Used price: $8.47
I thought the characters were great. Scott got on my nerves though! Arrogant and fake as can be! I sometimes wanted to smack her and say can't you see?? but she was looking for fireworks, and they were there with Scott. It took lectures from Anita and time with Gordon and Scott revealing his true character for her to realize there's more to a relationship than fireworks.
I really liked Gordon. He sincerely loves God, and Teri, and he doesn't care who knows it, or what people think of him. I didn't see anything wrong with the communion bit. I think it was there to demonstrate how clumsy he is, but he's charming and devoted to God, so he continued with the communion service anyway, and the congregation loved it. I don't think the intent was to mock communion or degrade it. He's got some great lines and illustrations for things, like his benediction "Until that day, and may we always live today as if tomorrow were that day" and how he unknowingly explains the relationship between law and grace to Teri.
I did like Teri's struggle with law and grace and legalism, but I do kinda wish it had been developed a little more fully. It isn't a struggle that gets resolved by dancing or not dancing or an analogy.
I loved the scene at the beach where her mom and grandma told her she was in love with Gordon and she thought they were nuts and got mad. She says Gordon doesn't need her, and her mom says of course he doesn't, but he wants you! Go! And the end where he tells her he'll wait till it's a yes. I love stories like that!
I thought the book was well written, and I enjoyed it. I've read it over and over now, and I'll probably read it some more. I only wish that Teri and Gordon didn't live in Hawaii so we can find out what happens to them in the rest of the series.
List price: $59.99 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $4.11
Collectible price: $4.27
Buy one from zShops for: $4.10
My one nit would be that the examples don't compile out of the box with VC 6.0 on either NT or Win2k, even with fairly recent platform SDK headers. After a bit of error tracing and reading the book, I found that most were written using new name resolution functions found in XP, and while they will work with older platforms, it required downloading the latest platform SDK... Since you can't download just the headers, you're going to need either a fast connection or a lot of time.
It would have been nice to have this documented in the book, the code or at least in a 'readme.txt' file. Since the SDK is available for free, why not stick it on the CD since you can't work with the books material without it?
I bought this book about four months ago. I wanted to learn winsock and develop simple network programs for Windows.
This book offers everything I need to develop small scale programs such as an FTP client and large scale programs such as an FTP server. Anthony Jones and Jim Ohmund do a great job explaining useful winsock tools in detail via concrete examples. Furthermore, they demonstrate powerful non-blocking I/O models including WSAAsyncSelect, WSAEventSelect, Overlapped Model, and Completion Port Model. To top it off, there is a section where they give a recommendation as to which model is best depending on the project.
Network Programming for Microsoft Windows Second Edition is an excellent reference for winsock IPv4 and IPv6 programming in Microsoft Windows. This book definitely provides network programmers lots of tools. In fact, there are chapters that go way beyond the basics for the typical and simple network programs. For example, the authors go over registration, name resolution, multicasting, generic quality of service, winsock service provider interface, and remote access service. Lastly, there are two chapters reserved for C# and VB programmers.
I highly recommend this book for advanced C++ programmers and winsock programmers.
Kuphryn
Used price: $8.99
Buy one from zShops for: $10.00
I've read all the Junie B books.
This book is about a boy named Warren that Junie B loves!
Junie B just doesn't get how Warren could like a nother girl.
Junie B is having a hissy fit,she just has to tell everyone about it. Barbara Park does it again!
What it was, I found, was horribly superficial and empty. These people had little to do with their time except gather at eachother's parlours and chat idlely and endlessly. But with nothing to talk about and all day to talk about it, it was considered better to sound "clever" than to have something meaningful to say; style was valued in the absense of substance. No one said what they felt, no one felt strongly about what they said, and the whole frustrating lot of them came across as a bunch of phonies. They were all but toppling over with the weight of their own pretensions.
The reason I found this frustrating, though, is that in his other works I have read (admittedly not that many), the reward for struggling through James' prose is his deeply penetrating understanding of human nature; clearly, James "gets" people, and it shows in his sharp observation and subtle wit. So that made me struggle all the more to peel back the layers of clever chatter to "get" what James was driving at, but after I turned the final unfathomable page, all I could say was "huh?"
Both novels deal with the child's / adolescent's emerging conscience, while faced with adult corruption.
