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Great book to begin self-instruction of the language. It would be improved if the dictionary pages included more vocabulary.
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The book itself is very technical and detailed regarding the origins, character, composition, and genre of the so called 'Q' document. The authors discuss 'Q' as it relates to the Synoptic problem (i.e. source criticism), the reconstruction of 'Q' (i.e. it's wording, order and extent), the dating of 'Q,' and the language in which 'Q' is believed to have been written. Moreover, the authors discuss the origins of 'Q' and what they call "the people of Q" (i.e. physical locale, social location, and the people who allegedly wrote the 'Q' document).
The second half of the book deals with theology and ideology regarding Q. The authors cover a history of dogma or trends in the Synoptic problem throughout the last 200 or so years (i.e. what certain New Testament scholars espoused regarding the sources of the N.T. documents). What's more, this book fits 'Q' into the already present source hypotheses. Another aspect which surrounds this book's study of 'Q' is the influence of the Cynics. Is 'Q' a Cynic document? Thus, Greco-Roman Cynicism is discussed in some detail and how 'Q' might possibly have it's origins in Cynicism.
At the back of the book is a very small glossary which was somewhat helpful. However, the works cited section is huge, going from page 460 to 518. Overall, this book contained a tremendous amount of detail about a document that is merely speculative. There is no evidence (physical, traditional, or otherwise) for the 'Q' document, and yet hundreds of pages can be produce about all the details surrounding it. Go figure. Nonetheless, if you are wanting to study 'Q' then in my estimation this is the best book to read.
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I basically liked this book - but then I am a graduate student in biblical studies and so already committed to being interested in technical studies about obscure "data" which fit into the narrow specialisms of today's biblical academy. What I'm saying is that this book will not have broad appeal since its VERY technical. That said, the discussions, particularly the ones on "The Q document and the Q people" and "Reading Q in the Galilee" I found to be stimulating explorations into the possible as regards Q and the sources for the sayings of Jesus. Perhaps that's all that such discussions can hope to be. Certainly any taking of this book's contents for the final word on the subject should be shelved: tomorrow will bring newer conclusions.
One point I really liked from this book was its emphasis and concentration on the social location of both Q's interpreters and also the writers/collaters and readers of the Q document itself. This "social" criticism of the Bible has been going on for a while now and this book continues that tradition admirably in exploring the links between Q and the Greco-Roman Cynics hypothesized of Galilee. Such questions are worthy of study and essential to an understanding of Q (should the hypothesis ever become so genuinely held that such theories attain more than their current provisional status).
In his introduction to the book the author writes that his offering is to be about Q "and the difference its existence makes". I think the offering of hypotheses like the ones this book offers about Q are valuable talking points and this book is another valuable addition to debates about Q.
PoSTmodERnFoOL
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If there were to be another edition of this book that featured better examples, I would have given it a 4 star rating. If there were another edition of this book that fixed the MANY MANY typos along with better examples, I would definitely give it 5 stars.
Tip-For those of you using the workbook edition as well, just because the directions say that the example is in C major, it doesn't necesarrily mean that it is. Listen to the recordings and ask your professor.
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Let's face it: expository writing is tedious. It is not meant by nature or design to be a page-turning writing device. Nonetheless, Kostka's survey is complete, providing adequate and clear examples, and written in a very succinct manner. True, Kostka does dwell in a few places, but these minutiae-explanations are necessary (if you have ever taught elementary theory, you will understand immediately). The organization of the text is second to none, and the authors are consistent in explanations and refrain from "inventing" jargon or becoming unnecessarily nebulous (Gauldin, for one, is notorious in this regard).
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Other, specific things I would change about the book: 1) The chapters on part-writing emphasize too heavily the minutiae of voice-leading and thus obscure the point that we're talking about the relative motion of complete melodic lines. More exercises involving only two parts, to give students a thorough grounding in the basics (i.e., no parallel fifths and octaves), would really help. 2) Although including discussions and examples from popular music is a good idea, the section that tries to explain the concept of "suspension" in pop chord symbols is skimpy and confusing. 3) I find the whole explanation of harmonic progression, based on the circle-of-fifths progression, unconvincing. Piston's looser cataloging for me better fits the reality of tonal music.
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Professional JSP is one way to get up to speed. Like many of the books published by Wrox Press, Professional JSP covers a specific technology in-depth, as well as the various ancillary topics relating to it such as databases, servlets, and XML. While not every developer will need every web technology covered by the book (and there are many), the book works both as a tutorial to cover the basics and a reference for technologies that you may encounter later.
Professional JSP starts by covering the basics of Java Server Pages, and how they relate to other web technologies. Embedded in HTML pages, JSP provides an easy mechanism for creating interactive web interfaces that draws on server-side components, known as Enterprise JavaBeans. While the presentation logic is written in JSP, the processing occurs within these JavaBean components. The book takes a balanced approach, covering both JSP and its syntax, as well as how to write and interact with JavaBeans to perform useful tasks, like accessing databases through JDBC and using other Java technologies. However, if you've read other Wrox titles, you may find there is some overlap in the topics covered.
