The book's description on the back cover doesn't even match the content nor does the CD-ROM. It looks and reads like a thrown together blob of stuff ... can someone tell me where to find the durn spreadsheet widget .. its mentioned on the back cover but not in the index, the table of contents nor on the CD-ROM....

I don't recommend purchase lightly. I've been wearing out its pages for two weeks now, with occasional bouts of furrowed brows and impatient snorting. I've come, though, to a conclusion in which I'm confident: if you're a Tcl user, you should invest in *Tcl/Tk Tools*.

Why? Because you'll use it, and use it well. Almost everyone involved in Tcl has questions (so how do I really compile a Tcl script? How much does it take to do drag-and-drop and tool tips? Are the RDBMS extensions current with vendor features? ...) answered here. Simplify your life by putting these 650+ pages on your shelf.

What is *Tcl/Tk Tools*? It's a collection of descriptions of different popular extensions to Tcl and Tk. While lead author Harrison gives the impression they're written by "the extension authors themselves", there are a few exceptions to this pattern. The book is not written as a tutorial or introduction to Tcl, sagely pointing to John Ousterhout and Brent Welch's books for that role (although I've been thinking of experimenting with putting *Tcl/Tk Tools* in the hands of novices, to see what would happen. I suspect they'd survive in good shape).

*Tcl/Tk Tools* isn't exhaustive. It doesn't include several of my favorite extensions, including Scotty, NeoWebScript, stooop, tclMsql, the PlusPatches, ... It doesn't matter. If you care about only *one* of the extensions described here, you'll do well to have your own copy.

Harrison and his co-authors do a good job of hitting the target of telling "Here's the philosophy behind this package, and here are some examples of how to use it effectively" that he lays out in the Preface. While it's easy to move from one chapter to another, it's not at the expense of the authors and their personalities. D. Richard Hipp's thoughtful precision and De Clarke's care in engineering effective solutions come through, as do the assurance and lucidity those in the Tcl community expect of Don Libes. Less successful is the forward look that Harrison intended, toward "the plans the extension authors had for future enhancements and extensions." I assume this was in part a casualty of the realities of the publishing cycle; certainly many of the chapters appear to have been finished before the appearance a year ago of 7.6's betas.

Two unglamorous aspects of the book multiply its value: the index is sound (that's saying a lot for me; I have high standards in indexing), and Harrison's Chapter 17 on what he calls "Configuration Management" lays out much valuable wisdom that newcomers need to learn. Reading the latter is painful: it has all the important, tedious subjects ("Combining Extensions ...", command-line munging, ...) one wants--but without mention of Win* or loadable libraries! These frailties are inevitable when broadcasting on dead trees, of course. What's disappointing is that *Tcl/Tk Tools* doesn't go farther in joining the Internet Age: although a two-page Appendix lauds news:comp.lang.tcl and lists the FAQs and nine URLs (some of which have already moved, of course), and individual authors take it on themselves to provide appropriate references,
* it's not apparent that there is any page where Harrison and/or O'Reilly maintain errata, updates, new examples, funny animal GIFs, or any of the other resources readers might be expected to exploit--I couldn't find one at the URL the Preface gave, nor elsewhere at www.ora.com;
* some authors supply no e-mail addresses;
* some authors give references ("look in the archives") that will be inscrutable for those not already in the know; and
* there is wide variation in the quality of information authors give about extension prospects, bug lists (a particular sore point with me), mailing lists, and so on.
Understand, please, that I'm not labeling these moral faults; as on every project, the good engineering comes in deciding where to make the cuts, and what definite values to deliver. I personally look forward to seeing books that build a more dynamic relationship with online sources, and am simply noting that *Tcl/Tk Tools* doesn't achieve that standard.

The quality of production is high, higher even than the elevated expectations I have of O'Reilly. Typos, mistakes in word choice, and code errors seem to sum to around zero to five per chapter. Screen shots are judicious and illuminating, rather than gratuitously space-filling. The CD-ROM (with binaries for indeterminate but predictable releases of Solaris and Linux) does the little I asked of it.

Summary: whether you're a full-time Tcl-er or a greenhorn, you'll profit from having *Tcl/Tk Tools* at hand. Whenever you're in a pinch, there's a fair chance the Index and/or Table of Contents will quickly lead you to a useful datum. During more contemplative moments, you'll want to read the chapters in a connected fashion, and the accuracy and insight of the authors will make you glad that you do.

This was the first book I read on Tcl/TK (a mistake), but it was nonetheless helpful. I do refer it often. I particularly found the introduction to Expect useful.

I was reluctant to pick up this book because of it's title, but I decided to read it because I had it in my collection. I was somewhat entertained, and finished the book very quickly due to the short length. It is a tragedy in which almost all are killed in the end. I did not care much for the plot, which involves an incestuous relationship between brother and sister. After reading part of the book, it was rather easy to predict the ending. It is not a tremendously detailed and emotional story. I'm not sure if this is a title that would often come up in conversations between friends or colleagues, but avid readers might want to pick up the title to have read it.

