variated, truly Blackcentered perspective.



In Time The Truth Comes To Light - Ankh Amen Ra - USA
This Book Is A Must Read For African Americans!!
This is indeed a life changing book. This book effectively refutes the premise set forth by western scholars that African Americans are romanticizing their ancient Egyptian roots. The evidence presented is daunting and yet concise and understandable. I would not be surprised to see an aggressive attempt by the establishment to prevent mass circulation of this book. No one has scientifically proven the connection of east, west and central Africans to ancient Egypt with the level of academic integrity that Mustafa Gadalla has done with Exiled Egyptians.

This is a book that has the power to change the world's perception of people of African decent. POWERFUL!!




This is an excellent book. - Kelvin Efosa Aguebor -
"The Exiled Egyptians" is a very interesting and deep book because it explains that despite all of what so-called Western "scholars" claimed that the ancient Egyptians are dead, they are alive. In fact, majority of the ethnic groups in Africa are descendants of the ancient Egyptians. Wolofs are the descendants of the Khemites (Egyptians) of modern-day Egypt while others such as the Yorubas are descendants of the Meroitic Egyptians of ancient Meroe. I am very thankful that Mr. Gadalla unlocked the key to the truth. One thing I wish Mr. Gadalla did is to place more information about ethnic groups who are descendants of famous Egyptians of antiquity (if he knew about it.) For example, the Urhobos and Binis of the Benin Empire said they are descendants of Pharaoh Ahmose I of Khemet. If I am not mistaken, I heard that the Dogons are the descendants of Ramses II's children. For anyone who is of Afrikan descent who wants to know more about his/her ancient past should read this book and also for people who are interested of Afrikan culture as well.




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Saturday, September 25, 2010

Check Out Pastoral care east of Eden: the consistory of Geneva, 1568-82 (1).: An article from: Church History for $5.95

Pastoral care east of Eden: the consistory of Geneva, 1568-82 (1).: An article from: Church History Review






Pastoral care east of Eden: the consistory of Geneva, 1568-82 (1).: An article from: Church History Overview


This digital document is an article from Church History, published by Thomson Gale on June 1, 2006. The length of the article is 18478 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Pastoral care east of Eden: the consistory of Geneva, 1568-82 (1).
Author: Scott M. Manetsch
Publication:Church History (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 75 Issue: 2 Page: 274(40)

Distributed by Thomson Gale


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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Check Out Cases on Electronic Commerce Technologies and Applications for $84.95

Cases on Electronic Commerce Technologies and Applications Review






Cases on Electronic Commerce Technologies and Applications Overview


Electronic commerce technologies and applications have changed the way information technology is used in business and society, allowing organizations worldwide to expand their market reach and their customer service. Cases on Electronic Commerce Technologies and Applications presents a wide range of real-life cases that describe the successful and unsuccessful adoption of e-commerce, e-business, e-government, mobile commerce, and Web services technologies. This collection provides significant insight into the successful implementation of these areas.


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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 23, 2010 09:28:28

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Check Out RT Essentials for $27.99

RT Essentials Review



Are you an end-user, system administrator or developer who interacts with RT on an occasional or regular basis? Authors Jesse Vincent, Robert Spier, Dave Rolsky, Darren Chamberlain and Richard Foley, have written an outstanding book that is for everybody who has to use RT to manage tasks.

Vincent, Spier, Rolsky, Chamberlain and Foley, begin by providing some background about what ticketing systems are and how they can help save your job and your sanity. Then, they walk you through the process of setting up an RT server and configuring sane system defaults. The authors continue by showing you how to get up and running with RT's web interface. In addition, they explain how to interact with RT from your shell or console window. The authors also step you through the basics of turning a virgin RT server into a useful tool for tracking what you need to do inside your organization. Then, the authors show you how to extend RT's standard behavior with custom business logic. Next, they provide a look inside the RT configuration at Yoyodyne Propulsion Systems, a nonexistent company that makes heavy use of RT to manage their internal processes. Next, the authors walk you through RT's files on disk; as well as, the details of its database tables. Then, they describe how DBIx::SearchBuilder works. Finally, they show you how to set up a local sandbox for modifying and extending RT without putting your production server in harm's way.

This excellent book will be considerably more useful to you if you have at least a basic understanding of the Unix command line. Above all, this book will be very useful to you if you also have a basic understanding of Unix systems administration skills, and at least a little bit of experience programming in Perl.




RT Essentials Overview


In a typical organization, there's always plenty that to do such as: pay vendors, invoice customers, answer customer inquiries, and fix bugs in hardware or software. You need to know who wants what and keep track of what is left to do.

This is where a ticketing system comes in. A ticketing system allows you to check the status of various tasks: when they were requested, who requested them and why, when they were completed, and more. RT is a high-level, open source ticketing system efficiently enabling a group of people to manage tasks, issues, and requests submitted by a community of users.

RT Essentials, co-written by one of the RT's original core developers, Jesse Vincent, starts off with a quick background lesson about ticketing systems and then shows you how to install and configure RT. This comprehensive guide explains how to perform day-to-day tasks to turn your RT server into a highly useful tracking tool. One way it does this is by examining how a company could use RT to manage its internal processes. Advanced chapters focus on developing add-on tools and utilities using Perl and Mason. There's also chapter filled with suggested uses for RT inside your organization.

