I bought this book hoping it would be full of specificinformation on my Pentax ZX-M. Unfortunately, I found it consisted ofonly one chapter on my camera, one on the older K1000 (as advertised), and the rest general tips that you could read about in much more detail in a book like Grimm et al.'s Basic Book of Photography or Adams' series. I wanted information on lenses in the Pentax system, how my specific flash unit worked best, etc. Buy this book only if you're looking to complete your photo library and have extra $ you don't want to spend on film.

I bought this book hoping for information specific to my camera (ZX-M) with tips on photography in general. Spending a couple of hours on photo.net and reading a book by Lee Frost provided far more useful information than is contained in this book. The manual that came with the camera does a very good job educating the user on the various functions of the camera. There were some useful tips on using flash and understanding the metering system. If you are a complete novice this will be a very useful book for you. If you are a complete novice and have spent some time doing research before purchasing your camera this will not be as useful. If you are an experienced amateur this book will be of very little use.

This book is a big waste of time and money. It is lacking the substance and detail needed to understand this important topic. All the book goes into is high level topics and dancing around the substantial issues without handling them.

If you want to really learn about MS OLAP, DTS, MDX, OLE DB for OLAP, ADOMD, etc., then DO NOT buy this book. It will not serve these purposes.

A reader totally unfamiliar with data warehousing could read this book and come away with a good understanding of the datawarehousing world. The portion that covers the actual Microsoft tools and dialogues is not very detailed, but I guess one could look at a more detailed book for the specifics.

The first edition of this book (MIPS RISC Architecture, by Gerry Kane, ISBN 0135847494) was an excellent book: it described well and completely the R2000/R3000 processors, their instructions, and how to program them.

This, the second edition, tries to expand on that, but does a stunningly poor job. While is has been expanded slightly to cover some R6000 and R4000 topics (e.g. some changes to the CP0 architecture), it fails horribly at describing at crucial elements of the R4000. For instance: the fact that the R4000 is a 64-bit CPU. Very few of the instructions that first appeared in the R4000 are described, and in particular the 64-bit CPU instructions seem to be omitted entirely. Worse, some of the text, e.g., relating to CP1 (FPU) data types and registers, which was perfectly clear in the first edition has been muddied by generalizing it for R6000/R4000. The result is that this edition fails to present a clear picture of *either* the R2000/R3000 or later MIPS processors.

If you're interested in learning about MIPS architecture, even historical (R2000/R3000) MIPS architecture, I'd suggest looking elsewhere: See MIPS Run is quite good (but not excellent in my opinion) and covers a wide range of topics. The first edition of this book is an excellent reference about R2000/R3000, but is limited to them. The MIPS architecture documentation manuals from MIPS themselves tend to be clear and complete references, but lacking in background information. I'd bet that many other MIPS-related books are great. But this one isn't.

The book has a good amount of solid information. What I mean by solid, is it has the "real" information you need to understand the MIPS architecture. It is well written and very understandable. It is more understandable than many other architecture books I have used before.

Ostensibly, this book is nothing more than a "cheap" attempt to sell a book and make a few dollars. This book is not unlike a contemporary "cut and paste" hollywood movie. There is nothing in this book that we haven't heard before. Much rhetoric, not a whole lot of RELEVANCE! When will we learn that we only hurt each other by portraying ourselves as victims on every occasion possible. I certainly question the motives of this book. I know many books that were and are published on the topic of antisemitism to make a quick buck. This degrades semites. I will say more, THIS IS ANTISEMITISM at its heart. Why? It is hurting jews, those of nationality and of faith. There are in fact many books, even in this catalogue, that are of questionable merit and relevance to actual antisemitism and of actual artistic merit. I have recently reviewed The Hitler's Pope by Cornwell on Amazon, there is another book as you can see from my review of it which has been written in the prime interest of making money. I must warn, however, that the implications of such literature do not merely end on the fact that the author receives a "Big Chek" from the happy publisher and fame in the media. In fact, what such books accomplish is real antisemitism because it its implications fall directly on Jews. Jews are not alone in the world and as such they must live together with people of other faiths and nationalities on this planet. Therefore, some authors' greedy intentions actually hurt Jews' relationships with other people. We have seen in the twentieth century what happens when peoples relationships breakdown. When I say that Cornwell's book or this book is the real antisemitic literature, I MEAN IT! This what I mean by the "latka in the face" -- such books are nothing but a cold slap in the face.

