In a world where the bad news always gets the lion's share of attention, "Best Friends" is an inspiring tale of a small group of dedicated humans who have made a very real difference in the lives of companion animals everywhere.
If you love animals; if you are saddened by the plight of homeless pets but feel one person can't do much about it, you really NEED this book!

If you love animals and want to see how people can get together to take care of stray and unwanted animals of all kinds, you must read this.. I couldn't put it down.

I just loved this book!!! I have been a member of Best Friends for a few years, receiving their mailings, their magazine, and sending them donations to help all the critters they rescue. Needless to say, I have been a dedicated animal lover for many years!I finally got the opportunity to visit Best Friends and work there as a volunteer last Fall. The sanctuary is 1000 times more than I ever expected. The place is huge, beautiful, spotlessly clean and the atmosphere is totally filled with love. The physical and emotional well being of the animals comes FIRST, period! It is truly a sacred place. I advise you to get this book and read it. I assure you.... Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is FOR REAL!

With annual churn rates for most companies in the range of 10% to 40%, and staff turnover an equal problem, customer loss has become a major priority and cause for concern. Yet, few companies have programs to save or recover at-risk and lost customers. Customer loss and win-back is not only a critical challenge, it is a significant revenue opportunity. My colleague, Jill Griffin, and I have explored the dynamics and treatment of customer loss, the sales and profit represented by winning back customers, how to regain attractive former customers, and how to make your company defection-proof in the first place. We've included the results of groundbreaking original research, for instance, which uncovered the relationship and value disconnect that often exists between suppliers and their customers. The book provides scores of powerful how-to's and examples of the ways successful companies have included win-back in their CRM programs. For every individual, manager, group, or company wanting to understand customer lifetime value, customer life cycles, and the full spectrum of customer loyalty, this is a must read!

Customer Winback, authored by loyalty experts Griffin and Lowenstein, is an important new book in the field of customer loyalty. Published in 2001, Customer Winback is packed with information, examples and practical advice about how to improve sales and profits by re-acquiring lost customers.

Customer re-acquisition is an area that has not been well explored before this book. Most companies don't even track lost customers, much less try to win them back. Yet, as the authors point out, your chances of converting a lost customer are usually much better than your chances of converting a new prospect. This simple fact is a good economic justification for developing a winback program.

How do you win them back? The authors don't offer a magic solution. Instead they provide a business process you can use long term, which is of course much better than a silver bullet. It starts with learning why you lost them in the first place, and then deciding who you want to win back. The authors provide some useful tools for approaching each winback situation. One I like is "Second Lifetime Value" which is sort of a reincarnation of the lifetime value concept.

In the USA, the timing of this book (Spring, 2001) couldn't be better. When the economy is shaky, companies want to do everything they can to keep their customers, or win them back.

Chapters:

1- Why Customer Win-Back is Critical to Your Success

2- Managing the Big Three: Acquisition, Retention and Win-Back

3- Winning back a Lost Customer

4- How to Save a Customer on the Brink of Defection

5- Mobilizing and Managing a Win-Back Team

6- When You Think Your Customer is Safe from Defection

7- Building a Customer Information System that Drives Loyalty

8- Targeting Prospects with Strong Loyalty Potential

9- Leveraging the Power of Customer-Focused Teams

10- How to Build a Fiercely Loyal Staff

Gary Kopacek, CEO, Mill City Marketing

Customer Winback broaches a topic that is applicable to infinitely many businesses. Thoughtful and well-organized, this book teems with appropriate examples for readers on a quest to "winback" customers. The real value in this book is the depth of information Griffin and Lowenstein provide. Rather than simply providing the reader with top-line information, they delve deep into their own knowledge base and extensive research on the topic to present the reader with useful approaches to winning back those much-desired customers!

I am very impressed with Michael Warden's devotion book
"Alone With God." Michael's ability to apply the Word of God to the innermost needs of our being is extraordinary. His insight into life and his encouraging words have the effect of giving a desire to know the One True God intimately, and to trust God completely with our lives. "Alone With God" was definitely an inspiration to me, and I intend to read the book again and perhaps again. I recommend this book to anyone - it is very much appropriate for people who are not married, and it is appropriate for those who are married. Read it! It will bless your life! G. Hoffman

