Great book I would love to read it again and again

I find the book inspiering, easy read and praktical. I have no problems with recomending it to others!

this book captured the music perfectly. the music is haunting, indeed enchanting, and the film gives us a different view of two well known holidays battling it out. this book is out of print! i highly recomend to put it back into print, its great!

Wow! THis was the best movie ever. The time that went into this production. The art work absoutly blew me away. The many puppets, worlds, scenes, rooms, it was just so icredible. It took the crew, directer, designers, atrtists 3 years to complete the project. Animators were lucky if they got 70seconds of film done in one week, because each puppet had to be posed 24 times for each second of film!!! All the music and characters were well done, the music done by Danny Elfman (who later became the singing voice of Jack Skellignton). I instatly fell in Love with the movie, I know all the lyrics, lines, characters by name, most of the crew, and all extra info. That's how much I love this movie. If you gave this movie 1 star you must seriously have something wrong with you. No animated movie has ever gone to the extreme measures to produce a wonderful product. You should definantly rate this movie 5 stars out of 5!!!

MSXML4 is the fastest XML parser in the world and this book gives you needed details to take advantage of it. Some of these chapters are a gold mine. Some have obviously been sitting around from a couple years ago.
Please Wrox, stop it! I'll pay the same price to have the gold mine chapters alone.
Micheal Corning's chapter is filled with truly worthwhile stuff about the parser, coming as it does from Redmond. Danny Ayer's chapter on implement a XLink system is really brilliant and well written. Corning and Ayer show that you can be thoughtful and literate when writing about the specifics of a new technology.

The chapter on XPath is really incomplete to the point of not being an unusable reference. For the concat function we are given the example of concat('sku','562','B'). Now exactly why would anyone do this? Pointless examples do not help anyone. The concat function is almost always used for placing XML data with literal text. I use concat is creating URLs like this

.

With the contains function we are not told what happens if the second string is zero length. It always returns true, which seems pretty odd to me, which, in turn, makes it something worthwhile to mention.
Also, I don't see any mention of one of XPath's weirdest quirks. Namely, if a item in a filter evaluation is a nodelist, that XPath has uses an ANY semantics. That is too say

//product[@price>$Specials/@price]
gives us products that are more expensive than any of the specials.
The fault here is with the Wrox editors, not the authors. Chapters 9 10 and 11 are also great.
A very worthwhile, nay, essential book for Microsoft technology.

Alas, the book is already slightly out of date as MS has released MSXML4 SP1.
You will need to add
oXMLResp.setProperty("NewParser", True) to various places in the code

The book is very readable; I read half the book in one sitting and found that the flow from one topic to the next was very natural.

To start with this book covers pretty much all versions of MSXML, including older non standard features such as WD-xsl. Naturally there is more focus on the new standards, but examples and recommendations are given for all. One feature I very much appreciated was a list of versions that shipped various OS / Browser / Major Applications.

This book also scores highly as a lot of examples are giving in Jscript, but also includes examples in VB COM and VBScript.

I read this book because I was looking for insights on what really happened at Ruby Ridge, Waco and the Oklahoma City Bombing. I expected a bureaucratic white wash and PR job by another Bureau hack but I was pleasantly disappointed.

The author takes the reader through his long and illustrious career as an FBI agent from the 60's to the late 90's battling Black Panthers, bank robbers, white supremacists and the other scum and villainy of American society. Following the disastrous terrorist attack at the '72 Olympics where Palestinian terrorists killed several Israeli athletes the author got the idea that the Bureau needed a trained counter terrorist team to deal with this kind of thing in the US. He goes on to found the famous (infamous) Hostage Rescue Team that would later play a very prominent role in the Ruby Ridge and Waco disasters.

