+AH4-A charming romp through the eclectic and quirky world of the AS/400. I am a college teacher, so I should know what I am talking about.

There is a great deal of really good information, well written and in a pretty understandable format. This will be my favorite until O'Reilly puts out an AS/400 book. Unless there is a new revised edition, this book is growing more obsolete by the day. But it is still the best I have seen.+AH4-

This is an excellent book for AS/400 system programmers and system administrators. It covers a lot of information that is unavailable or nearly so in standard sources.

My copy is dog-eared.

Steve Roll has written what I believe to be an effective and useful book on the trials and tribulations of the ministry - both vocational ministry and lay ministry. It is written from the point of view of a vocational minister, but can be useful for those who seek to understand the difficulties their ministers face or to avoid burnout in their own volunteer ministries.

The first chapter is an exact picture of what I believe every first time minister faces - both the expectations and the unexpected. The rest of the book follows his troubles and his restoration. Every person working in any segment of the church is subject to the trials experienced here. The book was recommended by our church librarian and I recommend it to everyone working in a church setting. There is just too much at stake to ignore the possibility of burnout in the church.

I remember buying a copy of this book when it was released in '94 or '95 and being very surprised by its lackluster quality and painful grammar/technical problems. Numerous mistakes and poor editing make it read like an early draft that went straight to press without interruption. I'm a big fan of Steve Saleen and his Mustangs, but I gave away my copy shortly after reading it in hopes that somebody would do a better job telling the story. Because there is currently no other book printed on the subject, I would only recommend it to someone who knew nothing about Saleens and was desperate to read about the first 10 years (it only covers 1984-1993). According to the Saleen chat boards the factory is putting out a 20th anniversary book next year, but I haven't heard any details.

Hi, This is Patty Redeker and my book is still in print and can be bought from the publisher, California Mustang. For more information, please email me at predeker58@yahoo.com

The book has great information a background of Steve Saleen's racing history, year by year information and model options, behind the scenes information, and how the cars were transformed from a run of the mill Mustang GT to a street legal race car. Lots of black & white photos, sample Saleen advertising, order forms, and marketing information. A must for any Late Model Mustang or Saleen Owner

This is a very interesting and well-constructed book. Gives some historical background to goings-on at Brownsville (though I would have liked more detail), provides fascinating interviews and profiles of 5 of the 'key players', and some amazing testimonies that seem to have stood the test of time. Though it does interview one of the 'revival's' main critics, it unfortunately doesn't go deep enough into researching the causes of this movement, comparisons/contrasts with other classic historical revivals, etc. A pity, because it is otherwise of real interest.

This book concentrates on the historical facts of the revival rather than the miraculous. If you are looking for the facts, this book is for you. If you are looking for interviews that focus on the spiritual aspect of the revival, choose again.

Steve does an excellent job reporting about the revival that has been taking place in Pensacola, Florida from May 1995! He really reports on both sides; people involved in the revival and her skeptics...some even former church members. I particularly enjoyed his candid interviews with ministers at Brownsville. One thing that came out of it...The Revival is about the Lord Jesus Christ and people getting RIGHT for and because of Jesus' saving power! (It's all about you, Jesus!):-) ~~~~\o/~~~~~~

The Power Of Corporate Kinetics-Book review

Introduction

The concept of Corporate Kinetics (Kinetics meaning movement from the Greek language), is presented in this book as a new business model that evolved from the analysis by the two authors in 1995 of a fundamental shift in pioneering companies, in response to a rapidly changing environment (Fradette & Michaud, 1998). The premise in the author's view is that in order for business to survive in today's age of advanced technology, savvy and demanding customers, and uncertain politics and finance, a business must move at the same pace and be ready to meet the challenge.

Some of the ideas in the book can be identified within well-established motivational theories and organizational models. However, the newness of the model presented in this book is in the potential of "Kinetic" organizations to utilize principles that work such as a clear corporate vision, coupled with worker's passion that grows out of ownership of the vision, translated into immediate actions in response to market changes or customer needs. The old theories are crystallized into a picture of a planned corporate setting that welcomes and encourages change and new opportunities, without loosing sight of why the company exists in the first place.

Book summary

The book is composed of two parts, the first being described as "The Destination", and the second as "The Journey".

Part I - Embrace the power of Corporate Kinetics

Part one of the book begins from the premise that businesses today are faced with unpredictability, changing customer loyalties, and tremendous advances in technology that warrant corporate change to cope, survive, and thrive.

