Resources Books

Fight The Good FightHaving been a member of Prestonwood Baptist Church and sat under the ministry of Dr. Jack Graham for four years, I believe that he is truly a man of God. A great leader who has served as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention for two terms. My wife and I have purchased this book to give to others.

This book is must reading for every man! It speaks of our relationship with God and how that relationship is carried over to that with our wives, children, employers, etc. Guys, God expects certain things from us. I encourage all men to read this book!

I couldn't be happier with the purchase of this book. It is by far one of the best sources on godly living for men. His style is personal, yet powerful. And just in time for Father's Day, it has inspired me to include all the essential priorities listed by Dr. Graham into my own life and family.

This book is more than your average book. It covers topics that every man wants to know more about. It digs deeps into Scripture and offers Christian men the basic essentials to living sold-out to God. I couldn't be happier with this book. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the highest), I give it a 12.

Jack Graham is pastor of the massive Prestonwood Baptist Church which boasts a membership of over 23,000 and is thus one of the world's largest churches. He has written several books, the latest of which is A Man of God (which releases today). To provide a clear idea of the target audience for this book, one does not need to look much farther than the list of endorsers. The list includes Roger Staubach, Gary Carter and Pat Summerall. Neil Clark Warren (founder of the online dating site eHarmony.com) is added for good measure. And Chuck Norris enters the fray to write the foreward. And if you still aren't sure, perhaps this quote will bring added clarity. "The Christian life is more important than the Super Bowl, the World Series, the NBA Finals, and the Stanley Cup all wrapped together" (page 12).

This book is obviously intended for the American "everyman" - the average guy with average interests who attends the average church. Graham intends this book to be a wake-up call. He tells us early-on that he has always firmly believed that "if revival was to come to the church, and if the Good News of Jesus Christ was to spread to the nations, it would be because men became godly and began living their faith with passion and integrity" (page 13). He seeks to encourage men to step up to the challenges offered to the faith in the twenty-first century and accept responsibility for the church.

The book is divided into four roughly-equal sections, each containing three chapters. The first, "A Man of God and His Master" challenges men to know, understand and commit to God. Graham teaches that men need to commit to maximum discipleship - discipleship that impacts the whole life. The second section, "A Man of God and His Integrity" challenges men to live upright lives marked by moral purity and free from captivity to temporal possessions. The third section, "A Man of God and His Family" speaks of the importance of prioritzing family relationships. The final section, "A Man of God and His Ministry" challenges men about in the areas of mentorship and evangelism.

The book is written in a conversational tone and is simple both to read and understand. Stories and examples abound. Scripture examples and proof-texts are also in abundant supply.

There were a couple of small theological issues I found with the book, but I can see that these arose because of my Reformed understanding of salvation. On page 201 Graham writes, "People are incredibly interested in something that will fill the void in their hearts." While this may be true, in no way does this indicate, as he seems to indicate, that unbelievers are genuinelly and spiritually interested in the gospel. But beyond such minor concerns, I found the book quite Scriptural.

I am not convinced that Graham says very much in this book that has not been said before by other authors. In fact, there are probably quite literally one hundred books that deal with this same topic in a similar way. However, judging by the churches of today it seems that plenty of men have still not accepted the challenge, so perhaps this book can serve to wake a few more from their spiritual slumber. If a man in your life is not a reader, and has not already read several similar titles, this may be the type of book that will challenge and motivate him. It is certainly more biblical and more challenging than Wild at Heart and so many others.

Nutshell review - This book provides an excellent presentation of financial concepts as they relate to information security. The only problem with these techniques is, as Richard Bejtlich points out in his review, the difficulty in obtaining accurate input data for these models. But regardless, if you are a manager charged with budget planning you should read this book.

This book provides an excellent discussion of key economic principles needed to make managing cybersecurity resources more effective. I really liked the nice examples provided throughout the book. The examples reinforce the economic concepts and applications. I foresee this book becoming a prime reference for me.