It's certainly true that this book will not increase interfaith rapport between Christianity and Judaism. It explores the very pagan roots of modern Christianity, its parallels with the ubiquitous dying/ressurrecting god-king parables of ancient Gentile (pagan) peoples. Since Biblical times, the Jews strove to keep their religion pure, whereas Christianity coopted the symbolism, rituals, deities, and beliefs of the peoples it sought to convert. Although this is hardly revelation to anyone knowledgeable of theological history, Christian readers will be alienated by the accusatory comparison of their faith to heathenism. Nor will Pagan readers find eddification; in the view of "Monsters and Madonnas", their faith equates with demonism. However, the book exposes much of the hypocrisy of the modern rightwing Christian-supremicist movement which vilifies and seeks to politically suppress polytheistic faiths. The author presents her evidence and conclusions without sympathy or sugarcoating, and the result is certainly not very palatable. But that does not lessen the book's worthiness.

The book seemed OK , until I discovered that Mr. Ellis had invented his experience as a Vietnam Vet . If somebody does this, what's the value of the book?

John Adams, you may want to consider Joseph Ellis's fine work, "Passionate Sage". Mr. Ellis does not dwell on Adams childhood or early years & that is fine. Not really that extraordinary for his time. Adams biggest problem was & is that he has never had the armies of p.r. men that have promoted Washington, Franklin & Jefferson thru the years. Adams knew this yet respected & envied them. He also knew his intellectual gifts surpassed the big three of the revolutionary generation. His integrity & forthrightness made him a most disagreeable person. He rationalized his unpopularity, feeling that virtue with fame is no virtue at all. His unpleasantness mellowed in his later years but not his brillant mind. In their last 14 years he pursued a lively correspondence with Thomas Jefferson. This may be his best legacy.

For those of you who are Protestants...or of a faith other than Christian, this book is a horrible place to learn about the Catholic faith. The author has a very bad habit of leaving out important information, as well as quoting anonymous "authorities". Be wary of his annoying habit of quoting Catholic documents and personalities out of context. He also likes to use the infamous "..." deception method to weed out information that would contradict his argument. If you are a Fundamentalist, who already believes that the "Church of Rome" has apostasized, then this book will help solidify your current beliefs.

For those of you who would really like to know the "secrets" of "Romanism", you would probably be wiser to purchase the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which details the teachings of our Faith. One quick point...refering to Catholicism as "Romanism" is not a good way to make friends with your Catholic neighbors.

For those Catholics involved in Apologetics with Fundamentalists, this book provides a perfect example of the argumentation used to misrepresent the Faith.

I would have given a book like this a higher rating, assuming the author was engaged in honest dialogue, but I can't endorse a dishonest representation of the Catholic faith. An ex-priest is not necessarily an ample authority, any more than an ex-policeman is necessarily a shining example of the police force.

A unique explanation of Roman Catholic doctrine and beliefs. Written by a former Catholic Priest the book is based on fact presented in a noncontroversial form.

The Chapters are divided in first in brief analysis of the Catholic Doctrine then an analysis and refutation with references from authorized St. Anthony Guild & Douay Versions.

It's presents the facts proving Roman Catholic doctrine and practices are not Christian, but actually derived from pagan traditions and practices only using the essence of Christianity to deceive the masses.

The book lists Catholic practices with dates of institution, Scripture references and detailed index.

