Steven Weber Books

I loved this book. It covers the history of Open Source and explain WHY people do open source and HOW they make it happen!

The Success of Open Source in a not a just wistful paean to Linux as the title would suggest. Rather, it is two books in one.

The first book is one of the very best recapitulations of the open source movement and all of its predecessors. The second book is about how something that just seemingly shouldn't work, works so well, and how those principles behind its working extend to more than just the open source movement.

The author, a university professor, draws liberally from the traditions of historians, economists, sociologists, and psychologists to paint a compelling picture of why the forces behind open source are not going to go away any time soon. Read in best companion with The Cathedral and the Bazaar, which IS a bit of a wistful paean to Linux, it illuminates its subject wonderfully.

Steven's book brings a rich articulation of the social practices innovations unleashed by the Open Source collective: a new understanding of private property that better fit the tech forces and the challenges of the present. His book it is not a model; it is not the list of the 10 reasons why...; it is not the defense of an emerging theory; but an historical account in which anecdotes, facts, historical moment, tentative hypothesis, set the background to allows the reader to reshape her/his own questions. The book gave me a perspective I have been testing with IT architects, programmers, software designers...I feel myself much more prepare to engage in conversations about the future in a meaningful and effective way. Thanks to the author!

For the serious reader (and who indeed thinks open source is hilarious?), Weber provides a detailed history of how this idea developed. He traces it from the advent of unix in the 1970s, and the generous (ie. low fees) licensing terms by ATT. Which led to the BSD Unix that flourished in the 80s. Also during this time, GNU took off.

But the bulk of the book deals with the 90s onwards. Especially as linux grew from Torvalds' seminal contribution. Its intellectual roots in unix and GNU are studied. We also see the rise of the Free Software Foundation and Apache, as articulate enablers and promoters of open source. All of which was aided by the invention and meteoric growth of the Web. This played a vital role in enabling a global audience of programmers to hear of and contribute their efforts.

I'm a commercial software developer, and found the author's history of the UNIX culture and the story of its evolution into what we now call Open Source to be fascinating. That alone made it a good read for me. Add in the thought provoking analysis of the "whys" (the real point of this book), and it's a killer combo.

Warning: the book is *full* of sentences like "Pluralism at many different levels is being enabled by communications technologies and by experimentation with property; together, these are reducing the marginal cost of adding voices toward an asymptote of zero." Despite that, I've been able to read it at the pace of a thriller, not a textbook.

The other day I found myself in the passenger seat of my own car for an extended trip. Miles from nowhere with not much left to talk about and nothing but scratchy country music on the radio I noticed the guidebook I had received as a gift, stashed in the sidepocket and promptly forgotten. Raised on the Mountainers "100 Hikes" series, I knew guidebooks to be invaluable on the trail, but as reading material dryer than Central Oregon scree in mid-August.

As I thumbed the pages of "60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Seattle," I quickly moved from bored to engaged to engrossed. This book was good! In addition to finding dozens of previously overlooked trails within a short drive of my Seattle home, I learned many new and fascinating details about the places I've been hiking for years. The trail descriptions are accurate and appropriately detailed. The navigational instruction are clear and include useful visual landmarks in addition to the usual distance cues. What's best though, is that into the brief trail write-ups Weber and Stevens manage to weave bits of local history, trivia and entertaining lore that greatly enhance the hiking experience. I even found myself reading several sections aloud to my travelling companion. Finally, the authors also understand that sometimes the best hiking tip is not the trail itself, but the location of the local frosty mug or renowned double deluxe burger at trails end!

Whether you are new in town, just visiting, or a soggy Seattle native like myself, "60 Hikes" makes a great addition to your recreation library.

This is one of the best books I have found for the newbie hiker in seattle. If you have a GPS it is even better as you can just the coordinates in the book to find the starting point for each hike. The Maps are great! The descriptions are great!

