I ordered this book because I was looking for a guide to HTTP that would provide me with a fairly clear explanation of the standard. Instead, I got a book that tells you how to build a web server from the ground up. It's good information (and fortunately someone in my office wants to know that information), but it's not for people who need to apply HTTP in languages other than C or C++. The frog on the cover is great, but there aren't too many more illustrations inside.

...The introduction in the protocol is not that different from the RFC, but it is presented in a more comprehensible format. After a while, the author starts to illustrate how to implement it in C, which I don't think is very interesting, but what else might you expect from a Java-guy. If you're pretty new to HTTP, then you will definitely find this book interesting....

When I ordered the calendar, I thought it would be a bit larger. When it arrived, though, it was only 7 inches on each side. This makes it good for writing 1 or 2 words per day if you need to jot a note, but not of much use for the "main" kitchen calendar. If you need a small calendar to carry with you, this would work, but there are other ways that would probably work better. My wife really likes lighthouses, so I'm sure it will find some use around the house, but just not the job it was ordered for.

This calendar contains pictures of some of the most famous lighthouses. My favorites are Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras.

I knew this book's name from Bibiography for an Encyclopeadia Britannica (1993 edition) article Statistics. I have not read the book yet. I gave it a neutral rating (3 stars) since I assume the book at least is not a poor one. (Very likely it deserv a 4 or 5 star rating after I read it).

The book introduces basic statistical concepts, without demanding too much mathematical background on behalf of the reader (in fact a calculus knowledge is adequate).

The function of statistics as an inference process is well elaborated, but one can not say the same for modern aspects of mathematical statistics as is decision theory and games. Also it does not cover adequately inference from stochastic processes.

Overall, this is a upper undergraduate student text which could provide the material for a mathematical statistics course if it is supplemented with a more modern textbook.

This book contains a great selection of black & white photographs of James Dean; candid, studio & film stills. Unfortunately the size of the book does pose a problem with some photographs being split in half and 'eaten' by the spine. This does ruin the effect of some beautiful prints.

This showed many beautiful pictures of James Dean. I was a bit dissapointed because some pictures were cut off by the binding. But really, the pictures are fantastic. Worth buying.

This book attempts to provide a concise description of the JavaScript language plus the associated browser objects. It is probably not suitable for beginners who need detailed explanations, but should be useful for experienced programmers who know the basics and want a quick reference. The biggest flaw is the number of errors - I came across at least 8 in my first casual read through (if the publisher reads this, p38, 39 have a couple of particularly bad mistakes). Most of these errors are so blatant that you can easily infer the real meaning, but it smacks of poor editing. I wonder if any programmers reviewed the text before printing? For this reason, I would look elsewhere or wait for the next edition.

I just finished the JavaScript Programmer's Reference. I must say that I have been wrestling with Javascript on different browsers since it came out and all my other references are dog-eared and worn out with all the wear they have received while trying to find out why things don't work (the way I think they should). This book is GREAT! It is clear, portable, and facile. I'm impressed. I wish I had something like this for all the areas I need.

Please say thanks to the authors for me.

- Bob Giuli, Internet Architect

Alex Ross's art, as usual, is gorgeous and a joy to behold. I have framed posters of his Wonder Woman and Aquaman hanging in my gym as testament to my admiration of his work. Alas, the pages in JLA: Secret Origins relating to Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman have been reproduced from previous books (Superman: Peace on Earth, Batman: War on Crime, Shazam! Power of Hope and Wonder Woman: Spirit of Truth) - all of which I already own. That made me feel a little cheated, but I guess I'll just have to wait a little while for his upcoming new JLA project. However, the full spreads of the JLA assembled still make this book well worth another look. Buy this book by all means if you do not already own the afore-mentioned books.

Fans of the Silver Age DC Universe will enjoy this really modern look at the characters from Paul Dini and Alex Ross.

Enjoy the rich painted look and text of the origins of all the JLA members; Superman, Batman, Wonder-Woman, The Flash, Green Landern, Martain Manhunter, Aquaman, Green Arrow and Black Canary, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Shazam, the Atom, and many others.
Great Book.

LOGAN IN OVERTIME, written by Paul Quarrington, is not lacking in ambition. It aspires to the magical quality achieved by W.P. Kinsella in his baseball stories, and to the large, often bizarre cast of characters seen in the novels of Dickens and Irving. But LOGAN is a mess, a slight, sometimes amusing riff on the sport of hockey that achieves nothing more than the creation of a nostalgic feeling for Quarrington's far better, more fully realized novels. In WHALE MUSIC and CIVILIZATION, and the autobiographical THE BOY ON THE BACK OF THE TURTLE, Quarrington mixes the odd with the realistic, creating memorable characters that come to life not only because of their eccentricities, but because of Quarrington's very palpable fondness for them. In LOGAN, his characters feel half-finished, coasting by on their oddness, and not creating any real empathy with the reader. It's not the subject matter: Kinsella achieved a far greater story with his similar IOWA BASEBALL CONFEDERACY. There, as in LOGAN, unusual, somewhat magical events are mixed with a story surrounding a single game, but Kinsella balances his mystical-realism with a flair for fully-functioning characters that exist long after the tale is ended. Here, the effort is half-baked, as if Quarrington read Kinsella's novel, changed baseball to hockey, and hoped the rest would fall into place. Sadly, he fails.

