Independent Books

The book is readable in as much as trash pop and pulp fiction is watchable and readable.No matter what is said,at the end of the day,this producer is yet another example of someone grandfathered into the industry ,with a production loan to get her started.A lump sum equvalent of about USD 100 000 today.There were a handful of active indie female producers operating in those times(most without that financial leg up.)Vachon is but one story.For that reason this is an ill researched book.
A few other women may not have stood on others toes as much as Vachon is capable of, nor claimed as much public or industry credit for themselves, but this book is but one story from the nineties,and it is in that context only it is best read.There were a small handful of extremely strident indie and studio women in Hollywood at the time,who broke significant paths for other women,not just themselves- in the choosing of projects they developed and the actions they took.The book is readable but indulgent insider name dropping. In one aspect a shallow take on a very political hollywood film business at the time.

This book is riveting reading for the fan or the filmmaker. Vachon has a talent for balancing intensive amounts of details with storytelling skills. You really will want to know how a distribution is made before the first frame is filmed. Her personality -- tough, passionate, centered -- also makes the book a compelling read. Even when her foes are completes a-hats, Vachon does not descend into bitterness, but rather, makes another compelling lesson.

...which kind of gets me wondering--why the heck don't *even more* aspiring producers and D-boy and D-girl wannabes get their hands on this amazing compendium of production experiences, take them to heart, and learn themselves a whole lot about the global film game in the process. If you've got the answer to that question, let me know. I'm still scratching my noodle.

Okay, so you're going to totally dig this book. Christine Vachon and her Killer Films outfit in N-Y-C, using that well-known convention of theirs--break the bounds of traditional (read: boring) publishing with a rather unconventional approach to bookwriting. Prepare for a wild wooly ride of a read...Christine's deft collaborators (egs. directors, financiers, and studio consigliatores) have chimed in here in various sections, offering up sage advice on the pit- and prat-falls of the indie and studio sides of the filmmaking biz, and what it's generally like working with Christine and her able band of brothers and sisters. That, for this here reviewer, was a right privilege...live recordings of Christine's conversations with her colleagues wouldn't have been richer. And like I tell you in my title...you couldn't pay Vachon enough to give this course. For a couple of Lincolns, this was a gold mine.

By the way, I think I've tattooed my entire Netflix wish list with every single Killer title known to Movieland. As luck would have it, ONE HOUR PHOTO was one of the better films of 2002, and little did I know that Christine was even responsible for getting this one made. Small world, baby.

It's an unsung job, the producing game can sometimes be, but mark it--without Christine's valuable input at various stages of the process, many of these so-called little pictures mightn't have been made, languishing in that purgatory of "development hell" (or turnaround) like 98% of the projects out there are in (according to every single statistic known to the filmmaking poobahs). One of the most inspiring statements from the entire book which I triple underlined, dogeared, and highlighted in tri-colour was her frank admission that producers must maintain "eternal optimism." They are the ones who are enthusiastic at all times, oftentimes when there's no reason to be, and oftentimes when there's no production necessarily to speak of. The equivalent to selling short on the stock market. If your sources' predictions are bang on, chances are you're going to make a "buchta" of cash.

Such boundless enthusiasm the mark of a truly gifted deal-maker, and in the trenches which is the modern-day studio system (read: the business of making movies), and the relatively recent advent of the "mini-majors" (or classics divisions of the major Hollywood studios), this brand of relentlessness has become all the more critical. Remove one element from the positivity puzzle, strip away a single grain of that much-needed goodness which is a key ingredient of the all-encompassing feelgood--by definition, a must towards smooth functioning on the film set--and off your high film concept goes into the grey ether.

Just for the rekkid, listening to podcasts helps, kids! I'd heard about this title after listening to Claude Brodesser Ackner's THE BUSINESS on NPR (goo-search it). I was so intrigued by Christine's outspokenness, that I simply couldn't curb my enthusiasm to hop on over to my favourite online book purveyor and pick up the nearest copy of her A KILLER LIFE.

Where is that extra star when I need it? Five estrellas, kids. Count 'em. Cinco.

--ADM in Prague

As an aspiring producer, I have long looked up to the indie queen Christine Vachon, and I was interested to read this book after having read her excellent SHOOTING TO KILL. I read that book when I was back in college, but this book is better. It's definitely more personal - in a way it reads like a memoir.

You feel like you are going through all the trials and tribulations with her. There's a lot of exciting stuff here - she battles the MPAA over Boys Don't Cry -- the bond company takes control of Far From Heaven-- she has interactions with big stars like Jude Law and Julia Roberts.
I have never been to Sundance, but Vachon's Sundance diary takes you through that festival with her.

