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Digital Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Digital
Champion Spirit Series: Jackie Robinson - Fresh and Crisp
Published in Digital by Amazon (2007-10-05)
Author: Letha Hadady
List price: $0.49
New price: $0.49

Average review score:

valuable advice on diabetes
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-23
Even if you are not a sports fan this Amazon Short contains extremely valuable advice on herbs and diet for diabetes--a health problem that hurt Jackie Robinson and affects many other people today. I am a fan of Letha Hadady's books and have lost over 40 pounds using Feed Your Tiger. This life story of Jackie Robinson is good reading and very useful for anyone who wants to protect health. I am giving it to my Little League friends.

Gold Medal Baseball
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-18
I've been a Jackie Robinson fan my whole life. I think he personified the sport of baseball--honor, courage, and team spirit. It was a thrill of a lifetime to see him play. This piece by Letha Hadady is a fine tribute to his legend and I appreciate learning things about Jackie I never knew before. Since I have diabetes, I will use her advice to protect my health. Thank you forever.

The Gift Of Good Health
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-17
I have used Letha Hadady's popular alternative health and beauty books for years. Her new Amazon Short on the life and times of baseball great Jackie Robinson makes good, fast, and easy reading. I especially enjoyed the stories about the important friendships between Robinson and Dodgers' manager Branch Rickey and Jewish ballplayer Hank Greenberg. Truly inspiring. I am giving this Amazon Short as a gift to my friends who are World Series fans and those who need health advice for conquering diabetes. FIVE STARS reading!

Inspirational, Indeed!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-23
It took a health expert to tell me more about Jackie Robinson and Hank Greenberg than all the bios I've read on these memorable athletes. Letha Hadady has provided a real service here by combining history, culture and health care all in one wallop -- and she did so with a firm command of her subjects. I knew about the religious barrier and the color barrier, but not to the extent as provided here in this short but illuminating piece. Jackie Robinson had diabetes? I didn't know. I go back to Montreal with him, even before he got to Brooklyn, when he played for the Montreal Royals, so I've always felt that connection with Robinson and still think he did more to bring the races together than anyone. I was inspired by this story and I'll be returning to this Amazon Short to learn more from Letha's health tips. Altogether, a superb essay. Jack Engelhard

The Greatest Baseball Story Ever Told
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-17
When I was a kid my father took me to Brooklyn's Ebbits Field and we sat high up in the bleachers, ate popped corn and yelled for the home team. At age ten I rode my bike half way across the City to the house of Carl Erskine, the Dodgers' star pitcher so that he could sign my baseball. Even now--so many years later--I can still list the lineup of the team that put Brooklyn on the map. I never got to meet Jackie Robinson, a great American hero and shining example for everyone who loves the sport.

This Amazon Short tells Jackie Robinson's awe-inspiring personal story-- his troubled youth and struggles against racial prejudice. As an added bonus, because this biography is written by Letha Hadady a highly respected natural health expert, it describes the best diet and herbs for diabetes, a disease that Jackie had and that many other people suffer from today. Jackie acted with great character and confidence in all that he did. Youth today can learn a lot from his story. Anyone with diabetes will be interested in the sound health advice found here. I strongly recommend buying this Short and I look forward to the upcoming Champion Spirit Series of Amazon Shorts.

Digital
Clan of the Nakagamis (Yaoi)
Published in Paperback by Digital Manga Publishing (2006-06-21)
Author: Homerun Ken
List price: $12.95
New price: $9.71
Used price: $9.21

Average review score:

Why didn't I buy this sooner?
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-09
Finally, a book with consensual love! And I mean truly consensual love. None of that, off balance romance where one is deeply dedicated into the relationship and the other is not. Or even worse, where one is the ultimate "man" who seems to overpower his partner (sometimes to the point of...ugh...rape). No, this was a nice read about a rather balanced relationship. But more so, it was also incredibly funny. From the moment I met the characters of the Nakagami clan, it was an all out laugh vest for me. It's a little unrealistic and the characters have very feminine features, but all in all, my only regret is that I didn't buy it sooner.

Wonderful Boy Love Fun!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-09
Homerun Ken's art is always beautiful, but the heart of this title is actually the humor! It's adorably sweet and silly, the family is a riot, and the main couple are just a joy to watch!

I know most of her other stuff is angsty, but I would buy anything done by this mangaka in a heartbeat!

More fun than expected
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-19
I picked up this book because I thought the cover was interesting, especially considering it's a yaoi title. What I found inside explained why the cover was so different. Homerun Ken has a great sense of humor, and it shines throuhgout all of his stories. Not too graphic, but not too sappy either, this book is a great find. The art is beautiful, reminiscent of Lily Hosgino's work, with beautiful bishonen. However, Homerun Ken manages to turn some archetypes of yaoi and shonen-ai on it's head with great results. Even the bonus stories in the back were cute and charming, when I normally find the stories that aren't about the main characters irritating.
Thanks, Homerun Ken!