No matter what kind of data your organization tracks--from sales inquiries to security incidents or anything in between--RT Essentials helps you use RT to provide order when you need it most.




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Worked for me - Michael C. Saffell - New Hampshire, USA
I needed to assess whether this application would work for me, and this book did great with getting me this information.



Dissappointing - S. Holmes -
I was very dissappointed with RT Essentials. I had been using and administering an older version of RT for some time, but when I upgraded to the current version I thought I would benefit from reading this book. There are a lot of new features in the later versions and this book just barely mentions them. I had the feeling that it just almost told me what I wanted to know, but not quite. I would very much like to see an expanded, more detailed more comprehensive edition. I think it would take a book twice the size of the current edition to do RT right. I want complete tutorials on writing scrips, using templates, using custom fields, using saved searches, etc.



Helpful, but already dated - M. James -
Request Tracker (RT) is a great product. I am the only sysadmin at a small company, and having an automated tracking system is going to be an immense benefit for me. I bought "RT Essentials" to help me get up to speed on RT3 really quickly. And, since it was written by the programmer who's responsible for RT, the book had lots of detail and tips.

However, when it came down to implementing some of the code in the book, I found that it was already outdated. For example, I tried to set up the Autoreply template with Password by copying the code straight out of the book. It didn't work because the program codebase has changed too much since the book was released.

I was able to fix my template problem by hooking into the great RT user community, where the author contributes frequently.

All in all, I thought the book was really helpful for getting RT installed and getting me up to speed. For the nitty-gritty, I'd rely on the online wiki and great user community.



Excellent Software, but Average Book - M. Terretta - New York, NY
We've been using RT for several years. As one happy customer mentions at Best Practical's site, managing a project or service driven organization without RT is like watching TV without a TiVo. The software is powerful, flexible, and above all, adaptable to many styles of management for more than just technology projects. No question, the software gets 5 stars.

This book, however, is largely a reorganization of the information provided with the software. If you prefer to read printed materials instead of PDFs or HTML, this book will save you money on printer paper. But if you're looking for best practices, recipies, or enhancements such as those you'll find in the RT Wiki, you may be disappointed. In fact, for most of the advanced capabilities, you are referred by the book to other resources. The book does contain the occasional nugget, such as a half dozen lines of code to truly delete a ticket and related data. With some searching, you'd be able to find those, and better, at the RT Wiki, such as the particuarly valuable contributions from the University of Oslo (do an A9 search for "RT prosjektgruppen").

Compared to most O'Reilly books which set the bar for excellence, this one is merely average. However, I do recommend this book as an introduction for those considering whether it's worthwhile to move to RT from some other enterprise ticketing system, and for techs to give to managers who are more comfortable with hard copies than electronic documents. For any RT admin, it's certainly worthwhile to have documentation printed and organized in an easy reference, considering how much you've saved on the excellent software itself.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 22, 2010 10:30:09

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Great Price for $18.99

Hackers & Painters Review



Graham is obviously really smart. He covers both obvious and complex ideas really clearly and convincingly. The first portion of the book is largely on social theory/philosophy/economics, while the latter is computer science. All of these are of interest to me, so I thought the book was phenomenal, as was the author's insight.

The footnotes and glossary are entertaining as well.




Hackers & Painters Overview


"The computer world is like an intellectual Wild West, in which you can shoot anyone you wish with your ideas, if you're willing to risk the consequences. " --from Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham

We are living in the computer age, in a world increasingly designed and engineered by computer programmers and software designers, by people who call themselves hackers. Who are these people, what motivates them, and why should you care?

Consider these facts: Everything around us is turning into computers. Your typewriter is gone, replaced by a computer. Your phone has turned into a computer. So has your camera. Soon your TV will. Your car was not only designed on computers, but has more processing power in it than a room-sized mainframe did in 1970. Letters, encyclopedias, newspapers, and even your local store are being replaced by the Internet.

Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age, by Paul Graham, explains this world and the motivations of the people who occupy it. In clear, thoughtful prose that draws on illuminating historical examples, Graham takes readers on an unflinching exploration into what he calls "an intellectual Wild West."

The ideas discussed in this book will have a powerful and lasting impact on how we think, how we work, how we develop technology, and how we live. Topics include the importance of beauty in software design, how to make wealth, heresy and free speech, the programming language renaissance, the open-source movement, digital design, internet startups, and more.

And here's a taste of what you'll find in Hackers & Painters:

"In most fields the great work is done early on. The paintings made between 1430 and 1500 are still unsurpassed. Shakespeare appeared just as professional theater was being born, and pushed the medium so far that every playwright since has had to live in his shadow. Albrecht Durer did the same thing with engraving, and Jane Austen with the novel.

Over and over we see the same pattern. A new medium appears, and people are so excited about it that they explore most of its possibilities in the first couple generations. Hacking seems to be in this phase now.

Painting was not, in Leonardo's time, as cool as his work helped make it. How cool hacking turns out to be will depend on what we can do with this new medium."

Andy Hertzfeld, co-creator of the Macintosh computer, says about Hackers & Painters: "Paul Graham is a hacker, painter and a terrific writer. His lucid, humorous prose is brimming with contrarian insight and practical wisdom on writing great code at the intersection of art, science and commerce."

Paul Graham, designer of the new Arc language, was the creator of Yahoo Store, the first web-based application. In addition to his PhD in Computer Science from Harvard, Graham also studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence.


