I originally meant to buy Exam Cram not Exam Prep. When using Exam Prep I thought it did not prepare me for the tests. I have used one of the Exam Cram books for TCP/IP and thought it prepared me quite well. If your looking to take your MCSE test buy EXAM CRAM not Exam Prep.

I've been teaching the MCSE courses and on of my students brought the Exam Crams and Exam Prep books in the class, asked me to read and rate them. After reading through these books, I found these books are just excellent. They are full of technical stuffs, written in real English, and in a readable manner. I have even "talked" to one of the authors of the book as well (and his name is Ed). Ed was expert in the field and he was very fun to" talk" to. I definitely would recommend the books to all my students, friends.

There are two phases to preparing for an exam: learning the basic material first and getting an overall picture of the subject, then intense review. I would recommend this book only for the first phase. I would use Exam Cram or something else for the intense review phase. This book appears to have been written as a textbook and looks like it would actually make a pretty good textbook. It has case studies which might be good for thinking through how NT actually would be integrated into an enterprise, and I saw only a few errors. I did not read all the case studies though. I felt one study did not teach good practices; the "right" answer called for creating a peer network of 40 workstations, which is twice the maximum size I've seen recommended anywhere else.

It's a good book. Only thing I don't like about this book is it doesn't have answers for review questions. This book will be good for somebody tracking an MCSE course and tired of Sybex's.

We recently traveled through Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia and found this guidebook practically useless and certainly frustrating--definitely not worth its weight. We have used other LPs in the past and found them to be at least adequate but this one doesn't even rate that well. It lacked many important details--such as the time/distances between many points, availability of various transportation options and routes, decent maps--the list goes on and on. Even though prices change often and currencies fluctuate, even a vague idea of prices (is it $10 or $100??) would have been quite useful to help us plan better. Although we ran into many people all 'armed' with the LP, they all had the same complaints.

This book is an adequate guide but it needs improvement in several areas. I used this book during Janurary and February of 2000 when I traveled through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Last year I used the Lonley Planet-India and found it was much better than Southeast Asia. Here are the weaknesses. 1. The numbers of the locations on the maps should be used in the text describing the location. This would grealy improve you ability to plan your day or route. 2. Maps should be improved. I would be willing to spend a few dollars more for better maps. 3. Hotel, restaurant, etc. names are not printed in bold type. This makes it more difficult to use. 4. It would be very helpful to grade the sites with a priority to reduce the time one spends reading fine print and get on with seeing the country. When I return to this part of the world next winter I will try to find additional books to correct these weaknesses.

I travelled through Thailand, Philippines and Hong Kong using this book. I initially bought this book with weight in mind. I did not want to carry three more LPs along with the other country books (LP Taiwan, Japan). Although much of the information needed to survive was written in the book, it certainly did lack the detailed maps and background information needed to have a care-free journey. SOmetime it certainly was a struggle , especially in Thailand. The Thailand Section prices were extremely outdated. Even in the height on the "asian economic flu", I had to triple the prices listed. The Hong Kong section was adequate, but HK is an efficient and easily travelled city. Of the three, I found the Philippine section the best, but some of the hotel quality ratings are out dated. Please do not stay at the Hotel Mercedes in Cebu!

According to current academic fashion we should not take the thinkers of the past seriously as having thoughts that can challenge us on their own terms. Rather, we must take such thinkers, like Coleridge in the case of this book, as somehow or other looking forward to whomever the author considers to be really worthy of our consideration--Gadamer, Ricoeur, etc., etc,.
Coleridge is a formidable thinker in his own right and does not need comparision with "contemporary" thought in order to "challenge" us--he is perfectly, even more than perfectly, capable of challenging our assumptions without such condescending academic clap-trap (I speak from the inside, as an academic).

Read Coleridge's Aids to Reflection, The Friend, The Stateman, and his poetry for direct access to his best thoughts--and by and large the intelligent reader should not need the academic filters. If you want scholars who try, and largely succeed, in taking Coleridge on his own terms, try first Basil Wiley's biography, then Barfield's What Coleridge Thought, and then for deeper waters, Mary Ann Perkin's Coleridge's Philosophy. Only then should you come back to such works as Prof. Haney's to see how much richer Coleridge's philosophy is than anything available among our contemporaries--including, with all due respect, Gadamer, Ricoeur, Levinas, etc.

Contemporary critical theory, in literature as well as philosophy, comments on ethics and history, from a variety of angles and perspectives, both as objects of that critical theory, as well as tools for the practice of that theory. In recent decades, questions of literary interpretation have broadened to issues of textual and narrative treatment, and by implication, to issues of the treatment of ethnic and cultural expression. As such, these have become ethical discussions.

