I purchased this book having played flute only once (very much a beginner). This book provides a lot of history about the flute but doesn't provide very clear and in depth instruction on how to play. So, if you are looking for an instruction book, this is not the one for you.

As a flute instructor, repairman, player, and director, I find this book, Mark Shepard's "How to Love your Flute" an invaluable resource to the flute community. It includes new aged techniques as well as classical ones, also folk flute. Tis is a great book.

I am a maker of traditional Japanese shakuhachi flutes since 1970. Mark Shepard's wonderful edition dates back to the early years of interest in ethnic flutes here in the USA. It inspired a lot of people and has had a "cult following" for decades. Along with his other books on flute construction, How to Love Your Flute has established Mark as one of the pioneers in the field.

Here at Tai Hei Shakuhachi ... we offer resources for folks interested in making their own flutes. I've received calls from people searching for this book even a decade after it disappeared. In no other book about modern woodwinds will you find thorough instruction and extensive knowledge combined with such insight and wisdom. I pushed Mark for years to get this unique resource back in print and am so glad it is readily available once again.

This book has both strengths and weaknesses. It is very good in my opinion in giving you an overview of how to create nice looking web pages in Frontpage 2000. The book is laid out in a logical fashion with easy to read text and lots of illustrations. Its disadvantages are that it only really gives you the basics of creating web pages. It is limited in that it shows you only how to work with the pull-down menus in the program itself. For more advanced stuff you will have to go to Matthew and Poulsen's FRONTPAGE 2000: THE COMPLETE REFERENCE.

Its an average book as I said. Got me generating web pages in an afternoon.

This book was a big help to me in creating my own art website. I was combining lots of visuals plus accompanying text, all on a black cut silk velvet background of my own. Thus, I did not use one of the program's theme websites. I was being fairly ambitious in what I was trying to set up and this book got me most of the way there. The main reason I'm not giving it a 5 though is I still needed to call in my computer friend to help me when I still did not have a website which totally lined up right. She had to get the spacing worked out and get rid of the horizontal bar for me. I will admit, however, that computer knowledge also does not come easily to me. If you are looking for a book that can absolutely guarantee you will be able to build a website from its pages, this book is not it. However, I doubt any other book is it either as there are a number of bugs in the Front Page program itself that my friend had to fix for me that no book would have addressed. My friend didn't berate me for buying this book; she berated me for buying Front Page! My husband bought 2 other books for me from Microsoft directly on Front Page and they were not near the help this book was. If you've decided on using Front Page as your program, I'd go ahead and get this book. You're probably not going to do better.

I'm so impressed with this book I intend to purchase more in the series. While it doesn't have the depth of a 400 page reference guide, I'm sure most people will be much happier with the results from it. By being able to see, in colour, exactly what you're supposed to be doing, you'll learn things much faster. The book even shows pictures of the menus, and which option you need to choose in order to proceed with the desired function. I also liked the way the book picked the topics most people would want to understand better about Frontpage. Most people don't want to sell product and track inventory from their personal website. This book focuses on what beginners want to be able to do. For example, it shows you how to create a home page, how to make navigation buttons appear on top and different navigation buttons appear on the left of your page, and how to use photos and other objects in your web page. It also helps you understand the built-in wizards, and how you can use them to create web pages simply and quickly. Highly recommended!

Strident and doctrinaire. This book combines the worst qualities of Feminism and fundamentalism. Janet Smith should use Ockham's Razor!

In this, her first book, university professor Janet Smith presents a philosophical and theological understanding of Pope Paul VI's controversial 1968 encyclical 'Humanae Vitae' ('On Human Life'). The 370 densely packed pages of text are divided into eight chapters and four appendices.

In the first chapter Dr. Smith gives a very brief historical overview of the Church's consistent condemnation of contraception whenever the issue arose. It was not until 1930 that the Anglican Church's Lambeth Conference "broke ranks with nearly the whole of the traditional Christian opposition to contraception" when it permitted its use by married couples "for grave reasons." Pope Pius XI responded with an encyclical entitled 'Casti Cannubi' that reiterated the opposition, encouraged elevated notions of conjugal love and parenthood, and explained that confining conjugal acts to known infertility periods, for right reasons, was morally permissible. Some Catholic theologians began opposing the teaching in 1963 and by 1966 it was the major moral issue troubling the Church. Smith claims this came about because of the development of the Pill and social changes rather than from philosophical deliberations. She spends the bulk of the chapter examining the arguments of a papal commission divided over the issue in the years just prior to 'Humanae Vitae.'