Managing Cybersecurity Resources (MCR) is an excellent book. I devoured it in one sitting on a weather-extended flight from Washington-Dulles to Boston. MCR teaches security professionals how to think properly about making security resource allocation decisions by properly defining terms, concepts, and models. The only problem I have with MCR is the reason I subtracted one star: its recommended strategy, cost-benefit analysis, relies upon estimated probabilities of loss and cost savings that are unavailable to practically every security manager. Without these figures, constructing cost-benefit equations as recommended by MCR is impossible in practice. Nevertheless, I still strongly recommend reading this unique and powerful book.

My favorite aspect of MCR is its explanation of economics and finance terms to the security audience. I felt like applauding when I read on p 47 "[M]any managers... are merely calling the IRR an ROI or ROSI (return on security investment). Given that the concepts of "return on investment" and "internal rate of return" are well established in the accounting, finance, and economics literature, as well as among nearly all senior financial managers (e.g., CFOs), security managers should be careful how they use these terms. Indeed, misusing these terms can only lead to problems for the security manager." (See p 45 for a comparison of ROI, IRR, and NPV.)

In a similar fashion, MCR explains what a "return" is for security on p 21: "The benefits associated with cybersecurity activities are derived from the cost savings (often called cost avoidance) that result from preventing cybersecurity breaches. These benefits are difficult, and often impossible, to predict with any degree of accuracy. Moreover, since the actual benefits are conceptually the cost savings associated with potential security breaches that did not occur, it is not possible to measure these benefits precisely after the security investments are made."

What of "investment"? Pp 28-30 say: "[O]rganizations tend to treat the bulk of their cybersecurity expenditures as operating costs and charge them to the period in which they are incurred," unlike capital investments, which "represent assets of an organization that should appear on the organization's balance sheet." The authors recommend us to "view all costs related to cybersecurity activities... as capital investments with varying time horizons."

So what is a cost? P 5 says "The cost of information security is essentially a negative network externality associated with the Internet... [It] arises when malevolent individuals and organizations [which the authors properly label "threats" on p 12] join the network, thereby imposing costs on all well-intentioned users. These costs take the form of losses caused by actual security breaches plus the cost of actions... designed to prevent such breaches."

P 30 wisely states "[N]o amount of security can guarantee that breaches will not occur... The goal of the organization should be to implement security procedures up to the point where the benefits minus the costs are at a maximum." The footnote on p 31 continues with "An alternative way to view this discussion is to think of the goal as one of trying to minimize the sum of the costs associated with cybersecurity activities and the costs associated with breaches... the optimal level of cybersecurity for an organization would be the same under the cost minimization goal as it would be if the organization were to maximize the net benefits." I think most managers prefer to think in terms of cost minimization, which is a prevalent throughout IT.

Costs are dissected on pp 56-58: "The direct costs of cybersecurity breaches are those costs that can be clearly linked to specific breaches... the indirect costs of cybersecurity breaches cannot be linked... Explicit costs of cybersecurity breaches are those costs of breaches that can be measured in an unambiguous manner... implicit costs are opportunity costs (i.e., costs associated with lost opportunities), which cannot be measured without ambiguity... the benefits derived from spending funds on cybersecurity activities come largely from the cost savings derived by avoiding the implicit costs of breaches."

Page 63 explains why companies have "Chief Privacy Officers" and the like, even though preserving privacy is the confidentiality aspect of the CIA triad and could be a CISO responsibility: "The findings from our study show that, on average, information breaches that compromise confidentiality do have a significant negative impact on the stock market value of corporations experiencing breaches. Indeed, the average decline in the firm's stock market value... was approximately 5 percent."

