This book is based almost entirely on accumulating second hand rumors and speculation from other sources and amassing them into what loosely constitutes 'A Book.' The author's only original section comes when he details coming face to face with Mark Wahlberg at a gym. Does he bother to speak to Mark? No? Why? Because the author is spineless. This book is spineless. Definitely bottom of the pile as far as unauthorized biographies go. A disappointment.

I have only seen girls buy this book, but i, a straight man, bought it to see how he started his carrer and what his biggest influences in his life were. This books shares everything with the reader. No secrets were hidden. I love this book and would recomend it to anyone who is curious about Mark or wants to follow his shoes and try to make it as a respecable actor.

I totally love this book. He is honestly the hottest man to ever grace this earth. Any girl who likes guys will fall in love with this book.

"Escape velocity is the speed at which a body...overcomes the gravitational pull of another body," begins Mark Dery in his non-fictional amalgamation of the current state of computer culture, Escape Velocity. Dery uses the concept as a metaphor for what is happening to the many memes--concept viruses--of the on-line and turned-on and their relation to the greater society (mainly American, although some service is given to Japan and Europe). Like the emergence of the Internet (and the 'net concept of on-line connectivity) into the mainstream, the ideas of body sculpting, merging with machines (either virtually or prosthetically), and transhuman growth, among others, are just below the cultural surface, according to Dery.

To be a cultural historian to the fast-paced world of computers is a difficult one, because the cyberculture, far more so than any subculture before it, is as varied in its parts as it is separated geographically. It exists on change. In ways, the myriad differences in the cybercrowd is what makes it a culture rather than a cult--it encourages the free range of expression from left to right, and all the fringes top and bottom, and there is no single authority to consult. Mark Dery's job, therefore, was to piece together a picture of a living community that is less than 30 years old and is more malleable than one of his favorite images, that of the T-2000 liquid-metal android from the movie Terminator 2. He assembled this jigsaw by grabbing at the outward manifestations of the culture--its art--rather than focusing on the nuts and bolts of how it came and stays together. Dery's goal was to achieve a focus on where cybernauts and cyberpunks are headed, rather than where they have been. Within the cybernetic expressions in print, screen, music, body art, performance, and philosophy lie the seeds of a cultural revolution that began with the home computer, according to Dery.

Any cultural representation requires a polymath to untangle the multitude of threads that bind it together. When that culture is the front end of the runaway train of technology, the examiner must also be moving at the speed of information. Dery, for the most part, rises to the challenge, able to quote both fiction writers and art critics, social commentators and "hackers" within the same page. His profiles of those on the fringe and those with the mainstream are balanced, except when he pauses to regroup his thinking at the end of each chapter and his own impressions slip in. One of the most rewarding aspects of Dery's compilation is that he went beyond the most visible proponents of cyberculture (William Gibson, Mark Pauline of the Survival Research Laboratories, Hans Moravec) to also get the equally important contributions that have not engendered cultish followings (in fiction, for example, Dery quotes the work of Pat Cadigan and John Shirley as well as that of Gibson and Bruce Sterling), as well as progenitors to the culture (again in fiction, the work of Philip K. Dick and J.G. Ballard).

As a document of fact about what happened and is happening in the computer subculture, Escape Velocity is hard to fault. But Dery's goal was to portray where the culture is headed (in his eyes into the larger mainstream), and it is herein that trouble lies. To extract the future of society from this mismatch of ideas would be like portraying the future of cinema in the 1960s by examining both Easy Rider and La Dolce Vita. Yes, these movies had a profound effect on the cinematic culture at large, but it was subsumed into the larger whole. Dery quotes Gibson's oft-touted refrain, "The street finds its own uses for things." Just so, the mainstream often finds its own uses for the street, as evidenced in the music business by the commercialization and marketing of punk, rap, and grunge, each a thriving subculture at one time.

Escape Velocity is an intriguing volume, and Mark Dery is to be commended for attempting to achieve a cyberculture gestalt. For those interested in what is happening "in there," Escape Velocity is a one-stop shop, a veritable sourcebook of cyberdom.

