This book is one of a series on OPEN (Object-oriented Process Environment and Notation). Unlike the other books in the OPEN series, this book is independent of any methodology and can also be used in non object-oriented environments.

The title is appropriate: this 426 page book and accompanying CD ROM is a toolbox of techniques that can be applied in any environment or within the context of any methodology. It is, literally, an encyclopedia of techniques that consultants and business analysts can use to perform a variety of tasks or produce associated deliverables.

If you are using this book as a generic compendium of tools and techniques, or you are not interested in OPEN, you can safely skip the first chapter that is an overview of OPEN. If you work within an object-oriented environment you may find chapters 2 through 4 useful. These chapters describe OPEN and how it relates to other O-O approaches. If not, you can also skip these and jump to Appendix A, which is the heart of the book.

Appendix A is a collection of core techniques in alphabetical order ranging from abstract class identification to workshops. There are over one hundred core techniques, each of which is presented using the following format: Technique Name and Star rating - 1 star = well tried, 2 stars = reasonably well validated, 3 stars = experimental. Focus, typical tasks for which the technique is used, related techniques, entry criteria and underpinning concepts. This header information is followed by: Technique description Technique useage Deliverables and output

The CD ROM contains additional techniques that make this one of the most comprehensive resources available to a consultant. The content on the CD ROM is in PDF format and is divided into three additional appendices. Additional techniques are in two of these appendices, with the third covering supporting reference material.

What I like about this book is the wide coverage of techniques. All of the standard fare is covered, and a lot of esoteric ones are also included. I use it as a memory jogger or idea book when I an trying to find that "perfect" approach to performing a task or creating a deliverable. Some minor irritations include the star ratings - I found them to be somewhat ambiguous, and the fact that the techniques are presented in alphabetical order instead of grouped by class. A cross-reference in the front of the book would remedy that complaint.

However, this book deserves a solid five stars because it is comprehensive and packs a lot of information into 426 pages and a CD ROM. If you are a consultant or analyst this book is money well spent, and will make a great addition to your short list of everyday tools and references.

This book contains lots of interesting techniques, many of which are essential to the business of software development. Excellent value for money.

If you are serious about the actual business of developing OO software, don't go past this book. Have one on your shelf, although mine doesn't stay there very long.

I have never written a review for a book, but this book has inspired me to do so.

The photographs in the book are large and stunning. They are spectacular. Children are drawn to the book because it is so beautiful.

We bought this book for our 2 1/2 year old for Christmas, along with a set of plastic planets. Within weeks, she could name every planet. Further, she could tell us which planets are bigger than earth, which planets are smaller than earth, which planets have rings (and how many rings each of those planets has), how many moons each planet has (and which planets have no moons), why Mercury's surface has so many craters, which planets are hot, which planets are cold, etc., etc.

In short, this book is beautiful and informative. It is very well done! It is a fantastic introduction to our solar system. We are looking forward to reading more books by Seymour Simon!!!!!!!

Simon explores space using fantastic photos from real spacecraft and satellites. My two-year-old son received this book for Christmas and we read it to him nearly every night before bed. He is fascinated with the photographs, and as a result of his attachment to this book he can name every planet and many of the satellites that surround them. It is amazing! He loves space now because of this book. Kudos, Simon!

We used this beautiful book as the basis for a two-week unit study on the Solar System. Wonderful photos and easy-to-read text make this an excellent choice for your 3rd - 6th grade student.

I have been playing Football since the age of 4 years old, and until now, have not come across a better 'Soccer' book for players of all ages and coaches alike.

After moving to the U.S. 7 years ago, I found that the young players in the States love to play the game, but have never really watched it, and therefore new ideas, moves and skills were hard to develop.

This book lays it out very simply, and provides a world of knowledge. Finally someone got it right, Tremendous book!!

I have had the pleasure of meeting with Simon Clifford, the author, when back in Leeds, England. He is a truly great guy with tremendous dedication to Football/Soccer.

Great gift for any player or caoch.