All this makes for a book that's immensely readable; I couldn't put it down. I really liked the spotlights from other industry figures, agents, studio heads and directors like John Cameron Mitchell (who did my favorite film, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH!) If you are in the industry, want to learn about the industry or are just plain curious about how movies get made, go out and get this book now!

I'm a big fan of graphic novels and crime fiction, so I try and check out crime graphic novels when I can. I was drawn to this one by Dwyer's distinctive cover art, which evokes a raw '70s vibe. The book is printed in a distinctive sepia brown on brown-tinted paper, which marks it as very different from the usual graphic fiction and is well suited to the vintage feel of both Dwyer's style and the material.

The story kicks off with a daylight bank heist in a small town "somewhere out West." And before too many pages have gone by, the robbers -- a burly man in his 50s, a pretty younger woman, and a somewhat simple-minded big lug -- are back at their hideout with the loot. Fortunately (or not) for them, the haul is substantially bigger than they expected, so much so that it's clear something fishy is going on. The fishy something is an arrangement between the weedy bank manager and a nasty Vegas mobster to launder dirty mob money. The rest of the book pits an army of black-suited mob goons against the likeable robbers, with a few flashbacks as to how the threesome became a team. There's plenty of gunplay and gore as the "good guys" attempt to prevail against the odds and get away with the cash.

This is all good stuff, and well executed, the problem is that it's borderline plagiarism. I haven't read John Reese's 1968 book, The Looters, but I have seen Charley Varrick, the 1973 film based on it. Directed by Don Seigel (The Killers, Dirty Harry) and starring Walter Matthau as the aging bank robber, the film's basic plot is virtually identical. Beyond the plot, similar elements include the heist location, the gang, the bank manager, the Vegas mob, and even some bits about a crop duster are all more or less identical. And lest there be any doubt, the book's title is identical to the film's subtitle (which was initially supposed to be the title). I'm all for homage and remakes, but you need to acknowledge that's what you're doing -- to do so otherwise is creative dishonesty.

Ok, it's a homage book. A homage to Sam Peckinpah. Or maybe even John Wayne. Excellent use of the comic medium to tell the story of a band of bank robbers on a final heist, with Fraction's offbeat transitions and Dwyer's sepia-stained art-- it instantly becomes an American classic. It's been a long time since an action book the likes of a John Woo film has come my way (with the probable exception of 100 Bullets), and Independents doesn't disappoint at all.

Is this a book about fairy tale ninjas?

My suggestion is this: Maybe buy the book and read it. I think the book will answer your ninja question for you.

There is a bank robbery in the book.

And the secret to making the perfect jello mold with fruit in it.

Matt Fraction is 100 years old and invented the nukeular bomb while beating Pablo Picasso at a game of Old Maid. He wears the pants in your family.

The influence of the daylight noir caper movie is readily apparent as a dozen films came to mind as I read and then re-read the book. Fraction and Dwyer have created an amalgam of "Lonely Are The Brave", "The Misfits", "The Getaway", "Reservoir Dogs", "Of Mice and Men", a few episodes of "The Rifleman" and their own steely vision to create an action comic that is hard as nails driven through the back of your hand. Sometimes a little pain reminds us that we are alive, have dreams that are only half realized and can lose friends under the worst situations.

Art and narrative are in lockstep as the story sometimes slows long enough to allow bitter details to linger and burn into the mind's retina, while at other times the reader is permitted to fill in details as desired. The sepia toned printing was at first irritating, but after a few pages, the ink color made editorial and artistic sense.

Most of the characters are well recognizable...as they should be, but I'd certainly enjoy meeting them again and sharing another story or two if given the opportunity. Despite that, I actually found myself smiling with surprise at some of the panels as we are given a few background details and thoughts of the characters, sprinkled in here and there.

If I have any disparaging comment it would be that while the story stands alone perfectly well, I want to know a little more, visit with these folks a while longer and wished there was a prequel or a sequel to the story we are given.

"Last of the Independents" is a good read, recommended highly.

I thought the content was disorganized when looking thru and reading details. Not one of my favorite 'reference' books for ideas.

Although the artwork shown is really nothing special (the book itself is not really a great looking one), this book is worth buying for sure. First and foremost for being an excellent type specimen book on one of the most influetial type houses today (no more browsing a 100 webscreens to find the perfect font). Then because of very good articles on stuff ranging from designers' intentions to history of many typeface. One of the most used fonts today, DIN, is presented with an excellent walkthrough of the design. Also featuring early sketches and studies of several typefaces which will prove an excellent resource for type designers all around.