So far so good, right? The major flaw with MCR arrives in ch 4, on p 68: "The variables affecting potential cost savings include (1) the potential losses associated with information security breaches, (2) the probability that a particular breach will occur, and (3) the productivity associated with specific investments, which translates into a reduction in the probability of potential losses." This is true -- but this is the key problem: devising even rough estimates of 1, 2, and 3 is nearly impossible in practice. The authors' examples (see figure 4-2 for one) assume these factors can be determined (like $10 mil total potential loss without countermeasures, 75% probability of loss with no countermeasures / 50% with $650,000 of countermeasures, and so on). When I saw these contrived examples I wondered "what is the origin of these figures?" The fact of the matter is that they are all guesswork, which means the calculator can say anything the analyst wishes to produce.

In some sense we are back to square one, although much better educated in economics. (Note that Andy Jaquith's book Security Metrics also observes how calculating these figures is nearly impossible in real life.)

Because MCR is so right in all of its other discussions, the book deserves 4 stars. A proper acceptance of the difficulty or impossibility of determining 1, 2, and 3 might have resulted in 5 stars. Perhaps a second edition will address these concerns?

PS: I would be remiss to not quote the authors' exceptional insights into the problems with security auditing. P 132 says "[T]he checklist approach tends to shift attention away from the cost-benefit aspects of such security. That is, the checklist approach usually assumes that conducting a particular procedure is inherently worth doing." P 137 hits the nail on the head: "[F]or some firms, it is quite possible that the costs of cybersecurity auditing will exceed the benefits. If this were to occur, then cybersecurity auditing would in effect decrease the firm's value." Amen.

This book is very timely and extremely useful as a tool for key decision-makers in organizations - Chief Technology Offiers, Information System Managers, and general managers, including CEOs, as well as academics. How do you allocate scarce resources to increasing cybersecurity, in the context of other competing claims ? Professors Gordon and Loeb provide a solid economic framework to do this. They bring their decades of experience researching and teaching about a cost-benefit approach to managerial decisions to the table, in the context of cybersecurity investments.

What I like about the book is its appeal to practitioners and academics alike. There is a nice section on developing a business case for cybersecurity investments. Empirical evidence to support their arguments are provided throughout the book. Complex ideas like real options and cybersecurity investments are nicely explained with simple and insightful examples.

Overall, whether you are a manager making or evaluating the case for cybersecurity investments, or teaching in this area, this book is a must-read.

Managing Cybersecurity Resources: A Cost-Benefit Analysis is excellent! Information security practitioners will appreciate the insightful economic analysis on how to determine the right amount to spend on cybersecurity projects and how to prepare a business case to justify such projects. I especially liked the chapter on risk that included perspectives and analysis not found in any other information security books. The book discusses many topics (for example, economics of cybersecurity and its role in national security) in a manner that novice and expert alike will find appealing. Its clear that the authors, chaired professors from a top business school and pioneers in cybersecurity economics, have a strong understanding of the security environment along with great technical skills. Of more importance, is their intuitive understanding of problems in the cybersecurity trenches. Policy makers, CISOs, CFOs, and managers at all levels, should find enormous value in this book. While at times I wish the authors would not have condensed their discussion, the good news is that they have left some important issues for a follow-up book. I am recommending this book to co-workers and friends.

I've been working on geochemistry and hydro-geochemistry for the last three years and this book represent an "easy-to-follow" compendium of the most usual problems and situations that you can find on field. The author's explanations to some problems are quite ingenious and help to solve, in a practical way, most of the difficulties that you can find in real natural systems.

The authors have managed to take a subject that can be dry and intimidating and make it readable and enjoyable. I have been in the consulting business as a hydrogeologist for 20 years, and found that I needed to review "the basics" due to a career change to Water Resources. I found the book to be well organized, well written, and especially useful were all of the examples provided. I think it would be a very good book for students (those just starting out) and for those, like me, who need to review subjects, such as "aquifer hydraulics." And, the chapter "How to Get Along with Driller's" should be mandatory reading for all students of geology/hydrogeology/engineering.

