While the book provides an excellent background and a good assessment of likely options, it glossed over some considered politically unfeasible but which might be popular among the voters - for example, removing the cap on Social Security wages. It is clear the financial markets are dying to get their hands on the money. At the same time, most in the investment community don't want to create another board like CalPERS, which is active in corporate governance. Spinning out a portion to something like a defined contribution plan seems almost inevitable but is likely to result in higher administrative costs.

This book applies Myers-Briggs type theory and much more to the way managers operate. I found most interesting the distinction between type preferences, which are essentially given, and needs, which are formed by interaction with the environment. Needs are independent of type. For example, a Thinker can have high nurturance needs - the need to help and be affectionate towards others.

He has more interesting material about conflict management style and the kinds of power managers use. They were interesting, but unlike the needs discussion, I think it would be very difficult to accurately assess these for yourself. There are too obviously "right" and "wrong" answers in these areas. After all, don't we all know that it's usually not right or effective to use "coercive" power?

A good book, and worthwhile adjunct to those interested in applying more than just Myers-Briggs type to management issues.

Disappointly poorly done. Statements made without support, poorly written, contributes little if anything new to one's understanding of the man or his work.

This is a solid, workmanlike biography of Robert Frost. It will probably appeal more to the reader who wants to know about Frost the man as opposed to the reader who is more interested in the poetry. There are some excerpts from the poetry but not a lot, and very little analysis. Probably the best thing about the book is the balanced attitude Mr. Meyers takes towards the poet. The author doesn't gloss over Frost's faults, but doesn't demonize him either. Yes, Frost had a tremendous ego. (Show me an artistic person that doesn't!) He loved to receive praise. He "collected" honorary degrees. Towards the end of his life he made it clear that he wanted degrees from Oxford and Cambridge, so that he could equal the achievement of Longfellow and James Russell Lowell. He was famous enough and knew enough of the "right" people that he was able to get what he wanted. He was extremely competitive and made nasty comments about other poets who he perceived to be a "threat", both in terms of popularity and talent- such as Carl Sandburg, Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. Frost made fun of Sandburg's self-created "folksy" persona- playing his "geetar" and combing his long, white hair over his eyes. But Mr. Meyers makes clear that Frost wasn't alone in his competitiveness. Though Sandburg was apparently a very nice fellow, Eliot and Pound had plenty of nasty things to say about Frost and other poets as well. Where Mr. Meyers is most sympathetic is in discussing Frost's relationship with his family. In the past, Frost has been portrayed as a selfish "monster" who ignored his wife and children and caused their unhappiness, mental problems and, in the case of Frost's son Carol, a suicide. It seems clear that mental illness ran in Frost's family, going back at least to his father and mother. Frost heard "voices" in his youth and they came back in times of severe stress, such as right after Frost's wife Elinor died in 1938. Frost had an unnatural fear of the dark and apparently suffered from some degree of depression. He managed to overcome these problems and to live a long, creative life. He did the best he could to be a good husband and father. He remained faithful to his wife despite the temptation of female students "throwing" themselves at him. (After all, even in middle-age, he was a handsome man, as well as being charismatic, artistic and famous.) He tried to be emotionally present for his children, giving advice (if also at times trying to control them) and he was always generous with money. Again, this book is strong on Frost's personal life. But it is a bit weak on analyzing the poetry and it covers Frost's teaching career in too cursory a manner, "flitting" about from place to place too quickly. Some of this is inherent in Mr. Meyers' decision to write a relatively brief biography. He tries to cover in 350 pages the personal life and career of a man who lived to be 88 years old, and who remained creative for approximately 70 of those years. Mr. Meyers had to make choices about what to include and what to leave out and other things had to be compressed. Unfortunately, it shows. This book is not the definitive biography of Frost. That remains to be written. But it is a good introduction, a book that succeeds in being fair-minded and will leave you wanting to know more about the man and the poetry.