This is a five star book that is especially useful for 8-15 year old players. If you know any aspiring Ronaldo's, this would be an excellent choice. It looks great and has lots to offer in 96 pages.

Features include: A useful skills/drills section; an informative Brazilian soccer history lesson; and best of all, a ' moves to beat your opponent' section, that profiles a number of famous Brazilian soccer stars, and gives a signature move for each player, including the big three: Pele, Romario and Ronaldo. By the way, these one-on-one moves are helpful for adult players too.

One of the problems facing young soccer players in North America is they play soccer, but don't watch it. Compare that to the aspiring basketball player, who religiously watches the NBA, and then practices and emulates the moves of the star players.

Therefore, the 'moves to beat your opponent' section is truly useful for injecting some creativity and imagination into youngsters' developing games.

This book is also just plain FUN, and I wish I had it when I was 10...

If you've witnessed the skill and pure creativity of Brazilian soccer, you're bound to be amazed when you open a copy of this book. As I stood in the stores, pondering my decision for my next "skills and drills" book, I happened to stumble upon a copy of "Play The Brazilian Way", the last one on the shelf. Out of curiosity, I opened the book, and the next thing I knew, I spent over an hour gazing at the amazing techniques taught in this book. From one-on-ones to skilled passing and fluidity, this book has it all. In full color, and displayed in a finely-illustrated step-by-step format, this book is a joy to read. Coaches and players alike will benifit from the drills and skills taught in this book, playing according to the legendary Brazilian method of soccer.

For those of you who are content-conscious, there's nothing to worry about. Each page is filled to the brim with useful tips and information, plus profiles and advice(not to mention deadly one-on-one moves) from some of the greatest Brazilian players of all time(Pele, Garrincha, Rivelino,Tastao, etc.) You'll never stop learning! The author encourages readers to attempt techniques and the moves taught in the book on their own, thus makes this book truly practical and not just a waste of money.

In conclusion, this book stands out from other books of it's category. Get this book!

y need your tips of dragonbal

This book has it all. And when YOU need the help, Prima has the answers. Stuck on Tree Tops in Spyro the Dragon? Prima can solve that. Don't know wheter or not to buy a Toyota Supra in Gran Turismo? Prima has it solved. Don't know if a Nuclear power plant in SimCity 3000 is good or bad? Prima has the Answer

this zine has the most information on games you'll every read man... check it out you'll probably even beat all the games you got!!!

I first heard of the Heritage Foundation while at college when I read a booklet by analyst Dan Mitchell about the flat tax. Intrigued, I started reading about Heritage. When I got my hands on this book, I immediately devoured it. It is an eminently readable history of one the greatest; if not the greatest; conservative think tanks in America.

Edwards starts at the beginning when Ed Feulner and others wanted to found a think tank to get ideas and papers out fast and timely. He follows through the troubled 70s into the triumphent 80s when Reagan became president. HE looks at the ideas Heritage put forth and how it did not hesitate to criticize Reagan if he went wrong. He follows through the Bush administration and into the 90s. This, like Feulner's book about conservative thought is a must read for all conservatives!

Lee Edwards has cranked out another gem on the history of American conservatism. I submit that one could say that he has taken up where the late Russell Kirk left off. In any case, Edwards is to be commended for bringing the history and role of The Heritage Foundation to light. And The Heritage Foundation is to be commended and praised for its significant contribution towards the propagation of conservative values and ensuring a conservative trend in public policy. I dearly hope that Edwards' concluding assessment is accurate, namely that Heritage will continue to play a substantial role in moving mainstream thought back towards the fundamental and enduring principles that are the foundation of American culture, economics, and society. And may God continue to bless Heritage with a steady flow of brilliant public policy experts willing to devote their energies towards advancing conservative values. And may God also bless Heritage with the type of brilliant leadership that it has received from Dr. Ed Feulner. And may the conservative movement continue to be blessed with historians willing to document the life and times of our heroic predecessors.

