I should start off by saying that I have had previous experience with the Teach Yourself series as have used Teach Yourself: Beginner's German, German, and French. The book scores with German and as long as you have the tapes, with french too. But the japanese book is lacking... The lessons are well-thought out and extremely easy to follow, but there is absolutely no approach to written japanese. This is the one flaw of Teach Yourself: Japanese.

Before I got this book as a birthday present, I praised my Essential Berlitz Japanese book. Then once I got this book I just about threw that thing out the window. Teach Yourself Japanese is very complete guide in understanding Japanese. It explains even the hardest things to explain - like 'n and koto very well. I have worn my book out so much that the pages started comming out so Im here to buy another. This has been the most valuable book to me in all of my study of the Japanese language. The only thing I would say is that I would not reccomend this book for very beginning learners of Japanese because the first couple of lessons are kind of lacking on the basics, but if you are seasoned, get this book. Its excellent.

This is a clear and thorough an expose of the fraud perpetrated by Bruno Grosjean Dossekker, who falsely claimed, in Fragments, to be one Binjamin Wilkomirski, a child survivor of the Holocaust. Stefan Maechler proves beyond any doubt that Wilkomirski is no such person and that Fragments is a fiction.

The author pursued every possible lead. He compared each minute detail in Dossekker's narration of "events" with historical records from such leading Holocaust scholars as Raul Hilberg and Lawrence Langer, accounts of other child survivors, interviews with members of the Dossekker and Grosjean families and more.

The most damning evidence Maechler unearthed is the fact that in 1981, Dossekker/Wilkomirski contested the will of Yvonne Grosjean, whom, in a letter to officials in Bern Siwtzerland, he called "my birth mother." Dossekker/Wilkomirski received a third of her estate.

Other damning evidence includes Dossekker/Wilkomirski's use of Laura Grabowski to "corroborate" his story. Grabowski claims to have known him in a children's home in Krakow. In fact, Grabowski is an American citizen of Christian faith who has since her youth fabricated stories about her victimhood, the most well-publicized being a book called Satan's Underground. The Social Security number of said Lauren Stratford is the same as that of Grabowski, who subsequently used it to make a false survivor's claim. Furthermore, Satan's Underground and Dossekker/Wilkomirski's book contain startling similarities.

The one problem with Maechler's work concerns his questions about how such a fraud could be perpetrated. He concludes that the volume of Holocaust material made the fraud possible. Unfortunately, this amounts to blaming the victim. There is something tawdry in blaming the commemoration and documentation of the worst crime in history for the appearance of a single fraud, or two. Holocaust historians must guard against even the unintentional falsification of the record. But documenting the history is not a problem. The problem is that any evil of the Holocaust's enormity ever needed to be documented. Alyssa A. Lappen

This is the account of the real life detective work carried by the swiss historian Stefan Maechler about the authenticity
of Fragments, the (as it turned out, invented) childhood memoirs of a swiss musician claiming to be a survivor of the Nazi's
concentration camps. The "memoirs", which constituted a literary event in Europe and the US in 1995 and brought its author fame and
recognition, were first accused of being false three years later, and this report, based on interviews and official documents, definitely
settles the matter. But on top of this, it is also a really delight to read. It is organized in roughly three parts: a first one where the history of
Wilkomirski (real name: Grosjean) early years is presented, together with Wilkomirski own version, and the events leading to the writting
and publishing of Fragments, its reception, and its denunciation as fraud. A second one describing the author's historical research. And a
third part with a very perceptive and fair analysis of the whole affair. A discussion of important issues related with the instrumentalization
of the Holocaust, and references to recent works about this matter (Cole, Novick, etc) ends the book. A serious book on a real life event
that can be read and enjoyed as an excellent detective novel, with not a few surprising discoveries in the end. This english translation of
the german original Der Fall Wilkomirski also includes, after the main text, a complete text of Fragments.

This is a GREAT book for 2 scenarios:

1) You want a greater understanding of how to secure the NT/2000 operating system (without using 3rd party add-on software). It offers excellent ideas and suggestions on various services and protocols that can be completely disabled in most environments.

2) You run a stand-alone server. When Stefan Norberg says bastion server, that's what he means, NOTHING is getting in. This includes a lot of domain traffic. It would be a disaster to apply this to a computer sitting in a Windows 2000 domain. If you have a stand-alone web server that you want to lock down, then this is you book!

As for other observations...

A few of the extremely useful NT4 bastion server steps are not even given for Windows 2000 use. I was especially disappointed that he gave no description on how to disable the DOS subsystem in Window 2000 (because the NT4 steps sure won't work).