First of all, I am Bryce Henderson Stevens, and I am not the author of this book. By a coincidence, we share the same first and last name, and I resided in Olympia, Washington, for many years, and have made some of the hikes detailed in the book I am reviewing. I now live in Clinton, Tennessee, but visit my Olympia home whenever I am able. I purchased copies of this book in part because the author and I share the same first and last name, and I invite my friends to examine it and discover the authors' pictures and realize that I am NOT the author. That being said, my recommecation is still based on having hiked many of these trails, and having several hiking guides in my personal library.

By another coincidence, my cousin, George Henderson, published "Lonely on the Mountain: a Skier's Memoir", this year, which is a recollection of his early years skiing and exploring Mount Hood. So, the hiking, climbing, and exploring interest is in my family, and may come with my own name. And in a third, curious coincidence, I have published my own memoir of having been camping just a few miles west of Mount St. Helens on 18 May 1980, when it erupted, which can be found in "Teaching Through Stories; Yours, Mine and Theirs", by Betty Roe, et alia. All of this not withstanding, I offer this review of the book, without prejudice in favor of the authors, neither of whom I am personally acquainted with:

Excellent directions and trail descriptions, including elevation maps keyed to the entire trail, let you know what to expect as you plan your hikes, and which trails may be too difficult for beginning hikers. Key information is provided in "at a glance" sections for each hike, and many of the featured hikes a have follow-up section on nearby activities of interest. This is the most informative trail guide in my library.

This well structured hiking book fills a gap in the suite of similar books that cover the Olympics and the Cascades in Western Washington. This volume does a good job identifying interesting hikes close to the metropolitan Puget Sound Basin--the title says it all. The book also adds features that many other hiking books lack, most notably good hike maps and hike profiles. You can do all the hikes in this book without supplemental maps.

This book has a bunch of really good hikes right near Seattle and the Eastside which is what sets it apart from others I have seen (although it also has some farther out in the mountains). There are a lot of great options if you don't feel like driving too far. Really good if you have kids, or if you want some hard and some easy hikes. The book says it has 40 hikes available year-round, which is great in the winter months. Definitely recommended.

Dr. Mulvihill sure knows his stuff. Everything from breast cancer to neurofibromistosis! Easy to read, too. Quite the bathroom book for doctors!

LOVED it and am instantly hooked on Harlan Coben, can't wait to read more by him.

Dr. David Beck's wife was murdered by a serial killer, and he was beaten and left for dead, on the shores of Lake Charmaine, a place the husband and wife visit, every year, on the anniversary of when they first met.

Eight years later, and Beck is still trying to come to terms with the loss of his wife. He receives a mysterious email, which turns his world upside down once again, as it seems to strongly suggest that his wife is not dead after all.

I found this book an enjoyable read, as Beck discovers one clue, and then another, in the bid to find out what exactly happened to his wife, eight years earlier, on that fateful night. The twists come thick and fast towards the ending, which, I thought could have possible been a bit better. Overall, though, a pretty good story.

This is the very first Harlan Coben novel I read. After reading it I've been hooked on this author. This is truly one of the great crime novels from one of the best crime writers in the business. It's a cliche in the book wrld, but I literally could not put this book down.

I'm currently reading my fourth Coben novel and have two more on the bookshelf waiting to be read. I've thoroughly enjoyed them all.

Real Life Dramas - Volume One

Darren G. Burton

This was absolutely one of the best books I have ever read. I would have to call it a thriller classic. I cannot believe that it has not been made into a major movie yet, it would be great on the screen too. It keeps you guessing until the very end and has a very satifying ending too. Coben is such a great author, and I so far this is the best one of his books I have read. I have only read 3, but I will certainly be reading all of the rest! I do not see how this book cannot be given 5 stars...it has it all. HIGHLY recommended!

I don't usually read books like this a second time, but it grabs you from the first page and becomes a must read.

He is a fine writer and has done exceptionally well here.

Highly recommended!

I loved this book a lot. So very funny and I fell in love with everyone in it! It's one of those rare books you carry around in your head and heart long after the final page, missing your friends and wondering what they're doing. I smile just thinking about it.

