Performance Books

Bik's book provides a highly detailed explanation of how compilers exploit parallel instruction sets on processors like Intel's Pentium 4. This should be a reference for any programmer who needs to write high performance software, but doesn't want to spend months writing assembly. The book uses examples from Intel's latest compilers (kids: don't try this on your Microsoft compiler) and helps to explain some of those obscure (but extremely important) compiler features like the "restrict" keyword.
I found this book to be useful in explaining why my software wouldn't vectorize. The book describes the use of several compiler options that help you debug vectorization problems in your software. And fortuantely, Intel allows you to download and use their C++ and Fortran compiler for free (for non-commercial use) - see Intel's software website. When used with a good reference like Dr. Bik's work, your highly parallel kernels don't stand a chance.

This book is an excellent introduction to one of the most remarkable achievements in software engineering the recent years. The Intel processors, combined with the Intel compilers, must be regarded as one of the wonders of our time. With the Pentium 4 processor, Intel introduced a new instruction set (SSE2) that can simultaneously operate on two double precision numbers or four single precision numbers. In addition Intel is making the compilers that take the best advantage of this architecture. This is not surprising, the company that makes the hardware is also in the best position to make the best software (compilers) that can take maximum advantage of this hardware. A very nice feature of these compilers is the Short Vector Mathematical Library (SVML), developed at Intel® Nizhny Novgorad Labs in Russia (INNL), which is a remarkable efficient library due to the efficient usage of all the features in the Pentium 4.

What is particularly fascinating about this technology is that it is possible to combine code with a high degree of readability, such as good old Fortran 77, with superior performance. This is most important for scientists that want to write efficient code but do not want to increase the probability for bugs in their programs, which often is the result when "hackers" are trying to optimize a program. Instead, the programming style recommended in this book tends to increase the readability of the programs (and thus reduce the probability of bugs), as many equations in physics are vector or symmetrical equations that are tailor-made for the vectorizing compilers of Intel.

In this book Aart Bik covers all the aspects of efficient vectorization from data dependency theory to alignment operations and vectorizing compilers. The explanations are clear and readable, and the technology is illustrated with many easy to understand examples. The reader becomes comfortable with the SSE2 instruction set and gets a good idea of what type of programming style that is required to gain maximum performance.

Recently I have seen that an application, by applying minor code reorganization, was speeded up more than 5 times by using the Intel Fortran compiler. Many are not aware of the technology described in this book and regard compilers such as gcc to be equally effective. This is sad because the commercial compilers of Intel are adapted directly to the Intel architecture and can thus take advantage of the intra-register vectorization possibilities together with the out of order execution core that can execute many instructions simultaneously. I think that this is a trend we will see in the future, to use all the available functionality in the processors special - even more advanced compilers will be required.

I am glad that Aart Bik and Intel has a taste for simplifying the job for the software engineers by introducing the vectorizing compilers that automatically takes advantage of the vector capabilities of modern processors. 2005 is the Einstein international year of physics, and I think that Einstein would have appreciated all the simplifications made by the Intel engineers. The Einstein's quote "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler", serves as good description of the technology described in the book. I find it difficult to imagine a better way to combine superior performance with the clear and simple programming style recommended in this book.

This anthology of poetry intended primarily for the stage, is the follow up to The Spoken Word Revolution (2003), which quickly became the top-selling and most influential book on the spoken word poetry scene.

Eleveld outdoes only himself in this anthology, which honors many of the men and women who have helped to return poetry to its roots in the oral tradition. In his section Slammers and Laureates, Eleveld highlights Ted Kooser and Mark Strand and Billy Collins alongside powerful performance poet Regie Gibson. In his section, Women Take the Slam, Eleveld honors the National Poetry Slam Individual Champions from 1990 through 1996, all of whom were women.

And for you poetry purists out there who are rolling your eyes in your head at the spine-chilling thought of an entire book honoring performance poetry, you can even read a great essay in support of the slam, by Henry Taylor, winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

For anyone who likes slam poetry or even if you just want to "hear" the emotion" the way the poet actually meant it, this is a great choice.
This one is right next to to the first book on my shelf of favorites. The ones I never loan out! AWESOME!

