Simplistic and without real scholarship, one wonders why this is the book that people chose for any kind of language enhancment of the joys of that most subtle and lovely of langauges.

"America ganef!" my Grandma would exclaim upon encountering a pleasant surprise. (See JOY page 115.) That's my reaction seeing this old friend renewed, broader, more current and more liberal in its Jewish scope, and more lively and attractive because of the illustrations and layout. Yet it is still the warm, friendly, funny book I remember from nearly 30 years ago.

Somehow the New Joys of Yiddish has more meaning for me now that nearly all those family members I remember using Yiddish often - some relying on it almost entirely, others just when they used a forceful, colorful, close-to-the heart expression (which was very often) - are gone. The book evokes memories of those good people to whom we owe so much - if only for having had the wisdom to select this country for us and our children.

The book is like a warm and witty friend whose conversation brightens your home and is rarely pedantic. (At a couple of places, such as his seven page exposition on the messiah, he does go on too long.)

Two types of people will find this book enjoyable: those who read the original edition and those who didn't.

So to the Rosten family and Larry Bush - mazal tov!

Some good, most useless. One must dig deep to get any valuable nuggets from this one. The second half of the book is the WfMC interface specifications which doesn't appear to be any different than the specifications that can be accessed on-line, though the on-line specifications are newer and a little more up-to-date (which causes one to wonder why 1997 is in the title though there hasn't been an update to the specifications since 10/96 and the book doesn't reflect the later changes....)

This title has been out of print for over three years, however, and its content is no longer relevant. Technology moves at the speed of change.

The Workflow Handbook 2001 (readily available at ...) now published by Future Strategies Inc., is completely up to date and explores the technology and business of workflow management across a wide spectrum. Divided into three main sections; "The World of Workflow," Workflow Standards" and "Directory and Appendices," Workflow Handbook 2001 includes the full new Wf-XML Binding Specification and the updated WfMC workflow glossary. White papers cover topics such as the role of workflow in portal environments, managing time in workflow systems, and fundamental trends in application integration, development tools, and workflow engine cooperation. The Appendix includes a listing of Workflow Management Coalition member organizations. The Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC), a non-profit international organization of workflow vendors, academics, users and consultants.

There is now a CDROM Companion to the Workflow Handbook 2001 which includes: ·Video introduction to the WfMC by Jon Pyke, WfMC Chair ·An electronic copy of the entire Workflow Handbook 2001 in PDF format ·Introduction to Workflow 45-minute video tutorial in MPEG ·Selected slide presentations from WfMC technical committee meetings ·Comprehensive high-level workflow product comparative analysis ·Workflow product demonstrations, specifications and literature from selected vendors

For an organization to achieve effective electronic communication, its workflow systems need to successfully interoperate both internally at the department level and externally with the organizations with which they do business. This can apply to external parties such as vendors, other businesses, and customers. To achieve wide scale interoperability between organizations, cooperation between workflow vendors is critical. The Workflow Management Coalition (...) has worked strenuously for the adoption of standards throughout the industry. Standards allow organizations that have more than one workflow system to connect them easily. They provide a fertile environment for workflow component development to grow and flourish, giving a rich array of options for user organizations. Most importantly, standards provide an infrastructure for inter-organizational process automation and the basis for electronic commerce.

This book is far too dense to be read by anyone (like me) without a thorough background of recent Chinese history and politics. Even though I am comfortable with pinyin, no way could I keep straight the constant barrage of names zipping by. No explanation is ever given for various Chinese political terms, many of which were not familiar to me. And there is no historical narrative present to unite the material and keep it interesting.

If you are just an average joe/joan like me who wants to know more about China, don't waste your 28 bucks on this book.

This book, written by one of Hu Yaobang's staff, shows a very different picture of the players during this period of time than in books penned by western China Watchers. While Deng appears to have truly been interested in political as well as economic reforms, the hardliner coalition in the Chinese Communist Party was able to use his paranoia of personal attacks against him to veer him away from Hu Yaobang's progressive programs. Had he been able to see through the machinations of the hardliners, China might have been farther along in its modernization than it is.

I think the most interest aspect of this book is how it portrays Hu's successor, Zhao Ziyang. Western authors portray Zhao as a reformer. However, Ruan Ming shows us a schemer that is more interested in pushing Deng to the wayside and garnering full authority for himself and his "new elite". In 1989, the West saw a tearful Zhao supposedly working in the interests of the student protestors, symapthizing with their demands for democracy and reform. However, Ruan Ming shows us that this was a merely a tactic in his ongoing struggle to build power for himself within the party.

Overall, I think this book should be required reading for anyone interested in the inner workings of China's government. For once we have an account from a former member of China's government. I feel his account has painted a picture of China's key political players stripped of their masks. We are given an excellent example of how divided China's government is and how that relates to China's ability to develop into a "First World" Power in the future.

Based on interviews with companies (mostly in the UK and USA), this is a capable overview of the forces driving change in business practice and attitudes. The findings largely confirm issues that have been around for some time. The text covers the development of chronic overcapacity, the blurring of traditional industry boundaries, the rise of consumer knowledge, sophistication (and satiation) and competitive consequences and responses. It also covers the change in relationship between employer and employee. There are sections on 'denominator management' (e.g. downsizing) and its consequences, on mergers and acquisitions, alliances and supply chain management.

Being based on survey results, it is useful for indicating where practical business people are now. This provides a useful comparison with the many books that focus on where the author thinks they should be.

As a former systems engineer in a company that actually built wideband RF LINC amplifiers, I can state this book is an utter disappointment. It is badly written, riddled with mathematical inaccuracies, and needlessly complicated. Please do not buy it: you will not learn to design or understand LINC amplifiers.

1) Much of what has been covered in the book can be summarized in [1] [2] [3], and [4]. Several sections and figures have been lifted in its entirety from these references making the writing inconsistent and incoherent.

2) Zhang's analysis on the phase/gain calibration in LINC is needlessly complicated. This is, after all, a very elementary problem in adaptive filter theory. For a much simpler and practical solution see [3] and apply it with a single-tap FIR. The I/Q imbalance problem is well understood and does not require an advanced level text to explain it.

3) It is obvious that the authors have not built a LINC amplifier with a lossless combiner. Many of the complexities and problems encountered in that design are conveniently neglected. Instead, we are presented a regurgitation of the material in [3] and [4]. For a much more elegant explanation read Cripps's book.

4) The mathematical analysis of the two-tone imbalance in LINC channel is such a needless exercise; the authors offer no new insight and worse still, the analysis is replete with inaccurate assumptions and conclusions.

5) The work on power recovery by the authors is new. It is debatable, however, if the method is practical or offers any significant advantages over the lossless combining method.

6) Also, will the authors please note that we do not need to pay nearly $100 for an advanced level text that explains digital modulation and pulse shaping? There are much better undergraduate texts for these.

For a much better understanding of RF amplifiers, LINC or otherwise, stick with [4]. It is by far the best work we have seen in this field.

[1] "Efficiency of Outphasing RF Power-Amplifier Systems", F. Raab, IEEE Transactions on Communications, 1985, Vol. 33.
[2] "Amplification using amplitude reconstruction of amplitude and/or angle modulated carrier", Kolanek et. al., US-PTO number 6,147,553.
[3] "Adaptive algorithms for calibrating a LINC amplifier", Chandrasekaran R. et. al., RAWCON 2001
[4] "RF power amplifiers for wireless communication", S. Cripps, Chapter 8, Artech House