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Essays - Daniel Brown - Los Angeles, California United States
Thought provoking and entertaining collection of essays. If you liked 'Joel on Software' you will like this.






poorly written and uninteresting - E. Stemer - DC
Any new ideas in this book? Not really. Simple thoughts, mostly either quite trivial or simply wrong, drove by a person whose confidence is only equalled by pretentiousness. I hope "nerds" are smarter than this, they deserve to be praised by someone who's idea of what is "important" (not specified in the book, unfortunately, I'd be interested to hear) are more "important" than what the author believes important things are...



The nerd boy who won - Einar Waaler Høst - Oslo Norway
So Paul Graham is a successful Lisp hacker who made a lot of money from his start-up. Good for him. To be sure, this earns him some credibility in discussing languages and start-ups. Unfortunately, he takes it upon himself to extrapolate from this single data point to universal laws of what makes you successful. Moreover, he seems to think that his success as a geek entrepreneur somehow lends validity to whatever unsubstantiated thoughts, feelings and prejudices he may cook up, including some completely ridiculous views on the general superiority of geeks over regular people. The only reason so many of his readers seem to accept these views must be that he's preaching to the choir: certainly his geek audience would dearly like them to be true. His arcane and naive notions of art and aesthetics are too embarrassing to even discuss. Oh, and the smugness is just insufferable.

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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Check Out Julia Alvarez's "In the Time of the Butterflies": A Study Guide from Gale's "Novels for Students" (Volume 09, Chapter 6) for $5.95

Julia Alvarez's "In the Time of the Butterflies": A Study Guide from Gale's "Novels for Students" (Volume 09, Chapter 6) Review



"A soul is like a deep longing in you that you can never
fill up, but you try. That is why there are stirring poems
and brave heroes who die for what is right" -Minerva

In a nutshell I expected this book to be dry and dull. What I discovered was this book is beautifully written and had great character development. The narration shifts between the four main female characters which actually helps draw the reader in. Also, knowing that there is a seed of truth surrounding this work of fiction makes it all the more interesting.

All I can say is this book was a pleasure read and captivates the imagination.




Julia Alvarez's "In the Time of the Butterflies": A Study Guide from Gale's "Novels for Students" (Volume 09, Chapter 6) Overview


Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Novels for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: plot summary; character analysis; author biography; an overview of the novel's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Novels For Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: Thomson Gale--and "Novels for Students."


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Perfect for those in need of a through review - J. Hedgepeth -
Was unable to finish reading book for a report, this through review helped me get a good grade.










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Guerilla marketing 101: getting a logo donors will remember.(Office Technology): An article from: The Non-profit Times Review






Guerilla marketing 101: getting a logo donors will remember.(Office Technology): An article from: The Non-profit Times Overview


This digital document is an article from The Non-profit Times, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1046 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Guerilla marketing 101: getting a logo donors will remember.(Office Technology)
Author: Ted Needleman
Publication:The Non-profit Times (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 19 Issue: 17 Page: 22(2)

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Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning: A Harvard Business Press Book Summary in Partnership with getAbstract Review



I found this book to be both enjoyable and very informative.

It uses real-life examples of many diverse companies which are successfully using Analytics in their businesses, including Netflix, CEMEX, Capital One, The Boston Red Sox, The New England Patriots, Marriott, Progressive, Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, Bank of America, P&G, Google, Amazon, and more.

It describes how Analytics are used in different functional areas, including Financial, Marketing, Manufacturing, R&D, HR, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Supply Chain Management (SCM). Delving into the finest levels of granularity, for example... in planning for M&A or ensuring SOX compliance, are referenced but not explored in any depth.

Useful tables are provided to categorize Analytical Applications for these different areas as well as referencing vendors who provide different capabilities - I found this quite helpful as this allows me to easily research related details in an organized manner.

A helpful framework is defined to guide readers forward toward planning and building their own Analytical capabilities and the various stages they can expect to go through, as well as the necessity of aligning business needs with IT, the architecture of Business Intelligence, organizing/managing Analytical resources, potholes to avoid, and what we can expect to see coming down the pike in the future.
This is not a math text designed to provide algorithmic insight into computing Analytics; in fact, I would have appreciated a few detailed technical real-world examples. This book, however, is a very interesting and effective overview of companies that have successfully used Analytics in different areas to achieve success, and it will be a helpful guide for those who would like to understand the vision and begin the journey to obtain a "consistent version of the truth".




Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning: A Harvard Business Press Book Summary in Partnership with getAbstract Overview


In today's world, you have more information at hand about your business than ever before. But are you using it to outthink your rivals? Certain high-performing enterprises are now building their strategies around data-driven insights gained from the use of analytics--sophisticated quantitative and statistical analysis and predictive modeling. In "Competing on Analytics," Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris show how exemplars are gaining a competitive edge by using these new tools to identify their most profitable customers and offer them the right price; accelerate product innovation; optimize supply chains; and identify the true drivers of financial performance.


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The book doesn't go into analytics - Shawn Arora - Toronto, ON
I was hoping the book would delve into analytics tools and techniques, but it doesn't even get close. It pretty much explains 2 things: first, that analytics are important and second, that there are 5 stages a company must go through (from no analytical capability to corporate-wide capability). The book mentions some companies that use analytics, but again, not the specific tools.

