This is a comprehensive introduction to all sorts of telecommunications (mainly telephone regulation) issues. It's probably a bit much for the novice; something like Stuart Benjamin's Telecommunications Law and Policy is probably a better match there. But, if you want all the details, this is definitely the place to go.

There isn't anything else like this on the market. It contains all the FCC and court and DOJ lore on telecom from the beginning of the century through the 1996 Act up to the present. The spicy bits apparently were written by pundit Peter Huber (who isn't identified in the listing above).

This book gives the novice a very accessible route to the world of telecommunications and gives the expert a very comprehensive reference book. Very highly recommended. The FCC wants universal service? This book is universal in and of itself.

I met Michael today at our Rotary Club where he spoke. The man is one of the finest speakers I have heard. He's cute, funny and enlightening. For all of us with children, he reminds us of the importance of patience and never giving up on our kids. In fact his book ought to be required reading for teachers and those in youth services. Never understimate a kid's potential. Always set standards which allow the child to reach for and to "live up to".

If Your Dreams are Big Enough, The Facts Don't Count! is a wonderful story about a man with a disability living his life and telling about it in his own words! I read it in ONE day! This book is inspirational to ALL human beings!

it's excellent because it's said in his own word

This amazing dramatization of the Pooh books is performed by a marvelously talented group of British entertainers who truly bring the Pooh characters gently and lovingly to life. As for this tape, I finally got this figured out. This is part of a four-tape program that represents the complete two-book Winnie-the-Pooh story collection, except the stories are out of order (probably so that they would fit equally on the tapes). Book 1, "Winnie-the-Pooh," is represented by "Pooh Goes Visiting" (stories in order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10) and "Piglet Meets a Heffalump" (stories: 5, 6, 7, 8). Book 2, "The House at Pooh Corner," is dramatized by "Tigger Comes to the Forest" (stories in order: 1 2, 4, 3, 9, 10) and "Pooh Invents a New Game" (stories 5, 6, 7, 8). When stories that depend on previous information are out of order, it gets confusing. My suggestion: Get the "Winnnie-the-Pooh" / "The House at Pooh Corner" gift pack, which is also four tapes (the same recordings), but in the proper order.

If you have a small child, there simply isn't a better way for them to enjoy the magic of these stories as they were meant to be heard. The truncated, illustration-heavy Disney books, which seem to be everywhere, simply don't tell the stories.

Other notable versions, such as Lionel Jeffries's excellent reading, are no longer available, and Charles Kuralt's, while clearly in the right spirit, can be a little dull for smaller kids.

Sephen Fry is wonderful, and Jane Horrocks's piglet is a delight. Judy Dench and Geoffrey Palmer also bring excellent characterizations to the stories. My 2 year old and I love this version, and it makes her want me to read the book to her. There is no higher recommendation than that from a child!

This tape represents a whole new Pooh. The readers create an elegant experience that is gentle and at the same time fun and adventurous. My favorite Pooh reader was always Lionel Jeffries, but as those tapes seem to have disappeared from the face of the earth, the Stephen Fry series may become my new favorite. The talented people involved in this production make it a true classic. I have listened to this over and over, and it doesn't lose its freshness. Take it along on your next car trip with the kids! (or without them!)

I wish I had discovered this book sooner. Having read Rossi, Bandler, Grinder, Gilligan, etc., and struggled to get through their overyly analytical obfuscations of Erickson's methods, I was delighted with this simply written, clear, and easy to follow text. The reason I didn't buy it sooner was that I had read his other book "Taproots" and found it too abstract and disappointing. What a long way the author has come since he wrote Taproots! He presents Ericksonian ideas in a way that is delightful to read, down-to-earth, and effortless to follow. O'Hanlon is an excellent teacher, especially for those of us who are jargon-ically challenged. My only gripe is the high cost of this rather brief volume.

This is an engaging and extremely readable introduction to Ericksonian Hypnotherapy. Profoundly less "technical manual" than the Grinder Bandler stuff, yet is certainly not dumbed down.