This play is an excellent example of incest in the Renaissance. It's also fairly short and very readable. Bergetto is an interesting character and provides much needed comic relief in this play which is ultimately quite tragic. The title is misleading in many ways, but female sexuality is problematic throughout.

I chose to read this play because firstly, Anthony Burgess mentioned it in his book "English Literature" (1857) and secondly, because it was a short play. Or maybe even thirdly - the central theme [incest] it deals with is treated in an entirely different manner from other literary works. The nature of the incest is frank and horrifying. The intensity of the unlawful relationship is compromised by the coarsening of Giovanni's love for Annabella; their ethereal relationship gradually loses its innocence in the course of the play, culminating in Annabella's pregnancy and finally her death in Giovanni's hands.

While we certainly cannot put Ford in the ranks of Shakespeare, he deserves credit for a play whose themes of sexual jealousy, revenge, violence and incent intertwine in a most heartrending way.

Marvel really seems to be scraping bottom by reissuing this already--although the Perez art is nice, the multipart story with Warbird doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and the Squadron Supreme story seems to have been written in 1975.

This book is not wholly an Avengers title. In actuality, it is the story of a Kree invasion crossing over into Captain America, Iron Man, and Quicksilver, as well as into the Avengers. As a result, the storyline is a bit confusing, and the writers try to put too much action into each chapter. As is the case with most crossovers, the storyline becomes jumbled and the original intent seems lost in the mix. The secondary story is the story is Warbird's alcoholism and how it affects the team. The resolution is to dump her off of the team rather than to offer help, which seem unsatisfactory. Perez art in the Avengers chapter is nice, as usual. We also get a Squadron Supreme story tacked on the end which is not really related to the main story at all. All in all, this book seems hastily thrown together to cash in on the current Avengers' popularity. However, haste makes waste.

Okay so I'm guessing your probably wanting to buy this to find out some killer tricks or something you didn't know, or you just can't figure out how to beat the last stage? I would not tell you to buy this then. I mean sure if your a die hard BZ lover and you wanted more BZ stuff to clutter your computer desk sure buy a few copys, but you obviously have online access reading this review so just surf over to some of the hundreds of fan web sites and read their stragety guides. I'm willing to bet a few sites even have the same wording as this book(I'm sooo sure its all an accident that they just thought alike). Not a bad book if you don't want to do the online research. But I wouldn't go off spending the money for it.

A strategy guide can be a gamer's best friend. It can clarify an ambiguous user guide, provide pros/cons of strategic options, and best of all... provide that "a-ha" tip that frees you from an eternity repeating the same level in Groundhog day fashion.

The BattleZone II guide is pretty good at all of the above. The overall strategy stuff is helpful. Good analysis of how to match one vehicle against another vehicle. Good tips on piloting skills. Good tips on how to build a base.

However, the mission-by-mission guide hasn't provided many "a-has" yet. I'll give credit to the game designers - this is pretty playable without a lot of additional help. Nevertheless, I have developed quite a few insights the hard-way, playing the same level over and over. These insights didn't always get mentioned in the book.

The book did show me how to cut my time on a particular level by 50%, so overall I'm happy. I'm especially happy to have a safety net in my hands as I progress to the more advanced levels of the game. If you are the type that doesn't like to get stuck, you will want this book. But keep in mind - the mission section doesn't explain it all - just enough to keep you moving.

It is too bad that some trees had to give their lives so this book could be published.

This book is a great buy for one of those days when you are down in the dumps. You simply have to read a few of the lists and you'll be on the floor in fits of laughter. It's one of those books that can get you laughing even when you think that nothing can cheer you up. This book is not the most meaningful of books however if taken with a good sense of humour and a pinch of salt you will enjoy this book.

Such a deal! You get someone in the classroom without benefits, job security and reduced pay. Many work without support, seeing students at their cars in the parking lot and spending their own money for supplies and materials. Hey, if Administrators want to really save money, let the students teach themselves!

You get what you pay for Dr. Roueche, et al. Oh, and by the way. You know that expensive four year college that many parents and future students are saving for. Chances are a significant portion of that faculty is also an adjunct and many work full-time on low wages and without health care/retirement safety nets.

Adjuncts are like the migrant workers of academia: they are vital to get the job done, are compensated at the lowest levels, work under the most austere conditions, and are not seen in polite company.

It's shameful.

Dr. Richard Lyons is making me a little bit sick. His insistence on boosting the use of adjunct faculty since it allows "colleges to enrich their curricula with real world perspectives, and expand the number of course sections offered, without permanently increasing their operating costs." is hiding the fact that adjuncts are simply getting paid much less for the same work. The majority of adjuncts in general education are not enriching the curricula but instead fattening the wallets of administration types, of whom I highly suspect Dr. Lyons to be one. Academic traditionalists are not the only ones alarmed by a deterioration in the higher ed work environment and you don't have to have a Phd to sniff the stench of raw hypocrisy in the air.