CoN
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-04
This book was very fun to read. The pace was fast and there was never a dull moment. I felt it revolved more around comedy than the relationship between the two main characters. The cover is very decieving, but sets the mood for the serious mindset of all characters involved. (they are funny with out meaning to be)Its just another day in the life of the Nakagami's

Refreshing!
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-13
This is not your typical shounen-ai.
The lovers are the common teacher and student relationship, with the teacher being the more "feminine" looking one. However the centerfold of the story is not their love but the cranky characters of the teacher's family who give this shounen-ai a different flavor. These characters, from a film star looking father who wears traditional Japanese clothes, a "doll-like" mother, to an elder brother whom the mangaka loves to dress up, are idiosyncratic and quirky, spicing up a plot which is already quite hilarious. Some may find the art a bit loud in some scenes (reminds me of Gravitation) but this only serves to highlight the comical sides. The flashback of how teacher and student met over a lost alligator is quite funny. If you are looking for something different besides the warm and fuzzy shounen-ai type, try this.
However serving Junemanga.com, Vol 2 does not seem to be in the near horizon. I hope this is not a sole manga.

Digital
CMOS Digital Integrated Circuits Analysis & Design
Published in Hardcover by McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math (2002-10-29)
Authors: Sung-Mo (Steve) Kang and Yusuf Leblebici
List price:
New price: $100.00
Used price: $55.00

Average review score:

good book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-11-01
This book introduces CMOS digital IC at a introductory graduate level; good reference for Electrical Engineers in the memory business.

My favorite textbook
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-08-28
This is my favorite microelectronics textbook. (Out of the 5 or six that I've read.) It is very simple and straightforward material. When I need a microelectronics reference, this is the first book I look at.
The one improvement I would like to see is a better chapter written about SPICE modeling.

Great Book !
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-07
No other book gives a more effective treatment of the subject. A thorough explanation of the basics followed by a stepwise approach towards advanced topics. Thanks Kang and Leblebici for coming up with such a great book.

A Leblebici student
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2000-03-31
I own the book... in fact, I took the class Leblebici wrote the book for! Leblebici is a very good teacher and the book is a must for all EE students studying VLSI design. It teaches concepts well without wordy, hard to understand passages. The useless "paragraphs of eqations" found in other engineering books are replaced with meaningful examples.

very helpful book for digital design!
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2000-03-29
The author has done a good job in explaining all the intricate details of synthesizing ASIC's in deep sub-micron realms. I would recommend this to every ASIC design engineer.

Digital
Complete Idiot's Guide to High-Speed Internet Connections (The Complete Idiot's Guide)
Published in Paperback by Alpha (2000-12-01)
Author: Mark Soper
List price: $24.99
New price: $7.02
Used price: $0.38

Average review score:

Very helpful --especially historically
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-02
Working in the IT field, I found this book to be very helpful-- especially from a historical perspective--explaining the various highspeed options available. I read this, although I have been trouble-shooting highspeed issues on a helpdesk, for a long time. When studying for Network +, I read references about T1 lines, and other methods of highspeed access that I have never used, personally, or only used in a corporate office invironment, as a User.

This book explains all the (mostly out-dated, in heavily populated areas) technologies, and helps to grasp the basics when studying for the Network+ certification.

An excellent introduction, with something to offer everyone
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-25
I have read some of Mark Soper's works in the past (Upgrading and Repairing PCs Technician's Portable Reference, his articles in SmartComputing, etc.) and have always found them informative and relevent to my purposes. This book is no different. Soper presents broadband technology in a way that is both extremly detailed and easy to understand. It is humorous and very readable, qualities not often found in computer books. Yet it covers the topics (ISDN, DirectPC/Duo, DSL, Cable, etc) throughly and doesn't skimp on any vital detail. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is considering broadband service, anyone who has it already, or just anyone who enjoys learning about emerging technologies.

A Desperately Needed Book! EXCELLENT!!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-05-25
With all of the recent information floating around about "High-Speed" internet connections, one can literally go insane trying to decipher fact from fiction, not to mention attempting to figure out which service is right for YOU. When I came across this book, which I did here on amazon, I was very excited, but still unsure of what I would be getting my hands on. I thought that perhaps it would assist me a little here or there, and help out with the most basic information possible.