David Haney avails himself of the wedding of hermeneutics and ethics, and brings to bear twentieth-century categories and practices on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's work in Haney's recent book, The Challenge of Coleridge. At the same time, Haney further articulates and analyzes those very categories and practices in Coleridge's terms - of polarity, trinity, unity, poetic faith, imagination, will, among others. Two of the major figures to represent 20th century hermeneutics and ethics are Hans-Georg Gadamer and Emmanuel Levinas; minor figures include Paul Ricoeur, Wayne C. Booth, Martha Nussbaum, and Bernard Williams.

Haney distinguishes and discusses ethical issues of interpretation on several planes of literary critical analysis in general, and the study of Coleridge's work in particular:

-Explicit ethical judgments in the work of Coleridge, and the interrogation those judgments experience in light of 20th-century criticism (Chapters 6 and 7)
-The reader's/critic's engagement with and relationship to the text under consideration (Chapters 2, 4, 5, and 7)
-The poet's relationship to his own creations (Chapters 1, 2, 4 and 6)
-The role of literary texts in ethical evaluation (Chapter 2 and 5)

Haney demonstrates thoroughly that Coleridge's work rewards the hermeneutic/critical scrutiny; but whether or not Coleridge's work also poses an authentic challenge to contemporary hermeneutics and ethics is arguable. Haney certainly proposes his intent in less than challenging words: "I use a reading of Coleridge in dialogue with twentieth-century criticism and philosophy to explore the question of how ethical problems of human interaction are related to the interpretive problems of how selves understand the world and each other." (xi) Hardly fightin' words.

Haney's book does affirm, as he claims, the relation between hermeneutics and ethics in general, and between Coleridge and contemporary critical theory in particular, but that relation is one of analogy, rather than reciprocal influence or challenge. Do we interpret situations and people, and as a result, interact with them in a characteristic way, because we have implicitly or explicitly adopted twentieth-century hermeneutic principles? And does reading Coleridge challenge this influence, whether by bringing to awareness what was only implicit - and thereby exposing those assumptions to scrutiny - or directly questioning what is explicitly employed in the activity of interpretation?

At the very least, Haney has thoroughly demonstrated, in the particulars of Coleridge's work, that, like our interactions with other human beings, our interpretive engagements with texts make ethical claims on us: "The process by which the author is effaced when his or her utterance enters the technology of written reproduction is also the process by which the poetic word, freed from the bonds of authorial intention, is presented in its true otherness, such that we can engage it according to the ethical structure of a conversation with an other." (69) In both encounters, there is the possibility, the danger, and often the fact, of domination, repression, condescension; both the text and the person become invisible, get trampled on. Levinas' work on subjectivity, and Gadamer's work in hermeneutics, are effectively discussed in a way that makes a prima faciae case for the relevance of Coleridge's own work, poetic and discursive.

Haney questions the twentieth-century theory in Coleridge's terms, and really puts elements and features of that theory into question. Especially in the later chapters, Haney guides the reader through extended discussions of Coleridge's work and thought as such, and as a result, Coleridge becomes a substantive voice, a recognizable voice. Unfortunately, in much of the earlier chapters, it is contemporary critical theory, only occasionally foiled by scattered bits of Coleridge's terminology and concepts that overwhelmingly predominates. Thus the conversation sometimes ignores Coleridge outright, and more often reduces his inclusion to just another source of terminology.

Haney recognizes the narrow, and highly technical, character of the book, and the correlatively probable, "relatively small [audience] of professors and graduate students" (xi) for the book. As such, individual chapters read separately may be very useful in granting those students and professors a look at how 20th-century hermeneutic and ethical critical theory handles 18th- and 19th-century romantic texts, and grant them a hermeneutical-critical introduction to Coleridge's work. But in fact, what is missing from Haney's treatment of Coleridge is to address the very matter that his title announces - ethics of interpretation - in reference to his project itself. We should ask, not merely if contemporary theory is applicable to Coleridge's work, and vice versa, but also whether we should apply contemporary theory to Coleridge and vice versa. Asking this question may, if anything, encourage the reader to consult Coleridge himself on the matter.

Mesoamerican archaeology is a little world by itself - I know, because I used to live in it. It has a very cosy relationship with museums and the "art" collectors who buy the objects that are looted from archaeological sites, which lie destroyed, torn into shreds under the forests all over Central America and Mexico. But it has almost no touch with reality any more. The things they say about the ancient Olmec are almost fantasy, because in truth we know so little about these people. Almost all the objects in this book were stolen from Mexico, ripped from the archaeological context that might tell us something about their real meaning. These are probably religious articles - we may never know. But imagine trying to reconstruct the rich life of rennaisance Italy by looking at reliquaries in Catholic churches! If you are still persuaded by the "mysterious Olmec" propaganda spouted by Coe and his looter buddies, go read Flannery & Marcus in the first 2000 issue of the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, and think it over.

