This book is an interesting departure from all of the other books on TREK as it is a rather self expose of the "Doctor" revealed. Written by the only person who could have the knowledge and insight to do it justice the "Doctor" himself... Robert Picardo.

I found the book to be lighthearted enlightenment... something to read and get a chuckle out of. And chuckle I did. Yes, if you remember the "Doctor's" character, you'll find all of his quirks and witticisms here, or at least enough of them to make a nice reading diversion.

The book is lavishly illustrated by Jeff Yeager. You'll remember him from the Star Trek: Voyager series titled "Flesh and Blood" as Iden, the rebel leader of a band of renegade holograms.

The Hologram's Handbook is an attempt to bridge the everyday interaction between the holographic and biological life and is an essential guide.

This is a good look into the psychi of a character popular on the Voyager series. Cleverly written.

Robert Picardo catches the essence of Voyager's EMH, our beloved Doctor, in a way that only he could. Witty, insightful and thought provoking are all words that perfectly describe this book.

I couldn't put it down, Picardo's writing is so smooth it's like listening to the Doctor himself talking. And not only does he provide insightful views on his character, but also some views about life in general, which are recurrent themes throughout all the centuries portrayed on Star Trek.

And, unlike the show, this book gives equal credit to pre-Scorpion and post-Scorpion time periods, and the Doctor speaks of both Kes and Seven of Nine fondly.

However, the book wasn't perfect. While Picardo covers the Doctor's views on some of the major characters nicely, I felt that he failed to provide enough insight into his relationships with the other characters on Voyager, particularly Neelix and Harry Kim.

Another low point of the book me was his continued references to Lt. Joe Carey, a recurring guest star on Voyager. In one early episode, Carey was abrasive to the Doctor, and Picardo has played that out to the extreme here, often saying he didn't like Carey. I found that to be a little rough, Carey eventually died on an away mission for Voyager, and to speak ill of a dead crewmember like that doesn't cut it in my book.

I would also have liked to have read more about the Doctor's experiences in the Delta Quadrant, and not just about personal relationships. The Doctor remained active and onboard the ship during most of the alien takeovers, and more often than not entire episodes were devoted to his adventures. Wouldn't these sorts of experiences have shaped his views on life a little? He watched as Suder struggled to contain his violence, watched as the Hirogen tortured the bodies of Voyager crewmembers, and countless other such experiences. Wouldn't these sort have things changed him? Perhaps he held a grudge against the Hirogen? Or detested the way the Vidiians used their medical science to harm others? Little to no attention was paid to these in the book, and I didn't like that. Those sort of experiences deserved a chapter at least, but Picardo paid no attention to them.

But that being said, the book was excellent, and provided great insight into the Doctor's character.

A must read if you are a Voyager fan.

Who would have thought that anyone could write more than a scant paragraph about a hammer? Jeff Taylor not only wrote an entire chapter, but made it so intriguing that I read every word (often out loud to whoever was in the room), and turned eagerly to the next chapter and tool. I gave it to my husband when I reluctantly finished; he ordered three more for gifts.

Yes, it's a book about tools, but it is also a book about teachers, not only of the craft of carpentry, but of the more difficult art of coping with the foibles of human nature.

Taylor's prose leaps from resounding metaphor to the language of the street in an engagingly warm and humorous fashion as he introduces his readers to each tool and all the mysteries and wonders they hold. Mundane objects like Yankee drills and framing squares take on personality when seen through the author's eyes (and through the incredible glamor of the book's photography). Glamour? Hand tools? Yes! Only halfway through the book, I conceived a powerful craving for a rosewood level -- and I am not a carpenter. Not only are we made privy to the secrets of each tool, but also to the secrets of the myriad characters who instructed him in his craft. And these teachers are definitely characters, masterfully sketched.Crusty, perhaps, sometimes even shifty. But they knew their trade, and after a lifetime of working with their hands, they knew fifty tricks with a hammer and other things the home dabbler has never dreamt of.They knew their tools. So does Jeff Taylor -- now.

Even if you've never held a hammer in your life, you'll appreciate this book. It's a great read, and a must for the woodworkers among your acquaintance for Christmas. Buy several, because you'll keep loaning yours out, and it won't come back.

