_Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control_ attempts to use the 1995 Kikwit Ebola epidemic as a case study for an examination of humanity's struggle with deadly viral and bacteriological pathogens. Ultimately, however, _Virus Ground Zero_ turns out to be a lightweight read bogged down by two agendas: act as a cheerleader for the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) specifically and science in general, and serve as a polemic against Laurie Garrett's _The Coming Plague_.

Despite the recent (November 2000) announcement of a possible break through in the development of an Ebola vaccine, Regis' 'Rah! Rah!' routine for science and its ability to protect us, specifically against threats like Ebola, does not quite ring true. His attack on the near apocalyptic conclusions suggested by viral doomsayer's like Laurie Garrett, for example, is based more on the deconstruction of their semantics than convincing evidence.

Ed Regis brings impressive credentials to what the _Washington Post Book World_ calls "A readable-even fun-book." A philosophy professor and College Fellow at Western Maryland College, Regis has written and reviewed science books for years. One would think that such a background would have produced a more useful text than _Virus Ground Zero_.

Ed Regis is an inconsistant author. At some points of this book I would stay up all night enjoying the suspense, yet at other points of time I would fall asleep with the book in my hand. If you are a historian, if you work at the CDC, or love informative books, then you will love his mix of writing styles. But if you are cruising the library for suspense thrillers, I don't recommend it.

This is a great book if you are interested in information about the CDC, how it was founded, and how it works. In that area it is very specific. However, if you are looking for a disease thriller like The Hot Zone, I wouldn't recommend this book to you.

I read the entire book and came away with no new insight, as contrasted with what I have found in other HBS Press books. The material is surprisingly pedestrian! The bottom line is that if you are not investing for real-time operations, you should be because of the changing technology landscape. If you did not know that already, or you do not know that speedy response to customers is important, then perhaps the book will be of some value to you. For me, there was not one thing in there that has not already been covered extensively elsewhere, sometimes a long time ago. I agree with the writer from India.

Real Time is really not so good. No new ideas or inspiring thoughts. Reading it is a waste of time basically. I gave it two because you always learn something from "getting into" the writers mind.

I didn't read Real Time as a book about marketing one-to-one at all. It isn't about techniques of marketing so much as it is about life in the high tech '90s. I think the book encapsulates an amazing number of actions and reactions that are overwhelming all of us . . . and completely changing how we work, play, and learn. These are amazing and wonderful times that we are very lucky to live in. And I think your book will open the eyes of the multitude of people who don't realize what's happening. After all,it is very difficult to recognize that one is living in the midst of a revolution. Having said all that, I embrace realtime technology because it has made my new life possible. Working from a home office like mine 10 years ago would have been impossible. (After 4 years of working at home, and as I look out over our woods, the rocky coast, and Canada off in the distance, I can't imagine better work conditions.) Realtime has also made even closer relationships possible with close friends from previous work lifes. Realtime is good for a news junky too--I never had time (or could afford) to read the San Jose Mercury-News, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and London Telegraph each day. Now that is a normal way for me to start the morning. But there's a lot of things too that I don't like about your brave new realtime world. I guess I'm old fashioned. I enjoy searching for the "right" newsletter or catalog. I don't want "push" information. I like doing a search and I don't want something to make a decision for me. I like buying a new hi-fi or car, going through all the details and analysis. Sharansky and Renton aren't really into "life." But of course the Internet is a wonderful aid in gathering that data. Finally, I don't think many people are anxious to have 500 TV channels. There never will be 200 million Internet users in the U.S. As you can see, i was stimulated by the book.

I had purchased Bates' book "Optical Networking and Switching" in March. Now that I saw this book, I was expecting something new. However, it just a chapter scanned from that book and so donot buy this if you already have the book.

This electronic book is a 20 page chapter from the book "Broadband Telecommuncations Handbook". Even at US$8.95 the ebook is over priced. Also, the information is not correct or timely. For example, the "book" incorrectly specifies the acronym for Abstract Syntax Notation One as "ANS.1", instead of "ASN.1". There are many more problems. I want my money back!

I had purchased Bates' book "Optical Networking and Switching" in March. Now that I saw this book, I was expecting something new. However, it just a chapter scanned from that book and so donot buy this if you already have the book.