I read Mr. Vunak's book some time ago while training with a good friend who is a student of JKD. He lent me a copy of this book and it was quite a surprise to see the depth of the JKD philosophy it extolled. Mr. Vunak's points re: the psychological aspects of both fighting and training are excellent material for any MA regardless of style. I have not felt a great need to refer back to it, and Mr. Vunak can come across a bit elitist at times, but it did make an impression on me because it was well written and would be a fine gift for any MAist. VERY GOOD READING!

This book details Paul Vunak's discoveries in Jeet Kune Do in terms of philosophy and how to apply Bruce Lee's concept of JKD to one's martial arts training. I think Vunak's experience through his various instructors and real life experience makes him a great person to explain these in understandable language. One thing I wish he would have done more of was explain how one can train some of the attributes. He explains them well, but he could have given more examples of how to train them. That would have made this book even better than it already is.

For anyone wanting to study JKD this book is a must. The book discloses every aspect of true street fighting and explains that a person can loose a fight due to being unfamiliar with the range they are in. Vunak addresses this problem that Lee came up with a solution for, familiariaze yourself with all of the four fighting ranges. There are many people studying JKD but do not add the elements of GRACIE JIU JITSU or KALI to it and thus are missing out on the evolutionary process that Lee had ment to be as a means of growth, Vunak does not forget these arts in his personal training. As a student of Vunaks and a certified instructor under him, I can tell you his lessons are even more insightful and dynamic than his book already is. I have trained in various GRACIE JIU JITSU and BRAZILIAN JIU JITSU academys and Vunak addresses ground fighting prehaps even more effectively than they do. The only downfall to his book is that he leaves out the ground fighting range that he stresses in private training. He is a true martial artists and some one who is honest with himself and his students about the realities of street fighting. This book is a for real.

Computer books must sell on weight because so many are filled with unnecessary bumph to add padding. NOT the case with this book, every page is filled with constructive detailed information put into plain English. The knowledge and experience of the authors shines through and I have used much of the wisdom parted with in this book in numerous situations at work - it has a permanent place on my desk. This book also helped me pass the Microsoft SQL Server exams.

I recently inherited an over-due SQL Server 2000 upgrade project, which, it turned out, needed some serious rearchitecting of its data movement strategy. After struggling to find the information I needed in Microsoft's documentation and on Microsoft's tech support web site, I followed a colleague's recommendation and bought this book. The sections on DTS and replication not only laid out the answers I needed in easy-to-understand terms, but also provided examples that I was able to use right away (and learn a lot from!) I credit this book with saving my project!

A great resource book! The real life examples that are presented in this book and the detail instructions on how to build something with SQL Server 2000 are extremely easy to understand and useful. This book is already helping my employee's build a data replication environment and do some complex data transformations using DTS. Some great example code on the CDROM as well.

Although this novel is 800 pages long, it is so well constructed that you do not notice how long it is. Careful reading of this enables you to see that Dickens had this novel very carefully thought out from the start. Characters such as Paul Dombey, Florence, and little Paul are very well drawn and very convincing. I can not overestimate the grace in which Dickens balances suspense, good and bad omens, comic relief, and powerful images. The reconciliation scene between Florence and her father is a scene of such rare and exquisite beauty. (even to me an English Major) Along with "David Copperfield" (1850), "Bleak House" (1853), and "Hard Times" (1854), this is a phenomenal masterpiece beyond expectations.

The inexplicably neglected 'Dombey and Son' is a stunning masterpiece of 19th century fiction. The invention and bravura of Dickens' use of language is astounding. Coupled with that is a wonderful insight into the introduction of the railways in Victorian England and the often oppressive, alienating powers of a rampant Capitalist system that forces itself above the values of family and personal relationships. In 'Dombey and Son', the dangers of equating business partnerships with social ones are vividly revealed. Coupled with all of this is the presentation of one of Dickens' most compellingly vile villans: Carker. You could call this book, and the ones that come after it, "Dickens' with Teeth" and it is 'Dombey and Son' that inaugurates this development in Dickens' writing. Read it. It's wonderful.

A previously posted review asks: "How can readers accept that a woman's happiness can be achieved either through living to make men happy OR through living according to one's conscience? Surely one of these characters deserves the author's condemnation yet neither clearly receives it." It is sad when a reader is so intent on pigeonholing complex, richly drawn characters into narrow politically correct categories that he or she misses out on joys of a wonderful novel like this. Florence is denied her father's love, blames herself, and strives harder for it. This is a psychologically accurate portrait of what such a child would do, not an example of "living to make men happy" that Dickens should have condemned or praised. Likewise as to Edith's "living according to her conscience," although in fact she fails to live according to her conscience, and hates herself for it. And another previously posted review says that "the ending is wonderful, and Dickens ties up the numerous subplots with the most delightful precision." I found the final 100 pages the only bad part of the book, as Dickens artificially ties up matters that he had no need to tie up; he should have ended the book sooner. But this is my favorite Dickens novel so far.