This is a very funny 1st person Ivy League tour through love, lust, academia, literary attempts, mother-daughter feelings, friendships, all told at a breakneck speed, with great humor, and laughs thrown in for good measure! The apartment scenes in the Harvard neighborhood were great, as well as the dining (IHOP, especailly) and general descriptions. Worth a few fun hours! But are there really schools which "teach" 8 year old boys about parenthood by making him carry a sack of flour? Maybe, but a strange way to teach! Also, the infatuation with the mailman never really rang true to this jaded reader, but all is fair in love and war! And the ending seemed a bit unfocused, but probably still realistic. Perfect for a sequel!

Katinka O'Toole is 35 years old and is recovering from a short marriage with a Harverd Proffeser. She is strugling to find her place in the writing world when she gets a breakthrough letter who is delivered by the mailman she has fallen in love with.

The man Katinka's mother is dating, who happens to live in her apartments, his daughter and son-in-law have the perfect blind date for Katinka. Jake Barnes is brought into her the picture. He is a classy guy and very polite although he has curly red hair on his knuckles. With all the love and madness surrounding her, she is just having fun.

This book was cute and full of suprises and fun. If you enjoy saucy romances, this book is for you but if you get bored easliy and you are more in to anger and death, this book definently isn't for you. ENJOY

I would certainly classify this novel as genre fiction- A Romantic Comedy. As with all genre fiction, it is what it is. You either like it or you don't. But you can't try to analyze it into something that it's not. If you try, you'll only be disappointed. My advice with this novel is to enjoy it for what it is- a nice romantic comedy. You can try to break it down in terms of whatever literary concept suits you, but that might be unfair to the author and the book. After all, would you analyze something more literary from a genre fiction perspective? Never. So why try to analyze this from a literary perspective? It's a very light read and thoroughly enjoyable when absorbed from the right perspective.

Medwed's debut novel relates the romantic and literary exploits of Katrinka O'Toole. Given thatr Katrinka is mostly a frustrated wirter and lover both, the exploits are somewhat chaotic, obsessive and disjointed--but that's where the fun comes in.

Over and above an adept hand at romantic comedy, Medwed has a nifty ability to cleverly encapsulate and parody the aloofness, snobbery and liberal goings and general absurdities attendant to life in and around Harvard, a skill which also adds to the fun of the book.

This is a debut novel and some of the expected flaws attendant to such an effort are present--the books a tad disjointed, a few of the characters are mere characatures--but overall it's a fun book & a pleasant read. It's plane or beach fare-not too demanding and mostly rewarding.

I ordered this, along with another book. You shipped the other book and cancelled my order for this book, which was the book I really wanted. I'm not happy with the ordering process on this item and cannot comment on the book since I've never actually seen it.

This book is cool. Vogue is definitely the place to see all the latest and greatest fashion trend and the art of photograhing and show them.

Grace: Thirty years of fashion in Vogue is a delightful collection of some of the most memorable and influential fashion photographs since the nineteen seventies.....all of them touched by the imaginative and chic eye of super stylist and editor Grace Coddington. The range of fashion fantasies is impressive. From the tough erotic chic of helmut newton, whimsical femininity of sarah moon on thru the joyful, innocent sexiness of bruce weber, Miss coddington helps each image become something entertaining and memorable. The printing is terrific , layouts are elegant , plus, perfectly boxed in a delicious and very chic pumpkin. Well worth it's luxe weight....

I just recently purchase this book, at a time when I was getting a bit discourage as a stylist. It helped me to realize that there are good days and bad days and to keep my head up! I believe that the book chosed me at that very moment. It is very helpful in terms of preparation for production shoots. Also informative in knowing the different ways each photographer preps and how Mrs. Coddington binds with each photographer's concepts. I have had the pleasure of working with Mrs. Coddington as a model, and I can confirm that she is a down to earth person which makes one feel comfortable when working for her. Thank you for sharing your 30 yrs!

In this book, published in 1992, a group of academics from the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy have written a series of brilliant and provocative essays on the economic foundations of the next security system, that is, of the XXI century. They define three broad scenarios: a) Controlled multilateralism; b) coexistence of blocks; and c) neomercantilism.