In one of his entries, Mr. Warden writes: "Once you begin reading through the Old Testament, one theme becomes abundantly clear: God loves deserts. Or, at the very least, He loves to use them...." Most of us can relate to being in that dry and barren emotional place at some point in our lives, and Alone With God, a compact devotional, is like a nice drink of water for those who are thirsty for refreshment. The title of the book says it is inspiration for the unmarried, but I believe that description is somewhat misleading, for the devotions are for all who have felt the ache of isolation during their spiritual journey (and who among us, married or not, have not felt this way?). The writing speaks to that breaking loneliness we all have in our hearts, how to honestly wrestle with it, and like Jacob and the angel, come away blessed. The devotions also serve as warnings not to buy into the culturally scripted metaphors which all too often pervade our notions of what it means to be single or married (if you are single there is something wrong, if you are married, everything is ok). Mr. Warden's book reminds us that God is passionately and relentlessly consumed with making us more like Him, with making us fall so deeply in love with Him that we lead full, adventurous lives because we are part of a bigger story. And in that journey, we are most assuredly not alone.

This little devotional is loaded with simple, yet profound insights into God's character and the amazing ways He relates to His beloved children. Even though each days' reading is only a few short paragraphs, Warden's masterful choice of words helps to illuminate many of the deep truths contained in the Bible. Even though I often read through several days worth of these devotionals, many of them are so compelling I have to STOP and take time to chew on what I've just read! Warden is also quite skilled at reflecting back these profound truths of God's word by drawing out their application in my own life. This book is definitely not just for singles! I think every believer will be challenged and encouraged by this book to draw closer to God in both maturity and intimacy.

Don't make the same mistakes the last two official Olympic sites made with regard to accessibility.

With many sites overlooking the simple ALT in images, it's no question that many need educating on this important topic. Statistics shows that 15 to 30 percent of the population has a need for accessibility features on Web sites. Happily, people live longer and aging brings seeing and hearing challenges. Furthermore, seniors are responsible for over 25 percent of online purchases, neglecting this group can be costly to the company that abandons them. The number shoots up to 40 percent when including people over the age of 40.

CEOs, CIOs, C-level whatevers, managers, designers, programmers, and anyone else who has a hand in a Web site will benefit from the book. Not only does it cover the how, but also the whats and whys by saying, "This is why we should do this and this is how to do it." Upper level management benefit from information on the Web accessibility laws, guidelines, reasons for creating accessible sites, and the accessibility organization strategy. If an executive wants to reach far and wide, then she can get that by reading and applying the knowledge found in the book. One unique chapter explains how to structure an organization to handle and support accessibility issues, a rarely addressed topic in the world of Web accessibility. The Internet has opened the gates for businesses to go global and there's information about the laws from countries other than the US.

Designers and programmers get the tools and resources for creating, evaluating, and validating pages for accessibility compliance. Useful is a comparison and report card on Web design software explaining how each program meets or fails to meet in producing accessible code and features. The book echoes the latest cry in the world of Web design in encouraging designers to separate content from presentation.

Having an accessible Web site doesn't mean boring looking pages with nothing but text. Quite the contrary, the authors encourage creating well-design sites while keeping accessibility in mind.

As one who has written articles on Web design, the book offers insight into techniques that I hadn't encountered. With multiple authors, readers are assured they're hearing from the experts on each chapter topic. One notable expert is Bob Regan of Macromedia who discusses the tools and techniques of using Flash MX to make a site accessible. Any site that wants to be successful and reach the greatest number of people will invest in creating an accessible site. This well-rounded book covers it all from laws to code to help ensure the site does it right.

Of the books and resources that I've read on accessible web sites, this is by far the best - especially from a UK perspective.

The main UK legislation that specifically mentions web sites and accessibility comes into force in October 2004 which, at the time of writing this, is still over two years away. This means that there isn't a great deal of information and certainly no legal cases that we can draw on from our country, so we have to look elsewhere to see what is happening.

This book benefits in that, although it does cover Section 508 and other already in place legislation, it also gives a great all round understanding of the topic, and is very easy to read. Having chapters written by different authors means that you get a far greater depth of experience and information, which can only benefit the reader.

If you're going to buy one book on accessible web sites, this should be at the top of your shopping list.

I came into this book with some experience of commercial web programming and a knowledge of H.C.I, so I realised that it is important to make information on the web accessible to all, but had little idea on where to start. In the first pages I learnt something new about alt text for images, and realised that this book was going to teach me a lot of essential things about making web sites accessible!

It starts with an insight into the legal area of accessibility and moves on to look at common myths such as having a text only alternative to a site. Then it shows you how you can present your content, navigation and data input in the most assessable way, and then shows you ways on how you test your site, making sure everyone can enjoy your online efforts!