In "Maisie" and "Awkward," we see James following up on his fascination with Hawthornian themes.
James's facility with dialogue, in which abrupt blushes are loaded with meaning, is apparent here. The drawing-room conversations reminded me of a party in a swimming pool; each character is constantly, in a conversational sense, "taking a plunge and coming up somewhere else."
I found this novel somewhat thin - read closely James's "Preface to the New York Edition"; can you hear James in self-defense mode?
Overall, not bad, but "Maisie's" somber and gloomy tone was better suited to the subject matter and themes than the "light and ironic" touch of "Awkward."
Used price: $0.64
Collectible price: $16.00
Buy one from zShops for: $2.99
Like his singing, some tales seem cyclic with hints of what is to come, only to be reprised on a later page. Others slowly reveal his many and varied interests beyond the stage - the visual arts, his profound belief in the power of children, and his commitment to safeguard this planet and its inhabitants. Havens' skill as a storyteller serves him well in this thoroughly enjoyable book. Whether a fan from years back or someone just discovering the wandering troubadour, this book will help you know and possibly even understand the man behind the music. Buy it, put on one of his CDs and read. It will be, as Havens is known to say, "Far out!"
List price: $14.00 (that's 20% off!)
Used price: $4.19
Collectible price: $5.95
Buy one from zShops for: $8.50
A great book that although becoming a little outdated portrays the ongoing trends in the automobile production industry in three major cultural areas.
The three areas are;the Asian lean production (Toyota) v.s. the American system,(mass production) v.s. the European craftsman system. On a larger scale it will and is affecting manufacturing everywhere.
Henry Ford was the founder of the American mass production system, and Ford was very successful adopting it to the aircraft and steel industries. American companies adopted this system and it is one of the main reasons for American pre-eminence in many industries worldwide. Toyota has become the founder of the Lean system of manufacturing. Most of the
early adherents to this system were other large Japanese companies, and responsible for the Japanese manufacturing miracle since the 1960's, as it was adapted from automotive to all manner of industries.
The book is well written and interesting even though it is based on an MIT study of global trends in the auto industry. I would like to see an update to this book. The one anomaly I see is the German Automobile industry. If Japan and Korea have some of the most efficient auto manufacturing plants in the world and
North America is becoming more competitive, what is happening in Europe comes as no surprise. Many European automakers have yet to fully embrace American mass production techniques and are now faced with the greater efficiencies of Lean
production. The book does not explain in my mind the success of the German Auto industry. It seems to be the one exception to the rule.
What Ford's mass production did to craft production and its profound effects on the developed economies in the first half of the last century is an old but interesting story. With the advent of Ford's manufacturing techniques, there was a consolidation in the Auto industry. Within a couple of decades the number of automobile manufacturers fell from over a hundred to less than twenty and the big three cornering over ninety percent of the market share. Detroit became the center of pilgrimage for the rest of the world trying to emulate and replicate this success story in other continents.
Silently, the Japanese led by Toyota were working on a different concept of putting the automobile in the hands of the customer, at better quality, lesser costs, shorter development times and with the ability to offer a wider choice. The statistics collected from these "lean systems" is mind boggling. The competitive advantage that Japan enjoyed over the American system was neither due to lower wages in Japan nor due to higher levels of automation as widely believed. It was primarily the lean machine that was conquering the mass machine.
This book is based on the research done in the 1980's and published around 1990. The authors while acclaiming lean manufacturing as the panacea for the ills of manufacturing systems globally had at the time of the research and the publication of this work, probably ignored the next major change that would sweep across continents. Cars ride on highways, but today's businesses are quickly shifting gear and using a super fast highway for collaborating and for managing their global presence. Thanks to the Internet, the economics of information is transforming the economics of things. Dell is probably a good example of the new business model that could not have been imagined in the 80's. The tearing down of artificial walls across countries and continents also happened in the last decade.
We are badly in need of a repeat research study of the kind done in this book, in the face of the new realities. Global companies run by global citizens serving a global market and using a global currency will probably happen sooner than we expect.