I'd read Whale Music by Paul Quarrington and loved it, so when I spotted "Logan in Overtime" I gave it a go. I never laughed out loud for so long since losing a number of tickle contests as a kid.

I'd always known that Goalies were a little strange - my perspective being old enough that I'd known a couple of kids who would play without masks or padding. They were nuts. Logan is such a goalie - nuts.

The premise is that Logan is a fellow with an alcohol problem and some minor dementia. He believes that space aliens (are there any other kind?)are out to get him. He is also a semi-professional goalie in a hockey league with a minor problem. They have no overtime rule for their play-offs. Everyone plays until the game is over (kind of like European soccer, I guess).

The team he plays for is mentioned in a book by the same author, "King Leary" which is a lot easier to find, let me tell you. In fact, I'd be very interested in finding a copy of "Logan" if that were at all possible...

I was drawn to this novel because of my great respect and admiration for the non-fiction writings of Paul Monette: both "Becoming A Man" and "Borrowed Time" are beautiful, moving documents of Monette's own life, his sexuality, & his heroic fight against the disease (AIDS) that claimed both his lover's life and, eventually, sadly, his own.

I wish I could whole-heartedly recommend Monette's murder mystery, "The Long Shot," but except for a very few interesting characters and a well-written, violent, horrifying death scene at the book's beginning, I found the entire thing very tired. Most of the characters could have come off of the Hollywood cutting room floor, taken out of a "B" movie because they were exceedingly trite. I do not want to tell you too many details since surprise is an element of any mystery, but the main conceit (The hero, Greg Cannon, meets and has sex with a young drifter. This drifter is found soon afterward with a major, closeted Hollywood star...both of them dead in a hot tub. And Greg feels so "connected" with the drifter, after one sexual experience, that he sets out to prove in a very long 320 pages that the men did not commit suicide) had me shaking my head in disbelief in chapter after chapter. Monette's over-use of hundred dollar words and simplistic metaphors is in direct contrast with his total simplicity and honesty in his autobiographies. (i.e.: "Though Artie had only made the mildest pass, the centrifugal motion seemed to push the moment to a pitch" or
"The smell of lilies was so intense that after a while it began to seem not real---as cheap as the dollar toilet water they bottled to sell at the airport" or "...the screw was turning ever tighter."

The only people I'd recommend this limp mystery to are those who love Monette's work already and want to read everything he wrote.

A very worthwhile read for fans of the magnificent Paul Monette, "The Long Shot" is a different take on detective fiction and a wry examination of Hollywood closets and the corrupting power of wasted money. This novel lacks the white-hot rage and crystal clarity of his later works, but is superbly and objectively written, with a more direct storytelling device than in his first novel, "Taking Care of Mrs. Carroll." Mr. Monette sometimes wrestles with a convoluted plot while delving effortlessly into well-rounded and believable characters. Newcomers to Paul Monette might try "Halfway Home" or his superb non-fiction works "Becoming a Man" or "Borrowed Time."

The book was great and inspired my kids to learn about magnets. The best part is that the book introduced magic that they could do easily. The book was easy to understand with graphics that attracted kids. The only problem is that the magnets broke easily if dropped. Three of the five doughnut magnets broke within the first day of use.

I am an elementary teacher and bought this book to use with my fourth graders. As a source of activities during our explorations of magnets it was invaluable. In addition to the "magic tricks", we had a GREAT time using the magnets to learn about their properties! Many of my students ordered the book to learn more magic tricks on their own. It's a fun, educational book!

Gurevich investigates the way medieval common people saw this world and the Other World. He uses written sources (penitentials, hagiography, exempla, catechisms and the like) to describe the "Weltanschauung" of the illiterati. In the process the reader gets a very lifely image of hell, purgatory, the Last Judgement, visiting demons, the use of saints, the roles of clergy in society. Important writers as Ceasarius of Heisterbach, Gregorius The Great, Honorius of Autun, Burchard of Worms and Dante are discussed.

But though Gurevich succeeds in painting a vivid image, I cannot give 5 points for this book. First of all, Gurevich makes his theories plausible, but the book lacks substantial evidence. Secondly non-Russian readers will find the style Gurevich uses indirect and repetetive, which makes this interesting book simply (and unnecessary) "hard work" to read.

Gurevich' work is a valuable addition to the collection of anyone interested in popular belief in medieaval europe. This work is especially valuable from the standpoint of the literature of dissenting groups and heresies. The chapter on conceptions of the underworld before Dante's elucidation is both entertaining and enlightening.