The title of this book need not deter you. Yes, it is aimed at both Test Managers (the risk elements) and at web testers (the E-Business content). However, if, like me, you fall into neither category, it is still a very worthwhile addition to your reading list and workplace library.

The authors use very practical examples from real life testing to illustrate points. A continuous analogy of an individual E-Business being like a shop, with potential walk-in customers, works very well. Some rather startling facts emerge too; the average visit to the Systeme Evolutif web-site (of which Paul Gerrard is the web-master) is less than two minutes. I am sure that is true of a lot of sites, including those that are payment-now, real business sites.

Everyone in testing seems to promote 'risk'. Here is a strategy for answering the inevitable questions on ready-for-live issues based on whether risks have been addressed. "When enough tests have been prepared, executed and passed to convince the risk-owners that the risk has been addressed, enough testing has been done".

I have dabbled in web testing, both formally and informally (the latter probably every time I use the internet). The techniques for addressing real and perceived E-Business risks have a large carry over into other (i.e. non E-Business) test forms. The sections on performance, usability and Large Scale Integration rung some bells with me, and the use of tools is both encouraged, and discouraged. Strange as it may seem, the way of doing this did not seem to be contradictory. The sections on why the concept of E-Business is different only seeks to place MORE emphasis on why a coherent risk strategy is necessary. With web applications, not only is the time-to-market critical, but the price of failure can be so much more disastrous.

Use of American spelling and currency (everything is quoted in dollars) jars for the British reader, and look out for the words "we", "us", and "our". These are sometimes used a little ambiguously. (Ask who "us" refers to). However, expect to be challenged, and encouraged on to the land of better testing. There is a wealth of source material provided, especially on tools, and toll providers. There are lots of web-based references; additionally, a significant number of articles and books referenced are from 2001 or 2002.

The preface gives one of the reasons for the book being the ordering of the vast quantities of information that there is around. What was set out as an aim has been achieved, and both Paul and Neil have brought their experience, knowledge and communications skills to benefit us all. One of the dedications says: "To all those testers who do the best they can, but always think they should do more". I for one appreciate that the book was written for me. Thanks.

Although the focus is on e_business testing this book has changed my views about the realities of risk-based testing for any environment. First, the authors give a dose of reality regarding the differences between 'best practices' provided in the testing body of knowledge that is growing into hundreds of books (less than two years ago there were only a few dozen books on software testing, so this is a positive trend for the profession as a whole). Second, the fallacies in conventional risk-based testing are exposed. Here the authors propose that testing be exclusively focused on product risk, instead of trying to encompass the wider scope that includes project and process risk. This, in my opinion, is sage advice and keeps testing focused on areas where it can contribute to a project's success.

Among the strong points of this book are it's clear writing, which is full of examples, and the logical sequence in which the material is presented. In addition, the clear definitions of general risk management and associated processes and procedures, and how it all ties together are among the most succinct I've read. However, the best aspect of this book is the way the chapters build upon each other, and the complete coverage of risk-based testing.

Specifics include a general chapters on risk-based e-business testing and types of web site failures that lay the foundation for the technical aspects of the book. These are followed by chapters that show how to develop an e-business test strategy, how to fit risk analysis to a test process, and a comprehensive treatment of test techniques and tools. The latter is especially valuable because it covers the full range of testing techniques that are tailored to e-business testing, which includes static, web page integration, functional, service and usability testing. This part of the book also includes security testing and large scale integration testing - both of which make this one of the most complete collections of test techniques for e-business as well as general testing.

The remainder of the book covers the context of e-business testing (including brief advice on how it fits within Extreme Programming and the Unified Process), E-business test organization, planning and specifications (a wealth of information for the test manager), and E-business test execution (which also addresses important topics such as incident management and testing in a live environment). The two appendices, Essential Web Technologies for Testers and Web Testing Using Home Brew Tools are also valuable.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is involved in E-business testing, and also recommend that it be used in conjunction with Systematic Software Testing by Rick D. Craig by Stefan P. Jaskiel (ISBN 1580535089), which nicely augments this book.

This is the best Sandman story, without a doubt. I have read each of the ten volumes many times, and have come safely to this conclusion. Brief Lives has more meaning, heart and humanity than any comic book ever produced. This is It. This is the Big One. There are no substitutes. There is no comic book better than this; there is no comic book that means this much. This is also the volume of the series in which all the various past threads begin to converge, forming one tight whole, leading into the last three volumes, World's End, The Kindly Ones and finally, The Wake. If this book doesn't move you, you have problems.