The Olmec World is an amazing resource for those who study or have an appreciation of early Mesoamerican Art. At its most basic level The Olmec World is the catalogue of the 1996 Olmec Exhibition at the Art Museum at Princeton University the first comprehensive show of Olmec art in America. Drawing upon nearly all of the major Olmec museum collections in North America from Dunbarton Oaks to Princeton's own expansive holdings, the exhibition also drew heavily from many private collections never before shown to the general public. For instance, John Stokes' amazing collection of ceramic babies and jade masks are showcased in this catalogue. However, almost as impressive as the pictures are the essays in this collection. Michael Coe has done a marvelous job of soliticing and editing a myriad of papers on the mysterious Olmec.

In my 7 years of post secondary education, I can honestly say this is the worst book I've ever had to read.

Why?

1. The writing style is horiible. You'll have better luck understanding books on the synaptic reflexes of sub-Saharan lizards than you will this book. Many sentences are structured poorly and the authors' choice of words make understanding their point very difficult.

2. The Socio-Technical System (STS) described in the book is a complicated methodology to reengineer a company, division, etc. What it really is is a "MOTO" method - a Master Of The Obvious method. This is not to say that book doesn't have many good points about reengineering a system, it does. However, it complicates reasonable methods into an overall complex system that obscures their value.

3. In practical terms, the STS system described in this book is impossible to implement. Afterall, have you ever heard of STS before? Of course not... because it's not used in practice.

4. It's expensive, very expensive.

If you are hoping to learn more about reengineering, I would recommend another book. As much as I'd like to be able to offer one, I cannot, sorry.

If you have to read this for a college class, make sure you have plenty of time set aside since it will take you longer than you think.

This represents a one of a kind. Socio-Technical Systems has been around for a long time but never a better read if you are really interested in designing for performance. Taylor and Felten have a proven track record and have done a great job with a difficult subject. They take you through the process of design step by step with a case study of examples. It's focus on systems thinking and defining organizations as a living system helps us redefine our view of organizational life. For organizational development and training practitioners this book is a must read.

The write-up and history sections of each breed in this book are very shallow, not detailed, and in some cases inaccurate. For example, the Tiffany cat was NOT produced from crossing Burmese cats with Persians as stated on page 71. It did not show any accurate pictures of the Chantilly/Tiffany breed.

Most of the information is of the level of detail about what you would expect from a middle-school or high-school book report. I was very disappointed. "The new Encylopedia of the Cat", by Dr. Fogle, which we ordered at the same time, is much better and has a lot more accurate and informative details. If you want one book, get Dr. Fogle's. "The Ultimate Cat Book" is not ultimate at all. It was a disappointment.

This is an amazing,187 pg. photografic book. Including pictures and details about 100 different cat breeds its amazing...You see Pictures of cats and they explain certain features of that purrr-ticular breed.. Includes information even on how to Keep a Cat,Knowing what to look for in a cat,Taking care of your cat,Basic equitment for your new friend,Diet tips ,food categories,Grooming your cat,Health Care and Reproduction. You have to see this book to Believe it!! If you ever wanted to know something about a certain cat this is the book! Buy It know!

I first read this poem in 11th grade and I've loved it ever since. It is amazing in its capturing of the human emotions of loss, despair and many others. I would definitively reccomend this poem to anyone!

This book has very poor organization. I would not recommend this book to a beginner.

This book is a fine introduction to VHDL, well written in the early chapters. Unlike most VHDL books it covers the language from a higher level, including fundamental concepts like test benches that seem to be buried or lost in other books on the subject. It could use a lot more detail, though, and the later chapters seem rushed, and also dated in some areas (VHDL 87 vs. 93 in particular). And as others have mentioned the examples seem inadequate. If you buy this book, you might also want to get something with more detailed examples to go with it.

This book provides a perfect introduction to the field of vhdl for synthesis. Very simple and it almost cover the main topics of the language in an efficient way. The book does not provide a detailed description of the language but the level of introduction is sufficient for anyone with little or no background in VHDL. Tip: follow this sequence when reading 1, 3-6, 2, 7-9

Why do I have to wait 4 to 6 weeks before my book is in stock? I fear my swimming pool will be assimilated as part of the Florida Everglades by the time I get my book and figure out what to do. Please respond

Charlie Taylor uses cartoons and light, easy prose to make the process of learning swimming pool chemistry and maintenance fun and amusing. He mastered his subject in the 70's and 80's, yet his advice holds remarkably true some 20 years later in an industry that has made huge intellectual and technical progress. This book is for first time pool owners who wish to tend their own pool without floundering in a mire of detail.