This is a gorgeous book with many full color photos and prints on thick glossy paper with a sturdy binding. It's about the changes that have taken place in font design over the years and especially about the explosion in number of fonts available since the personal computer became widely available in the 1980s. It is primarily the story of digital type from the point of view of those who created the FontFont library of type, the FSI FontShop International in Berlin. It is about how desktop publishing changed the world of design and page layout.

Part of the text covers the history of fonts from a European point of view, but with the text and examples mostly in English. Another part of the text, which is woven through a myriad of font examples taken mostly from advertisements and magazine layouts describes the esoterica of fonts and their designers. There are first person accounts by font designers about their work. There are essays and articles and even an interview by designers from the US to England, Germany, even Iran and Pakistan. The artwork itself is stunningly beautiful, in places almost breathtaking. The book is quite simply a work of art itself.

I had some personal experience with fonts and the purely design side of letters and words some years ago when I sponsored a high school literary magazine. I learned how horrible a clashing mixture of fonts can be. My students did not have the trained eye or the experience to appreciate the subtleties of font distinctions and font design. I also taught some concrete poetry, which is the pictorial and artistic representation of letters and words (this book can be seen as an example of concrete poetry), and of course I downloaded PostScript fonts and worked with PageMaker and similar software.

This then is a book for artists and graphic designers. Many typefaces are described as well as pictured, and their characteristics and appropriate uses are presented. Some parts of the book are quite technical, and to be honest, well beyond my modest typographic expertise. The amount of information in the book's 352 pages is impressive, but more than anything this book is a treat for the eyes.

Continuing its encounter with the topic of font (typeface), Mark Blatty Publisher has released a hefty volume of images and the written word that is fascinating to browse - and almost is designed so that the very informative essays included seem to melt into the fonts being discussed. That may be a double edged sword: the written word by such fine authorities as Akira Kobayashi, Rian Hughes, Emily King, Ellen Lupton, Reza Abedini and of course Erik Spiekermann and Jan Middendorp is value added to the designers and contains bits of history and humor about the way words effect the eye and the mind of the viewer at times become almost secondary to the visual impact of the page!

FontFont was founded in 1990 'to produce innovative and influential fonts by designers, for designers' and this beautiful book is intended to demonstrate the impact of these creative adjuncts to the public. The book is divided into five chapters - Thinking FontFont, Talking FontFont, Making FontFont, Showing FontFont and Made with FontFont. For the casual reader it is the last chapter with its many pages of illustrations of the use of this important addition to the repertoire of designers that will prove the most interesting. This book is a 'must have' for designers and graphic artists, but it is also a fine addition to the library of those who are fascinated by the variations of typeface and their influence on how we absorb information. Grady Harp, April 07

This was a fascinating story about 2 nurses who longed to use all of their skills and talents to serve their patients/clients, as clearly related in the first review of this book. However, the story is marred by poor editing -- way too much detail about their personal lives in some places (which does not add to the story); and huge gaps in time covered in a short amount of material in other places. I think it took them way too long to get to the heart of the story. However, because they were among the very first to set up independent practice, the story is inspiring to all who want to persevere despite difficult challenges.

Police Wives strike out on an adventure in business as nurses and meet all kinds of people and solve all kinds of problems

These two nurses and friends were conserative educated nurses who were forced to fight the hospital establishment in order to be patient advocates. They created the first independent nursing practice in the US and became the first nurses ever called Nurse Practicioners. Their husbands played a large part -both were Chicago police officers. One owned a detective agency and the nurses also became investigators. This is a story of transformation of women, jobs, friendships etc. It gives all women a glimpse into the mystique of medicine, hospitals, psychiatric units, movie sets, nursing in an amusement park . These two women started with very different lives-one the mother of four-the other a determined career woman. An accident to one the pregnant one creates opportunities for them in their lives that they never expected and lead them to becoming entrepeneurs, speakers, businesswomen, leaders in nursing, nurses on movie sets and in amusement parks. They treat everyone from the penniless to the multimillionaires from the gold coast to the ghetto in their journey to advance their careers and themselves. One battles with her husband's alcoholism until he becomes a runner. This is a story of success, dreams and relationships. This is a non fiction novel if their were such a thing. It leads you into the homes of patients, doctor's offices,insurance companies, hospitals, occupational and corporate health and various other settings.They meet and treat movie stars, politicians and famous clergy. Their consultant doctor is a replica of "Dr Welby' with a playboy image. They are called modern day Joan of arcs and succeed in their case against a large metropolitan hospital and go on to write this book which was optioned for a tv movie of their characters. You can reach them as I did at 8l5-773-4497.