To my surprise, and delight, this book was truly AWESOME. So much so that I just received it a couple of weeks ago, and I'm now on my second reading. The book is packed with information. It not only delves into the aspects of Cable Modems and DSL(which is does so very intensely), but also tells you how you can optimize your standard dial-up modem connection to the internet. You can't lose with this book--if you already have an internet connection, the knowledge on getting the most out of THAT hook-up is worth the price of the book. In addition, the author definitely has a sense of humor, and that REALLY helps when you sit down to read a book, and along with educating you, you're also given a dose of humor that's JUST ENOUGH to make the education FUN.

The book also gives the reader information on what to do in order to have your computer completely in order BEFORE the installation of a broadband hook-up takes place, whether you do it yourself, or somebody's going to be installing it for you. This book even delves into how computers work, and the processes of computers connecting to one another to put the wheels of the internet into motion. The reader won't be BOGGED down with this, however, as the book is written in a very clear, concise manner. You'll also learn little tricks here and there throughout the book on how to maintain your computer for overall optimal performace. What a great book--I couldn't recommend it more highly!

Clearly Explains Your Choices
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-04-25
DSL? Cable Modem? Satellite? Wireless? These are among the choices you will have to make if you decide to "upgrade" to high speed Internet access. It's difficult to know which one will work best for you. This book helps to explain the differences between each of them. The introductory part explains ways to get higher speeds from your current analog modem before diving into the different kinds of high speed Internet options you have.

The second part of the book is divided into chapters explaining ISDN, DSL, satellite, and wireless Internet and how each one works. It also gives you an idea of which specific type might work best for your individual needs. The next part of the book is divided into chapters explaining how to install whichever service you've decided on, complete with "installation checklists" at the end of these chapters.

There are also a couple chapters devoted to keeping your PC secure from "hacker attacks," which is always a problem, but even more so if you have this kind of Internet connection. Finally, there's a section devoted to troubleshooting problems, even a glossary at the book's end so you can familiarize yourself with related terms, and if nothing else amaze your friends with your knowledge of this technology!

This book provides an excellent overview of the high speed Internt technology available today.

An excellent introduction, with something for everyone
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-26
I have read some of Mark Soper's work before (Upgrading and Repairing PCs, SmartComputing, etc.) and have always found it to informative and relevant to what I needed. This book is no exception. Incredibly readable and humorous for a computer book, it provides an excellent balance between technical detail and practical knowledge. Easy to understand and yet packed with information, this is a must have book for anyone even slightly interested in high-speed Internet access. I recommend this book to anyone who is considering broadband, anyone who already has it, or just anyone who enjoys emerging technologies.

Digital
Cottondale Confirmation
Published in Digital by Amazon (2006-06-26)
Author: Don E. Harpe
List price: $0.49
New price: $0.49

Average review score:

Lots of chuckles involved
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-26
E. Don Harpe has created a delightful series ripe with humor and a little green alien. JorG seems to charm predicament as easily as he knocks back pizza and chilled cans of tipple. Now the tiny alien confounds Grandma Margie Belle with a trundle-bottoms-up dance when he catches the religious bug. But NanZ, his joinedone, ups him one when she sheds her cloak of invisibility and attempts a jaunty "Sweet Betsy from Pike" number at the local Baptist Church.

Adams meets Foxworthy
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-27
What happens when Jeff Foxworthy meets Douglas Adams? In this "Hitchhikers' Guide" meets "You Might Be A Redneck" Billie Joe tries to explain "That Ole Time Religion" to someone who knows the Architect. This humorous look at Southern Stlye religion is another fine product in the "Redneck Riviera" Series. Thanks Don for more than a few laughs.

Only a True Southerner and Grits Lover...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-12
... could have written this story and captured the very essence of a down-home, dinner-on-the-ground, God-fearing, devil-hating, creek-dipped and sanctified Baptist congregation as they welcomed an alien (dressed as Roy Rogers) into their midst!

Even if the Supreme Being doesn't have a sense of humor (which I believe He does), He surely had to suppress a giggle when He read this story! But just in case, I hope Mr. Harpe avoids getting struck by lightning, at least until he finishes this series. A good writer knows to "always leave `em wanting more", and for me, he has succeeded!

Phil Whitley, author of KEECHIE

The Redneck Riviera stories just keep getting better!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-11
With Cottondale Confirmation, E. Don Harpe's Redneck Riviera series has kicked up the humor to a different level. The stories just keep on getting better. I laughed out loud at many of the antics in this story, and I was amazed,(to say the least) when I learned what grits actually are.

Keep 'em coming, because they're getting better all the time.

Hallelujah Heaven! Get Yer Manna & Crop Circles Here! Step Right Up to the Highest Soapbox in Soap Opera!
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-02
This # 3 in the REDNECK RIVIERA series feeds quite a concept! It beats the taste of pizza & beer and edges ahead of the zoom of a NASCAR race! Even the reviews rock & roll. With the amazing grace of an economy of words, reviewers speak in silver tongues scratching cheeks, saying this one's even funnier than the first two. Well, they may be right, and there's no "may" about the fun in well done redneck humor with its silver lining of purple hearts and cotton candy souls.