The author comes across as a very sincere, honest and upstanding man of outstanding character despite a touch of arrogance and a rough macho exterior. He is quick to admit his own mistakes and, surprisingly, those of the Bureau itself. He pulls no punches against the bad guys or his own people. His dry sense of humor and his quick wit defy the stereotypes of FBI agents as stuffy, humorless bureaucrats. The author admits that these figures do indeed exist but he distances himself from this kind of agent.

Regarding the Ruby Ridge and Waco incidents I found the author slipping back into the good-ol-boy mode in the way that he so easily justified the actions that went on there. He was quick to admit that things could have been done better and that mistakes were made but he stops short of saying that the Bureau was out of control and wrongly cost over eighty people their lives. Like most government officials he lays the blame for the tragedies largely at the feet of those the Bureau was after. This attitude seemed out of place following his previous candid remarks regarding the Bureau's actions.

He also somewhat arrogantly derides the right wing opinions of the Bureau's abuse of power and, in some cases, criminal acts. He admits that the Bureau had in the past committed unconstitutional acts but now they are all straight laced professionals who don't do this sort of thing. Then, ironically, he himself is subjected to this very thing when an investigation into the Ruby Ridge shootings finds him on the sharp end of allegations of criminal wrongdoing. The highest leadership of the FBI itself broke its own rules and those of the Constitution to level unspecified and unfounded charges against the author for criminal wrongdoing. He was not told what the charges were or who was bringing them. He was denied the right to refute the charges and he was ordered not to speak to the media.

The Bureau put no such gag order on the prosecution who blatantly spread the allegations to the media bringing death threats to the author and his family. The author found himself being sacrificed on the altar of political expediency after over 20 years of hard service to his country. I found it bitterly ironic that the author could be so naïve as to claim that the Bureau doesn't have an underhanded, above-the-law, win-at-any-cost attitude and yet find himself impaled by this very thing once he became politically inconvenient. I wondered if he had a moment of empathy for Randy Weaver, the Branch Davidians or the countless others who find themselves under the thumb of the federal government. If he did so he doesn't admit it openly but his experience is nonetheless harrowing.

In the end I found the book a very excellent read and it shed a lot of light on the way our federal law enforcement agents think and act. I found this book to be reasonably fair and very believable. I still think that the FedGov is wrongheaded and out of control but this book gave me some hope knowing that there are a lot of honest, stand-up kind of people in the rank and file of the most powerful law enforcement agency in the land.

There is an interesting juxtaposition apparent in this book. Coulson, a career FBI agent and one time SAC (Special Agent in Charge) of three Bureau regional offices, plays himself against an overwhelmingly bureaucratic and politically sensitive FBI. Coulson's view is at once an outsider and, at the same time, an insider in most of the major and politically sensitive episodes in the Bureau's last twenty-plus years. The author appears to hold particular disdain for the politcally astute Bureau culture that, at times, seems to only be concerned with it's decisions after they have already taken their toll (reference the railroading of the author for his role in the Ruby Ridge episode several YEARS after the events unfolded). What is interesting is that Coulson almost certainly had to play into some of that political mindset to achieve his various supervisory roles. It is without question that Coulson played by the rules. But he played his cards. His furry regarding the inquisition against him is understandable; to this much he admits. The Bureau's headhunt infected his faith in the FBI and, more importantly, the Justice Department hierarchy. It brought with it a disappointing and trying end to an otherwise stellar and unblemished career. And, perhaps most disturbing it made he and his family the unfortunate target of baseless death threats.

No Heroes is not without some minor stylistic flaws but it excels at what it is intended to do: to highlight the everyday heroes of the FBI who selflessly pursue the most base of society's detritus while managing against many odds to maintain honor and follow the FBI's respect worthy code: Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity.

Coulson's book reserves disdain for the most heinous in our society and the occasional career bureaucrat. And while it entertains certain whims of it's author, there is no reason to believe that Coulson is less than a hero to the men and women he served with. He is worthy of respect and this book deserves more than a passing glance.