I thought this book was outstanding. It really showed that anyone can make it. These women had to struggle against a powerful hospital and society's misconceptions about the role of nurses in health care. I was especially intrigued by the adventures Karon and Joy had as independent nurse practicioners. The book gave me a new respect for the nursing profession.

This book contains some essays that are very helpful for privatization advocates. In particular, "Do Holdout Problems Justify Compulsory Right-of-Way Purchase and Public Provision of Roads" demolishes the argument that eminent domain is necessary; and "Improving Road Safety by Privatizing Vehicle and Driver Testing" shows how insurers can play a key role in privatizing Departments of Motor Vehicles. Moreover, "America's Toll Road Heritage" demonstrates not only that private toll roads have worked in the U.S., but that people invested in them even in the absence of a profit and in the presence of free riders (i.e. the "shunpikers.") The lessons learned here can be used to argue for privatization of defense and many other industries that are supposedly public goods producers. Anarcho-capitalists, take note!

This book is an excellent collection of arguments and information that are favorably disposed toward privaatization of roads. Various aspects of privatization in different aspects of road systems throughout the world are presented and discussed. While the pros and cons are analyzed, the conclusions argue that roads will benefit through increased private sector involvement.

The largest flaw in this book is that it is blind to the important question as to whether the real issue is one of proper management and delivery of road services. While it is easy to cite examples where privatization outperformed public sector road operations, nowhere is there recognition of the alternative analysis that the problem may be one of managerment and operational systems. Roads are a public commodity which the public depends upon for access to work and pleasure, delivery of goods enjoyed by all, use by emergency services, etc. Roads thus are a public good. The private sector, by definition, must secure a profit in order to invest in roads. While it is argued, often accurately, that the motivation for profit causes improved management, it is also true that the public sector could similarly seek to improve management and operations and do so at less cost, as the need for a profit does not exist within the public sector.

This book provides good arguments that something major is required for our roads to improve. The status quo is doomed. Congestion is noted where interstate highway travel increased by 38% from 1991 to 2001 while the miles of interstate highways increased by 5%. Congested roads lessen our quality of life, when stuck in traffic, costs businesses time and money having employees less available, and literally wears people out. In 11 large urban areas, the average times of commuting rose from 24 minutes in 1982 to 55 minutes in 1992 to 62 minutes in 2002.

The book appropriately criticizes the maze of revenue sources for roads and argues about the inequities of the lack of a correlation between those paying for roads and thus using roads.
The equity issue though needs to note that roads serve all directly and indirectly. The book correctly notes that revenue sources are insufficient and pose long term dilemmas from issues including a lack of proper maintenance and massive long term congestion worries. The solution may be better direct revenues for road needs.

Innovative ideas are presented in this book. For instance, rather than turning tolls over to a private sector entity, tolling authorities could sell shares to investors. Insurance companies could issue drivers licenses and vehicle registrations, thus ensuring that those issued these documents are insured. GPS technology could calculate miles of roads used and assist in tackling the equity issues. Maintenance that is contracted out should follow performance standards. This book is a great resource on road issues.

Edited by Gabriel Roth, whose expertise includes twenty years of service as Transportation Economist for the World Bank, Street Smart: Competition, Entrepreneurship, and the Future of Roads is an anthology of essays by learned authors discussing both theory and practice for private, market-based alternatives for road services from licensing vehicles and drivers to management of government-owned road facilities to franchising, outright private ownership, and more. America's current road transportation system is beset with traffic congestion, unsafe conditions, high costs, political corruption, environmental degradation, pork barrel pet projects and much more. In an era of rising national debt, Street Smart is more needed than ever as a source of ideas for more economic and safer means to look after transportation infrastructure.

Private turnpikes were commonplace in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries but they eventually succumbed to competition from railways and onerous government regulations. Street Smart makes an eloquent and convincing argument that the time is ripe for the private sector to make a comeback with a boost from modern electronic tolling technology and innovative contract designs. Chapters are organized into five parts that complement each other nicely. Early chapters explain why market forces allocate resources efficiently and describe various roles for the private sector in supplying road infrastructure and services. Later chapters describe the history of private roads and some recent, encouraging, developments with privatization, and suggest alternative ways forward in the course of privatization. Written by leading economists, engineers and other professionals, Street Smart is essential reading for academics, policy analysts and policy makers, as well as firms contemplating involvement themselves.

