I picked it up , just by excident . Than , after being shocked by exellency of photography , I loked at the name of the author ... Tom Kumpf ...
I was shoked , surprised , and heart by his work ! As published author , kind of famouse photographer ... all I can say to Mr. Kumpf : WOW ! ... Highly recomended !!!

I met Tom this past weekend in Dublin, OH and talked to him for quite a while. Being a photographer, I was interested in hearing his thoughts on process and technique and other techie stuff. While talking to him I looked through his book and realized that this was much more than technical work. When I got home and started reading it I realized the importance of his work. I highly recommend this book not just for the photos but for the stories that go with them. Excellent work.

Tom Quinn Kumpf has written a beautiful book. The photography is outstanding and the narrative reveals an unusual insight into the plight of the children, victims of the conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Kumpf does not point fingers or take sides. He tells it as he saw it in Belfast.

This is the bible about all what you always wanted to know about champagne. Who invented it (Dom Perignon), who is the oldest wine producer in the Champagne (Gosset), which is the oldest champagne company (Ruinart) and which is the best champagne (Krug)? Find out all about the difference between Grand Crus, Premier Crus and Grand Marques. But also learn all about the history and the production process of the methode champagnoise. Lastly, there is a comprehensive list of all French champagne houses, including a brief description and rating, as well as a concise overview of the other sparkling wine regions in the world which, however, are not allowed to call their produce champagne anymore nowadays. The real champagne is restricted to the world-famous region East of Paris.

Champagne connoiseurship is probaby one of the most hedonistic pursuits (or occupations) anyone could dream of. Although clearly opinionated, the reviews are agreeable and, as far as books specializing in Champagne go, probably the most complete. It's not a book that tries to evaluate individual wines on a 100 point scale, but it gives relative ratings for the domaines as well as certiain luxury cuvees. It's not for everyone, or even every wine enthusiast, but it is indispensable for any Champagne nut.

This book mentions every sparkling wine you've ever heard of and many more that you haven't. I own several other good champagne books, but if I could only choose one, this would be it. My favorite feature: Stevenson mentions the best wines for each vintage -- something no other book I've found does. Highly recommended.

The is a superb book. My only complaint with this text is that it should have been included with Proakis' Digital Communication book in the first place. You will notice that 90% of the graphs and diagrams are straight from that text.

One of the winning ingredients is that all the Matlab code is written to be understood. Where some texts will write all code to be as optimal as possible, this book actually uses loops where Matlab array operations could have been used (which is not recommended in Matlab due to speed). It actually makes the code very readable and enjoyable. Surprisingly a few of the code snippets have left out the plot and stem commands? This is not too much of a hassle if you understand Matlab well, you can just generate that code yourself. Newcomers to Matlab will probably not be impressed. While the Matlab code is very simple and readable, it is still not for the beginner.

NOTE: This book will not teach you communication systems. This book is written like a Schaums text, where they briefly go over the key points, and then start programming them. If you only have this book and no other one to reference, you will be lost.

If you hate the Proakis Digital Communications text (as I do), you will love this one. This book has all the examples and fills in the missing points of that text. I find it interesting that this book has a co-author. I suspect that Salehi must influence the reign of reason in Proakis since this book is written so much clearer than Digital Communications.

In a nutshell, this book is worth its price. Very happy with this purchase.

another reviewer puts "must for begginer", but please notice it's for "a first-year grads" not for under-grads or sheer novices. i'm a plain novice, and i should say this book is not a tutorial. you need basic exposition on this field. i found "Lee and Miller:CDMA Systems Engineering Handbook" is helpful. the handbook is rather verbose and this MATLAB companion makes a good recapitulation of the handbook.

An excellent computer approach to almost all aspects of communications in Electrical Engineering, that clarifies topics which are difficult to approach just by dealing with theory.

I've read all of Tom Wilson's books. They just keep getting better and better. Desert Fury is first rate adventure fiction. An intricate and believable plot, a real life hero, and a little romance make this quality fiction. This needs to be made into a movie.

Tom Wilson wrote three great novels about flying in North Vietnam (he actually did it and survived). his most recent books have been more about high tech adventure combined with Native American tradition and culture. The book keeps moving all the time with twists and turns enough to make you not want it to end.

I thought the timing of the events and the writing of Tom Wilson were just perfect. I can't say enough good things about this book. My new favorite author!

Tom expresses the clarity of truth in the Course in beautiful ways. I found his book, as well as his teaching and his presence, most helpful and healing when I was privileged to spend time with him and Linda, his wife, a wonderful counselor in her own right.