What I love about this book is the explanation behind it. Not only does it show you the practices, it backs them up with clear and concise reasons on why these techniques can make your web site easy to use for anyone, including those who may have disabilities. It is a major eye opener and it will be a book that sits on my desk day in, day out, whilst I program web sites. I can't recommend it highly enough, and it is an absolute must read for all those who program on the web and those who use the web to display and gather information."

The story of the Forgotten Carols rekindles the true meaning of Christmas. The book is based around a nurse who doesn't believe in anything that has to do with Christmas and has no family. Her hospital assigns her to go and take care of one family's aging uncle, John. As the story continues, John introduces her to his carols about the forgotten parts of Christmas and the people who played roles that many forget about as they head to the department stores to take part in the materialized part of Christmas. Some of these characters include the innkeeper and the inn, the shepards, and Joseph. This book has been in my family since it came out and we read it many times every holiday season. If you purchase this book I recommend the audio cassette to accompany because it is read by the Glen Yarbrough and it include the Forgotten Carol songs such as "I cry the day I take the tree down," "Joseph:I was not his father, he was mine," and a great rendition of a Messiah medley called "Handel's Dream." This book is a must and will be the perfect addition to your Christmas

I rarely have found a book and music with such a touching message as The Forgotten Carols. Anyone professing to believe in Christ or Christmas needs to read the message and feel the spirit this classic provides.

The Forgotten Carols has become a Christmas Tradition in our home. Our entire family loves the story so much, and the music is truly amazing. We have made the Forgotten Carols part of our traditional Christmas Eve. Each December 24th we sit around a roaring fire with our entire family and begin reading the book. Each family member takes turns reading a chapter. It is truly a wonderful book and one of our favorite Christmas Traditions!

Not for nothing did Lem named this book, and the Project, HMV. The helplesness of the greatest Human minds against an uhuman message is not at all different from the helplesness of the dog in the face of the gramophone.

A word of causion, though. Altough Lem is depicted as a "Science Fiction" author, _HMV_ is not your regular "Arthur C. Clark"-like book. Dont expect racing starships or multi-handed aliens; it's a book about mankind, and it's failures, and is even more novel then Asimov's _I, Robot_, or Lem's own _Solaris_.

I cannot be counted among science fictions greatest fans. While I did get my share of fun out of the original Star Trek series in the late sixties and earlier seventies, I still think that most science fiction tends to degenerate in a redressing of "old imperial tales", without making any use of the extra possibilities that the many aspects of science could add to the writer's repertoire.

Yet, while scanning the Amazon web pages for signals of intelligent life from distant galaxies, I came across this book that fully lives up to be called, let me rephrase define, science-fiction. A couple of years before the movie made it's way to a wider audience I read Sagan's Contact. While the decoding of the many levels of the "message" in this book went a long way in pleasing the Nerd in me, the story itself was flat as a pancake.

Lem's HMV proceeds Contact by many years and reflects a sophistication from a civilization that is light-years ahead of the one that produced Sagan. Written in the sixties, during the Cold War, behind the Iron Curtain, HMV is a work that can be read on at least two levels. Firstly, it is a critique against Cold War politics, military and political decision making, and the conduct of science/scientist. In this respect the work could be regarded as an accurate Swiftian satire. Secondly and most importantly, however, HMV is a psychological and philosophical essay on the limitations of the human mind facing the truly unknown. This second layer is in my opinion the part that makes this book so unique.

Earlier this year I wrestled my way through Foucault's "Order of Things" a post-modern classic of contemporary structuralist philosophy. Lem may not claim to be a philosopher, but by the middle of just the preface of HMV, he has encapsulated all of Foucault's arguments in one focused concise essay in clear language. Throughout the rest of the book Lem exposes the reader to many schools of philosophy, discussion of the possibilities and limitations of science and the extent to which the human mind is limited to the level of projecting itself in the analysis of an unknown subject. An argument could be made that Lem does little more than using the subtext of HMV to give a synopsis of 20+ centuries of philosophy. Yet, both the construction of this novel and the beautiful way in which Lem concludes Hogarth's account of man finding reason without answers in the post-Nietzschian world is truly impressive.

The X-files always claims that the truth is out there. While it took me over thirty years, I have finally been able to recover the part that Lem's HMV contributed to it.

A synthetic signal from outer space is detected. In Sagan's "Contact", the signal encodes plans for a spaceship; here it's not so simple. The signal seems to carry many levels of meaning, each one more bizarre and mind-boggling than the last. Lem, as always, weaves together ideas from the fringes of modern science. He also explores the human aspects of scientific research.