I haven't been attracted to fiction which is based in specific religions, and I didn't know how this one would deal with that. But given the type of humor played in the first two REDNECK RIVIERA stories (see my reviews and Amazon Shorts Listmania), I was bound to read this one, too. I said I wasn't going to review it, but couldn't help myself. The Holy Ghost made me do it.

This is how I like to get the news:

>> Billy Joe had given JorG an old police scanner that he had gotten for Christmas a few years ago, and that had quit working in a few months. In a matter of a few minutes the little alien not only had the scanner picking up police calls from all over the south, he was listening in to a mannacruiser that was on its way to earth at this very moment. <<

As noted above, I don't naturally cotton to stories which might be seeded into a particular religious slant, but I do relish God concept planting's which grow beyond set dogmas and sprout ears for unique, loosely-laid paradigms in entertaining fiction, as COTTONDALE CONFIRMATION did. It's always interesting to me to see what an author can come up with inside an untethered imagination. In that sense, one of the draws for me in COTTONDALE was wanting to see how Harpe would bring together the differences in "getting religion" between JorG's experiences and Earth's Old Time Religion base. I enjoyed the way the discussions developed into an adventure instead of a "free-for-all" of who's got the key to the Right Hand of God.

The key here was again offered within (yet from a different angle) one of the best fuels for true fellowship. Food.

How many angles can Harpe take on similar themes? The number appears to be secretly logged in at Nth Degree Heaven.

The spaceship adventure scenes here brought fond memories to me of a similarly-spirited journey I wrote into one of my sci fi manuscripts which toys playfully with God concepts, MORNING COMES is the title. If miracles don't cease too soon, that novel may one day come out in book form.

I wholeheartedly recommend E. Don Harpe's open-minded, spirited stories. The next and most recent is MUSIC CITY MOJO. I'll be hooommmmmmm for Chrissssmus... Ching, ching, ching. Sleigh bells riiiing... are ya lis'nun?

Mr. Holy Ghost, Sir, can Yew hear me now?

Linda G. Shelnutt

Digital
Dark Diamond Twilight: A True Story
Published in Digital by Amazon (2007-05-28)
Author: Linda G. Shelnutt
List price: $0.49
New price: $0.49

Average review score:

EBONY RICHNESS EVERYWHERE
Helpful Votes: 15 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-21
It's January 26, 2001...a massive snow storm is on the way as Tom Shelnutt and Bob Tennant operate the heavy equipment necessary to load the last of the coal brought forth from the Energy Fuels mine at Florence, Colorado into Nick Bellino's trucks.

I too had a lump in my throat as I read this author's account of the final day of operations at the Energy Fuels mine. Linda Shelnutt believes that with the right mindset we can bring heaven to Earth...(see her new Amazon short Why Is the Rose and the Pyramid A Collector's Item?

So much coal still underground.... So many good men around willing to pull it up. But no, it's not going to happen. The "choking climate of regulation" in this country is partly to blame. The onrushing "global economy" is another.

From my invalid's bed the siren song of Linda Shelnutt's moving account beckons me to rise up and DO SOMETHING!!!

"Ban coal mining? Let the banners freeze in the dark!" Reads the bumper sticker on the vehicles of so many good men headed for the bread lines.

"It's JUST NOT RIGHT!" I find myself silently screaming to the empty room.

I saw a few Pennsylvania coal towns during the 'Good Old Days' of the Pennsylvania Railroad. I saw none of the poetry in motion this gifted writer sees in the Ebony Richness Everywhere.

I can't say which of the seven Linda Shelnutt stories I've read are the best. They are all so moving... They all so richly advocate the honest labor of decent people. They all strike a blow at the soft, flabby, over-lawyered, regulation-choked society we've become.

No...I can't say...But this one sure is a strong candidate. I wish everyone would read what this eloquent voice crying in the darkness of abandoned mines, where good men worked and could still work, has to say.

Five Stars... John W. Cassell [I'm too humbled at this point to even talk about myself]

Applause For This Gem!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-27
[From the essay -- On Writing: Boys Will Be Boys, Never Girls]

Flaubert may have done it successfully in "Madame Bovary" but outside of that it's nearly impossible to find any male writer who can write the voice of a woman. There ought to be a law against even trying. Tolstoy tried it in "Anna Karenina" and ditto Lawrence in "Women in Love" and I guess they got the job done, but that's my limit. Wait. Salinger did okay with "Franny."

Can a man really know how a woman thinks and feels? The best we can do is write it from our point of view, from our own thoughts and feelings about her.

