This is the first title in an outstanding series of Alvin books by Clifford Hicks. Sadly, they all seem to be out of print.
The Alvin books were my favorites as a kid. I checked them out from the library repeatedly and devoured them. As a 10 year old, I wanted to hang out with Alvin and Shoey. The books are full of laughs, adventure, and great storytelling. They take us back to small town America, before kids had to deal with grownup problems.
If you have a kid, buy this book for him. Buy it used, buy it on Ebay, buy it at a used bookstore! The other titles (all very good) in the series are ALVIN'S SECRET CODE, ALVIN'S SWAP SHOP, ALVIN FERNALD FOREIGN TRADER, ALVIN FERNALD MAYOR FOR A DAY, and ALVIN FERNALD SUPERWEASEL. All are great. Another great series if you like the Alvin books is the Mad Scientists Club books by Bertrand Brinley. Check them out.

I am 45 years old... my 44 year old brother came over and talked about how this book changed his life. He read it as a kid and became an inventor of sorts himself... a perpetual tinkerer. He wasn't sure of the name and I found it for him and ordered him a copy as well as my 9 year old son. It took some insistance to get by boy, Nick, to read it. He couldn't put it down and when my brother came over to visit he quized Nick on select parts of the book. They both smiled and laughed. Having read it myself I can tell you it is a most wonderful book. Buy it! Your kid will remember it always.

A VREY GOOD BOOK. I like the inventions that Alvin made and how the book was written. It was neat how Alvin solved the mystery with his great inventions. I reccommand this book to you if you enjoy reading mystery books. So go to the bookstore and but it, Right Now!

I want to know all the details about what are the problems the databases will be encountered

Teaching/ Discipline by Madsen and Madsen Teaching/ Discipline: A Positive Approach for Educational Development, Fourth edition by Clifford Madsen and Charles Madsen Jr. is a thought provoking book that challenges teachers to take an in depth look at discipline approaches, conceptual learning designs, student and teacher behaviors, behavioral principals, and observational techniques. The design of the text introduces the reader to various concepts and ideas. The authors divided the book into four parts that are imperative to understand for educators. The first part is titled "teaching and discipline". The second part is an application of behavioral principals through the changing of incorrect associations. The third part alludes to the developing of responses through a positive approach. The final part is a manual for developing observational techniques. Madsen and Madsen partition the book further into ten chapters. Questions at the end of each chapter are thought provoking and encourage the reader to transfer learned concepts to the readers general subject area. Madsen and Madsen include several learning activities for every chapter to illustrate and solidify concepts and ideas.

Chapter one addresses teaching as a form of discipline. The authors' concept of discipline includes classroom control and delivery of subject matter. They believe that teachers are responsible for developing clear concepts of social and educational values. Educators must also consider what techniques to use to impose those values on their students. A series of essays each begin with a question. The body of the essays leads the reader to the authors' conclusions through well thought out illustrative stories/ examples and/or logical reasoning. Examples of essay questions include, what is our intention, what is effective teaching, why do we discipline. A summarized answer concludes each essay. Learning activities on the dichotomy and the differentiation of values conclude the chapter.

Chapter two discusses the relationship between discipline and learning. As in chapter one the authors provide essays to illustrate their points. The essays cover a variety of topics including: student assessment while avoiding the compilation of a student history, structuring subject matter and behavioral responses into small steps beginning at the student's level, establishing desire to learn though extrinsic then intrinsic rewards, and establishing that the teacher decides what is to be leaned. Learning activities explore spheres of influence and development of techniques for special learners.

Chapter three probes the structuring of academic and social learning by using behavior modification techniques. Instilling discrimination and forming correct relationships as a foundation for student learning is emphasized. Essay topics include applications of responses for both academic and social modification, importance of weighing merit and demerit systems, and keeping accurate records when measuring behaviors using time intervals. Learning activities investigate the translation of ideas/ values into the measurement of observable behaviors. Chapter four examines behavior as the result of reinforcement history. Essays investigate the following ideas: significance of arranging the school setting to encourage student learning and using structured contingencies in the conditioning of student behavior. Learning activities include introducing conceptual behavior analysis and creating outlines of sequential results to unravel problems.

Chapter five explains the significance of adopting scheduled responses for students. The essays illustrate the need for consistency in developing good student habits, pinpointing behaviors/ goals to be eliminated and new behaviors/ concepts to be learned, using recorded assessment of behavior over time, developing appropriate approval and disapproval reinforcers, and measuring behavior to evaluate the effectiveness of treatments. Learning activities investigate the use of different reinforcement schedules and methods.