Oh, yes! Change is indeed the topic debated throughout Neil Gaimans masterpiece volume in the highly thought-stimulating saga of the Dreamlord. It is the book that sees Gaiman making his main character emotionally vulnerable (whereas "Preludes & Nocturnes" portrayed his "physical" weakness), thus more human in action, thought and word. By doing this Gaiman's genious sends this fascinating, somewhat inexplicable dark and mute, "human" incarnation of dreams from the rather easily awoken sense of a "sympathetic" prothagonist in action, to the empathetic core of our hearts. His clumsy approach at establishing a dialogue with the elf-housemaid Nuala on his return to the dreamcastle, stands out as proof of change - actions and reactions within this brief conversation bear witness to the Dreamlords waking will to take other beings welfare into consideration, within the limits of all realms.

The turning points are, due to the non-linear narrative, generally spread out through most of the volumes of the Sandman story, but to me the ultimate change of the storyline occurs as Morpheus initiates a final rendez-vous with his human son, as described in this wonderful, and not least powerful, collection of beautiful stories. In short a powerful set of thoughts on the nature of "the word for things not being the same always".

The presence of the Almighty is felt briefly through actions, beyond the control of even the Endless Seven, and dialogues reflecting an inevitable masterplan that will seal the fate of Morpheus as we have come to know him.

I have a soft spot of the Kindly Ones because that was my introduction to Neil Gaiman (I had read about him in Wizard, the monthly bible of the comic book world, but I was young, and stupid, and my ignorance kept me away from revelation), and for The Wake because Micheal Zulli's pencils are exquisite - but whenever I _need_ exactly what it is the Sandman has to offer I turn to Brief Lives.

It's the distilliation - the essence - of what Sandman is about. Some might argue that Fables and Reflections or even Dream Country would be a better representative, a series of stunning vignettes whose swirling, mythic and dream like quality (I'm thinking of the fabulous Ramadan story) are about horror, fate, the depths of humanity and all that good stuff in the great traditions of fire-side story tellers.

But Brief Lives is something even better.

As Mikal Gilmore noted in his introduction to the graphic novel edition of The Wake, one of the seminal joys of the Sandman is hearing Gaiman's voice grow clearer with each passing issue. The progression from "The Sleep of the Just" to "The Tempest" is an astounding one; watching him grow makes any burgeoning and would-be writer both jealous and elated. The entire idea of the Sandman was revolutionary and different and pregnant with greatness (yes, a dangerous term, but applicable) - but it wasn't until Brief Lives that we _really_ saw what this thing could be capable of. Some argue that point occurred in "The Sound of Her Wings" in the first story arc, or perhaps Seasons of Mists, but _anyone_ who has read Brief Lives understands the truth....

This story is breathtaking. It's a romp. It's a ride. It blows you away, grabs you, throws you down forever into the endless sky with a wild rush of words and images (the matching of Jill Thompson to this story is once more pure genius), it picks up a fatal and final inertia that doesn't slow down until the final page is turned - that is, the final page of the last issue of the series. It's from this point that the story picks up speed and urgency. Everything revolves around the central act of kindness that concludes Brief Lives, and all the tragedy and death and destruction and redemption that occur later on are merely a reflection of that single act.

This is _the_ story. Everything before was technically brilliant, possessed of a fresh and blindingly new verve that the comic books medium hadn't seen in quite some time - but it was somehow _distant_. Brief Lives is full of a passionate proximity, a feeling of the here and now, a sense of both the confusion of every day life and miraculously together with that, the grand rush of scope. This is where Gaiman gets his chops.

I can't recommend this book enough. It's got a winding, willowy wisdom (how's that for alliteration?) that stays with you beyond the waking realms, the kind of gift you return to as the years pass by, something that grows with you as oppossed to on you. Each time I read it I read something new and fresh, and each time I read it I never fail to be moved and inspired.

Brief Lives is what it's all about. Peter Straub couldn't have said it any better when he wrote in his afterword....

"If this isn't literature, nothing is."

milton thompson , if anyone, should know all about the x-15 flight program! he ws with entire program from 1959-68. he tells a little about the x-15 pilots and this book filled the gap/nitch that for so long was empty. this book was best and only x-15 book in print since richard tregaskis' x-15 diary, the best! however this book is 2nd best and mr thompson helped tell the x-15 story that needed told for so long by someone. more needed to be written on the best aircraft of all time , the x-15. milt thompson helped credit this remarkable rocket/plane/ship in a very describable manor. mr thompson helped tell the x-15 story when noone else has in a very long time. thanks milt! this books been a long time coming. great book/works. a must!!!!!!!!!! for any x-15 buff. book is highly rated on x-15.com site as well.