We're allowed to guess and we're allowed to imagine but we can never BE a woman within the writing. We can quote the woman, of course, and put words to her actions and reactions but we can never be sure what's really on her mind because, after all, we are men, not women, and remember - WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT.

Personally, I've never had trouble with women (except in really life, naturally) since all I do, in writing women, is let them manipulate me. What do I mean? In "Indecent Proposal," I knew exactly what Joan was going to do, had it all mapped out, what she was going to say when the Arab billionaire sultan was going to offer her a million dollars. She was going to say no. But she said yes, over my objections.

I started off with Plan A, but was forced to switch to Plan B because that's how it is when you're writing genuinely and not according to formula.

The characters should never be puppets.

Writers, novelists, know what I'm talking about. When the going is good, when the writing is going true, the writer has no influence over his characters. We sit down with a plan but when the writing begins the heroes and the villains take over and you're just taking dictation.

In "The Bathsheba Deadline," Lyla Crawford drove me nuts (in a beautiful way). She stampeded me and harpooned Jay Garfield and pretty much took over the novel. She won me over, as did Joan in "Indecent Proposal," by the force of personality. So I sat back and enjoyed. In both cases, I said, You Go Girl! (Rather, I dug in and typed as fast as Lyla, and Joan, dictated. Sometimes I couldn't keep up.)

Here's a trick I use when I want to be sure that I've got a real novel in the works. If I can change the name of a character midway, then it's simply not happening. But if you can't change the name of your characters, just as you can't change the names of people walking and talking, then, okay, it's safe to proceed.

How about women writing like men? Hell, I don't know. You tell me. But I did find Linda Shelnutt who produced a superb short story--"Dark Diamond Twilight" - and who came up with a voice that is purely American, neither this nor that but straight "country." What a feat! She writes without tricks and conveys emotion without emotion. I knew that voice from my years in Kentucky. Shelnutt writes about Colorado where her husband Tom works the coal mines as a mechanic/high voltage electrician. Linda is wife, partner, soul-mate and as a woman who is in this together with her husband, so much so that she may as well be down there with him.

When it's done so honestly, you marvel at Shelnutt's skill and agree with everything she says, like this: "Coal mining is what put this country on the map. Hate to see it end." Or this: "If you're able and willing to do the dirty jobs, there's always work to be done, paychecks to be earned."

I admired this especially: "What a world we've made, people magnetized to TV screens, watching other people struggle for survival on desert islands, all this entertainment, when men right here want to remain home and work for a living, want to work for their survival, in a pure honorable profession like coal mining. Instead of being allowed to do that, they've been let go. Why?"

All of a sudden, seems I've written a review. Didn't mean to - but I guess that's what I'm talking about. I mean that's what happens when women take over.

Jack Engelhard's latest novel, "The Bathsheba Deadline," is now available in paperback. Engelhard wrote the international bestselling novel "Indecent Proposal" that was translated into more than 22 languages and turned into a Paramount motion picture starring Robert Redford and Demi Moore. He can be reached at viewopinion@aol.com.




A Sudden Silence
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-24
"Dark Diamond Twilight: A True Story" by Linda G. Shelnutt

The author's depiction of people bearing their souls, often bold and strong, but also mournful and elegiac in spirit, emphasizes the sorrow and ultimate futility of life and the helplessness of humans before the power of fate. Yet this story tells a truth, the perfect processes of men and machine, working in strict concert for the fulfillment of their work, a work they know will be left unfinished.

Linda G. Shelnutt recounts the "Black Friday", the last day, in a most powerful persuasion that is psychologically penetrating, the fatal course of a noble love, the coalmine. The author's first hand account is not a mere documentary; it is literary expression of paramount importance. What was the purpose of this story? While reading, I envisioned a higher kind of innocence, the human spirit triumphant over reason.
The shining gem that I took away from this read is; the highest achievements of the human spirit are not determined by certain processes of the mind, but are conceived.

Most memorable passage of this short, without giving too much ground is; and I paraphrase; the contrast of a glittering black ground and dust, the shining sun, and snow spots. The country music played until the very end.

A five star rating with out a doubt!

Robert A Meacham, writer of fiction and poetry.

HARDSHIP ENDINGS
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-15
another reviewer here makes the comment this is about how working men relate to their machines, YEAH! I worked factory in the rust belt all my life. If it wasn't plant closings it was furloughs, if it wasn't furloughs it was layoffs, if it wasn't layoffs it was lockouts, if it wasn't lockouts it was strikes.

So many ways a working man gets to say goodbye to the machines and labor that he loves, that gives him dignity. I'll bet Martha [my wife] had these same emotions this author describes, she just didn't have the vocabulary. But the heart? oh yeah, plenty of that. This woman could be well on her way to being the patron saint of the Working Man. She writes from the gut. Real well done and emotional.