I ordered this book with the expectation that this would be a step-by-step guide to small scale farming (similiar to the book Five Acres and Independence). The book is a historical account about a Philadelphia businessman who left the city in the late 1800s after 15 years of renting and failing as business owner in order to attempt a life of self-sufficiency on a ten acre farm he purchased. The book was such an interesting account of history that I read the first half of the day it arrived. However, once you get past how he purchased the farm and the first three or four years of trials and tribuluations, the author repeats himself for the later third of the book (make your own liquid manure, apply it to everything, attack the weeds with a hoe, work hard, pay cash, yadda, yadda, yadda). There are many instances where the book reads as if the author is speaking of the present times and economy (bank failures, people losing their jobs and homes, and how through all of this, people will still buy fresh fruits). I recommend this book for the small farmer or gardener who plans on starting up from scratch with little capital. I also recommend this book for those who are interested in the 19th century U.S. history. You will learn a lot of interesting facts that you did not learn in school and will be able to draw parrallels to the current state of the economy.

Ah, truly a book to inspire. I wanted to dash right out and dig up the old potato patch!
Although this is an American book and therfore I did not understand a lot of the geographical references, this in no way detracted from the enjoyment I got from this book. I felt a bit smug when thinking about the success I have had with my chickens, but quite wilted when comparing his raspberries and strawberries with mine! Next season, I'm going to get me a lawtonberry or two.
I found it a bit tedious towards the end but that was when he was no longer writing about his own little farm and I think many of his comments there are quite dated and of no practical value now.
This book was well written and entertaining, though some comments I feel should rather be taken with a pinch of salt.
Rather sorry that I have finished reading this book and heartily recommend it to anyone who has fancied getting a small-holding or even those who just want to grow something well in their own backyard. Many of his tips and comments are as valid today as they were 140 years ago.

This is one of my favorites. Since it was written during the mid-1860's, the writing style is perhaps a bit different from what we are used to nowadays, but not distractingly so. This farmer knows how to tell a story. He starts with his longing to leave the city, leads us through his search for an affordable property and then lets us follow him as he chooses his crops -- among them, 804 peach trees at 7 cents a piece, all dutifully "tarred" to prevent worms -- and markets the produce for the first few years on the farm. Along the way, he scatters fascinating tidbits about his life. One of my favorites is the story of his blackberry plants. While living in town, he had read of a new kind of blackberry that intrigued him, and though it was a very unheard of thing to do at the time, he orderd six of the plants by mail, at the princely sum of five dollars. When the plants arrived, he was shocked at their size and appearance. "They looked like long white worms, with here and there a bud or an eye" and was too embarassed to admit to his wife that he paid so much for them. But he planted them and tended them, and the next year had a magnificent crop of berries, and so finally admitted to the cost. He and his wife agreed it was a bargain at that, and since they loved the berries so much, they dug up the plants and took them along to their new farm. There, the berries attracted the attention of neighbors and nurserymen, and by being one of the first suppliers in the area, he was able to sell $460 worth of blackberry plants that first year on the farm -- quite a return on his initial five dollar investment.

There's more, and he catalogs it all: the cow that worked out well and the chickens that didn't, the way his neighbors thought him insane for battling the never-ending weeds, the value he saw in small birds, the money spent on load after load of manure, and mostly, the satisfaction of it all. There really is no substitute for farming done this way, where taking care of the land itself is still a priority, and the crops a source of pride. So if you are even the slightest bit interested in coming to the country in search of something better, I encourage you to read this book. Initially, I hesitated to buy it, figuring that it would be too irrelevant and dated, but no, it's not. It's absorbing. And though I can't find peach trees for 7 cents a piece today, the story is the same. And if you don't find yourself living in the country soon enough to suit you, you'll at least have had the pleasure of sharing Edmund Morris's farm for awhile.

Great read. I bought this book looking for some ideas on how to better enjoy the farm life I now have. This book tells about a man who is tried of the hustle and bustle of city life. (And mind you this was in the late 1800's). He writes in detail how to locate a small piece of property and live a much fulfilled life. I highly recommend this book. I have already loaned it out twice.

P.S. see if you can find the small reference about The Civil War.

The Foreword is by Identity luminary Kim Cameron and if I'm keeping it real, rather than describe the book's contents, I wish he'd shared more thoughts around the problem space, the approach to the solution and the roadmap BEYOND cardspace.

The book itself is an easy read. Not a tome by an means. Easy to pickup as a reference or to sit with and read chapter by chapter.

It succeeds at describing Identity Federation from a conceptual level as well as from a technical level (as it pertains to Cardspace). It even addresses some of the less obvious issues such as the notion of auditing and non-auditing IdPs.

Be warned, this book focuses on Cardspace fairly exclusively. There isn't a lot on interoperability here between things like OpenID and Cardspace for example. That's a topic for another book and could not easily be incorporated without devoting a lot of pages to OpenID.

The technical section is navigated through use cases that tackle things from an end-user experience as well as from the developer angle. This is effective as often it's hard to understand one without the other. At every point the reasoning behind the solution is presented also. This worked well.