Written with humor and undertanding in the informal style of a seminar in a manner that anyone could learn from.

I would recommend this to anyone interested in Ericksonian Hypnosis.

Very good introduction to Ericksonian approach, useful for a beginner and helpful for an experienced practitioner.

This book rocks! Everyone should read especially stupid politicians who let our health system be the way it is.Besides Mr. anderson is very smart- smartest guy i know anyway! :)

Should be on the Best seller lis

The authors are eminent and accomplished physicians associated with several of the outstanding medical institutions in the world. They focus their attention with a a kind of brutal humane sympathy on the manner in which our medical system has become entwined in games of technology rather than styles of care, in the organization of cashflow rather than the movements of patients to health. They show how easily third-party payments become a form of "big-brother is watching you" except that the brother is a miserably small-minded accountant or share analyst. This is at once a heart-breaking book because of the awful reality it so fairly documents. But it is also reassuring that two skilled practitioners can so clearly and productively document what is happening in medicine, and also what can be done about it. It could well be required reading for medical students and hospital administrators - and patients with a sense of self-defence!

These are WONDERFUL tapes, as is the first (Pooh Goes Visiting), especially for anyone who loves the real Pooh and is disgusted by the Disney version (talk about repellently cutesy!). Now, Tigger's voice here--that does hit the wrong note. But we (post-grad educated) grownups and our four (2 to 8 year old) children think Piglet's and Eeyore's voices are priceless, and Owl's and Rabbit's and Christopher Robin's and others' are just right,too. Over the last few years these tapes have been the most requested of the car-ride playlist, for which we parents are grateful because they're as much fun for us as for the kids. By far the best Pooh tapes I've heard.

These four tapes will find a permanent place in your collection. They represent an amazing dramatization of the two Pooh books (including all the stories in their original order) by this talented group of British performers. My favorite is probably Piglet -- Jane Horrocks's amazing Piglet is really understated. Every endearing "Oo-ooh-oh" makes me laugh and want to listen again. I also adore the quiet, loving rendition of Pooh by Stephen Fry and the wonderful curmudgeonly Eeyore of Geoffrey Palmer. But I love everybody involved here (except Tigger in his entrance, which is a little strong) and am delighted to have discovered them. If for some reason you only want one or two of these tapes, the same recordings are available on four separate tapes, starting with "Pooh Goes Visiting." If you are a fan of Pooh, by all means try these wonderful tapes!

I learned to read by listening (again and again and again and again) to a pair of well-loved and well-worn LPs of the Pooh stories read by Maurice Evans. I always considered them the finest Pooh audiobooks ever recorded. Up until now! Now there's this wonderful series of fully-dramatized adventures of Pooh featuring a brilliant cast of wonderful British actors: Stephen Fry ("Jeeves and Wooster") as Pooh, Geoffrey Palmer ("The Madness of King George") as Eeyore, Judy Dench ("Shakespeare in Love") as Kanga...and best of all, the *incomparable* Jane Horrocks ("Little Voice" and Bubble from "AbFab") as a squeaky, alarmed, and altogether adorable Piglet. You don't have to be a kid to appreciate these fine recordings (and there are plenty of adult Pooh fans out there who will *love* these versions). Accept no substitutes: this is simply the finest Pooh audio series yet created, beating by a *far* distance the Alan Bennett and (ugh!) Charles Kuralt versions.

I am not a Linguist, but this book helped me to appreciate all of the differing theories and various fields within what is known as linguistics. If you are seeking a book that is simple to read, yet very comprehensive, I recommend this volume. If you enjoy languages, speech development, regional dialects, language acquisition, theory of language, language trends, and more - this book is for you.

Major disciplines coverd include: phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Also included in this new addition are new chapters on second language acquisition and psycholinguistics.

One of the best features of this text is how well it is laid out. It is a pleasure to peruse and even study because of it's logical and user friendly format.

