"I was very ready to quit smoking many times in my life. When I began to read Stop Smoking and Chewing Tobacco for LIFE CHANGES, I realized I was reading something very new and different! This book appeals to anyone who needs a fresh approach to "just quitting" Through the use of LIFE CHANGES, I was able to really look at my motives and emotional needs surrounding smoking. The program put me on a path filled with information and humor which I could understand and build upon, using my own creativity. I was amazed at how enjoyable it was to participate in the planning and management of my own program. You will find everything in this book you need to know to finally end this "awful" dependency!"

I have been studying tobacco addiction and helping patients quit for over 25 years...Cessation has every thing to do with packing the brain with reasons to quit and techniques to help accomplish the goal. Each person has to decide which reasons apply personally. LIFE CHANGES is packed full of reasons to quit and exercises to help you take control of your life back from tobacco. It exposes tobacco not as a friend that settles you down and keeps weight off, but an enemy that robs you of over a decade of what should be golden years. I like this book and whole-heartedly recommend it to my patients. Congratulations to David and Carole Johnson! Through their book they will save and touch more lives than they will ever know. This book helps develop tools that, if achieved, will be far more powerful forces to combat tobacco addiction than any patch or gum could be.

LIFE CHANGES is packed with useful techniques for tobacco-cessation and maintainance. Humor, behavior mod, affirmations, hypnosis, relaxation and much more. I find it highly informative, practical, easy-to-use, a wealth of useful material all in one package. There's even an audio tape available. Whatever stop-smoking program you're using, this book is a valuable addition and/or primary resource for you.

Follow Mr. Johnson's classroom organization and teaching philosophy and you will have a math class that works. He tells you how to start your class on time with the bell and have nonstop learning the entire period. The books are very short (66-98pages) but packed with techniques you can use right away.
You can use his techniques on any grade level and with any subject, not just math.

I read this book about 11 years ago before I started teaching, and this little booklet has influenced my teaching more than anything else I have read. I credit this book with much of the success I have had as a teacher.

This book is one of the most informative books that I have read addressing how to keep a class on track. It gives ideas for class interaction, homework, quizzes, group work, and others. I have found his ideas very helpful, this being my first year of teaching. There are also two more books that follow.

As a poet and lover of words, I find myself looking for visual stimulation. This special book surprised me with it's raw beauty. Nothing is more sacred than Nature. And Laurie Bohlke has created a special gift for the "tenderest" of us. I have to admit that I do not keep it with my "coffee table" books, but next to my best friends; the Dictionary and Thesaurus.

More than a beautiful "coffee table" book, I found Prayers through the Seasons to offer inspiration and wisdom through its stunning photography and heartfelt prayers. In light of recent events, I have found it especially comforting as it speaks of God, simple beauty, faith and peace. Every page is a delight for the eyes and soul. I love it! (It would also make a wonderful gift).

114 stunning, full color nature photographs illustrate fifty-three Christian prayers in The Reverend Debora Kaiser-Cross' superbly presented Prayers For The Seasons: An Inspirational Collection Of Christian Prayers And Nature Photography. The beauty of her memorable and inspiring photographs is matched only in the devout sincerity of the accompanying devotionals. Prayers Through The Seasons is meant not just to be read, but to be meditated upon. This is a highly recommended gift book selection for any nature-lover and within a Christian perspective.

Yes, it's a classic. Yes, every computer scientist MUST own it. But enormous significant progress has been made in the field of NP-completeness (and computational complexity more generally) in the two decades since this book was published. An up-to-date edition -- which would probably be well over a thousand pages long -- has been badly needed for years.

I first read this book while researching heuristic techniques for reaching "good enough" solutions to the Travelling Salesman problem. "Computers and Intractability" was a breath of fresh air. It was as rigorous as any mathematical treatise, but written in a way that even a non-math major could understand. If you ever want to know why computers are so buggy, you'll know the mathematical reason for this within the first few pages of this book. By the time you reach the end, you'll never trust cryptography to absolutely, without a doubt, keep data secure for long, if at all.