For me personally, I wish they'd spent a little more time on things like GetToken() although using this directly will likely not be of interest to 90% of folks out there.

Unique to books of this type is a section devoted to Practical Considerations. Why one would want to setup an IdP or simply play the role of Identity Consumer for example. In today's environment the business value of establishing yourself as an IdP is questionable and I was glad to see this point addressed head on.

Vittorio, Garrett and Caleb have done an terrific job of describing and grounding one of the most compelling and abstract problems faced by the internet today. This an excellent book and for many will serve as a one-stop-shop for all your Cardspace questions.

The 'identity problem' is one of the more challenging areas for developers - particularly web developers. The book echoes what I have found when presenting information about CardSpace to developer communities. That is, a larger-than-normal amount of context is needed, prior to delving into the technical implemenation details. The book includes an appropriate amount of technical detail as well.

Even if you are familiar with the scope of the problem, I encourage you to be patient with the first section of the book - it will add to your arsenal of context - which you will find useful when 'explaining' the business reasons for moving toward the CardSpace identity selector and the greater Identity 2.0 space (including Identity Providers and Relying Parties).

The identity problem is important, if you haven't taken a look at CardSpace, this book is very useful start for you. The book also gives useful context arount the greater Identity 2.0 space.

I am sick and tired of collecting passwords for each website I register: a password manager is making my life easier but deep inside myself I was wondering how long we have to live with the current system.
Then I got to know about this effort about building an identity meta-system started by Kim Cameron; the topic is not easy so that is why I followed Kim's suggestion and I bought this book. It is great! I now understand more and I'm just hoping that more Companies would start implementing this new technology on their systems (especially websites).
The book if full of technical details but also very easy to understand: do yourself a favor by not skipping the first "historical" part which explains why are we "here" and what are now the options.
Highly recommended.

CardSpace is an interesting offering from Microsoft that improves on their earlier, much unlamented Passport. Essentially a refactoring of user information. So that instead of a website asking for it and keeping it, especially where this is the (username, password), it can seek out an authoritative site on the Internet that has what information about the user is relevant. There's more to CardSpace. But one gist is to minimise the effort by users to maintain username and password across many websites.

Another motivator is to reduce the danger of phishing. In part by letting a user detect if a website is pretending to be a good website which she has visited before. This is done through her having several Cards, and having earlier chosen a particular Card to use at that good website. A fake website [pharm] simply won't have this information, and the lack of it can be a telltale warning to her.

Indeed, phishing appears in many parts of the text. A driving force in explaining why we should adopt CardSpace.

Unfortunately, efficacy is limited. Much phishing consists of emails, with links to pharms controlled by the phisher. Nothing in CardSpace attacks those emails directly, giving the recipient or her email provider a lightweight and objective means of detecting phishing messages and deleting or disabling them. Absolutely zero discussion of this in the text.

Nor does CardSpace attack another type of phishing. Instead of the message pretending to be from a bank at which you already have an acount, it asks you to submit an application to open an account at a bank. Or to apply for a credit card, say. In these cases, the pharm is not pretending to be a place you've been to before. So you don't have any Card history usage there. How can you tell if the website is really run by a real financial institution? Here, the intent of the pharm is to harvest your personal information, for later use in identity fraud. This phishing modality sidesteps entirely the abovementioned protection.

What if, in response, you as a Card user, say you'll only hand over information to an unknown website via CardSpace, instead of typing it into that website's page? Still doesn't work. The pharm can implement CardSpace, acting as a Relying Party. So it fools you into letting it get information about you from an Identity Provider. If it's acting as a financial site, then it is natural to ask you for such things as your TaxID (SSN for Americans), date of birth, etc. Whether you type it in or it gets this from an IP is the same to the pharm. In fact, it might even prefer that you use an IP to give it data. Because that is more likely to be correct.

At this point, someone says, "Easy. The IP will only divulge to a reliable RP". Well, what defines "reliable"? Is it possibly that the RP has an Extended Validation Certificate? (The book makes repeated reference to EV.) While these are more expensive and harder to get than current Certificates, the level of scrutiny here can be defeated. A phisher can enrol as an employee at an existing IP that has an EV. (Or bribe an employee.) Or even set up a company that will get an EV. Remember, in general an EV holder does not have the same level of internal checks that a bank has, on its employees, to guard against subversion. Most EV holders will be merchants with websites. Merchants of varying sizes and sophistication.

This phishing modality is currently relatively infrequent, compared to normal phishing. Perhaps because phishers find it more lucrative to focus on accessing existing bank accounts, which they drain. (Whereas identity fraud is more effort.) But if this popular form of phishing were to fade, for whatever reason, including for the sake of argument, the widespread use of CardSpace, then the other modality can be expected to rise.