The author provides his email address, but don't bother. He doesn't reply to professional emails containing legitimate comments on his work. Next time, he better just leave the email address out.

I would prefer a 2nd Edition with the NT4 information removed (and even some of the information on the vastly unpopular IPsec) to allow for more in-depth material on Windows 2000 (and even the up and coming Windows XP).

I am a senior engineer for network security operations. I read "Securing Windows NT/2000 Servers for the Internet" (SWNS) to better advise clients on secure configuration of their Windows platforms. Stefan's wonderful book is a testament to the fundamental insecurity of stock Windows platforms. Luckily, his advice transforms vulnerable systems into bastion hosts suitable for deployment on the hostile Internet.

SWNS' key insight is the need to cripple many default Windows services in the interest of security. These troublesome "features" include NetBIOS, the Workstation service, the Server service, and others. In fact, after creating a bastion host, Stefan says "there's no way of administering it remotely!" (This is the case because NT's standard remote admin tools, like Event Viewer and Server Manager, require RPC using NetBIOS.) Thankfully, Stefan provides several options for secure remote administration, like pcAnywhere, Windows 2000 Terminal Services, and open source alternatives (Secure Shell, Virtual Network Computer, etc.)

I concur with an earlier review noting the lack of attention for Microsoft's IIS web server. Hundreds of thousands of Windows machines were recently compromised by the "Code Red" worm, demonstrating two facts. First, Windows is frequently used to host web servers. Second, IIS is frequently deployed insecurely. A second edition of SWNS should add a chapter on configuring IIS. I was also unhappy with Stefan's dismissal of intrusion detection technology in chapter six. He should try the Windows port of the open source Snort IDS.

Overall, SWNS is a must-buy for Windows administrators. The book is a quick read, but it explains many aspects of the internal workings of Microsoft's premier operating systems. As the title implies securing "servers" and not just the underlying operating system, future editions should discuss proper deployment of popular applications for Windows NT/2000, like IIS and Exchange.

I have been waiting for a book like this for quite a while. For anyone interested in securing W2k Internet servers this book has some excellent advice. The networking security tips are particularly useful and relevant. I was disappointed that there was not more IIS specific security information, given that most W2K servers on the Internet are running IIS. Also, as the author himself points out, much of the changes he is proposing to harden servers are not practical in an enterprise-sized environment. By hardening servers as he describes you loose much of the scalable administration NT and W2K where built around. I would not want to implement the majority of these changes on a production environment of more than 30 or so servers for that reason. I also would not put pcanywhere on any production server as a way to get around just having disabled the functionality of the native remote administration tools. Having said all that, buy this book if you are responsible for securing your Microsoft servers. There is enough great information here to make it well worth it.

I have read a few of the Xenophobe's Guides, and this so far is the best and the funniest. Maybe because I have lived here for the last two years, and experienced all the wonderful quirks and traits of the locals that I could relate to this book, but really, it is for everyone who plans to visit or live here, and of cause for the Germans themselves.

Natually, I didn't agree with all of it, especially the working atmosphere... It's really not as formal as written in the book, at least not these days, but much of the rest runs true.

A bit expensive for only 64 pages, but worth it for the laugh.

I'm a German working from time to time abroad (often in the UK). The book is written by two Germans working now for decades in the UK and explains the culture difference from a british point of view. I think it is a great insight on the attitudes, implicit policies and main motivations of Germans. Furthermore, it is very funny (I had to read it in one session and was laughing out loud most of the time). A must read if you plan to go to Germany!

You *must* read this book, if you want to learn more about the strange nature of the germans, because you will find most of it in no other book. The book is full of prejudices - but they are all true (I can assure you, because I AM one of these strange people).

There are comments to nearly everything which is different in Germany, e.g.: Polishing cars, drinking beer, order & discipline, "everything is forbidden unless it is explicitly allowed", why you don't have a german word for "small talk", ...

Some germans will NOT like this book, because they don't like that somebody laughs about them. But I think, everyone who reads this book will understand their (sometimes strange) behaviour better.

I picked up this book because I was 'enchanted' by Martin Dressler. I also read the admiring reviews in NYTBR and Washington Post Book World.

What a disappointment this number was! Ten little tales shuffled together at random. Patches of wonderful language interposed with lots of white space. This novella doesn't add up to a Twilight Zone episode, and there's not even a narrator to give you the moral of the story at the end.

You don't suppose Steven could have put this together in a hurry for a little cash, do you?

This novella tells the story of one peculiar night in a small town that is having difficulty sleeping. Of course there have been other sleepless nights in this small town, but none until this one have been enchanted.

