It's Sunday afternoon. Just finished reading "Equity Checking" and am anxious to apply what I have learned. "Equity Checking" is not only applicable to the corporate environment, but also applicable in every interpersonal relationship. How rarely we stop to think about the assumptions we make; why we make them; and the consequences of making them. Our assumptions about people, devoid of a factual foundation, have a powerful impact on our environments in general, especially our corporate environment. "Equity Checking" gives us information to help us recognize the "filters" through which we process information. These "filters" are at the root of the assumptions we make about people we meet. Bringing those filters into the work environment is unavoidable but manageable with the concepts outlined in "Equity Checking". Dr. Mary Stewart and Gary Topchik bring "Equity Checking" to the reader in an easy-to-understand and straightforward manner. Check it out!

Equity Checking is about expanding communication skills by going beyond personal and/or organizational assumptions. This well organized, easy to read book examines the beliefs, biases and attitudes of the people that make up organizations or groups. Each chapter offers step by step discussion of each concept with plentiful examples that address difficult managerial situations and how to manage them. The examples include: hiring, selecting an employee for special assignment, planning career development, performance appraisal, performance problems and selecting an employee for promotion.

I found the concepts and skills taught basic to any human relationship. I think anyone wanting to take their communication to the next level will find this little primer helpful inspite of its strong business focus.

Collaboratively written by military chaplains Timothy Demy and Gary P. Stewart , In The Name Of God: Understanding The Mindset Of Terrorism is a comprehensive and informative inquiry into the phenomenon of religious terrorism throughout recent history, from cyberterrorism and information warfare to the September 11 attacks to the threat of nuclear bombs. Addressing both factual events and the religious questions that people ask in the wake of tragic loss, In The Name Of God: Understanding The Mindset Of Terrorism is a chilling and close look at what is really going on behind today's terrible headlines.

The practice exams go hand-in-hand with the Core Four Study Guides and are similar to the real thing(s). A MUST for all those seeking MCSE Certification!

Politics And Public Policy: A Christian Response presents an evangelical Christian perspective to engaging in local and national dialogues over governmental policies. The contributors offer invaluable insights into the works and purposes of public policy and government; the implications of moral failures in high levels of public life; the use and misuse of language in public debate; as well as issues of public morality, social justice, and world religious freedom. Politics And Public Policy: A Christian Response is an informative, engaging survey of legal, moral, and theological perspectives that will energize and renew an evangelical Christian activism in political, and governmental debates, decisions, and practices.

Gary Stewart's book is so very well researched. If you are not familiar with the Congolese Rumba, the material will not really interest you and be difficult if not impossible to read. If you are familiar with this remarkable music in any way, you will end up seeking out and acquiring as much of this music and record titles as you can afford. I must have bought about 150 CD titles of the artists mentioned in the book.Stewart's book puts these artists and their music in the context of a history previously unwritten about in the English language. The only other book that comes to mind is Graeme Ewens' "Congo Colossus", but that title is more confined to the history of Franco (Francois Luambo Makiadi) and Le T.P. OK Jazz.If there is a criticism, it is a small one. He leaves out Orchestra Super Mazemba and Samba Mapangala. Although those artists made their mark in Kenya, they were in fact major Rumba artists from the Congo. However, Mr. Stewart performed remarkable research not to mention a history book that moves like an impossible to put down novel.

This is a wonderful collection of poetry readings by some of the best actors in the world. If you allow yourself only one tape of poetry, I would recommend this one. The rendition of Lawrence's "The Snake" is spellbining, and the reading of Macneil's "A Death in the Family" is quietlly gut-wrenching. And you will be surprised how well Bill Shatner recites about whales. Buy this tape, and you will listen to it again and again.

Did not find anything new for myself in that book, even though it has a lot of content and most likely will be helpful on 70-059 i find this book a bit boring..

Along with the official Microsoft Press book on TCP/IP, I used this book to study for and pass (855 score!) this very tough exam. This is a very good book that distills exactly what you need to know for the exam. However, I would not use this as your only study/preparation tool. This book does a very good job explaining the differences between WINS and DNS, LMHOSTS and HOST files, NetBIOS names and FQDN's. This stuff you really need to know cold, I mean backwards and forwards. The book's discussion of the tricky subject of subnetting is not adequate. Find another study source to master that subject.