This book should be read by anyone who has ever had a complaint or gripe about how federal law-enforecment agents have handled themselves! Don't let the title of this book fool you. Danny Coulson IS a hero. I can testify first hand that I owe my life to the author of this book. You will find my story in Book Three of "No Heroes." Danny and I are friends today, and we can both testify that enemies CAN become friends, once trust is established, integrity is shown and reason is allowed. The actions of the FBI & ATF in general --- and Danny Coulson, specifically --- helped to turn my life around. You want to feel good about our country, our government and our law-enforcement? Read "No Heroes."

This is another example of a "doorstop book" (which is where mine was until I sold it to a used book dealer for $5). Like so many other computer books (e.g. Special Edition Using... or XXXX Unleashed), this author tries to impress the buyer with the size of the book.

The content of the book was poorly organized as well as poorly written. It is difficult to navigate and learn the language. If this is the JavaScript Bible, shouldn't it educate the user in the development of JavaScripts for the web? A better structure of this book would have been to develop mock scripts for a functioning web site.
Furthermore, the CD that is included is worthless. The "hundreds" of free software titles are actually worthless trials from companies marketing their tools and products. So, I wonder why they (attempt) to teach JavaScript then include samples of actual software packages that they then market to the user.

Alternatively, I would recommend the O'Reilly book on JavaScript. O'Reilly has a track record of producing concise books that actually teach the topic. They are not 700+ page monsters that are filled with fluff. I would also caution against purchasing future editions as they tend to be nearly identical to the previous version with minor additions.

Simply put, this is the best book available on JavaScript. The organization is just awesome. They group programming fundamentals first and they're covered thoroughly to give you a firm grasp on the syntax of JavaScript. Then you move on to the reference part of the book with full explanations of all the commands and functions built into JavaScript. I find myself constantly referring to this section when I'm scripting. And then you get to take everything you learned and apply it to real world examples. Once you've made it through this beast of a book, you'll have mastered JavaScript and be able to code it in your sleep. In response to those who said the technology covered in this book is outdated, ignore them. There has already been an updated version of 3rd edition published and now there's even a 4th edition. So if you're serious about JavaScript, take your hard-earned ...[cash] and go out and by this book. You will not be disappointed.

I applaud the author on writing an excellent all-encompasing volume on JavaScript, but in his explanation he does so much more. He effectively teaches the beginning programmer/web developer the logic behind not only scripting languages, but object oriented programming as well. I have read a number of programming books which fail in this regard. This book gives you the launching pad to understand programming structure as well as teaching you in a very effective manner - JavaScript. Danny Goodman is a rarity among technical writers - the ablility to communicate/teach effectively to those who are learning. Whether your a veteran of code or a novice this book is well worth your hard earned dollars. Simply a must read for anyone aspiring to improve and learn.

As a Java Developer I was looking more for a reference and minimal set of abstract examples on how to use the syntax of jsp directives, jsp structures, and servlet practices. EJB and XML coverage was very minimal and despite my previous WROX book Professional ASP 2.0 (which was excellent) this book fails in regards to teaching the foundational practices of JSP and Servlets. It is indeed loaded with lots of examples including a good case study called, El Weeds of Limon. The explanations were very surfacy and didn't have enough of the technical details. The type of detail missed should be assumed from books that try to cover too many topics which spread the "meat" of the matter very thin.

Rather than getting you started on the right track it gets you started by making you copy examples which IMHO is a poor way to learn especially if the examples are not very generic.

I recently picked up a better book which includes all the jsp and servlet best practices, perfect amount of HTML mixture in handling forms, etc. and also a broad coverage of the currently available JSP/Servlet Containers like the Jakarta group's Tomcat 3.1 Container.

I would recommend this book if you're looking for examples, period. However if you want to learn JSP and Servlet technology the proper way pick up Core Servlets and JSP by Sun Press. It's also more up to date with the JSP 1.1/Servlet 2.2 spec.

