Alex To Books

A brilliant book covering much of oceanography in alot of detail, easy to read, with good diagrams. There was alot of empasis on plate tectonics, and little on marine biology, which was a bit on a downfall.

When I read this book, I was confused. It didn't make sense

I frequently hear that oceanography texts are "a mile wide and an inch deep". Commonly written by people without any research experience in oceanography, or any education in the field, they are filled with error-ridden, arm-waving explanations and are 30 years behind current thinking in oceanography (for example, see the abysmal texts by Thurman). Basic science is mentioned only fleetingly, if at all.

This book is a welcome exception to the "dumbing down" trend in oceanography texts (or in the authors of oceanography texts?). It is suitable for an introductory class with no or little scientific background, but it also emphasizes the fundamental concepts without which oceanography IS nothing except arm-waving. It is up-to-date, incorporating ideas that have been basic in oceanography for 20 and 30 years and which are essential to understanding the marine system.

The author clearly understands his subject; something that cannot be said of the other lightweight books in this field.

I highly recommend this book....you'll toss out every other text once you've seen this one!

Mr. Lewinski has done his research. Discussing the "how to's" with industry professionals, the author has gone straight to the jugular . . the topic on every aspiring screenwriter's mind: HOW DO I GET AN AGENT? HOW DO I GET A MANAGER? AND WHAT IN THE HE[ck] IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO!?

You've punched out 120 pages of heartfelt goodness onto 8 1/2 by 11 white paper. Now's the time to get serious.

I found John Lewinski's book to be very pertinent to the questions I had as a hopeful screenwriter. His very readable style makes me recommend it highly.

There's not a lot of meat here, mostly just the transcripts of the author's interviews with a very limited number of people in the business. Most of the interviewees take extra care to promote themselves and berate the people off of whom they make their living, and very little of what they do in making a deal is revealed. 94 pages are contact lists, boilerplate, appendices and indexes with information that is mostly out of date or easily obtained elsewhere.

This problem manual is a good review of the material although it can be simplistic.

Though it is good, not worth for the money we need to spend to buy this book.

This is a good resources for students who want to work on addtional questions. Each chapeter contains about 10 to 15 questions. Mostly, question comes in two pages. The first section of the book, 50 pages, presents only the questions. The last section shows you those answers. Also, the question seems to be more conceptual than calculation. I think the questions are good to give you the main concept of the chapters but I wish the book should give more than 15 questions each chapter. It still have some errors and typos. For example, question 3 on page 64, I used excel function to calculate, the result differs from that of the book and, question 7 of page 65, formula has a typing error. So, I gave it four stars.

This is an excellent resource for expert witnesses and those that use their services. If you are not in one of those two groups, it may not be useful to you. If you are in those groups, the detailed information is well worth the cost. In fact, if you put just a few of the ideas into action, it may save you many, many times the cost of the book. It is no wonder that so many copies of this niche book have been sold.

This book was not exactly what I expected. I expected more narrative and less statistical reporting. I wanted detailed written input as to procedures already in practice by experts , and also how to identify pricing schedules and contracting policies that will work for you. I did not gleen very much from this book.

More a book for consultants as looks at functions across differnet platforms. Bur clear coding examples. Would re-purchase for the right price.

Like with every Wrox book there are many voices in the book. Unfortunately they do not comprise a choir...You will find a useful info scattered throughout the book; do not try to get a coherent picture out of it. I liked the idea of the book, and for the most part it does deliver.
There were small annoyances here and there:
For example, I find it strange that authors thought it necessary to give their version of pronunciation ":(otherwise known as SQL and pronounced "SEE-kwul") " for what is clearly not a beginner book; and I pronounce it "ess-que-ell" as many of my colleagues do)

Same goes for the first few chapters where authors have chosen to show examples of a basic queries, connect to database syntax etc. UNIX shell function example (p.14) was rather a dubious choice - why not C? VB? Java? Perl? Most database application developers are not familiar with the shell scripts, and could not care less.