When the people of the town cannot sleep, they wander the streets, thinking that they are alone. Little do they know that the rest of the town is experiencing the same insomnia and are also wandering through the night. A girl longs for her beau to come to her lonely window; he does. A man lusts after a manequin in a window; she comes to life. The Pied Piper leads the children through the woods with his magic flute. A girl who decides to moonbathe in the nude is followed by a lusty man and rescued in the nick of time by a guy who lives in his mother's attic. A band of young female thieves enjoy lemonade in the most unlikely of homes.

The night is so fantastical that perhaps it was just a dream. Whatever it was, it makes for an enjoyable, short read.

Summoning the surreal white light of the past winter solstice moon, and having experienced the page turn of the century in Paris, Moscow, London New York - each like fast forwards and flashbacks to the viewing eye as the day rolled toward the Pacific ending - I found I had saved Steven Millhauser's ENCHANTED NIGHT for an eerily timed moment to savour. If ever there were a collection of images to share at such a promising time this little novella is it. Millhauser has deposited tiny thoughts like interrupted dreams that are so special that momentary awakening only pleads for us to return to the dreams. With an uncanny ecomony of words, a plethora of evocative observations, and a page-turning style of staccato images, he provides just enough literary seduction to allow the reader to fold close the book after a scant 100 odd pages, darken the lamp, and luxuriate in our own moonlight the myriad trails toward conclusions that our own dreams complete. And in Milhauser's far better words....O you who wait: this is the night of the opening of the heart.

This is an extended poem, a brief novella, a parcel of dreamdust to repeatedly read, at night, alone. Or better - to share with another child of the evening.

I'm a huge fan of Ben Bova, but this novel is simply not good. As a continuation of the chararcter Dan Randolf, I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the book really becomes nothing more than Randolf running around begging for money. I also think the book is missing any kind of real climax, it's really a setup for the next novel in the series (I assume).

I thought "Colony" was an awesome saga. "The Precipice" is aweful soggy.

I used to really enjoy Ben Bova's books. Examples such as "Colony" and "Millennium" spring to mind. Unfortunately his more recent works (including this one) tend to read like poorly written soap operas. The science is still good though in this world where hard science fiction seems to be disappearing in favour of fantasy. This will probably keep me buying his novels but I do it with more trepidation than before.

For those of you who don't like Sci-Fi books (like myself) I urge you to try this one. I picked it up at the library by mistake and when I saw what it was about decided not to read it. BUT curiosity got the better of me and I did ENJOY it very much. As a kid I loved Flash Gorden but lost interest along the way. If you want good detail read the other reviewers who really understand the subject. I enjoyed the idea of living under the surface of the moon, the fast commutes betweenearth and moon and the idea of mining the Asteroid Belt for energy sources, That women were capable of piloting an exploratorytrip to the Belt (unauthorized ofcourse) had me thinking "Go Girl"just to prove it could be done.Ben Bova provided an excellent adventure and I think just maybe I will deliberately bring home another one of his books. Do give it a try if you have been avoidingspace travel or colonazation but remember there is always the bad guy waiting for you.

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.

I have found this book to be a complete one covering all server side technologies of Java. It talks in depth about Servlets and JSP which were required for me for my project.

The style of the book is really different as it is written by programmers for programmers. Also I am able to get rid of the monotony with the style of a single author found in most of the books. Good approach by Wrox.

The annexure gives vital information to HTTP, Web-server configuration for Servlets/JSP and API reference that are added gifts to the buyer.

I am yet to complete the book but I am keeping as a desktop reference so that I can use as and when I require it. I recommended to my manager to buy this book not only for my project but also for the entire group.

Finally, if you need a complete book on Java Server side programming, buy this book. You will get everything you want.

Don't get me wrong...the book isn't awful. It is just that it is more of a compilation of 3 sources of Buffett-isms and investment psychology than anything else. If you have read Warren's Letters to Shareholders, and Peter Bernstein's "Against the Gods - The Story of Risk", and have ever heard Charlie Munger speak, there is nothing new here. The author is a qualified mutual fund manager, and I commend him for not plugging his own fund throughout (though he does plug his first Buffett book many times.) But precisely because he has written 'one of these' before, I view this current effort as irrelevant. Go to the sources...get online, read the letters yourself, read "Against the Gods" and read "Buffett - The Making of an American Capitalist." Those give you much more color, flavor, and insight on what makes The Oracle tick.

