As I am a fan of Dummies series, I thought that this book would be such a good starting point to understand Cyberbanking. However, I was highly disappointed due to its poor content. It was written for only "how to use" purpose, rather than giving information about online banking. And the scope of the book is just limited with US.........

Are colours percieved in the same way in all cultures? This is a fascinating question connected with the discussion on linguistic relativity. Unfortunately, many works on colour either disregard the issue or build upon Berlin and Kay's classic work. Written in 1969 "Basic Colour Terms" consists of a simple theory: Colour Terms are acquired in a certain order: "primitve" peoples have fewer colour terms than industrial societes. The only problem is, the theory is wrong. Here is why:

The colour samples are restrictive because variation in luminosity or reflectance are not included. At the same time, however, the stimulus array is also very complex and the labelling task forces the informants to make judgements and choices which they rarely encounter in real life.

The research is unrealistic. How many Europeans would be willing - and able - to classify 350 (!) colour chips?

The colour research of Berlin and Kay (and their followers) is being conducted in "linguistic isolation"; that is, hardly any notice is taken of how colour terms are used by speakers and hearers in every-day interaction. Morphemic, syntactic, semantic (other than naming) or pragmatic issues are not dealt with.

With Berlin and Kay's system it is also easy to make the colours fit the thesis.

While Berlin and Kay's research has revived interest in the subject much effort has gone into defending a flawed theory. For a more frutiful approach see the section on colour terms in Wierzbicka, Anna (1996) Semantics: Primes and Universals. Oxford: Oxford UP.

I like independant comics but only a few stories in this collection caught my attention, namely the Concrete story, Floating Heads and the Sack Murder. This anthology just doesn't do the company justice. Shame really.

My infant son is fascinated by pop-up books and I've always loved them since I was a child. I am a civil engineer, and I was really looking forward to using this book to introduce my son to the construction industry. The book was pretty [$$$], but I figured it would be worth it. Wrong! The pop-ups are very elaborate and when we got to the last page where the city is supposed to pop up, the buildings tore off the page. I tried to tape them back in, but no luck. I guess this book will have some use - it can teach my son about poor engineering design.

In Catholic tradition, the Book of the Gospels is a symbol of Christ as Teacher, instructing his Church by his word and example, especially within the liturgical context. As such, the Book of the Gospels was very early seperated from the other books in the Church, and designed and crafted with great care. The designs, artwork and craftsmenship of the book witness to the Church's devotion to Christ's teachings and her veneration of the Word of the Father himself.
This edition uses the revised American Lectionary of 1998. It contains the gospel passages for all Sundays of the year in their three-year cycles, as well as gospels read during solemnities and some special feasts. It also contains the gospel readings for the celebration of various other rites, such as ordination, confirmation, marriage and Christian initiation etc. This makes the Gospel Book useful for all major and solemn celebrations in a community, except Ash Wednesday since it does not contain the gospel passage for that day. This edition is approved by the US Bishops for use in the USA.
This edition of the Gospel Book however stands in stark contrast to the venerable tradition of the Church. The cover design, though potentially excellent, is now stark, being decorated only by a fanciful cross. [According to the publisher, the size of the book fits most ceremonial covers. Maybe that will mask the starkness of this book.] The print is easy-to-read, but there are no pieces of liturgical/religious art in the book. This runs counter to our tradition where words and art both help communicate the Gospel of Christ to all people. The Lectionary published by the same company is better than this Gospel Book and this makes the latter a very disappointing book.
This book is the cheapest of four editions to choose from, from different publishers. But it is so different from the Church's heritage that it would be more worthwhile to save some more money and obtain a better edition of the Book of the Gospels. If one can afford it, the Deluxe edition published by Midwest Theological Forum is the most exquisite and beautiful. This edition features many full-color art pieces, and a cover with Christ the Pantokrator(Teacher). The same publisher also produces a similar Standard edition that is much cheaper [...]; its cover has the four evangelists from the Book of Kells. If not, the edition produced by Liturgy Training Publications works too. This edition features contemporary full-color artwork based on Ethopian Christian styles. All these editions makes use of the revised American Lectionary of 1998, and are all approved by the US bishops. I would obtain this plain edition only as a last resort.

I am a fan of the outdoors and nature literature. I bought this audio book hoping it would make for interesting listening during my commute.This tape comprises some very cheesy stories that mostly revolve around stupid men shooting things (with lame sound-effects to boot). One particularly assinine adventure involves a man who is a "photographer" awed by a majestic moose. He brilliantly decides me MUST have a close up photo of the animal, no matter the cost (including the cost of the mooses' life!)The jackass sneaks up on the moose, and the moose charges at him, and then he shoots it to death.
"Ah, yes.. that was quite and adventure, and I got the most spectacular picture as the moose charged. Thankfully, I had a second to grab my rifle." the narrator reads in wise, gravely sounding voice, oblivious to the fact that he just DESTROYED the animal that captivated him. But it'll live on forever in a photo! Ya right.
Avoid this tape if you value intelligent nature stories. If corny sounds and hunting are a passion, then go for it.

But my review has never shown up in this space.

This book is really intended for kids - it has tons of pictures about the development of calligraphy, specialized writing, etc. It has little insightful information to help the beginner gain the basic skills of calligraphy

I want to have a look on this book before buy it

When I accepted an admission offer from Stanford, I wanted to learn all I could about the environment into which I would be entering. Having read the book, I developed expectations about the culture of Stanford, expectations which, upon arriving on the Stanford campus, I found to be errant.

This book is quite a disappointment. Suffering both from poor editing and omission of crucial facts, the contents do not flow smoothly. The text is presented in a somewhat offensively over-refined and pretentious manner, the kind one finds in art museum catalogs or as introductions to Penguin Classics. The reader gains little sense of the beauty of the campus, as only a few of the photographs depict the excellent landscaping, the detail of Quad buildings, or the quality of materials and construction of the buildings. The foothills of the Stanford campus, and the trails leading up to the Dish aren't even included -- an omission that reflects poorly on the editors. Equally poor editorial judgment can be found in the photograph of the Hoover Tower appearing in one of the chapters -- this famous landmark is shown in its early construction, as an unsightly steel frame amid a dirt field.

To the credit of the authors, they give an engaing account of the history of the variously defined Stanford master plans, and of the culture which gave rise to the different stages of the campus' expansion.

In general, the reader's labors are not rewarded with fresh perspectives, or a sense of the spirit that habituates Stanford. If one toured the Stanford campus before reading the book, one might wonder what drove the editors to present such an excellent environment so vapidly.