If you love anything about language- whether knowing it's origins, or what part of the mouth is used to create certain sounds, or how language changes over time and for what reasons, or a host of other curiosities, you will certainly enjoy the wealth of information within Contemporary Linguistics!

"Contemporary Linguistics" (CL) is a wonderfully clear and accessible introduction to the field of linguistics. The authors begin by introducing the methodological assumptions that underlie present day Chomskyan linguistics and then reserve a chapter each for almost all major research directions within linguistics.

One thing in particular that I liked about the format of CL was the treatment of more advanced material (marked "Advanced") in each chapter. The "Advanced" sections augment the material in the rest of the chapter and are placed in logical sequence with the rest of the material instead of appearing in an appendix at the end of the chapter. For example, a section marked "advanced" on X' (read X-bar) Theory appears fairly early in the syntax chapter. Having some knowledge of X' Theory allows the reader to proceed to examine the rest of the material with the knowledge that there exists an intermediate level of structure between lexical categories (N, V, ...) and phrasal categories (NP, VP, ...).

Most chapters in CL are pretty well written and technical tools to treat linguistic phenomena are almost always introduced at the correct juncture. However, CL does not treat Innateness properly (why Innateness and arguments for and against Innateness), and has a weak chapter on semantics. The reader would do well to augment the material in CL by reading Pinker's "The Language Instinct" or Jackendoff's "Patterns in the Mind" for a non-technical introduction to some ideas in linguistics, as well as sections of De Swart's "Intro to Natural Language Semantics" to get an idea of how semantics is done. If the reader is interested in looking at language from a cognitive science perspective, she would also do well to read most of Gleitman et al's "An Invitation to Cognitive Science: Language".

All in all, CL provides a relatively painless initiation into linguistics and I highly recommend it.

Speaking as a newcomer to the subject, I found this book to be an excellent intro. Very useful.

Read this book for what it is, and you'll enjoy it very much. This is not meant to be a literary masterpiece. That much should be clear from the subtitle of the book: "Erotic Tales of the Vampire". Don't expect an all new and brilliant monster epic, and you'll like this book.

I want to praise the publisher for mixing two well-known names (William J Mann and Micheal Thomas Ford) with two names I am not familiar with (Sean Wolfe and Jeff Mann). The diversity of the stories and writing styles are fresh and keep the reader engaged. Much better than reading a long book with one style from one author.

The two Manns (William J and Jeff) have a similar style. Both of those stories, though decent, are my least favorite. They seem to try to be more than what they are. A little superficial for my taste, but not badly written.

I like Sean Wolfe's story very much. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and is comfortable being a short entertainment piece. It doesn't try to be more than what it is. I was entertained and appreciate the "humanness" that the story brings to erotic vampirism. It is both erotic and interesting. Though I haven't heard of Wolfe before, I'm sure we'll hear more from him in the future.

It is Ford, though, who is the star of this book, and a good reason for naming him as the main author. Most of us are familiar with his non-fiction material, which has won several Lambda Literary awards. His fiction writing here is no less brilliant. Ford's talent for putting the reader in the middle of the story and for character description are perfect. I love his story, and look forward to more fiction from Ford in the future.

If you're a fan of vampire fiction at all, you'd be crazy not to get this book. The variety of stories and writing style is fresh and refreshing. The writing is good. It is both erotic and frighteningly engaging. A must have for serious fans of horror, and especially vampire fiction!

MASTERS OF MIDNIGHT contains four novellas in which vampires play a prominent and erotically gay role. The authors have different visions of vampires leading to highly original and entertaining tales.

"His Hunger" by William J. Mann. Thirty years ago in Cravensport, Maine murders and disappearances occurred with no explanation. Jeremy thinks the story will make a good human-interest piece, but he also has a personal stake in the story as one of the vanished was his father. However, he is in peril after visiting Bartholomew, a vampire who plans to enslave Jeremy and convert the writer's lover.