Smith begins chapter two by stating, "'Humanae Vitae,' depends on a Christian understanding of the nature or meaning of marriage and in particular on a Christian understanding of the importance of the marital gift of having children" (p.36). She then examines Catholic teaching on this matter as found in 'Casti Cannubi' and relevant portions of the Vatican II document 'Gaudium et Spes.' In these documents she notices the beginnings of a shift in terminology and emphasis, from focusing on the "ends" of marriage to more "personalist values" (i.e. goods that benefit the human person as distinct from values that protect other goods --- such as the good of society or respect for the laws of nature).

In chapters three and four she analyzes 'Humanae Vitae' itself. Chapter three reviews how the encyclical deals with arguments advanced in favour of contraception, especially those based on the principle of totality (i.e. "that under certain circumstances it is morally permissible to sacrifice the good of a part for the good of the whole"). She claims that most have misunderstood the type of natural law argument used in the teaching and so in chapter four concentrates on four arguments against contraception based on these natural law principles. One argument, in syllogistic form, is: "(1) It is wrong to impede the procreative power of actions that are ordained by their nature to the generation of a new human life (2) Contraception impedes the procreative power of actions that are ordained by their nature to the generation of new human life (3) Therefore, contraception is wrong" (p.99). Smith gives expansive explanation to each argument; in this particular case pointing out how it doesn't simply condemn contraception as the violation of a physiological act but as violating its integrity as a "human act." She points out how the argument depends on a recognition of the "intrinsic worth of human life" that affects both how we treat living human beings and the very process by which they come into being. She also addresses arguments that say there is no difference between contraception and natural family planning.

Chapter five presents theological considerations. It looks at scriptural foundations for the teaching. While no explicit "Thou shalt not contracept" reference can be made (just as no explicit condemnation of the direct bombing of civilian sites can be found) nevertheless four biblical themes "provide strong evidence that contraception does not fit within God's plan for human sexuality. These are (1) the extreme value given to procreation, (2) the portrayal of sterility as a great curse, (3) the condemnation of all sexual acts that are not designed to protect the good of procreation, and (4) the likening of Christ's relationship to His Church to that of a bridegroom to his bride, a union that is meant to be a fecund relationship, one that will bring forth many sons and daughters of God" (p. 130). The first point is highlighted early in Genesis (1:27-28), where man is created male and female to image God in His creative powers (p.130). Smith also explores the encyclicals use of the term "munus" (i.e. mission) as relating to God's wanting to share the goods of His kingdom and entrusting spouses with the mission of participating with Him in the work of bringing new life into the world. She also looks at the authoritative nature of 'Humanae Vitae' and the role of conscience.

Chapter six begins the consideration of the aftermath of the encyclical and the arguments of early dissenters. Chapter eight gives an exposition of Pope John Paul II's justification of the teaching in terms of conjugal love as a total self-giving that requires self-mastery of one's passions. The appendices include a new translation of the encyclical, a commentary on the text, and a critique of the work of some leading theological exponents of the teaching.

Smith's work is exceptional. She presents the arguments of her opponents fairly and is not party to caricatures or character assassinations. Her own arguments are sound and, I think, convincing. But, alas, I fear in this area especially, human intellects are guided more by the will than vice versa; which in turn is easily overpowered by the concupiscent passions. The ideological battle was early lost. We have, almost literally, sown our seed to the wind and now reap the whirlwind. Man has always had difficulty maintaining a high, unselfish view and standard in sexual relations. Frank Sheed once observed that "men have shown only too clearly that what they do not reverence, they will profane." Conjugal love has been drastically profaned and with it marriage, family, relations between the sexes, even the intrinsic worth of human life. We are so far gone I do not see how sanity or sanctity will ever return.

In my opinion, this book should be considered the classic text on contraception, as believed by the Roman Catholic Church. Janet Smith outlines a series of different arguments against contraception, and shows how they are all rooted in the classic Catholic view of human nature. The strength of this book is its thorough description of human nature and Natural Law, as understood in the Catholic Tradition. I'd thus rank this book highly as a general book on Natural Law, and the some of the theological anthropology implicit in it. Without such an understanding of human nature it is very difficult to understand the problems with contraception. By point of contrast, she critiques the 'contra-life will' arguement proposed by Grisez etc. One feature that I found particularly useful was her analysis of how contraception has affected society, and the link between contraception and divorce. One warning: this book is for the serious student. However, it lays out the principles it builds on, and when I first read it was able to understand it even though the material was all new to me.