When I first started animating, there were no books on stopmotion, only books on 2-D cartooning and filmmaking. Even so, they were dated.

Since then, a few books about the craft came out, but this is the only book I've ever read that was written from the point of view of a professional stopmotion animator that covers the "why" more than the "how" aspect of putting a soul into a puppet and making it move in a way that removes all doubt in the viewer that it is, in fact, alive.

I found the book to be inspiring and so full of useful information, that I've had it for more than a week already and still haven't finished reading it.

A must-buy for anyone who is making their own stopmotion-animated film.

I've got pretty much all the stopmotion books in print, and this one is really something else entirely. It's not a text, not a beginner's lesson book and not just an appreciation for the art form (and, as Mr. Purves proves, it really IS an artform). Rather it's a very passionate reflection on the creative process of making stopmotion, and on the larger aspects of creativity in general. Barry is one of the best among animators.... and has frequently been writer and director of his own films, resulting in some of the most startling and original animation to date (such as his brilliant Achilles or my favorite Rigoletto). He expounds with great articulateness and intelligence on the strengths and weaknesses of the various forms of animation, revealing his obvious love for stopmotion above all the rest. And as he does, he reveals truths about animation that you had always felt but couldn't quite put into words.

He also shares a wealth of his own hard-earned tips and techniques, some about animating, but more on the art of storytelling and on how best to utilize the special properties that stopmotion alone has. It's not a book about "how to animate" but rather Why.... and he stresses the importance of playing to the particular strengths of our quirky art. If it can be done in live action or CGI or drawn animation, then why use stopmo? As many, he feels the sheer potential of stopmotion has only begun to be tapped, and he expounds at great length on how that might be done. And reading his words, it's difficult not to feel the same inspiration he obviously does.

Every animator should read this book.... even if you're just scooting Lego figures across the bedroom floor in front of your webcam (unless that's the extent of your ambition). He really illuminates the magic of stopmotion, what it does best and what it shouldn't be made to do. I just finished reading it for the first time, and I'm about to begin again.....

Finally, a book that encompasses all of the aspects of performance analysis and SAN!
I found this book to be referencing many of the books I and colleagues have found to be excellent examples on how to conduct performance analysis. Easy to understand and well explained theories make this an excellent tool for the seasoned performance analyst and the expert storage analyst.

Simitci's treatment of storage performance is unusually comprehensive and rigorous. While sometimes bordering on the academic - some of the methods proposed require time and skill availble to the researcher but not the typical storage administator - on the whole the book should prove useful to those planning and designing prodcution, enterprise storage systems. The references are well done. This is an excellent book.

An entertaining and enlightening look at the world of professional storytelling. Lots of information on what to do and what to avoid whether you're starting out or a seasoned teller. I'd even reccomend this book for performers in all categories. Bravo

This is a book all storytellers, teachers, and professional speakers must buy! It is full of tips and goodies that even the newest of stoytellers can understand.

Harlynne is a good storyteller. Why not take her advice?

Easy to read, work at your own pace, fill in the blank examples; that is what makes this book a great buy. This book was written in a workbook style manner, so you can take as long as you want filling in all of your information, making it seem as if you had hired your own personal strategic consultant for a fraction of the cost.
If your organization needs guidance and results, Strategic Planning Simplified is the way to start.

"becoming architects of the future, not defenders of the decline," completely sums up my feelings about this book. My company has been using the SWOT analysis for years; unfortunately, we've had a high turnover rate which has affected our productivity and our profit. We were desperately looking for a new approach to deal with our problems and I found this book while searching Amazon. The language is comprehensive and the examples and worksheets make it so much easier to customize your particular goals and solutions. We are still in the process of planning, but I can definitely say that our small business has a "clearer" picture of where we want to be and what we need to do to get there.

I mistakenly submitted my review for this book for the companion book, Creative Self-Hypnosis, but the review is the same. Straus' two books provide the reader with the best and most useful instruction on using self-hypnosis to achieve one's goals. In the process, Straus also presents a perspective on the mind that by itself can help people work more effectively toward their goals or solve personal problems.