Men, Machines, and Memories
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-01
In her story "Dark Diamond Twilight" Miss Shelnutt gives us a look at how working men relate to their machines. Her husband Tom operates his bob cat loader as if he were on a dance floor made of black diamonds as he scoops up buckets full of coal to load on a bigger machine. What some people would view as a catastrophe due to the loss of their jobs these men see as one more chance to do what they love. The politics of it have them baffled but the joy of working makes it all worth while. Here is the grit that made America great, people working for the joy of it, even if it is the Last Day. When they clock out tonight it will be over, the coal is still there but the business types don't have the will to get it. That is a shame because the people who have been working there still have the will to do the job.
Having worked on many construction type operations loading heavy equipment on my trailer to haul to the next job, I can feel the ground shake as the big loader goes by, smell the diesel smoke as the dump trucks take their turn at the loading chute and feel the natural rhythm of the dance. Men and machines working in harmony following the steps of a well choreographed dance as they bring the coal out of the ground process it then load it into the trailers that will haul it to the final destination. The dance is over at this mine for the time being but if the need ever arises there will be people who will once again dance with their machines on the Dark Diamond dance floor.
I look forward to another tale of the people who made Colorado what it is, and in so doing helped make America what it is. Miss Shelnutt please keep up the good work, and keep telling their stories so that future generations can know the value of a good days work.

Digital
Darkness Won't Rest: Phils Place II
Published in Digital by Amazon (2007-05-09)
Author: Joseph McGee
List price: $0.49
New price: $0.49

Average review score:

The third installment comes out when...?
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-07
An excellent follow-up to Phil's Place. I was able to feel a certain closeness to the characters. The story grips and doesn't let go. And the ending has me in a tizzy. Bravo! Bring on the third installment.

A Brilliant Sequel that will haunt you!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-06
Joseph McGee's prose only gets better and surpasses his own first installment. This sequel to Phil's Place continues the story. Sean MacLeod cannot forget the horror that he witnessed in the abandoned cabin the year before. He has become obsessed with finding answers. So the reader joins him on his journey back into the disturbing cabin, to seek those answers.
What transpires is an intensely written journey, that is taunt, and twisted. Residing on the darker side of just plain creepy. Vivid descriptions help frighten and terrorize the reader, because you can easily visualize the place, the rooms, the setting in general, and all of the unimaginable things that happen along the way. Some questions are best left alone. Horrifying and creepy. Terrifying and suspenseful. I look forward to the third installment Phil's Place saga.
Highly Recommended, by Matthew Alan Pierce, Author of: The Dark Curse of Whispers

The Evil Continues!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-24
It had been almost one year since that fateful night. Sean was still haunted by what he witnessed in the strange cabin last January. The cabin was a living breathing thing to him, it called to him. Beckoning him to come back inside the gates of Hell.

Sean let his curiosity get the better of him. He went back in search of the cabin to find out what really happened there. The cabin stared at him with cold knowing eyes. When he crossed the threshold rooms appeared and the house began to expand. Something was very wrong, but Sean had to put this cabin and souls to rest. Upon exploring the hallway into Hell, he heard the chains and moaning. He knew something was here waiting for him.

A little girl around the age of twelve stood immobile in a room full of dozens of candles. She informed Sean he was not the one to make things right. It would be in a little over 24 years when his son Jonathan would put everything to rest including Sean.

Phil, Sean's brother found the note lying on the bar informing him of Sean's intentions involving the cabin. Phil immediately went in search of his brother knowing he may not make it out alive this time. When Phil neared where the cabin should be, there was nothing.

Joseph McGee's second short story in the set, Darkness Won't Rest: Phil's Place II, is just as chilling as the first. Mr. McGee continues to capture the reader's attention with skillful detail and mysteriously eerie events. I look forward to having the hairs on my arms stand up when the next story in the series is introduced. 5 Hearts

An awesome rising star reaches a new high!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-09
Joseph McGee's sequel to Phil's Place showed to be a very exciting one, though it starts of slow at first, it picks right up to a fast-pace get out while you still can supernatural-horror story.
Fans of early-Koontz and Richard Laymon would be happy with this one!

Haunting
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-12
The story intensifies in this very satisfying sequel to "Phil's Place". Joseph McGee has a great writing style & really knows how to hook his readers. I can't wait for the conclusion.

Digital
Deke McClelland's Look & Learn Photoshop 6
Published in Paperback by Wiley (2000-09-01)
Author: Deke McClelland
List price: $32.50
New price: $21.00
Used price: $5.26

Average review score:

awesome
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-24
I have been reading this book for the last 30 minutes and it's one wow after another. I just turned to my dog and said "This book is amazing!" hehe.