Part II - Follow five concurrent paths to Corporate Kinetics

This section of the book describes the practical steps a company can take to become "Kinetic". The practical steps provide a road map to executives wishing to "convert" their companies into "kinetic" enterprises, or entrepreneurs who are looking to fit in today's business environment.

Commentary

This book caught my eye as I searched for strategic insight, primarily because I am a visual as well as conceptual learner. This book presented more than a total of theories and a plan of action, but a "word picture" that I could "see" with my mind's eye. A Company deeply committed to a vision, with a good strategic plan, but fluid enough to adapt quickly in response to internal or external changes, as identified by a hand-picked workforce, in touch with the real world, and just as committed to the company's vision.

"Kinetic" workers, test their responses to market changes or customer demands by how well they fit the strategic plan, support the vision, and create competitive advantage and corporate health. The motivation for the so called kinetic worker, is a sense of ownership in the company, fueled by a generous reward system and clear understanding of the vision, as well as complete collaboration and access to resources, among all levels in the workforce from the CEO to the front line worker.

It is this worker empowerment and encouragement of innovation that attracted my attention, since they are concepts that I espouse wholeheartedly, the essence of what I find fascinating in this book. Especially impressive were the case histories used that clearly illustrate what a company "in movement" is like, i.e. Kinko's, MTV, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, the US Army, etc. It was evident by the examples that the companies illustrated "fit" the overall picture of the "Kinetic" enterprise as described in the book. The idea is to "step back a minute" to see more clearly what we've missed or where we are going.

Ultimately I feel this type of organization encourages personal growth and societal well being, as well as a healthy corporate structure that can stand the test of time and change.

Conclusion

In my view, rather than finding something entirely new in this book, I found a fresh perspective with a word picture "Kinetics" (stay in movement), to describe in a graspable way the ideal business in today's world. One that moves with the times, focuses on the ever-changing needs of clients, and is willing to change itself, while also acting as an agent of change. It is apparent to the author that all of the elements mentioned in this review are necessary to succeed in creating such an organization. However, the primary elements are servant leadership (leaders and managers rolling up their sleeves and joining workers), and recognition of the front line worker as a mover and innovator (closest to customer needs and market opportunities). Both of these must also be aligned with the primary purpose of customer satisfaction and company well being that is shared by all.

As attractive as this model is however, even these companies must continually renew their efforts to prevent stagnation. Leadership in my opinion is key, since in many organizations denial is still rampant, and corporate change is stifled by hierarchical structures and corporate culture. Personally, I acknowledged as I read this book that as a mini-organization, home life also needs to become "kinetic" to some extent. I.e. we must make time for one child at a time, invest in their changing needs, "get into" their environment (the world as it is rather than as we would have it be), and be committed to the overall success of this enterprise we call family however defined by each. Whether running a large corporation or home life, we do well to heed the signs of the times and focus on adapting and seizing the opportunities presented to us, one at a time.

Bottom line, I recommend this book for it's fresh perspective and insight into a complex and ever changing business environment. Good readings!

Asela M. Calhoun, BS, MAOM Student, Azusa Pacific University

The Power of Corporate Kinetics makes a solid case that the rules of the game are changing and companies that don't attempt to become "self-adapting, self-renewing, and prepared for instant-action" will not be here to regret their mistakes. It all boils down to survivability. In an era of highly intelligent and extremely demanding customers; companies will not be able to remain competitive by simply squeezing profitability out of mass production of undifferentiated products. Production efficiency and product quality are increasing almost as fast as customer satisfaction is decreaseing (what the heck is going on?).

This book was extremely readable and insightful. Fradette and Michaud's anecdotal writing style allowed their assertions to really hit home. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to using many of its lessons in my everyday business life.

As any number of recent business books have pointed out, markets and customers have become increasingly unpredictable. What Fradette and Michaud offer, however, is a new business design that takes unpredictability as a working assumption. This new design--which responds to customer and market "events" rather than attempting to predict, plan and implement--turns everyone in the enterprise, from the CEO to the receptionist, into a front-line worker. The authors also posit two outrageous goals for aspiring kinetic companies: zero-time response and serving markets of one profitably. If the vision seems at times a bit like science fiction, scores of real-world examples remind the reader that many such efforts have, in fact, succeeded (albeit on a smaller scale than the wholesale, enterprise-wide transformation the authors propose). The book is well-paced and written in an engaging style. I found myself devouring it in a single sitting.

