The fields of Data Mining and Information Retrieval are incredibly complex and deep subject areas even when they are divorced from the structure of the world wide web. If the world wide web is viewed as a giant data base, it is without a doubt the most complex data base which has ever existed.

A major problem is getting a grasp on the synthesis of these three fields, DM, IR, and WWW technology. Even current research in DM is distributed among gropus of people with such diverse backgrounds effective communication of research results across groups is extremely difficult.

This book has taken the major concepts from these three fields and organized them in outline form. The outline cuts just deep enough to be meaningful and never too deeply to "lose" the reader. For the serious student, this book provides a Christmas tree on which other books can hang like ornaments.

Obviously, I think very highly of this book. It is not the "be all and the end all", but it fills an important niche. ... Almost limits it to library and other institutional purchases. Which is a shmae because I'm sure every worker in WWWIR&DM would like to have a copy on their shelves.

BTW, the bibliography isn't bad either, and, includes many www URLs, a must for any truly useful bibliography in todays environment. The search engines just aren't good enough yet to give you all the URLs you need. But, then, improving them is part of why there is so much active research in WWWDM&IR.

Feel free to write the author of this review (Dr. Jack Aiken, PhD)...

This is a nice introductory book, short and well written. Don't expect any details, it is only an outline. It does a good job of covering terminology, and suggesting additional reading, but it isn't a primary resource itself.

The book is divided into 3 sections. The first is on 'information retrieval' (IR), the second on data mining, and the third describes a 'case study.'

According to the authors, IR is engaged in storage, retrieval, organization and display of unstructured or ambiguous file structures. Research is currently engaged in classifying, filtering, modeling, query design and user interface issues. The key question for IR is 'relevance' assessment. Each topic gets at least a few paragraphs, some a few pages.

The authors differentiate data mining from IR in terms of focus. A data mining project is designed specifically for finding hidden structure (whatever that means), while IR might be characterized as the 'quick and dirty query.' This is a bit confusing, but the emphasis on terminology makes it unimportant. Most of the data mining section is a review of various measures used to determine the existence of associations. This includes some simple formulas. Also, there is a section on webcrawlers and text mining.

Though the book is titled 'mining the www', the largest section is IR, what most would call 'search engines.' Mining itself gets only about 1/4 of the book.

The case study is fairly brief, but outlines a way to structure a simple project.

The book contains a nice bibliography.

This is a very neat book that gets you started with broad knowledge
about what you can do with the overwhelming World Wide Web.
If you are curious about what are behind those search engines and
how can these "things" get you stuck in front of
your computer around the clock, this is the book for you.
It not only tells you how these "things" work,
but also calms you a little bit by telling you that
those guys who developed these "things" REALLY tried hard to
get you what you want and in the meantime save you some time :)
The best part is that you don't need to know many theories and
you still get some sense about the devils who drive these engines.
If you are a professional who wants to know where to read about the
"know how", this book could be a good starting point.
It not only gives you a good survey of what is going on,
but also provides you with 286 references that guide you
to what you need to know next.
If you are a graduate student who wants to start a project
on the subject, this book could save you some time.
It takes you only couples of hours to scan through it.
By the end, you would probably know where to dig deeper or
you might get burnt and choose a different subject.
One thing I was wondering was that the authors didn't go further
in many aspects. Some subsections have only four to five sentences.
These could be spaces to extend.

There are hundreds of translations of the TTC available in English. I found this one to be a little lifeless. I was surprised to find that the premise of calling the book the Te Tao Ching, rather than the Tao Te Ching was that the translator thought the two halves of the book would have been put in a basket one on top of each other, in reverse order. I do not know why it is important to reorder the work, for me it has always made sense in the traditional order, i.e. first to understand what the Tao is, and then how it is applied (in the 'Te' section). Reversing this seems unproductive.

If you would like to read a translation that is perhaps a little more poetic and which contains a more intelligible sense of the living ideas, then you could try the translation by Jane English. The ideas in the TTC are hard to describe, because they are fundamental and help us understand the workings of everything: anything from the course a trickling rivulet of water takes down a pane of glass, to how to govern a state of millions of people. I think the Jane English translation communicates these ideas effectivly. In fact, it is best to read more than one translation: it is always helpful for interpretation to listen to the same idea as expressed by more than one person.

This edition reproduces the entire Chinese text, which will clearly be of use to many people who are studying the original.