This book is not light reading. Many parts require a mental effort like, say, that needed to play chess. This can be irritating, even infuriating. For readers are up to the task, however, the book rewards the effort many times over.

This story of a family that went through the time of the holocaust of the Jews was a real breath taker. Once I started reading it, I thought it was boring, but then it actually takes you in the story. Next thing I knew I had tears in my eyes. It actually helped me to see the true side of the horror of the war. I can't imagine the pain the suffrage Meyer and Manya and her family went through. It is not only a story about getting through the war but also remarkable love story that happens during the Holocaust.In a way I recommend the book to teenage readers, because it focuses on the teenage Jews and the difficulties they went through at such young age. Meyer and Mayna were tough and by maintaining the faith and not loosing there hope in the fight to stay alive all through the time. We must not instruct our children to in no way let anything resemble like this happen again.

I was given this book by a dear friend and am so glad she shared it with me. The story of the survival of Manya and Meyer is one I will not soon forget. This book reads like fiction, so it is easy to forget that the story is TRUE.........and all of the horror and sadness was real. It broke my heart - though the strength of both Manya and Meyer ought to be inspiration to us all. Great read!

"Until We Meet Again" was a wonderful, true Holocaust story that, in my opinion, ties with "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" as the best Holocaust books.

When two Polish Jews, Meyer and Manya, both 17, and their families decide to go into hiding from the Nazis, there troubles are just beginning. Manya and her 14-year-old brother, Chaim, decide to leave her family's dangerous hideout and go with her boyfriend, Meyer. Together, they go through various hiding places and worsening concentration camps all over Europe. Trying to survive day by day, they often wonder if they will ever be free again. Meyer and Manya survive, however, with their great faith and love for each other - but how? Will they ever see their families again? Can they ever be happy... and free?

This was a great, inspirational story, written by the couple's son. It can be read and enjoyed by a large age group, anywhere from middle schoolers, teens, and adults. It really helped me to see the true horror of the war, and I would highly recommend it!

If you love cookies and brownies, and who doesn't, then you'll love this book!

Even if you're not a cookie cooking professional, you'll be able to whip yp the best desserts on the block! (Be sure to share them with your neighbors, they'll be wondering what that wonderful smell is coming from your kitchen)!

You'll learn cookie details, cookie decorating, and how to eat the cookies you've made before anyone else in your house finds out -- only kidding!

Recipes include: shortbread, butter cookies, chocolate cookies, classic cookies, my favorite -- biscotti, along with cute sketches, great quotes, and a listing of ingredient and equipment how to's to keep you occupied while waiting for your treats to finish cooking!

I've been cooking for many years, during the time I was raising my sons I must have baked thousands of chocolate chip cookies, very good chocolate chip cookies I thought. Until now, I just made some using the recipe and technique from Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies, what wonderful cookies they are, soft and chewy in the middle with crip brown edges, the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever tasted. If the other recipes are this good then the book is a miracle...this one recipe though makes the book priceless. If you love to bake then treat yourself to Alice Medrich's Cookies and Brownies.

I bought this book because Ms. Medrich did a presentation at the bookstore where I worked. Needless to say, the "samples" she brought were devoured in minutes.

Following her careful, yet simple, instructions and tips, will make for wonderful cookies and brownies. These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made, and I have tried several recipes, and the apricot/lemon bars were also a big hit. I am going to make several of the recipes here for Easter sunday with the family, and I am confident that they will be well received.

Ms. Medrich's other cookbooks are on my wish list because her recipes are to me, the standard in dessert making.

This book is a trek into memory and is one that is held together by two riveting and story-unifying scenes. It's scenes like these that keep the book still haunting my own memory two weeks after finishing it. The book, just like real life, is merely a cycle - a repetition of connected events.

Both scenes involve the author's dead friend, Jonathan Wright, once a professional photographer and mountaineer who was tragically killed by an unpredicted avalanche.

The author, Rick Ridgeway, is asked by Wright's daughter to take her back to the grave site of her father on the flanks of Minya Konka in "wild Tibet." While hiking the well-worn trail to Tengbocke Monastery, Ridgeway describes himself identifying the white-capped river chat on the banks of the Dudh Kosi. He is perhaps a few hundred yards of Asia Wright, the dead climber's daughter. Ridgeway is suddenly reminded of doing the same identification some twenty years earlier when Jonathan came upon Ridgeway at the river's edge. Back then, they together thumbed through the bird book until they indentified it as the same one they were looking at. Now years later, in almost the exact same spot, Asia Wright comes up the trail, and seeing Ridgeway squatting next to the river, stoops and says, "What are you looking at?" Dizzying deja-vu.

