i enjoyed this compilation of many good sci-fi authors, i recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi.

As well as being a good overall book covering many traditional wireless topics, this book also offers detailed information on several subjects like propagation databases (terrain, buildings, etc), traffic loading models for cell sectors and spectrum utlization that are not found in any other books I've seen on wireless engineering. Other books I have on propagation modeling (like Rappaport's or Bertoni's) don't treat the subject of database construction and potential errors. This book also brings together traditional microwave link design (rain fades,etc.) with design of multipoint systems using new CDMA and OFDM technologies - again, not found together in other books. Even the stuff of WiFi is useful, but I would have liked more included on this subject. Highly recommended if you're involved in fixed wireless design.

Based upon the Iliad, the story of the Trojan War, this is a wonderful activity book for young children learning about the ancient Greeks. This book is based upon the second half of the epic. What's really fantastic about this coloring book is that the art is culturally authentic, based upon real vase paintings from Ancient Greece. The story of the Iliad is retold in captions that accompany rich black and white line art.

We see not only the characters we might expect: Hector, Achilles, Patroclus, Diomedes, Paris, Ajax, Neoptolemus and Menelaus, but the book also includes women from the epic: Helen, Cassandra, Creusa, Andromache, and Penthesilia the Amazon (think Xena the Warrior Princess, but not camp). Professor Anderson also includes a picture of an African warrior from Ethiopia.

Brief Greek quotations are scattered throughout the book and may interest young people in learning the Greek alphabet.

These books are great because they are of excellent quality and very inexpensive and certain to excite the imaginations of bright young children!

Unbaised, no... he's my dad. But when I took the book to story time at Lexington's Nest Day Care this week, the kids had to hold and play with this book. The story is one that kids can relate to: not finding your shoes, minding your mom and wanting to ride the big "cool" bus. The kids at the Nest especially enjoyed the puzzles in the back of the book. They liked it so much, I gave them my only copy!

teach children not to be afraid of the bus

Harry Anderson is one of my favorite magicians. His style and presentation are outstanding. It's a shame that this is the only book he's written. This book starts out showing you some fabulous cons you can pull on people. The first 92 pages teach you exactly what the book says. Unfortunately, the last 70 pages are about "Games you can't win" and tell you all about casinos and carny scams. It's a shame that the book starts out so good, then fizzles like it does. It's still worth the money and will make you look quite sly around your friends.

When I was in high school I bought this book at Disneyland, and read it from cover to cover on the plane-ride back. It's absolutely the funniest, most memorable book I've ever read, and even now, 7 years later I still share anecdotes with my friends, such as "How to take your vest off without taking of your jacket", "Fooling the 3-card Monty", and various other tricks and stories.

I too have lent this book out to my "friends" and have never had it returned to me. It's really a shame the book is out of print, because I really wanted to buy it all over again.

If you find a copy of this book, BUY IT! If you own a copy of this book, don't loan it out. It will not return to you. (If you borrowed this book from me, I want it back.) This book is fun, enlightening and educational.

I was looking for a book to actually teach me a few cons, swindles and such-like. Perhaps with cards, perhaps with coins, perhaps just with wit and clever sentence-construction. This is not what the book is about. Its entertainingly written and probably aimed at a teen reader. The first half of the book teaches you a few scams, all of which are a bit on the pants side and most aren't practical in this era. You can proably find better ones doing a 10 minute search on the 'net. The second half of the book is quite interesting. It teaches you the odds in certain casino games (there is a relatively detailed explanation of how and when to do what when playing Blackjack), roulette is also "explained", and "craps" - the dice game. You're also warned about some carnival scams (again, this material is somewhat dated). I was hoping to learn the Three Card Monte and possibly the Three Shell Game - no such luck. All that was said about these games was that you can't win, and even if you do understand how they work, and win - you'll probably get the [heck] beaten out of you. (Actually, in the little story in the book, a staple-gun is used). Give it a miss and search the net instead.

this book has a lot of very cunning tricks you can do to other people and you are guaranteed not to lose at any of them ,which leads to collecting a lot of bets.