(Note: Please enter my complete name rather than the public
nickname: Amanda Armstrong)

I've been on what I call my "spiritual path" for 13 years, and the foundation of my life is A Course in Miracles. If you had trouble understanding the Course, because of the way it was worded, read "Dialogue on Awakening..." You won't be confused anymore. This book covers it all, but it definitely challenges our beliefs about the way a spiritual path works.

Tom Carpenter's book is the clearest explaination of "A Course in Miracles" that I have ever seen. I have read this book many times, and gain insight from each reading. Its guide for "awakening" to our natural state of peace and love just makes sense!

This book gives a brief history of the dresses. The illustrations are quite good. He actually manages to capture Diana very well in his presentation. If you want to see the dresses that were at the Charity Auction this is definately the one to get. The book is printed on high quality paper so you are sure to enjoy this one for a long time.

I first came in contact with this book in a city 800 miles away from home, I purchased it right away. I am looking for more books, and would like to know if there is a catalogue, which I could choose from.

This is an excellent book with 1 doll and 31 famous dresses drawn by Tom Tierney. A perfect reminder of just how beautiful Princess Diana was, and her likeness and poise have been perfectly captured.

This is one amazing book. While we heard about the UN-sponsored Cambodian election, maybe getting a sound byte every once in a while, who knew what was really going on there? Well, Tom Riddle knew, as he was in the thick of it. This book is an amazing look at the election from the inside, the directors, the workers, the problems, the people. The author of course, is in the middle of his life also, of which falling in love with a Cambodian woman is only one of the noteworthy events. And it's through these trials and tribulations that we get our clearest look at the Cambodia we never knew, beyond the tourist traps, the Hollywood movies and the evening news footage. The diplomats can give you the sanitized version, but if you want the real story, here's what REALLY happened.

Riddle offers an inside perspective into the chaos of Cambodia at this critical juncture in history. As far as I know, all that he wrote was true. As a minor character in the story, slightly disguised, I was able to see some of the same world that Tom Riddle saw while I was working at another humanitarian relief agency in Cambodia. Riddle examines the very nature of reality as he probes this isolated peasant society, plagued by war induced poverty and destruction, and overlaid with the sudden arrival of a weakly organized UN military and technical support force of around 20,000 people from many different countries.

Riddle taps into many different realities as he looks at the worlds of a myriad of different characters trying to make sense out of the chaos they are experiencing. It is offset with his own ironic humor, personal life crises, and the participant-observer perspective.

The idealism of the United Nations is a paradox of its inefficiency, political agendas, and bureaucracy. You get an international version of "Catch 22" in this book. The career bureaucrat is offset by the author as the naive idealist. The brave young Cambodian woman recovering from war and life in a refugee camp is struggling to help her family survive and save her country. She is offset by the romantic notions of the author, hopelessly in love with her. Peaceful interludes of Cambodian life are interspersed with violence and disarray. The oppressed Cambodian society seeking to find itself is continuously falling back on the international community and even the traditionally adversarial Vietnamese population for energy and direction.

This nonfiction account of social chaos reads like a lighthearted Franz Kafka. It transcends the war journalist's perspective that is our usual source of information about social crises such as these. As a participant-observer in life's international fast lane, the author is able to bring unusual insight into unusual life experience. Whether you seek information about Cambodia, the United Nations, the impact of war, a good adventure story, or a cross cultural perspective on human relationships, you will find this fascinating reading.

I really liked this book, and I'm not just saying this cuz Tom is my friend (and he ain't paying me to say this either.) He has a good wit that makes this a very enjoyable book to read. Perhaps one day an independent film-maker will make this into a movie - it could and should happen. Aloha.

As I suggested long ago in my review of Peter Singer's _Animal Liberation_, while I applaud Singer for pointing out numerous ways in which our treatment of animals could be improved, I don't find his "utilitarian" ethical arguments very persuasive.

But Tom Regan's now-classic book -- this one -- is a different story. This is a tour-de-force of ethical argumentation that makes the titular case about as well as it's ever going to be made. Regan doesn't simplify any issues and he's very much alive to fine ethical nuances. And he sets out his case with both rigor and vigor.

Probably most of us won't have any problem agreeing that at least some nonhuman animals are conscious, but there _have_ been people who have denied it (most famously, Rene Descartes). So for completeness, Regan begins with a careful discussion of the question. Avoiding simplistic answers and over-eager claims about research on e.g. animal language, he mounts a solid case that at least some nonhumans do possess consciousness.