One of the nice things about Professional JSP is that, in addition to covering theory, it goes further and examines practical applications of JSP, and issues for programmers like security and debugging. Like other titles in the Professional series, there are case studies of real projects using JSP and related technologies. My favorite would have to be the case study on porting Active Server Pages to JSP -- something that is extremely important for developers with "legacy" web systems. On the whole, Professional JSP is an excellent book for web developers wanting to get up to speed with Java Server Pages, web development, and Enterprise JavaBeans. However, developers with less of a web presentation focus and more of back-end server view may also want to consider the excellent Professional Java Server Programming title, which also covers JSP. -- David Reilly, reviewed for the Java Coffee Break
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After the JSP fundamentals are out of the way (which I am sure any JSP newcomer will appreciate and can benefit from), the book picks up pace with discussion on JDBC connection pooling, and the best practice for data access from JSP. Then comes the chapter on custom tags. My favorite chapters are the ones on debugging JSP's and implementing the MVC design pattern in JSP/servlets.
The case studies are very comprehensive and closely correlated to the earlier chapters. In one case study the design methodology is clearly explained with UML diagrams, which are very helpful to someone who is currently architecting an enterprise Java Web application. Other case studies cover such a wide area of topics such as JSP in combination with LDAP, EJB, XSL, and WAP.
For ASP developers, this books has two enormously useful chapters to get them started on JSP right away. One is a case study showing how to port an ASP app to JSP, and the other compares and contrasts the object model and syntax between ASP and JSP.
Having said all the above, this book does suffer from certain weaknesses. One is typical of any multi-author book, i.e., repeat of the same topic in different chapters. This is the case with JDBC, which shows up in both chapters 4 and 7. Another problem is the lack of the use of a standard servlet/JSP container, which will help new users to run all samples under the same software setting (although there is an appendix on setting up Tomcat server). Finally, a few chapters seem to be out of place in term of the logic flow of concept, such as the ones on dynamic GUI's and JNDI.
Finally, this book is still thin on heavy-duty J2EE topics, such as EJB, distributed transactions, message service, and interoperability with CORBA. This is why I consider it as an intermediate level book, not an advanced one. Hopefully we will see another Wrox book in the near future that addresses some of these issues.
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maybe it's that i sat down and read half the book in one sitting - not advised. your best bet is to skim, there are a few treasures in here. when it's good, it's very, very good. when it's bad, it's just awful.
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There's so many stories, you really can't go wrong; there's going to be something in there for you, and if you run across a couple of stinkers, so what? They were only 3 pages long anyway!
A must for writers looking to hone their voice down to a sharp point.
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The vaudeville sections are bright and lively, really capturing the anarchic spirit that the brothers held. Kanfer does a good job showing the transition from vaudeville to movies, including the fears and trepidations of those involved, especially Groucho's. Even though we know that worldwide fame would eventually come, the road traveled to get there is filled with much tangible drama.
Groucho's later years are done particularly well. They're especially effective when the reader gets an indication of how far Groucho has fallen: a man who once verbally terrorized all the women in his life gets his karmic retribution. It's quite a sad chapter; I as a reader couldn't wait to read of Groucho's death, just to put the old man out of his misery. Very powerful.
Unfortunately, the book is weak in several other areas.
The sections dealing with Julius' childhood needed a deeper biographical sketch of his mother Minnie Marx. We are told repeatedly of her great will and dominance over the boys, but we only see glimpses of that. Kanfer does yeomen's work researching the other areas of Groucho's life, so why skimp out on the beginnings?
Later, when dealing with the heyday of the Marx Brothers movies, it is apt to re-quote a criticism Groucho himself makes on page 380: "[Critics] do a new kind of writing. They rent our movies, tape-record them and write down all the good jokes in their books. Quite a writing feat!" He's talking about the glut of criticism following the Brothers' renewed popularity in the 1960s, and Kanfer uses the quotation wisely to that extent. Unfortunately, he himself uses that very same hackneyed technique! There are transcriptions of scenes from 'Duck Soup' and 'Horse Feathers' that run for pages. Granted, they are almost as entertaining on paper as they are on screen, but they serve little purpose in a biography. Kanfer tries to tie the scenes into the narrative of Groucho's life, but he generally fails to do so effectively.
When Groucho has his popular rebirth, with the television show 'You Bet Your Life', what should be an important time in contributing to the enduring appeal of the comedian is glossed over. A period of ten years feels like just two, before we are thrust into Groucho's twilight. I would have loved more anecdotes and analysis from this era.
My suggestion to those interested is that this is a good start to get an understanding of Groucho. For those already versed in Marx lore, this book will probably infuriate rather than enlighten you.