The book of Lao Tzu - Te-Tao Ching is one of the ancient Chinese classics of Taoist philosophy that has been read by scholars and translated and published in books many times with varying translation results. It describes the philosophy of Virtue and The Way in 81 short Chapters.

This translation is based on two original manuscripts - named Ma-Wang-Tui - that pre-date the manucripts used in the excellent tranlation by D.C. Lau. In Mr Henricks' translation, he presents two choices for the reader; the translation of the text only, or the translation of the text including commentaries plus both original chinese texts. For each of the 81 chapters either text A or B is used - where the commentaries include comparison analysis between Text A and B.

Besides the translation of the 81 Chapters, information is included about the historical background of the texts to enable the reader to put the meaning and thought of the text into context.

Reading each chapter in this book for me is close to reading poetry that has powerful meaning and thought embedded in it. I recommend this book to people who are interested in Taoist 'thought'. Mr Henricks is a well respected and skilled translator that has done extensive research for this translation. Well worth a 5-star recommendation.

One of my favorite chapters: #20.

If you are looking for technically accurate translation, this is the book to have. Based on the recent Ma-Wang-Tui texts, this is a must have for any serious student of Taoism. Because the Way and Virtue sections(Te-Tao) of the Ma-Wang Tui texts were found inverted from the traditional way (Tao-Te) it sometimes makes comparisons to other texts a little harder. Also, this seems to strive to be more technically accurate than poetic, and I think it loses some 'feeling' in the translation. Any true student of Taoism should have several different copies of the Tao-Te Ching to compare, and this translation should definitly be one of them.

The author has boiled down the concept of QOS-quality an abstract term into Performance optimization and resource allocation.The book provides a very good insight into traffic engineering and MPLS.Its the best book for QOS i have come across.The fish problem in traffic engineering is probably the best example i have come across.Overall its an excellent text.

I feel that this book provides excellent coverage of all of the important, implementable, models for providing service differentiation in the Internet. While it doesn't precisely tell me how to implement QoS, it does provide excellent reference points against which to measure effectiveness of an implementation in providing useful QoS. I find that I am using this book a lot in my work and expect that this will continue to be the case for a while.

If you want to get to know IP/MPLS QoS, this book will get you there very quickly. Although less than 250 pages, this book surprisingly covers almost all of the important topics in IP/MPLS QoS. Also an excellent reference book to have on your bookshelf.

This book does a great job of letting the reader get their feet wet with VB4. Don't bother with this book unless you are a 100% novice. An intermediate with not benefit from this book at all. If you are interested in trying out VB and just want to see what it is like than this book is for you.

This book also mainly focuses on the user interface. It covers in great depth, command buttons, text boxes, labels, message boxes, and all the other objects that beginners often have a hard time with. The novie will learn some commands and be apply some code to their projects but it is only minimal.

Outstanding ! If you're new to VB, this book is a must. The author uses some hilarious examples, and practical code to teach you how to work your way through VB. One caveat, this deals mostly with interface development in VB, if you want to learn about the heavy stuff (creating .bas files, compiling .dll files, etc) you'll have to look elsewhere. Other than that, this book is a great way to start working with VB

What a great book on programmig language. All the easy steps to make your own program! From Message Boxes to Variants. From Input Boxes to Popupmenus. This book is very well put together. You'll no longer be a dummy when you finish this book! I have VB3 for a year and went to 4. Took me a week with this book to MASTER it! Try it out!

As a graduate student taking my first official course in research methods, I was disappointed. The language and structure of this book could have been made a lot easier to follow. I would have appreciated, for example, more frequent subheadings and listing of points. Because of the lack of, the book is difficult to skim or pick and choose sections to read; expect to read thoroughly. Some of the examples in the book were questionable -especially the chapter on experimental and quasi-experimental research. The frequent diagrams were also lacking in clarity. I think that the text could have been half as long and still conveyed the same amount of information. Redundancy aside, I did (with much caffeinated effort) gain a broad understanding of several research strategies and tactics. The book is not a comprehensive guidebook for conducting research based on particular research methods; it is merely a broad introduction or clarification of various strategies. However, it frequently suggests comprehensive texts for further reading if you are so inclined.