Seriously. The dive in and "look what you can do with ps" style of this book is very impressive. I bought it as an alternative to the more advanced wow book. This is the one I was looking for. 4 thumbs up!

Look & Learn Photoshop 6 is Great.
Helpful Votes: 24 out of 25 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-24
you can start learning photoshop fast and easy. This book is suitable for beginners. It's full of illustrations and pictures, and to the point. In addition, you don't have to read a lot. it's a quick start. it's so informative and you can use it as manual too. even filters are covered, what are they and how you can use them step by step. good work Deke.

Best Photoshop book, period
Helpful Votes: 43 out of 43 total.
Review Date: 2001-09-20
Photoshop is a deep and complex program and this book makes it (almost) simple. The book has several strengths -- first is McClelland's astonishing knowldge, next is his ability to explain complex things in terms even a beginner can understand, third is the brilliant way the information is organized. Face it, no matter how much knowlege a book contains, if you can't find the knowledge it's useless to you. The publisher and book designer make McClelland's information always easy to find, even if you are looking for some obscure feature like using the Color Range command to make a mask. No matter what your skill level, this book will open the Photoshop world further to you. I'm a graphics professional and I have a dozen Photoshop books on my shelf -- and this is the one I always pull out.

Photoshop reference extraordinaire
Helpful Votes: 47 out of 48 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-30
I love this book! I wish all software books were written this well. If you took 20 Photoshop books at random and put them through some magic process that took all the good stuff out and condensed them into 1 easy to read, well-organized, no fluff, no 1500 pages and 4 pounds of paper book, this would be what comes out.

When I picked this book off them shelf and started reading it, it was immediately obvious that the layout and organization were very good. The more I've used the book, the more I appreciate what it has to offer. Simply, a superior reference to Photoshop 6! It's really a "textbook" example of how to present information in a logical and easy to use fashion.

I didn't find having the images in black and white a problem at all. In the context of this book, color images would not add much information at all, although I'm sure they would add a lot to the price.

A superb reference book, well-written and organized. The Adobe user guide and Classroom in a book are now relegated to the back of the bookshelf.

Please please please...software book writers, use this book as a model of how to create your future books. This book shows well that less is often more. People are not buying software books by the pound, they are really more interested in quality information, not quantity!!

I'd like to give this book 10 stars, but 5 will have to suffice.

Even for the well-seasoned
Helpful Votes: 51 out of 51 total.
Review Date: 2002-03-21
I **LOVE** this book! I've been using Photoshop since version 4 and i'm self-taught. I am not an expert yet but then i don't consider myself a novice either.

This book is for everyone. What i most like about this book is the easy style and sample pages, The quick shortcuts to just about doing everything, and the explanation of why one tool works better than another.

I just attended a 2-day Photoshop class and the instructor highly recommended this book. at first, i thought that it was for the very beginner, but it's some much more. It's like a dictionary... you keep it for reference.

as i glanced at the instructor's book, i noticed that it was truly worn. she said that she's had to buy a second copy because she's used it so much. you can't possibly memorize everything about photoshop.. so why not have the best resource in town?? This BOOK!

Digital
Designing a Digital Portfolio (VOICES)
Published in Paperback by New Riders Press (2003-12-28)
Author: Cynthia Baron
List price: $40.00
New price: $22.68
Used price: $17.99

Average review score:

comprehensive material.
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-28
Most artists can't do everything - usually they are somewhere in the middle of a chain of production responsiblities that don't include the skillsets involved with presenting a portfolio, digital or otherwise. Many points of insider knowledge are invaluable - I was on the cusp of using PowerPoint for my CD portfolio (my wife has strong skills with this) before being warned that this bussiness presentation software's would be viewed with derision by art directors, and that a high resolution version of a website format is the way to go here - this one parcel of knowledge was worth the price of the book alone, but it is far from the only lesson imparted. Highly recommended - it doesn't stray into realms of esoterica for the sake of pagecount.

Great beginners guide
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-12
This handbook is targeted at beginners in designing portfolios to submit their artwork or photos when job hunting. It is filled with information, however most is very basic and will only be a review for most readers.

Superb resource for a wide variety of portfolio formats
Helpful Votes: 24 out of 25 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-13
If you set can aside the near 100% focus on digital media (though it is excellent for that kind of format) and not hyperventilate in feeling like you need to come up with Flash or DVDs after reading this, it offers solid points on portfolio content, whatever format you choose.

It covers what should go in, what should not go in, how much should go in, how/if to deal with process pieces, storyboarding,
thematic ties to pull a disparate portfolio together, and sage advice on basics like the kinds of written copy you want to include, such as design briefs, problem statements, and tag lines. It's my favorite book for this effort right now. My husband's, too. I have to pry it off his desk.