Lee Edward's "The Power of Ideas: The Heritage Foundation at 25 Years" is the definitive book to read if one wishes to understand the rise of conservative ideas in America. The Heritage Foundation helped, by embodying the principles of Lincoln, Roosevelt (Theodore), Nixon, and Reagan. Their work in shaping United States domestic and foreign policy is impressive. Lee Edward's book will inspire people in making America the place where freedom reigns and the individual and not the government holds the power. I hope the people who read this book have similar thoughts and ideas on how to make America GREAT. I also wish this book will rank next to "Democracy in America" in time.

Kerry Bone, one of Australia's most eminent herbalists, and Simon Mills, a highly respected practitioner from the UK have joined forces to produce a text that was sorely needed by herbalists and naturopaths everywhere.

The information is concise, clear, up-to-date, gives clear scientific explanations for the actions of herbs, while acknowledging traditional usage and folklore.

This is not just another coffee table book about herbs - it's the real thing. I have completed five years of formal training in herbal medicine, and this has been the most extraordinary book I've encountered. If you are studying complementary medicine of any modality, I highly recommend you buy it. If you're a student or graduate naturopath or herbalist, it is essential.

This book is essential for those seiously interested in herbal medicine. The book begins by explaining various therapeutic systems and basic principles of treatment and safety for the health care professional. Plant compounds and their effects on the body are explained in a straight forward manner that helps one understand a subject that is usually quite difficult. The materia medica section (plant monographs) lists 45 herbs and the pertinent information necessary to use them with success and safety. I believe this book is as good as it gets in herbal medicine, I can't wait for more plant monograph information from Mills and Bone.

Principles and Practice is designed as a text that would accompany a college-level program in the fundamentals of herbal medicine as practiced in the modern British tradition. The authors are senior educators in that system, Mills in Britain and Bone in Australia. This textbook easily meets the scientific standards of a contemporary medical school. Yet it does not slight traditions, and the materia medica sections contain, in addition to an unusually complete scientific review, details of the plants' traditional uses. The therapeutics sections reflect traditional approaches rather than single-bullet modern "scientific" herbalism. The authors collective experience -- more than forty years between the two -- provides balance in the interpretation of the science and the relative importance of hypothetical aspects of toxicology and potential adverse effects.

Just as James Agee (deceased) and Pauline Kael (alive, but retired) remain the best writers on the Art of Film, so Kenneth Tynan (again, deceased) is still the best writer on the Art of Theatre. Tynan wrote so beautifully and wittily and lovingly about the stage and the people who inhabit it and he was also responsible in a major way for the success of the National Theatre of Great Britain along with his friend and professional partner, Laurence Olivier. (an essay on Olivier is one of the high-points of this book.) It was Tynan who "discovered" Harold Pinter, who "made the career" of John Osbourne and was a major factor in reviving the career of Noel Coward, after years of neglect: as Literary Manager of the National, it was Tynan who urged a revival of Coward's classic "Hay Fever."

This collection of 50 essays is absolutely essential reading for anyone who has a love of theatre or simply of celebrity and star power. No one writing today writes as well as Tynan did nor consistently shows his affection for Show Business. If you regularly read today's so-called critics, you come away with the feeling that they become INSULTED that plays they dislike were actually produced!

I highly recommend this book. It is passionate, charming and, at times, really funny stuff. But, please, do yourself a favor and haunt every used book shop you know to find a copy of Tynan's out-of-print collected theatre reviews from the U.S. (he wrote for "The New Yorker") and England called CURTAINS. It is absolutely the best book of criticism you'll ever read.

Tynan was one of the century's great journalists, capable of capturing a performer in two paragraphs, yet equally adept at longer essays, several of which are collected here. The pieces on Stoppard and Louise Brooks are particularly fine. The reviewer below is right: the writing is to die for; but, compared to Epstein, Tynan is a super-hevyweight, with ten times the force and prose-potency.

Enormously entertaining and the writing is to die for. Epstein regards Tynan as a lightweight and in a way I guess he is, but a skilled lightweight is still a thing of beauty and Tynan IS skilled. I stared underlining favorite passages but had to stop because I was underlining almost everything.