I found this book to be excellent: comprehensive and approachable, eclectic and interdisciplinary. It should save any student, researcher or instructor much time and can serve as a text book and/or a comprehensive reference manual. It also adds to the body of knowledge by freshly demonstrating the application of the research methods of many other disciplines in the specific context of architecture (including many cases and examples), all within a nice, logical, unifying philosophical framework.

The text is relevent for those interested in "Evidence based architectural design". It is excellent for both a beginning researcher in acadamia or an experienced practitioner involved with architecture research. It provides a broad research background as well as specific application to architecture. It is well organized and usable as an office reference or classroom text. It is written with jargon and graphics familiar to architects.

Classic Chinese Furniture has wonderful illustrations and goes into introductions of the furniture any layman can understand. Mr. Wang has given many details to the reader so that a better understanding, what to look for and and how to judge the quality of a piece can be learned. Pen drawings of the pieces help to illustrate the different parts and clearly show the reader how the piece is put together. I travel to China often and purchased this book in Shanghai. It was more expensive in the bookstore in China than what Amazon charges...

If you truly appreciate antique Chinese furniture for its grace and beauty, but like me, you can't afford a zitan Southern official chair or huanghuali opium day bed, Wang Shixiang's book, with loads of gorgeous photographs, is the next best thing to owning the actual pieces. More a coffee table book, than a reference book for antique buyers. Still, it's one of the best books around on Chinese antique furniture.

Truly beautiful coffee table book, with plenty of photos of Chinese furniture. A must-have for anyone who loves Chinese furniture. A bargain at the [low] price!

This book is quite good. I've studied Japanese for a long time and have gone to great lengths to find a good book for learning it, and it took me about 15 books. I thought that would be the case with Chinese as well, so you can imagine my surprise when the first book I tried actually turned out to be good. This was actually the textbook we used for my class, and although I haven't used many other Chinese textbooks, I would highly recommend this one. There are a number of good points about this book, and a few bad ones:

Pros
1) The vocabulary presented is fairly useful, and the early chapters really do start you off with useful vocabulary. Not like some books where you learn how to say "rainy season" in chapter 1.
2) The accompanying workbook is excellent. The only studying you need to do is the workbook exercises. With languages usually I have to study alot, and do many of the exercises twice, but with this book, I simply do the workbook exercises once and I really feel like I know the material.
3) Although this book romanizes all dialogs, the later books do not. This is a _good_ thing. Believe me, after learning 2,000 Japanese words from a book that puts the phoenetic transcriptions everywhere, you'll be glad to put in the extra effort to simply learn how to read and write the characters early on. I can't stress this enough. Although it may seem hard at first to memorize and learn how to write 30 or 40 characters for each chapter, you will definitely be glad you did. Imagine getting to the point where you know 1,500 words and then deciding hey, I sure wish I knew how to read and write.

Cons
1) The grammar explanations aren't terribly descriptive. It turns out that for much of the grammar they are teaching there's many variants of the same pattern, which they don't teach. So you're stuck if somebody switches around the word order on you. Furthermore, they teach by pattern rather than by grammar. It's great to know "this is the pattern to use when you want to say this", but it's also nice to know that the function of a certain word is to turn an adjective into an adverb, which you won't get from this book.
2) Sometimes the vocabulary can be presented in a weird order. For example, they will teach you the word fast in one chapter, and slow in another chapter. Eat in one chapter, drink in another chapter. Similar words should be grouped. This is of course, what they try to do but it could be done a little better.
3) The glossary in the back is very annoying. There is simply no English->Chinese glossary. Good luck figuring out how to say a certain word in Chinese, because you'll have to scan through _every_ single word in the Chinese->English portion of the glossary until you find it, and you'll probably accidentally skip over it anyway.

Overall though this is a solid book, and I would recommend it. Note that _the_ best book on Chinese is Beginner's Chinese, by Yong Ho. It is simply the best. Buy it. It's insanely cheap, and unbelievably well written.

I have been using Yao's texts for the past two semesters, and have found them to be quite useful. The Level 1 texts are divided into a total of 23 lessons, each containing two dialogues/narratives. The dialogues are generally interesting and are not overloaded with new vocabulary or grammatical points, and new grammar topics are explained fairly clearly with the aid of simple examples. As a guide to learning to read and write in Chinese (Mandarin), the texts (along with the accompanying workbooks) are very good. However, to master speaking and listening comprehension requires exposure and interaction with Chinese speakers.
The only problem I have found is that in the workbook, particularly in later lessons, some characters are used which do not appear in the textbook until later. However, if you know how to use a Chinese dictionary, this isn't really a problem.