In spite of the barrier of silence choking it, the vitality of American identity and consciousness continues to survive, thanks to clues, planted in Robert Frost: a biography, written by Jeffrey Meyers. The first major hint that America is alive and struggling for breath comes with the affirmation of the importance of Frost's identity as a native San Franciscan; the second is the remembrance of Lionel Trilling's valiant attempt in 1985 to put into sharper focus the image of Frost's work and his reputation. Nevertheless, author Meyers does not develop the latter point in which Trilling stated that Frost's reputation had been created over a misinterpretation of his work. In fact Trilling's was a major effort to raze the barrier of silence, to state and restate lines of research in the development and study of literature in America from the East Coast to the West, from Columbia University to the University of California at Berkeley (Lizarraga 1999a y b). In response to criticism both professional and personal, published in major literary reviews of the East Coast, Trilling made a valiant attempt to defend the remarks made on that historical evening, recording in permanent form by way of the Partisan Review both his speech and his will to defend it. Although Meyers describes the reaction of Frost on that evening as one of surprise, the poet was not a stranger to the effects of the barrier of silence. A letter written in 1929 by Frost to Lincoln MacVeagh (Thompson 1964:362), as well as subsequent events in the 1930's, not only establish Frost's initial attitude toward 'the silencers', but also serves as a vindication of Trilling. The letter reads as follows "The first poem I ever wrote (La Noche Triste) was on the Maya-Toltec-Aztec civilization and there is where my heart still is, while outwardly i profess an interest more or less perfunctory in new England. Never mind, I'm lucky to be allowed to write poetry on anything at all". Actually, this was but a prelude to continuing manifestations of the relation of poetry, politics, religion and repression, experienced in 1936, when Frost achieved the publication of a number of works. Key among them is the booklet titled A Further Range, which includes the poems "The Vindictives 'The Andes"and "The Bearer of Evil Tidings 'The Himalayas"and for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, and the booklet entitled from Snow to Snow, which, apparently, was the initial publication of the poem "The Road Not Taken"and which by the end of the Thirties as an integral text had been banished to oblivion by Frost himself. It is here that a concept of AngloAmerican literature, which rejects the primacy of geography in the formation of consciousness, begins to be formulated; and, time is divorced from space. This then created a dichotomy in the Americas, centering in the north of america concepts of Angloamerican and Western culture, grounded in language only, as opposed to South and/or Latin American literature in which geographical space and language serve as the cornerstones (Falcon, Huayanca, Lizarraga 1999). If we are to formulate a viable concept of an integrated American culture and education, today we must face this contradiction , a continuing source of repression and chaos. Focusing on this point, the alert reader becomes aware that the true measure of Robert Frost is to be taken by how he dealt with "the silencers" and the consequences this has had, not only on his own life, but also the lives of the rest of us, and not by the shadow of Kay Morrison and her unconventional love life of which Frost was but a part. Channeling a force with the strength to do this is not only to "keep at bey the silencers' but also to demolish the barrier of silence, itself, and"breathe free".

Blah, Blah Blah, This book is far too wordy. Would make anyone who knew the slightest about computers fall asleep, Dull! Would hate for a newbie to pick up this book, would make you fear computing. Alot of info prestented is out dated and sometimes down right WRONG! Best thing to do with this book is put it by your bed and if you can't sleep read a paragraph and you'll be fast asleep.

Usually a computer manual would bore the reader to death with its technicalities. This book isn't the case. Although it comprehends a great deal of technical aspects it focuses on the humanistic and ethical aspects of the technology as well. It also discusses both the technology past and its future.

This book was the best beginners computer book I have found to date. I teach computers to Senior Citizens and middle aged adults. This book has helped me introduce them to computers with an understanding that is relative to thier way of thinking. It is not too technical so that the average person, someone who is not techie, can understand computers, their relationship to today's world and its future growth. I would recommend it to anyone who would like to get a look at computers from a non-heavy technical aspect.

In the case studies for abnormal sexual behaviors, along with Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, is listed that one of William Jefferson Clinton. If we consider the life of the former president an abnormal behavior instead of a political maneuvre to discredit a political opponent on an issue that it would be otherwise been accepted as a normal behavior from very many in the U.S. and abroad - many psychologists included - we teach a dangerous lesson and we set a dangerous standard. Such lesson would be very much welcomed by those people who exploit sexual personal issues to either state a twisted ethics (like Sen. Rick Santorum) or present a non-serious examination of sexual abnormal behavior, based on facts not always proved , like Mr. Meyer did in the case of Mr. Clinton.

Don't loose your time for reading this book. Personally I didn't expect a book from Mr.Abidi and Mr.Gray. No given theory and no
practice. Only some old IEEE papers collections .
Such a pitty..

I ordered this book before it was published (the English version), and am very sorry I did. I was expecting a book full of detailed information about implementing SAP on NT...that is not what I got. The authors all work for iXOS (a company with close ties with SAP), and it seem no more than a marketing exercise for them. I would be very surprised if it took them more than 1 weekend to write this book. The book is only 250 pages, but 59 pages are dedicated to telling you how to install/upgrade SAP (version 3.x or lower)...It has only just been published but 4.x is not covered! The first 60 pages are pure marketing rubbish, with the word iXOS appearing all the time. It also discusses the Alpha platform for SAP, even though development of this platform on NT is ending. Only 6 pages are dedicated to clustering. Only 5 pages are dedicated to High availability. .......... Bottom line, if you are a marketing guy, or a manager with no technical knowledge and you would like to have a couple of terms you can through around in a meeting to try to impress, maybe you can get some value out of the book...If you are a Systems guy looking to install SAP on NT, the SAP online documentation and Installation/upgrade guides offer far more detailed information than this book. If you don't have access to the online doc's, try another book (but make sure it has good references first..)