It really would help me if the book covered creation of the user defined functions with Java and .NET (available in Oracle, DB2 UDB, PostgreSQL (Java), MSSQL Server, IBM DB2 UDB (.Net/C#); the book only covers Sybase where function created in Java 1.1... Reporting issues (chapter 19) seem torn out of some other book, and badly fitted into SQL Functions...The subject of Regular Expressions was hardly paid any attention, save for the fact that such thing does exist; MSSQL Server, for instance, provides access to OLE interface of its scripting engine Regex implementation. On the other hand, I was delighted to see PostgreSQL included.

I had always enjoyed reading James Patterson novels, hearing someone else reading it to me was a special adventure.

This is my first James Patterson book. Yes my first, and contrary to what some of the other readers expressed, I did enjoyed this book. I had the feeling that I may be out sequence with Alex Cross's adventures, but this story kept on track and I wasn't lost with the character. I enjoy being educated when I read a novel and Mr. Patterson did an excellent job of the Russian mob or whatever they are called. The Wolf fella was a bit over done. There were lots of plot twists and interweaving of story lines. The only real problem I had was the ending was a bit of let down. I got the feeling that the writer just ran out of steam.

I was so surprised because i could not tell the book had ever been read- Great condition- thanks so much!- Phyllis

Unhappy Ending!
The book was immensely enjoyable. As ever, Patterson has wonderful character development and roller coaster plot twists. The only thing that threw me was the ending. An Alex Cross novel not wrapped up with the happy (kinda) ending? I am now reading London Bridges, and eagerly awaiting the resolution. S.L. Chessor author of My Tongue Fell Out & Poodlums Boogeymen and Booglers.Poodlums, Boogeymen and Booglers: A Poetry CollectionMy Tongue Fell Out

The Wolf is ex KGB ,now Red Mafia,and a person with fingers in many criminous pies .His exact identity is unknown to the FBI and other security forces but his tentacles reach everywhere and he is a dangerous man to know

One of his nefarious activities is kidnapping to order -if you have the means to pay the Wolf and his team will kidnap your target of choice .The object for the purchasers is sexual gratification and there are no ransom demands to give the authorities a lead or a way in to the case .

Regular series hero Alex Cross is involved with the case despite technically still being in training with the FBI after his switch from the Washington PD ,and a subsidiary theme of the book is his conflict with the Bureau menttality and bureaucracy.He also has peronal issues to deal with -the failing health of his grandmother and a custody battle for his youngest child ,as former lover Christina re-enters his life .

The book has the usual Patterson trademarks -a twisty ,incident full plot told in short snappy chapters and a monosyllabic prose.It is unlikely readers will be bored with the book as so much is going on but it has a starngely undercooked feel and lacks a sense of closure with the open ending setting things up for a sequel .This duly materialised as London Bridges and the book here being reviewed may best be enjoyed by seeing it as part 1 in a two part novel
Fun but not the great man at the peak of his powers by any means

This book is excellent for ASP.net.The way the book has been written , it had me hooked to it from page one to the end like a thriller!!!!And i easily passed the MCAD/MCSD paper (Exam 70-305 on ASP.net) at the first attempt ,simply by reading this book and little bit on MSDN online.I would highly recommend this book for those who want to give MCAD by really understanding the subject and not by taking shortcuts like braindumps etc.

This isn't the greatest book, but it's not that bad either. There's over 1000 pages of explanations and examples. I thought in general the coverage wasn't bad. There are shortcomings in deployment, packaging and internationalization topics. Your understanding of .NET and ASP.NET will improve greatly by reading this book. Are there better books out there? By now, most likely YES. But for the time that this came out, there weren't many books covering this topic.

We have purchased WROX books such as Professional ASP 3 and have been generally happy with the quality. Hence we didn't hesitate to purchase this version. However having received it , we have found it a rushed poorly edited book based on the BETA version of .NET. Thes structure is poor, detail too low and many errors.