This book does not deliver a message. If you bought the book, you probably already knew that analytics are important.



Worth a few spare dollars ... - Joseph D. Marsh - Massapequa Park, NY United States
If you've never read any books about analytics, this book is a good primer on analytics in general. While it lacks any real specifics (which is a big detractor), it does introduce a lot of the terminology and concepts. All good stuff. If you *have* read a few books on analytics, this book is going to be largely redundant.

I did come away from the book with a solid idea of the concept of being an analytical competitor. This should come as no surprise, as it is, in fact, the title of the book. The authors did a good job of describing the notion.

But the lack of specifics makes me hesitate to recommend the book. Got a few hours and a few dollars to spare? Buy it and read it; if not, I'd skip it.



Overrated - Jess - Houston, TX
I found the content very shallow because what the authors have to say are mainly from their surveys or observations rather than any concrete know-how. The idea of the book is to illustrate how important data analysis is and how market leaders are using data to succeed. It further explains the characteristics of companies in each stage, from comapnies that are data impaired to those that are leaders in analytics, always thinking the next steps. Unfortunately, the book fails to go deeper to point out how exactly does a firm analyze the data. Instead, it only touches the idea here and there. For example, it mentions over and over again how Harrah's used data to maximize customer loyalty, but it doesn't illustrate how exactly did they perform the task. The book focus on the idea of data-driven decision making, which is really not a new idea in 2009.

The book is probably a good introdcutory to those who want to know the trend of today's business world. However, for those who are already in a very competitive business environment, the value-add is very limited.
Rather than wasting time reading a book that may not be useful, I would highly recommend another book called "The Profit Impact of Business Intelligence" which has more in depth discussion on BI strategy and its application.

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Power Is the Great Motivator (HBR Classic) (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) Review



The late David C. McClelland was a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University when this article first appeared in 1976. David H. Burnham was at that time the President and CEO of McBer & Company, a behavioral consulting firm. He is currently a principal of the Burnham Rosen Group, a strategic consulting and leadership-training firm in Boston. This article was originally published in the March-April 1976 issue of the Harvard Business Review.

"What makes or motivates a good manager?" A good manager is successful; motivation comes from the need for achievement. "But what has achievement got to do with good management?" Based on their research and workshops the authors conclude that the top manager of a company must possess a high need for power - that is, a concern for influencing people. In fact, their need for power has to be greater than their need to be liked. The authors discuss their workshop techniques for measuring managerial effectiveness and insights into their research, including the power factor. This research led them to three kinds of managers: (1) The institutional manager = high in power motivation, low in affiliation motivation, and high in inhibition; (2) the affiliative managers = the need for affiliation is higher than the need for power; and (3) personal-power managers = the need for power is higher than the need for affiliation but with a low inhibition score. They provide us with scores for each kind of manager on sense of responsibility, organizational clarity and team spirit, whereby the institutional manager comes out on top. But do not be concerned, the authors also believe that managers can change their styles. The authors believe that the most important point from their research is that managers of companies "can select those who are likely to be good managers and train those already in managerial positions to be more effective with more confidence."

Great article on the relation between motivation and effectiveness of managers. It makes a good relation between the need for power and achievement and management styles. And although this article was originally published in 1976, it is still very actual. This OnPoint-version includes a retrospective commentary by David McClelland. Recommended to executives, managers, human resources professionals, and MBA-students. The authors use simple business US-English.




Power Is the Great Motivator (HBR Classic) (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) Overview


This is an enhanced edition of HBR article R0301J, originally published in 1976 and republished in January 2003. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article, plus a synopsis and annotated bibliography. What makes or motivates a good manager? This article attempts to answer that question by using the degree of a person's need for power as a measure of success. McClelland and Burnham studied managers in large U.S. corporations. They also surveyed the managers' subordinates to determine how effective the managers were and to isolate the characteristics of those who created high morale. Their conclusions? The better managers tended to score high in their need for power--that is, their desire to influence people--and that need outweighed their need to be liked. The authors also found that the most effective managers controlled their desire for power so that it was directed toward the benefit of the institution as a whole. In his retrospective commentary, David McClelland considers his earlier findings in light of his research into two important changes that have occurred in the workplace since HBR first published this article 27 years ago: large hierarchical organizations have flattened out, and female managers have entered the workplace in full force. McKinsey Award Winner.


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Competing for the Future (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) Review



Hamel's thesis:

Employees can have:

Passion
Creativity
Initiative

______________________

Intellect
Diligence
Obedience

We need the traits above the line be they cannot be commanded. Traits below the line are minimum "table Stakes" and are commodicized.

Some gems from a speech Hamel did at World Business Forum:

"Management is the greatest innovation of our time."

"If you are not spending 80% of your time growing food, you can thank management"

"The management problem was to increase efficiency every year. This is just table stakes. Every company needs to do this but it is now a commodity."

"1000 years from today, people will be amazed at the high pace of rate of change." As change accelerates, so does the need for adaptation.

"Product based advantages erode faster than before."

Crisis causes innovation, renewal and change. Deep change is almost always caused by crisis.

"We are no longer in the knowledge economy, we are in the creative economy."

"Today you have to compete with everybody, everywhere for everything" (Although he said this in his talk, he says it is not his quote.)