Before I begin, I must say in all modesty that in order for someone to truly understand the nuance of this book, someone must be educated in the study of rats, enviormental issues, and have an appreciaton for arciteture, because that's the span of the "RATS". Well anayway, I'll give it a shot. The book entitled Rats is a novel about killer rats who are larger than normal rats, because of a chemical reaction at a landfill containing a buildup of Methane gas undwerground. Now of course we all have to stretch our imaginations to believe what or how this is possible, but when you read the story, the mutation of the rats was caused by the methane gas. As the story developes we are introduced to the two main charcters. Sarah 15 and her younger brther Michael 10. Sarah and michael play an important role in helping control the rat population at the end of the story. Since I do not want to give away all of the facts and mystery of the story I'll just say that there is a little bit of gore and blood, but that sould be expected when there are killer rats running around a small town and maybe Manhatten.

If you like horror books with lots of suspense and action, then this is the book for you. Rats, by Paul Zindel, is a thrilling and exciting book, which has lots of action and danger. Sarah and her brother Micheal were watching t.v. when they started hearing strange noises coming from outside. They went outside, only to find her neighbors being attacked and chased by huge enourmous rats. Now, they have to figure out a way to escape from their rat-infested neighborhood and get to safety. On the way though they witness gruesome and disgusting scenes. They then have to figure out how their going to get out of there alive. Once you pick up this book you won't be able to put it down.

Before reading "Rats," the only book I had ever read by Paul Zindel was The Pigman. After reading the back cover of "Rats", I knew I had to read it to see if Paul Zindel did as good a job with horror books as he did with fiction/drama books. "Rats" turned out to be a great book in every way. Thousands of rats are terrorizing the New York City area by appearing in toilets, pipes, and many other areas and then killing any person that they can sink their teeth into. 15-year-old Sarah and her ten-year-old brother Michael know a little bit about rats because they have an albino pet rat named Surfer. Their dad, Mr. Macafee is blamed by many people including the city mayor that it's his fault that these rats are doing this because he lives close to and takes a part in the city dump area where the rats first started their killing spree. Sarah and Michael have to use their knowledge of rats and find a way to save the people around New York City from being killed while trying to stay alive and escape the terror of the rats' claws themselves.

I liked "Rats" a lot better than I did The Pigman. I think Paul Zindel does a much better job writing horror books like "Rats." The book is unbelievably compelling and it's even scary at times. When I read about some of the explanations about what the rats looked like and how they terrorized the people, I could see a picture of a huge rat like it was staring me right in the face. If you like well written and compelling horror books, I definitely recommend getting "Rats."

After reading through this book several times I found a few problems with it. I noticed that most of the questions found in the "25 most revealing questions" part of the book were not specific enough and did little in helping me find a career that suited my interests and needs. I wasn't able to find a career or two to really research, which disappointed me a little bit.

There were some good parts of the book such as "The Cool Careers Yellow Pages" which gave a list of many careers and its niches. But There were some problems: It did not clearify what kind of degree's to get for some of those careers. It could have gone into more detail.

The book was very fun to read and gave me some good ideas to boot. Unfortunately, I was looking for something a little more serious and concrete.

For Dummies has done it again! I had a need for information and was able to get through the entire book in a matter of days because of the down to earth approach all their books take. It has inspired me to search for my career harder than ever and it is great to reference again and again because of how entertaining it is!

For a little while in college I was queen of career guides and resume books. But that wasn't helping me figure out what I wanted to do. And it certainly wasn't helping me find a post-college job. An arbitrary cousin sent me this book for graduation, and 2 years later I still use it. I threw out all the other books. "Cool Careers" outlines new approaches to finding both careers and jobs, and walks you through interviews and salary negotiations with simulations. The authors also pay special attention to shaping your job to suit your needs once you have it... a section that distinguishes it from other books in this category. Most importantly, the book leads you on a job search that balances the short-term panic with the long-term perspective needed to secure the RIGHT job for you.

Using this book, I found an unadvertised entry-level job without a resume in a field I didn't know existed. A year later I found a managerial position in the same field. The friends who graduated with me work meaningless jobs in cubicles, and they still don't know what they want to do when they "grow up". I have a career, making real decisions, and the confidence that I can find a new one whenever I want.