This study of the world automotive industry by a group of MIT academics reaches the radical conclusion that the much vaunted Mercedes technicians are actually a throwback to the pre-industrial age, while Toyota is far ahead in costs and quality by building the automobiles correctly the first time. The lesson that it cost more to fix it than to build it correctly should be applicable to a lot of industries--not just manufacturing. The description of the marketing information system that Toyota uses was very enlightening. They involve the entire company in generating marketing feedback. Even dealer sales staff spend time working on the new product teams. Trust me, very few high-tech firms methodically collect feedback from their customers, and none have a system this comprehensive.
This is not just a book about lean production--this is guidance in understanding how your business operates and delivering good products that your customers want.
Used price: $0.25
Collectible price: $3.52
Buy one from zShops for: $2.47
List price: $24.98 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $4.99
Buy one from zShops for: $6.56
The comparisons to Mosley's brilliant Easy Rawlins series are natural and deserved. Both are set in similar times and deal with similar themes. The character of Paris Minton, though, adds a new dimension to the story. A thoughtful, literate man, he's not very handy with his fists, awkward with guns, and a patsy for a gorgeous woman. Most hard-boiled characters are just that: hard. Paris, though, is far softer than most, and more interesting for it.
"Fearless Jones" once again demonstrates that Walter Mosley is one of the finest writers working today. His sharp eye for race relations, human nature, and the changing face of America would be excellent contributions to any novel. When added to a solid, engrossing mystery, they take his work to a higher level that few can match. Mosley is a treasure who should be read by all.
By the time you reach page 5, all hell has broken erupted. Elana Love walks into Paris' bookstore and she brings plenty of trouble. She is looking for a church congregation that suddenly disappears in the night because the alleged Rev. has a bond that is worth a lot of money. As a result, Paris is beat up and his store is burned down. He turns to his long time friend, Fearless, for help after bailing him out of jail. As the two travel the streets of L.A. to find Elana, they meet Fanny and her husband, Sol. Fanny is funny, brave and caring. Then there is Leory, The Rev., and many others who will make you laugh out loud. Paris turns out to be a great detective as he tries to unfold the mysteries that Elana has set in motion. If you love Easy Rawlings and Mouse then you will definately love these new characters. Like all of Mosley stories, it was a page turner with many twist and turns. You will not want to put it down. Peace and Blessings!
When Paris Minton's book shop door opens and gorgeous Elan Love walks in, so does trouble. Paris is a laid back black man content to run his store in the Watts area of 1950s LA. He's ill prepared to deal with all the woes that beset him such as being used for gun shot practice, being robbed, and seeing his business go up in flames.
There's little choice for Paris except to send an SOS to his war veteran buddy, Fearless Jones - a man who more than lives up to his sobriquet. The pair embark on a surprise riddled chase fraught with excitement and danger.
TV and film actor Peter Francis James gives tension filled voice to this riveting thriller.
Used price: $22.47
Buy one from zShops for: $22.46
The intended audience for this book appears to be tipi affecianados with considerable background experience in tipi living and vocabulary. (Indeed, there is an assumption here and there that your tipi may be making the journey to a "Mountain Man" primitive gathering, whatever that is, and carefully judged by snobby tipi experts. (Who are these people?))
The book may do well by them, but as for me, I was making a tipi with a bunch of five to ten year-olds as part of summer camp festitivies. While I had read a bit about tipis before getting this, I found this little handbook to almost impenetrable (E.g. "Step one: Mark your spirit line!" Excuse me?)
That said, however, we were able to build a pretty nice tipi (by my standards anyway--I'm sure Jim Jones and pals would be entirely unable to restrain their giggles and snorts if they saw it). This required reading the book a few times, leafing back and forth a lot (e.g. the design of the "lacing strip"--yet another undefined term--is covered in three different parts of the book), and supplementing with some other, more simplistic overviews from the children's section of the public library.
However, a tipi was built, and this book had more of the details covered than the other ones I had found. (Note: I never did get the Laubin book, but maybe you should.)
I might also note that the first third of the book is low-quality, black and white scans of various tipis at these primitive gatherings. The photos seem to be more about patronage than information: it's the same darn view over and over, but at a different site, with a different paint job, featuring different pals, whatever. It would be far more useful to have photographs of the various steps of construction, and perhaps the inside, outside, front, and back of a completed one. And, Jim if you're reading this, how about a diagram labeling the parts of the tipi???