Greating readers. I have a PDF files that contains all of the corrections or errors know as of Nov 10, 2003. Please email for a copy of this document at wweight@mtech.edu. Happy Reading. Willis Weight

This book should be required reading by every professional entering the field of hydrogeology - especially those with limited experience in groundwater science. the authors present the material in an easy to read format as though they were mentoring entry level geologists. A job well done.

I've been working as a geologist for an environmental firm specializing in UST remediation for about six months. Having been working in a tangentally related field for six years, I needed a quick refresher. This book is providing that refresher - it will also prove an excellent reference for years to come. I found especially useful the portion on slug testing - my old college texts discuss slug testing but in a highly theoretical and impractical manner.

Everything we have comes from our Lord God, and Dr. Munroe has the Word for each person who searches for God's life for themsleves. The knowledge of potential for some maybe a great weakness. To be guided by listening and hearing from our Lord is knowing His Plan, His potential for our lives. Dr. Monroe addresses this biblical standard in depth in this important easy to read and study book that is saturated with the Word of God.

Dr. Munroe has a way with the pen. I was truly blessed by this book.

Myles Munroe is on the top of his game with this one.
Read it. Live it.

Mr. Munroe let's us know that with God we all the have the potential to do whatever God purpose for us. He let's us know that there is no limit to our potential except self-imposed.

Dr. Munroe has scored again with the second book of the Potential series. If you want to do what you've only dreamed of doing, then reading this book is the first step!! It's packed with revelotary information that can change the most mediocre lifestyle! I find myself reading this book once a year, to reinforce many of the principles Dr. Munroe outlines. God has given us the potential to accomplish great things for His name, but we must MAXIMIZE that potential!

Good old Amelia Bedelia! When Christmas is just around the corner, she just has to figure out which one! How can such a simple world turn out to be so complicated for America's favorite young housekeeper?

Only hoping to follow directions to the T, Amelia makes a date cake using dates -- but not the fruit kind, the numbers cut from a calendar page! And stuffing stockings for the neighbor's children is sure to be an adventure that defies description!

Merry Christmas, Amelia Bedelia is sure to be a favorite for young readers, and a wonderful opportunity to enjoy learning the wonders of word play!

Highly recommended!

I have to admit I don't quite get Amelia Bedelia's charms, but after reading this book series to countless ESOL students over the years, I have to say, it works like a charm. They love it! I am talking about beginning students in middle school as well as young children. I think that because the students are learning English and we have so many ways of using words and terms, that they identify with Amelia Bedelia. She also goes farther than they would in making mistakes so it seems safer and Ok to admit those mistakes people make when trying to understand many idioms. I think the books have always been successful to me when students are at this reading level.

This book is really good for children of all ages. It shows you that you have to explain things in detail, because someone might take you literally. The writer is comical and serious at the ssame time which is a good combonation. This book also shows that you can mess up and things can still come out right.

I think that this is a good book for little kids. It is fun for them to read. When little kids read this they always laugh at how Amelia always makes mistakes. She always seems to do something wrong.

When I was a kid, I wore Merry Christmas Amelia Bedelia out! I probably couldn't tell you much about the plot, but anybody who's ever read an Amelia Bedelia book knows that it's all about her doing everything wrong! The only thing that sticks with me is the picture of Amelia stuffing the Christmas stockings with turkey stuffing, which to this day I find hilarious. I don't know what it is about this one particular story, maybe it's because it's the only Amelia Bedelia book I ever read, but I love it just the same. I my mind, it ranks up there with Charlotte's Web and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; it's just one of those funny, timeless books that fed my lifelong passion for reading and writing.

I am so glad I finally found this book! It's a bit smaller than I would like but worth getting.

Resource guarding, dogs growling or biting when food, toys, specific locations, etc. are approached is an extremely common problem. Jean explains in easy to understand terms how to modify this problem behavior. A must have for any professional trainer or any owner of a dog that resource guards.

Our puppy was a serious resource guarder from day 1. Initially we couldn't get near her when she had anything, but now we easily "trade," even when she has something she loves. This book describes a nonconfrontational protocol for your dog to respect you and see you as the giver of good things, not as a threat.