I'm afraid that we would have to advise not to purchase this book.

This was a good book back in 2001 because there wasn't much available. It is more than useless now. There are loads of typos and the code techniques used are not best practice. Don't even think of getting it 2nd-hand at a bargain price; better get a later edition.

An essential reference for anyone doing professional ASP.NET development. As with any of these 1000+ page books, this book is not meant for cover-to-cover reading. This book is pretty well written and is a good source to learn more about a particular area of ASP.NET, but the book's core strength is serving as a reference allowing you to solve specific problems as they are encountered.

iF YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ADO THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. Advanced Delphi Developer's Guide to ADO WELL WRITTEN GUIDE ON THE ADVANCED FEATURES OF ADO. YOU WON'T FIND THIS INFORMATION ANY WHERE ELSE.

I found this book disappointing; it lacks essential ADO error handling details. Never having used ADO before, I had to deliver an ADO delphi application in a thight schedule and unfortenately this book didn't help me much.

Absolutely dreadful!! This is probably the worst computer book I've ever bought. The authors must have been "on" something when they wrote it, and I can confidently say it'll be getting pulped by the publishers soon.

Gives nothing the regular Borland documentation doesn't already cover. The code examples do not fill me with confidence that the authors actually understand Delphi programming basics either.

You are better buying Understanding ADO from Microsoft press - I had to after reading this drivel.

Based on the title of this Delphi and ADO book: Advanced Delphi Developer's Guide to ADO, I expected "only" coverage of ADOExpress in Delphi. However, that's only a part of this book. The book consists of 23 chapters, starting with the Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC), OLE DB Providers, ADO and its role in the Delphi Database Architecture. ADOExpress components like TADOCOnnection, TADOCommand, TADODataSet etc. are covered in a lot of detail - as expected. However, apart from these "basics", the book also contains chapters that explain how to actually build ADO Applications, and how to do Business Graphics and Reporting with ADO. Even after those chapter, we're only still halfway the book.
Further topics include OLAP and ADO, ADOX in Delphi, JRO Objects, and a very helpful chapter on deploying ADO applications. Chapter 19 and later introduce Distributed Computing; Windows DNA (Distributed interNet Applications), including RDS and MTS with ADO. There's even a chapter on MIDAS ADO Applications.
There are also a number of appendices; and the most interesting one covers BDE to ADO migration issues!

Well, to begin with I'm don't understand why the book got so many bad reviews. While it may not an advanced text, it does cover the Delphi side of ADO very well. I have an almost complete Delphi reference library (haven't added the D6 stuff yet). I can absolutely say that this book covers more ADO than the other books I've bought (D6 Developer's Guide devotes 6 pages to the topic, D4 Unleashed devotes NO pages, and Mastering D5 devotes less than 10 pages).

I don't think the bad reviewers did read the book at all. This book covers Delphi ADO use and not ADO technology basics. If you are looking for an "Inside ADO Nuts-And-Bolts" type of book, buy another book, like the Microsoft Press series since ADO is a Microsoft technology. But if you want to learn how to use the ADO Express component suite for Delphi, then this is the book for you. I've been doing Delphi for 6 years now and I am no novice, and I certainly found the book helpful.

On a side note, I would add that while the grammar in the book may not be perfect (it definitely needed better proofing before press time), the Authors unquestionably know the material. It's worth an A+ in my opinion, and I am thankful to have gotten ahold of solid material for a change. I do find that using Newgroups isn't helpful since the people tend to rant and rave about things completed unrelated to the posted topics. This book delivers focused material, and it has practical examples that you can apply and test right away. A companion CD is included, which I find to be a nice touch.

Great book, great topic, and useful information. The bottom line is try it for yourself. I did.

The book is fine, I did not know that I was getting a "compact" version, which upsets me some.

Buy the book and go home and practice. You'll love it. The little lady and I did.

What a disappointment. This was the same book I read in the 70s only smaller, book and print size. I was hoping for something new and exciting.