As a former television news health reporter, and someone who is already achieving success building an organization of people who distribute high quality wellness products, I believe Pilzer's book will be compelling reading for baby boomers looking for improved physical and financial health. For those willing to work hard to establish a foothold in this industry, Pilzer offers compelling reasons why the rewards -- both physical and financial -- will be worth it.

Pilzer has done it again.

Nobel-prize winning economist and economic advisor to two presidential administrations, Paul Zane Pilzer offers irrefutable proof that the next major boom in industry will lie in the industry of "wellness" as opposed to the $1.5 trillion dollar "sickness" industry.

It's also worth nothing that this is a book about WHY Americans aren't healthy and, surprisingly, it's for economic reasons. Pilzer shows compelling evidence that the $1 trillion food industry and the "healthcare" (sickness) industry fuel each other in propelling the average American to obesity and malnutrition.

This book also details how the baby boomers (who have been used for years as an indicator of where economic growth will occur) will create an entire industry that simply doesn't exist yet. The present $200 billion wellness industry is only the tip of the iceburg compared to what's coming.

One of my favorite parts of the book is concerning "Wellness Insurance" which shows a deceptively simple way to lower your annual insurance costs by over $3,000, have more money with which to purchase wellness products and services and STILL have the healthcare benefits that you need. Outstanding!

The information here is earth-shattering. And though it may be a bold statement, Pilzer shows inarguable proof that the coming "wellness revolution" may impact our lives more than the automobile and the personal computer.

Based on the information in this book, I believe the wellness revolution will dwarf the Internet millionaires and billionaires of the 90's.

Buy this book.

Paul Pilzer has done it again!

As with his previous books, Professor Pilzer has gone several steps beyond mere economic forecasting and provided us all with a road map to the future. If you are concerned with your health, looking for a viable entrepreneurial opportunity or just interested in slowing the effects of Father Time, this book is a Must Read!

Since incorporating the concepts explained in "The Wellness Revolution" we and our entire distributor network are well on our way to realizing the promise of the title, "How to make a Fortune in the Trillion Dollar Wellness Industry"!

Paul's broad background in Economics and success in Business provide him with the unique ability to both spot developing trends and then show us what to do about them!

This is a rare opportunity to understand the cause of the problem, the solutions and what you can do to create Personal Prosperiety along with the Health and Vitality to really enjoy it!

Krugman obviously knows his economics and this book serves as a concise overview of U.S. Economic policy for those already familiar with basic economics.

That said, Krugman is a whiner who cannot seem to leave his opinions at the door. I was annoyed by his very negative analysis of U.S. Economic policy and I cannot tell what the source of his bitterness is.

There is good info mixed with bitterness so I would NOT recommend this to someone that is easily impressionable or new to Economics.

Krugman's argument in this book is that the US economy, while not doing badly, isn't doing that well. Surely we can do better if only we expect more from our country. He goes on to provide an amazing economics lesson for the lay reader that discusses major economic topics, recent economic issues that are highly political, large problems with our current system, and what the future might hold. The chapters on international finance are particularly well written.

It's not the most recent of books, but it explains quite a lot of stuff, and most importantly, as with many of Krugman's books, you get to have a feel for the way an economist thinks. Economics is a state of mind in the sense that the more you study it, the more difficult it becomes to connect with other people. They just won't understand how your mind is thinking about things. What Krugman does is to make economics quite understandable without dumbing it down to the point where most academics would discard it as popular junk. He has strong political leanings that you are aware of if you read his column in the Times, but he is smart, and the "Age of Diminished Expectations" is definitely a good read.

It's shocking how few Americans (including the pundits, editors, and financiers who are supposed to know a thing or two) have a good grip on what's really at stake in debates over economic issues. Too often, people focus on a single issue as the cause of all of America's economic troubles, whether globalization, taxes, big business, or what have you. Anything but the fire-breathing liberal dragon that the folks at the National Review make him out to be, Paul Krugman delivers a brief but extremely informative analysis of the big picture of the economy that helps readers become aware of the complexity of the myths and realities surrounding economic life in America. Whatever you think of his political views, Krugman is clearly an outstandingly brilliant economist, and this book will surprise you and inform you in more ways than I can mention in this short review. Most people who remember the irrational exuberance of the late 1990s will find it odd that Krugman would suggest that our age is one of diminished economic expectations (certainly Americans demand amazing - even irrational - economic performance, right?), but Krugman's analysis is indisputable: since the 1970s, real incomes have stagnated and income inequality is on the rise; our national savings is in a pitiable state, and the federal budget is on the road to crisis. And it's not because NAFTA or Japan or taxes or any individual force of evil is holding us back: Americans just don't demand economic performance the way they used to.