It arrived very quickly and was brand new. I would order from this seller again.

The book arrived faster than expected and in perfect shape. The information in the book has been just what we needed for the puppy we adopted. She had some of the worst resource guarding ever. In days you could a big improvement. She went from snapping and snarling at everyone over her food to being able to chew on a kong next to my other dog.

A very practical book to help you write a mission statement of a company or of a department. Within half an hour you will be on your way to leading a Mission Team. The book provides a comprehensive list of mission statement bingo words that will help you amaze your team members.

A good and economical buy for first time mission statement writers. The book also contains some examples of a good mission statement.

A must for managers and to people involved in leading corporations and enterprises.

I am a senior consultant with a computer-consulting firm. We used "The Mission Primer" to think through our company mission. As we went through the process I discovered the subtle genius in its design. Gast's Laws sparked invaluable dialogues with multiple points of view and unique interpretations. These differing points of view forced a sort of self-discovery, or self-examination, which eventually created a collective focus that did not exist before. You realized that everyone had different perceptions of the business. Using this system offers a great deal of flexibility. We got excellent results. "The Mission Primer" is easy to follow, and highly effective. I give it high marks and you can't beat the price.

The recent ethical problems with Enron, Arthur Anderson and other corporations highlight the need to renew our business missions and values. The Mission Primer describes an excellent system to use for doing such a review. We have found this book easy to use, effective and invaluable. We give it a five star rating. Dr. Richard Zoellner, Pharmaceutical Industry, San Diego, CA

Adams&associates, inc. is an architectural firm that's been in business for over 25 years. We recently used the book "The Mission Primer: Four Steps to an Effective Mission Statement," to help us with our mission statement. When we started, we weren't quite sure how to proceed. The "Primer" laid out simple steps to follow. The result for us is a sharper focus on our market, our work and our future. The book is short, to the point, easy to understand and effective to use. We give it a top rating. (Five Star)

I purchased this after a literacy workshop in our district. After reading the introduction and the first month of lessons, I'm hooked! It's the first "spelling" approach I've seen in my 10 years teaching that makes sense and shows how to teach students to look at words in a whole different light than traditional, ineffective workbook programs. It provides words and structured instructional lessons for TEACHING word work rather than assigning words to memorize for a week, then forget.

This has been a great supplement for my high school English classes. The kids love it and they get a chance to work and look at words differently. They are using skills they don't use on a regular basis. It's quite a challenge for most!

I have had great success with the activities in this book. The students enjoy the activities. It has helped my students spell better and it is great for my ESL students. Students of all ability levels benefit from these activities.

This is an excellent choice for teachers who wish to implement a phonics program that can really work for upper grades. The book is divided into months. Each month there are activities ready to be used. The activities are categorized into four specific goals. Once you learn how to teach the four goals for the first month, you will be prepared to teach the same lessons again the next month, of course, using different words.

The phonics activities help students notice spelling patterns in words through clever activities that the older kids will enjoy. For instance, there are phonics lessons based on brand names! I highly recommend this program because it will give upper grade students the chance to learn how to spell high frequency words, to identify spelling patterns in big and small words, to monitor their spelling, and to use root/prefix/suffix parts of words to define and spell words.

This book is suitable for 4-8 grades. It includes lessons that will last for nine months of the school year. Teachers on year round schooling will also be able to use this book. Each lesson should take between 15-30 minutes, depending on the teacher's scehdule. This is an excellent book for upper grade teachers!

This book is by far the most beneficial I have found for my upper elementary students struggling to improve their reading skills. It gives simple, step by step instructions for each of the activities and requires very little planning time for the teacher. EVERY child can succeed at improving reading skills, and the activities are appropriate for older students. They do not feel like they are doing 'baby' lessons- an issue I have dealt with when using other phonics books.

Frank Asch is on my entering kindergartener's Summer Reading List and I (we) can certainly understand why. His stories are gentle and cute and wonderfully illustrated.