Mark Dery does an excellent job in this book of presenting elements the post-industrial fringe culture to the reader. This is a bookshelf essential for those with an interest in cyberculture, robotics, trans-humanism, body modification, and cultural criticism. Some of the references are now outdated, but that is inevitable in the print medium, given the rapid advancement of technology.

I read this about 3+ years ago and I was just discussing it last night. This book presents "cyber-whatever" in a way that is not bound by your typical Newsweek-esque angle of "Boy genius makes millions, blah blah" or by the approach of overwhelming the reader with senseless techie watchwords and jargon that are made up to confuse and confound the reader into thinking that the subject is important because they don't understand it. Escape Velocity presents real people doing wierd things with more esoteric aspects of our accelerted culture. A man who attached his computer to the nerves in his arm to invoke spasms of thrashing and flailing, all the while injuring himself in the process of making performance art is a whole other realm from Bill Gates' pedestrian spreadsheet programs. Don't read this book expecting "Pirates of Silicon Valley" or "the Road Ahead" or whatever drivel Bill wrote. But DO read this book.

I have been studying and using the materials in this book for about a year now. The book helped me to identify what was holding me back from prospecting through the phone.

Cold calling? Forget it. It was a major challenge even to use the phone in the regular course of business. Organize my office, babysit worthless files, any excuse was fine, as long as I didn't use the phone.

Other than cold calling, I am a good businessman and really do care about my clients. My personal service and financial products are wihtout equal in this area. Despite this, my business suffered. Then I discovered this book, Fearless Cold calling. I have read the book countless times and the opening part describes me very accurately.

The most important parts of the book for me are Daily Call Quota and dealing with rejection.

Although it took several months, Fearless Cold Calling is the best Christmas gift for my business. The book has helped me identify then overcome my greatest challenge, cold calling. The feeling of being in control of my income is beyond description. I still barely believe it myself.

Thanks to the author for this book. It has made a real difference in my business. Anyone who wants to increase their income should know that this information is good and will result in more income.

I found Sanford's book very helpful in getting me to do more cold calls. I especailly liked the formula he offers to help you overcome the emotional hurdles. Cold calling is really the only way sometimes to develop new business; the hard thing is that nobody likes to do it, including me. What I got from the book was hands on advice that has charged up my sales to a new level as a
result of using his techniques.

I found Sanford's book very helpful in getting me to do more cold calls. I especially liked the formula he offers to help you over the hurdles. Cold calling is really the only way sometimes to develop more business; the hard thing is that nobody likes to do it, including me. What I got from the book was hands on advice from an expert that has charged my sales to a new level as a result of using his techniques.

This is without doubt the worst book I have ever attempted to read...reminiscent of a five year old who has just learnt some neat swear words and is determined to upset its parents by using them as often as possible. I am reminded of the Onion headline about Marilyn Manson being reduced to going door-to-door trying to shock people.

Having said all that, I suppose you have to bear in mind that Zodiac Mindwarp is basically a cartoon character and that this book is nothing more than a ... spotty Englishman (Manning) living out in print the ... rock god fantasies which in real life he lacked the [gumption] to put into action. Not sure how funny [sexual] gags about ... kindergarden students (or whatever) are, though.

And having said THAT, I must admit that High Priest of Love is one of my all-time favorite records and any bitterness I have towards this book may stem from my learning that the creator of this skull-rattling dirty rock extravaganza was a mere pop journalist in drag...

Nevertheless, in my humble opinion, FBR is an absolute Barry Crocker of a book.

Plus, it's to thin and flimsy to use as a doorstop!

The Motley Crue book is far superior in every way and has the added advantage of being TRUE (I assume).

(The one star is for having what I must admit is an awesome title. Plus, you can't give no stars.)

Sick, cynical, self-deprecating, smart, and hilarious. Pictures thrown in to boot! Okay, so maybe the plotline is a little blurry and the truth is stretched as taught as a my nerves on a narco hangover. None of this gets in the way of the laughs. Contrary to what Frau Clyde would have you believe, this is nothing like the tedious and sophmoric 'shock-by-design' offerings of Mr. Manson. Zodiac's Mein Kampf is witty, true-of-heart and at times moralistic. Mandatory reading for those about to rock.