The great thing about this text is that it's replete with readily accessible economic knowledge, brilliant diagnoses of economic problems, and informative analyses of the way that economic issues are linked together (e.g. the budget/trade deficit, inflation/unemployment, the Fed/growth, etc). This book is extremely easy to read and extremely comprehensive: it'll turn you into an educated voter in a matter of hours.

Want to know the real deal on healthcare, inflation, the deficits, and Japan? Get it from one of the most qualified economists in the world, and get it in the most readable format imaginable. I think you'll really enjoy soaking up the knowledge.

You don't know economics if you don't know the stuff in this book. Unfortunately this book lacks a serious discussion of the East Asian financal crisis and the info-tech revolution (it's a 1997 edition), which is why I give it 4 stars, but it gets the fundamentals right, and it's stuff you have to know. This book will open your eyes to America's economic potential and help you see through the myths and silences that cloud economic thinking.

Read this if you want to understand the fundamental issues facing the American economy.

I had heard of Cox-2 inhibition before reading Beyond Aspirin, but didn't understand what it was or how it has played such a major role in the diseases we are all concerned about such as Arthritis, Alzheimer's and Cancer.

Tom and Paul explain so easily how we can use the intelligence of nature to help ourselves possibly prevent these diseases. This book is written in such a fascinating, easy to read format.

By the end of the book, I realized the significance Cox-2 inhibition will have in all our lives. I think this book is revolutionary!

We all want relief for what ails us. It seems everyone has a different approach, all better than the rest. I have read a number of books on alternative health and healing, Beyond Aspirin is the first book I found to be as concise and understandable about such a complex issue as COX-2 inhibition. I particularly like the way that the authors write about the botanicals in their book not only as Cox-2 inhibitors, but also go into depth about the amazing healing qualities of each herb individually and in concert with one another...a truly holisitc approach. I found Beyond Aspirin so chock full of useful, understandable information that it is the first book of its kind that I felt I could send to my mother who has a very limited understanding of the topic, but who also suffers from arthritis. Hurray for Newmark and Schulick for being able to educate so many people and help so many with what ails them!

Newmark and Schulick don't patronize their readers, don't make glib cure-all claims for the herbal COX-2 inhibitors, don't disparage normal medical practice, and do make good sense that anyone suffering from osteo arthritis (as I do) should pay close attention to.

Inflammation is, as the authors make clear, a critical component in many other disease processes, a fact prominent in recent medical news. The core of their book, though, is the well-argued claim that the remarkable improvement over the likes of aspirin, ibuprofen and other NSAID's achieved in the last year or two by new COX-2 inhibiting drugs (such as Celebrex and Vioxx) is also attainable via a number of herbs that have been used for centuries and whose "biochemistry ... is infinitely more complex, balanced, effective and safe than the silver bullet approach of using one synthetic molecule."

I found their general explanation of the paradoxically helpful/harmful nature of the body's natural inflammatory response to injury very clear and most interesting for understanding my own particular case. I also enjoyed the rather bold analogies frequently employed in their explanations as well as the literary quotes and herbal drawings. In general, this is a book that anticipates and pleases a skeptical reader.

For the record, I took their advice and found a highly concentrated source of several of the herbs they mention. The very substantial and rapid reduction in swelling and pain in my ankle impressed and delighted me. The product I used (Zyflamend) is actually produced by Newmark and Schulick, but is not even mentioned in their book!

This book did a great job of covering the various topics required when building a web application. I did find that this book took me longer to go thru than other beginning ASP.NET books because of the use of Visual Studio.NET within all the chapters, it shows off many of the VS.NET tools which I had not used as much in other books.

One of the main things I like about this book is the perspective in which the authors deliver the content. For example the authors will show you how to generate controls at design time with minimal code and effort, then they will show you their preferred way of generating controls; manually, with a bit more code for you to write but more efficient. The way any web developer would do it. The authors don't just take Microsoft heresy; they give you best practices from their experience.

There were some typos but nothing unbearable.
Tons of source code available, and a complete version of the site you will build.

Overall this was a great book, I look forward to other books by the same authors.

I don't really know what was on the mind of the first reviewer, but this book is just great and better than the other book he mentioned. Believe me, I have both books, and as a computer science student I know what I'm saying.

This book will help you on developing real world applications. It will not waste your time giving you examples of codes, that you will never need or implement in your life.