It's also savvy when it comes to marketing, so I think it will have a long shelf life in my library for the days when I need to market myself on other things besides landing a job, like marketing my firm.

It has some printed web site design examples which offer visual eye inspiration for printed page layout. It even has great image workflow tips, towards preserving the best image quality with the least needed resolution, that are comprehensible to the lay person as well as meaningful to someone with a high degree of digital photographic processing background.

The definitive resource
Helpful Votes: 45 out of 47 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-21
For several months I searched for an appropriate textbook for a course that I was developing. Several days prior to the deadline for the course outline, "Designing a Digital Portfolio " was published. After reading the book, I realized this was the authoritative text for anyone in a creative field. The book asks and answers all the essential questions. It is perfect for the technological savvy multimedia programmer or for any artist with limited technology expertise. I urge anyone who is even considering developing a digital portfolio to buy this book. Without qualification, this is the most valuable book on the market

Multimedia Portfolio Instructor/Art Institute/Art Institute Online
Subject Matter Expert / Curriculum Development Multimedia Portfolio

One of the Best Books on the Topic
Helpful Votes: 50 out of 50 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-06
This is one of the best books on its topic that I have ever seen. From the title, I expected to find advice on preparing images for the screen, how to put them on a CD or DVD, etc. Those things are there, but the book begins in a logical place that I wouldn't have considered. Brown's approach is truly holistic.

Check out page 23 for the first page of a three-page self assessment check list. It has you evaluate your professional strengths and weaknesses, goals and personality.

Chapter 3 asks you a bunch of questions to help you identify who your audience really is and focus on them.

The rest of the book covers various digital formats, how to organize your work, how to get images of 3D and oversized work into your portfolio, including choosing a camera and setting up for shooting.

Ms. Brown covers editing your images to remove the most common problems, such as moire, sharpening needs, bad crops, etc. And ... she devotes a section to creating written content to accompany your stunning images, telling you how to write to that audience you defined earlier.

She explains the differences between a monitor screen and a printed page. You need to know that to design the correct interface for your portfolio. She also has a full chapter devoted to marketing and copyright issues.

The entire book is scattered with quotes (in friendly green type) from experts and those who have gone before you. The quotes tell you what agencies are looking for in a portfolio, how others have found success at this, what things you can do to streamline the process, etc.

Digital
Digital Aboriginal
Published in Kindle Edition by Grand Central (2007-10-10)
Authors: Mikela Tarlow and Philip Tarlow
List price: $24.95
New price: $9.99

Average review score:

Different and interesting
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-09
Digital aboriginal is a quite different way to see the current business environment. And provides to the readers an innovative vision of the business and economics. It goes more beyond the metaphoras and you feel really as if the companies were as the ancient tribes. I really recommend and congratulate the authors because of their originality and imagination.

If written today, this would be a hit!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-05
Here's the amazing thing about Digital Aboriginal... it was written in 2002! Based on the information gathered through their research, Mikela and Philip actually touched on technology advancements and new businesses that had not even existed yet.

This book is a must read for those of you that would like to understand human behavior and it's impact on how the Internet is changing the world we live in and how we are living in the world. This is a fantastic book.

A must read for any serious business person.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-11
This book is about business and how it is evolving faster than the speed of light. This book will help enlighten you on how and why you must consider technology as the way to enhance and grow your business from the inside out. Your customers expect it, your prospects expect it and your employees will too.

Technology can pave the way to a future you may not have envisioned yet. Hold on to your hats - it's going to be an exciting ride! This book will help you be a part of the POSITIVE side of the inevitable.

An incredible journey!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-08-10
I love this book! Few business books have ever inspired me to buy multiple copies for friends and colleagues but none has ever kept me up at night like this amazing work.

Drawing on the metaphor of Australian nomad culture, the Tarlows weave a web ranging from the implications of intellectual property practices on ALL businesses to the value of co-designing experience and storytelling over passive media. The final chapters on idea communities, social genius, trust and tribalmind are both mind-blowing and hopeful.

Perhaps what I enjoy the most about this book is the tension between future vision and present practicality. In many ways, Digital Aboriginal suggests a way to navigate the future using imagination, ethics and a heightened sense of participation in the world.

I cannot recommend this work highly enough!

Who Owns the Wind?
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-25
Mikela and Philip Tarlow invite the reader to deliberate this question by sharing their wisdom and knowledge about the Aboriginal belief in the connectivity of relationships. As a reader, an observer of the story, you will travel through time both past and future, chapter by chapter, experiencing the opportunity to dream about the possibilities of a new business design where ownership ideas are replaced with a regard for creativity and innovation. You are brought to an intersection in time where ideas create a place of order and rules are forever rewritten. You will not be able to resist being part of an evolution of both spirit and thought.


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