I have been fascinated by the incident for many years. The incident IS fascinating. The book is a joke. Poorly written. Poorly edited. It reads like a conversation over coffee at some hole in the wall pancake house deep in the bowels of North Dakota. I feel for the ex-cops that experienced the shoot-out. I am sorry, but leave the writing for the professionals - so the two guys who unfortunately had to deal with the poorly planned attempt at apprehending Kahl - can have their memories for their kids, grandkids, etc.... I am sorry but the book is just plain BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a former law enforcement officer from a small North Dakota town. After reading this book, I felt as if both authors just told me their stories face-to-face. The diagrams and photos really put me "at the scene". It is obvious that the authors of this book are not writers by trade, which actually made it a refreshing change from the same old, same old. I can relate to these officers having to wear many "hats" at their job. Graf shows the world, through this book, what being a Peace Officer is all about--trying to keep the peace. Unlike other authors of books on this subject, Graf actually met with and talked to the murderer on several occasions prior to the shoot-out, making informed decisions on first-hand knowledge. Others chose to ignore this knowledge when it was brought to their attention. Unlike a previous reader review, I've actually had a chance to meet with and talk to the authors after I read this book. I've seen the documentation they have to back up everything they write about in this book. Read the others first if you like, but save this book for last. It is the only true and accurate account you will read!

I lived in North Dakota at the time of these events. The author's first-hand account is consistent with, but fills in a lot of the blanks that have been written and reported about the confrontation at Medina ever since.

Critics of the book may point to minor flaws such as allegations of ...covering by the authors. I do not find such flaws nearly as credible as the book. Both Graf and Schnabel were professionals who were cooperative and did more than they were asked. Yes, their small-town police departments was organized like (surprise!) a small-town police department. And, yes, their account is factual, direct and down-to-earth, not full of socialogical [stuff] like Bitter Harvest, the first major book on the incident.

Neither author is apt to get rich on the book as it tells neither side exactly what they want to hear. Accordingly, the only fans of the book are likely to be those interested in just the unvarnishied, unfiltered facts from two police officers who did the best job they could with the tools available and are probably the only ones who conducted themselves properly thoughout all the events leading up to this incident and the aftermath thereof.

In short, if you believe your government is always right and never lies, skip this book because it will shatter your dreams. Skip it also if you believe the tax protest fringe is always the unfortunate victims of a government conspiracy. However, if you believe the truth lies somewhere between, you owe it to yourself to get and read this book.

I have been basically addicted to Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Alien Crossfire for a long time. So I felt this would be very exciting. Only problem is there were some flaws. Some of the game's highest technology was used in the very first part of the post-Planetfall years. And charcters said uhmm to much. Other than that it was pretty good. I want more. But I think there should be more factions included.

It's a third and probably the last Clancy's book that I have read (or bought, anyways). The plotlines are more than predictable, and Clancy's trademark bad guys killing bad guys killing bad guys being courageously killed by good guys is somewhat less entertaining than it used to be in the Red Storm Rising. Even the lengthy military acronyms and denominations appearing here and there (like "each was armed with a Z-62 submachine gun or a Modelo L-1-003 rifle adapted to accomodate standard M-16 magazines") seem to be out of place. I have a feeling that any Spaniard would laugh outloud at the novel's settings and Spanish realia. Ironically, the best (or just entertaing) pieces are not the battle scenes or gadget descriptions, but the personal thoughts of an Op-center officer, whose marriage is heading towards a divorce. To sum up - I guess that Tom Clancy just couldn't deal with the collapse of the evil Soviet Union, and the best of his books are unfortunately in the past. Just where the Soviet Union is.

I thought this book was a little hard to get started with but when you got to the end it started geting better and better. It is about how a leader is corrupting spain and op-center is taking drastic measures to take him out. alot of action more and suspense but not one of tom clancys best books
This book has torture scenes and bloody scenes, some surprises but mostly the usual stuff I do not recommend a parent buying this book for there kid they would probably get started then stop reading it because they thought it was boring.

Op-Center deploys to a fragmenting modern Spain and attempts to defuse a crisis by eleiminating a would-be dictator. Excellent characters and sparkling dialog. Most impressive to me is the writing -- fast-faced, yes, but with fine subtlety and deep human understanding. A good thriller, but a novel of impressive depths.
I found it increasingly intriguing as I went along.

One of the few books I will actually take the time to berate. It contains cursory overviews of some simple cross-platform issues. The book points to the authors software for a real solution to some of the cross-platform solutions. Unfortunately nowhere on the cover does it say that the software is not included.

I wrote a review of this book about a week ago. What happened to it? I believe I followed your review guidelines.