I read this book the week before the annual meeting and hoped Warren or Charlie would comment on it. Charlie Munger did not disappoint. He recommended it even though he did not care for Hagstrom's first book. As someone who enjoys reading Charlie's ideas and philosophy, which are usually published in Outstanding Investor's Digest, I found this book to be quite interesting. New and different ideas are covered which may inspire the reader to investigate further. The topics of probability and psychology are discussed as they relate to investing and some actual data is presented instead of the usual anecdotal evidence. If Charlie recommends it, it must be worth reading. Other books he recommended at the meeting were Ron Chernow's "Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr." and David Landes' "The Wealth and Poverty of Nations." Warren Buffett recommended reading Washington Post Chairman Katherine Graham's autobiography "Personal History" and John Bogle's "Common Sense on Mutual Funds."

Hagstrom's second book is outstanding, especially for anyone looking to develop and define a rational investment style and process for managing their own money. As a professional money manager, I have read many books on investing, and like to refer the better ones to my clients. This one would be at the top of my recommended list, because it is clearly written, logical in its approach (Hagstrom backs up the tenets of his "focused portfolio" approach to investing with good empirical data), and provides a consistent and rational framework for people to invest their money. Hagstrom advocates that investors own relatively few stocks (maybe 10-15), and concentrate their holdings in companies that have a high probability of enjoying financial success over the long term. He points out the risks of this approach (fewer stocks in a portfolio can result in higher than average portfolio volatility in the short run, which can be disconcerting to some investors), but also highlights the success that Buffett and other practicioners of a long term, focused approach have had historically. Hagstrom includes interesting discussions of the math underlying his strategy, and the psychological factors that predispose a person to embrace or reject the principles of investing he recommends. The beauty of the book, and the focused portfolio approach to investing, is that it is logical, supported by solid mathematical principles, makes sense intuitively, is relatively easy to apply, skews the odds of outstanding absolute and relative total returns in the investor's favor, and provides a solid framework against which to invest in a world that is fraught with risk and dominated by a media culture that probably hurts more individual investors it helps (CNBC, internet sites, mutual fund advertising, etc). Hagstrom's approach is obviously not for everyone--despite its simplicity and logic, few professionals or individuals, in my experience, have the patience or discipline to concentrate their investments and stay with them over a period of years. But for those people looking for an approach that cuts through all the clutter in the investment world, this book is worth a read. For what it is worth, the best book on Buffett himself is Lowenstein's "The Making of an American Capitalist;" other must read or own books for do-it-yourself investors would include "Investment Policy" by Ellis, "Against the Gods" by Bernstein, "The Gorilla Game" (for technology stock investing) by Moore, "Classics" and "Classics II " by Ellis, and "When Genius Failed" by Lowenstein.

First off, this book is the second sequel to Ender's Game, so I suggest you go read the other two books first. Second, Xenocide follows the story of The Speaker for the Dead, so don't expect a story similar to Ender's Game.

But with that over, lets get on to the good stuff! Xenocide is not a direct sequel, instead, Card takes another of his twists and makes it take place 20-30 years later, once the children are grown, and Ender is an old man.

(For those of you who have read the series) it's interesting to see how everyone has changed over the years, to see what fields each has entered. Card built a person out of each name, and with this book, the personality grows for all of them.

On top of that, the series also sees the return of Valentine, Ender's sister. Reading this book is like looking at your highschool yearbook, it's fun to see how everyone's both changed and stayed the same.

Concerning the plot, this book has gained some respect. I don't read too many sci-fis because of the fantasy involved. In Star Trek, if a ray-gun is needed, there it is. It is assumed that they were made a long time ago and are as common as pants now. But this series, and especially this book rejects that theory. Everything exists for a reason, and Card does a fantastic job at explaining "histories" and describing theories, then BUILDING on those theories to make more. I'm sure it was time consuming to Card, but it has an excellent effect on the reader.

A word of caution though. Some of the theories (especially the ones involving space) get, to say the least, confusing. On more than one occasion, I needed to put the book down because I either had a headache, or needed to work out the words in my mind. But nothing written is too confusing to figure out. The benefits of the explanation outnumber the time it takes to figure it out.

It's a good, long story with realistic characters and just enough science fiction to satisfy the crowds. Enjoy!

Many people don't like this book because of the long ethical and philosophical discussions in it, but these are the people who only read Ender's Game for the action, violence and war aspect of it. In fact, I'm surprised these people got so far as to even read Xenocide. If you look closely, all of the Ender Quartet are philosophical books, but Xenocide it the most open about it. Xenocide considers outrageous things, such as an entire planet inhabited by geniuses who are struck by a crippling and incurable variation of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or a self-aware computer program making herself into a martyr even though only three people in the entire universe know she exists, or a group of aliens determined to bring humankind to meet it's maker by spreading an incurable plague, etc. The sub-plot on the world of Path is riveting, and holds up the whole book of itself. I don't know how Card does it. First I was convinced that Ender's Game was the best book ever written, then no one could tell me that Speaker for the Dead was anything less than perfect, and now Xenocide has risen to claim the title! I want to read Children of the Mind, though I am skeptical about whether Card can improve on the perfection of his previous three books. For the reader who is into deep philosophy: read Sophie's World, by Jostein Gaarder, but take it in small doses! I have only one question. Orson Scott Card, will you marry me?