So far, it seems that they were right in predicting that the most likely and desirable outcome would be some form of controlled multilateralism. Certainly, it could be said that coexistence of blocks is also a reality, but we are seeing a lot more interrelation between these blocks than what the scenario took into account. Some countries have built institutional bridges across the blocks, like Mexico, which belongs to NAFTA, but also has a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, several Latin American countries, Israel, and is now negotiating one with Japan, beyond its membership in APEC.

The security system seems to stay also within controlled multilateralism, as actions on the former Yugoslavia and Irak show. Summing up, the book's arguments and points are still relevant to analyze the world's options regarding this new century. The interplay between the economic and the security systems are clearly defined, and the tone of the book is objective, neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic. It's good analysis, even if not each and every detail is still accurate. Recommended for students of very different specialties: international economics, national security, prospective studies, etc.

I have never worked with Web Services, but I have strong skill in Java. This book has opened me a new and interesting frontears on this topic. The Axis webapp that is explained as a very usefull tool to start working and putting up your first Web Service.
Max Pellizzaro.
http://www.maxpellizzaro.com

Just as I stated in the title, it's a great book to start you with. It's written in a clear and precise manner where you could learn the basics of Java Web Services and not be intimidated by it.

I bought this, hoping to be able to use it on a web services project I'm doing.

I find it's completely out of date. Both Sun's JWSDP and Apache Axis have moved on since this was written, and you'll get better information from their websites than you'll get from this book.

Don't bother with it.

Part 1 (6 chapters) - Absolutely a waste of time, not worth a read. And the code examples are not related to JWSDP.

Part 2 (6 chapters) - Discusses on SOAP, UDDI and WSDL. The code discusses using a Older version of Apache SOAP and Apache Axis. The code needs a complete rewrite.

Part 3 - Discusses on JAXP, JAXB, JAXR, JAXM and JAXRPC. Good introductions but the JAXB chapter is based on DTD (which is obsoleted in the latest specs). JAXM and JAXRPC chapters just reproduces the Sun JWSDP tutorial...not much value addition.

Part 4 - Security, WSFL, WSIF (based on IBM Specs) currently these specs are obsolete no further releases.

It might've been a good book during 2002. The code and content needs an update to the latest specs and SOAP implementations.

It is a good introductory book to web services standards like SOAP, WSDL and UDDI but also goes further and talks about topics like WSFL, WSIF which are not covered by all books on web services but are essential to any real business processes exposed as web services where flow control and service unit(s) choreagraphy is as important as the single unit service request/response. Java specifications relating to web services are also covered like JAXM and JAX-RPC. I wish more examples and code was given, perhaps even a chapter or two, for ebXML which may not be a part of web services standards but still uses SOAP and defines industry standards for business to business collaborations especially dealing with supply chain commerce issues.
I agree with a previous reviewer (John Sfikas) that this book alone isn't exactly an eye opener for experianced professionals who have been dabbling with all the tools mentioned in this book like Apache SOAP, Axis, WSTK, Tomcat, Jetty etc. and know the challenges facing B2B collaborations on the internet quite intimately, but this book combined with "Building Web Services with Java: Making Sense of XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI" will give a much needed practical grounding to start making sophisticated web services in the real world. I highly recommend getting both these books but be prepared to use your brain and further what is presented in these books to deploy web services satisfying your needs. They will certainly not amount to spoon feeding you a near solution to your collaboration problems.

This book (okay, it's not actually a book but we'll get to that shortly), arrives in a hugely impressive foil box, both figuratively and literally. It is only when you open this impressive box that you find you have paid $175.00 for a small number of pamphlets. Quite large pamphlets, but pamphlets nonetheless.

To compound their ignominy, the work isn't even that great (though that is obviously a personal opinion). The majority of the work suffers from being enlarged to fit the oversized pamphlet specs but a lot of the work, regardless of the size, is just mediocre, plain and simple. The work that stands out the most is by Karl Lagerfeld which certainly surprised me considering the distinguished list of photographers involved.

All in all, I would have liked to keep the box. Since that option was unavailable, I returned the item, beautiful box, pamphlets and all.