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There are two main problems: one is that there are virtually no notes, despite the vast amount of direct quotes from various sources. There is a list of major published works on Groucho, with some given helpful annotation, but more detailed notes should have been present. The other problem is that, too often, Kanfer forgets to let us know what year he's talking about, or how much time is passing between sections. Several times, I found myself flipping back and forth, trying to place an incident in time. The book is strictly chronological, but the details get slippery. I would also have liked a few more photographs. Overall, recommended--almost certainly the best bio yet about a cherished and never to be forgotten man.
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That being said, I don't see many of the flaws in this book that some previous reviewers have mentioned, in that I can't really comment on the author's accuracy or lack of.
What I can say is that this is an interesting book, and certainly portrays Groucho in what is to me an unacustomed light, a far cry from the absolute character that he is in the films. Intead, we see a man who, because of the demands and treatment he received during his childhood, has difficulty dealing with women and children on many levels to the point where he seems to drive three of the most important women in his life (two wives and one of his daughters) into severe alchoholism.
What I found to be most interesting about this book (to its credit) is it portrays Groucho's fears and sensitivities, especially to critics reviews (although, in the end, for Groucho the bottom line was always the box office, and not the critics). Its ironic then that based on this book's descriptions of Groucho's reactions to things written about him, its quite clear that this book probably would have outraged Groucho since its overall depiction of him is far from flattering in many respects.
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Conquering the trade off between high graphics and high download speeds, making pictures bleed off the page without scrolling, how to design for the 640-480 monitor as well as the 800-600 monitor (a personal favourite) - these are some of the magic tricks that the book shares. In addition, the attention paid to site management, updating, information design and branding, are eye-openers to web designers overly preoccupied with the interface design.
The profile of the authors is really where the book takes off. Pascal (love the name!), who can't figure out whether he's a designer or a programmer. And Andrew Sather, with training in graphic design, creative writing and art history, there's always enough in the book to suggest a level of thinking that requires the burst of brilliance made possible by the synergy of distinct disciplines. Proving once again that the web is really the Wild West for interdisciplinary cowboys.
Take the issue of branding. The book suggests the creation of a brand board - a practice not uncommon in real-life branding and communication exercises. The idea is to create a set of visuals, images, words and actually create a collage that is used by the design people. Further, there is also a clear need to develop a user profile (beyond saying NRI or all Indians). The user profile needs to get into psychographics, demographics and technographics. The last refers both to the kind of comp! uting infrastructure and access to the net, browser preferences, screen resolution and the like, as well as their attitude to technology, information and browsing habits.
A particularly interesting technique to handle mutiple browsers, for example, is to use large images with transparent GIFs and hypertext. The background image can be a JPEG, which will exactly fit a 600-800 screen. But the text and the foreground are all designed to fit the 640-480 screen. The bottom and right end of the image, therefore, are areas which are not always seen and serve primarily to present a complete picture. The compression can be increased in this area, so that the overall file size stays small. Clearly, there is no reason to succumb to the trade-off between rich images and download times. Instead there must always be a push to break the trade-off to achieve both. It is this thinking which, more than anything else is the signature of "Creating Killer Interactive Web Sites".
The authors don't stop at design, they highlight the need to stay in touch with the client after the launch. Quarterly reviews of competing sites and updates on technology are some of the things that you can do to promote the relationship and elevate it to a new plane. The site launch has not been ignored either. A site needs to be launched with some fanfare. A press conference, an event, a competition or an on line event are some of the things that you can do to promote the site at launch. The drama of unveiling the site has a certain power that makes the site larger than life.
This is another good idea that has actually been implemented. Using the web itself should be a natural corollary while talking about it. After all, as the final chapter in the book says, "A web Site Manager's work is never done. For a great web site to remain viable, it must grow and evolve visually, editorially, functionally and technologically. Your site must at a minimum, stay abreast of devel! opments in your business. Ideally, you will continually evaluate your site's effectiveness vis-à-vis your business objectives and its usefulnesxs from the point of view of the user."
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On the plus side, Kanfer does indeed delve beyond the standard name-and-dates syndrome of other animation histories. He attempts to provide a broad overview of the early years of animation and how non-Disney studios were to eventually fall to the Mouse. When focused, Kanfer's writing is extremely engaging and his accounts of the various political maneuverings are facsinating.
Unfortunately, Kanfer attempts to squeeze too much into to little space. One could easily see this book being twice the size it is now. As such, the very aspects one wants to explore most - how such things as economics, war, race and politics in America effected animation - are never really fleshed out for any given studio/cartoon beyond a few pages, or paragraphs. Significant space is given to Disney's story (perhaps deservedly so), but I would've liked to learn more about 'outsider' studios as well.
Kanfer also has a habit of not staying focused in his chapters and bouncing suddenly from place to place. It doesn't make the book unreadable by any means, but it does distract from the over-all flow of the narritave.
All in all though, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a general historical overview of animation.
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