The other editions I've seen present it almost as a relic of the past, as something to be looked at, and fondly reminisced over. The purple edition did a great interview with one of the creators (and 3 of his personalities if I remember correctly), which is nice, but too stale for me.

I'm sorry to see it out of print.

In summary: This edition of the Principia is particularly good because it features added material, all in the style and theme of the original.

Side note: If you want better reviews of this book, look for the reviews of for the purple and yellow editions (by Omar K. Ravenhurst, and Malaclypse et al, respectively). All editions feature the same original content.

Written in a friendly and highly readable style, this book covers every single aspect of the overseas teaching experience. It shows you how to determine your suitability to be a teacher, how to select a training course, how to conduct the job search, and how to settle into a job teaching English overseas. And this guide is not afraid to tackle issues such as teaching illegally (without a work permit), health issues and those sensitive cross-cultural issues (including personal relationships). Increasingly Americans seem to be becoming wary, or even afraid, of working abroad. With its thoroughly grounded and practical approach to all the issues, this book dispels those fears. Jeff Mohamed's enthusiasm is highly contagious!

The listings of resources are current and incredibly comprehensive (I was pleased to see it included the school in Egypt, ILI Helopolis, where I spent many happy years!)

For those starting their careers as teachers this book is invaluable. For those more seasoned teachers, the lists of resources (almost 100 pages of them!) are invaluable. And I see from the introduction that if you do not like it, you can contact the publisher for a full refund. What have you got to lose?

As soon as I got the book, I wrote a resume using the directions which it gives. Then I emailed the resume and a covering letter to the Czech schools which are listed in one of the appendices. That was about 5 days ago. I've already received encouraging replies from 4 schools and tomorrow I'm having a phone interview with one of them - a school in Prague. I hope I'll soon get more replies and more interviews.

Now I'm using the book to prepare a list of questions to ask during my interview. I'm also reading the chapters on what documents I will need and what other preparations I should make - I didn't realize that there were so many things to think about and arrange before going to work abroad.

I think it's a great book and very practical. I totally recommend it to anyone who wants to get a job teaching English in a foreign country.

Greg Miller is a true outdoorsman who hunts on public land and small farms in Wisconsin. His helpful tips, especially on hunting rublines are sure to make you a better hunter. As someone who must hunt heavily pressured public land I figured I would have to use Aggressvie Whitetail strategies to be successful. I applied the lessons learned in this book and bagged a nice eight point buck on public land.

If your a begginer, or someone who wants to bag a bigger buck this is the book for you.

If you're looking for a reference, this is the book to get. The reference section is current VoiceXML 2.0 (October 2001), which is an advantage in and of itself. But the real strength of the reference section is its depth. Each element, (e.g., , , ) has an entry for syntax (how to invoke the element), a description (what the element is used for), a thorough discussion of its attributes (that is, a description of the attribute), a usage statement (the elements parents and children), and an example (a snipet of complete code that uses the element). The examples and discussion of attributes really set this book apart from its peers.

There is a brief discussion of the architecture of a VoiceXML app, and a couple of paragraphs discussing the differences between VoiceXML 1.0 and 2.0.

The book also gives, contrary to my expectations, a history of the voice industry, a history of VoiceXML, and a discussion of players in the industry. What makes this book's treatment of these topics unusual is that the authors (particularly Kunins, I suspect) actually know these fields. I don't normally want these sections in a reference book (it just adds bulk around the section I really want) but I found them quite compelling here. I learned quite a bit from reading them.

The book also contains sections on Dynamic VoiceXML, Security, Voice App Life Cycle, VUI Design, the Future of VoiceXML, and a case study. I haven't read these sections yet, so I can't comment on them. I do know, however, that the sections I have read are sufficiently superior to make this THE VoiceXML book on their own.

If I were to criticize the book, I would fault the authors' lavish praise of TellMe (this is minor and not unexpected) and the examples in the reference section. The examples are quite good for someone learning VoiceXML, and the authors are commended for including them. The fault (albeit a minor one) is that they are fairly vanilla. So, while I would have preferred more examples, I concede that such examples would make the book much larger and the inclusion of "advanced" examples to the exclusion of "canonical" examples would have made them less useful to developers learning VoiceXML.

Overall, if you are going to own one VoiceXML reference, THIS should be that one.