The book I read was called Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. This book was a sequel to my favorite book, Ender's Game. Before I read this book I had a basic idea of what the setting, characters, and background information was. I like how the author would, in different parts of the book, refresh my memory of how or what certain things were. For example on p.53 it says, "Plikt had been a student of Ender's when he was on Trondheim as a speaker for the dead. She had figured out, quite independently, that Andrew Wiggin was the Speaker for the Dead and that he was also the Ender Wiggin." In many parts of the book it amazed me in how much I would read because of the tension and conflict which would make me read on and on. When Miro stretched out his arms and went in front of the pequininos and faced the crowd yelling out, "You want to kill? Kill me!"(p.343), just to save the pequininos made me even fear for Miro's life. When Ela or her family came up with new ideas, it made me put down the book and think how great the author made each of the characters' personalities. Some parts, however, that I disliked were when there would be complex words and sentences that would be difficult to understand.

The author's theme for this book is: The way to solve a problem(s), dont fight, and start to work together with eachother's ideas. I agree with this because when you need to solve a problem, people usually get mad and get out of control. This could lead to more problems for that person and also many others. If you fight, it will not help out at all. In the book, many times there are problems being faced, and sometimes a fight breaks out. When this happened, there was a very big consequent, but they solved this problem by teamwork instead of rage. This connects with my life as well. When I face a problem, I try to slow down and see what is wrong. When I get stuck on it, I can just ask my siblings and parents or my friends and teachers. At the end, everything is solved and I feel good about it.

I would recommend this book to others because of how well the content is displayed. When you read this book, you really don't want to put it down. There are so many problems that are faced in this book, you couldn't imagine how they all could get solved. But Orson Scott Card did a wonderful job concluding this book as well as writing the whole thing. If you like reading about Science Fiction and Fantasy, this is your book. However, you need to read Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead to fully understand this wonderful piece.

This is a great book to keep as a reference. It covers all of J2EE, and has some interesting ideas on application design. However, if you already have a lot of Wrox "professional" titles, such as "Professional JSP" or "Professional XML", stay away. This book just repeats excerpts from those, and is more confusing because it doesn't contain all the information. For example, the section on XML namespaces was a hodgepodge editing job on the section from the XML book, and confused me even though I already had a basic understanding of the topic.

But, its worth a look if you don't have any of the other contained content.

This is NOT a book for beginners who wish to learn JSP/servlets and EJBs and the techniques of J2EE. On the other hand, if you already have some knowledge with these techniques, the book may help to improve your background of J2EE and its components.

1.The strong points of the book are:

- the book does a wonderful job in explaining different key points of J2EE techniques especially at the beginning of each chapter; although the discussion sometimes becomes pretty vague and less clear at the end.

- the book's code examples use j2sdkee1.2.1, orion and jboss which are available for you free with unlimited time.

- the book looks quite impressive, 1600 plus pp. hardcovered.

2.The weak points of the book:

- all the code examples are fairly easy. In fact, too easy to do much help to the readers who need a better workout to pay attention to some key points of the techniques.

- Since only half of the book is devoted to really J2ee techniques, people who already experienced with jsp/servlet may find the other half of the book unecessary.

In conclusion, you may want to check this book out if you alread know jsp/servlet and j2ee( through the Sun's tutorials and examples and wish to have a better understand of this popular but pretty complex technique.

As lots of wrox book, this book does provide some interesting information. UML diagrams are used for better explanation, design issues for JSP, using XML with JSP, how interface object, control object and entity object fit EJBs, JMS, Corba, Unit test, are all well explained.

However, as the non J2EE edition, the code still contains errors: for all the Primary key classes in examples of EJB, hashCode and equals are not defined, you have to add them yourself. There are errors for package names, for the example, in Chapter 20, Order and Product classes are defined in book.order and book.product classes, and other classes imported them from factory.order and factory.product classes. You have to change "book" to "factory" class by class manually!

They used jBoss and orion server to implement EJB examples, I am not against these two servers, but I think it may be better to test the examples with Weblogic as well, since it is the most popular application server, they did not. And they never mentionned Weblogic in the book, not even in the appendix.

In split of all these errors, there is no serious error, this is a good and interesting book.