This book is a treasure for anyone with an interest in aviation and/or space exploration. Milt Thompson did a great job of sharing the history of the program - the development of the aircraft, the people involved, the planning and results of the flights - it's all here. The photos are an appreciated bonus. Hope more people take the opportunity to read this one!

This is a report of the X-15 flight test program by one of the pilots. Full of anectodes, funny and hair-raising stories, technical descriptions about this exciting plane - and great fun to read! (Only - slight - drawback: B/W photos only, and not a lot of them.) In the last chapter Milt Thompson tells us what the individual pilots did after taking part in the X-15 program. I like the line "Neil Armstrong was the third pilot to leave the program, in December 1960. He joined the NASA Astronaut Corps and then I lost track of him."

There are a few really compelling stories here - mostly the ones that focus on the victims and the rescue workers. But there is also, sadly, a great deal of garbage.

There's actually a fair amount of America bashing here. Some stories are patriotic, but, for the most part, the people holding or displaying American flags are protrayed as ignorant bigots.

Now, the artists and writers have every right to express their views. If that sort of thing is your cup of tea, I suspect you'll regard the more anti-American stories as provocative and stimulating. To me, they seemed like more of the same tired cliches I used to hear all the time before 9-11.

There's also a fair amount of the mushy-headedness about Islam which seems popular in this country these days. ...

The worst stories were those that tried to make some sort of political point. In one, an alien shows up and explains why we are all doomed if we don't adopt the Democratic party platform. (I'm really sort of neutral on abortion, but I always have to shake my head when someone starts preaching about the need to take care of the poor, the weak, the children, the elderly, the fish, the birds, the dung beetles, and then insists, even by omission, that destroying a human fetus is just fine.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is a lot of this felt very contrived. The more powerful stories and pictures were the ones where the author/artist was writing/drawing from the heart. The worst were the ones were the author was "moralizing," for a lack of a better word.

Firstly - I bought this book. Therefore, my money went towards the funds that helped victims of the atrocities of 11th September. It was the least I could do. (I also signed a book of condolence, but we all know how practically useful _that_ is.)

Secondly, this book is a remarkable ragbag of responses to the attack. One of the striking thing about the 9-11 attack is that it was the first time in nearly 200 years that the US mainland had been attacked. (Pearl Harbour doesn't count because, at the time, Hawaii was not a state of the US, it was still a "dependency" - shorthand for "ex-colony".)

The best responses in this book are the ones that take a, shall we say, dialectical response to the attack - those that at once focus on the innocent victims (cause it was a terrorist attack, and terrorism by nature is aimed at targeting the innocent in order to make the guilty feel guilty) and that also have a longer historical perspective. Because, and I'm almost embarrassed to point this out - the 9-11 attack did not happen because some deluded lunatics somewhere took it into their heads to be mean to Americans. It was the ultimate suicide attack, the nec plus ultra of the recent bombings in Jerusalem.

The best pieces in this book do not merely recognise the heroism of New York firefighters and police personnel - which is a sort of heroism that I, for one, don't doubt. But the facts are, this kind of heroism has been displayed around the world by populations under attack from US-funded or US-trained forces. It's not a very nice fact to have to face, but unless it is faced, there is little chance of events like 9-11 never happening again.

The sad thing is, much of the more ambitious pieces in here rely on "private" tragedy (as if these events had no more significance than the deaths of people in New York) and public jingoism - witness Stan Lee's asinine allegory about sleeping elephants. Stan, if the elephant's population was happy, it's because it had stolen so much from other countries already. Learn a little history.

Those of us who have learned to live with the potential for terrorist attacks on a daily basis are a little less naive than much of the authorship of this book. I grieve as much as anyone else for the dead of 9-11. But I cannot pretend that it isn't the kind of thing that happens around the rest of the world, as a result of the insanely inequal distribution of wealth.

This is a good book. But it is as much symptom as it is diagnosis.

I am using these two volumes to do my senior thesis and have read the other reviews and am convinced that some reviewers need to BACK OFF. This was written in commemoration for those who had a hard time dealing with the tragedy, not for you to criticize. The artists and comics who made these works did so as a way to understand and as a way to vent. I am sorry, but if you are going to criticize a creative effort to release you have no compassion. Some stories are disturbing, but the whole event was and has been disturbing. I am sure someone is going to think I am waving my flag a little to wildly, but you know what I am just calling it as I see it. Until you spent the day watching from your window as the towers fell down and smoked up the whole city to tell them how to do there job!