Pro:

*) Covers a lot of ground on up to date (01/2000) server side tech, Servlets, JSP, RMI, XML, EJB, JINI, CORBA, JNDI, LDAP, JDBC, Mime, cookies, Internationalization.

*) Lots of hands-on details with many examples.

*) Very fluent and usually clear.

Con:

*) Very little on theory, concepts, server architecture using these technologies or trends, goes straight to the details.

*) Many exercises don't work without some hacking (they could still fix it, the code is on their site).

*) So much is about Java Servlets you would think Sun published it.

*) Not all the chapters are in the same level, you can feel many people wrote the book.

This book is outstanding! It covers the new features of JSDK2.1 wonderfully. It introduces JSP and other J2EE features. I recommend this book to all current Java Server programmers and to all who want to learn about Java Server Programming. The depth is wonderful and the examples are very good. The only knock is that it is expensive and you don't get a CD. However, there is a web site to download the source code, nice touch Wrox Press! Even though the book is expensive it is well worth the money! Knowing what I know now, I still would buy it again. But this time I would by it through Amazon so I get a discount. :-) Note, I paid full price and still think I got a great deal.

I work in several Microsoft languages and have needed to explore VB.NET just like all the others. Ever since PDC I have been programming in C# as much as I can and have explored VB.NET so make sure that anything non-specific to C# can be accomplished in VB.NET. I also read books for recomendation to others. This book is not one that I will recommend. Not because VB.NET is less of a programming language, but because this book does not cover the amount or topics needed, IMO. A super sound knowledge of OOP is needed because it's maditory in VB.NET. You can not get away from this and you need to understand this first. This book covers these topics so minimally that you don't really have any real-world application and looks sort of like someone explaining the Impliments keyword in VB6. My recommendation is to NOT get this book. And if you are determined to go to VB.NET then please get a book dedicated to OOD (Object Orientated Design) and/or OOP (Object Orientated Programming). The last few chapters are interesting but so high level that it's difficult to get full understanding of how to really use the material. I rated this book a 2 instead of a 3 because of the lack of meat on OOD and OOP. The syntax is there, but the knowledge is just not expressed to where you know why or when.

This book was not meant to teach VB.NET. It gives a very nice overview of the new VB.NET. You have to be a very experience VB developer to rip the benefits out of this book. Chapter 5 explained OOP and how it works in VB.NET. I expect when Wrox writes VB.NET OOP or VB.NET Professional, it will delve deeper in the concepts of OOP. So far this is the only book I’ve read that explains VB.NET and how it works with the .NET Framework.

Overall, this book is for experience VB developer who is not looking for VB training but the changes and how to deal with them. Good Book.

I was very skeptical of this book, as WROX has dropped the ball before, with their "intermediate" type books.

Fortunately, this book did a nice job of presenting the new concepts, that we all have to look forward to, and backing them up with concrete examples of how we will have to change our current "code thought" to make them work.

I was a bit disappointed with the lack of discussion about some of the larger issues that may present themselves in .NET, like late-binding not being supported; however, all in all, the book covered most other "rumors" that I had heard, and questioned.

One other plus, was the coverage of Object Oriented Programming with VB.NET. Having never programmed C, I was glad to see a good deal of attention given to explaining concepts like "encapsulation" and "inheritance", which I, for the most part was unfamiliar.

I'm very pleased with this book, and have recommended it to several co-workers, who also purchased it and were happy with it. It's a good buy, and it's good preparation material, for what's to come.

The authors have written an interesting and timely book. I liked all of the factoids and descriptions they gave about life one thousand years ago in England. Fascinating to see how our ancestors did it (life) facing challenges we have long ago conquored.

The organization of the book tends to break up the narrative. It is mildly annoying in places, as are comparisons to current news that will, unfortunately quickly make this book look dated. This situation is caused by the author's using a period calendar as a backdrop to their story and organizing the book around the twelve months of the year and the seasonal activities of the Anglo-Saxons under study.