CardSpace's main virtue is convenience, in reducing the duplication of personal data on the Internet. Yes, to the extent that this happens, it does improve personal privacy and safety. But against phishing, it really only has, or promises to have, an indirect impact. Worse, and ironically, the very convenience of extensive CardSpace usage might actually increase the incidence of personal data leakage.

In this very readable book, Khazanov argues that the Soviet Union was essentially a continuation of the Russian Empire, retarding the north Eurasian continent's normal process of modernization. The failure of Soviet "nationalities' policy" directly contributed to the breakup in 1991 and continuing ethnic tensions in many regions. Drawing upon meticulous research, he shows how the after-effects of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union, where economy and polity were coupled in a centralized administration, make the transition to democratic politics and market economics a more difficult path than most analysts have predicted. Although one may not agree with his theory of nationalism and modernity, Khazanov synthesizes a wealth of data into a provocative discussion of the variable of ethnicity in local politics and national policy in Central Asia, Siberia, and the Caucusas. Many historians, political scientists, anthropologists, and others will find this book very useful.

Though some of the statistics used in the appendix were outdated when this book was publised, this book is well worth the cost and the time to read it. A different perspective is presented, made, at least in part, possible due to the amount of time and fieldwork that the author was able to use in writing this book. The point is well made that the situation in many of the former Soviet republics was far more complex at the time this book was written than many thought. This was true in 1995, and remains so today.

Written in 1995, a lot of the details are now outdated, especially political. However, the same trends and underlying causes remain, which makes this book an excellant one if one is seeking to understand the background for the regions discussed in this book.

This book gives an fantastic insight to the recent ethnic wars that followed by the break-up of the Soviet Union. The book also gives us a sobering view that the breakaway republic conflicts against Russia will continue into the near future.

The modern members of the Republican party are fond of saying that Ronald Reagan won the Cold War versus the Soviet Union. While he had a part in it, the major contributors to the American victory were Harry Truman and George Marshall. The first major battle of that war was "fought" in West Berlin in 1948. Once the war in Europe was over, the sometimes strained relationship between the Soviet Union and the western allies began to fall apart.
While there had been agreement concerning zones of occupation in Germany, West Berlin immediately became a sticking point. The Soviets occupied the area known as East Berlin and each of the other main powers, the U.S. A., France and Great Britain, occupied sectors of what became West Berlin. Access to West Berlin was via land and air corridors across miles of East German territory. With very little productive capability, West Berlin was at the mercy of the level of shipments of vital goods from outside the city and that access was controlled by the communists.
In 1948, the communists closed the land corridors to West Berlin in an attempt to "starve" the allies out. Rather than start a war or turn West Berlin over to the communists, the allies launched a massive airlift of supplies into the city. This was before the development of the jet airliner, so all goods were flown on propeller driven planes with a much smaller cargo capacity.
The airlift was a resounding success and led to the first allied victory in the cold war. That victory also made it clear to the Europeans wavering in their opposition to the communists that the U. S. would do all it could short of war to defend them against that threat.
It is no exaggeration to say that the cold war was won in Western Europe. Had the communists been able to take over West Berlin, it is likely that Greece and Italy would also have turned communist. As it was, it nearly happened in Greece. Stalin largely took a hands-off approach in the Greek civil war, had he won West Berlin, he might have been more forceful in supporting the Greek communists. His change in attitude and the perceived weakness of allied resolve could have turned the tide.
This book is the best description of this turning point in the history of the world, while West Berlin was a relatively small piece of territory, it was hugely symbolic and this story of how it was saved is a historical treasure. The Berlin crisis was truly an inflection point in history and this book captures all the drama and circumstances back when the United States could truly do incredible things when it had to.

"Airbridge to Berlin" is one of many publications about the episode appearing as a result of 1988's fortieth anniversary of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift. This work presents the Berlin Blockade as a titanic struggle between two blocks of nations with divergent ideologies that nearly plunged the world into another major war.

"Airbridge to Berlin" is designed exclusively as popular history, and does a fine job of offering a valuable reinterpretation of the event. Authors Giangreco and Griffin have succeeded admirably in presenting a graphic depiction of the airlift, this time from a decidedly American perspective. Their narrative concentrates on a description of the events of the airlift itself, the diplomatic story of its resolution, and a brief history of the city since 1949. They assert that no other city has been the center of East/West controversy as has Berlin in the post-World War II period. The blockade and airlift, Giangreco and Griffin suggest, was only one of several crises involving the city, and these confrontations will not abate until the unique situation of a divided Berlin is resolved. The most important contribution of "Airbridge to Berlin," however, is the more than 300 black and white photographs that illustrate the volume. Many have never been published before, and they depict well the trials and hopes of the people of Berlin during the blockade. The photographs put an entirely new face on the events of the Berlin Airlift and are alone worth the price of the volume.