In Moongame, Bear learns how to play hide and seek. And when Little Bird goes home, he continues playing with the moon. At first, the moon finds him hiding in a hollow tree trunk. The moon then 'hides' behind a cloud, and when Bear cannot find him, he asks for Little Birds and the forest creatures help.

They look everywhere but cannot find the moon! Perplexed and a little sad, Bear suddenly thinks to say, "Okay, Moon, I give up. You win!". At which point, a breeze blows the clouds away and there is the moon. Hurray!

Five Stars. A lovely book for toddlers on up.

Of all Frank Asch's books, this is our four year old daughter's favorite. She responds very well to the humor of the situation and loves the idea of playing with the moon.

Back when we first started reading to our daughter as a baby, she was very impatient and wouldn't sit for long stories. We were limited to board books that were very short and direct. Frank Asch's titles helped us show her that sitting for a whole story was worthwhile. Now she'll sit for much longer titles, but the whole Moon Bear series are still favorite re-reads!

Little Bird teaches Bear how to play "hide and seek," complete with covering his eyes, counting to ten, and, most importantly, taking turns. Later, when Little Bird is not around, Bear asks the moon to play. When it's Bear's turn to count, the moon "hides" behind a cloud. But when Bear can't find the moon, he first enlists the help of Little Bird, then all of the animals in the forest to help search for the moon.

This delightful book teaches toddlers and preschoolers several important lessons. First, they learn the rules of hide and seek, a quintessential childhood game. They can count to ten along with Bear and practice taking turns. And they learn the importance of cooperation and asking for help when you need it. Many books for children attempt to teach such life lessons in heavy-handed ways, but this one maintains its gentle tone throughout.

Moonbear and Little Bird spend a day playing hide and seek. When Little Bird leaves, Moonbear doesn't want to stop, so he asks the Moon to play with him. In a quiet, great-for-right-before-bed book, kids can learn about playing with friends, playing on their own and cooperation. This is a gentle book and thoroughly enjoyable for my whole family.

This book tells the story of a young bear who learns to play hide-and-seek from his friend the bird. He spends all day taking turns hiding or counting to 10 before searching for his friend. At night he decides to play the same game with the moon. The natural world of the moon and the clouds astounds him. The animals of the forest come out and help. The book is charming, and a good short read before bed, with about 700 words.

Move Over Alice by Margo Hill sparkles with laughter! This hilarious depiction of life under a "micromanaging superviser" is mnd-boggling if you have ever worked under such conditions. But, for anyone who has found himself or herself in such a "rabbit hole", this is sure to put a BIG smile on your face, even in your sleep! Give us more, Margo!

As a teacher of many years, I found this book to be right on target in its description of the Big Brother control that has taken over our public school system - from principals that treat their teachers as knowing nothing, to superintendents that let it happen, to state and federal governments who let poeple with little or no education experience control the curriculumn and destinies of students throughout the nation. I think this should be required reading for all teacher education programs and for all those in government.

Wow...what a fun read! This hard to put down book will keep all who indulge in a great mood. It's a light-hearted story for all who are married, parents, dreamers and kids who are trapped in a grown-ups body.

Margo's view of life, work and people are wonderfully blend together with just the right amount of sarcasm and humor that makes you want more!

Well done...very well done!

A comical look at the sad state our schools are in-The Good, the bad, and the ugly of being inside the walls of an elementary school. Take a genuine and brilliant teacher, add a self serving and deceiving boss, throw in a few neurotic parents and their kids and presto- You have what really goes on in schools all over our nation. Does your boss take all the credit(&glory) for the great work you do? if so.. read the book. This story is for parents, teachers, bosses, and any breathing human being who is interested in the human side of reality. The best book I have read in many years!

This novel is one of the funniest books I have ever read. It is perfect for any demographic, everyone will find something to love in this hilarious account of the backstage actions of your local elementary school. The story is entertaining and very well written- you won't be able to put this book down!