The second motif occurs at the end (don't read this if you don't want to know the surprise). Here, Ridgeway has found the grave site where twenty years before he had buried Jonathan after the fatal avalanche. He approaches the tumbled stones that still partially cover the body. He shifts a rock and sees the hair of his friend. Ridgeway reaches down and holds the strands between his fingers, rubbing them slowly and gently. Years before, Ridgeway had done the same right before Jonathan had died. Ridgeway held Jonathan in his arms. He remembers when he moved his fingers through his hair while Jonathan's lips changed color and suddenly his face paled and something "went out of him," and he died.

These scenes are lasting memories for Ridgeway. I connect with the author as he connects with his past. Below Another Sky is a touching account of an aging mountaineer with a rich heritage and valuable advice to those of us too timid to climb mountains and risk our lives.

I bought this book after reading Seven Summits which recounted Rick Ridgeway's involvement with Dick Bass's and Frank Well's attempt to be the first to bag the "seven summits".
This is a moving story of not only the loss of Rick Ridgeway's friend and climbing buddy in an avalanche in the himalayas where he also almost died but an account of his return voyage with the friend's twenty year old daughter to where the avalanche had occurred some 18 years before. It is a travel narrative, mountaineering book, great insights on Nepal and Tibet with interesting sidetrips through his memories, trips to Patagonia, being in a Panamanian jail when he was but twenty and what it taught him...etc. You have got to like this guy! A perfect read for the introspective armchair adventure traveller who loves Asia; which is the name of the twenty year old girl who finds her father's grave and her way in life on this trip.

What a wonderful story this is! Rick Ridgeway writes and reflects with maturity and humility of his initial climb up Minya Konka in China's Sichuan province, the loss of his friend Jonathan in an avalanche during the climb and then his return to the mountain a decade and a half later with Jonathan's now-grown up daughter, China. I read this entire book in two long sittings and as with all great books hated to see it come to an end. The narrative, which weaves together earlier climbs and adventures, growing up and taking risks, along with the trek back to Nepal, Tibet and China is a spiritual as well as a geographical journey. Ridgeway has learned much from his incredible life -- about things that are of consequence and things that are not. His wisdom and common decency, his kindness and his loyalty to friends and to memories, and they way in which he imparts this to his friend's surviving daughter is inspiring and touching. I'll read this book again sometime soon and I'll think about it for a long long time because although it is a story that begins with tragedy and death and concludes with a visit to the site of that tragedy, it is at the same time a superb hymn to a life lived full and well and true.

I bought this book based on the rave reviews listed here. I was looking for insights into the requirements specifications process based on case studies, experience, etc. The topics discussed are very abstract, and the organization of the book (in alphabetical order of topics) contributed to this abstraction. One of the topics I found extremely interesting throughout the book was the use of mathematical notation to accurately specify relationships and concepts. In my own software engineering consulting practice with Fortune 500 firms, the use of mathematical notation in requirements specifications, such as is used for mathematical and logical proofs, is rarely used, primarily because most users, stakeholders, and developers cannot read or understand mathematical notation with respect to logic! Nevertheless, the book's treatment of mathematical notation in software specifications is refreshing and a keen reminder that the purpose of requirements specifications is precision and to eliminate misinterpretations. If you are looking for a textbook that provides insights into the practice and successful techniques of requirements engineering through case studies and anecdotes, I recommend reading other texts that are aligned with methodologies and techniques such as UML, CRC, etc.

In Software Engineering, a book that is a good read is a rare find.

Most books bore you to tears, so you are asleep before you learn anything.

Jackson's book is well written, interesting, and EXTREMELY informative. I strongly suggest ALL Software Developer's read this book.

A great deal of software uses the "where the arrow lands, draw the target" approach. Jackson presents formal terms and techniques to pursue an alternative. Anyone collecting requirements and writing specifications will find benefit from this book. His discussion of various problem frames is wonderful.

The book is written in tool box style, and Jackson makes clear that he believes in fitting the right method to the task at hand.

Thought provoking and well written, the book borders on philosophy (epistemology) and predicate logic in places, something I enjoyed. Jackson's analogy between predicate logic and assembly language is most apt.

Highly recommended.