"The Chocolate Flyer" to the "Eye of the Storm," are far from the extent of information in this book. You are not thrown into the beginning of the airlift without any clue how you got there. The authors show you the "Road to Confrontation" from both the side of the Western Allies and of the UdSSR. The politics, economics and dynamics of the Berlin Blockade and Airlift are clarified with out the feel of a textbok. All together, it is quite enjoyable reading and filled with photographs and accounts of the actual people involved. The lives and hardships of the Berliners as well as the relationships formed between the pilots and the people give the book a realistic touch. No longer will the Berlin Crisis be just a page on the history books.

Mike Jacobs gets a lot of advice in THE ART OF LOSING, and most of it is good. Some of it is from his would-be girlfriend, a Danish filmmaker who knits scarves and hats to remind her distant relatives that it's cold outside. Some of it is from his wealthy parents who caution him about the lure of money. And some of it is from tough guys who work for bookies and have no compunction about slamming Mike's hand in a door should he not be able to pay off his bets. It's all good advice, but he doesn't listen to very much of it.

Mike makes films, a process that is a gamble all its own. ("Films," you understand. Not "movies," never "movies.") The failure of his third film is the catalyst for the tale, and is instructive in and of itself. It is a documentary called The Daisy Chain (Mike never explains the significance of the title) that takes place in Bellevue, the psychiatric hospital in Manhattan. Mike spends a year of his life and every scrap of money that he can get his hands on to make the film --- cutting corners by having the psychiatric patients who are the subject of the documentary handle the camera work, for example.

The Daisy Chain premieres in New York, but only a few people show up. Certainly not enough to make the production company any profit, certainly not enough to get the film to a wider audience in arthouse theaters across the country, certainly not enough to sell the film to the cable networks, and certainly not enough to compensate Mike for the year he took out of his life to make the film.

So, you're an impoverished New York filmmaker, in between films, and you need money fast --- not just to make your next film but to make your next meal; not just to stave off the "starving artist" cliché but starvation itself. What can you do? What should you do?

What Mike Jacobs does is play the ponies. The novel opens up at Aqueduct, where Mike and his producer Sebby Laslo have a line on a sure thing, a 50-to-1 shot that will pay off huge if it can just manage to overcome its little problem of an injured tendon. The horse finishes last, consistent with Mike's own track record. But Sebby knows a jockey, and the jockey knows horses, so there might be a way after all to turn the tables on the odds and walk away with enough money for Mike to lift himself out of poverty without compromising his artistic integrity or begging his parents.

This requires Mike to ignore a lot of the advice he receives --- even though it's well-meaning, correct and meant to save his life. Author Keith Dixon sets up the first half of the book with any number of escape routes, ways that Mike can save himself by pulling out of his self-destructive spiral. And then, one by one, Dixon closes the routes, locks off the tunnels and artfully seals Mike's fate gradually.

THE ART OF LOSING benefits from more than the deft plotting and its cynical, paranoid tone. Dixon gives Mike a cinematic eye for details, describing even the most minute experiences --- visiting the eye doctor, getting a shaving cut --- in a vivid, forceful way. Dixon's dark take on art, the track and the lengths to which people will go for money is stark and engrossing --- and it just might help you listen to some of the advice you get everyday.

--- Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds,

not quite what i expected. but the writing is solid and the author has talent. i found some of the situations and the way people acted hugely implausible but still enjoyed the book. it's a noir. very dark and thank God the author didn't opt for a cute and happy ending. it's a nice distance from the "new" kind of crime novel that has to be cute and funny. If you like this you'd like Con Ed another very good crime book that is very much along the same vein as this one. it's good to see this kind of book getting some success. this writer had talent and the book just breezes along. can't wait to see what this author comes up with next.

I started reading this book expecting a fun and sharply written crime-caper. After all, the advertised plot revolves around a documentary filmmaker (Mike Jacobs) based in NYC (which is beautifully rendered), who seeks fast money by placing bets on what appear to be fixed horse races. This plan, of course, is quickly complicated.

What I didn't expect, and greatly enjoyed, were the deeper levels of the story - themes of memory, conscience, and redemption. Yet while the book is thought-provoking, Dixon avoids cliches, and he avoids bogging down the story with exposition. The tale cracks along. "The Art of Losing" would make an excellent movie - especially if it was directed in such a way that the story retained it's subtlety.

Highly recommended.