Having just finished "Remembering Ernest Hemingway," I am eager to sing its praises! I have taught Hemingway for 30 years, have read all the bios of him--Baker, Reynolds, Hotchner, etc., and enjoyed them all--but this book still manages to surprise and delight the reader with previously unheard anecdotes, unseen photos, and candid, first-person recollections of Hemingway the friend, boxer, fisherman, hunter, and writer. The book is a compilation of interviews with close personal friends and relatives of EH. For instance, his sons, Gregory and Patrick tell what life was like with EH for a father; two men remember their experiences boxing regularly with EH; Charles Thompson, who went on African safari with EH (and was featured in Hemingway's "Green Hills of Africa")tells what it was like to hunt big game with Hemingway; Valerie Hemingway remembers being with EH during wild times in Spain, etc.

Reading each interview is as authentic and fascinating as watching an old home movie. Each person interviewed offers genuine incidents in which Hemingway's candid words and actions reveal the man in his many facets. All in all, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book, a must read for all Hemingway fans. And, as frosting on the cake, the book even has rare photos, some of which I have never before seen: photos of Hemingway and Gary Cooper; photos of Hem's boat, "The Pilar,"; photos of Hemingway with the Italian woman on whom he based his novel "Across the River and Into the Trees," etc. "Remembering Ernest Hemingway" is a wonderful glimpse of the elusive writer. I most highly recommend it.

Most of the interviews in this book were with the people Hemingway lived and shared with. These interviews are not about the myth but more the person he was.

After decades of reveling in the myth of Hemingway I now know the man they call Papa Hemingway. The book holds many intimate surprises as told first hand by those who were his friends and his sons. The book is easy and friendly like sipping daiquiries on the verando in the keys and talking among friends. But it is also voyeuristic in feeling as you listen to the interviews and hear what everyday people who knew him had to say. It is intimate in content and refreshing to the senses. I knew the myth and I now know the man. I still like him. This is a good read.

Written seven years ago, the message of this book is as fresh and vital as the day it was published. I can't believe it has taken me seven years to discover this book. Mr. Fuller's story of pioneering work in healing the planet is inspiring and of immense value in ushering in a New Age of understanding and compassion for all sentient beings. There is more to this book than Mr. Fuller's story though. He succinctly summmarizes what this New Age is really about, and presents a clear perspective of the Christ Consciousness and what it means to each and every human being on the planet. I was especially impressed with his presentation of the Third Book of the Apocalypse - the eight missing chapters of St. John's book of Revelation. The story of how it came to be released and what it has to say about our future is a wonderfully positive balance to the typical dooms day interpretation of Revelation. I applaud Mr. Fuller for his courage in bringing this information to the world and recommend this highly readable book for all serious thinkers on the spiritual path.

Told with the sense of wonder that is so characteristic of Simon Peter, this book is crammed full of information, insights, revelations and real human adventure. As a reference book, text and inspiration it is a welcome new book for the Children of Light. Peter's story reminds us that this is the time to participate in, contribute to and be living witness to a quantum leap in evolution - a massive renaissance of the human spirit. His journey is essential to the end of one aeon and the beginning of a new. The Aquarian Cross - inspired through his vision - and urged on by spirit, symbolises this overlapping of the old and the new and reminds us that we are at the centre of this change. Experiencing the chaos, seeking to make sense of it all, we look for confirmation in each other. Peter's book is rich with such needed light and verification. As the New renaissance begins, new legends, quests, visionaries and prophecies emerge as Lights along the way. This book throws light on the past, clarifies and enthuses the present and gives clear direction for the future. Rising out of Chaos is a testament to the enduring spirit of many who, along the way, responded to the call Simon Peter's spirit sent forth. It is a book that embraces scholastic research, spiritual insight, cultural exploration and one man's extraordinary personal story. With the Aquarian Cross, Peter stands as a modern blend of crusader, spiritual warrior and undercover angel - simply and wonderfully human! His travels and discoveries help make sense of the confusion and chaos. He has created a legend by courageously following his quest