A quick read and overall enjoyable.

I've recently developed an interest in medieval history and happened upon this book in the library. There's nothing earthshaking here, but it's nevertheless a good read for those, like me, who have a general interest in history, particulary the history of the British Isles.

Many history books focus solely on the goings-on of the King, the Queen, the major nobles and the court--they give us no picture of the lives of everyday people. The authors of this book give us nice picture of what everyday people lived like 1000 years ago. There are even a few surprises that overcame some of my misconceptions.

If you're a professional historian (i.e., you like pedantry more than readability), you'll probably hate this book. On the other hand, if you are looking for a short, illuminating look at life at the beginning of the last millenium, I think you'll enjoy this one.

In this book, Lacy and Danziger break the year 1000 into twelve chapters, one for each month, and include important events preceding and following that year. The authors then take you back in time to live the life of an anglo-saxon peasant (contrasted with the life of the privileged) on a month-by-month basis. Having read a great deal of English and European history, I found the book well written, accurate (scholarly in its research while almost casual in its style) and placed in such an "every man" perspective as to be an engrossing read. It is a quick read with interesting period illustrations kicking off each chapter/month.

I have been wanting to read an intimate biography of Linda McCartney for some time now, so I was anxious to read this book. Written by her long-time close friend, Danny Fields, I would have expected a bit more. Even though the book delves deeper into Linda than any book on the Beatles has been able to, it still wasn't quite enough. A lot of what Fields says about her childhood and teen years, before he met her, is conjecture. There is very little detail about that period of her life. Fields knew her best in the mid-sixties when, as a single mother in New York City, Linda entered the then embryonic world of rock photography. There really was no rock press at the time, and Linda got in on the ground floor, and was able to be a part of a scene that very few people could imagine today.

While Fields vacillates from defending Linda to criticizing her, he is more than fair in his assesment, and, at times, a bit overboard in his praise of her. Although I didn't feel I knew Linda much better after reading the book, one point in Linda's favor became very clear. She was a very strong woman, with self-confidence and a deep, abiding love for her husband and children. She weathered storms I cannot imagine most women being able to handle. And, when the slings and arrows were aimed solely at her, instead of wallowing in self-pity, she felt instead a sense of pain for what the embarrassment caused Paul and her children to suffer.

This book doesn't shed a tremendous amount of light on Linda Eastman McCartney, but it is still valuable for the brief glimpse into the woman before Paul.

Band on the Run was made famous by Paul McCartney and Wings, one of the members of the band was Paul's wife Linda. This book is a deep look into her life and what she gave not only to Paul, but the Beatles, Wings and Paul himself.

Fields writes a book that almost brings Linda alive and gave this reader a real sense of the person that the media had only a glimpse of. Fields delves into Linda's relationship with the Beatles and you get to decide of she had anything to do with the break up.

The book has some pictures, I think there should have been a few more, spanning Linda's career and they are all black and white. Again the pictures could have been in color, but this small drawback will not in anyway detract from the excellent read of the book.

The book follows Linda from singer in Wings to animal rights activist and everything in between. Throughout the entire book you are treated to many first time stories from friends and family. One other thing I really liked was the way the author shows Paul's emotions without going to far overboard. Overall and excellent read.

To anyone with enough genuine interest in the story of Linda McCartney--if you've read this far down the webpage, you deserve to hear the truth. And not the truth as seen by a stuffy, clueless professional reviewer who can sense an easy-target book to slam a mile away. I have read over 30 books about the rock scene in the 60's and this one told me details I'd never ever heard. I rank it as extremely well-written and the author names names because there are so many great ones to choose from! This book is as much about the beatles and the stones and Warhol's bunch as it is about Linda. You feel like you are PART of the story because Danny Fields certainly was her very good friend. And he can write and involve you in a book you just can't put down...