Chapter six begins the part of the text on applying behavioral principals. The chapter provides one hundred and twenty examples of pinpointed behaviors and academic goals with results from the record process, applied consequates, and the final evaluation. The examples are grouped according to school level appropriateness: preschool, primary, middle, high school, and adult. The intent of the grouping was to present issues in a progression of complexity and difficulty. Madsen and Madsen comment that the examples demonstrate effective behavioral changes however they don't necessarily agree on the solutions from an ethical/ values standpoint. Each example encourages the reader to make a scientific or professional application (transfer). Learning activities include ranking the pinpoint examples based on several criteria and developing a program for self-modification.

Chapter seven begins the part on developing a positive approach. The chapter includes numerous examples of approval and disapproval responses using words, sentences, symbols, expressions, proximity, activities, privileges, and material things. Learning activities include choosing approval and disapproval reinforcers for a variety of pinpoints and a test over chapters 1-7.

Chapter eight begins the part on developing observational skills. Entitled learning though observation the chapter covers the implementation and practicality of a variety of different observation instruments. A suggested list of materials and equipment for observation is provided as well as a set of parameters for observer behavior. The analysis of observations for reliability is also discussed. Learning activities include using sample observation forms and performing peer group observations. Chapter nine and ten cover a variety of methods and terminology for teaching consequate-orientated behavior and provide experimental designs for modifying behavior. Learning activities include developing a shaping procedure, identifying behavioral principals in given examples, and investigating the moral and ethical responsibilities of being a teacher.

Teaching/ Discipline A Positive Approach for Educational Development, Fourth edition is a commendable example of logical thought, effective observation methods, illustrative activities, and digestible explanations of behavioral concepts. The writing style is direct. The application of concepts and the unique question answer essays provide a distinct testimony to the knowledge of the authors. Teaching/ Discipline furnishes educators with a thought provoking text that challenges the reader to reconsider their approach to the profession and prove the effectiveness of their methods using quantitative documentation and investigation. The proof of what students and teachers are learning can be measured. Madsen and Madsen's manuscript is a valuable introduction to behavioral ideas for any person that strives to become a more effective teacher, parent, spouse, or leader.

I'm using this book as part of a graduate class in Algorithms. I've got an undergrad in Math and CS and have developed code in C/C++, Java, Perl, etc. The pseudo code in the book is ambiguous from the point of view of either a student of math or a software developer. In either case you have more rigor and you expect to be able to read most of it alone, as it stands. In a "real" programming language you usually find variable names that are more descriptive than a single letter. You may even find a variable declaration that gives you the type, and if you're lucky a comment that describes it further. Math proofs usually start out with an introduction that serves a simillar purpose. The pseudo code in the book doesn't do much of eitehr. It doesn't make as much sense when read stand-alone as a proof or "real" code. The trick is to carefully read the text along with the pseudo code.

If one were to make a list of the 100 best books in computer science, then winnow that list down to 10 books, and then again down to 1 book, surely this would be that book.

Known in computer science circles as CLR (for the authors) or simply, "The White Book", Introduction to Algorithms by Cormen, Leiserson, and Rivest is the de-facto standard text for algorithms and data structures. It covers all the basic subjects (big-O notation, trees, graphs, etc...) as well as a few intermediate subjects (amortized analysis, matroids, etc...). Of course, this book is not the be-all and end-all of computer science nor does it pretend to be. It touches on NP-completeness only lightly and all but omits randomization; but if you wanted a text on NP-completeness, you would be reading Garey & Johnson and if you wanted randomization you'd go to Motwani & Raghavan. But if you need a reference on data structures and algorithms, this is the book for you.

Now, some have complained that while this book is an excellent reference that it is a poor text to learn from. I beg to differ. I concede that it is certainly more demanding than many other introductory texts, but this is a boon not a curse. By remaining true to computer science's mathematical heritage, Cormen et al. force the reader to become accustomed to rigourous, formal reasoning, something which is unfortunately absent in many computer science curricula. The authors present the concepts cleanly and clearly, without the distraction of any specific programming language/paradigm. Perhaps it is this removal from a familiar C/C++/Java/flavour-of-the-month/etc... milieu which makes some readers nervous. But it is precisely this separation which forces the reader up into the realm of abstraction where computer science truly resides.

This book has served well the needs of many researchers, scientists, and software developers since it was first printed in 1990. The authors have done a first-class job, and no-doubt the book will continue to be a good source of information in the next decade. Pseudocode is used to illustrate how to eventually code the algorithms, and exercises abound throughout the book. It has been, and will continue to be used as an effective textbook.