After almost twenty years of continual Oz authorship, Ruth Plumly Thompson was clearly exhausted of ideas and energy by the time she completed 1938's The Silver Princess In Oz. Like John R. Neill's Lucky Bucky In Oz, this entry into the Oz chronicle reads more like a rough draft than a finished manuscript; portions of several chapters make no sense at all and are impossible to follow as published.

Coming well before the American science fiction boom of the fifties, with the Silver Princess In Oz, Thompson added ostensible extraterrestrials to the Oz landscape. In fairness, the extraterrestrials Thompson created for the book, Planetty and Thun the Thunder Colt, are creatures of fairytale convention and a far cry from the bug - eyed saucer men and glittering robots of the later age. The possibility of mixing the Oz fairyland with inhabitants of other planets is an interesting one, and one illustrator John R. Neill accomplished beautifully in his first authored Oz title, 1940's The Wonder City of Oz (though Neill's extraterrestrials were only warmongering mocha soldiers from a distant chocolate star).

In previous books Thompson had created vital, admirable, and multi-dimensional Oz heroines, such as Handy Mandy and Peg Amy, who made excellent role models for young readers. Thompson fails here not because Planetty, the Girl from Anuther Planet and her fire - breathing steed are creatures of fairytale romance, but simply because Planetty fails as a character and role model of any kind. Insipid, empty - headed, and oozing honeyed sweetness, Planetty, who is supposed to be a warrior, wins out over self - fascinated sky fairy Polychrome and the brain - poor Button-Bright as Oz's most tiresomely insensible character. Like Polychrome, Planetty is blissfully narcissistic; she spends the balance of the novel prancing, primping, and cheerfully speaking baby talk with a lisp. Illustrator Neill clearly understood the limitations of Thompson's text, for the book includes no less than 11 unelaborate illustrations of the silver - skinned Planetty striking empty poses for an audience in absentee. Planetty is first cousin to the vacuous lingerie model who glides through the fashion salon chanting 'Our new one piece lace foundation garment; zips up the back, and no bones,' in the 1939 film The Women: both exist solely on a catwalk in a parallel universe all of their own.

The story of the Silver Princess Of Oz is an empty retread of one of several already overused Oz blueprints. To escape dull court life and an unwanted marriage, young Gillikin King Randy of Regalia and Kabumpo the Elegant Elephant journey to Ev to visit mutual friend the Red Jinn. On the way, the two meet the space girl and her horse, who have unintentionally fallen to Oz down the back of a lightening bolt. Reaching the Jinn's castle, the foursome discover subversives have ousted the Jinn and taken over the realm. Briefly captured, Randy, Kabumpo, Planetty, and Thun escape to search of the missing magician.

Thun, who speaks by exhaling words of smoke, is no more interesting than Planetty, and King Randy is identical to all other young Thompson boy heroes. Creating new characters was Thompson's forte, but in the Silver Princess In Oz she failed completely, and none of classic members of the Oz royal family appear to add liveliness or spunk to the plodding, repetitive narrative.

The Silver Princess In Oz is also burdened with racial stereotypes, for the Red Jinn's subjects are 'blacks,' a color not usually associated with an Oz or Ev people or territory. As Neill's illustrations and Thompson's text make clear, the word 'black' is not an arbitrary distinction: the Jinn's turban-wearing people are Africans or African Americans, 'as black as the ace of spades,' who, when fleeing in fear, cry 'Yah, yah, mah ' Master!'

Less than a plum of an Oz book, the Silver Princess In Oz is one of the few titles which deserves the relative obscurity to which many of the later Oz books have fallen.

In Thompson's next-to-last book in the Famous Forty (she later wrote two more Oz books for the International Wizard of Oz Club), she presents us with one last romance between a young prince and princess, one last visit to the realm of the Red Jinn (who would reappear in the IWOC-published "Yankee in Oz"), and one last adventure for Kabumpo the Elegant Elephant. In many ways this is more of a summing-up of Thompson's style and the unique elements she brought to the Oz series than any of her three later Oz books. In fact, like "Captain Salt in Oz", this book features only Thompson's own characters and none of Baum's, although unlike "Captain Salt" parts of the story do take place in the Land of Oz. "Silver Princess" contains many beautiful and highly memorable moments and a unique and fascinating personality in its title character: Planetty, the Princess of Anuther (sic) Planet. Despite a major plot hole at the very end of the story--how do the characters cross the Deadly Desert on their return to Oz?--this book is highly enjoyable.