I found this book to be a helpful companion (along with the TCP/IP chapter in "Mastering Windows NT Server" by Mark Minasi) in passing exam 70-059. I have had several years of experience with TCP/IP but this book does a wonderful job of filling in on some topics that you might not do on a day to day basis. This book, coupled with my experience, led me to pass the test on the first try. One quick note though: when you buy study guides, be sure you are getting the newest edition, sometimes shopping gets confusing with so many versions. I will buy from the exam cram series again.

Contraceptive Technology is perhaps the best book available for understanding and using contraception. It should be in the office of every gynecologist, family physician and nurse practitioner and family planning clinic. The book explains complicated concepts in accurate, but easy to understand language.

But it has not been updated since 1998 and it is now somewhat out-of-date. Most of the information in the book is still solid, but since publication, new technologies and understandings have occurred and these new data make it imperative that a new edition be issued before this book can maintain its role as the "bible" on reproductive health and technology.

I have checked this book out of the Seattle Public Library so many times that I'm considering buying it for my personal reference library. I have recommended this book to many men and women. Excellent information (and things you did not expect to read) about differernt methods of birth control. If you want to be informed and educated about oral contraceptives, abortion and gynecology then you will find this book helpful.

This is my second purchase of this excellent, comprehensive book. (It's updated periodically). It's an essential reference, a practical guide, a one-stop shopping not just for contraception but for a general approach to appropriate medical care for women. I highly recommend it. Pepi Granat, M.D.

I like Exam Cram. In fact, I like them a lot. But, I would not rely on them as the only study aid for an MCSE exam.

The TCP/IP Exam Cram is a nice book. It presents most of the salient points for the MCSE exam in a nice compact manner. There are some errors, as with all of the MCSE books from all sources (except maybe Microsoft Press). But, once you get the concepts down enough to find the errors, you are generally ready for the exam.

The biggest shortcoming of this book is the limited subnetting examples. There is a enough information, but presenting how to set up a subnetting table would have been far more useful to passing the MCSE exam.

If you work with TCP/IP in an NT environment, this book and your experience should be enough to pass the exam. If you are going for a paper MCSE, it would be best to augment your education with further material.

I took the test and passed w/ a 948. In addition to this book, I read the New Riders and MS Press titles. This book is definitely worth the read. But, by no means should it be the only thing you read before taking the test. A couple of the chapters are really sloppy, and there's some outright wrong information contained. This one is definitely not on par with the other Exam Cram books. But, as a final review, it is still the best thing available. I would recommend this book and the MS TCP/IP books, in addition to the Transcender tests to give a knockout blow to the exam.

After using Sybex for Server 4 and Workstation 4, I almost gave up on ever understanding TCP/IP when I started with Sybex TCP/IP. Sybex made the convoluted subject of TCP/IP much worse that it actually is. They also had looooong stupid analogies throughout the book that were a waste of reading time.

On the other hand, Exam Cram was extremely orderly and offered the most concise and understandable explanations of the TCP/IP suite. They helped the reader build a framework or context to hang all the information on rather than the seemingly endless flow of disconnected information presented in Sybex.

Also, I have read what the OSI model is in at least 6 books. This was the first time it was explained in way that gave it some "reality" rather than a mysterious abstraction.

When learning any subject from a book, the reader must "select" a distilled set of facts and relationships to put to memory. This book has effectively condensed the subject to the essential basics, so much less energy has to be spent on reduction. Everything is pertinent, no filtering needed.

The 5th printing has corrected most of the errors referred to by other reviewers.

Sci Fi movie buffs may not recognize the original novel by Mary
Shelley, any more than movie goers would recognize the real Tarzan in ERB's debut book. For this 1818 novel introduces us to a surprisingly articulate monster--who is never named by his idealistic young creator. Its antique literary style offers a tale presented by three different first-person narrators. Letters (tales within a tale) are the inevitable legacy of suicide or premature death before the story is really over.

In contrast, the basic theme appears remarkably modern, especially in the light of 21st century scientific debate over the inherent dangers of too much knowledge (as in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)or genetic tampering (The Island of Dr. Moreau). Man is simply not morally csapable to assume the role of creator. Lofty-minded but overwrought Victor Frankenstein conceives the blasphemous idea of creating a living being of gigantic stature. Despite his noble goal of benefitting mankind, the experiment goes grotesquely awry. The youthful natural scientist endures a few years of tortured, morbid existence, which swell to a crescendo of horror as a result of his cerebral "Hybris."