I thought the book was pretty good overall. It was quite well laid out, good examples and at times, even a little interesting (not an easy task for a book about accounting). The book is easy to read, you can finish it in a day of two and raise you financial IQ a few points. Its not a book for someone that really wants all the details, but more of a general introduction to some accounting and finance definitions. There is also a pretty good list of resources at the back of the book to go for more information.

One of the authors is Seth Godin. He is an interesting character, he is the VP of Direct Marketing at YAHOO, he wrote another book called "Permission Marketing" which also all right (but a little hyper at times). The interesting part about Seth is his other books are about things like bridge, Disneyworld, Dieting, DOS, Poker, Wine, Marketing, lots of other "If you are Clueless" titles, even one called "E-Mail addresses of the rich and famous". So he has a lot of experience writing for a very diverse group of people. Any way I would rate this book a buy.

Jeff

Seth Godin introduces readers to accounting, and doesn't assume that you have any knowledge about accounting at all. I highly recommend this book for people who are just beginning their accounting education and need to learn the basics, possibly before pursuing further education.

This book is extremely clear and well organized. The presentation of accounting concepts is to the point and is explained in a practicable manner. Key points are repeated several times in different formats for easy reference and retrievel. Every topic is discussed with the who, what, when, where, and how in mind. It also includes key real world references/applications to help you become more aware of how these concepts fit in the real world context. If you desire a strong foundation in accounting, this book is most likely for you.

...i lugged this around and liked, at first, looking at the pics -- however this book is not comprehensive in the least to the even slightly curious and adventuresome traveler. this is a tourist guide, not a travelling guide. fyi!

Although I find the large Insight Guides to be useless, the pocket guides have worked VERY well for me in Morocco and in Costa Rica. By being condensed, they choose very interesting itinaries for you.

Vacation photos are the ubiquitous, clichéd chronicle of the average person's travels. Yet few travel books include more than a small smattering of so-so photos, offering only a peek at a destination's sights and environs; even though a great deal of our travel memories and experiences are through images. This book, along with the Insight Guides series in general, is different, offering a comprehensive set of fantastic photos that not only showcase the sights, but bring the details, richness, and life (some gorgeous, some gritty) of Costa Rica closer.

The accompanying text, while a bit uncharacteristic (likely due to editorial consistency), is informative and comprehensive, giving you a great overview of Costa Rica, its history, its people, and places of interest. Its travel information, such as lodgings, appears targeted towards middle-class travelers, although it touches on a wide range of styles and budgets. And when you're ready to plan your itinerary the maps outshine those of any other guide book, and are good enough to use on your trip, even for 90% of the driving most folks are likely to do.

Other guidebooks might offer more in-depth and "insider" information with a particular slant (e.g. the excellent, down-to-earth, and environmentally conscious book by Harry S. Pariser, "Explore Costa Rica") but the Insight Guide should be the first one you buy to "see" where your travels might take you.

I gave it a one-star to balance those biased 5 stars. The first part of the book is pretty good, intuitively explains what an OLS regression is really like geometrically. The second part of the book is just horrible. The author just goes on and on and on without being able to clearly explain the theories. The book is used in my program for one year and then stopped. Now we use Yamashi's book, which is much better.

I have just completed reading Professor Ruud's textbook from cover to cover. It is the clearest, most insightful graduate-level econometrics book I have read. Whereas many texts seem to be compendiums of theorems and proofs with little in the way of explanation, Ruud takes the time to explain things thoroughly. At over 800 pages, however, Ruud's book is never verbose. A good explanation takes time, but Ruud never takes more time than is needed. Yet, in addition to all concepts being thoroughly explained, they are introduced with practical examples, and--what is most amazing--the proofs are built up systematically in such a way that you can actually read though them and be enlightened rather than convinced.

Previous econometrics texts have a "Losing sight of the forest for the trees" sort of feel to them. Ruud's text, however, works like the old drill Seargent in the Kipling poem who explained his teaching method as "Firsts I tells 'em what I'ms goings to tells em; then I tells 'em; and then I tells 'em what's I tolds 'em." Ruud does this by first building up the fundamental concept of matrix projection. Then he demonstrates how that can be used to explain Ordinary Least Squares regression. Then he adds onto that all the common assumptions: independent, identically distributed errors; normality of the errors, etc. He builds things up one assumption at a time. And all the while he tells you what he's doing and why the content of each chapter matters and how it is related to what has come before and to what will come afterwards.