"Sting" by Michael Thomas Forge. Following the suicide of his lover, Ben becomes head librarian in Downing, Arkansas. He sees customer Titus put his hands into beehives. When the two men become lovers, Titus explains that he is a vampire and the bee venom prevents his blood craving. Titus feels strongly about stopping his kind who kills innocent children.

"Brandon's Bite" by Sean Wolfe. His father was a vampire while his mother was mortal. His father taught him how to survive as a vampire. As an adult Brandon discovered he was gay so his father disowned him. Brandon can choose any victim he wants but fears love because he believes he cannot control his urge for blood.

"Devoured" by Jeff Marin. Three centuries ago two Scottish lords shared a secret passion for one another. When they were caught, Angus was killed but Derek was changed into a vampire. He avenged his friend's death before immigrating to West Virginia. Now an affluent businessman, he finally has a chance to love again but must first take care of Matthew's homophobic enemies.

Harriet Klausner

Unlike a previous reviewer, I AM a fan of gay vampire fiction, and of gay horror in general. I picked this book up because I'd read some of the authors' previous work in books like QUEER FEAR I and II, SONS OF DARKNESS, and BROTHERS OF THE NIGHT (all edited by Michael Rowe, in case you want to look them up). So how does this collection stack up? William J. Mann's contribution is an obvious ode to the glorious old cult supernatural soap opera, DARK SHADOWS, and if you read it that way it's a lot of fun. Sean Wolfe and Jeff Mann are new names to me, and although Wolfe's story didn't grab me, I really liked the second Mr. Mann's ability to bring out the most in his setting. But I have to say, it was Michael Thomas Ford's "Sting" that kept me up way past midnight. I saved it for last, because it sounded the most interesting, and was it ever. This novella is totally unique, not just in gay horror but in ALL horror. His writing is gorgeous, and the imagery he creates is both beautiful and terrifying. I defy anyone to read his descriptions of the Death Puppet and be able to sleep with the lights on. I, too, would love to see this story made into a film, especially if George Clooney plays Ben!

The book is composed of four parts: modeling concepts, analysis/design, implementation and large system issues.

The first part describes the main concepts on object oriented modeling. The topics on object relationships (association, aggregation, generalization) are excellent.

The second part, I consider that contains the best chapters. There are a lot of advices on how to develop database applications following object orientation and on how to choose a data management approach.

The third part, about implemmentation, has good and bad chapters. I don't like the chapters on relational databases. They include valuable information on how to map classes to relational databases but some space is wasted with basic concepts on relational databases and the main example is developed using Microsoft Access.

The last part is the smallest one and contains introductory topics on distributed databases, integration of applications and reverse engineering.

The class diagrams are in OMT notation.

I have read this book cover to cover. Think about that. When was the last time you (or anyone you know) read a technical book cover to cover? It is that good. It *does* get a bit deep and theoretical in many places, but it covers the subject matter with more depth and more meaningful examples than any other book I have ever seen. A MUST READ, if you want to design serious object databases!!

This book really enables to seamlessly synthesize 2 approaches - relational and object oriented while building systems with complex data structures and persistence requirements.

I have purchased this book hoping to find something innovative, something very cool - and under the cover of so much advertisment I found a simple, but not bad, SAT preparation book. It has all the elements to prepare for the real thing except for the practice tests and the so-called "SAT words" - both of them are low in quantity. Perchaps it's a suggestion for the authors. Overall, I think I wouldn't have bought it if I had seen the Barron's title earlier.

PS: The "word teams" is just great - explore it more and this might be your key to success!

This is the best SAT book I've used - it really helped me improve my score. I thought it was well-written, and the practice tests were really useful. I would recommend it over any of the others out there.

This is the best SAT prep book out there. This has great pointers for avoiding common mistakes, a comprehensive vocabulary building section, an easy-to-understand math review, and even gives you prep talks along the way to keep you calm but psyched and ready to ace the test. This was great, I recommend it to anyone hoping for high scores on the SATs.