I think every computer science student should read some of this book to learn about complexity theory and the notions reducibilty and completeness. Moreover, you may come across a problem that you have to show is NP or P complete, and the examples in the book provide a good model for doing so. Papadimitriou's book on complexity is also a great place to learn more about the subject.

My grandson, who is six, especially enjoyed the arithmetic lesson in this book, as Henry's friend adds up his earnings steadily. He was also interested in seeing which bear got to Fitchburg first. The illustrations are charming, and the story wears well for repeated reading. As for the references to the Alcotts and Emerson and Henry the Bear's likemindedness with Henry David Thoreau, that's just an extra for adults.

This is a wonderful picture book about two bears who both want to reach Fitchburg, a town thirty miles away. Henry decides to walk, and his friend decides to do odd jobs around town in order to earn money for the train fare. The reader can decide with the turn of every page which bear is enjoying the journey more. A great book about how the journey is as important as reaching the destination. Also a note on the the origin of the story and Henry David Thoreau. Great illustrations as well.

There's a lot to love in this book by D. B. Johnson. There is the priceless story-lesson concerning two bears traveling to the same destination by widely divergent paths, one enjoying the pleasures of nature along the way while the other works to earn fare to travel by more modern means. There are the beautifully memorable illustrations, one after another, of the bears as they make their way to Fitchburg. And there is the message, to stop and smell the roses, take in a little nature, just walk. Or maybe just sit in the woods and read Thoreau.

OK, a scholarly work it is not but a fun read it is. The book has excellent photos of UAL aircraft, memorabilia and the employees that made her the premier airline known the world over. UAL has had many first over her 80 some years - first to fly with Stewardesses (now Flight Attendants) first to fly the 727 (Boeing would not have built that aircraft were it not for UAL's order - read the "Billion Dollar Gamble" to learn more about the 727), and UAL was the launch customer for the B777. The Age of Flight is a beautiful book with beautiful pictures.

The Age of Flight: A History of America's Pioneering Airline documents the first 75 years of United Airlines in rich detail. Hundreds of illustrations-drawn primarily from the collections of the United Airlines Archives-accompany the authors' insightful text to carry the reader on a journey from the adventurous days of the start-up airmail carriers that formed UAL through the growth and management of the company that became one of the world's largest airlines. All of the better known pioneers and legends are here; Knight, Cuddeback, Lee, Varney, Gorst, Boeing, Vought, Lindbergh, Keys, Rentschler, Patterson, Stimpson, Church, Jeppeson, Hiscock, Kinkella, O'Connor, and Norwood. Due credit is also given to the legions of employees whose work created the dominant transcontinental Main Line and eventual global network based on safety and service. The fold-out of Raymond E. Smith's color illustrations of the fleet from the de Havilland DH-4 to the Boeing 777, a corporate genealogy, thorough indexing, and other features such as a chapter on the future of flight make this book a valuable resource for the student, scholar, and aviation history enthusiast.

John H. Hill
Curator-in-Charge of Aviation
San Francisco Airport Museums

The Age of Flight: A History of America's Pioneering Airline documents the first 75 years of United Airlines in rich detail. Hundreds of illustrations-drawn primarily from the collections of the United Airlines Archives-accompany the authors' insightful text to carry the reader on a journey from the adventurous days of the start-up airmail carriers that formed UAL through the growth and management of the company that became one of the world's largest airlines. All of the better known pioneers and legends are here; Knight, Cuddeback, Lee, Varney, Gorst, Boeing, Vought, Lindbergh, Keys, Rentschler, Patterson, Stimpson, Church, Jeppeson, Hiscock, Kinkella, O'Connor, and Norwood. Due credit is also given to the legions of employees whose work created the dominant transcontinental Main Line and eventual global network based on safety and service. The fold-out of Raymond E. Smith's color illustrations of the fleet from the de Havilland DH-4 to the Boeing 777, a corporate genealogy, thorough indexing, and other features such as a chapter on the future of flight make this book a valuable resource for the student, scholar, and aviation history enthusiast.