But, then--in a master stroke of pedagogy--he tears it all down. He starts taking away, one at a time, all the assumptions like normality that he just spent chapters building up and shows how econometricians deal with matters when they *do* in fact remove the standard assumptions. In this way he can introduce consistent estimators, non-linear regression, latent variables, and so on as what they were historically: practical solutions needed when the assumptions of the classical model fail to hold.

By systematically showing which assumptions imply which results and then showing how to deal with things when a given assumption fails to hold, Ruud's book produces a better econometrician. Too often have previous books left previous readers unable to really understand the art of data analysis, which involves taking a data set, seeing what assumptions can be fairly made about it, and then analyzing it given those fairly made assumptions.

Professor Ruud deserves many plaudits for writing what will surely become the standard text for the next generation of graduate students.

Econometrics seemed to me a technically demanding subject with results that are either magic (stated without derivation) or based on some arcane mathematical tricks. But after reading Ruud's textbook, econometrics finally makes sense. It provides a great exposition of graduate econometrics with all the main results and techniques clearly spelled out. Furthermore, it actually has derivations of the results. I also really like the emphasis on the geometry behind econometrics; it provides a systematic approach and the results even become intuitive.

So, if you want more than just a recipe book and actually understand econometrics, read this book!

Some pretty awful writing by Jenkins and the fadeing artwork by Garney (whose early work on Captain America was much better then this) shows a weakened Bruce Banner together with his now unpredictable alter-ego, the Hulk matching wits with an angry General Ross and a mystery man named Ryker who use all the mad science and military hardware at their service to bring down the Green Goliath for good. Like this act hasn't been repeated before by previous Marvel writers.Just another very bad idea on the part of current editors there to destroy everything that make various Marvel Heroes interesting before, oh yes, I also say to Marvel. "Bring Back Betty Banner."

The Hulk has been far from incredible in quite some time. He has been victim to some very poor writers and awful retcons and has often been trapped in the "Hulk Smash!" rut by careless writers. Luckily, Paul Jenkins manages to deal with both the Hulk and Banner in a careful, emotionally driven storyline.

The nine issues within this collection feature some very stronge stories using several different Hulks. Bruce Banner has been stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease and must confront his fractured psyche for help. In the process he uncovers several incarnations of the Hulk, ranging from the well-known child-speaking Hulk to a gangster-like gray Hulk to an arrogant and intelligent incarnation.

The villain in the story is John Ryker, a Cigarette-Smoking Man character type who, as his motivations are revealed, becomes a surprisingly human man. He tests and torments the Hulk for his own goals, but his provocations serve more to cause more torment to Banner's psyche than anything else. All in all, the Hulk's conflict is an internal one.

With wonderfully dark writing and terrific art from Ron Garney, the only problem that this series of tales suffers from is a few continuity issues. The Hulk as a character has been around for over 40 years now, and he has a monster of a history. While Jenkins does wield that history well, the story is rooted in enough of it that it can be cumbersome to those who know very little of who the Hulk really is. And, on the other end of the spectrum, a few minor gaffs and retcons on Jenkins part will keep nitpicky fans up at nights complaining about it. However, if you are willing to deal with the sticky point of comic character history, this is by far one of the best comic book collections published today. Jenkins' time on the Hulk was all too brief, but these early stories of his are well worth looking into.

Two powerhouses, Paul Jenkins (writer) and Ron Garney (artist) join forces to deliver this action packed, awesome art novel about our gamma spawned friend-foe, the Incredible Hulk! A must for old and new Hulk fans alike. Enjoy!

I have a background in C/C++ and even with that, I still found this book awkward. The sample code is broken, meaning they place a few lines of code, discuss some more code, place the code they described, and repeat this several times for the whole book. I found that in 'Teach Yourself C in 21 Days', the code was discussed after the program code was placed (in one piece), which I found very helpful. On the back cover on this Java book, it claims that I can, and I quote, 'Become fluent in the hottest new Internet programming language' I'm still no better off than before I read this book. This is the reason I gave this book only one star.

Just a note to let you know that the JAVA PRIMER PLUS is one of the top ten IT books in my library. In an industry where 50% of the books out there is, well, crap, yours is very well written, easy to read and thorough. Your writing style is similiar to the guys who wrote 'Essential Client Server Survival Guide', I can't quite remember the authors names. Steven Feuerstein is another author who's writing style is similiar to yours in that it is easy to read and the author knows his subject matter.