After a comprehensive overview of the mathematical foundations, the authors treat sorting algorithms, with heapsort, quicksort, and order statistics treated in great detail. They give an asymptotic analysis of the algorithms, and give an introduction to randomized algorithms in the discussion of quicksort. I found the discussion on order statistics very helpful for studying data polling algorithms in networks.

The authors then discuss data structures and how they can be used to construct algorithms for different problems. Queues, stacks, linked lists, and trees are discussed in detail, and the authors give asymptotic analyses for hashing and searching algorithms. The very important area of dynamic programming is also discussed at length. From the standpoint of someone interested in network modeling, I found the discussion of Dijkstra's algorithm especially well written. Unfortunately, the authors do not discuss in detail the Ajtai-Komlos-Szemeredi sorting algorithm. The treatment of this algorithm in the original paper is difficult reading so a better presentation would have been nice here. Parallel algorithms are given a nice treatment. The Fast Fourier Transform is given an interesting application to O(n lgn) multiplication of polynomials.

For readers interested in cryptography, the authors discuss the algorithm for the RSA cryptosystem. Primality testing is also treated, with the Miller-Rabin probabilistic algorithm given a nice treatment. The Pollard rho method for integer factorization is also discussed.

I found the discussion of string matching also very useful from the standpoint of computational biology. The Rabin-Karp and Knuth-Morris-Pratt algorithms are both treated in great detail.

A short but good introduction to algorithms in computational geometry, such as the gift-wrapping algorithm in convex geometry, is given.

The authors thus cover a large amount of material here, and each chapter could itself be a 1000-page book. But their selection of algorithms in each of the areas covered serves well to introduce the reader to the more popular ones available. A large list of references is given for further reading on revisions and extensions to these algorithms.

The Music! Words! Opera! series published by OPERA America, the national service organization for all professional opera companies in North America, is a true treasure for teachers who wish to introduce students to the wonders of opera. This complete curriculum provides easy-to-use lesson plans breaking down the complexities of the art form into fun, student-centered activities. Also included are copy-ready materials, musical excerpts from the operas being studied, list of participatory drama games, and teaching tips on creating and presenting an original student work. The Music! Words! Opera! methodology can be applied to any classroom and includes every discipline in its approach.

I also use this book as part of the Masters course in Sydney and I cannot remember the last time I picked it up to read as I have better things to do with my time than try and work through the glaring errors in formulae, graphs and general commentary. The presentation is verbose and circumlocutory and to add to the frustration often wrong. I feel obliged to warn potential buyers not to make the same mistake that I have. Gallitz on Financial Engineering is a far more interesting and accurate text and for the rigours of applied financial maths Mastering financial calculations teaches you more in 200 pages than Smithson could in a lifetime of trying to improve on this first edition. If anyone would like my copy of Smithson I'm happy to give it away for fear further sales may encourage McGraw Hill to continue publishing the book.

The book is written in a complex way. For example, a simple future contract, was explained in long and complex way. It is not able to show the point directly. Anyway, it is not a bad point. It has some quite excellent practical example. It is the most valuable parts of the book.

I bought this book to give myself a thorough education on derivatives. And, I got it. It is very readable, yet it covers all the topics in adequate technical detail, so you can hold your own in the company of derivatives traders and the like. I often refer to this book, to refresh my memory on the different structure of option models, or how to value an interest rate swap. This is the sort of stuff you will not remember unless you use these concepts on a weekly basis. But, with this book, it does not matter, it is easy to refresh your knowledge.

The level of detail is wrong from start to finish. It's too detailed to give you a good introduction to replication architecture. It's too general to be useful for hands-on work. There's a market out there for a real replication primer; too bad this isn't it.

I got this book before I attended the Sybase Replication Server course and I found it hard to understand the concepts and explanations in the book. I re-read this book after I have attended the Sybase course and found that it is easier to understand. It's a good book to have if you are still using Replication Server 11.0. Things are slightly different in versions 11.5 and above. If you want another book to suppliment the Sybase manuals, this is a reasonably good book (not that you have many choices).

If you are looking for a detailed, comprehensive book on rep srvr, are in the middle of implementing a complex rep environment, or don't have time to take the classes, this book is an EXCELLENT resource. Mr. Clifford's target audience is those already reasonably versed in Rep (I am a former Sybase Prof. Services consultant & Sybase Education instructor). Sybase's manuals are generalized to some degree whereas Mr. Clifford's book provides the level of detail necessary to understand this complex topic without being excessively verbose. The writing style is clear and to the point. Keep in mind that this was written in 1995 and ASE and RS have changed since then. What are the chances for a 2nd edition for RS 12.0?