This book is great. The guy who gave it 2 stars is misguided. The bits in this book are priceless. There are several bar bets, stunts, gambling advice and cons. The best part is that it is such a fun read. Definitely read this book some day before you die!!

The unanimity planning process is a unique way of making people act on a RATIONAL basis to solve societal problems. Normal human emotional stances(wanting to have my own way) are encouraged to bring out the underlying fears and concerns. Every person in the group is tactfully forced to join the discussions.The book describes successful applications in diverse situations.

I have successfully used this process three times. When faced with intractable positions of the regulatory agency and my staff, the unanimity process resulted in amzing concurrence on mission statements, goals and objectives. The frame work plan was very effectively implemented.

Any one faced with developing an IMPLEMENTABLE action plan (for improving education, economic development, water, waste water or solid waste management, telecommunications, siting facilities etc) should read this book if they want to avoid the usual and ever present pitfalls. It is also well written and easy to read.

This week I read this book to a group of pre-schoolers at the Nest, a day care enter in Lexington, KY. As I was reading, one of the girls pointed out that she follows "the rules" at her daycare, just like the children in the book. She said she was really looking forward to her first day at school too! The children loved the puzzles and the pictures, so much so I gave them my only copy of the book.

I would have had a great deal more faith in the credibility of this book had it not been written by Christopher Andersen, who has an acclaimed reputation for digging up dirt on infamous people and portraying them at their worst, at their most vulnerable moments. However, that is the same kind of juicy, gossip that sells books and tabloids; some people will believe anything!

The book reveals how Princes William and Harry have dealt with the break-up of their parents' marriage, the death of their mother and the ever-growing presence of Camilla in their lives. It tells of the Queen's role in grooming the boys for the "Royal image" and how they have responded to her attempts. While the book does make interesting reading, if one were to take these two boys out of the public limelight and their "Royal position", they would probably react no differently from other boys around the world who have witnessed their parents divorce and their mother's tragic death.

Diana was a world-wide celebrity and one of the most beautiful ladies of our time. She exuded class and style in every life she touched. Her death was felt world-wide, particularly so in my country and in others who are a part of the British Commonwealth. It is highly likely the life lessons Diana gave her sons, and what she would have wanted for them, would be no different than what any loving parent would want for their children.

The book does go on to discuss "who blames who" for Diana's death. It is ironic that some people always seem to find a need to "blame someone" for life's trials and tribulations. I rather think Diana, being the compassionate person she was, would have raised her sons with a more positive, nurturing outlook on life, believing that forgiving the world for its tragedies is far more healing than blame.

So, how much is truth and how much is fiction? I suspect no one other than William and Harry will ever truly know the answer to that question, regardless of how many others may speculate. Everyone has the right to an opinion, but that does not make it factual. The reader will have to bear in mind the author's writing style and come to their own conclusions.

I was puzzled by one of the reviews of this book apparently written by someone who admits to having just thumbed through it, concluded that it contains "nothing new" and deemed it a "sad, little book." Another reviewer writes positively about the book and its subjects but trashes the author.

I found the book well written, well reported by someone who is a seasoned journalist (Mr. Andersen's credentials are impeccable) and who seems to have great sympathy for William and Harry. I found nothing salacious in this book and no hint that Mr. Andersen was after "dirt" on two young men who haven't really had time in their short lives to provide royal watchers on either side of the Atlantic with the kind of dirt that makes headlines.

All of that said I truly enjoyed "Diana's Boys" as an update on the lives of the two princes we all felt such sympathy for when Princess Diana was killed four years ago. "Diana's Boys" is also a touching tribute to Princess Diana's role as a mother. Although Mr. Andersen covers much familiar territory, he does so from a fresh perspective. I was entranced. And I read every word.