So the goal is how do you create a company that can innovate and change. Seek creative destruction. Bottom line -EVERYONE in the company needs to be creative and innovate. How do we unleash the creative potential of everyone.

Gary is a good speaker with good insights.




Competing for the Future (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) Overview


This is an enhanced edition of HBR article 94403, originally published in July 1994. HBR OnPoint articles include the full-text HBR article plus a summary of key ideas and company examples to help you quickly absorb and apply the concepts. Is your company a rule maker or a rule follower? Does your company focus on catching up or on getting out in front? Do you spend the bulk of your time as a maintenance engineer preserving the status quo or as an architect designing the future? Difficult questions like these go unanswered not because senior managers are lazy--most are working harder than ever--but because they won't admit that they are less than fully in control of their companies' future. In this adaptation from their upcoming book, Hamel and Prahalad urge senior managers to look toward the future and ponder their ability to shape their companies in the years and decades to come. Creating the future, as Electronic Data Systems has done, for example, requires industry foresight. Since change is inevitable, managers must decide whether it will happen in a crisis atmosphere or in a calm and considered manner. Too often, profound thinking about the future occurs only when present success has been eroded.


Competing for the Future (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) Specifications


Winning in business today is not about being number one--it's about who "gets to the future first," write management consultants Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad. In Competing for the Future, they urge companies to create their own futures, envision new markets, and reinvent themselves.

Hamel and Prahalad caution that complacent managers who get too comfortable in doing things the way they've always done will see their companies fall behind. For instance, the authors consider the battle between IBM and Apple in the 1970s. Entrenched as the leading mainframe-computer maker, IBM failed to see the potential market for personal computers. That left the door wide open for Apple, which envisioned a computer for every man, woman, and child. The authors write, "At worst, laggards follow the path of greatest familiarity. Challengers, on the other hand, follow the path of greatest opportunity, wherever it leads." They argue that business leaders need to be more than "maintenance engineers," worrying only about budget cutting, streamlining, re-engineering, and other old tactics. Definitely not for dilettantes, Competing for the Future is for managers who are serious getting their companies in front. -- Dan Ring

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Excellent Expansion of Key Ideas in Management Theory - Charles Broming - Orlando, FL United States
This is an excellent book that expands on two important ideas that these authors adapted to the business environment, core organizational competencies and strategic intent. Both of these ideas can be found in von Clausewitz, but this adaptation (originally propounded in two Harvard Business Review articles, both of which won annual McKinsey Awards for best article) clarifies how these notions work in the business environment. Required reading for students, observers and practitioners of business strategy.






better than Porter - Dr. S. Johnson - Sydney, AUS
This book is great! I am just waiting for the hardcover version of it! Hamel and Prahalad have managed to write a book that is interesting and informative at the same time. Plenty of examples illustrate the theory and keep the reader interesed. Very nice book!



Good for business strategy - Mark Deo - Torrance, CA
Great foundation for business strategy. Good in tandem with Drucker. Very motivating. Great from a communication and organizational standpoint. Very refreshing. I highly recommend.

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An Operational Process for Workforce Planning Review






An Operational Process for Workforce Planning Overview


Workforce planning is an activity intended to ensure that investment in human capital results in the timely capability to effectively carry out an organization's strategic intent. This report describes a methodology, developed by RAND at the behest of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy, for conducting workforce planning-a methodology applicable in any organization. The report identifies key factors contributing to successful workforce planning; examines the purposes of workforce planning; and lays out a process by which executives and line managers of business units can identify specific policies and practices for workforce planning. This process is designed to help an organization's leaders decide whether they want to engage in workforce planning, understand the mechanics of workforce planning, identify the resources needed, and mobilize the key participants to carry out workforce planning. The authors recommend that senior leaders explicitly delineate the roles and responsibilities of those involved workforce planning; that corporate headquarters develop functional specifications for a human-resource information system to support workforce planning; and that corporate headquarters evaluate the availability, costs, and benefits of comprehensive, integrated workload and inventory projection models for all categories of employees, and invest in such models. (See also MR-1684/2-OSD.)


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Check Out Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story": A Study Guide from Gale's "Short Stories for Students" (Volume 15, Chapter 8) for $5.95

Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story": A Study Guide from Gale's "Short Stories for Students" (Volume 15, Chapter 8) Review






Tim O'Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story": A Study Guide from Gale's "Short Stories for Students" (Volume 15, Chapter 8) Overview


Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Short Stories for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: plot summary; character analysis; author biography; an overview of the story's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Short Stories for Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: Thomson Gale--and "Short Stories for Students."


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Imperfect Past: Book Three of the Boston Friends' Series.(Book Review): An article from: Reviewer's Bookwatch Review






Imperfect Past: Book Three of the Boston Friends' Series.(Book Review): An article from: Reviewer's Bookwatch Overview


This digital document is an article from Reviewer's Bookwatch, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2005. The length of the article is 653 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Imperfect Past: Book Three of the Boston Friends' Series.(Book Review)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication:Reviewer's Bookwatch (Newsletter)
Date: April 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA

Article Type: Book Review

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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Check Out Teaching Smart People How to Learn (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) for $6.50

Teaching Smart People How to Learn (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) Review



The title is very interesting and so is the article. The article walks through the reason why smart people can't (won't) learn and describes an approach for breaking through this mode of thinking.