Rarely these days does one receive publications that hold one's attention from cover to cover, meriting both re-reading and in depth study of the material. The Truth and compassion Simon Peter applies to his mission and the account of his realisation and quest proves to be a compelling, moving and challenging document. Seeking global harmony within the Second Coming of the Christ consciousness, and travelling the world with the Aquarian Cross performing meditation, prayer and personal and planetary healing, he is motivated by a sacred respect of the Divine that significantly distinguishes his book from the 'fringe' elements under which more conventional thinkers might seek to categorise them. Furthermore, although the Revelations 111 text was received in miraculous circumstances (direct intervention!), it is to Simon Peter's lasting credit that he has not fallen into the age old trap of altering and corrupting the Divine Word - vital and timely information that reminds us of our true spiritual heritage and divine potential. All should read both documents (included in Rising) while remembering, both individually and collectivley, that we can still make a significant difference to our world and Universe. These books give us an important key and I congratulate Simon Peter for his courage in challenging us all to commit ourselves to creating 'HEAVEN ON EARTH' right here and now!

The United States Government blockades of Cuba and Iraq are acts of genocide against national groups, 'deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part'. Simons summarises: "United States policy, a slow and knowing extermination of a national people, falls unambiguously within the terms of the UN Genocide Convention."

Eight years of sanctions have killed two million Iraqis, including a million children. Bush began them, supported by Major. Now Clinton maintains them, supported by Blair, 'the perfect peacekeeper', in Kofi Annan's words. Protocol I, Article 54 of the Geneva Convention states, "Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited." The United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly denounced the US blockade of Cuba as illegal and demanded that it be lifted. (British Governments usually abstain on these votes.) Ramsey Clark, a former US Attorney-General, says, "I see the blockade as a crime against humanity, in the Nuremburg sense, as a weapon of mass destruction. The blockade is a weapon for the destruction of the masses, and it attacks those segments of society that are the most vulnerable ... infants and children, the chronically ill, the elderly and emergency medical cases."

Some say we must ensure that economic sanctions respect agreed exemptions. The exemptions are for public relations: sanctions are designed to kill. A doctor might as well call for the humane implementation of torture. US and British Governments have consistently vetoed the delivery of baby food and medical supplies to Iraq. The US Government has consistently blocked contracts for medical supplies arranged by British companies.

The sanctions are a continuation of the war by other means. The war itself was more a traditional colonial massacre, with one side having a huge advantage in forces and weaponry. The US and British forces fired tens of thousands of depleted uranium (DU) shells. They are an illegal weapon, under UN Resolution 32/84 of December 1977, which bans the use of 'radioactive material weapons'. The US Army admitted that some US soldiers were unknowingly exposed to DU radiation during the War. Obviously, we need not look any further for the cause of 'Gulf War syndrome'. The US forces also used chemical weapons against the Iraqis. At the war's end, the US forces bombed troops no longer able to offer resistance, and those in retreat: both of these are war crimes.

To blame Castro and Saddam Hussein for their peoples' suffering is like blaming Churchill for the British people's suffering under the Nazi blockade, or like blaming the rabbis for the Jews' suffering under the Nazis.

It is a hideous mockery even to talk of an ethical foreign policy when genocide is being perpetrated. We should demand an end to the sanctions, otherwise we acquiesce in genocide.

The author goes above and beyond the "real" effects that the U.N.-U.S. imposed sanctions are producing up to this day to the average iraqui citizen.If the overkill of the iraqui infrastructure wasn't enough, sanctions have taken back the iraqui people to a pre-industrial age.

The author provides a vivid picture of the effects of the US's methodical destruction of the life support infastructure in Iraq during "Desert Storm" and its relationship to and the continuing use of "Economic Warfare", i.e. "sanctions" to produce hundreds of thousands of deaths, targeting especially babies and children, the elderly and the chronically ill, by starvation and preventable diseases.