Even though, the book says 'developers jumpstart' you don't need to be experience on with .NET. The book is great for starters with the .NET Framework, as long as the starter is serious and disciplined to learn it. You will just need experience on any object-oriented language. If you know VB it will be great.

This book is a most buy!

This book is designed for developers who want to create real world business applications that take advantage of many new capabilities provided by the .NET platform. The book will guide you step-by-step to building a web application using ASP.NET, SQL Server, ADO.NET, Web Forms, and Web Services.

Whether or not you have some previous web programming experience, you will get alot out of this book. To get the most out of the book it is recommended that you have some previous programming experience in either Visual Basic 6 or VB.NET, however it is not required. It is also recommended that you have some familiarity with relational databases, such as Access or SQL Server.

The book is divided into four parts. Part one provides an introduction to ASP.NET and the .NET Framework. Part 2 covers data handling using ADO.NET, Web Forms, stored procedures, and other data handling tools. Part three teaches some additional web development techniques. You will learn how to use Crystal Reports to display information from a database, create user controls, state management, web security, and how to create mobile web applications. Finally, Part four shows how to create and consume XML Web Services.

I found the book extremely easy to read and understand. After reading the book and completing the ASP.NET sample application, you will have the knowledge and confidence to begin building your own ASP.NET web applications.

I found My Other Life a wonderful but uneven book. Its premise is very original: It may or may not be the author, Paul Theroux, autobiography. He describes it as "the story of a life I could have lived had things been different". But the reader feels that the fictional memories are not that fictional after all. As you read it you might feel that Theroux would like some things to be different, but not even a writer can erase and change his past.

If I said that My Other life is a uneven book its because the first chapters are fascinating. I loved the young Paul as a young hopeful writer full of dreams that takes him to the most romantic and idealistic places. He was a writer who thought that to be able to write he must know pain. And a lot of pain. So he goes to live in a leper's colony in India.His life keeps changing as chapters pass. He becomes a a young husband and teacher in Singapore; a doting husband, loving father and young writer in London.But as he approaches middle age, his life and crisis become very boring. The reader misses the young dreamer who has turned in the last chapters into an obnoxious man who can't be faithfull to his wife or to his dreams. Well, thats life. Who is the lucky one who can fulfill the promise of his youth?. Paul Theroux sure is a wonderfull storyteller who can fulfill his readers expectations.

I happen to enjoy Paul Theroux a lot of the time, and this "fictional autobiography" delivers the goods. As usual, Theroux goes over familiar territory, Africa, Singapore, London and Massachussets, and makes one wonder which of his stories are real and which aren't. My favourite chapters in this book are his encounter with the royals at a posh function, (especially his Prince Phillip moment) and his pilgrimage to his hometown of Medford Massachussets, slumming with some locals who wouldn't know one of his books if it hit them on the head.

This is as good introduction to this author as any book, although one would do well to start off with one of his travel books, such as The Old Patagonian Express (which is where I discovered Theroux). I found My Other Life to be much more enjoyable and substantial than his somewhat self-pitying My Secret History, written a few years previously. In fact I should re-read My Other Life soon, each page has some gems.

*My Other Life* is a unique and brilliantly executed masterpiece that defies genre classification, and is, for me, Paul Theroux's best work and greatest book, superior to his earlier *My Secret History*. The writing is fluid and tight, the stories poignant, sad, and hilarious--and while people often criticize Theroux for being self-indulgent or even monomaniacal, the human insights found in the present volume are as powerful as they are because of the narrator's simultaneous involvement and detachment, which provide for wonderful character sketches and evocative descriptions, the likes of which the author himself has never executed better.

More than with any other book I've ever read, including those by Paul Theroux, this book absolutely defies classification: it is at once a novel (as it's billed), a work of creative nonfiction, a memoir/autobiography, a "travel" book, a collection of vignettes, of essays, of connected short stories, and a work of literary criticism. Theroux is very prolific and has written in all of these mediums, but *My Other Life* manages to be the best work he's done in any of them AT THE SAME TIME! Moreover, this is certainly one of the greatest books on the art of writing and publishing ever written--EVERY aspiring writer would do well to read it.

I quite simply LOVE this book, and rate it among the best I've ever read. More to the point, I can honestly say that this is one of the very, very few books that has actually changed my life, and for the better. And it's an easy, fun, quick read--genius in the guise of talent. I've taken from it new ways of seeing the world, new possibilities--and from my own narrow and limited focuses, new ways of seeing my life. There is not a word wasted here, nor is there a sentence too much--*My Other Life* shows the potentialities implicit in every moment, and the importance involved in the responsibilities of being human.