A job well done and I hope you update this book by covering JDK 1.2

Thanks.

It is really great to find a book that actually delivers what was promised on the back cover. I did not know anything about Java but wanted to get up to speed quickly. The book assumes that you do not know anything about programming or OOP and builds from there. The examples are great and very practical, not to mention that they actually work !. Having completed the book I still find myself referencing it from time to time. Money well spent...and to the authors, well done.

Rocco Buttiglione is an absolute cretin. A servile henchman of the cancerous worldwide catholic lobby and a junior partner in Berlusconi's neofascist bloc, he contents himself with the few crumbs that fall from his master's table... like a faithful, mangy little dog. May Jah have mercy upon him and upon the misguided souls who have nothing better to do than to read his insignificant works.

The book is hard to understand not only in philosophical thought but also some polish history would help.
As a casual reader I found the book to be more of a task then I wanted.
A challenge is good if you have the patience for the subject mater. I rated the book high because it was well written and informative but a little over my head. I simply didn't have the back round knowledge I needed to get full understanding.
There are other books on Pope John Paul 2 that would be more beneficial for the causal reader.

The reader seeking to understand the thinking of Pope John Paul II will find no better introduction than this remarkable book. Buttiglione is a major philosopher in his own right--as if evident from his careful discussions of Adorno, Sartre, Marx, and other thinkers he brings into dialogue with Wojtyla. Highly recommended.

This book is a pretty decent critique of the New Perspective view on Paul. It is also a good expousal of the traditional Protestant view of the Law/Gospel paradigm (Schreiner takes a NCT/Lutheran approach to the Law). However, when one starts to read the final two chapters one will detect that there are alarming conclusions regarding justification, works, and judgment. In chapter 7, Schreiner argues that Paul taught that good works are necessary FOR salvation (not as a necessary RESULT of salvation). He argues this based on certain passages in the Pauline epistles (e.g., Romans 2:13). He also argues that the rest of the New Testament writers also argued for works as necessary for final salvation (Chapter 8) based on certain New Testament passages (e.g., James 2:14-26). This is the same author who once believed that righteousness was "transformative" rather than "forensic". In fact, this book was published when the author held to the "transformative" view. Many readers should be wary of this and warned of the many disasters of those who claim to be traditional Protestants yet expouse a system that is anti-Protestant. Theological inconsistency is a serious matter. The last two chapters gives this book one star.

The previous reviewers are quite accurate in their apparaisal of Schreiner's critique of the so-called "New Perspective" on Paul. He shows how it is lacking time and again in the terms Paul sets out for the Law.

However, although he is correct in his defense against the New perspective, I am unconvinced that he adequately lays out a correct understanding of "nomos" from the Greek NT. Quite simply, he does not deal with the totality of Paul's statements on the Law, and thus is forced to charicature Paul's position just as surely as the New Perspective does. If the New Perspective desires to say Paul was not critiquing "authentic" jewish religion and re-defines him in that light, Schreiner for his part reads Paul in light of Calvinist formulation. THis is more accurate, but not the same as exegeting a true "Biblical Theology" of Paul's use of the Law as he claims to aim.

I would suggest that anyone interested in a thorough formulation of this look to Frank Thielmann's outstanding "Paul and the Law, A Contextual Approach." Thielmann examines the WHOLE of the Pauline corpus in his work. And his conclusions as a result are, in my mind, far more convincing.

Schreiner's work provides a good response to the New Perspective on Paul and the Law which has swept NT studies over the past fifteen or so years. He approaches the problem from a modified Lutheran standpoint.

Schreiner begins with an overview of the state of NT scholarship on Paul and the Law. He focuses on the impact of Sanders and Dunn, but also takes into account the earlier views of Schweizer and Davies and the more recent contributions of Laato, Westerholm, and Thielman, as well as the Reconstructionists.

He then explores the issues of: the meaning of 'nomos' in Paul; why the works of the Law can't save; the purpose of the law; the temporary nature of the Mosaic covenant; the fulfillment of the law by Christians; and Paul and justification by works. He concludes with a brief sketch of other NT writers on the Law.

Schreiner ably defends the position that Paul was (at least in part) addressing Jewish legalism, that he almost always refers to the Mosaic law by 'nomos', that Christians fulfill the Law by the power of the Spirit, and that works are necessary for final salvation. Works of the Law cannot save because no one keeps the Law perfectly, he contends.

Highly recommended.