Diana's Boys, Andersen's recent bio of Diana and the fate, so far, of her sons Princes William and Harry, will make you first weep and then shudder. Aside from what appear to be the author's small errors (dates, names, both of little significance), this is a sad and sobering rehash of the death of Diana and the change from the luscious warmth of mother love to the rigid chill of the House of Windsor that these lads have experienced since that awful day in August of '97. One may find Diana to have been smothering, but we will never know how that would have turned out - the tendency was clearly there - although it is hard to overlove a child. It comes as no surprise that the atmosphere of the royal marriage put Harry and William in the same thankless boat as most children of acrimonious divorce. Picture it lived in the international spotlight. The insult to injury was the heartless chill they suddenly suffered at her death; something that will hopefully be remedied as they age and mature. Time, blessedly, does this as we have come to know. One has to wonder though. If this book is any indication - this was not the pleasantest family in which to grow up or face a mother's early, public death. There is even the ugly question of whether her death resulted in some small manner as a perverse form of schadenfreude - where the cause of the regal misery was suddenly gone along with the adored mother. It would not be the first time the baby had gone with the bath water and these boys, who had their share of choosing sides, suddenly would have to do so no longer. Children - even teenagers - often do welcome the quick fix. Diana comes across to us as a loving, yet histrionic and needy mother; Charles as a loving yet clueless and guilty "papa"; whipped by his own father relentlessly - a combination that rendered neither one capable of offering balance or joy on a routine basis to either child. Diana's excessive love overshadowed by Charles' guilt and the lack of role models for either one to emulate appears in vivid contrast to the photo ops in which both boys appeared with such happiness. Clearly both were gilded yo-yos but yo-yos nonetheless. Poor Harry seems a bit of a dim bulb - truly living up to his role as merely a spare and William, trained to be king, far too wise for his young years. One aches to imagine the depth of pain and sorrow, discouraged expression, in both their hearts as they have soldiered on with a life of predestined duties, without the softening touch of their mother's tenderness. Only time will tell if either will marry well, father well or fare well. William seems unlikely to reign until his late 40's - if at all and Harry may wind up in the unenviable position of the rest of the royal family - unless he is quite good at woodworking or military service. The next 30 years cannot be ones faced with unabated hope and ambition for two young men who have been robbed not only of their mother but of the right to grieve as much and as long as required to soothe such a wretched ache. I do heartily recommend the book for its candor and poignancy, but you will indeed be saddened by the all too familiar story it tells of modern marriage, parenthood and horrible loss - no matter how regal your birth or honorable your intentions.

Murasaki star system contains a duo of inhabitable planets that orbit each other: Genji - a high-gravity world with a dense, soupy atmosphere; and Chujo - an arid, wintry world of canyons and wind-swept plains. Neither is perfect for humans - on Genji they must wear pressure suits in addition to getting used to gravity levels half-again as high as on Earth; Chujo is more forgiving, though it can be intensely cold. Both planets serve home to sapient races: the Ihrdizu of Genji - low-tech amphibians that congregate in small villages; and the humanoids of Chujo - aloof, mysterious beings that ignore the humans entirely. It is here that the first manned interstellar expeditions will arrive, bearing humans of all frames of mind - Earthlings and off-worlders, atheists and philosophers, mystics and iconoclasts...

Instead of being a collaborative novel, "Murasaki" is a mixed bag of science fiction stories that share a setting, each written by a different award-winning author. Mind the fact that the only interesting part is the fairly in-depth world-creation notes (included as appendices), and that the stories are pathetically shallow and lead virtually nowhere...

...That is precisely what I though about this "science fiction novel in six parts" prior to reading the last two parts, which are so refreshingly, profoundly excellent that I almost wept with awe. A mystery of interplanetary proportions is suddenly built up and then revealed in flying colors.

It's really a pity that the rest of Murasaki doesn't follow suit.

I became interested in this book after reading Otherness by David Brin. One of the short stories in Otherness is actually a chapter in Murasaki. The book itself is has a very intruiging storyline and I enjoyed reading much of it. The only problam I had was the mental transition I had to make with each chapter of the book, as they are all written by different authors.

All in all, I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who likes the work of Brin, Bear, Anderson, Pohl, Kress etc etc etc.. They all wrote parts of it.

A good read.