This is essentially The Joy of Sex i n a compact size edition. I really cannot understand why people bash this version but give the larger version 6 stars! I like having this version as something that I can carry along. Less burdensome than the large version.

As for being outdated--70's-ish. Has lovemaking really changed that much?

I recommend that you buy the large version first and then add this one as a pocket reminder.

This book is awful if you are looking for a book that explains how to have mutually fulfilling sexual experiences. Though its brief discussion of anatomy might be useful for people who've only had high-school sex-ed, the rest of the book focuses on how women can please men, and says almost nothing about what men can do for women. It advocates "pretend" rapes and tells women they should have sex whenever their men want them to, even if the women don't. It focuses on the tiniest details of what women can do for men, and says very little about what men can do for women. Even if you're looking for a book on the book on the basics, skip this one- it's biased, uninformative, and sends unhealthy and incorrect messages about women's sexuality.

Excellent book for ASP.net as a reference.

I bought this book because I needed an ASP.NET reference. This book seems a bit schizophrenic. Part of it is tutorial and parts are reference. I haven't used it as much as I had hoped because I have run into several major errors.

Examples

Lists System.Data.ODBC when in fact this should be

Microsoft.Data.ODBC
Also forgot to mention the part about having to download it from MS website.

Lots of errors in ADO sections in general. I have tried several pieces of code from the book that simply don't work.

I certainly don't recommend this book.

Excellent book for ASP.net as a reference.

This book is ideal for intermediate programmers developing web applications with Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET. It works best as a reference for those simply looking for ways to "make stuff work" who don't need the hand-holding of step-by-step instructions, but aren't ready for simple, austere object definitions. Using an appropriate number of examples in both C# and VB.NET, the authors have successfully put together a book that has helped my shop overcome several hurdles in the month we've been using it.
In the new .NET paradigm, ASP exists only as a descriptive name applied to collections of objects that "make stuff work" on the web. Powered by C#, VB.NET, or almost any language you chose, the .NET framework Intermediate Language and Just-In-Time compilation has made an understanding of how "classic" Active Server Pages work obsolete.

However, the name ASP seems to be maintained to provide familiarity to those of us making the transition from ASP 3.0 to "any-web-application-built-with-.NET." This book fulfils that calling by giving the right mix of definitions, examples, and background information without using excess space or time.

The majority of the chapters cover most of the collections of objects (namespaces) that give an application functionality on the web. Without question, we used these sections the most. For those of us making the transition to C# at the same time we're getting used to .NET web development, these chapters were a life-saver. They gave all the answers we couldn't find in any C# reference manual tailored specifically for the types of web applications we were creating. Since we adopted .NET a few months ago, for the first time we were able to concetrate on functionality instead of C# as a frustrating language. I'm not sure how VB 6.0 programmers will look at it, but they seem to be getting the better reference books in the marketplace so far, so it was a relief to find every example done in both C# and VB.NET.

While this book would be key for beginning .NET developers ready for more robust applications or intermediate programmers moving from another language, I suspect that advanced programmers will be disappointed. For example, XML and Mobile Devices get chapters, but they don't conatain enough information for real development. You would need to have a much better background in either subject to actually develop. However, if you had that background, these sections wouldn't tell you anything you didn't already know.

The strength of this book is not as a "front-to-back" read, but as the dog-eared, coffee-stained reference that allows an intermediate level programmer to produce web applications that work--and work well. While not an expert, I've used ASP.NET Programmer's Reference to give myself a solid base of knowledge. By the time I master the material, I'll be well-prepared to tackle some of the more obscure .NET namespaces and cutting edge web technologies. ---Reviewed By Jay L.

I'm afraid I'll have to call this book a failure. I feel that if I buy a "programmers reference" book it should be just that. If I go to System.Web.UI.WebControls I want to see a list off all the web controls and a concise breakdown of all the parameters of each. I don't want a story about the control and a "let's make a web page with this control" exercise. I long for the days of my C++ BIBLE.