The basic premise is that people with high levels of education have learned to play the learning game. They can't or won't admit they don't know something because in essence they would have to admit failure. They often become defensive in the face of failure and displace (rationalize) the blame for failure rather then looking for the root cause and examining their own involvement in the failure.




Teaching Smart People How to Learn (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition) Overview


HBR OnPoint Articles save you time by enhancing an original Harvard Business Review article with an overview that draws out the main points and an annotated bibliography that points you to related resources. This enables you to scan, absorb, and share the management insights with others. Competitive success depends on learning, but most people, including professionals in leadership positions, are not very good at it. Learning is a function of how people reason about their own behavior. Yet most people engage in defensive reasoning when confronted with problems. They blame others and avoid examining critically the way they have contributed to problems. Companies need to make managers' and employees' reasoning patterns a focus of continuous improvement efforts.


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Check Out Usability: Webster's Timeline History, 1912 - 2007 for $28.95

Usability: Webster's Timeline History, 1912 - 2007 Review






Usability: Webster's Timeline History, 1912 - 2007 Overview


Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Usability," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Usability in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Usability when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Usability, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain.


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Creating Synergies through Shared Services Review






Creating Synergies through Shared Services Overview


Beyond aligning the business units that sell products and services to external customers, organizations can create synergies by aligning their internal units that provide shared services, including purchasing, manufacturing, and distribution. The Balanced Scorecard has been used in numerous ways to help link shared service units with business units and with corporate strategy. This chapter presents two models for developing shared service scorecards: the Strategic Partner Model, and the Business-in-a-Business Model.


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Check Out Appraisal and coping: moderators mediators of stress in Alzheimer's disease caregivers?: An article from: Social Work Research for $5.95

Appraisal and coping: moderators mediators of stress in Alzheimer's disease caregivers?: An article from: Social Work Research Review






Appraisal and coping: moderators mediators of stress in Alzheimer's disease caregivers?: An article from: Social Work Research Overview


This digital document is an article from Social Work Research, published by National Association of Social Workers on June 1, 2003. The length of the article is 7365 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Appraisal and coping: moderators mediators of stress in Alzheimer's disease caregivers?
Author: Carmen Louis Morano
Publication:Social Work Research (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 2003
Publisher: National Association of Social Workers
Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Page: 116(13)

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Her Works Praise Her: a History of Jewish Women in America From Colonial Times to the Present.(Book Review): An article from: American Jewish History Review






Her Works Praise Her: a History of Jewish Women in America From Colonial Times to the Present.(Book Review): An article from: American Jewish History Overview


This digital document is an article from American Jewish History, published by American Jewish Historical Society on March 1, 2003. The length of the article is 655 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Her Works Praise Her: a History of Jewish Women in America From Colonial Times to the Present.(Book Review)
Author: Ellen M. Umansky
Publication:American Jewish History (Refereed)
Date: March 1, 2003
Publisher: American Jewish Historical Society
Volume: 91 Issue: 1 Page: 165(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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Check Out The Taurus 1911: there is nothing like a true bargain with extras.: An article from: Guns Magazine for $9.95

The Taurus 1911: there is nothing like a true bargain with extras.: An article from: Guns Magazine Review






The Taurus 1911: there is nothing like a true bargain with extras.: An article from: Guns Magazine Overview


This digital document is an article from Guns Magazine, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2007. The length of the article is 1342 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The Taurus 1911: there is nothing like a true bargain with extras.
Author: Charles E. Petty
Publication:Guns Magazine (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 53 Issue: 3 Page: 62(3)

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Guerilla marketing 101: getting a logo donors will remember.(Office Technology): An article from: The Non-profit Times Review






Guerilla marketing 101: getting a logo donors will remember.(Office Technology): An article from: The Non-profit Times Overview


This digital document is an article from The Non-profit Times, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1046 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Guerilla marketing 101: getting a logo donors will remember.(Office Technology)
Author: Ted Needleman
Publication:The Non-profit Times (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 19 Issue: 17 Page: 22(2)

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Check Out Organizational Surveys: Tools for Assessment and Change. (book reviews): An article from: Government Finance Review for $5.95

Organizational Surveys: Tools for Assessment and Change. (book reviews): An article from: Government Finance Review Review



I purchased this 418pp volume in 1998 and recently re-read this book to reacquaint myself with the rich material. What Kraut has done as an editor is to select 35 pertinent papers that discuss Organizational Surveys under three main heading:
1) Purposes and uses.
2) The Survey process.
3) Special applications - such as linking survey results to "hard" figures such as productivity and performance.

The book is packed with sage advice, both academic and practical. For example it counsels researchers to work closely with insiders in order to get the most useful surveys, and it spends many pages discussing the questions of implementing the recommendations and the whole issue of raising employee expectations by even conducting surveys.

But what a lot has occurred in the 10 years since this book was edited. I find on re-reading that several cutting-edge ideas (linking internal results to customer satisfaction measures) are fairly standard now; and of-course the advent of web-based online surveys has had a major effect upon the practicability and style of conducting employee research. Online surveys, with their wonderful capacity to capture open-enders, really enable researchers to glue their quant findings much closer to qualitative styles of research including focus groups (given scant coverage here) and ethnography: the act of observing how the organisation does things. In essence, I don't feel the collection of papers deals quite adequately with the central question: what is it that makes organizational research and surveys different from other kinds of research.