I know I am supposed to be outraged as a woman and offended as a somewhat sensitive person but Zodiac's anticdotes of life on the road as a rock star were absolutely hilarious. Nobody but him would have the nerve to tell it exactly as it was without any shame. What a wild trip and what a decadent book. Like eating a bunch of chocolate and topping it off with a pint of tequilla while cranking your favorite heavy metal. Lighten up and you'll love this book.

I bought this, and both my wife and I went through it, and we both agreed that it was a worthless book. I can't believe it was ever published. I have returned it and will never buy another book by this author. Sorry to be so negative, but this book truly is worthless.

This is preciesly the book I was looking for! Has copious details about re-finishing all kinds of furniture surfaces, from bare wood to laminate to steel, plus how to get a wide variety of effects. This book has a higher level of detail than many other faux finishes books (which often skip over how to prep the surface or how to deal w/any surface other than bare wood).

I stumbled upon this gem of a book while on a recent day trip to Northampton, MA. Since its discovery I cannot put it down and have begun some of the projects in it. This book is a packed full of helpful ideas and the book's standout feature is that step-by-step guides serve to help the novice in creating a replica of the pictures that exist in the book. Wagstaff & Thurgood's book is softcovered vinyl. Should paint get on it it is easily wiped clean. For certain, I will be purchasing 2-3 copies for friends and relatives as Christmas presents!!!

the poster art is a nice blend of american and foreign and nicely captures the evolution of the medium, but the accompanying text is seriously worthless, consisting of synopses for each film written in the worst middle-school syntax and replete with glaring typographical errors. it would have been nice to read some informative blurbs about the poster art itself, and about how hitchcock, a master or self-publicity, advertised his pictures more broadly. the cover shot on the book is from the buzz-generating psycho campaign, yet the text accompanying the psycho posters mentions nothing of the policy of excluding tardy movie-goers from the picture so as to maximize the experience. the interested reader may find a broader collection of images online, although without the crisp clarity of the photographs in this book. three stars primarily because of the disappointing text.

I enjoyed looking at this book - I got it from the library. It's got many posters and lobby cards from Hitchcock's works, all in colour. And it's not just the same ones you see everywhere. This has posters from other countries too. Some of them are really WEIRD. Especially the Polish ones. But interesting. I think you should give this book a try if you like Hitchcock.

You have to have this book it tells so much about alfred hitchcocks movies ...

The best advice the author gives in this book is that the concept of the "ideal" workshop is the workshop that works for you. Most of us do not have unlimited space or funds to build a "dream" workshop as illustrated in many books and magazines. What you can afford and what you feel comfortable in is the ideal workshop for you. That is excellent advice.

The other topics I found interesting in this book were the floorplans of real workshops (and the owner's principal machinery listed in order of importance) and the chapter on workbenches, especially the section about holding devices.

The rest of the book is kind of thin in content. This book is priced similarly to the other 2 major books on this subject but is about half the size (in page count) which I think makes this book a little on the pricey side.

I appreciate the Bill Stankus' personal narrative regarding having a workshop. The book was both informative and a pleasure to read. I highly recommend this book.

I found this revised version an invaluable reference book while planning my workshop. Bill Stankus writes in a style that is informative and entertaining - an important characteristic of any reference book. The floorplans of various shops, illustrations and photographs of professional shops were both useful and acted as a good tool to begin planning my shop. Information on shop safety, consideration of budgets and vairous tools and skills only increased my appreciation of this book. I have read other books on this subject and found THIS book to be the best read, with valuable and TIME-SAVING (very important!) advice. I would recommend this to any woodworker interested in maximing their workshop potential!

I must admit, the exposition can get a little hairy at (very few) spots, but the problems are good, and it has served me well as a reference (for certain limited topics). Great introduction.

I'm a first-year Ph.D. student, taking a graduate-level number theory course, and I still use this book from my undergrad years as a reference. Just about any basic number theory topic you're looking for is in here. I can't recommend it highly enough!

This book is the best introduction to number theory that I have found.