John H. Hill
Curator-in-Charge of Aviation
San Francisco Airport Museums

The Title of this story is Blackberry's in the Dark. The authors name is Mavis Jukes, and the pictures were done by Tomas B. Allen. There's a little boy named Austin. He goes to his grandparent's house every summer. He's not so happy this time, his grandfather past away not so long ago and so this time it's just his grandmother and him. He goes to pick some blakberries by the riuer. His grandmother comes up later with some fishing gear. His grandfather was going to teach him to fly fish that year, but now the grandmother is going to try to teach him even though she doesn't know how, she was thinking maybe her and her grandson could try to figure it out together. Here's a phrase to help you see how they talk in this book. "I didn't Know" began Austin. His grandmother drew him near to her. "Nobody knew, Austin." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Nobody knew that would be the last summer we'd all have together." She pressed Austin's cheek against her sweater and they stood there for a few minutes, roking back and forth. After a while she asked..." I would recommend this book to some people. I liked it because in a way it was touching but in a way it was fun. I woudn't recommend this book to someone that just really doesn't like calm books, they mostly like action books. I haven't read any other books like this one yet. It's good!

Mavis Jukes' Blackberries In The Dark tells of a family tradition of blackberry picking summers challenged by a grandfather's death. Grandma is alone and Austin feels his summer has lost its special magic - it's up to them both to make new traditions in this warm story of death and change, with black and white drawings by Thomas Allen.

Probably the best young children's book on the subject of a death in the family.

Very beautifully written, tears will almost definitely flow from the adult reading it. One might then ask, why bother with this book if it's about death, a heavy subject my kid hasn't been exposed to? Well, actually, it is a very uplifting story about life itself. No psychobabble or religious references, just a simple story of family, bonds, and tradition. Jukes' writing is beautifully crafted, making this simple story very meaningful. Death itself is dealt with matter-of-factly, and there is nothing scary in the book.

Though tinged with sadness, it is truly wonderful, and there are even a couple of good laughs. (Like life itself, no?)

Highly recommended.

This anthology rules the roost when it comes to good writing from the west. There's a freedom of expression and a willingness to push the envelop here that I have not found with other reviews on the university level. Kudos.

Bukowski's ghost is probably putting in overtime reading selections from Blue Mesa.

What I enjoyed about this particular issue was the willingness of the writers to explore the boundaries between countries and how that influences not only our relationships but the way we tend to look at the world. When a narrator writes about cities separating him from his friend, he is writing about more than geographical distance. Kudos to the editors of Blue Mesa!

I really love the Chic Simple books ... I find the photographs, text and lay out to be really inspirational and compelling on a daily basis i.e. we all have to get dressed each day, and these books (especially "What Should I Wear?" - my real favourite) have made it more fun for me to wear, and buy, my clothes and accessories. There is one matter about this new book which has disappointed me in only a small way, and that is that the authors have chosen to use certain photos and text from older books in this, their new book. I dislike paying for the same content twice. I also had very high hopes for this new book, the first new 'big' fashion/wardbrobe-planning book by these authors for some years now, and was a bit cheesed off to find the same images/text, apparently recycled. It's just a small thing, but it seems to me to be a little lazy on their part. That said, I'm still a fan of the book, and wish I'd had it years ago when I started my first job (I wear suits for work & this book really focuses on that look and how to 'polish' it or expand upon it). This would be a great book for a recent graduate, or for the library of a corporate employer looking for a simple yet thorough and elegant style guide for their staff.

This book does an excellent job of getting you from nothing to wear to a closet of every possible wardrobe nessessity for the office. The organization is fantastic, going from one interview outfit and then starting a collection of business appropriate clothing based on four suits. Great book for someone getting a promotion, returning to work after a leave of absense, or a new college graduate.

Although I do not work in a field that requires suits---I couldn't pass this book up. There may be a time I need to know how to dress for a business lunch, etc. The point is this book is a must have for all woman entering the work arena again or for young woman just getting out of college. The pictures are wonderful and the advice is perfect as in the other Chic books. I love this book..........