A great book. The only one I'm aware of that gives you a non-BS procedure and absolutely thorough, usable programme to work through. Not sure I agree entirely with his non-trance model of the hypnotic process (as if I'd know), but this guy's sociological approach is, if anything, the better for his take on it. It's an absolutely superb and unique programme. Having worked through this you should then buy the handful of decent self-hypnosis books out there. Here they are: Simpkins and Simpkins, Effective Self-Hypnosis; William Fezler, Creative Imagery; Leslie LeCron, Self-Hypnotism (dated and completely redundant in parts, but still worth getting). After that you may profit from the standard textbook by Michael Yapko, Tranceworks, but only as a reference. TranceFormations, if gettable, by Bandler and Grinder, and Training Trances by Overdurf and Silverthorn are extremely useful for getting a handle on the concepts underlying this whole field. And you really do need an intellectual grasp on this stuff. But every other book out there is hopeless. Amazing but true. (One surprising exception, now I think of it, is Forbes Robbins Blair's Instant Self-Hypnosis: a rather commercial project but of actual interest and use.) But get the first three I mentioned, and maybe Straus's second book, Creative Self Hypnosis. You can read the entire texts of Straus's books on iuniverse's website. Email me (an utter novice but a prolific book buyer in this field) if you like.

For those of us who perform outdoors - this book has become a definitive work. Looking at everything from the solo street juggler to street bands to large scale displays of fireworks, this book offers a detailed analysis of the hows, whys and wherefores.

The book gives the reader a sense of this genre of performance. One comes to understand the the far reaches of this art. Vividly illustrated with accounts of actual performances. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in theater or the advant garde

Everybody knows about the independent film movement of the 70's and 80's, but what about the people trying to revolutionize television? They're all right here -- the Videofreex, TVTV, et al, people making provocative, innovative video long before Michael Moore or the clowns on MTV. A primer for frustrating film-school students who want to shake things up.

Great for anyone interested in radical television, especially film and TV students who don't want to spend the rest of their lives churning out bad sitcoms. A must-read for the DV generation.

Very well written, easy to read, practical and comprehensive survey of the art & science of supplier performance management and supplier assessment. If you are just learning about the topic, wanting to figure out how to drive more productive relationships with suppliers, implementing a new supplier performance management program or enhancing / re-architecting an existing program, this is an excellent resource. The author actually has experience in improving relationships between suppliers and customers and developing tools to automate the necessary processes She is very direct about the tradeoffs you must consider and the pitfalls you will face along the way. As we are in the process of designing and piloting a program, this was a very useful guide for validating our design and getting additional ideas to make it better. Highly recommended!

Through the years Supplier Performance Management has been much talked about but in reality few organizations have implemented a program which delivered meaningful reports and sustainable results. I remember in the late 1970's, when I was a young Quality Auditor at The Gates Rubber Co. I responsible for "Raw Material" quality and put in place a manual process and reporting system to look at acceptable material lots, timely delivery and prompt customer service that was marginally effective, not scaleable beyond a single site and only supported production materials. Thirty years later not much has changed albeit the introduction of technology that has potentially accelerated the delivery of meaningless and unactionable data ... until now.

Sherry Gordon has written the first comprehensive guide for organizations to develop and implement a Supplier Evaluation and Performance Excellence program (hence the book title)that really works. She's produced a masterful "recipe" for success.

Some of the practical features of the book includes:

- How to structure a Supplier Performance Management project, including roles and responsibilities and senior management support

- A complete project plan for an SPM implementation, including tasks, key decisions and challenges

- A supplier segmentation model specifically for supplier evaluation, including types of performance information to use by supply base segment

- Sources and types of supplier performance information for evaluating both direct and indirect suppliers

- A process for developing supplier performance expectations

- A hierarchy for developing a business measurement model

- How to choose metrics that are meaningful to your organization

- Pros and cons of different evaluation approaches

- Suggested supplier evaluation processes

- How to create a good supplier survey

- How to conduct a supplier site visit

- Specific tios on the "do's and don'ts" of giving supplier performance feedback

- How to create a process for supply risk planning

- How to develop a good supplier certification process

- How to plan and run a successful supplier conference

- How to conduct a successful supplier development process