I've been studying Chinese for three semesters using the Integrated Chinese series (Level 1, Part 1; Level 1, Part 2; and Level 2), and I'm a BIG fan of these books. I went to Taiwan after learning only 18 chapters' worth of material, and found that the book had -- miraculously -- taught me most of the practical vocabulary I needed to survive. The grammar explanations following each chapter are clear and thorough, and the workbook is an excellent means of reinforcement.

I agree with the reader from Wisconsin - "Outrageous Chinese" is a nice start, but ultimately, a little disappointing. It oscillates between being a book of slang, and an introduction to Chinese manners. The two chapters are particularly irrelevant - all that hokey about how foreigners should watch their tones, or how to introduce oneself - that's stuff you learn in school/college/university. The book is subtitled "A Guide to Chinese Street Language", and so should be devoted entirely to just that. Similarly, the last chapter emphasising the correct pronunciation of chengyu (4 character Chinese phrases) - seems out of place.

This is a real shame, because I don't know of any other book in English which devotes itself entirely to the study of Chinese slang.

There's also quite a lot of anecdotes, which, if you've spent any time in China, reads like really, really old hat. We don't need to be told this!

Still, some of the chapters are pretty good - like the "love and sex", "judging people" and the "expletives undeleted" sections (the best bit of the book). Too bad there isn't a specific section on insults.

Other chapters just read like big vocabulary lists - "food and drink", "crime" and "falling ill" are just lame.

What might've been good - even though the book is called "Outrageous Chinese" - would be to include some more common phrases - not necessarily swear words, but just slangy ways of speaking - "shuang", for instance, which means "cool", "great", something you say after having done something which made you feel really good. Or "zhen shi de", which translates to something like "really!" or "you're too much!". To me, such phrases qualify as slang. (for a book along these lines, see "Popular Chinese Expressions", published by Sinolingua Publications in China - it's really good.)

The book's structure is a little too informal. Ideally, each new piece of slang ought to be followed by several examples for the keen language learner to understand the context in which it can be used. Some words are given extended coverage - like "cao", the equivalent of the F-word, but not all.

Many of the words in the book appear to be "Beijing slang" - and so some of the language introduced is only relevant if you're talking with someone from Beijing. Ideally, Mr Wang ought to indicate which words have currency throughout China, and which words are local only to Beijing people. This he only does sporadically, unfortunately.

Finally, one might note that "Outrageous Chinese" was published in 1994, and so some of the slang is out of date. For instance, he talks about 'fen', but no-one uses that sort of money anymore. Similarly, there's nothing on the internet (this is covered in his book, "Mutant Mandarin", but even some of the terms there are outdated - the Chinese don't say "dianzi youjian", they say "email".)

Even though this review has been negative overall, Mr Wang is to be congratulated for producing such a book. It's unbelievably difficult to get the Chinese to teach one swear words. Often people will only teach you if you display some rudimentary knowledge already - so this book helps. I just hope he cuts some of the superfluous stuff out in the second edition.

This book is a good start at covering Chinese slang, but it only scratches the surface. Granted, it covers some of the more outrageous samples, and broaches some "forbidden" topics that you'll never get your Chinese teacher to talk about. Yet, at a slim 120+ pages, it is at best a rough guide. I'd like to see more in-depth coverage of a wide variety of slang. And as for the supposed stories about foreigners embarassing themselves with the language, I found them more akin to silly scenarious dreamed up by bored Chinese college students in their dorms. There's no way these scenarios would either happen or would elicit guffaws. Even if a big-nose were to make a mistake that bordered on being obscene, in my experience, Chinese people are quite polite and would merely correct the error, as would we in a similar situation.

I know these things can happen. When first in Germany, at a "Gasthaus" in Mainz, I ordered Chicken(in English). I was brought ham (schenken, in German). As a new student to German, I FINALLY realized I was arguing in English and she was arguing in German, when she said "Nicht Hahn (chicken).. es ist shenken (ham). So, as a beginning-to-intermediate student of Chinese, I really appreciate this book. It is a premier as to the danger of arrogance.