One key difference is the question of culture, and the way sub-units within an organisation may act as distinct and cohesive "tribes" capable of affirming, or subverting the overall objectives of the organisation by applying their sense of values, sense of fairness and sense of direction to their day-to-day involvement. Fascinating stuff - but this volume only discusses such issues in a generic manner.

In short, the publishers might be prompted to consider a new updated edition. This book was state of the art 10 years ago, but its relevance is diminishing. I still give it four stars (just) because of the quality of the writing and the value of its insights - but the book is no longer solid gold. There's rust appearing on the bodywork, and readers will need to find other volumes to accompany this one. That's not a bad approach because the subject-matter has evolved quickly.




Organizational Surveys: Tools for Assessment and Change. (book reviews): An article from: Government Finance Review Overview


This digital document is an article from Government Finance Review, published by Government Finance Officers Association on April 1, 1997. The length of the article is 588 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Organizational Surveys: Tools for Assessment and Change. (book reviews)
Author: Greg C. Gaskins
Publication:Government Finance Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 1997
Publisher: Government Finance Officers Association
Volume: v13 Issue: n2 Page: p63(1)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale


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Was good to the last chapter...then was a downer. - deshort@aol.com - Oklahoma City, Ok
Book covers a wide variety of survey topics very well. I underlined a great many thoughts. One thought that occured to me was that I was on my way to doing Organizational Surveys. But at the end was warned "I would be a 'bounder' if I read a few books and started practicing." It seems this book's final conclusion is that you need to join the Union to do surverys, ie. be a phd or working under one. The book was still a great value.







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Check Out Jorge Luis Borges's "The Garden of Forking Paths": A Study Guide from Gale's "Literature of Developing Nations for Students" (Volume 01, Chapter 19) for $5.95

Jorge Luis Borges's "The Garden of Forking Paths": A Study Guide from Gale's "Literature of Developing Nations for Students" (Volume 01, Chapter 19) Review






Jorge Luis Borges's "The Garden of Forking Paths": A Study Guide from Gale's "Literature of Developing Nations for Students" (Volume 01, Chapter 19) Overview


Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Literature of Developing Nations for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: author biography; plot summary; character analysis; a discussion of the work's themes, style, literary heritage, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading and much more.

Why choose "Literature of Developing Nations for Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: Thomson Gale--and "Literature of Developing Nations for Students."


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Check Out Facts About Soy, the Industry Doesn't Want You to Know: An interview with Dr. Kaayla Daniel author of The Whole Soy Story for $7.95

Facts About Soy, the Industry Doesn't Want You to Know: An interview with Dr. Kaayla Daniel author of The Whole Soy Story Review



If you are one that has bought into the marketing ploy of soy- please read this. If you have small children, are bottled feeding and using soy- You MUST read it now! With information there is power and that is my business to get information into my clients hands.




Facts About Soy, the Industry Doesn't Want You to Know: An interview with Dr. Kaayla Daniel author of The Whole Soy Story Overview


Facts About Soy, the Industry Doesn't Want You to Know

Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN

An interview with Dr. Kaayla Daniel author of The Whole Soy Story

Dr. Daniel spoke about her research into the value of soy as a food. Her findings may surprise you. In the second half of the hour Liz gives a basket load of tips on how to read food labels and shop smarter. Part 1: The Whole Soy Story with Dr. Kaayla Danial Part 2: Making the Most of Your Food Dollar with Dr. Liz Lipski

Topics include:

•Discover the different names used on labels to disguise soy

•How Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and behavioral problems may be related to soy

•How soy contributes to thyroid problems

•Why too much soy may harm your health

•The ten most important foods to buy organic

•Food Shopping Tips from Liz Lipski

•How to get the most out of your food dollar

•Why backs and sides of food packages are more important than fronts

•The truth behind "enriched" foods

•Why you should put products with "cottonseed oil" back on the shelf

•The risks that corn syrup poses to the health of your heart 4% milk is 50% fat and other deceptive measurements

Dr. Daniel is an author, public speaker, nutritional councilor, and creator of the Whole Nutritionist Workshop Series. In her practice she provides customized food and lifestyle plans to unleash your health and energy potential; prevent and reverse disease; and slow the process of aging. She is nationally known for her dynamic and entertaining classes, workshops and teleconferences on beauty, health and longevity.

Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN Is the host of the Access to Health Experts interview series. She holds a doctorate and is board certified in Clinical Nutrition, is the author of Digestive Wellness, Digestive Wellness for Children, and Leaky Gut Syndrome. She is the Director of Doctoral Studies at Hawthorn University, and the nutrition editor for Pilates Style Magazine. Dr. Lipski is the founder of several web-based health information sites including Innovative Healing and Access to Health Experts.




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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 06, 2010 02:27:04

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Check Out Security Assessment: Case Studies for Implementing the NSA IAM for $69.95

Security Assessment: Case Studies for Implementing the NSA IAM Review



There are two things that are extremely frustrating in working on audits and risk and security assessments. One is that too many people in online discussion fora and ListServs want templates handed to them free so they can resell them or tell their boss about the great work that they did. The second has been the absence of, in the technical book arena, any reference book that focuses more on the business process side of conducting security assessments. Security Assessment - Case Studies for Implementing The NSA IAM (Greg Miles, Russ Rogers et al, Syngress Press, 2004, 429 Pages, US.95 List/US.07 Amazon) fills both of these holes, but not without incurring a penalty stroke for "grounding the club" in a hazard.