It's difficult to find original material in most security books. "Hack Proofing Your Network, 2nd Edition" (HPYN2E) breaks that trend. Responding to feedback on the first edition, the authors have made numerous improvements in the second edition. If you're looking for relatively novel content in a security book, read the sections of HPYN2E I discuss next.

HPYN2E shines in many respects. The "laws of security" in chapter 2 are accurate and enlightening. Chapter 4 helps teach secure programming techniques by comparing insecure and secure code snippets. Chapter 4 also demonstrates debugging and disassembling code, usually not seen in security texts. Chapter 8 probably contains the most advanced coverage of buffer overflows I've read in a book. By actually showing and explaining stack traces, the authors share a level of detail sufficient to satisfy all but the most elite coders. Chapters on "diffing" (5) and format strings (9) are robust. Hardware hacking, thoroughly described in chapter 14, is fascinating. The author cared enough to include numerous clear photographs of disassembled equipment, and mentioned many helpful external web references.

While these great chapters comprise more than half of HPYN2E, the remainder is not exceptional. I was not happy with the rambling, wordy chapters on spoofing (12) and tunneling (13). Spare us the quotes from Dante's "Divine Comedy"! Still, this material is easily skimmed.

Because HPYN2E is written more from an intruder's point of view, the title doesn't seem to reflect the material. The book isn't exactly a "how to hack" manual, but it expertly illuminates many facets of compromising information resources.

When I read the first edition of this book, was truly disappointed. I was wondering how such people could have written such book. Not that the book was worthless, but too 'standard' to met the expectations I had from these guys.
Still the idea was very interesting (information directly from the real experts), and I kept waiting for a new edition.
Well the second edition is now out, and not only fulfills, but exceeds all my original expectations !!

Let's take a look:

The Approach:

Understanding attacks and vulnerabilities, by understanding 'how to hack' (good hacking of course. . . .ahem )

The Book:

Rewritten, expanded and improved, the book consists of 800+ pages well structured into 18 chapters (against 450+ pages and 15 chapters of the first edition).
Well written, well presented, with a real fancy table of contents, the chapters include url's, a FAQ section and a SOLUTIONS FAST TRACK one.
A lot of CLEVER code is included as well as helpful 'Tool & Traps' and 'Notes from the Underground. . . ' outlines.

The new sections (all outstanding) include:
- Hardware Hacking (otherwise only found in papers)
- Tunneling (excellent)
- IDS evasion (very easily explained)
- Format strings attacks

The Intended Audience:

People willing to become network security pros.

Contents:

- Introduction to Security, Attacks and related Methodologies.
- Cryptography.
- Unexpected Input, Buffer Overflow, Format Strings.
- Sniffing, Hijacking and Spoofing.
- Tunneling, Hardware Hacking, Viruses (et al.).
- IDS Evasion.
- Automated Tools.
- Reporting Security Problems.

The Bottom Line:

It is not just a good book, it is the best book among high level network security books, and the only that compares with specialized papers. Only quite easier.
I got more than 60 papers on buffer overflows. None compares with the classical 'Smashing The Stack For Fun And Profit' by Aleph One. IMHO, however, the corresponding chapter from this book, does compare and is really easier to understand.
Finally, the 'piece de resistance' of the book, is the chapter about Spoofing. Really enjoyed it, and by the way got surprised reading the innovative (to me) technique to 'Spoof Connectivity Through Asymmetric Firewalls'. Good Job Dan ;-)
As an added bonus, as an owner of this book, you'll find a lot of code files, applications and links...

I have the first edition of this book also, and I was really glad to see the second edition come out. There are some great hacking books out now, but I really think these ones are the best. I found in depth coverage on a lot of stuff you just can't find any place else. Some very cool info. on administering hosts locked behind a firewall and tips for making a "poor man's VPN". I also like that a lot of big names wrote the book, and their personalities really come through. A lot of tech. books can be a little dry even if they are well written. This one is actually entertaining also.