(Some of his arguments are a bit weaker than he thinks they are, although I still agree with his conclusions. For example, he argues that possession of language skills can't be an indicator of consciousness because human infants are presumably conscious before they acquire a language; how else, indeed, would they acquire it? But this shows only that _present_ possession of linguistic ability isn't a necessary condition of consciousness; it doesn't show that the _ability_ to learn a language isn't such a condition. As I said, though, I agree with his conclusion; I'm merely criticizing the way he gets to it.)

The remainder of the book is a wide-ranging discussion, not just of animal rights, but of ethics generally. Even aside from Regan's nominal topic, the volume could serve as a fine introduction to ethical thought in general. (Among its many highlights: a short refutation of Jan Narveson's "rational egoism" that could double as a refutation of Ayn Rand's even sillier version.)

In the end, what this gets us is a careful case for regarding mammalian animals which are at least a year old as possessors of "rights." (Regan also argues that for other reasons, we could and should want to extend "rights" to other animals; he has limited his discussion to mammals in order to keep to what he takes to be a fairly clear-cut case.) These "rights" do not, he holds, trump every other ethical consideration under the sun; in particular, in emergency situations in which either (say) a human being or a dog (or a million dogs) must be killed, we should kill the dog (or dogs) every time. These "rights" are _prima facie_ moral claims -- strong, but not indefeasible.

What I think Regan has successfully shown is that living beings don't have to be moral _agents_ in order to count in our moral deliberations. And with most of what he says on this subject, I heartily agree; in particular I think he has made just the right distinction between moral agents and moral patients, and correctly argued that moral patients have _some_ sort of "right" to consideration.

I cannot, however, follow him _quite_ all the way to his conclusions -- for example, that we are morally obliged to be vegetarian and to refrain from using animals in all scientific research. Mind you, I've been a vegetarian myself and I think there _are_ good reasons for avoiding meat; I just don't think they're morally conclusive. I agree completely that many current practices are inhumane, and I also agree with a point Regan argues repeatedly: that moral limitations on what we can do with animals do _not_, as such, interfere with the operation of the free market. But I'm still not altogether sold.

(The problem -- to put it briefly and inadequately -- is that I think Regan assigns too much to moral _patients_ in the way of "rights." I'm not persuaded that in order to have a "right," it's enough that someone else could make a moral claim on your behalf. In other words, I disagree with Regan's contention that moral agents and moral patients are entitled to exactly the _same_ sorts of moral consideration.)

I don't, however, mind admitting that Regan has changed my mind on some points and may yet change my mind on others. If I ever _do_ change my mind on this last point, he will be in part responsible.

And at any rate I highly recommend this volume to any readers interested in the topic of animal rights. Moral reasoning doesn't get any better than this.

Warning: this book is not for people new to ethical philosophy or philosophy in general. Try Singer's book for an introduction to some of the themes discussed in this book. Essential reading for those tired of hearing the same old recycled arguments used to justify the torture and murder of sentient living creatures. As such, it appeals to two groups of people: 1) those who are already living or considering adopting an ethical lifestyle and 2) those interested in philosophy, especially ethical philosophy. Do your intellect a favor and READ THIS BOOK!

This book accomplishes two goals: First, it is the best available discussion of the many aspects of animal welfare. Second, it is an excellent example of a fine philosophical mind grappling with a difficult issue. I have often recommended the book to those who just wish to follow the workings of rigorous thought. But reader beware--do not look for simple answers or slogans here. This is difficult reading indeed, but Regan has, better than anyone else (and this is characteristic of all his writing)carefully worked through the many arguments, objections, counter-examples, etc., with thoroughness and clarity unapproached by similar books. If you recognize that the question "Do non-human animals have rights?" is extraordinarily complex and thereby can produce only complex answers, then this is THE book for you.

Pick this book up at a library if you can find it. Well written and informative -- however, the book is showing its age. It would be nice to see an update of all the current misinformation out there.

To imagine that one can swear that a person (Bismarck's famous blood and iron quote) said a certain thing (and to this with conviction) and then to find out that it was in the wrong order and to find out that the term lucifer fro Satan can not be found in the bible. Highly Recommended.

This is the best single book that has ever been printed. By opening up the book for about thirty seconds each night I have been able to "Astonish my friends and annoy my enemies," exactly as it is stated on the cover of this book. This book it priceless, I of course only paid 9 cents for my copy, but after reading it I found that I had just made the best buy of my 14 year life!!!