Over the past decade, community colleges have significantly increased their employment of part-time instructors. While this practice is often vehemently criticized by academic traditionalists, it enables colleges to enrich their curricula with real world perspectives, and expand the number of course sections offered, without permanently increasing their operating costs. Drs. Roueche, Milliron and Roueche get past anecdotal perspectives to present their sound research conducted at community colleges throughout North America. Their findings and recommendations are a must read for all in community colleges responsible for making decisions on this critical issue.

Wow-- what a disappointment this book was! Usually, I enjoy books from ARE Press; out of all the New Age books published, its selections are almost always the most insightful and mind blowing. This book, however, was the exception. It not only barely went into a deep explanation of synchronicity, it had very questionable and weak "readings" for each of the hexagrams in the second half of the book. This is a very poor, shoddily put together work on the I-ching, and the publishers should be ashamed to have even brought it to light.

A light introduction to synchronicity that pays more attention to the prophecies and teachings of Edgar Cayce than the theories of Carl Jung, this book is far from an absolute text on the subject. The author even refers to occurences as being "synchronous", instead of the proper "synchronistic". It also contains a poor translation of the I Ching. I didn't find this one very helpful, and would recommend instead "The Power of Flow", a book that has much more of a grasp on the essence of synchronicity than this one.

Unlike other reviewers of this book, I liked it. Mark Thurston's guidebook teaches how to use synchronicity to access our inner wisdom and answer our questions. I didn't have three weeks to practice the eight-step program, so I tried the method in a shorter period of time. By the time I had finished the book, I had learned about synchronicity, focused on my spiritual goal, formed a question, practiced the exercises and had a meaningful response from the I Ching "with parallel wisdom from the Edgar Cayce readings." If that offends you, don't buy it. If you are open to Cayce, the exercises are powerful. For example, how do you identify your spiritual ideal? Thurston had me recalling peak experiences and remembering feelings from when synchronicity had worked in the past. The energy from this and the other exercises helped me receive and trust my insights from the I Ching/Cayce messages. I will keep this book and refer to it often.

There is nothing real-world, quick or easy for web development in this book. The author assumes the reader to be already well versed in web development. There is only enough information given to allow the reader to make the determination that there is "insufficient information". Although there are many examples, they are not "Real-World" examples and I found them lacking in clarity. There was very little but quite useless information on FTP and HTTP controls (which was what I was interested in most). There were too many references to incomplete code snippits that left the reader hanging. I found more useful documentation from the M$ website.

The one 5 star review must be from one of the authors or their friends, because this book is useless. I returned it after the first day.

If you are a web developer, this book is a MUST HAVE! The instructions are clearly written and the examples are very descriptive. Christopher J. Goddard and Mark White have done an excellent job! Don't code a single line of VBScript until you have this book

I bought this to help me with a graduate electrical engineering class that has a programming assignment to be written in Visual C++ .NET. Through other coursework, I am very familiar with the C++ language and have coded many C++ programs on Unix machines using the g++ compiler. However, I had very little experience with windows programming other than ASP.NET and XML Web Services programming using Visual Basic .Net. I also do not have any substantial experience with traditional Visual C++ with MFC, which the author recommends, but I felt I should still be able to work through the book. I did not finish the book. I worked through the first 2 or 3 chapters and felt that the explanations were too brief and code was not explained. Also, the sample code did not compile on my machine -- that could have been my own errors -- I don't know. But I decided the book was just too skimpy in explanations and returned it. I got Special Edition, Using Visual C++ .NET by Kate Gregory and am starting to work through that. So far, the experience is much better although the book is much thicker. At least I have a sense I know what I am doing instead of just blindly following terse instructions.

The book is not designed for beginners despite being published in a series called "Teach Yourself". The authors specify the target audience as "Those who have some exposure to C++". It is misleading not to have this reflected in the book's title. Perhaps the previous reviewer gave it 5* because he had the prerequisite experience.

As a beginner I found the book to be of little use. It has been published in a series that I would assume is for the beginner and so I have given it 1*. If you have some experience in VC++ and want to transfer your skills to the .NET environment you might find this book useful?

As an MCSD, I have struggled to get my hands around all of the concepts involved in C++. After multiple classes and hours in training, I was refereshed to read this book which integrates intuitive knowledge, simple instructions and SUCCESSFUL C++ programming. Well Done to Mr. Simon and Mr. Schmidt!

Too much time is spent on problems that do not require such exposition -- and more complex and real-life problems are avoided. This study guide is not much help.

Jan Williams, Dean of the Business School at UTK, is known for neither his creativity or knowledge. This book demonstrates that his reputation is well deserved.

This is an excelent suplemental book to "Financial Accounting" 9th edition. It gives all of the papers needed for all of the problems so that instead of spending your time drawing tables and charts, you can simply fill in the blanks on the special forms provided for each problem...