I only have single maths A Level, but found this book extremely easy to get into. It starts out with gcd lcm stuff, then introduces modular arithmetic and chinese remainder theorem; it does some other things as well (I forget), and then goes on to fermat's little theorem and wilson's theorem...then does lots of other things like 'arithmetic functions' and continued fractions, quadratic residues...which I haven't got to yet. Certainly, it doesn't look as though it's going t get any more difficult in this book, and the excersises are realistic (if a little too simple)

Anyone who cannot work through this book should not be studying maths. The book surely covers most first year degree courses.

I should also say that there are about 14 chpters in the book, even though I have only described the first 7 or so; the book also gives a history of maths, with short passages about famous mathmos like Gauss, Euclid, diaphantus. About 300 pages in total, loads of examples, plenty of spaces for rough working (big margins). What more can I say? Buy it.

The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible is a great tool for small groups seeking to understand the Bible from a Catholic perspective.

This slim, 86-page paperback, is composed of five major sections:
- Introduction to the Ignatius Study Bible
- Introduction to the Gospel of Matthew
- Outline of the Gospel According to Matthew
- Gospel with Commentary by Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch
- Study Questions by Dennis Walters

The commentary includes historical background, with maps, and categorized notes. The notes have symbols next to them indicating whether they are:
- content and unity
- living tradition
- analogy of faith

The study questions are grouped by chapter, and then broken down into two sections per chapter: "For understanding" and "For application." The understanding questions are textual analysis questions. " The application questions are pertinent for the spiritual lives of Catholics. However, space was not provided within the questions themselves for notes. There are several notes pages at the end of the book, but white space was not allotted within the questions themselves.

Overall, the organization of this study guide makes it an effective tool for novices, and challenging for for more knowledgeable Catholics.

Wow. A Catholic study Bible which doesn't seem dry and academic. That's a first. Congratulations to all involved on an impressive job. A concur with another reviewer's comments: it needs bigger margins! Otherwise, a nice design. I am glad the authors names are NOT on the cover, and I hope they include a few essays from other experts to give it a broader base. It would be ironic if Catholics--known for bashing Protestants as followers of individuals--started being seen toting around The Scott Hahn Study Bible.

...To print the final version... Oxford Press would be a good choice--their work is always first class.

For the past year or so, I have been searching for a good Catholic Bible study series. The "Ignatius Catholic Study Bible" by Scott Hahn & Curtis Mitch is the best that I have found. The series contains lots of great information, but does not get bogged down with excessively long footnotes or essays. It is completely faithful to authentic Catholic doctrine, and includes many references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I found it to be a great guide for someone (like me) who is just beginning to study the Bible, and wants a trustworthy guide.

The format of the series is as follows: Each volume begins by explaining what the Catholic Church teaches about the Bible -- including the inspired and inerrant nature of the Bible, the four senses of scripture, and guidelines for Biblical interpretation. Following this general introduction is a brief introduction to the particular book of the Bible (e.g., the Gospel of Matthew). Next comes the actual text, with the Biblical text at the top of each page, study notes at the bottom, and a list of scriptural cross-references sandwiched in the middle. On average, each page consists of roughly half Biblical text and half study notes. In addition there are occasional one-page essays (e.g., "Who Are the Pharisees?") and occasional one-paragraph word studies scattered throughout the volume. Each volume closes with several pages of study questions.

The biggest disadvantage of this series is that it is still a work in progress. As of June 2002, there are only three volumes -- Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

The layout of the book was disappointing. Instead of being a coffee table book containing mostly the latest, prettiest photos, much space was wasted on perfunctory texts containing little new information to space buffs, and the layout of the pictures was poorly judged, in my opinion, with several oddly-angled pictures splayed across the pages. There were too few large-scale photos, and most had been published in popular magazines.

The book comes in two-versions. One is a paperback and the other is a hardback, which I own. I would definately call the hardback a coffee table book. Large format photos, in a book that opens nicely for great viewing

This is a lovely collection of the best of the Hubble photographs that had been done at the time of publication. Although they have been seen many times, and in many different formats, this book puts them all together in one place. It's too bad that some of the more recent spectacular Hubble shots weren't included, but the author's deadline was probably the culprit; it wasn't as a result of deliberate omission. This is, perhaps, a "coffee table book", but unlike most books that fall into that category, this one is paperback and very affordable. I can't wait for Mark Voit to do a Volume 2!