I have read the book written by Mr. Naghdi with support of Mrs. Wang.
I found it to be educational; it contains information relevant to the symptoms experienced by indiviudals with mental disabilites, particularly to people with auditory hallucinations.
The book is well written, very informative, and invites the reader to explore and learn more about the author experiences in his interactions with daily activites.
I strongly recommend this book not only for pleasure but for academic purposes.

I recommmend the book to be a successful reading material in the United States as well in Latin America.

I just finished reading this excellent book. I found that this was a book that was very easy to read and understand, not bogged down with a lot of technology language that is hard to understand to the general public.

This is a book whose characters can show you examples of courage, finding strength in the face of adversaries, which is at the heart of all victims.

This book could easily become an educational source, for people that are studying about mental health, and a plausible explanation for students in the mental health field, seeing that their may just be something else besides trying to find a diagnosis and having a patient being declared mentally ill.

I have been personally reading a lot about psychotronics and other kinds of mind control for the past few years. This type of technology does exist and should not be ignored.

There is a particular statement in the book that I found to be very thought provoking, one that should be remembered and I quote: "The mind is suppose to be untouchable to all but oneself. Even, worse, most people did not fear an intrusion into their minds, because they were unaware that such technology existed that would allow others to conduct said intrusion."
Although this book is a fictional account it could very well have been a non-fiction.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone to read.
These types of things go on right in our own back yards every day.

Project Radiohead is a great suspense/thriller; a real page turner. As a mental health professional I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in a story of strength, courage and the determination of the human spirit. This book would make a great movie!

Vera Wang on Weddings is as sumptuous and refined as the designer's dresses. From the sheer white vellum page overlays to the beautiful photographs of flower girls--including her own two adorable daughters--along with reception sites featuring shimmering pools filled with floating candles and flowers, majestic cathedrals, and of course dress after amazing dress, this a design lover's book.
Wang shares her lifelong love of fashion and her personal experience as a bride, but she is not self-indulgent. The focus is on the splendor of brides and weddings in general. Apart from the lush pictures of her clients' weddings, there is an illustrated glossary of dress terms, and Wang offers straightforward opinions on which silhouettes flatter which figure.
Although the book addresses everything from grooms' cakes to the cocktail hour to the morning after brunch, in terms of wedding planning it is mainly an inspiration book that provides a general overview with timeless advice. While it is an excellent fashion resource, some brides may find Martha Stewart's Best of Weddings highlights a wider range of reception ideas--especially for less formal weddings--with more detailed planning tips.

As an event designer, Ms. Wang's book is the most thorough, simple and elegant book I have ever read pertaining to the topic of weddings. She has covered all the important topics that every bride is curious to know. I enjoyed reading every page and admired every picture. The book was so good that I'd finished it in one sitting. Since then, I'm still admiring the book and have re-read all the topics 5 times. She is an amazing designer to say the least. Ms. Wang is no doubt the leader in the wedding gown design industry. A must have for every bride-to-be to read and enjoy before her wedding day. Everything about the book is elegant and chic, just like the clothes she designs. Ms. Wang, you are uncomparable!!!

This book breathes Vera Wang. The team that assembled this clearly understood her design philosophy: deceptively simple, clean lines, creative craftsmanship and of course, finest quality. The book has a large format, about 10" x 14", that showcases the glorious photos wonderfully well. It has the feel of a chic, glossy, fashion catalogue with much more of an artistic edge. For example, throughout the book, there are a few translucent vellum sheets with images of jewels, crystal goblets, or lace veils printed upon them that are beautifully superimposed over images on the following page. Very nice effect that is done occasionally on wedding invitations or programs.

Vera Wang covers not only fashion, but all aspects of wedding planning in nicely formatted, concise text that does not compete with the collages and full-page spreads that are an elegant visual testimony to her own wedding celebration as well as those of celebrities, royals and socialites. There are several familiar photographs of her gowns which were used in ads, but the layout of the book makes them feel larger than life. You can almost feel the buttery satin of an ivory gown and almost see the changing glitter of a crystal beaded bodice in the light. Her appendix includes thumbnail sketches of necklines, sleeves, skirt shapes and veils. She also includes a very practical page on tipping!

In my own planning process, this was my favorite "inspiration" book. Even if you're not getting married, looking at this book is a pleasurable experience from the great cathedral aisles to the lusciously decorated cakes. Actually, this is probably the least expensive way to immerse yourself in Vera Wang style!