Frankenstein's obsession gradually dominates his life--spilling blood onto those around him, as the people dearest to him are viciously and deliberately murdered. Is there no way to stop the rampage of terror which he has inadvertantly unleashed upon a helpless, unsuspecting world? Linked inexorably by the bonds of unholy creation, both Victor and his monster live only for Revenge. But can either truly be said to be alive, if the other should perish? Are they not mutually dependent on each other to sustain the fires of the hunt? Despite uneven pacing, this thriller/chilller has captured the imagination of kids of all ages for almost two centuries. Bear in mind that Hollywood has transformed the original monster, spawning the idea that Frankenstein Is the monster!

Mention the name "Frankenstein" and the first image to pop into people's minds is one of a big, dumb, green guy with bolts coming out of the sides of his neck. Anyone reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein for the first time may be surprised to learn that in the novel the creature is neither inarticulate nor ignorant. He is the product of a zealous doctor's quest to take life and death into his own hands. The creature is shunned by all mankind, including the one person who should feel some compassion or responsibility for him, his creator, Dr. Frankenstein. All the creature ever wants is to be accepted by society and to find companionship. With an intellect superior to that of the average human being, he learns to speak and read. It isn't until after he understands that he is doomed to a life of rejection that he seeks revenge, turning violent and murderous. The underlying question of the novel is, who is the real monster here, the formidable creature or the creator who abandoned him?

Through the creature's own words, we hear of his confused awakening and search for understanding. From the start he recognizes that his appearance is so horrifying as to repulse anyone who sees him. Fittingly, once he has taught himself how to speak and read, his first attempt at communication is with a blind man. When he realizes the futility of his search for a friend, he focuses his efforts on another objective - revenge upon the one who brought him into this cruel world. The creature sets out to make Frankenstein's life the same sort of hell as his own.

The scientist Frankenstein goes to great lengths to complete his experiment, realizing too late that there are consequences for interfering with the laws of nature. He brings to life a most unnatural beast, and flees in horror from the being he has created. Feeling no responsibility to comfort the creature in any way, he instead wishes to completely abandon it and forget that it even exits, leaving it to struggle single-handedly in a world where it does not belong. Is it any wonder that his creation becomes slightly incensed at his abandonment and seeks to create for Frankenstein a life equal to his own in misery and isolation?

Who deserves the label of "monster"? First-time readers of Shelley's novel may have a hard time accepting that the creature is not a purely evil or demonic being; contrary to popular belief, he does not just wake up and start strangling people. The creature in the novel has qualities we more easily identify with, such as the desire to be loved and accepted. On the other hand, Dr. Frankenstein's actions are questionable at times. Is the creature justified in his revenge? Or does Frankenstein get the bad end of the deal, his originally well-intentioned experiment gone sour? Either way, reading Mary W. Shelley's novel presents to us the viewpoint of a very different "monster" than we expect.

After seeing at least five versions of this tale in film - one of my great childhood monster loves - I was happy to finally read the novel. As so often occurs with classics, I was as surprised as I was fascinated.

For starters, the characters are far more subtle than any of the film versions: Victor F appears as a brooding and obsessed genius, but also as a great lover of life and nature. The monster, who is an articulate and literate creature who read Goethe, is even more interesting, from his hopeful beginning to his bitter reaction at rejection and his thirst for vengence. His eloquence was vivid and his pain horribly realistic.

But the work is also fascinating as a window into the mind of the Romantics, who at once strove to reject the rationalism of the Enlightenment yet reflected it. The creature starts off empty and what it becomes is due entirely to his experience. Knowledge is not always good, etc.

Finally, the themes are timeless and full of conflict: creativity giving birth to unimaginable destruction, tampering with nature as its necessities overwhelm even genius, and the like. THe book is a kaleidescope of philosophical reflection. The pain of the creator and the monster alike are inescapably linked like father and son.

I did find the style of the book a bit difficult. It is full of florid rhetoric and lengthy circumlocutions, as the doctor and then the monster tell their stories in almost identical prose.

Highly recommended.