IAM stands for Information Security (INFOSEC) Assessment Methodology and NSA stands for the National Security Agency. These are two things you learn right up front from the authors as the explain how this methodology came to be a the result of the need to do more in a time of budget cuts and its evolution into a broad methodology that can be used by any group in the public or private sector. From this start and background, the authors successfully walk the reader through the "soft skill" side of the security assessment process. What makes this book different than others is that there is little to no discussion of tools used in the assessment. What it does focus on is how to identify assessment needs (for the customer) and opportunities (for the consulting firm). The authors approach security assessments from a holistic project approach, taking the reader through issues and steps with contract preparation/execution, skills identification, team makeup, preplanning, identification of high risk areas, conducting the assessment, delivering the end product, and closing the project out.

For the most part, the authors excel in laying this out in simple terms and provide a number of case studies from their experience. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, I am assessing a penalty stroke in my rating because their discussion of performing security assessment work under government contracts is far too simplistic, is not wholly accurate in their discussion of contract types, and does not even address the issue of all of the additional reporting and cost accounting standards that a vendor will have to accept when doing government work. They also fail to mention how large the universe is of competitors for this work and how difficult it can be to crack this marketplace. They also fail to address legal issues associated with the scope creep in government work, with no discussion of important terms such as "constructive changes", "unauthorized commitments", "change orders", etc. They talk about "colors of money" in the government without even explaining what the term means. Granted, the book could have easily quadrupled in size to address all of this information, but they should have at least included references to sources to provide further insight into these important areas. Oh, and incidentally, the color of money under government contracts is, for the most part, transparent to contractors.

Aside from this penalty stroke, and I am harder on it because I was a Contracting Officer in the Federal Government for a number of years, the book provides an excellent roadmap to groups and/or individuals seeking a security assessment roadmap.

Who Should Read This Book?

Aside from the people who post on the internet looking for solutions to be handed to them, this book would satisfy the needs of a wide variety of users. Practitioners will gain information and insight not provided in typical training classes. Customers would gain a good overview of the process and what to expect as the process goes on. Managers need to read this book so that they do not, as the authors point out often happens, try to turn this methodology into a business process. And finally, Sales staff need to read this book so that they understand what they are trying to sell and that it is not a one size fits all commodity (kudos to the authors for putting this in writing, but it is not enough to recover the penalty stroke).

Scorecard

Birdie on an short par 5 playing downwind (penalty stroke can be a killer).




Security Assessment: Case Studies for Implementing the NSA IAM Overview


Other security books focus on an application, a methodology, or an act like hacking. This book is the only book that provides security analysis checklists and templates and shows how to prepare to do an audit, do the audit, and do the follow up all based on NSA guidelines.


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Good Resource For Implementing NSA IAM - Tony Bradley - Houston, TX
The authors' have a wealth of experience in information security and with the IAM framework. They convey this experience through case studies derived from real-world scenarios to provide examples that illustrate the IAM in action.

Security Assessment demonstrates how to apply the NSA IAM to commercial and government organizations alike to determine the relative security of their network. The authors' provide tips and advise readers of pitfalls to watch out for as they guide you through performing an IAM security assessment.

The book is both informative and at times entertaining as it walks through sample scenarios. It also provides some templates and sample deliverables that readers can use.

The authors' knowledge and experience is evident throughout, however parts of the book are slightly confusing or hard to follow. Sometimes it seemed as if extra words were added in just to stretch the chapter out without providing any benefit in terms of relaying information. But, overall I think that network or security administrators and particularly those tasked with actually following the NSA IAM will benefit greatly from reading this book.

(...)



The IAM from a real world perspective - -
Whether you are currently performing IAM assessments, or if you or your organization wants to begin using the IAM, this book is an excellent reference.

As any assessor knows, there is no such thing as two identical assessments. That said, the authors provide a cross section of examples that illustrate many different situations that you will see on site.

The authors of this book are THE authorities on the IAM and the information they present will help new assessors build a foundation for using the IAM while at the same time providing information that is essential for a practicing assessor to add to his arsenal.

Overall an outstanding book.



Disappointed... - Ryan M. Ferris - Bellingham, WA
This book disappointed me with it's lack of content and diffused focus. Pages of boorish, made up examples with irrelevant details did not provide the necessary information needed to understand and implement the very abstract IA-CMM v 3.0.

I would wish that I had spent this amount of money on something with more real world examples that was written in a more concise and pregnant style. I would have appreciated software templates sold with the book as well. Some parts of the book are incomprehensible. I find this on P.197:

"Warning:
It would be a very good idea to define the term system in this section. May people reading this document for the first time may not comphrehend the deifference between calling a server a system and calling a collection of servers or networks a system. This lack of comprehension can sometimes lead to seriuos confusion and misunderstanding. A brief heading at the beginning of this section can go a long way to alleviating any issues before they arise."

I have no idea what this paragraph meant to say. Unfortunately, this was not the only time I experienced a lack of clarity and concision while reading this book. As a personal note, I found that having the URL www.syngress.com listed at the bottom of every chapter page was an unprofessional and distractive advertising technique. Are even books now to be invaded by SPAM?

I hope to see more concise and focused material with less abstract examples published on implementing the IA CMM v. 3.0.

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