Great book for Christian Apologetics

Mr. Hicks has done a wonderful job in compling equations, however, he has missed the practical applications in compressed air and vacuum systems. I initially used his theoritcal position on calculating pressure drop in pipe for compressed air. His position seems reasonable and logical until you compare the results with practical applications. Ingresoll-Rand, the air compressor manufacturer, published tables of pressure drop verses pipe sizes, delivery pressures and ACFM. Futher ASPE has published a data book which leads the engineer into an empirical equation for calculating pressure loss in compressed air piping. The results with both Ingresoll-Rand and ASPE agree. Using Mr. Hicks' therotical approach drives the pipe size much larger than needed and therefore the cost of the project. My suggestion is that Mr. Hicks contact I-R and ASPE to incorporate their empirical approach to sizing pipe for compressed air and vacuum systems.

To: Lost in Air

I respectfully submit, that you need to appreciate Mr. Hicks' position. He has provided a conservative approach that will work in almost every situation. The empirical approach that you advocate may well work in most situations but I'll bet there is little margin built in for contingencies. True, your solution may cost less, which is important. But will the low-margin, low cost solution still work 1 or 2 years from now or will the pipe size be too small to allow for degradation/changes? Customer repeat business must be a consideration, too.

I'm not trying to be confrontational, and I understand what you're saying. But you have to appreciate the position that Mr. Hicks must take in such a handbook, and he takes the only logical one, which is to be on the conservative side. People doing more than a couple of these calculations in a year in fact should consult more in-depth material, as you did.

Regards,

David R. Debo, P.E.

This textbook is the required text for a graduate level business course in which I am currently enrolled. My opinion, as well as nearly all of my classmates, is that this book offers very little for those in business wanting to learn about strategic management.

An example of what I mean is the following sentence taken from the book: "Firms that have built substantial sources of competitive advantage often enjoy high levels of profitability." Really? The text continues to state obvious points such as this.

This book contains about 10 % of material and 90 % filler. It could probably have been condensed to about 20 pages of bullet points without losing any of the content. Many textbooks have a problem with lack of brevity, however this book is the worst that I can remember since my days in high school.

As a business professional who values his time, I do not have time to waste reading filler. This book is so poor that if it wasn't being used to teach the final course in my program I would have dropped the course.

Pitts & Lei's (revised) 2nd edition is a solid, well-written strategic management textbook. Topical coverage is both traditional and well informed. The only exception to the foregoing is Chapter 11 that seems to be slightly "muddy" and confusing. From my perspective, as an instructor who has taught strategic management for the last fifteen years and actually practiced strategic management for fifteen years in industry, the only "missing element" is a chapter on "network" or virtual organizations. Chapter 12 (Managing Strategic Change) and Chapter 13 (Redefining Advantage) are excellent, both in terms of content and exposition.

The book includes cases (suitable for classroom discussion) and review questions in each chapter. Each chapter also has an excellent set of references. The ancillaries are complete with the exception that no test bank is provided for an instructor's use. I recommend this text to anyone teaching undergraduate strategic management and also to any reader interested in learning what strategic management is all about.

This book compares quite favorably to several of the much more expensive strategy texts like David, Thompson and Strickland and Pearce and Robinson. The book is good value for the money.

Do your homework before you actually say "Yes" to one of these Medical Trust Funds.

As a structured settlement professional who served on the National Structured Settlement Trade Association after Joe Huver was President, I knew that Joe would put an insightful book before I even read it. I have purchased numerous copies of this book and give to my staff.

The best book on structured settlements is Paul Lesti's book on the subject, followed by Pat Hindert's. However, this needs to be in your library as well.

...

Like the previous reviewer said, the villas depicted here seem empty...Probably cause they have no furniture!

I'll bet the authors just took a tour of Italian villas turned into museums to get their shots. Half the villas are in Italy and seem like they are ruins or 'open to the public'. They are more like palaces instead of homes. The modern villas are TOO modern. You know what I mean: box-like or angular stark structures that resemble commercial buildings rather than traditional houses. Fallingwater does have floorplans & is furnished so it was the only villa I liked.

This book was of course very nice, but not excellent. The photographic printing seemed a bit dated and it somehow didn't give a real impression of what the villas were really like...a little impersonal. Only Frank Lloyd Wright's house at the end seemed to have enough photos that you got a real feel for it. That said, it is a nice book and I'm sure very interesting for some.